Neutrosophic Project Evaluation and Review Techniques

One of the most important and challenging jobs that any manager can take in the management of a large scale project that requires coordinating numerous activities throughout the organization. Initially, the activity times are static within the CPM technique and probabilistic within the PERT technique. Since neutrosophic set is the generalization of fuzzy set and intuitionistic fuzzy set, a new method of project evaluation and review technique for a project network in neutrosophic environment is proposed in this paper. Considering single valued neutrosophic number as the time of each activity in the project network, neutrosophic expected task time, neutrosophic variance, neutrosophic critical path and the neutrosophic total expected time for completing the project network are calculated here. The main concept of Neutrosophic Project Evaluation and Review Technique(NPERT) method is to solve the ambiguities in the activity times of a project network easily than other existing methods like classical PERT, Fuzzy PERT etc.The proposed method is explained by an illustrative example and the results are discussed here

Electricity generation in a microbial fuel cell using iron oxide nanoparticles

Rapid industrialization and population growth have generated a worldwide interest in renewable energy resourcesto meet. In this context, microbial fuel cells serve the dual purpose of electricity generation and wastewater treatment in a sustainable way. Here, we conducted a set of experiments in two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) to study its efficiency in chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and electricity generation. The MFC was run at constant pH of 5.5 and mesophilic temperature of 30-32°C using mixed consortia of sediment as inoculum and candy industry wastewater as substrate. of the five different initial substrate concentrations of 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000 and 10000 mg COD/L studied, the highest COD removal efficiency of 96.0% and electricity generation of 810 mV was recorded at the initial substrate concentration of 4000 mg COD/L. The experiments conducted also revealed that iron oxide nanoparticles concentration of 0.10 g/L with an average size of 25.64 nm, increased the electricity generation potential to 870 mV by 6.9%. Among the different species of bioelectricity generating bacteria colonized, Corynebacterium variabile SMS-14 was documented as the most dominant species

Esophageal cancer in a young woman with bulimia nervosa: a case report

Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus has increased dramatically within the United States and continues to have a poor prognosis despite aggressive treatment. Identifying potential risk factors is critical for the early detection and treatment of this disease. The present case report describes a very young woman who developed adenocarcinoma of the esophagus after only a brief history of bulimia. These findings suggest that even in very young patients, bulimia may represent a risk factor for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus

Choosing project risk management techniques. A theoretical framework

The pressure for increasing quality while reducing time and costs places particular emphasis on managing risk in projects. To this end, several models and techniques have been developed in literature and applied in practice, so that there is a strong need for clarifying when and how each of them should be used. At the same time, knowledge about risk management is becoming of paramount importance to effectively deal with the complexity of projects. However, communication and knowledge creation are not easy tasks, especially when dealing with uncertainty, because decision-making is often fragmented and a comprehensive perspective on the goals, opportunities, and threats of a project is missing. With the purpose of providing guidelines for the selection of risk techniques taking into account the most relevant aspects characterising the managerial and operational scenario of a project, a theoretical framework to classify these techniques is proposed. Based on a literature review of the criteria to categorise risk techniques, three dimensions are defined: the phase of the risk management process, the phase of the project life cycle, and the corporate maturity towards risk. The taxonomy is then applied to a wide selection of risk techniques according to their documented applications. This work helps to integrate the risk management and the knowledge management processes. Future research efforts will be directed towards refining the framework and testing it in multiple industrie

Predictors of Response to Hydroxyurea and Switch to Ruxolitinib in HU-Resistant Polycythaemia VERA Patients: A Real-World PV-NET Study

: In polycythemia vera (PV), the prognostic relevance of an ELN-defined complete response (CR) to hydroxyurea (HU), the predictors of response, and patients' triggers for switching to ruxolitinib are uncertain. In a real-world analysis, we evaluated the predictors of response, their impact on the clinical outcomes of CR to HU, and the correlations between partial or no response (PR/NR) and a patient switching to ruxolitinib. Among 563 PV patients receiving HU for ≥12 months, 166 (29.5%) achieved CR, 264 achieved PR, and 133 achieved NR. In a multivariate analysis, the absence of splenomegaly (p = 0.03), pruritus (p = 0.002), and a median HU dose of ≥1 g/day (p < 0.001) remained associated with CR. Adverse events were more frequent with a median HU dose of ≥1 g/day. Overall, 283 PR/NR patients (71.3%) continued HU, and 114 switched to ruxolitinib. In the 449 patients receiving only HU, rates of thrombosis, hemorrhages, progression, and overall survival were comparable among the CR, PR, and NR groups. Many PV patients received underdosed HU, leading to lower CR and toxicity rates. In addition, many patients continued HU despite a PR/NR; however, splenomegaly and other symptoms were the main drivers of an early switch. Better HU management, standardization of the criteria for and timing of responses to HU, and adequate intervention in poor responders should be advised

Choice of Frontline Tyrosine-Kinase Inhibitor and Early Events in Very Elderly Patients With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase: A "Campus CML" Study

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the utilization of frontline TKI therapy in a large cohort of elderly CP-CML patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 332 CP-CML patients aged 75 years or older among 1929 diagnosed from January 2012 to December 2019 followed at 36 participating Hematology Centers involved in the "Campus CML" project. Results: Among the patients analyzed, 85.8% received imatinib (IM) while 14.2% received second-generation TKIs (2G-TKI), 59.5% dasatinib, and 40.5% nilotinib. Most patients initiated IM at standard dose (67.3%) while 32.7% at reduced dose. A similar trend was observed with 2G-TKIs. The cumulative incidence of permanent TKI discontinuation at 12 months was 28.4%, primarily due to primary resistance (10.1%) and extra-hematologic toxicity (9.5%), with no significant difference between IM and 2G-TKI groups. Following the introduction of generic IM in Italy in 2018, IM usage increased significantly compared with 2G-TKIs. Conclusions: IM was in our Centers the preferred frontline therapy for older CP-CML patients, with increasing utilization after the introduction of generic formulations. However, 2G-TKIs are still used in a substantial proportion of patients, suggesting individualized physician assessments regarding patient suitability and expectations. Further investigation is needed to assess efficacy and safety of reduced TKI doses in this patient population