The characterization of powder flow properties is often required for reliable design and proper operation of industrial processes. The effect of the state of compaction and bed voidage on bulk solids ...flowability is probably the most critical area of understanding. The goal of the present study is to compare traditional characterization techniques with methodologies provided by the FT4 Powder Rheometer (Freeman Technology). The data from six different methods, covering low to high stress levels, were compared to examine the hypothetical relationships between them. These techniques were also evaluated with regard to their ability to discriminate between different powders. To make a comparison of the testing methods, a range of seven materials was selected to cover the entire range of fine powders, i.e., from nanoparticles to group B powders.
The results showed that the characterization techniques clearly have different working ranges depending on the level of cohesiveness of the powder. The powder rheometer was found to allow quick and reproducible measurements of the powder response to various environments. The different blade testing methods provided data that were in good agreement with traditional characterization techniques. However, the powder rheometer measurements were difficult to interpret because they depend on many physical properties and environmental parameters. They were particularly useful to compare similar materials but did not allow good discrimination between very different materials. A more detailed understanding of the physical phenomena involved in blade testing techniques is still needed.
Finally, this study showed that powders and bulk materials cannot be viewed as invariant entities. Their flow properties cannot be predicted by only one indicator. The connection of several characterization methods is required to ensure a complete understanding of the powder flow properties over a wide range of conditions. This approach allows better insight into the powder/process relationship.
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•The state of compaction greatly affects the powder flow properties.•The powder rheometer FT4 allows quick and reproducible measurements.•The characterization methods have different working ranges.•The combination of several characterization methods is required.
The hippocampus and amygdala are key brain structures of the medial temporal lobe, involved in cognitive and emotional processes as well as pathological states such as epilepsy. Despite their ...importance, it is still unclear whether their neural activity can be recorded non-invasively. Here, using simultaneous intracerebral and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings in patients with focal drug-resistant epilepsy, we demonstrate a direct contribution of amygdala and hippocampal activity to surface MEG recordings. In particular, a method of blind source separation, independent component analysis, enabled activity arising from large neocortical networks to be disentangled from that of deeper structures, whose amplitude at the surface was small but significant. This finding is highly relevant for our understanding of hippocampal and amygdala brain activity as it implies that their activity could potentially be measured non-invasively.
Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) is a severe, rare, chronic inflammatory brain disease resulting in drug-resistant epilepsy and progressive destruction of one hemisphere with loss of neurological ...function. RE is associated with a deterioration of background electroencephalography (EEG) activity, a progressive atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging and an extensive positron emission tomography hypometabolism over the affected hemisphere. RE is an immune-mediated disease, with a predominant role of CD8+ T cytotoxic cells, microglial cells, and activation of inflammasome pathway. The diagnosis of RE is based on clinical (intractable epilepsy and neurological deterioration), electrophysiological (unilateral EEG slowing) and MRI (hemiatrophy) criteria. Antiseizure medications are generally unable to stop seizures. The most effective procedure is hemispherotomy (surgical disconnection of one cerebral hemisphere), but this is associated with permanent motor and neurological deficits. Treatments targeting the immune system are recommended especially in the early stages of the disease or in patients with slow disease progression and mild deficits and/or not eligible for surgery. Based on the pathophysiology, several immunotherapies have been tried in RE (none exhaustively: corticosteroid, intravenous immunoglobulins, tacrolimus, azathioprine, adalimumab, mycophenolate mofetil, natalizumab). However, only small cohorts have been reported without comparative study. In this review, we will summarise some pathophysiological mechanisms of RE, before reporting the literature data concerning immunotherapies. We then discuss the limitations of these studies and the prospects for further research.
Background
Approximately 4–9% of patients have a tumor-positive resection margin after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) and esophagectomy. Although it is associated with decreased survival, ...Western guidelines do not recommend adjuvant treatment.
Objective
The aim of this study was to assess the proportion of patients who received adjuvant therapy, and to evaluate overall survival (OS) after esophagectomy in patients with a tumor-positive resection margin.
Methods
Patients diagnosed with resectable (cT2-4a/cTxN0-3/NxM0) esophageal cancer between 2015 and 2022, and treated with nCRT followed by irradical esophagectomy, were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a tumor-positive resection margin who started adjuvant treatment ≤16 weeks after esophagectomy, including chemotherapy/radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy. OS was calculated from the date of surgery until the date of death or last day of follow-up.
