Basal cell carcinoma: 10-year experience with electrochemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Electrochemotherapy (ECT), by combining manageable cytotoxic agents with short electric pulses, represents an effective palliative skin-directed therapy. The accumulated evidence indicates that ECT stands out as a safe and well-tolerated alternative treatment for patients with multiple or large basal cell carcinoma (BCC), who are not suitable for conventional treatments. However, long-term data and shared indications are lacking. METHODS: In this observational study, we retrospectively analyzed 84 prospectively collected patients with multiple, recurrent or locally advanced BCC who were not candidate for standard therapies and received bleomycin-based ECT according to the European Standard Operative Procedures of ECT, from 2006 to 2016. RESULTS: Disease extent was local, locally advanced and metastatic in 40 (48%), 41 (49%) and 3 (3%), respectively. Forty-four (52%) individuals had multiple BCCs. Grade 3 skin toxicity after ECT was observed in 6% of cases. Clearance rate was 50% (95% CI 39-61%). Primary presentation (p = 0.004), tumor size <3 cm (p < 0.001), well-defined borders (p = 0.021), absence of tumor ulceration (p = 0.001), non-aggressive BCC histology (p = 0.046) and age 6469 years were associated with higher complete response rate. In patients with local BCC, the clearance rate was 72.5 and 85% after one or two ECT cycles, respectively. In the laBCC group, 32 patients (78%) achieved an objective response. Five-year recurrence rate for local and laBCC was 20 and 38%, respectively (p 64 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: One or two ECT cycles with bleomycin may be a valuable palliative treatment in well-selected patients with multiple BCCs and favorable tumor features. Validation of predictive factors will be imperative to match patients with optimal ECT treatment modalities. Management of laBCC with ECT warrants further investigation. Trial registration ISRCTN14633165 Registered 24 March 2017 (retrospectively registered)

Cropland Net Ecosystem Exchange Estimation for the Inland Pampas (Argentina) Using EVI, Land Cover Maps, and Eddy Covariance Fluxes

Estimations of Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) are crucial to assess the carbon sequestration/carbon source capacity of agricultural systems. Although several global models have been built to describe carbon flux patterns based on flux tower data, South American ecosystems (and croplands in particular) are underrepresented in the databases used to calibrate these models, leading to large uncertainties in regional and global NEE estimation. Despite the fact that almost half of the land surface is used worldwide for agricultural activities, these models still do not include variables related to cropland management. Using enhanced vegetation index (EVI) derived from MODIS imagery (250m) and monthly CO2 exchange from a 9-year record of an eddy covariance (EC) flux tower in a crop field in the Inland Pampas region, we developed regression models to predict monthly NEE. We tested whether including a term for crop identity/land cover as a categorical variable (maize, soybean, wheat, and fallow) could improve model capability in capturing monthly NEE dynamics. NEE measured at the flux tower site was scaled to croplands across the Inland Pampa using crop-type maps, from which annual NEE maps were generated for the 2018–2019, 2019–2020, and 2020–2021 agricultural campaigns. The model based solely on EVI showed to be a good predictor of monthly NEE for the study region (r2 = 0.78), but model adjustment was improved by including a term for crop identity (r2 = 0.83). A second set of maps was generated taking into account carbon exports during harvest to estimate Net Biome Productivity (NBP) at the county level. Crops across the region as a whole acted as a carbon sink during the three studied campaigns, although with highly heterogeneous spatial and temporal patterns. Between 60% and 80% of the carbon sequestered was exported during harvest, a large decrease from the carbon sequestration capacity estimated using just NEE, which further decreased if fossil carbon emissions from agricultural supplies are taken into account. Estimates presented in this study are a first step towards upscaling carbon fluxes at the regional scale in a South American cropland area, and could help to improve regional to global estimations of carbon fluxes and refine national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories.Fil: Marconato, Ulises. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Clima y Agua; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA); Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA); ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Roberto J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA),; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA); Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Cátedra de Ecología; ArgentinaFil: Posse Beaulieu, Gabriela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Clima y Agua; Argentin

