Bibliometric Analysis of Sustainability Information Systems Research

As IS literature on Sustainability has evolved significantly, reviews of the literature tend to focus more on Green IT, and Green IS research and utilize a smaller body of literature. To help enhance understanding of the evolution of IS and Sustainability literature, this research examines an extensive body of knowledge. We used a comprehensive list of keywords to retrieve research related to Green IT, Green IS, and Sustainability IS. We searched for work beyond a limited list of outlets using the SCOPUS database with an extended timeframe. We then conducted a bibliometric analysis using text-mining tools to provide a clearer view of the field and its themes, thus it helps address what, where, and when questions about the nature of research in SIS literature, providing insights on what topics have been studied, where the research originated from, how the body of research has evolved over the years, and suggested future research

On the Assessment of Surface Quality and Productivity Aspects in Precision Hard Turning of AISI 4340 Steel Alloy: Relative Performance of Wiper vs. Conventional Inserts

This article reports an experimental assessment of surface quality generated in the precision turning of AISI 4340 steel alloy using conventional round and wiper nose inserts for different cutting conditions. A three-factor (each at 4 levels) full factorial design of experiment was followed for feed rate, cutting speed, and depth of cut, with resulting machined surface quality characterized by resulting average roughness (Ra). The results show that, for the provided range of cutting conditions, lower surface roughness values were obtained using wiper inserts compared with conventional inserts, indicating a superior performance. When including the type of insert as a qualitative factor, ANOVA revealed that the type of insert was most important in determining surface roughness and material removal rate, with feed rate as the second most significant, followed by the interaction of feed rate and type of insert. It was found that using wiper inserts allowed simultaneous increases in feed rate, cutting speed, and depth of cut, while providing better surface quality of lower Ra, compared to the global minimum value that could be achieved using the conventional insert. These findings show that wiper inserts produce better surface quality and a material removal rate up to ten times higher than that obtained with conventional inserts. This clearly indicates the tremendous advantages of high surface quality and productivity that wiper inserts can offer when compared with the conventional round nose type in precision hard turning of AISI 4340 alloy steel

Effect of Wiper Edge Geometry on Machining Performance While Turning AISI 1045 Steel in Dry Conditions Using the VIKOR-ML Approach

AISI 1045 can be machined well in all machining operations, namely drilling, milling, turning, broaching and grinding. It has many applications, such as crankshafts, rollers, spindles, shafts, and gears. Wiper geometry has a great influence on cutting forces (Fr, Ff, Fc and R), temperature, material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (Ra). Wiper inserts are used to achieve good surface quality and avoid the need to buy a grinding machine. In this paper, an optimization-based investigation into previously reported results for Taguchi’s based L27 orthogonal array experimentations was conducted to further examine effect of the edge geometry on the turning performance of AISI 1045 steel in dry conditions. Three input parameters used in current research include the cutting speed (Vc), feed (f) and depth of cut (ap), while performance measures in this research were Ra, Fr, Ff, Fc, R, temperature (temp) and MRR. The Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method was used to normalize and convert all the performance measures to a single response known as the VIKOR-based performance index (Vi). The machine learning (ML) approach was used for the prediction and optimization of the input variables. A correlation plot is developed between the input variable and Vi using the ML approach. The optimized setting suggested by Vi-ML is Vc: 160 m/min; ap: 1 mm and f: 0.135 mm/rev, and the corresponding value of Vi was 0.2883, while the predicted values of Ra, Fr, Ff, Fc, R, temp and MRR were 2.111 µm, 43.85 N, 159.33 N, 288.13 N, 332,16 N, 554.4 °C and 21,600 mm3/min, respectively

Investigation and Statistical Analysis for Optimizing Surface Roughness, Cutting Forces, Temperature, and Productivity in Turning Grey Cast Iron

This paper investigated the influence of cutting parameters, including feed rate, cutting speed, tool nose radius, and wet or dry cutting conditions, on the resultant force, cutting edge/workpiece temperature, and surface roughness when turning grey cast iron. Results showed that increasing the feed rate increased the resultant force, cutting temperature, and surface roughness. At the same time, increasing the cutting speed and nose radius increased the cutting temperature, which in turn reduced the resultant force. For practical applications, basic mathematical calculations based on the sole effect of each parameter on the output of the experiments were used to estimate the extent of percentage increase in cutting temperature due to increasing feed rate, cutting speed, and nose radius. Similarly, the same approach was used to estimate the effect of increasing feed rate, cutting speed, and nose radius on average surface roughness. Results showed that increasing the feed rate increases the cutting temperature by 5 to 11% depending on the nose radius and cutting speed. On the other hand, increasing the cutting speed was found to have limited effect on cutting temperature with small nose radius whereas this effect increases with increasing the nose radius reaching about 11%. Increasing the nose radius also increases the cutting temperature, depending mainly on cutting speed, reaching a maximum of 21% at higher cutting speeds. Results also showed that increasing the feed rate increased the average surface roughness considerably to about 120% at high cutting speeds and a large nose radius. On the other hand, increasing the cutting speed and nose radius reduced the surface roughness (i.e., improved surface quality) by a maximum of 29 and 23%, respectively. In order to study the combined effects of the cutting parameters on the three responses, namely, the resultant cutting force, cutting temperature, and surface roughness, full factorial design and ANOVA were used, where it was found to be in good agreement with mathematical calculations. Additionally, the desirability function optimization tool was used to minimize the measured responses whilst maximizing the material removal rate

