Percentage Of Reduction In Size Research Articles

Efficacy comparison of anthracycline and taxane when added to immune checkpoint inhibitor in neoadjuvant chemotherapy of triple negative breast cancer: Clinical evidence from size-reduction measurement by ultrasound.

e12584 Background: Most chemotherapeutics can improve responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) by increased immunogenicity. Anthracycline(AC), taxane(T) and platinum (CDDP) has most direct cytotoxic effect in neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), but which one deserve the most immunostimulatory activity linked to their capacity of to kill cancer cell still unknown. Methods: A total of 91 patients with complete data of size measurement by ultrasound (US) were identified for the study from 363 consecutive TNBC patients received NAC between November 2010 to August 2022. They were divided into 3 groups. The 1st group patients received AC first, then T with CDDP, 2nd group in reverse sequence (T and CDDP first) and 3rd group, sequence as group 2 but adding ICI (pembrolizumab). Tumors size measured by US before chemotherapy, after 1st and after 2nd regimen of chemotherapy. Percentage of size reduction of tumor maximal diameter (cm), surface area (transverse x longitudinal diameter, cm2) and volume (measured by 1/6 p x transverse x longitudinal x height cm3) were calculated. Statistically significant was calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test for percentage of size reduction and Pearson's chi-squared test for pCR rate, p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: There were 14, 56 and 21 patients in group 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The significant difference of pathologic complete response rates 7.1%, 44.6% and 76.2% in each group as shown. The volume, surface area and maximal tumor size reduction percentage after 1st regimen chemotherapy in group 1 (AC), group 2 (T+CDDP) and group 3 (ICI+T+CDDP) were -67.24, -55.43, -31.13; -85.45, -72.13, -45.61 and -87.13, -69.75, -45.02, respectively, and size reduction after 2nd regimen chemotherapy in group 2 (AC) were, -42.19, -30.19, -21.13; and group 3 (ICI+AC) were -77.78, -50.76, -30.65; respectively. A statistical non-significant trend of greater size reduction in ICI+ AC than AC alone was found. Conclusions: The study is the first, direct evidence demonstrated the synergistic effect of size reduction after NAC for TNBC with AC and ICI, but not T. It supports the potential benefit of combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy such as Tonic trial reported. [Table: see text]

High-Temperature-Resistant Thermal Shape Memory Polymers as Lost Circulation Materials for Fracture Formations

Summary Lost circulation during the drilling of fractured formations is one of the most challenging engineering problems. Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have been used as lost circulation materials, but most of them are not resistant to high temperatures. In this study, a high-temperature-resistant thermal shape memory epoxy resin (SME) was synthesized by conducting an orthogonal experiment using the glass transition temperature (Tg) as an index. The Tg of the SME synthesized by using the optimum formula was 124℃. This SME had good thermal stability, and its compression and tension stresses were 94.2 and 58.8 MPa, respectively. In addition, the thickness swelling ratio (Rrc) of the SME was optimized by performing another orthogonal experiment, and the Rrc of the SME prepared by using the optimized formulation (OSME) was 78.8%. The OSME did not swell at 25–150℃ in water, brine, or base fluid. The total size reduction percentage of the OSME was 1.7% after aging at 150℃, whereas that of a nutshell was 10.7%, indicating that OSME particles had better compression and temperature-resistance performance. The shape memory ratio (Rc) of the OSME was 6, 70, and 100% at 80, 120, and 125℃ after being heated for 50 minutes, respectively, and it was fully activated in 5 minutes at 150℃. The breakthrough pressure of the plugging mud with or without the OSME was 15 MPa at 25, 80, 120, and 150℃ when plugging the wedge fracture model with an inlet/outlet width of 3/1 mm. However, when plugging the wedge fracture model with an inlet/outlet width of 5/2 mm, the plugging slurry with the OSME could withstand a pressure of 3, 5, and 15 MPa at 80, 120, and 150℃, respectively, and the plugging mud with conventional lost circulation materials could bear a pressure of below 3 MPa at 80, 120, and 150℃. These results indicated that the OSME had good plugging and thermosensitive performance. OSME particles matched better with the fracture size, owing to their elastic and shape memory performance at above Tg. They migrated and bridged in fractures, aggregated and filled the pore space with other lost circulation materials, and formed a dense plugging layer at above Tg. Thus, the synthesized SME is a promising material for plugging high-temperature fracture formations while drilling.

