This paper presents an approach for modeling and prediction of both surface roughness and cutting zone temperature in turning of AISI304 austenitic stainless steel using multi-layer coated (TiCN + ...TiC + TiCN + TiN) tungsten carbide tools. The proposed approach is based on an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with particle swarm optimization (PSO) learning. AISI304 stainless steel bars are machined at different cutting speeds and feedrates without cutting fluid while depth of cut is kept constant. ANFIS for prediction of surface roughness and cutting zone temperature has been trained using cutting speed, feedrate, and cutting force data obtained during experiments. ANFIS architecture consisting of 12 fuzzy rules has three inputs and two outputs. Gaussian membership function is used during the training process of the ANFIS. The surface roughness and cutting zone temperature values predicted by the PSO-based ANFIS model are compared with the measured values derived from testing data set. Testing results indicate that the predicted surface roughness and cutting zone temperature are in good agreement with measured roughness and temperature.
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII)and its impact on survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). A total ...of 706patients with mRCC treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs)between January 2007 and June 2020 (i.e., sunitinib, pazopanib) were included in this study. SII was calculated in 621 patients with the following formula:neutrophil (cellsx10
9
/L) x platelet (cellsx10
9
/L) / lymphocyte (cellsx10
9
/L).All patients were classified into SII-high and SII-low groups based on the cut-off value of SII at 756, which was the median SII level of our study group. The minimal follow-up duration was 10 months in all cohorts. The median age of patients was 60 (interquartile range (IQR):53–67) years. Three out of four patients were male. The majority of patients (85.7%) had clear cell histology, and sarcomatoid differentiation was observed in 16.9% of all patients. There were 311 and 310 patients in the SII-low and SII-high groups, respectively. In general, baseline characteristics were similar in each group. However, the rate of patients treated with sunitinib (63.3% vs. 49.0%,
p
< 0.001) and those who underwent nephrectomy (83.6% vs. 64.2%,
p
< 0.001) was higher in the SII-low group than in the SII-high group. On the other hand, patients with the IMDC poorrisk (31.6% vs. 8.0%,
p
< 0.001), those with bone (51.8% vs. 32.2%,
p
< 0.001) or central nervous system (12.9% vs. 5.8%,
p
= 0.026) metastasis, and those with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group(ECOG) 2–4 performance score (28.1% vs.17.7%,
p
= 0.002) were more common in the SII-high group than in the SII-low group. The median overall survival (OS) was longer in the SII-low group than in the SII-high group (34.6 months vs. 14.5 months,
p
< 0.001). Similarly, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was longer in the SII-low group than in the SII-high group (18.0 months vs. 7.7 months,
p
< 0.001).In multivariableanalysis, SII was an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio (HR):1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.05–1.85,
p
= 0.01) and PFS (HR:1.60, 95% CI:1.24–2.05,
p
< 0.001).Pre-treatment level of high SII might be considered a predictor of poor prognosisin patients with mRCC treated with TKIs.
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (RET-He) is a superior indicator of blood count and other iron parameters in terms of diagnosing iron ...deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA), and thus evaluating a patient's response to oral iron treatment.
The research population consisted of 217 participants in total: 54 control, 53 ID, 58 non-ID anemia, and 52 IDA patients. A hemoglobin (Hb) value of < 130.0 g/L was defined as indicating anemia for men, while an Hb value of < 120.0 g/L was defined as indicating anemia for women. All patients were administered 270 mg oral elemental iron sulphate daily.
The RET-He was significantly lower in the IDA group, compared to other groups (IDA: 21.0 ± 4.1, ID: 26.0 ± 4.9, non-ID anemia: 32.1 ± 6.8, control: 36.6 ± 7.0; < 0.001). The ID group had a lower RET-He compared to the non-ID anemia group and the control group. On the 5th day of treatment, the ID and IDA group showed no significant differences in terms of Hb while the RET-He level demonstrated a significant increase. The increase in the RET-He level observed in the IDA group on the 5th day was significantly higher compared to the increase observed in the ID group. A RET-He value of 25.4 pg and below predicted ID diagnosis with 90.4% sensitivity and 49.1% specificity in IDA patients, compared to the ID group.
The results of our study, therefore, suggest that RET-He may be a clinically useful marker in the diagnosis of ID and IDA.
In this study, we aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of azacitidine (AZA) in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), including patients with >30% bone marrow (BM) blasts.
In ...this retrospective multicenter study, 130 patients of ≥60 years old who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy or had progressed despite conventional treatment were included.
The median age was 73 years and 61.5% of patients had >30% BM blasts. Patients received AZA for a median of four cycles (range: 1-21). Initial overall response including complete remission (CR)/CR with incomplete recovery/partial remission was 36.2%. Hematologic improvement (HI) of any kind was documented in 37.7% of all patients. HI was also documented in 27.1% of patients who were unresponsive to treatment. Median overall survival (OS) was 18 months for responders and 12 months for nonresponders (p=0.005). In the unresponsive patient group, any HI improved OS compared to patients without any HI (median OS was 14 months versus 10 months, p=0.068). Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of <2, increasing number of AZA cycles (≥5 courses), and any HI predicted better OS. Age, AML type, and BM blast percentage had no impact.
