Fatigue evaluation of highway bridges

The present work provides a comparison of current AASHTO bridge fatigue guidelines with fracture mechanics procedures. Specifically, the remaining fatigue life of several actual bridges with welded cover plate ends is estimated using the AASHTO specifications. The estimates are compared with predictions made using linear elastic fracture mechanics principles where the time required for an initial flaw to propagate to a critical depth is calculated. It is found that fatigue lives of actual steel highway bridges as determined using fracture mechanics far exceed the remaining safe fatigue life predictions made with current AASHTO guide specifications. For the case of redundant bridges, an adjustment factor is introduced which, at various probability levels, can produce closer estimates of bridge fatigue lives between the AASHTO specifications and fracture mechanics. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Future perspectives in cancer immunotherapy

The advent of immunotherapy has transformed the treatment paradigm of several solid tumors and is expected to influence the therapeutic algorithm even more in the future following the results of numerous ongoing clinical trials in a wide range of malignancies. Exploiting the anti-cancer effect of the immune system with the use of vaccines, viral vectors, and more lately with immune check-point inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor modification, has been proven a successful therapeutic strategy in a broad spectrum of tumors. In particular, immune check-point inhibition in melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer and renal cancer, peptide vaccination in prostate cancer and glioblastoma, and oncolytic immunotherapy in melanoma are well-established therapeutic modalities that have obtained approval by regulatory authorities and are already in clinical use. A large number of ongoing clinical trials involving thousands of patients are currently seeking to define the appropriate tumor type, therapeutic setting, treatment combination and patient populations in order to maximize clinical benefit from immunotherapeutic agents. In this context, identification of the patients whose tumors are most likely to respond to immunotherapy by the use of appropriate biomarkers will be crucial for the optimal implementation of immunotherapy into the therapeutic armamentarium

Fatigue evaluation of bridges

The present work applies the AASHTO guide specifications to fatigue evaluation of several actual bridges. Estimates are compared with predictions made using linear elastic fracture mechanics principles where the time required for an initial flaw to propagate to a critical length is calculated. It is found that actual steel highway bridges demonstrate that fatigue predictions based solely on safe life result in excessively low fatigue lives. Mean life predictions on the other hand tend to be too long. It can be possible to calibrate the AASHTO specifications so there is a closer agreement with the fracture mechanics predictions

Where Do Cancer Patients Die in Greece? A Population-Based Study on the Place of Death in 1993 and 2003

Several studies have shown that place of death is affected by many parameters. Our objective was to describe for the first time where patients with cancer die in Greece and what has changed between 1993 and 2003. We acquired data on all deaths that were attributed to cancer in Greece in the years 1993 and 2003, and compared these data to the changes in the location of death in the total population. In 1993, approximately 50.7% of men and 50.9% of women cancer patients died in hospital, while in 2003, the respective percentages were 57.3% and 56.1%. The results indicate a trend toward a larger proportion of hospital deaths over this interval. This should be taken under consideration for future planning of end-of-life care in Greece. © 2009 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee