Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of a deep clay

An experimental study on Ypresian clays –one of the potential deep formations in Belgium for the geological disposal of heat-emitting radioactive waste– was undertaken to systematically study its thermal properties and coupled hydro-mechanical response during fast heating pulse tests. An accurate characterisation of the thermal properties is required for assessing the near-field perturbations around disposal galleries that the sedimentary host rock formation will undergo. A new experimental cell adapted to apply the high in situ stresses and with thermal flux sensors was used to directly measure the thermal conductivity at different sample orientations (heat flux orthogonal and parallel to bedding planes). A clear influence of the degree of saturation – despite being close to saturation – and anisotropic features on thermal conductivity have been detected. The study was complemented by performing fast heating pulse tests under constant volume on a new and fully-instrumented axisymmetric cell. The cell allowed recording the pore pressure build-up and dissipation along a heating pulse and under water-undrained conditions.Postprint (published version

Studying the thermal conductivity of a deep Eocene clay formation: direct measurements vs back-analysis results

An experimental study on Ypresian clays–one of the potential deep and sedimentary clay formations in Belgium for the geological disposal of heat-emitting radioactive waste–has been undertaken to systematically study its thermal conductivity using different experimental techniques. As a first step, a new experimental setup with heat flux measurement has been used and careful pre-conditioning protocols have been followed to directly measure this thermal property. The aim of these pre-conditioning tests has been ensuring a very high degree of saturation and the closure of fissures / gaps along bedding planes before the thermal tests are run under low stress conditions. Thermal tests have shown to be particularly sensitive when the thermal conductivity is determined along a direction orthogonal to these bedding planes. The study is then complemented by using a constant volume heating cell, in which heating pulse tests have been carried out under fully saturated conditions that have been ensured with a high water back-pressure. Numerical models have been used to interpret this pulse test, to exploit all the information provided by temperature measurements and to back-analyse the thermal conductivity. Direct thermal conductivity data with the improved pre-conditioning protocol allowed obtaining results consistent with the values reported when using back-analysis in the constant volume cell. The article discusses the importance of restoring full saturation conditions, particularly on retrieval of deep sedimentary clays, which may undergo opening of fissures along bedding planes that may affect the correct determination of the thermal conductivity.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Complications and Functional Results of Surgery for Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer

The role of surgery in clinical stage T3 prostate cancer (cT3 PCa) is still subject to debate. We reviewed the records of 139 consecutive patients who underwent a radical prostatectomy (RP) for cT3 PCa with a mean follow-up of 8 years. All data related to surgical and perioperative complications were collected. Continence and erectile function were assessed at 12 months postoperatively and long-term oncologic outcomes were analyzed. Rectal injury and injury of the obturator nerve occurred both in 0.7% of cases. No serious in-hospital complications were noted and no reintervention was needed. Lymphatic leakage was noted in 2.2% of patients and 1.4% experienced prolonged drainage of urine. In 7.2%, wound-related problems occurred. Anastomotic stricture occurred in 2.9%. These complication rates were not different compared to surgical series of RP in localized PCa. At 12 months, complete continence was 87.8% and erectile function had fully recovered in 6% and 10% of patients who underwent a non-nerve sparing or unilateral nerve-sparing procedure, respectively. 10-year estimated biochemical PFS, clinical PFS, CSS and OS were 51.8%, 85.6%, 94.6% and 85.9%, respectively. In cT3 PCa, RP is technically feasible with morbidity comparable to RP in clinically localized PCa. Long-term oncologic control was excellent

Comparison of phenotypic and genotypic tropism determination in triple-class-experienced HIV patients eligible for maraviroc treatment

