Ku & C Band solid state switch matrix for satellite payloads using LTCC multilayer substrate

This paper describes the design and development of Ku and C band solid state switch matrix for multimedia satellite payloads. The design, through the use of advanced packaging techniques, allows significant savings on mass and volume with respect to traditional electromechanical switches while guaranteeing a comparable reliability

Weekly chemotherapy with cisplatin and paclitaxel in advanced NSCLC: a phase II study

Background. This phase II study was designed to assess the activity and toxicity of administration of the cisplatin/ paclitaxel combination in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods. Eligibility criteria included: age up to 70 years, pathological diagnosis of NSCLC, inoperable disease or post-operative tumour recurrence, performance status </=2, no severe co-morbidity, no previous chemotherapy, and informed consent. Treatment consisted of intravenous infusion of cisplatin, 25 mg/m2, and paclitaxel, 80 mg/m2, every week. Chemotherapy was continued until completion of a 22-week treatment plan, disease progression, persistent toxicity, or patient refusal. Results. Forty-nine patients entered the study. They received a median of 14 cycles (range 0-22). For both drugs, the median dose-intensity was 75% of projected. Toxicity was generally acceptable, and never life threatening. Alopecia was the most common side effect, followed by anemia, leukopenia, and nausea/vomiting. Twenty patients responded (40.8% response rate), with three complete, pathologically documented responses. The estimated median time to progression was 35 weeks (95% CI: 29-41); the median survival time was 56 weeks (95% CI: not calculable), with a 2-year survival rate of 46.1%. Conclusions. When given on a weekly basis, the cisplatin/ paclitaxel combination is well tolerated, active, and associated to remarkably long survivals

Nutritional Features and Bread-Making Performance of Wholewheat: Does the Milling System Matter?

Despite the interest in stone-milling, there is no information on the potential advantages of using the resultant wholegrain flour (WF) in bread-making. Consequently, nutritional and technological properties of WFs obtained by both stone- (SWF) and roller-milling (RWF) were assessed on four wheat samples, differing in grain hardness and pigment richness. Regardless of the type of wheat, stone-milling led to WFs with a high number of particles ranging in size from 315 to 710 \u3bcm), whereas RWFs showed a bimodal distribution with large (&gt;1000 \u3bcm) and fine (&lt;250 \u3bcm) particles. On average, the milling system did not affect the proximate composition and the bioactive features of WFs. The gluten aggregation kinetics resulted in similar trends for all SWFs, with indices higher than for RWFs. The effect of milling on dough properties (i.e., mixing and leavening) was sample dependent. Overall, SWFs produced more gas, resulting in bread with higher specific volume. Bread crumb from SWF had higher lutein content in the wheat cv rich in xanthophylls, while bread from RWF of the blue-grained cv had a moderate but significantly higher content in esterified phenolic acids and total anthocyanins. In conclusion, there was no relevant advantage in using stone- as opposed to roller-milling (and vice versa)

STUDIO DI SORVEGLIANZA DELLE CANDIDEMIE NEL BIENNIO 2003-2004 . VALUTAZIONE DELLA DISTRIBUZIONE NELLE UTI E SUSCETTIBILITÀ AGLI ANTIMICOTICI

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Serum biochemical profile in Holstein Friesian and Belgian blue calves in the first 48 hours of life

Specific age-related changes in blood variables of calves have previously been reported. The very first hours after birth are however not fully investigated, and results originating from different breeds are combined. The purpose of this study was to investigate the variation in biochemical variables during the first 48 hours after birth in Holstein-Friesian (HF) and Belgian Blue (BB) calves. Nineteen HF calves born vaginally and 23 BB calves delivered by caesarean section were sampled within 30 min after birth, and at 24 and 48 h of life. The concentration of albumin, chloride, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphate, urea, creatinine, glucose, b-hydroxybutyrate, total protein, and activity of AST, cGT and glutamate dehydrogenase were evaluated. In both groups, significant decreases were recorded at 24 and/or 48 hours compared with 30 min for albumin, calcium, chloride and creatinine, while significant increases were found for AST, cGT, bilirubin, GLDH, glucose and total protein. Changes in analyte concentrations or activities, followed the same trend in both groups, thus suggesting typical features of the newborn calf maturation. The first 24 hours after birth seem to represent a temporal key point in the newborn calf\u2019s life for switching from maternal dependence to a self-sufficient and independent survival. This study confirms that age-specific values should be considered for precise interpretation of laboratory results of newborn calves

neuroimaging changes in menkes disease part 2

SUMMARY: This is the second part of a retrospective and review MR imaging study aiming to define the frequency rate, timing, imaging features, and evolution of gray matter changes in Menkes disease, a rare multisystem X-linked disorder of copper metabolism characterized by early, severe, and progressive neurologic involvement. According to our analysis, neurodegenerative changes and focal basal ganglia lesions already appear in the early phases of the disease. Subdural collections are less common than generally thought; however, their presence remains important because they might challenge the differential diagnosis with child abuse and might precipitate the clinical deterioration. Anecdotal findings in our large sample seem to provide interesting clues about the protean mechanisms of brain injury in this rare disease and further highlight the broad spectrum of MR imaging findings that might be expected while imaging a child with the suspicion of or a known diagnosis of Menkes disease