PRÁTICAS FINANCEIRAS VIVENCIADAS POR ESTUDANTES DOENSINO MÉDIO EM SEU CONTEXTO FAMILIAR

Este artigo é um recorte de uma pesquisa de Mestrado, que está sendo desenvolvida no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino de Ciências Naturais e Matemática (PPGEN) da Universidade Estadual do Centro Oeste (UNICENTRO) e tem como título A Matemática Financeira e a Resolução de Problemas: possibilidades e reflexões sobre a Educação Financeira. Este recorte é uma pesquisa exploratória que teve como objetivo investigar as práticas financeiras vivenciadas pelos estudantes em seu contexto familiar. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de um questionário fechado, com os estudantes do ensino médio e seus familiares, de uma escola pública do interior do Paraná. Os resultados apontaram que a maioria das famílias não faz controle adequado de suas finanças e uma minoria das famílias se reúnem para discutir sobre as finanças. Por possuírem pouco entendimento sobre taxa de juros, muitas famílias optam por compras a prazo com altas taxas. Não exercitam bons hábitos, como anotar pequenas despesas, mas possuem consciência que precisam mudar e desejam receber orientações de como administrar melhor as finanças da família

Vortex-induced nonlinearity and the effects of ion irradiation on the high-frequency response of NbTi films

The microwave response of superconducting devices can be affected by nonlinearity effects of both intrinsic and extrinsic origin. In this study, we report on the nonlinear behavior of NbTi microwave resonators, in the presence of dc magnetic fields up to 4 T. The aim of this work is to characterize the vortex-induced nonlinearity, which in these conditions of frequency (11 GHz) and fields is expected to give the major contribution to dissipation, when the circulating rf current exceeds a given threshold. Nonlinearity is investigated by analyzing -degradation and resonance curve distortion as a function of the input rf power, while the emergence of sharp discontinuities is associated to the existence of an rf limiting current density. The current densities corresponding to the onset of these features are compared to the critical current density from dc measurements, helping us to outline a comprehensive picture. Moreover, the pinning constant was extracted as a function of temperature by means of a Gittleman–Rosenblum analysis, revealing the prominent role of type pinning. We also analyzed the effects of introducing controlled artificial disorder and pinning sites through 1.5-MeV proton irradiation. After irradiation, we observed an increase of both the pinning constant and the in-field nonlinearity threshold and limiting current

Role of axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with pure ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast

BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is an effective tool for axillary staging in patients with invasive breast cancer. This procedure has been recently proposed as part of the treatment for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), because cases of undetected invasive foci and nodal metastases occasionally occur. However, the indications for SLN biopsy in DCIS patients are controversial. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess the incidence of SLN metastases in a series of patients with a diagnosis of pure DCIS. METHODS: A retrospective evaluation was made of a series of 102 patients who underwent SLN biopsy, and had a final histologic diagnosis of pure DCIS. Patients with microinvasion were excluded from the analysis. The patients were operated on in five Institutions between 1999 and 2004. Subdermal or subareolar injection of 30–50 MBq of 99 m-Tc colloidal albumin was used for SLN identification. All sentinel nodes were evaluated with serial sectioning, haematoxylin and eosin staining, and immunohistochemical analysis for cytocheratin. RESULTS: Only one patient (0.98%) was SLN positive. The primary tumour was a small micropapillary intermediate-grade DCIS and the SLN harboured a micrometastasis. At pathologic revision of the specimen, no detectable focus of microinvasion was found. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that SLN metastases in pure DCIS are a very rare occurrence. SLN biopsy should not therefore be routinely performed in patients who undergo resection for DCIS. SLN mapping can be performed, as a second operation, in cases in which an invasive component is identified in the specimen. Only DCIS patients who require a mastectomy should have SLN biopsy performed at the time of breast operation, since in these cases subsequent node mapping is not feasible