BACKGROUND: Determination of HIV-1 tropism is a pre-requisite to the use of CCR5 antagonists. This study evaluated the potential of population genotypic tropism tests (GTTs) in clinical practice, and the correlation with phenotypic tropism tests (PTTs) in patients accessing routine HIV care. METHODS: Forty-nine consecutive plasma samples for which an original Trofile(TM) assay was performed were obtained from triple-class-experienced patients in need of a therapy change. Viral tropism was defined as the consensus of three or more tropism calls obtained from the combination of two independent population PTT assays (Trofile Biosciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, and Virco, Beerse, Belgium), population GTTs and GTTs based on ultra-deep sequencing. If no consensus was reached, a clonal PTT was performed in order to finalize the tropism call. This two-step approach allowed the definition of a reference tropism call. RESULTS: According to the reference tropism result, 35/49 samples were CCR5 tropic (R5) (patients eligible for maraviroc treatment) and 14/49 were assigned as non-R5 tropic. The non-R5 samples [patients not eligible for maraviroc treatment according to the FDA/European Medicines Agency (EMEA) label] group included both the CXCR4 (X4) samples and the dual and mixed CCR5/CXCR4 (R5/X4) samples. Compared with Trofile(TM) population PTTs, population GTTs showed a higher sensitivity (97%) and a higher negative predictive value (91%), but almost equal specificity and an equal positive predictive value. CONCLUSIONS: In line with recent reports from clinical trial data, our data support the use of population genotypic tropism testing as a tool for tropism determination before the start of maraviroc

Current and future diagnostic and treatment strategies for patients with invasive lobular breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is the second most common type of breast cancer after invasive breast cancer of no special type (NST), representing up to 15% of all breast cancers. DESIGN: Latest data on ILC are presented, focusing on diagnosis, molecular make-up according to the European Society for Medical Oncology Scale for Clinical Actionability of molecular Targets (ESCAT) guidelines, treatment in the early and metastatic setting and ILC-focused clinical trials. RESULTS: At the imaging level, magnetic resonance imaging-based and novel positron emission tomography/computed tomography-based techniques can overcome the limitations of currently used imaging techniques for diagnosing ILC. At the pathology level, E-cadherin immunohistochemistry could help improving inter-pathologist agreement. The majority of patients with ILC do not seem to benefit as much from (neo-)adjuvant chemotherapy as patients with NST, although chemotherapy might be required in a subset of high-risk patients. No differences in treatment efficacy are seen for anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapies in the adjuvant setting and cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 inhibitors in the metastatic setting. The clinical utility of the commercially available prognostic gene expression-based tests is unclear for patients with ILC. Several ESCAT alterations differ in frequency between ILC and NST. Germline BRCA1 and PALB2 alterations are less frequent in patients with ILC, while germline CDH1 (gene coding for E-cadherin) alterations are more frequent in patients with ILC. Somatic HER2 mutations are more frequent in ILC, especially in metastases (15% ILC versus 5% NST). A high tumour mutational burden, relevant for immune checkpoint inhibition, is more frequent in ILC metastases (16%) than in NST metastases (5%). Tumours with somatic inactivating CDH1 mutations may be vulnerable for treatment with ROS1 inhibitors, a concept currently investigated in early and metastatic ILC. CONCLUSION: ILC is a unique malignancy based on its pathological and biological features leading to differences in diagnosis as well as in treatment response, resistance and targets as compared to NST

Tropospheric Products from High-Level GNSS Processing in Latin America

ARTÍCULO PUBLICADO EN REVISTA EXTERNA. The present geodetic reference frame in Latin America and the Caribbean is given by a network of about 400 continuously operating GNSS stations. These stations are routinely processed by ten Analysis Centres following the guidelines and standards set up by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) and International GNSS Service (IGS). The Analysis Centres estimate daily and weekly station positions and station zenith tropospheric path delays (ZTD) with an hourly sampling rate. This contribution presents some attempts aiming at combining the individual ZTD estimations to generate consistent troposphere solutions over the entire region and to provide reliable time series of troposphere parameters, to be used as a reference. The study covers ZTD and IWV series for a time-span of 5 years (2014–2018). In addition to the combination of the individual solutions, some advances based on the precise point positioning technique using BNC software (BKG NTRIP Client) and Bernese GNSS Software V.5.2 are presented. Results are validated using the IGS ZTD products and radiosonde IWV data. The agreement was evaluated in terms of mean bias and rms of the ZTD differences w.r.t IGS products (mean bias 1.5 mm and mean rms 6.8 mm) and w.r.t ZTD from radiosonde data (mean bias 2 mm and mean rms 7.5 mm). IWV differences w.r.t radiosonde IWV data (mean bias 0.41 kg/m2 and mean rms 3.5 kg/m2).Sitio de la revista: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/1345_2020_12