Anethum Graveolens Leaves Extract Accelerate Wound Healing In vitro and In vivo

Wound healing is a curative process that starts with trauma and finishes with scar formation. Various plant extracts have been used for the treatment and controlling of wounds. In this study Anethum graveolens has been used to accelerate in vivo excision model of wound healing on Sprague Dawley rats and to proliferate the in vitro cell viability model using skin fibroblast cell line through the scratch assay. Results confirm that this plant extract decreases the wound area and increases itswound size reduction percentage, hydroxyproline and nitric oxide levels of the plant extract treated groups were near to the normal control group that indicated effective healing process. On the other hand, in vitro cytotoxicity results should that Anethum graveolens plant extract was safe on skin fibroblast cell lines and induced the normal proliferation and growth of these cells. The migration rate to heal the in vitro wound gaps was 89.1% which indicates a perfect wound size reduction. In conclusion, the results proved that the topical application of Anethum graveolens plant extract quicken the wound healing process.

Comparison of Offloading Dressing with Conventional Dressing in Healing of Plantar Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Introduction: The first ever description of Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs), made in the literature was in the mid-19th century. The management principles for it were laid by late 19th century and are still being followed. For a chronic DFU to heal, offloading of pressure, surgical debridement, correction of hyperglycaemia, the use of antibiotics are the corner stone of management. Offloading is an essential modality of prevention and treatment of recurrent plantar DFU. Aim: To compare offloading dressing to conventional dressing in promoting healing of diabetic plantar ulcers. Materials and Methods: This randomised clinical trial was conducted at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Pondicherry between January 2019 to June 2020 among the patients with DFU coming to the Department of General Surgery. A total of 44 patients were included in the study, 22 of these patients underwent offloading dressing and 22 underwent conventional dressing and these patients were followed-up for a duration of 6 weeks and compared on 2nd, 4th and 6th weeks. The patients were compared according to age, gender, duration of diabetes, glycaemic control, risk factors, previous surgery such as wound debridement or previous toe amputation, vascular assessment and site of ulcer, reduction in size of ulcer. The ulcers in both the groups were classified according to the Wagener’s grading of ulcer classification. All data collected was entered into Microsoft Excel 2016 and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 (IBM SPSS, US) software. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Among 44 patients, there was equal number of males and females in both the groups, with the total mean age 53.97±10.10 years. The majority of the study population belonged to the 5th decade (51-60 years), where the youngest patient was of 29 years and oldest was of 72 years. There were 22 patients in offloading group and 24 patients in conventional dressing group as one patient had bilateral plantar ulcers and one patient had two separate ulcers on the plantar aspect of the foot. Total of 45.45% in conventional group and 31.82% of the study population in offloading group had diabetes for 5-10 years of duration. Bad glycaemic control was seen in 40.90% of offloading population and 50% in conventional population. The size reduction percentage of ulcers on comparing both the groups was found to be significant for 2nd week review (p-value=0.03) and was nearly significant for the 6th week review (p-value=0.05). Conclusion: Summarising the above conducted study, offloading dressing was found to be a more efficacious alternative to the conventional dressing as there was greater difference observed in the reduction of the size of ulcer and the patients in the conventional group needed more number of dressings and the duration of healing in the two groups.

Compact 5G Hairpin Bandpass Filter Using Non-Uniform Transmission Lines Theory

A compact three order 5G low frequency band Hairpin Bandpass Filter (HPBF) is analyzed, designed and fabricated in this paper. The designed filter operates at 5G frequency range (5.975-7.125 GHz). 17.76% compactness in each λ/2 uniform transmission line (UTL) resonator of the filter is achieved by applying Non-Uniform Transmission Lines (NTLs) theory. This compactness will make modern wireless transmitter and receiver designs more compatible. Study on the best reduction size percentage and suitable constraints to design the required NTL resonator is highlighted in this paper. Six samples with different size reductions percentage are fabricated and measured. The simulation is carried out in this study uses High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software and Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software. The simulated results for UTL HPBF and NTL HPBF with the six cases are verified with measurement. For the best size reduction percentage design, the measured results demonstrated that the 6.55 GHz NTL and UTL HPBF show good impedance matching within the unsilenced 5G frequency band.

