Experimental Research of Sintered Porous Materials of Bronze Powders

Porous sample were fabricated by sintering of bronze ( Cu Sn10) with different particle size range. The paper investigates the influence of the particle size distribution, temperature and sintering time on the structural characteristics (porosity, pore size, dimensional changes) of the porous parts studied. A porous structure with small-sized pores and a uniform distribution of the pore sizes is obtained in conditions of a narrow range of particle size distribution, small size of the powder particles and optimal sintering parameters

Quality of life in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) randomized to maintenance pazopanib or placebo after first-line chemotherapy in the AGO-OVAR 16 trial. Measuring what matters - patient centered endpoints in trials of maintenance therapy

Background: Health related quality of life (HRQOL) was a secondary endpoint in AGO-OVAR 16, which randomized 940 patients with EOC after first-line chemotherapy to maintenance pazopanib (PZ) or placebo (P). Additional post hoc analyses were carried out to investigate additional patient centered endpoints. Patients and Methods: HRQOL was measured with EORTC-QLQ-C30, QLQ-OV28 and EQ-5D-3L. Pre-specified endpoints included mean differences in HRQOL between treatment arms. Exploratory analyses included quality-adjusted progression-free survival (QAPFS), impact of specific symptoms and progressive disease (PD) on HRQOL and time to second-line chemotherapy. The objective was to provide clinical perspective to the significant median PFS gain of 5.6 months with PZ. Results: There were statistically significant differences between PZ and P in QLQ-C30 global health status (GHC) (5.5 points; 95%CI, 0.7 to 10.4, P=0.024) from baseline to 25 months, but not EQ-5D-3L (0.018 points; 95%CI, -0.033 to 0.069, P=0.485). The impact of diarrhea was captured in QLQ-OV28 Abdominal/GI-Symptoms scale (8.1 points; 95% CI, 3.6 to 12.5, P\u2009=\u20090.001). QAPFS was 386 days (95%CI, 366 to 404 days) with PZ vs 359 days (95%CI, 338 to 379 days) with placebo (P=0.052). PD was associated with a decline in HRQOL (P<0.0001). Median time to second-line chemotherapy was 19.7 months with PZ and 15.0 months with P (HR 0.72, 95%CI 0.69 to 0.86, P=0.0001). Conclusions: There were small to no significant mean score differences in global HRQOL and EQ5D-3L between PZ and placebo respectively despite the increased toxicity of PZ. Exploratory endpoints including QAPFS, impact of specific symptoms on HRQOL during treatment and at PD help place the PFS gain with PZ in context and interpret the results. Additional patient centered endpoints should be considered in trials of maintenance therapy in EOC beyond mean differences in HRQOL scores alone, to support the benefit to patients of prolongation of PFS

Double-contrast magnetic resonance imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of double-contrast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the treatment response evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic liver after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). METHODS: Twenty-two patients with 30 HCC nodules treated by TACE underwent double-contrast MR imaging 1 month after treatment. MR images were obtained before and after the sequential administration of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) and gadopentetate dimeglumine contrast agent within the same imaging session. Two observers retrospectively assessed all treated nodules for evidence of residual viable tumor after TACE. The diagnostic performance of gadolinium-enhanced, SPIO-enhanced, and double-contrast enhanced images was calculated. Histopathological and angiographical findings served as standard of reference. Receiver operating characteristic curves and areas under the curves (A (z)) were calculated. RESULTS: Double-contrast technique (A (z) = 0.95) was significantly (p = 0.036) more accurate than SPIO-enhanced technique (A (z) = 0.92) and gadolinium-enhanced technique (p = 0.005) (A (z) = 0.81) in viable tumor detection after TACE. Double-contrast technique was significantly more sensitive (92%) than SPIO-enhanced technique (80%) and gadolinium-enhanced technique (68%). Kappa values for interobserver agreement ranged from 0.67 to 0.87 and were significantly different from zero (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to gadolinium-enhanced and SPIO-enhanced techniques, double-contrast technique significantly improves the detection of viable tumor in HCC after TACE

Initial results of in vivo high-resolution morphological and biochemical cartilage imaging of patients after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) of the ankle

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use morphological as well as biochemical (T2 and T2* relaxation times and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the evaluation of healthy cartilage and cartilage repair tissue after matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) of the ankle joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers (mean age, 32.4 years) and 12 patients who underwent MACT of the ankle joint (mean age, 32.8 years) were included. In order to evaluate possible maturation effects, patients were separated into short-term (6-13 months) and long-term (20-54 months) follow-up cohorts. MRI was performed on a 3.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner using a new dedicated eight-channel foot-and-ankle coil. Using high-resolution morphological MRI, the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score was assessed. For biochemical MRI, T2 mapping, T2* mapping, and DWI were obtained. Region-of-interest analysis was performed within native cartilage of the volunteers and control cartilage as well as cartilage repair tissue in the patients subsequent to MACT. RESULTS: The overall MOCART score in patients after MACT was 73.8. T2 relaxation times (approximately 50 ms), T2* relaxation times (approximately 16 ms), and the diffusion constant for DWI (approximately 1.3) were comparable for the healthy volunteers and the control cartilage in the patients after MACT. The cartilage repair tissue showed no significant difference in T2 and T2* relaxation times (p > or = 0.05) compared to the control cartilage; however, a significantly higher diffusivity (approximately 1.5; p < 0.05) was noted in the cartilage repair tissue. CONCLUSION: The obtained results suggest that besides morphological MRI and biochemical MR techniques, such as T2 and T2* mapping, DWI may also deliver additional information about the ultrastructure of cartilage and cartilage repair tissue in the ankle joint using high-field MRI, a dedicated multichannel coil, and sophisticated sequences