Italian Protocol Research Articles

The protection of different Italian marbles with two partially flourinated acrylic copolymers

Committing stone protection to polymeric materials started in the sixties but the study and knowledge of the complex and multiple interactions between stone and polymers has only been carried out recently. It’s important to note that, together with the factors related to the polymeric system itself, intrinsic properties of the stone substrate, like composition, porosity, and crystalline characteristics, play a relevant role. In this paper the issues related to protection of three different Italian marbles have been investigated: Candoglia marble, employed in the building of the Milan Cathedral, Carrara marble, widely used in sculpture and historical architecture, and S. Giuliano marble, used in the building of the Pisa Cathedral and its famous leaning tower. Specimens coming from blocks of the three quarried stones have been characterized, treated with two new partially fluorinated acrylic copolymers, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate/methyl acrylate (TFEMA/MA), and trifluoromethyl-2,2,2-trifluorethyl methacrylate/methyl acrylate (HFIMA/MA), and tested according to UNI-Normal Italian protocol. All the measurements including capillary water absorption, static contact angles, colour variation, water vapour permeability, and SEM morphological analysis have been carried out before and after the polymeric treatment. The aim of this work is to evaluate the protective efficacy of these two new partially fluorinated acrylic copolymers on the three different marbles, and to correlate the different behaviours with the polymers’ properties and with the stone substrates characteristics.

A single-institution Wilms' tumor and localized neuroblastoma series.

Since January 1980, 120 children affected by Wilms' tumor have been treated at Bambino Gesù, mostly with multimodality treatment according to Société Internationale d'Oncologie Pediatrique (SIOP) protocols, including chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy in selected cases. This treatment approach emphasizes the role of preoperative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy as opposed to the approach favored by the National Wilms' Tumor Study, which is focused on optimizing postoperative chemotherapy after primary surgery. Thus, using SIOP guidelines, staging occurs at the time of surgery, after chemotherapy administration. These differences will constitute the baseline for a comparison between the two experiences. Bilaterality, nephroblastomatosis, partial nephrectomy in unilateral Wilms' tumor and thrombosis of the vena cava are the main topics discussed. For the present study, the analysis was restricted to 98 consecutive cases diagnosed until December 1999, for whom at least 24 mo of follow-up is available. The more recent experience of treating resectable neuroblastoma in cooperative studies dates back to 1979, when the first Italian Cooperative Group Neuroblastoma protocol was introduced. This experience was continued within the frame of the first Localized Neuroblastoma European Study Group protocol (LNESG 94), and will be compared to North American Cooperative Group approaches and outcomes. Preoperative evaluation of surgical risk factors, intraoperative complications and their management, and long-term outcome will be discussed.

Protection Efficacy of Fluorinated Acrylic Copolymers Applied on Historical Italian Marbles.

ABSTRACTUse of polymeric materials to protect stone started in the 1960’s but the study and knowledge of the complex and multiple interactions between stone and polymers has been carried out only recently. In a previous paper [1] the problems related to the efficacy of a stone treatment (film formation, deep penetration and coating behavior) has been addressed. In this paper performance after a thermal and a simulated solar UV ageing has been evaluated. In particular the issues related to stability and durability of two fluorinated acrylic copolymers applied on two different Italian marbles, Carrara and S. Giuliano, have been investigated. The specimens characterized and treated with two new partially fluorinated acrylic copolymers, 2, 2, 2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate / methyl acrylate (TFEMA / MA) and trifluoromethyl-2, 2, 2-trifluorethyl methacrylate / methyl acrylate (HFIMA / MA), have been artificially aged in two different ways: with a long simulated solar UV ageing of 1000h and a thermal one at the same temperature (about 50°C) usually reached in the UV chamber, in order to separate the two ageing contributions (photochemical and thermal). After the ageing most of the testing methodologies suggested by UNI-Normal Italian protocol for evaluation of stone protective coatings, including capillary water absorption, static contact angles and colour variation, have been carried out. Slightly better protective efficacy was found for the HFIMA/MA before and after the two ageing. The important contribution of the thermal component in the worsening of the shielding efficacy has been assessed.