Results
Overall, 376 patients were included in our study, of whom 357 were treated with nCRT. Of these 357 patients, 98.3% had a microscopically irradical resection and 1.7% had a macroscopically irradical resection. Approximately 72.3% of tumors showed a partial response (Mandard 2–3) and 11.8% showed little/no pathological response (Mandard 4–5) to nCRT. One of 357 patients underwent adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and 39 patients (61%) underwent adjuvant immunotherapy (nivolumab). The median and 5-year OS rate of all patients was 16.4 months (95% confidence interval 13.1–19.8) and 21%, respectively.
Conclusion
Real-world population-level data showed that no patients with a tumor-positive resection margin underwent adjuvant therapy following nCRT and esophagectomy prior to 2021. Interestingly, 61% of patients were treated with adjuvant nivolumab in 2021–2022. OS after irradical esophagectomy is poor and long-term data will explore the added value of nivolumab.
•Multi-operating systems tools for intracerebral electrode localization.•Automatic electrode segmentation, localization and labelling.•3D visualization of signal processing results within patient’s ...anatomy.
In pharmacoresistant epilepsy, exploration with depth electrodes can be needed to precisely define the epileptogenic zone. Accurate location of these electrodes is thus essential for the interpretation of Stereotaxic EEG (SEEG) signals. As SEEG analysis increasingly relies on signal processing, it is crucial to make a link between these results and patient’s anatomy.
Our aims were thus to develop a suite of software tools, called “EpiTools”, able to i) precisely and automatically localize the position of each SEEG contact and ii) display the results of signal analysis in each patient’s anatomy.
The first tool, GARDEL (GUI for Automatic Registration and Depth Electrode Localization), is able to automatically localize SEEG contacts and to label each contact according to a pre-specified nomenclature (for instance that of FreeSurfer or MarsAtlas). The second tool, 3Dviewer, enables to visualize in the 3D anatomy of the patient the origin of signal processing results such as rate of biomarkers, connectivity graphs or Epileptogenicity Index.
GARDEL was validated in 30 patients by clinicians and proved to be highly reliable to determine within the patient’s individual anatomy the actual location of contacts.
GARDEL is a fully automatic electrode localization tool needing limited user interaction (only for electrode naming or contact correction). The 3Dviewer is able to read signal processing results and to display them in link with patient’s anatomy.
EpiTools can help speeding up the interpretation of SEEG data and improving its precision.
In patients treated for oesophageal cancer the importance of lymphovascular and perineural invasion (PNI) after neoadjuvant therapy has yet to be established. The aim of this study was to assess the ...incidence and prognostic significance of these factors in a consecutive series of patients with cancer of the oesophagus or gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) who underwent neoadjuvant therapy followed by oesophagectomy.
Clinical and pathology results from patients with potentially curable adenocarcinoma, or squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus or GOJ were reviewed. Patients were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiation followed by transthoracic oesophagectomy and two-field lymphadenectomy. The presence of venous invasion (VI), lymph vessel invasion (LI) and perineural invasion (PNI) were correlated with clinical outcomes.
A total of 396 patients underwent oesophagectomy after neoadjuvant therapy for oesophageal cancer. Venous invasion was identified in 150 (38%) of patients, LI in 203 (51%) patients and PNI in 204 (52%) patients. In all, 123 (31%) patients had no evidence of either VI, LI or PNI. A total of 96 (24%) had a combination of two factors and 94 (24%) had all three factors. The presence of VI, LI and PNI was significantly related to tumour stage (P=0.001). Median overall survival was 170.8 months when all three factors were absent, 44.0 months when one factor was present, 27.1 months when two factors were present and 16.0 months when all were present. Multivariate analyses revealed VI, LI and PNI or a combination of these factors were independent predictors of prognosis.
In oesophageal cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy followed by oesophagectomy the presence of VI, LI and PNI has an important prognostic impact and may identify patients at high risk of recurrence who would benefit from adjuvant therapies.
