Oncologic outcomes following surgical management of clinical stage II sex cord stromal tumors

Objective To investigate the clinical history of patients with clinical stage II sex cord stromal tumors who underwent RPLND at our institution. Methods Our prospectively maintained testicular cancer database was queried to identify patients who presented with or developed clinical stage II sex cord stromal tumors and underwent RPLND at our institution between 1980 and 2018. Demographic, clinical and pathological characteristics were reviewed. Kaplan-Meier curves were graphed to assess recurrence-free and overall survival. Results Fourteen patients were included in the study with a median age of 44.2 years. Four patients presented with clinical stage II disease and 10 patients developed metastatic disease during follow-up of initial clinical stage I disease with a median time to metastasis of 2.7 years (range: 0.4-19.5 years). Of the 10 patients with orchiectomy pathology data available, all patients had at least 1 risk factor on testis pathology (mean: 2.9 risk factors). Nine patients received treatment prior to referral to our institution. All patients recurred post-RPLND at Indiana University. Median recurrence-free survival was 9.8 months. Twelve patients died of disease with a median overall survival of 14.4 months. Conclusions Metastatic sex cord stromal tumors are rare and are more resistant to standard treatment modalities than metastatic germ cell tumors. Patients presenting with sex cord stromal tumors should consider prophylactic primary RPLND in the setting of one or more pathological predictor of malignancy

'The heart of what we do': policies on teaching, learning and assessment in the learning and skills sector

One of the stated aims of government policy in England is to put teaching, training,and learning at the heart of the learning and skills system. This paper provides a critical review of policies on teaching, learning and assessment in the learning and skills sector over the past five years. It draws upon data collected and analysed in the early stages of an ESRC-funded Teaching and Learning Research Programme project. Using evidence from policy sources, we argue that despite policy rhetoric about devolution of responsibility to the 'front line', the dominant 'images' that government has of putting teaching, learning and assessment at the heart of the Learning and Skills Sector involves a narrow concept of learning and skills; an idealisation of learner agency lacking an appreciation of the pivotal role of the learner/tutor relationship and a top-down view of change in which central government agencies are relied on to secure education standards

Prioritized Sweeping Neural DynaQ with Multiple Predecessors, and Hippocampal Replays

During sleep and awake rest, the hippocampus replays sequences of place cells that have been activated during prior experiences. These have been interpreted as a memory consolidation process, but recent results suggest a possible interpretation in terms of reinforcement learning. The Dyna reinforcement learning algorithms use off-line replays to improve learning. Under limited replay budget, a prioritized sweeping approach, which requires a model of the transitions to the predecessors, can be used to improve performance. We investigate whether such algorithms can explain the experimentally observed replays. We propose a neural network version of prioritized sweeping Q-learning, for which we developed a growing multiple expert algorithm, able to cope with multiple predecessors. The resulting architecture is able to improve the learning of simulated agents confronted to a navigation task. We predict that, in animals, learning the world model should occur during rest periods, and that the corresponding replays should be shuffled.Comment: Living Machines 2018 (Paris, France

The changing reality of urothelial bladder cancer: should non-squamous variant histology be managed as a distinct clinical entity?

Objectives To assess the effect of non-squamous differentiation (non-SQD) variant histology on survival in muscle-invasive bladder urothelial cancer (UC). Patients and Methods A cohort of 411 radical cystectomy (RC) cases performed with curative intent for muscle-invasive primary UC was identified between 2008 and June 2013. Survival analysis was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier methodology comparing non-variant (NV) + SQD histology to non-SQD variant histology (non-SQD variants). Multivariable cox proportional hazards regression assessed all-cause and disease-specific mortality. Results Of the 411 RC cases, 77 (19%) had non-SQD variant histology. The median overall survival (OS) for non-SQD variant histology was 28 months, whereas the NV+SQD group had not reached the median OS at 74 months (log-rank test P < 0.001). After adjusting for sex, age, pathological stage, and any systemic chemotherapy, patients with non-SQD variant histology at RC had a 1.57-times increased adjusted risk of all-cause mortality (P = 0.027) and 1.69-times increased risk of disease-specific mortality (P = 0.030) compared with NV+SQD patients. Conclusions While SQD behaves similarly to NV, non-SQD variant histology portends worse OS and disease-specific survival regardless of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy and pathological stage. Non-SQD variants of UC could perhaps be considered a distinct clinical entity in UC with goals for developing new treatment algorithms through novel clinical trials

