Follow-up after curative resection for gastric cancer. Is it time to tailor it?

There is still no consensus on the follow-up frequency and regimen after curative resection for gastric cancer. Moreover, controversy exists regarding the utility of follow-up in improving survival, and the recommendations of experts and societies vary considerably. The main reason to establish surveillance programs is to diagnose tumor recurrence or metachronous cancers early and to thereby provide prompt treatment and prolong survival. In the setting of gastric malignancies, other reasons have been put forth: (1) the detection of adverse effects of a previous surgery, such as malnutrition or digestive sequelae; (2) the collection of data; and (3) the identification of psychological and/or social problems and provision of appropriate support to the patients. No randomized controlled trials on the role of follow-up after curative resection of gastric carcinoma have been published. Herein, the primary retrospective series and systematic reviews on this subject are analyzed and discussed. Furthermore, the guidelines from international and national scientific societies are discussed. Follow-up is recommended by the majority of institutions; however, there is no real evidence that follow-up can improve long-term survival rates. Several studies have demonstrated that it is possible to stratify patients submitted to curative gastrectomy into different classes according to the risk of recurrence. Furthermore, promising studies have identified several molecular markers that are related to the risk of relapse and to prognosis. Based on these premises, a promising strategy will be to tailor follow-up in relation to the patient and tumor characteristics, molecular marker status, and individual risk of recurrence

Particle acceleration and radiation friction effects in the filamentation instability of pair plasmas

The evolution of the filamentation instability produced by two counter-streaming pair plasmas is studied with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in both one (1D) and two (2D) spatial dimensions. Radiation friction effects on particles are taken into account. After an exponential growth of both the magnetic field and the current density, a nonlinear quasi-stationary phase sets up characterized by filaments of opposite currents. During the nonlinear stage, a strong broadening of the particle energy spectrum occurs accompanied by the formation of a peak at twice their initial energy. A simple theory of the peak formation is presented. The presence of radiative losses does not change the dynamics of the instability but affects the structure of the particle spectra.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, submitted to MNRA

EXONEST: The Bayesian Exoplanetary Explorer

The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are currently engaged in an unprecedented era of discovery as recent missions have revealed thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars. While the Kepler Space Telescope mission has enabled most of these exoplanets to be detected by identifying transiting events, exoplanets often exhibit additional photometric effects that can be used to improve the characterization of exoplanets. The EXONEST Exoplanetary Explorer is a Bayesian exoplanet inference engine based on nested sampling and originally designed to analyze archived Kepler Space Telescope and CoRoT (Convection Rotation et Transits plan\'etaires) exoplanet mission data. We discuss the EXONEST software package and describe how it accommodates plug-and-play models of exoplanet-associated photometric effects for the purpose of exoplanet detection, characterization and scientific hypothesis testing. The current suite of models allows for both circular and eccentric orbits in conjunction with photometric effects, such as the primary transit and secondary eclipse, reflected light, thermal emissions, ellipsoidal variations, Doppler beaming and superrotation. We discuss our new efforts to expand the capabilities of the software to include more subtle photometric effects involving reflected and refracted light. We discuss the EXONEST inference engine design and introduce our plans to port the current MATLAB-based EXONEST software package over to the next generation Exoplanetary Explorer, which will be a Python-based open source project with the capability to employ third-party plug-and-play models of exoplanet-related photometric effects.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Presented at the 37th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (MaxEnt 2017) in Jarinu/SP Brasi

Role of the flat-designed surface in improving the cyclic fatigue resistance of endodontic NiTi rotary instruments

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the flat-designed surface in improving the resistance to cyclic fatigue by comparing heat-treated F-One (Fanta Dental, Shanghai, China) nickel-titanium (NiTi) rotary instruments and similar prototypes, differing only by the absence of the flat side. The null hypothesis was that there were no differences between the two tested instruments in terms of cyclic fatigue lifespan. A total of 40 new NiTi instruments (20 F-One and 20 prototypes) were tested in the present study. The instruments were rotated with the same speed (500 rpm) and torque (2 N) using an endodontic motor (Elements Motor, Kerr, Orange, CA, USA) in the same stainless steel, artificial canal (90° angle of curvature and 5 mm radius). A Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test was performed to assess the differences in terms of time to fracture and the length of the fractured segment between the flat- and non-flat-sided instruments. Significance was set at p = 0.05. The differences in terms of time to fracture between non-flat and flat were statistically significant (p < 0.001). In addition, the differences in terms of fractured segment length were statistically significant (p = 0.034). The results of this study highlight the importance of flat-sided design in increasing the cyclic fatigue lifespan of NiTi rotary instruments