Flexural response of hollow high strength concrete beams considering different size reductions

In this work, 14 reinforced concrete solid and hollow beams were tested under four-point bending test to evaluate the flexural behavior of hollow concrete beams. The experimental program focused on two main variables which are the size reduction percentage and the inclusion of steel fiber. In addition, the longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the presence of lateral stirrups were also within the investigated parameters. Four solid beams in addition to 10 hollow beams with central square holes with side lengths of 60, 80, and 100 mm were fabricated to evaluate the test parameters. These beams were either reinforced with 1% steel fiber or contain no fiber. The flexural performance of the beams was evaluated using the load–deflection behavior, flexural ductility, stiffness and toughness. In addition to the experimental work, analytical formulas were introduced to evaluate the cracking and peak loads of the hollow beams. The test results showed that ductility of hollow beams with size reductions of 16% and 28.4% was higher than that of the reference solid beam, while the ductility of the hollow beam with 44.4% size reduction was quite comparable to that of the solid beam. Moreover, the toughness values of the hollow beams were higher by 19 to 37% than that of the reference solid beam. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that hollow reinforced concrete beams with 1.0% steel fiber and with size reduction up to 44.4% can replace solid beams without suffering significant reductions in strength, ductility and toughness.

CHOICE OF TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR CYSTIC LYMPHSTIC MALFORMATIONS IN THE HEAD AND NECK REGION: TREATMENT EXPERIENCE OF 81 CHILDREN

Background. Surgery has previously been the only treatment for lymphatic malformations (LMs), but in the head and neck region is challenging due to the risk of scarring, nerve damage, recurrence. Sclerotherapy may be a perfect alternative.Objective. The aim of the study is to determine the efficacy and safety of the OK-432 sclerotherapy in the children with craniofacial LMs.Methods. 81 children with head and neck LM between December 2010 and March 2017were involved into the study. The follow-up period was from 6 to 79 months. According to the size of cysts, LMs were classified into macrocystic, microcystic, and mixed. The result of the treatment of LMs was determined by the percentage of reduction in size as excellent (decrease by more than 90%), good (by 50%-89%), satisfactory (by 20%-49%) and none (by less than 20%).Results. The macrocystic LMs diagnosed in 41.97% of patients, microcystic - in 12.35%, and mixed – in 45.68% of children. OK-432 sclerotherapy only was performed for 83.9% of patients and in 12.3% in combination with surgery. The range of sclerotherapy sessions was from 1 to 11. An excellent result in 96.97% of cases was evidenced in the patients with macrocystic LM. Poor result was proved in the patients with microcystic LMs; the most of them (55.56%) had satisfactory result. In the patients with mixed LM, an excellent and good result was evidenced in 83.33%. After 198 sessions of OK-432 sclerotherapy, complications associated with the treatment occurred in 5 (2.52%) cases.Conclusions. OK-432 sclerotherapy is a safe and effective treatment of head and neck LMs in children. Macrocystic LMs proved the best response to OK-432 treatment.

An Efficient Heuristic Based Test Suite Minimization Approach

Objectives: Development of an efficient test suite minimization approach in order to reduce the size of a previously acquired test suite and produce a new representative suite which will guarantee the same requirement coverage that was achieved before minimization for an effective and efficient regression testing. Method: Test suite minimizations techniques try to reduce the size and redundancy of test suite by removing certain test cases since requirement covered by them are already covered by other test cases. But, it has been found that the acquired test cases after minimization severely lacks ability to achieve the desirable code coverage because the minimization was done based on a single test adequacy criteria. In this paper, we propose an efficient heuristic based test suite minimization algorithm which will reduce the size of the test suites with respective to multiple test adequacy criterions in order to preserve the fault detection effectiveness and code coverage characteristics of the final test suite. Findings: Our experimental results indicate that a significant percentage of reduction in the test suite size is achieved when the minimization is performed with respect to multiple test adequacy criterions. Our approach is unique compared to the existing approaches in the sense that, we carried out minimization based on multiple test adequacy criterions while most of the existing approaches usually take one or two criterions into consideration. The proposed approach is evaluated based on two well known software testing metrics; one indicate the percentage of reduction in test suite size and the second one indicate the percentage of code coverage achieved by the minimized test suite. Our experimental results indicate that a significant percentage of reduction in the size as well as significant code coverage characteristics is achieved when the minimization is done according to the proposed approach. Improvements: The important contribution of this study is that, it presents a novel and efficient test suite minimization technique that optimizes the test suite size based on multiple adequacy criterions.

