Numerical simulation of roll waves in pipelines using the two-fluid model

A finite volume discretization of the incompressible two-fluid model in four-equation form is proposed for simulating roll waves appearing in multiphase pipelines. The new formulation has two important advantages compared to existing roll wave simulators: (i) it is conservative by construction, meaning that the correct shock magnitude is obtained at the hydraulic jump, and (ii) it can be more easily extended with additional physics (e.g. Compressibility, axial diffusion, surface tension), without rederiving the model equations. A simple, robust, first-order upwind discretization of the four-equation model is able to capture the roll wave profiles, although a fine grid is needed to achieve converged results. The four-equation model leads to new roll wave solutions that differ from existing analytical and numerical results. Our solutions are believed to be physically more correct because the shock relations satisfy physically conserved quantities

Free-flap reconstitutions of head and neck defects after oncologic ablation

Background: Head and neck cancers are the sixth most common cancers worldwide. The primary treatment modality for most head and neck cancers is surgery with reconstruction of resultant defects. Reconstruction of these defects is a unique challenge as it has to not only restore integrity but also function and often cosmesis. The objective of this study was to assess the utility of free flaps in the reconstruction of these defects, done in a tertiary care centre in a three-tier city in India. Methodology: We analyzed the computerized medical records of the last 3 years in this retrospective study carried out in the department of head and neck oncology at the cancer centre. The study included cases that had undergone surgery for head and neck cancer and underwent free flap reconstruction. Results: Out of the 1061 cases requiring reconstruction after an oncologic ablation, 201 cases underwent free flap reconstruction. For defects requiring Facio cutaneous reconstruction, the radial forearm was the preferred donor free flap site, while the fibula was the preferred donor site for mandibular reconstructions survival rate was 94.5%, with factors like age and comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension or habits like cigarette smoking or tobacco chewing not affecting survival rates. Twenty cases of minor flap complications were observed. Conclusions: Free flap reconstructions for head and neck defects after oncologic ablation have been a boon with good survival rates and immense flexibility of use, giving good cosmetic and functional outcomes. Our study shows that a significant number of free flap reconstructions can be done in a tertiary care centre in a three-tier city in India with an internationally comparable survival rate

High spin polarization and the origin of unique ferromagnetic ground state in CuFeSb

CuFeSb is isostructural to the ferro-pnictide and chalcogenide superconductors and it is one of the few materials in the family that are known to stabilize in a ferromagnetic ground state. Majority of the members of this family are either superconductors or antiferromagnets. Therefore, CuFeSb may be used as an ideal source of spin polarized current in spin-transport devices involving pnictide and the chalcogenide superconductors. However, for that the Fermi surface of CuFeSb needs to be sufficiently spin polarized. In this paper we report direct measurement of transport spin polarization in CuFeSb by spin-resolved Andreev reflection spectroscopy. From a number of measurements using multiple superconducting tips we found that the intrinsic transport spin polarization in CuFeSb is high ($\sim$ 47\%). In order to understand the unique ground state of CuFeSb and the origin of large spin polarization at the Fermi level, we have evaluated the spin-polarized band structure of CuFeSb through first principles calculations. Apart from supporting the observed 47\% transport spin polarization, such calculations also indicate that the Sb-Fe-Sb angles and the height of Sb from the Fe plane is strikingly different for CuFeSb than the equivalent parameters in other members of the same family thereby explaining the origin of the unique ground state of CuFeSb.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Free-flap reconstitutions of head and neck defects after oncologic ablation

Background: Head and neck cancers are the sixth most common cancers worldwide. The primary treatment modality for most head and neck cancers is surgery with reconstruction of resultant defects. Reconstruction of these defects is a unique challenge as it has to not only restore integrity but also function and often cosmesis. The objective of this study was to assess the utility of free flaps in the reconstruction of these defects, done in a tertiary care centre in a three-tier city in India. Methodology: We analyzed the computerized medical records of the last 3 years in this retrospective study carried out in the department of head and neck oncology at the cancer centre. The study included cases that had undergone surgery for head and neck cancer and underwent free flap reconstruction. Results: Out of the 1061 cases requiring reconstruction after an oncologic ablation, 201 cases underwent free flap reconstruction. For defects requiring Facio cutaneous reconstruction, the radial forearm was the preferred donor free flap site, while the fibula was the preferred donor site for mandibular reconstructions survival rate was 94.5%, with factors like age and comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension or habits like cigarette smoking or tobacco chewing not affecting survival rates. Twenty cases of minor flap complications were observed. Conclusions: Free flap reconstructions for head and neck defects after oncologic ablation have been a boon with good survival rates and immense flexibility of use, giving good cosmetic and functional outcomes. Our study shows that a significant number of free flap reconstructions can be done in a tertiary care centre in a three-tier city in India with an internationally comparable survival rate

An Integrated Interactive Technique for Image Segmentation using Stack based Seeded Region Growing and Thresholding