We conclude that AZA is effective and well tolerated in elderly comorbid AML patients, irrespective of BM blast count, and HI should be considered a sufficient response to continue treatment with AZA.
The authors present real-world data on the efficacy and safety of nivolumab in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).
The Turkish Oncology Group Kidney Cancer Consortium ...(TKCC) database includes patients with mRCC from 13 cancer centers in Turkey. Patients with mRCC treated with nivolumab in the second line and beyond were extracted from the TKCC database.
A total of 173 patients were included. The rates of patients treated with nivolumab in the second, third, fourth and fifth lines were 47.4%, 32.4%, 14.5% and 5.7%, respectively. The median overall survival and progression-free survival were 24.2 months and 9.6 months, respectively. Nivolumab was discontinued owing to adverse events in 11 (6.4%) patients.
Nivolumab was effective in patients with mRCC and no new safety signal was observed.
Nivolumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) that blocks the communication between T cells and cancer cells and instead activates T cells to fight against cancer. Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is one of the most susceptible tumors to ICIs. The Checkmate 025 trial showed the efficacy of nivolumab in patients with previously treated mRCC. In this real-world study, 173 patients with mRCC were treated with nivolumab in the second line and beyond. Nivolumab was effective in the real-world setting without additional safety concerns.
Objective: Achieving an early molecular response (EMR) is crucial for improving the prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The halving time (HT) and reduction ratio (RR) of BCR: : ...ABL1 transcript levels have recently emerged as additional prognostic indexes besides the BCR: : ABL1 International Scale (IS). We aimed to investigate the prognostic role of BCR: : ABL1 transcript levels, HT, and RR on molecular response kinetics at 3 months in patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase (CP)-CML. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with CP-CML who received first-line imatinib treatment were included in this study. BCR: : ABL1 transcript levels and molecular responses at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months of treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Major molecular response (MMR) at 12 months and event-free survival (EFS) were determined as primary endpoints and the effects of treatment kinetics on these parameters were examined. Results: Of the 40 patients, BCR: : ABL1 IS was ≤10% at 3 months in 72.5%, representing EMR. The rate of event occurrence was 45.5% in patients with BCR: : ABL1 IS of >10%, whereas it was 6.9% in those with BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% (p=0.004). MMR was detected in 62.1% of the patients with EMR and in 9.1% of those without EMR (p=0.003). The cut-off value for achieving MMR was 24 days for HT and 0.04 for RR. Deep molecular response (DMR) at 24 months was associated with HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04. EFS was found to be significantly better in the group with BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% and HT of ≤24 days (p=0.001) and in the group with BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% and RR of ≤0.04 (p=0.007) compared to others. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that MMR could be predicted via EMR as well as by HT and RR. Additionally, HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04 were more important than BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% in achieving DMR at 24 months, and the combination of BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% with both HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04 has the best predictive value for EFS. Amaç: Kronik myeloid lösemili (KML) hastaların prognozunu iyileştirmek için erken moleküler yanıtın (EMR) elde edilmesi çok önemlidir. Son zamanlarda BCR: : ABL1 IS değerinin yanı sıra yarılanma zamanı (HT) ve azalma oranı (RR) gibi kavramlar ek prognostik göstergeler olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu çalışmada yeni tanı kronik faz (KF)-KML hastalarında 3 ayda BCR: : ABL1 IS transkript düzeyi, HT ve RR ile moleküler yanıt kinetiklerinin prognostik rolünü araştırmayı amaçladık. Gereç ve Yöntem: Birinci basamak imatinib tedavisi alan KF-KML’li kırk hasta bu çalışmaya dahil edildi. Bazal, 3, 6, 12 ve 24 aylardaki BCR: : ABL1 transkript seviyeleri ve moleküler yanıtlar retrospektif olarak değerlendirildi. On ikinci ay majör moleküler yanıt (MMR) ve olaysız sağkalım (EFS) sonlanım noktaları olarak belirlendi ve bu parametreler üzerindeki tedavi kinetiklerinin etkileri incelendi. Bulgular: Kırk KF-KML hastasının %72,5’inde 3. ayda BCR: : ABL1 IS ≤ %10’du (EMR). Üçüncü ayda BCR: : ABL1 IS>%10 olanların %45,5 inde olay varken, ≤%10 olanların %6,9’u olaya sahipti (p=0,004). EMR elde edilen hastaların %62,1’inde, elde edilemeyenlerin %9,1’inde MMR saptandı (p=0,003). Bu çalışmada MMR sağlanmasında eşik değeri HT için 24 gün ve RR için 0,04 olarak saptandı. Yirmi dördüncü ay derin moleküler yanıt (DMR), HT ≤24 gün ve RR ≤0,04 olmasıyla ilişkiliydi. BCR: : ABL1 IS ≤%10 ve HT ≤24 gün olan grupta (p=0,001) ve BCR: : ABL1 IS ≤%10 ve RR ≤0,04 olan grupta (p=0,007) diğer gruplara göre EFS belirgin olarak daha iyi bulundu. Sonuç: Bulgularımız, MMR’nin, EMR’nin yanı sıra HT ve RR ile de tahmin edilebileceğini gösterdi. Ayrıca, HT ≤24 gün ve RR ≤0,04 olması 24. ay DMR elde edilmesinde BCR: : ABL1 IS ≤%10 olmasından daha önemliydi ve BCR: : ABL1 IS ≤%10 olmasının hem HT ≤24 gün hem de RR ≤0,04 ile kombinasyonu, EFS için en iyi belirleyici değere sahipti.
