180 research outputs found
A variant of the energy method: an application to the Benard problem for a viscoelastic rotating fluid.
No full textIn a previous paper of the second author the nonlinear Lyapunov stability of the thermodiffusive equilibrium of a viscoelastic rotating Walters fluid, in a horizontal rotating layer heated and salted from below was studied. If instability occurs as stationary convection a sufficient condition to ensure the coincidence of linear and nonlinear stability bounds was obtained. In this paper we reconsider the same problem recovering the same result without any restriction on the viscoelasticity parameter
Cholangiocarcinoma: A position paper by the Italian Society of Gastroenterology (SIGE), the Italian Association of Hospital Gastroenterology (AIGO), the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) and the Italian Association of Oncological Radiotherapy (AIRO)
No full textThe incidence of Cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCA) is increasing, due to a sharp increase of the intrahepatic form. Evidence-ascertained risk factors for CCA are primary sclerosing cholangitis, Opistorchis viverrini infection, Caroli disease, congenital choledocal cist, Vater ampulla adenoma, bile duct adenoma and intra-hepatic lithiasis. Obesity, diabetes, smoking, abnormal biliary-pancreatic junction, bilio-enteric surgery, and viral cirrhosis are emerging risk factors, but their role still needs to be validated. Patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis should undergo surveillance, even though a survival benefit has not been clearly demonstrated. CCA is most often diagnosed in an advanced stage, when therapeutic options are limited to palliation. Diagnosis of the tumor is often difficult and multiple imaging techniques should be used, particularly for staging. Surgery is the standard of care for resectable CCA, whilst liver transplantation should be considered only in experimental settings. Metal stenting is the standard of care in inoperable patients with an expected survival >4 months. Gemcitabine or platinum analogues are recommended in advanced CCA whilst there are no validated neo-adjuvant treatments or second-line chemotherapies. Even though promising results have been obtained in CCA with radiotherapy, further randomized controlled trials are needed. (C) 2010 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
The management of chronic pain in important patient subgroups.
No full textChronic pain is a major healthcare issue in Europe and globally, and inadequate or undertreated pain significantly reduces the ability of many patients to participate in ordinary daily activities, adversely affects their employment status and contributes to a substantial rate of depression and anxiety in patients with chronic pain. There is a broad distinction of chronic pain into chronic non-cancer pain and chronic cancer pain, and important subgroups of these include patients with rheumatic and/or orthopaedic diseases, pain syndromes caused by cancer itself and caused by cancer treatment. Despite comprising the majority of non-cancer pain in Europe, chronic non-cancer pain associated with rheumatic diseases and/or orthopaedic conditions is often inadequately managed. Although paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) play a continuing role in the treatment of chronic rheumatic diseases, accumulating evidence of potential toxicity with both traditional non-selective NSAIDs and selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors has prompted a reassessment of their use. This has particular resonance for the elderly, who are more likely to have significant pain issues than younger patients and are at high risk of NSAID-related adverse events. The use of mild opioids, such as codeine and tramadol, and strong opioids, such as morphine, hydromorphone and oxycodone, may be appropriate where paracetamol and other non-opioid analgesics are ineffective in chronic non-cancer pain. Cancer pain, either related to the underlying disease or caused by cancer treatment, is also a common cause of chronic pain in the elderly. An understanding of individual needs is essential in providing adequate pain relief, which is a central goal of care in all patients with chronic pain
Treatment of venous thromboembolism with tinzaparin in oncological patients
No full textVenous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. For over a decade, the gold standard of treatment and secondary prevention of cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) has been represented by low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs), which are currently recommended as the first-line treatment for CAT. Among the LMWHs that were more extensively tested in patients with CAT, tinzaparin is a LMWH produced by the enzymatic degradation of porcine-derived unfractionated heparin. The efficacy of tinzaparin in this setting is supported by well-grounded evidence. However, there is a need to discuss the positioning of tinzaparin in the continuously evolving treatment scenario of VTE therapy in cancer patients. In this paper, which was developed by a group of clinicians with wide experience in the treatment of VTE in cancer patients, we discuss the current therapeutic options and the role of tinzaparin for the treatment of CAT
Time required to start multicentre clinical trials within the Italian Medicine Agency programme of support for independent research
No full textTime allowed for independent ethics committees (IECs) and administrative offices to assess and activate clinical trials is regulated by law. This study aims to describe time spent activating two multicentre non-profit trials supported by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA). Five non-AIFA supported (NAS) trials were used as a benchmark
Detection of anomalies in the proximity of a railway line: A case study
No full textA point cloud describing a railway environment is considered in a case study aimed at presenting
a workflow for the automatic detection of external objects that, coming too close to the railway
infrastructure, may cause potential risks for its correct functioning. The approach combines
classical semantic segmentation methodologies with a novel geometric and numerical procedure
to define a region of interest, consisting of a lower tube enveloping the 3D space occupied by
the train during its transit and an upper tube enclosing the overhead contact lines. One useful
application could be automatic vegetation monitoring in the proximity of the railway structure,
which would help with planning maintenance pruning activities
Multi-Stage Machine Learning Model for Hierarchical Tie Valence Prediction
No full textIndividuals interacting in organizational settings involving varying levels of formal hierarchy naturally form a complex network of social ties having different tie valences (e.g., positive and negative connections). Social ties critically affect employees' satisfaction, behaviors, cognition, and outcomes - yet identifying them solely through survey data is challenging because of the large size of some organizations or the often hidden nature of these ties and their valences. We present a novel deep learning model encompassing NLP and graph neural network techniques that identifies positive and negative ties in a hierarchical network. The proposed model uses human resource attributes as node information and web-logged work conversation data as link information. Our findings suggest that the presence of conversation data improves the tie valence classification by 8.91% compared to employing user attributes alone. This gain came from accurately distinguishing positive ties, particularly for male, non-minority, and older employee groups. We also show a substantial difference in conversation patterns for positive and negative ties with positive ties being associated with more messages exchanged on weekends, and lower use of words related to anger and sadness. These findings have broad implications for facilitating collaboration and managing conflict within organizational and other social networks. © 2023 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.11Nsciescopu
Long-term follow-up after endoscopic biliary stent placement for bile duct strictures from laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
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