La costruzione di modelli e la simulazione di sistemi elettrici di potenza con il codice Lego-Elettrico

Viene presentato un programma modulare che permette di costruire modelli di sistemi elettrici di potenza al fine di studiarne il comportamento dinamico (transitori elettromeccanici e dinamica a medio-lungo termine) in corrispondenza di un'ampia gamma di perturbazioni. Tale programma, basato sul codice Lego messo a punto dall'ENEL-CRA per lo studio di sistemi termoidraulici, \ue8 stato implementato attraverso lo sviluppo di una libreria di modelli dei principali componenti del sistema di produzione e trasmissione elettrica; \ue8 stato inoltre dotato di un preprocessore grafico in grado di assegnare facilmente la topologia e le caratteristiche del sistema da studiare tramite il disegno su video dello schema di rete. Un particolare vantaggio \ue8 costituito dalla possibilit\ue0 di creare (e/o modificare), in modo agevole, i modelli dei singoli componenti, cosi da poter studiare sia il comportamento di nuovi componenti inseriti nel sistema, sia di verificare le conseguenze di gradi di dettaglio diversi nella modellistica. Al fine di illustrare le possibilit\ue0 di analisi consentite dal programma, viene anche riportato un esempio applicativo con gli andamenti in diverse scale dei tempi di alcune grandezze caratteristich

Accurate Magnetic Sensor System Integrated Design

Inductive measurement of magnetic fields is a diagnostic technique widely used in several scientific fields, such as magnetically confined fusion, plasma thrusters and particle accelerators, where real time control and detailed characterization of physics phenomena are required. The accuracy of the measured data strongly influences the machine controllability and the scientific results. In the framework of the assembly modifications of the RFX-mod experiment, a complete renew and improvement of the magnetic diagnostic system, from the probes moved inside the vacuum vessel to the integrator modules, has been carried out. In this paper, the whole system making up the magnetic diagnostics is described, following the acquisition chain from the probe to the streamed data and illustrating the requirements and conflicting limitations which affect the different components, in order to provide a comprehensive overview useful for an integrated design of any new systems. The characterization of a prototypical implementation of the whole acquisition chain is presented, focusing on the flexible ADC architecture adopted for providing a purely numerical signal integration, highlighting the advantages that this technology offers in terms of flexibility, compactness and cost effectiveness, along with the limitations found in existing implementation in terms of ADC noise characteristics and their possible solutions

Role of resection margins in patients treated with breast conservation surgery

BACKGROUND. After breast conservation therapy (BCT), margin status is routinely evaluated to select patients who need reexcision. The aim of this study was to investigate how margin status and other clinicopathologic factors correlate with the presence of residual tumor at reexcision. METHODS. A series of 431 breast cancer patients who underwent BCT followed by reexcision were considered because they had positive or close (<= 3 mm) margins. At univariate and multivariate analysis the frequency of residual tumor in the reexcision specimens was associated with the status and width of resection margins and with a series of other clinicopathologic factors. RESULTS. Of the 382 evaluable patients, 253 had positive and 129 close margins. Residual tumor was found at reexcision in 51.8% positive-margin patients and 34.1% close-margin patients (P=.001). In the latter group tumor-margin distance (range, 0.08 to 3 mm) was not associated with the incidence of residual tumor (P =.134). On univariate analysis age 2 cm (P =.010), positive axillary nodes (P =.031), and timing of reexcision (P =.044) were significantly associated with a higher frequency of residual tumor. All these factors, except tumor size, maintained a significant predictive value on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS. In the presence of positive margins, relevant residual disease cannot be ruled out and further Surgery is indicated. Close margins do not mandate reexcision because they may indicate either that the tumor has been radically excised or the presence of residual foci of a multifocal tumor, which are usually effectively treated by radiotherapy