Exploiting inflammation for therapeutic gain in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive malignancy associated with <5% 5-year survival, in which standard chemotherapeutics have limited benefit. The disease is associated with significant intra- and peritumoral inflammation and failure of protective immunosurveillance. Indeed, inflammatory signals are implicated in both tumour initiation and tumour progression. The major pathways regulating PDAC-associated inflammation are now being explored. Activation of leukocytes, and upregulation of cytokine and chemokine signalling pathways, both have been shown to modulate PDAC progression. Therefore, targeting inflammatory pathways may be of benefit as part of a multi-target approach to PDAC therapy. This review explores the pathways known to modulate inflammation at different stages of tumour development, drawing conclusions on their potential as therapeutic targets in PDAC

Probiotic prophylaxis in patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis (PROPATRIA): design and rationale of a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised multicenter trial [ISRCTN38327949]

BACKGROUND: Infectious complications are the major cause of death in acute pancreatitis. Small bowel bacterial overgrowth and subsequent bacterial translocation are held responsible for the vast majority of these infections. Goal of this study is to determine whether selected probiotics are capable of preventing infectious complications without the disadvantages of antibiotic prophylaxis; antibiotic resistance and fungal overgrowth. METHODS/DESIGN: PROPATRIA is a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised multicenter trial in which 200 patients will be randomly allocated to a multispecies probiotic preparation (Ecologic 641) or placebo. The study is performed in all 8 Dutch University Hospitals and 7 non-University hospitals. The study-product is administered twice daily through a nasojejunal tube for 28 days or until discharge. Patients eligible for randomisation are adult patients with a first onset of predicted severe acute pancreatitis: Imrie criteria 3 or more, CRP 150 mg/L or more, APACHE II score 8 or more. Exclusion criteria are post-ERCP pancreatitis, malignancy, infection/sepsis caused by a second disease, intra-operative diagnosis of pancreatitis and use of probiotics during the study. Administration of the study product is started within 72 hours after onset of abdominal pain. The primary endpoint is the total number of infectious complications. Secondary endpoints are mortality, necrosectomy, antibiotic resistance, hospital stay and adverse events. To demonstrate that probiotic prophylaxis reduces the proportion of patients with infectious complications from 50% to 30%, with alpha 0,05 and power 80%, a total sample size of 200 patients was calculated. CONCLUSION: The PROPATRIA study is aimed to show a reduction in infectious complications due to early enteral use of multispecies probiotics in severe acute pancreatitis

Efficacy and Safety of Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Previously Treated With Sorafenib The CheckMate 040 Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed with advanced disease not eligible for potentially curative therapies; therefore, new treatment options are needed. Combining nivolumab with ipilimumab may improve clinical outcomes compared with nivolumab monotherapy. OBJECTIVE To assess efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with advanced HCC who were previously treated with sorafenib. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS CheckMate 040 is a multicenter, open-label, multicohort, phase 1/2 study. In the nivolumab plus ipilimumab cohort, patients were randomized between January 4 and September 26, 2016. Treatment group information was blinded after randomization. Median follow-up was 30.7 months. Data cutoff for this analysis was January 2019. Patients were recruited at 31 centers in 10 countries/territories in Asia, Europe, and North America. Eligible patients had advanced HCC (with/without hepatitis B or C) previously treated with sorafenib. A total of 148 patients were randomized (50 to arm A and 49 each to arms B and C). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to either nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg, administered every 3 weeks (4 doses), followed by nivolumab 240 mg every 2 weeks (arm A); nivolumab 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg, administered every 3 weeks (4 doses), followed by nivolumab 240 mg every 2 weeks (arm B); or nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg every 6 weeks (arm C). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Coprimary end points were safety, tolerability, and objective response rate. Duration of response was also measured (investigator assessed with the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v1.1). RESULTS Of 148 total participants, 120 were male (81%). Median (IQR) age was 60 (52.5-66.5). At data cutoff (January 2019), the median follow-up was 30.7 months (IQR, 29.9-34.7). Investigator-assessed objective response rate was 32% (95% CI, 20%-47%) in arm A, 27% (95% CI, 15%-41%) in arm B, and 29% (95% CI, 17%-43%) in arm C. Median (range) duration of response was not reached (8.3-33.7+) in arm A and was 15.2 months (4.2-29.9+) in arm B and 21.7 months (2.8-32.7+) in arm C. Any-grade treatment-related adverse events were reported in 46 of 49 patients (94%) in arm A, 35 of 49 patients (71%) in arm B, and 38 of 48 patients (79%) in arm C; there was 1 treatment-related death (arm A; grade 5 pneumonitis). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this randomized clinical trial, nivolumab plus ipilimumab had manageable safety, promising objective response rate, and durable responses. The arm A regimen (4 doses nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks then nivolumab 240 mg every 2 weeks) received accelerated approval in the US based on the results of this study. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0165887

Phase II study of the combination carboplatin plus celecoxib in heavily pre-treated recurrent ovarian cancer patients

Cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression is associated with poor outcome and resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy in ovarian cancer. We evaluated the antitumor activity and safety of the combination carboplatin plus the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib in recurrent heavily-treated OC patients