The experimental test for the evaluation of protective treatments: a critical survey of the “capillary absorption index”

One of the most effective methodologies for the evaluation of the penetration of water into the bulk of stone materials is the capillary absorption measurement. In this paper the authors would like to propose a short theoretical presentation of the two new parameters—ICa (absolute capillary index) and ICr (relative capillary index)—for capillary measurements recommended in the Italian Protocol Norma UNI 10859 “Cultural Heritage—Natural and artificial stones—Determination of water absorption by capillarity”. Definitely, the aim of this paper is to offer a powerful instrument to enlighten the utility of the proposed measurement methodology, both from a theoretical and practical point of view, and, finally, to help the interpretation of the experimental data through the use of the “capillary absorption index”.

Alterations of the FLT3 gene in acute promyelocytic leukemia: association with diagnostic characteristics and analysis of clinical outcome in patients treated with the Italian AIDA protocol

Alterations in the FLT3 gene, including internal tandem duplications (ITDs) and D835 mutations occur frequently in acute myelogenous leukemia. We investigated the prevalence and clinico-biological correlations of FLT3 ITDs and D835 mutations in 90 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) receiving the AIDA protocol. Twenty patients in which both presentation and relapse material was available were analyzed sequentially. Thirty-three patients (37%) harbored the ITD, and seven (7.7%) the D835 mutation in blasts obtained at diagnosis. Presence of ITDs was strongly associated with high WBC count (P = 0.0001), M3 variant (P = 0.0004), and the short (BCR3) PML/RARalpha isoform (P = 0.003). There was no difference in response to induction in the two ITD+ve and ITD-ve groups, while a trend towards inferior outcome was observed for ITD+ve cases when analyzing disease-free survival (DFS) and relapse risk (RR). These differences, however, did not reach statistical significance. Sequential studies showed variable patterns in diagnostic and relapse material, ie ITD (-ve/-ve, +ve/+ve, +ve/-ve, -ve/+ve) and D835 (-ve/-ve, +ve/-ve, -ve/+ve). Our results indicate that FLT3 alterations are associated in APL with more aggressive clinical features and suggest that these lesions may not play a major role in leukemia progression.

Quality Control in Mammography: A Pilot Programme for First Level Activity

Quality control programmes are the belt tools for maintaining optimal performances of mammographic units. Programmes to spread quality control activities have been organised in various countries. This study presents the results of an educational programme having three main objectives: quality assurance promotion, operator training with simple instruments and procedures, and operator training in quality control data analysis. Special kits have been distributed to several mammographic centres. In each centre the kit has been used to execute the following tests: AEC performance, processing conditions, entrance exposure and image quality. The data gathered in 53 centres for a period of 4 weeks are compared and discussed Several centres were found not to satisfy completely the technical recommendations of the Italian protocol, implying training for radiographers and radiologists in QC procedures is desirable.

Applications of the Italian protocol for the calibration of brachytherapy sources

The Associazione Italiana di Fisica Biomedica (AIFB; Italian Association of Biomedical Physics) has adopted the Italian protocol for the calibration of brachytherapy sources. The AIFB protocol allows measurements of the reference air kerma rate, , within 1.7% . To measure the AIFB protocol has identified a direct and an indirect procedure. The direct procedure is based on the use of spherical or cylindrical ionization chambers as local reference dosimeters positioned along the transverse bisector axis of the source. Once the source is specified by a value, this can be used to calibrate a field instrument, such as a well-type ionization chamber, for further source calibrations by means of an indirect procedure. This paper reports the results obtained by the Physics Laboratory of the Università Cattolica del S Cuore (PL-UCSC), in terms of calibration of five types of source, , and . The role of the determination for a brachytherapy source has been underlined when a new source such as the seed model X1267 has been proposed for clinical use. The values for spherical sources differed by 5% from the vendor's mean value. The five types of source calibrated in terms of were used to obtain the calibration factor, , of an HDR-1000 well-type ionization chamber.

Clinical and therapeutic aspects of renal amyloidosis.

Renal amyloidosis is not a frequent disease: its annual frequency is approximately 2.5-2.8% of all renal biopsies. Individual cases are normally rare and for this reason clinical findings and therapeutic results obtained by clinical multicentre studies are well considered. This review describes the clinical and therapeutic aspects of renal amyloidosis and refers particularly to the results obtained by the Italian Study Group for renal amyloidosis and by the multicentre Italian study protocol for AL amyloidosis.

184 - MonteCarlo calculation of spectral lines for use in the Italian Protocol for dosimetry in Brachytherapy

184 - MonteCarlo calculation of spectral lines for use in the Italian Protocol for dosimetry in Brachytherapy