Current status of laboratory and imaging diagnosis of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis continues to be a devastating disease process for very low birth weight infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The aetiology and pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis are not definitively understood. It is known that necrotizing enterocolitis is secondary to a complex interaction of multiple factors that results in mucosal damage, which leads to intestinal ischemia and necrosis. Advances in neonatal care, including resuscitation and ventilation support technology, have seen increased survival rates among premature neonates and a concomitant detection in the incidence of this intestinal disease.Diagnosis can be difficult, and identifying infants at the onset of disease remains a challenge. Early diagnosis, which relies on imaging findings, and initiation of prompt therapy are essential to limit morbidity and mortality. Moreover, early management is critical and life-saving.This review summarizes what is known on the laboratory and instrumental diagnostic strategies needed to improve neonatal outcomes and, possibily, to prevent the onset of an overt necrotizing enterocolitis

No role for neutrons, muons and solar neutrinos in the DAMA annual modulation results

This paper summarizes in a simple and intuitive way why the neutrons, the muons and the solar neutrinos cannot give any significant contribution to the DAMA annual modulation results. A number of these elements have already been presented in individual papers; they are recalled here. Afterwards, few simple considerations are summarized which already demonstrate the incorrectness of the claim reported in PRL 113 (2014) 081302.Comment: 11 pages, 1 tabl

Investigating Earth shadowing effect with DAMA/LIBRA-phase1

In the present paper the results obtained in the investigation of possible diurnal effects for low-energy single-hit scintillation events of DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 (1.04 ton $\times$ yr exposure) have been analysed in terms of an effect expected in case of Dark Matter (DM) candidates inducing nuclear recoils and having high cross-section with ordinary matter, which implies low DM local density in order to fulfill the DAMA/LIBRA DM annual modulation results. This effect is due to the different Earth depths crossed by those DM candidates during the sidereal day.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, 1 table; in publication on Eur. Phys. J.

The GRAAL high resolution BGO calorimeter and its energy calibration and monitoring system

We describe the electromagnetic calorimeter built for the GRAAL apparatus at the ESRF. Its monitoring system is presented in detail. Results from tests and the performance obtained during the first GRAAL experiments are given. The energy calibration accuracy and stability reached is a small fraction of the intrinsic detector resolution.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Method

Model independent result on possible diurnal effect in DAMA/LIBRA-phase1

The results obtained in the search for possible diurnal effect in the single-hit low energy data collected by DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 (total exposure: 1.04 ton x yr) deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the I.N.F.N. are presented. At the present level of sensitivity the presence of any significant diurnal variation and of diurnal time structures in the data can be excluded for both the cases of solar and sidereal time. In particular, the diurnal modulation amplitude expected, because of the Earth diurnal motion, on the basis of the DAMA Dark Matter annual modulation results is below the present sensitivity.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; in publication on Eur. Phys. J.

Final model independent result of DAMA/LIBRA-phase1

The results obtained with the total exposure of 1.04 ton x yr collected by DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the I.N.F.N. during 7 annual cycles (i.e. adding a further 0.17 ton x yr exposure) are presented. The DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 data give evidence for the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo, on the basis of the exploited model independent DM annual modulation signature by using highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) target, at 7.5 sigma C.L.. Including also the first generation DAMA/NaI experiment (cumulative exposure 1.33 ton x yr, corresponding to 14 annual cycles), the C.L. is 9.3 sigma and the modulation amplitude of the single-hit events in the (2-6) keV energy interval is: (0.0112 \pm 0.0012) cpd/kg/keV; the measured phase is (144 \pm 7) days and the measured period is (0.998 \pm 0.002) yr, values well in agreement with those expected for DM particles. No systematic or side reaction able to mimic the exploited DM signature has been found or suggested by anyone over more than a decade.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables; in publication on Eur. Phys. J.