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in the real-life setting.
A total of 204 patients with ...low-risk or intermediate-1-risk MDS who received epoetin alfa or darbepoetin alfa were included. Hemoglobin levels and transfusion need were recorded before and during 12-month treatment.
Hemoglobinlevelsweresignificantlyhigherateachfollowupvisitwhencomparedtobaseline levelsinbothepoetinalfaanddarbepoetinalfagroups.Transfusionneedsignificantly decreasedfrombaselineateachstudyvisi intheepoetinalfagroupandonlyatthe12thmonth visitinthedarbepoetinalfagroup.Hemoglobin levels or transfusionneedwassimilarbetween treatmentgroups.
This reallife retrospective study revealed similar efficacy of epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa among low risk or intermediate-1 risk MDS patients with no difference in treatment response between treatment groups, whereas a likelihood of earlier treatment response in the epoetin alfa group(figure 1).
Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is a procedure that reduces circulating autoantibodies of the patients. TPE is commonly used in neurological disorders where autoimmunity plays a major role. We ...report our experience with regard to the indications, adverse events and outcomes of plasma exchange in neurological disorders. Sixty-three patients were included to this retrospective study. Median age was 48 years (range 1–85), there was a predominance of males. Neurological indications included Guillain-Barrè syndrome (
n
= 22), myasthenia gravis (
n
= 21), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (
n
= 7), polymyositis (
n
= 3), multifocal motor neuropathy (
n
= 2), acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (
n
= 2), neuromyelitis optica (
n
= 2), multiple sclerosis (
n
= 2), limbic encephalitis (
n
= 1) and transverse myelitis (
n
= 1). TPE was frontline therapy in 57 % of the patients (
n
= 36). Total number of TPE sessions was 517; median number of sessions per patient was 8 (range 1–66). TPE was done through a central venous access in 97 % and through a peripheral venous access in 3 % of the patients. Human albumin was used as replacement fluid in 49 %, hydroxyethyl starch (HES) in 49 % and fresh frozen plasma in 2 % of the cases. Adverse reactions were recorded in 60 % of the patients. Total ratio of complications in 517 TPE procedures was 10.8 % and these were mild and manageable such as allergic reactions and hypotension. Overall response rate was 81 %. Interestingly, complication and response rates were similar in both HES and human albumin groups. We conclude that TPE is an effective treatment in neurologic diseases in which autoimmunity plays an important role in the pathogenesis and HES can be used instead of albumin as replacement fluid in these disorders, since it is cost-effective, has similar efficacy and complication rates.
Achieving an early molecular response (EMR) is crucial for improving the prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Halving time (HT) and reduction ratio (RR) of BCR::ABL1 transcript ...levels have recently emerged as additional prognostic indexes to BCR::ABL1 International Scale (IS). We aimed to investigate the prognostic role of BCR::ABL1 transcript levels, HT and RR on molecular response kinetics at 3 months in patients with newly diagnosed chronic phase (CP)-CML.
Forty patients with CP-CML who received first-line imatinib treatment were included in this study. BCR::ABL1 transcript levels and molecular responses at baseline, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months of treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Major molecular response(MMR) at 12 months and event-free survival (EFS) were determined as primary endpoints and the effects of treatment kinetics on these parameters were examined.
Of the 40 patients, BCR::ABL1 IS was ≤10% at 3 months (EMR) in 72.5%. The event occurrence was 45.5% in patients with BCR::ABL1 IS>10%, whereas 6.9% in those with ≤10% (p=0.004). MMR was detected in 62.1% of the patients with EMR and in 9.1% of those without EMR (p=0.003). The cut-off value for achieving MMR was 24 days for HT and 0.04 for RR. Deep molecular response (DMR) at 24 months was associated with HT≤24 days and RR≤0.04. EFS was found to be significantly better in the group with BCR::ABL1 IS≤10% and HT≤24 days (p=0.001) and in the group with BCR::ABL1 IS ≤10% and RR≤0.04 (p=0.007) than the other groups.
Our findings revealed that MMR could be predicted via EMR as well as by HT and RR. Also, HT≤24 days and RR≤0.04 were more important than BCR::ABL1 IS≤10% in achieving DMR at 24 months, and the combination of BCR::ABL1 IS≤10% with both HT≤24 days and RR≤0.04 has the best predictive value for EFS.
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