Rivers are the fluvial conveyor belts routing sediment across the landscape. While there are proper techniques for continuous estimates of the flux of suspended solids, constraining bedload flux is ...much more challenging, typically involving extensive measurement infrastructure or labor‐intensive manual measurements. Seismometers are potentially valuable alternatives to in‐stream devices, delivering continuous data with high temporal resolution on the average behavior of a reach. Two models exist to predict the seismic spectra generated by river turbulence and bedload flux. However, these models require estimating a large number of parameters and the spectra usually overlap significantly, which hinders straightforward inversion. We provide three functions contained in the R package “eseis” that allow generic modeling of hydraulic and bedload transport dynamics from seismic data using these models. The underlying Monte Carlo approach creates lookup tables of potential spectra, which are compared against the empirical spectra to identify the best fitting solutions. The method is validated against synthetic data sets and independently measured metrics from the Nahal Eshtemoa, Israel, a flash flood‐dominated ephemeral gravel bed river. Our approach reproduces the synthetic time series with average absolute deviations of 0.01–0.04 m (water depth, ranging between 0 and 1 m) and 0.00–0.04 kg/sm (bedload flux, ranging between 0 and 4 kg/sm). The example flash flood water depths and bedload fluxes are reproduced with respective average deviations of 0.10 m and 0.02 kg/sm. Our approach thus provides generic, testable, and reproducible routines for a quantitative description of key metrics, hard to collect by other techniques in a continuous and representative manner.
Key Points
Average model deviations are 0.01–0.04 m (water depth) and 0.00–0.04 kg/sm (bedload) for several synthetic data sets
Our approach allows continuous processing of field data with <0.10 m (water depth) and >0.02 kg/sm (bedload flux) average deviation
Our approach allows continuous processing of field data with <0.10 m (water depth) and >0.02 kg/sm (bedload flux) average deviation
Background
Raised levels of systemic inflammatory markers are associated with poor survival in patients with cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of markers of systemic ...inflammation in patients with adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus or gastro‐oesophageal junction.
Methods
Data from a consecutive series of patients undergoing transthoracic oesophagectomy following neoadjuvant therapy at a single centre were analysed. Fibrinogen, albumin, C‐reactive protein, leucocyte differential and platelet counts were measured before surgery. The upper quartile (75th percentile) was used as a cut‐off for dichotomization. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify independent prognostic factors.
Results
A series of 199 patients underwent transthoracic oesophagectomy following neoadjuvant therapy. Univariable analysis indicated that reduced median survival was associated with a raised platelet : lymphocyte ratio (158 or above; 25.6 versus 44·4 months for patients with a normal ratio, P = 0·038) and increased fibrinogen levels (4·9 g/l or above; 22·8 versus 59·9 months for those with a normal level, P = 0·005). On multivariable analysis a combination of one or more markers of systemic inflammation was associated with poorer overall survival (hazard ratio 2·12, 95 per cent c.i. 1·20 to 3·74; P = 0·010).
Conclusion
Preoperative markers of systemic inflammation predict poor outcome in patients undergoing curative treatment for locally advanced oesophageal and gastro‐oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
Could help in treatment stratification
Abstract
We present the Mid-infrared stellar Diameters and Fluxes compilation Catalogue (MDFC) dedicated to long-baseline interferometry at mid-infrared wavelengths (3–13 $\mu$m). It gathers data for ...half a million stars, i.e. nearly all the stars of the Hipparcos-Tycho catalogue whose spectral type is reported in the SIMBAD data base. We cross-match 26 data bases to provide basic information, binarity elements, angular diameter, magnitude and flux in the near and mid-infrared, as well as flags that allow us to identify the potential calibrators. The catalogue covers the entire sky with 465 857 stars, mainly dwarfs and giants from B to M spectral types closer than 18 kpc. The smallest reported values reach 0.16 $\mu$Jy in L and 0.1 $\mu$Jy in N for the flux, and 2 microarcsec for the angular diameter. We build four lists of calibrator candidates for the L and Nbands suitable with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) sub- and main arrays using the MATISSE instrument. We identify 1621 candidates for L and 44 candidates for N with the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs), 375 candidates for both bands with the ATs, and 259 candidates for both bands with the Unit Telescopes (UTs). Predominantly cool giants, these sources are small and bright enough to belong to the primary lists of calibrator candidates. In the near future, we plan to measure their angular diameter with 1 per cent accuracy.
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