Organ-Preserving Surgery for Penile Carcinoma

Introduction. Penile carcinoma has traditionally been treated by either surgical amputation or radical radiotherapy, both associated with devastating anatomical, functional, and psychological impact on the patient's life. Innovative surgical techniques have focused on penile preservation in well-selected patients to minimize physical disfigurement and consequently maximize quality of life. The objective of this article is to define the current status of these organ-preserving surgical options for penile carcinoma. Materials and Methods. An extensive review of the Pubmed literature was performed to find articles discussing only reconstructive surgery which have contributed significantly to change traditional, frequently mutilating treatments, to develop less disfiguring surgery, and to improve patients' quality of life over the last two decades. Results. Several articles were included in this analysis in which a major contribution to the change in therapy was thought to have occurred and was documented as beneficial. Some articles reported novel techniques of less-mutilating surgery involving different forms of glans reconstruction with the use of flaps or grafts. The issue of safe surgical margins was also addressed. Conclusion. The development of less-disfiguring techniques allowing phallus preservation has reduced the negative impact on functional and cosmetic outcomes of amputation without sacrificing oncological objectives in appropriately selected patients based on stage, grade, and location of the tumour. Until more prospective studies are available and solid evidence is documented, organ preservation should be offered with caution

C-ERB-2, P53, Ki67 proteins and receptors of estrogen and progesterone on the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common cancer diagnosed in women worldwide. To date, many studies in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have reported on the association HER-2/neu, p53 proteins and steroid hormones and their respective receptors with prognosis and/or the carcinogenesis process, but no definitive conclusion has been reached. Objectives: To assess the proteins c-erbB-2, p53, Ki67 and receptors of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) of EOC, with regard to clinical stage findings and its effect on survival. Methods: 125 patients with a diagnosis of EOC treated by primary surgery and chemotherapy have participated. A surgical stage was noted and analyzed the correlation with c-erbB-2, p53, Ki67, ER and PR. Immunohistochemical analysis, using the anti-c-erbB-2, p53, Ki67 monoclonal antibodies, the antibody cod PR clone PgR and code ER-6-F11 Anti human estrogen. The c-erbB-2 study was complemented by genetic amplification and was reported univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: Age 55.7 ± 16; 50.2% with residual disease (< 2 cm); initial (54.6%) and advanced (45.4%) stage. Univariate analysis showed positive staining for c-erbB-2, p-53, Ki67, PR and ER. The patients with negative receptors had a significantly shortened survival time (p = 0.01) than patients with positive receptors. Multivariable analysis revealed only clinical FIGO stage as an independent prognostic of overall survival (p = 0.002). Other variables like c-erbB-2, p53, Ki67, and ER were not significantly related to survival. Conclusions: We concluded that patients with negative PR had a significantly shortened survival time than patients with positive receptors. The overexpression of markers c-erbB-2, p53, Ki67, and ER, were not significantly related to survival in EOC. Only the FIGO stage was achieved to be an independent predictor of overall survival. They should be evaluated together with the patient’s clinical status and other prognostic factors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

LATTES: a novel detector concept for a gamma-ray experiment in the Southern hemisphere

The Large Array Telescope for Tracking Energetic Sources (LATTES), is a novel concept for an array of hybrid EAS array detectors, composed of a Resistive Plate Counter array coupled to a Water Cherenkov Detector, planned to cover gamma rays from less than 100 GeV up to 100 TeVs. This experiment, to be installed at high altitude in South America, could cover the existing gap in sensitivity between satellite and ground arrays. The low energy threshold, large duty cycle and wide field of view of LATTES makes it a powerful tool to detect transient phenomena and perform long term observations of variable sources. Moreover, given its characteristics, it would be fully complementary to the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) as it would be able to issue alerts. In this talk, a description of its main features and capabilities, as well as results on its expected performance, and sensitivity, will be presented.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2017), Busan, South Korea. Presented by R. Concei\c{c}\~{a}o. 8 pages; v2: correct affiliation + journal referenc

Pilot project on the implementation of FoodEx2 as part of the Standard Sample Description for the electronic transmission of harmonised chemical occurrence data to EFSA (NP/EFSA/DCM/2012/03/01)

Relatório Final do ProjetoEFSA supporting publication 2013:EN-454 (External Scientific Report)EFSA's Working Group on Food Classification launched in late 2011 the first version of a new and more comprehensive classification and description system for food and feed suitable for exposure assessment in different areas of food safety which was designated FoodEx2. Before being fully implemented, FoodEx2 needs to be tested in different applications, and commented on by users at national level and consequently be improved. Thus, in parallel to the development and implementation of the ‟CFP/EFSA/DATEX2011/01 - Implementation of Electronic Transmission of Chemical Occurrence Data in Portugal‟ project, INSA submitted an offer to the tender „Pilot projects on the implementation of FoodEx2 as part of the Standard Sample Description for the electronic transmission of harmonised chemical occurrence data to EFSA‟. Foodex2 system consists of a large number of individual food items, representing the minimum level of detail necessary to code/describe a food and feed sample to estimate dietary exposure, aggregated in groups and broader categories of food in a hierarchical structure like „parent-child‟ relationship. This characterization is improved with the use of facets. The term facet refers to a set of descriptors which allow detailing the characteristics of a food product according to various aspects such as physical state or preservation technique, among others. These activities of this project performed by INSA in the period October 2012-April 2013 are summarised in the present report.EFS

Conformational study of erythritol and threitol in the gas state by density functional theory calculations