Evaluación de la conformidad. Proceso de certificación de los rones de Azcuba

La tradición en el cultivo de la caña de azúcar, cuenta con características y calidad que emanan de las condiciones geográficas y que en su conjunto proporcionan atributos organolépticos (es decir, que pueden ser percibidos a través de los sentidos) a los productos que derivan de ella Hoy más que nunca, la sociedad siente preocupaciones por los productos que compran en la medida que son diseñados, producidos, distribuidos y utilizados y los mercados insisten en diferenciar los productos, atendiendo a nuevos valores asociados al consumo. La industria del ron en AZCUBA, viene dando pasos firmes en lograr que sus productos sean reconocidos y para ello las empresas están trabajando en documentar, implementar y mantener sistemas de gestión de calidad que aseguren la conformidad de sus productos, que conjuntamente con el ensayo de tipo del producto a certificar, que deben ser realizados en laboratorios que cumplan los requisitos de competencia establecidos en la norma NC-ISO/IEC 17025:06 (2006), constituyen las dos evaluaciones cuyos resultados satisfactorios le permiten a dicho producto obtener la Marca Cubana de Conformidad. El objetivo de este trabajo, es que sirva de guía y orientación a aquellos productores que aún no han logrado la certificación de sus productos.Fil: Vasallo Sordo, M.C. Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar; Cuba.Fil: Blanco Carbajal, I. Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar; Cuba.Fil: Vega Batista, M. Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar; Cuba.Fil: Linares Reyes, A. Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar; Cuba.Fil: Lorenzo Izquierdo, M. Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar; Cuba.Fil: Faillaci, S.M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto Superior de Estudios Ambientales; Argentina.Fil: Faillaci, S.M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina.Fil: Giordano, Jesús E. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina.Otras Ingenierías y Tecnología

Are all cases of paediatric essential thrombocythaemia really myeloproliferative neoplasms? Analysis of a large cohort

Sporadic essential thrombocythaemia (ET) is rare in paediatrics, and the diagnostic and clinical approach to paediatric cases cannot be simply copied from experience with adults. Here, we assessed 89 children with a clinical diagnosis of ET and found that 23 patients (258%) had a clonal disease. The JAK2 V617F mutation was identified in 14 children, 1 child had the MPL W515L mutation, and 6 had CALR mutations. The monoclonal X-chromosome inactivation pattern was seen in six patients (two with JAK2 V617F and two with CALR mutations). The other 66 patients (742%) had persistent thrombocytosis with no clonality. There were no clinical or haematological differences between the clonal and non-clonal patients. The relative proportion of ET-specific mutations in the clonal children was much the same as in adults. The higher prevalence of nonclonal cases suggests that some patients may not have myeloproliferative neoplasms, with significant implications for their treatment

Adjuvant treatment for elderly patients with colon cancer. An observational study

Background: Adjuvant. 5-fluoruracil-based chemotherapysignificantly reduces mortality in. patients with: stage II-III colon cancer, but is less prescribed with rising age. In this study we were interested in the pattern of adjuvant treatment and possible effects on survival among elderly patients. Patients and methods: From January to December 2004, 63 questionnaires on the management of stage II-III resected colon cancer patients aged over 70 years, collected from 10 Italian Centres, were retrospectively examined. Determinants of receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy and their relation to survival were considered. Results: The proportion of elderly patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy was 79.4%, distinct of age, gender, educational level and comorbidities. Grade 3-4 toxicities were the following: haematological in 4 (8.5.%) patients, mucositis in 4 (8.5%), diarrhoea in 2 (4.2%) and nausea in 1 (2.1%). The disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) at two years were 79.9% and 95.6%, respectively. Due to the paucity of events, the impact of prognostic factors (patient's age and comorbidity, tumour stage and grade) on DFS and OS could not be assessed. Conclusion: An increasing proportion of elderly patients with colon cancer may be treated with a tolerability and OS similar to those observed in the younger population. Development of age-based guidelines and increased awareness of both physicians and patients through education is important to prevent undertreatment of those elderly patients who are eligible for chemotherapy

KRAS mutation in lung metastases from colorectal cancer : Prognostic implications

KRAS mutant colorectal cancer (CRC) patients develop lung and brain metastases more frequently than KRAS wild-type (WT) counterpart. We retrospectively investigated the prognostic role of KRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA (exon 20) mutations and loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) in surgically resected lung metastases. Lung specimens from 75 metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients treated with one or more metastasectomies with curative intent were analyzed. Sixty-four percent of patients had KRAS WT lung metastases. PTEN loss-of-function was found in 75%. BRAF and PIK3CA exon 20 mutations were not found. Seven patients subsequently developed brain metastases and 43% of them had KRAS mutation. In univariate analysis, median overall survival (OS) for KRAS WT patients was longer, compared to KRAS mutant patients (median 60.9 vs. 36.6\ua0months, P\ua0=\ua00.035). In addition, both progression-free survival (PFS) and lung disease-free survival (LDFS) between lung surgery and relapse were not associated with KRAS and PTEN status. In multivariate analysis, the risk of death was significantly increased by KRAS mutational status (OS Hazard ratio (HR) 2.17, 95% IC 1.19-3.96, P\ua0=\ua00.012) and lack of adjuvant chemotherapy (OS HR 0.10, 95% IC 0.01-0.74, P\ua0=\ua00.024). The proportion of KRAS mutations in lung metastases was similar to the expected proportion in primary tumors. Patients harboring KRAS mutation had a poorer survival rate compared to WT group both in univariate and multivariate analysis. Moreover, administration of adjuvant chemotherapy after lung metastasectomy (LM) significantly improved both PFS and OS. KRAS mutation is a negative prognostic factor in mCRC patients undergoing LM. Further larger and prospective studies are necessary to confirm these findings