Image segmentation is a challenging process in numerous applications. Region growing is one of the segmentation techniques as a basis for the Seeded Region Growing method. A novel real time integrated method was developed in the current work to locate the segmented region of interest of an image based on the Region Growing segmentation method along with the thresholding supported image segmentation. Through the proposed work, a homogeneity based on pixel intensity was suggested as well as the threshold value can be decided via a variety of schemes such as manual selection, Iterative method, Otsu’s method, local thresholding to obtain the best possible threshold. The experimental results were performed on different images obtained from an Alpert dataset. A comparative study was arried out with the human segmented image, threshold based region growing, and the proposed integrated method. The results established that the proposed integrated method outperformed the region growing method in terms of the recall and F-score. Although, it had comparable recall values with that gained by the human segmented images. It was noted that as the image under test had a dark background with the brighter object, thus the proposed method provided the superior recall value compared to the other methods

Heritage: A phase III safety and efficacy trial of the proposed trastuzumab biosimilar Myl-1401O versus Herceptin

Background: Trastuzumab has revolutionized treatment of HER2+ breast cancer. Globally accessible alternatives are a critical need. We evaluated Myl-1401O, a proposed trastuzumab biosimilar, as treatment for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC), based on physicochemical analyses, nonclinical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies*. Methods: Heritage is a double-blind, randomized clinical trial designed to evaluate comparative efficacy and safety of Myl-1401O vs Herceptin. Eligible patients (pts) had ..

Effect of a Proposed Trastuzumab Biosimilar Compared With Trastuzumab on Overall Response Rate in Patients With ERBB2 (HER2)–Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer. A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Treatment with the anti-ERBB2 humanized monoclonal antibody trastuzumab and chemotherapy significantly improves outcome in patients with ERBB2 (HER2)–positive metastatic breast cancer; a clinically effective biosimilar may help increase access to this therapy. OBJECTIVE To compare the overall response rate and assess the safety of a proposed trastuzumab biosimilar plus a taxane or trastuzumab plus a taxane in patients without prior treatment for ERBB2-positive metastatic breast cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, phase 3 equivalence study in patients with metastatic breast cancer. From December 2012 to August 2015, 500 patients were randomized 1:1 to receive a proposed biosimilar or trastuzumab plus a taxane. Chemotherapy was administered for at least 24 weeks followed by antibody alone until unacceptable toxic effects or disease progression occurred. INTERVENTIONS Proposed biosimilar (n = 230) or trastuzumab (n = 228) with a taxane. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was week 24 overall response rate (ORR) defined as complete or partial response. Equivalence boundaries were 0.81 to 1.24 with a 90% CI for ORR ratio (proposed biosimilar/trastuzumab) and −15% to 15% with a 95% CI for ORR difference. Secondary outcome measures included time to tumor progression, progression-free and overall survival at week 48, and adverse events. RESULTS Among 500 women randomized, the intention-to-treat population included 458 women (mean [SD] age, 53.6 [11.11] years) and the safety population included 493 women. The ORR was 69.6% (95% CI, 63.62%-75.51%) for the proposed biosimilar vs 64.0% (95% CI, 57.81%-70.26%) for trastuzumab. The ORR ratio (1.09; 90% CI, 0.974-1.211) and ORR difference (5.53; 95% CI, −3.08 to 14.04) were within the equivalence boundaries. At week 48, there was no statistically significant difference with the proposed biosimilar vs trastuzumab for time to tumor progression (41.3% vs 43.0%; −1.7%; 95% CI, −11.1% to 6.9%), progression-free survival (44.3% vs 44.7%; −0.4%; 95% CI, −9.4% to 8.7%), or overall survival (89.1% vs 85.1%; 4.0%; 95% CI, −2.1% to 10.3%). In the proposed biosimilar and trastuzumab groups, 239 (98.6%) and 233 (94.7%) had at least 1 adverse event, the most common including neutropenia (57.5% vs 53.3%), peripheral neuropathy (23.1% vs 24.8%), and diarrhea (20.6% vs 20.7%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among women with ERBB2-positive metastatic breast cancer receiving taxanes, the use of a proposed trastuzumab biosimilar compared with trastuzumab resulted in an equivalent overall response rate at 24 weeks. Further study is needed to assess safety and long-term clinical outcome. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02472964; EudraCT Identifier: 2011-001965-4

Generalized integral and similarity solutions of the concentration profiles for osmotic pressure controlled ultrafiltration

A mathematical model describing the concentration polarization phenomenon during osmotic pressure controlled ultrafiltration is presented. Generalized integral and similarity solutions of the concentration profile in the mass transfer boundary layer are obtained. The parameters governing the shape of the concentration profile vary with time in case of a batch cell and axial distance in a cross flow cell. The model is used to predict the permeate flux and the solute rejection simultaneously during unstirred batch cell and cross flow UF. The results obtained by integral and similarity solutions are compared with the results of detailed numerical solution of the governing equations for both the systems. The predictions of permeate flux from the generalized integral method are also compared with some approximate solutions in order to assess the limitations of the various approximations. UF experiments were performed with Dextran (T-20) in cross flow system and with PEG-6000 and Dextran (T-40 and T-20) in unstirred batch cell. Predictions of the model are in remarkably good agreement with detailed simulation as well as experimental results. Moreover, the integral solution can also account for the variation of diffusivity with solute concentration. Comparisons show that (a) while the generalized integral method is much simpler than the detailed numerical solutions, it is much more general and accurate than other analytical and semi-analytical solutions, and, (b) the proposed solution predicts the osmotic pressure controlled flux decline accurately over a wide range of operating conditions. The expression for gel layer governed UF (constant membrane surface concentration) is found to be an asymptotic case of the present solution