Density functional theory calculations using the B3LYP functional and the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set were carried out on the isolated molecules of erythritol and L-threitol. For the meso isomer, a relatively large number of conformers have to be considered to describe the gas state structure. The lowest energy conformer is characterized by the establishment of a strong intramolecular H-bond between the two terminal hydroxyl groups, giving rise to a seven-membered ring and two additional weaker H-bonds between vicinal OH groups. In the case of L-threitol, two conformers are predominant in the gas state, and both are stabilized by the formation of a cyclic system of four intramolecular hydrogen bonds involving all OH groups. The conformational stability in both diastereomers is discussed in terms of the electronic energy and of the Gibbs energy. The weighted mean enthalpy of both diastereomers in the gas state at 298.15 K was obtained from the thermodynamic data and Boltzmann populations of the low-energy conformers.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TFF-4F31PT7-3/1/ae9dae05894f1bf2f4865221eb1b29b

Enthalpy of Sublimation in the Study of the Solid State of Organic Compounds. Application to Erythritol and Threitol

The enthalpies of sublimation of erythritol and L-threitol have been determined at 298.15 K by calorimetry. The values obtained for the two diastereomers differ from one another by 17 kJ mol -1 . An interpretation of these results is based on the decomposition of this thermodynamic property in a term coming from the intermolecular interactions of the molecules in the crystal (∆ int H°) and another one related with the conformational change of the molecules on going from the crystal lattice to the most stable forms in the gas phase (∆ conf H°). This last term was calculated from the values of the enthalpy of the molecules in the gas state and of the enthalpy of the isolated molecules with the crystal conformation. Both quantities were obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G++(d,p) level of theory. The results obtained in this study show that the most important contribution to the differences observed in the enthalpy of sublimation are the differences in the enthalpy of conformational change (13 kJ mol -1 ) rather than different intermolecular forces exhibited in the solid phase. This is explained by the lower enthalpy of threitol in the gas phase relative to erythritol, which is attributed to the higher strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds in the former. The comparison of the calculated infrared spectra obtained for the two compounds in the gas phase supports this interpretation

Outdoor Field Experience with Autonomous RPC Based Stations

In the last two decades Resistive Plate Chambers were employed in the Cosmic Ray Experiments COVER-PLASTEX and ARGO/YBJ. In both experiments the detectors were housed indoors, likely owing to gas distribution requirements and the need to control environment variables that directly affect RPCs operational stability. But in experiments where Extended Air Shower (EAS) sampling is necessary, large area arrays composed by dispersed stations are deployed, rendering this kind of approach impossible. In this situation, it would be mandatory to have detectors that could be deployed in small standalone stations, with very rare opportunities for maintenance, and with good resilience to environmental conditions. Aiming to meet these requirements, we started some years ago the development of RPCs for Autonomous Stations. The results from indoor tests and measurements were very promising, both concerning performance and stability under very low gas flow rate, which is the main requirement for Autonomous Stations. In this work we update the indoor results and show the first ones concerning outdoor stable operation. In particular, a dynamic adjustment of the high voltage is applied to keep gas gain constant.Peer Reviewe

Muography for Underground Geological Surveys: Ongoing Application at the Lousal Mine (Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal)

The use of muons for geophysical surveys has been proved successful in numerous projects around the planet. The use of muography in an underground environment has an easy side, when compared to the surface, due to the absence of the background radiation. On the other hand, the muon flux is much lower than what is measured on the surface. Geological and underground conditions should be considered when defining the required exposure time and developing suitable muon telescopes for the observation. A collaboration has been established between the Institute of Earth Sciences (ICT), University of Evora, the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP), and the Lousal Ciencia Viva Center to develop muon detectors and evaluate the muography potential in the Lousal Mine, with the general aim to create the conditions to use muography as a novel method for geophysical surveys in Portugal. The Lousal Mine (Iberian Pyrite Belt) was exploited until 1988 and is presently an excellent European example of environmental rehabilitation and social improvement based on museum, scientific, and educational activities. The observations are done from the Waldemar mine gallery, about 18 m below the surface. The telescopes, developed by LIP, use robust RPC detectors to observe the crossing muons in real time. The aim is to do a first geological survey of the region with muography, mapping already known structures and ore lenses and measuring their densities. The new data will then be used to improve the existing information, but the full process also serves to test the performance of the muon telescope and of the muography analysis tools. A reference 3D model is being created by joining pre-existing geological and geophysical information and new measurements, done, namely, with seismic refraction and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This model provides a reference against which to compare the muography results. Ideally, muography could be used to produce an equivalent 3D map of densities. This reference 3D model constructed with independent methods will be used to cross-check the muography results.This R&D project is financed by National Funds through the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, reference EXPL/FIS-OUT/1185/2021. The FCT also finances the Ph.D. scholarship, integrated into the LouMu, reference PD/BD/150490/2019, andwithin the scope of ICT, the project with reference UIDB/04683/2020. A grateful thanks go to the Lousal Ciˆencia Viva team fortheir support of the project

Muon counting using silicon photomultipliers in the AMIGA detector of the Pierre Auger observatory

AMIGA (Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array) is an upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory designed to extend its energy range of detection and to directly measure the muon content of the cosmic ray primary particle showers. The array will be formed by an infill of surface water-Cherenkov detectors associated with buried scintillation counters employed for muon counting. Each counter is composed of three scintillation modules, with a 10 m(2) detection area per module. In this paper, a new generation of detectors, replacing the current multi-pixel photomultiplier tube (PMT) with silicon photo sensors (aka. SiPMs), is proposed. The selection of the new device and its front-end electronics is explained. A method to calibrate the counting system that ensures the performance of the detector is detailed. This method has the advantage of being able to be carried out in a remote place such as the one where the detectors are deployed. High efficiency results, i.e. 98% efficiency for the highest tested overvoltage, combined with a low probability of accidental counting (~2%), show a promising performance for this new system.Peer Reviewe