Diffusion-Weighted Imaging for Predicting and Monitoring Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma Treatment Response.

Whether ADC value predicts the therapy response and outcomes of primary central system lymphoma remains controversial. This study assessed the minimum ADC correlated with treatment response in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma undergoing methotrexate-based chemotherapy. Thirty-five patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma underwent conventional MR imaging and DWI before chemotherapy and after 1 and 5 cycles of chemotherapy. Treatment response was determined according to the International PCNSL Collaborative Group criteria and was classified as a complete response, partial response, or progressive disease. Pretreatment minimum ADC, minimum ADC after 1 cycle, minimum ADC after 5 cycles, and change in minimum ADC were compared among the different response groups. The Pearson correlation test was calculated between these ADC parameters and tumor response. The pretreatment minimum ADC of the progressive disease group was lower than that of the complete response and partial response groups, but there was no significant difference among them. The minimum ADC after 1 cycle and minimum ADC after 5 cycles were statistically significantly higher than the pretreatment minimum ADC. A comparison among groups showed that minimum ADC after 1 cycle, minimum ADC after 5 cycles, minimum ADC change, and the percentage of minimum ADC change were all significantly different among the 3 groups. A significant positive correlation was observed between the percentage of minimum ADC after 1 cycle of chemotherapy and the size reduction percentage after 5 cycles of chemotherapy. The minimum ADC change and the percentage of minimum ADC change performed better in the differentiation of the final treatment response, specifically in complete response and partial response from progressive disease. The minimum ADC after 1 cycle and minimum ADC changes were better correlated with the treatment response than the pretreatment minimum ADC. Minimum ADC after early therapy may potentially to be used to predict and monitor the response of primary central nervous system lymphoma to chemotherapy.

English

OBJECTIVE: To compare the healing of wounds with silver foam and povidone dressing materials. MATERIAL & METHOD: This was a prospective comparative clinical trial. Seventy patients with infected wounds were evaluated. Silver foam and povidone iodine dressings were applied in thirty five each patients, and the patients were followed as per post-application treatment protocol until wound healed or preparing for graft. Wound assessed every 4th day. Assessment included clinical examination, bacteriological analysis, histopathological findings. RESULTS: Total duration of treatment in silver foam dressing and povidone iodine dressing in 1-50cm 2 are 34.67 days and 40.81 days and in 51-100cm 2 are 48.22 days and 57.20 days. On assessment of reduction of surface area and slough every 4 th day in both group, it was found that silver foam was significantly better that control group In 1-50cm2 mean percentage of reduction in size on 28th day in silver foam is 76.45% as compared to povidone iodine is 57.29% (P< 0.001). In 51-100cm2 mean percentage of reduction in size on 28th day, in silver foam is 53.06% as compared to povidone iodine is 28.63% (P<0.001). Mean time taken for reduction of exudate in silver foam dressing and povidone iodine was respectively 11.6 days and 18.91 days (P<0.0001) and mean time taken to resolution of odor in silver foam dressing and povidone iodine dressing was respectively 4.80 days 6.54 days (P=0.0924). CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that use of silver foam in infected wounds in which healing process is impaired due to bacterial colonization is more efficacious that povidone iodine dressing. It suggests that antibacterial activity of silver foam is very efficient and that it has excellent exudate management, both of which lead to rapid initiation, maintenance and completion of healing process.

Model predictive control of semiautogenous mills (sag)

The present manuscript focuses on the development of a multivariable control based on the MPC strategy for a semiautogenous grinding (SAG) device. A previously published specific SAG model that uses a deep analysis of the internal device behavior was used for the MPC strategy development. SimulinkTM software was used for the dynamic representation and control development. The selection of controlled and manipulated variables took into account performance and functional criteria. The power draw, volumetric filling level, and a size reduction percentage were the controlled variables, while the fresh ore feed rate, fresh water feed rate, and the SAG rotation speed were the manipulated variables. The controller response showed a suitable control behavior independent of the noisy multivariable modification.