Risk of Bleomycin-Related Pulmonary Toxicities and Operative Morbidity After Postchemotherapy Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection in Patients With Good-Risk Germ Cell Tumors

Purpose Three cycles of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP × 3) or four cycles of etoposide and cisplatin (EP × 4) are first-line chemotherapy regimens for men with International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) good-risk germ cell tumors (GCTs). We determined whether inclusion of bleomycin affected pulmonary and operative morbidity after postchemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (PC-RPLND). Patients and Methods We queried our database to identify IGCCCG good-risk patients who received BEP × 3 or EP × 4 induction chemotherapy before PC-RPLND from 2006 to 2016. Patients who received combination regimens were excluded. The primary outcomes of interest were pulmonary morbidity (prolonged intubation, reintubation, supplemental oxygen use, intensive care unit stay) and operative morbidity (operative time, length of stay, concomitant procedures, estimated blood loss). Results We analyzed 234 patients (191 BEP × 3 v 43 EP × 4). All patients were extubated immediately after the operation. None were reintubated or discharged on oxygen. Two patients in each cohort required an intensive care unit stay for nonpulmonary reasons. Patients treated with BEP required shorter use of supplemental oxygen (0.99 v 1.63 days; P = .005). No significant differences were found in preoperative mass size (P = .42) or concomitant surgeries (P = .58). Operative time was significantly shorter (131 v 170 minutes; P < .01), and estimated blood loss was considerably less (194 v 226 mL; P < .01) in patients treated with BEP. Length of stay was shorter in patients treated with BEP (3.3 v 3.9 days; P < .01). Conclusion In a modern surgical cohort, the inclusion of bleomycin does not seem to influence pulmonary morbidity, operative difficulty, or nonpulmonary postoperative complications after PC-RPLND in men with IGCCCG good-risk GST

Governance of the international linear collider project

PoS(ICHEP 2010)516 - http://pos.sissa.itInternational audienceGovernance models for the International Linear Collider Project are examined in the light of experience from similar international projects around the world. Recommendations for one path which could be followed to realise the ILC successfully are outlined

Risk for Clostridium difficile Infection after Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer: Analysis of a Contemporary Series

Introduction This study seeks to evaluate the incidence and associated risk factors of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a single institution׳s bladder cancer database including all patients who underwent RC between 2010 and 2013. CDI was diagnosed by detection of Clostridium difficile toxin B gene using polymerase chain reaction–based stool assay in patients with clinically significant diarrhea within 90 days of the index operation. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify demographics and perioperative factors associated with developing CDI. Results Of the 552 patients who underwent RC, postoperative CDI occurred in 49 patients (8.8%) with a median time to diagnosis after RC of 7 days (interquartile range: 5–19). Of the 122 readmissions for postoperative complications, 10% (n = 12) were related to CDI; 2 patients died of sepsis directly related to severe CDI. On multivariate logistic regression, the use of chronic antacid therapy (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.02–3.68, P = 0.04) and antibiotic exposure greater than 7 days (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.11–4.44, P = 0.02) were independently associated with developing CDI. The use of preoperative antibiotics for positive findings on urine culture within 30 days before surgery was not statistically significantly associated with development of CDI (P = 0.06). Conclusions The development of CDI occurs in 8.8% of patients undergoing RC. Our study demonstrates that use of chronic antacid therapy and long duration of antimicrobial exposure are associated with development of CDI. Efforts focusing on minimizing antibiotic exposure in patients undergoing RC are needed, and perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines should be followed