Lung carcinoid tumours: histology and Ki-67, the eternal rivalry

WHO classification of Thoracic Tumours defines lung carcinoid tumours (LCTs) as well-differentiated neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) classified in low grade typical (TC) and intermediate grade atypical carcinoids (AC). Limited data exist concerning protein expression and morphologic factors able to predict disease aggressiveness. Though Ki-67 has proved to be a powerful diagnostic and prognostic factor for Gastro-entero-pancreatic NENs, its role in lung NENs is still debated. A retrospective series of 370 LCT from two oncology centers was centrally reviewed. Morphology and immunohistochemical markers (Ki-67, TTF-1, CD44, OTP, SSTR-2A, Ascl1, and p53) were studied and correlated with Overall Survival (OS), Cancer-specific survival (CSS) and Disease-free survival (DFS). Carcinoid histology was confirmed in 355 patients: 297 (83.7%) TC and 58 (16.3%) AC. Ki-67 at 3% was the best value in predicting DFS. Ki-67 ≥ 3% tumours were significantly associated with AC histology, stage III-IV, smoking, vascular invasion, tumour spread through air spaces OTP negativity, and TTF-1, Ascl1 and p53 positivity. After adjustment for center and period of diagnosis, both Ki-67 (≥3 versus <3) and histology (AC versus TC) alone significantly added prognostic information to OS and CSS multivariable model with age, stage and OTP; addition of both variables did not provide further prognostic information. Conversely, an improved significance of the DFS prediction model at multivariate analysis was seen by adding Ki-67 (≥3 versus <3, P adj = 0.01) to TC and AC histological distinction, age, lymph node involvement, residual tumour and OTP. Ki-67 ≥ 3% plays a potentially pivotal role in LCT prognosis, irrespective of histological grade

Magnetoresistencia y elasticidad anisotrópica en elastómeros formados por cadenas de nanopartículas y nanotubos orientadas magnéticamente [magnetoresistance and anisotropic elasticity in elastomers formed by chains of magnetically oriented nanoparticles and nanotubes]

La meta de éste trabajo es obtener magneto-elastómeros compuestos por dispersión de nanopartículas magnéticas en polidimetilsiloxano (PDMS), curando el polímero en presencia de un campo magnético uniforme. [Le but de ce travail est d’obtenir des composites magnéto-élastomériques par dispersion de nanoparticules magnétiques dans du polydiméthylsiloxane (PDMS), en réticulant le polymère en présence d’un champ magnétique uniforme.] [The goal of this work is to obtain magneto-elastomeric composites through dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), by curing the polymer in presence of a uniform magnetic field.

A survey of clinical features of allergic rhinitis in adults

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) has high prevalence and substantial socio-economic burden. Material/Methods: The study included 35 Italian Centers recruiting an overall number of 3383 adult patients with rhinitis (48% males, 52% females, mean age 29.1, range 18\u201345 years). For each patient, the attending physician had to fill in a standardized questionnaire, covering, in particular, some issues such as the ARIA classification of allergic rhinitis (AR), the results of skin prick test (SPT), the kind of treatment, the response to treatment, and the satisfaction with treatment. Results: Out of the 3383 patients with rhinitis, 2788 (82.4%) had AR: 311 (11.5%) had a mild intermittent, 229 (8.8%) a mild persistent, 636 (23.5%) a moderate-severe intermittent, and 1518 (56.1%) a moderate-severe persistent form. The most frequently used drugs were oral antihistamines (77.1%) and topical corticosteroids (60.8%). The response to treatment was judged as excellent in 12.2%, good in 41.3%, fair in 31.2%, poor in 14.5%, and very bad in 0.8% of subjects. The rate of treatment dissatisfaction was significantly higher in patients with moderate-to-severe AR than in patients with mild AR (p<0.0001). Indication to allergen immunotherapy (AIT) was significantly more frequent (p<0.01) in patients with severe AR than with mild AR. . Conclusions: These fndings confirm the appropriateness of ARIA guidelines in classifying the AR patients and the association of severe symptoms with unsuccessful drug treatment. The optimal targeting of patients to be treated with AIT needs to be reassessed

La evolución del outsourcing hacia un modelo de negocios compartidos, dentro de la "tercer revolución industrial"

Fil: Mietta, Raúl A.. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Administración y Negocios; Argentina.Hofman, Enriqu

Primary leiomyosarcoma of the lung in a girl.

Leiomyosarcoma of the lung is a type of tumour rarely found in childhood. It arises from smooth muscle either of bronchial or arterial walls, has a variable pattern of local growth, blood-borne metastatic spread with lymph nodes sparing and a clinical course characterized by fever, cough and worsening dyspnea. We report a case which occurred in a 14-year-old girl, reviewing all the other cases found in the literature

On the behavior of mud floc size distribution: Model calibration and model behavior

In this paper, we study a population balance equation (PBE) where flocs are distributed into classes according to their mass. Each class i contains i primary particles with mass mp and size Lp. All differently sized flocs can aggregate, binary breakup into two equally sized flocs is used, and the floc’s fractal dimension is d0 = 2, independently of their size. The collision efficiency is kept constant, and the collision frequency derived by Saffman and Turner (J Fluid Mech 1:16–30, 1956) is used. For the breakup rate, the formulation by Winterwerp (J Hydraul Eng Res 36(3):309–326, 1998), which accounts for the porosity of flocs, is used. We show that the mean floc size computed with the PBE varies with the shear rate as the Kolmogorov microscale, as observed both in laboratory and in situ. Moreover, the equilibrium mean floc size varies linearly with a global parameter P which is proportional to the ratio between the rates of aggregation and breakup. The ratio between the parameters of aggregation and breakup can therefore be estimated analytically from the observed equilibrium floc size. The parameter for aggregation can be calibrated from the temporal evolution of the mean floc size. We calibrate the PBE model using mixing jar flocculation experiments, see Mietta et al. (J Colloid Interface Sci 336(1):134–141, 2009a, Ocean Dyn 59:751–763, 2009b) for details. We show that this model can reproduce the experimental data fairly accurately. The collision efficiency ? and the ratio between parameters for aggregation and breakup ? and E are shown to decrease linearly with increasing absolute value of the ? -potential, both for mud and kaolinite suspensions. Suspensions at high pH and different dissolved salt type and concentration have been used. We show that the temporal evolution of the floc size distribution computed with this PBE is very similar to that computed with the PBE developed by Verney et al. (Cont Shelf Res, 2010) where classes are distributed following a geometrical series and mass conservation is statistically ensured. The same terms for aggregation and breakup are used in the two PBEs. Moreover, we argue, using both PBEs, that bimodal distributions become monomodal in a closed system with homogeneous sediment, even when a variable shear rate is applied.WaterbouwkundeCivil Engineering and Geoscience