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Transverse colon cancer (TCC) is poorly studied, and TCC cases are often excluded from large prospective randomized trials because of their complexity and their potentially high complication rate. The best surgical approach for TCC has yet to be established. The aim of this large retrospective multicenter Italian series is to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of both hemicolectomy and transverse colectomy in order to identify the best surgical approach. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with mid-transverse colon cancer treated with a segmental colon resection or an extended hemicolectomy (right or left) between 2006 and 2016 in 28 high-volume (more than 70 procedures/year) Italian referral centers for colorectal surgery. The study included 1529 patients, 388 of whom underwent a segmental resection while 1141 underwent an extended resection. A higher number of complications has been reported in the segmental group than in the extended group (30.1% versus 23.6%; p 0.010). In 42 cases the main complication was the anastomotic leak (4.4% versus 2.2%; p 0.020). Recovery outcomes also showed statistical differences: time to first flatus (p 0.014), time to first mobilization (p 0.040), and overall hospital stay (p < 0.001) were significantly shorter in the extended group. Even if overall survival were similar between the groups (95.1% versus 97%; p 0.384), 3-year disease-free survival worsened after segmental resection (78.1% versus 86.2%; p 0.001). According to our results, an extended right colon resection for TCC seems to be surgically safer and more oncologically valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To investigate the outcome and pattern of survivals of rectal cancer patients presenting a complete or nearly complete tumor response after neo-adjuvant treatment. Methods Young surgeons <40 years old affiliated to the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology (YSICO) from 13 referral centers for colorectal cancer treatment, were invited to participate a retrospective study. Records from patients treated from 2005 to 2015 with a pathological diagnosis of ypT0/ypTis were retrieved and pooled in a common data-base for statistical purposes. All clinical and pathological variables were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted with the end-point of survivals. Results Two hundreds and sixty-one patients were analyzed including 237 ypT0 and 24 ypTis. Nodal positive patients were 8.7%. More than sixty-six percent of the patients did not perform adjuvant chemotherapy, with a statistical difference comparing N0 versus N+ patients (66.8% vs 40.9%, p 0.02). Mean follow-up was of 47.6 months. Twenty-two relapses were observed, 91.6% at a distant site. The mean time to recurrence was of 35.3 months. On univariate analysis, the use of adjuvant chemotherapy correlated with better OS exclusively in ypT0N + patients and not in ypT0N0. Univariate and multivariate analyses documented nodal positivity as the only prognostic factor correlated with a worse OS. Conclusion Recurrences were mostly diagnosed at a distant site and within the third year of follow-up. Nodal positivity was the only variable independently correlated with a worse OS. Univariate analysis documented a benefit for the use of adjuvant chemotherapy treatment exclusively in ypT0N + rectal cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is the investigation on hydrodynamic stability of an incompressible fluid saturating a horizontal layer of bi-disperse porous medium, heated from below and internally, in order to analyse the effect of the internal heat source on the onset of convective instabilities. The principle of exchange of stabilities is proved, so convection can arise only via stationary motions. Via linear instability and nonlinear stability analyses of the conduction solution, the linear threshold and the nonlinear threshold in the L 2 − norm for the onset of convective motions are determined and compared. • Convection in an internal heating bi-disperse porous layer is investigated. • The linear instability threshold is a decreasing function of the heat source. • Linear instability and nonlinear stability thresholds are almost indistinguishable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, gastric cancer represents the fifth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths. Although the overall 5-year survival for resectable disease was more than 70% in Japan due to the implementation of screening programs resulting in detection of disease at earlier stages, in Western countries more than two thirds of gastric cancers are usually diagnosed in advanced stages reporting a 5-year survival rate of only 25.7%. Anyway surgical resection with extended lymph node dissection remains the only curative therapy for non-metastatic advanced gastric cancer, while neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapies can improve the outcomes aimed at the reduction of recurrence and extension of survival. High-quality research and advances in technologies have contributed to well define the oncological outcomes and have stimulated many clinical studies testing multimodality managements in the advanced disease setting. This review article aims to outline and discuss open issues in current surgical management of advanced gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the viability, efficacy, and safety of sialoendoscopy for the diagnosis and management of radioiodine I131− related sialoadenitis, we retrospectively reviewed 30 patients referred between September 2007 and July 2013 from the Thyroid Surgery Unit to the Maxillofacial Unit of the Second University of Naples Hospital with persistent sialoadenitis after treatment with I131. After the affected gland had been isolated, the endoscope was introduced into the duct under local anaesthesia with 2% lignocaine and continuous lavage with isotonic saline, and was advanced until it reached the ductal system. We studied 24 women and 6 men, mean (SD) age 52 (??) years. In 25 patients I131 was given for papillary (83%), in 3 for medullary (10%), and in 2 for follicular thyroid carcinoma (7%). Stenosis alone was found in 30 glands (40%), mucous plugs alone in 35 (47%), and mucous plugs, stenosis, and kinks in 10 (13%). Of the 75 glands, dilatation of the ducts was successful in 70, and we completely removed all mucous plugs and kinks. We achieved symptomatic improvement in 23 patients (77%) during a follow-up ranging from 2 weeks to 84 months. Sialoendoscopy is a viable technique for the diagnosis of obstructive salivary disease, and is a safe and effective way to treat sialoadenitis, the most common complication of treatment with I131. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper is devoted to an extended Lotka–Volterra system of differential equations of predator–prey model. The extension is proposed with perturbation terms, which are null for the positive equilibrium state. In the original Lotka–Volterra system, the equilibrium state is not asymptotically stable due to the fact that perturbations are periodic in time. The aim of the paper is to characterize a form of perturbation terms guaranteeing the asymptotic stability or instability of equilibrium state. The reason of the proposed model is that for large time scale, the Lotka–Volterra model is too simple to be realistic. In the paper, the non-autonomous perturbations do not change the equilibrium state but introduce functions of time as well as for additional perturbed terms as for the main part of the equations modified from Lotka–Volterra model. Theorems are proposed in a renormalized form of the differential equations for time and the two variables. The key point of the paper comes from the use of a Liapunov function introduced in Section 2 which allows to obtain conditions for the asymptotic stability (Section 3) and instability (Section 4) by using a Cetaiev instability theorem following conditions on the renormalized coefficients in time of System (6). An appendix recalls the main results of the Liapunov Direct Method for non-autonomous binary systems of ordinary differential equations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A bare three-dimensional model, in which grains are reduced to points, cannot fully account for the magnetic properties of granular superconductors. A dressed version of these network models is proposed to discuss the quantitative link between the low-field magnetic response of high-Tc superconducting granular samples and the characteristic properties of Josephson junction network models. By means of dressed models, the temperature dependence of the d.c. field-cooled susceptibility of a simple three-dimensional granular system, consisting of eight grains in a cubic arrangement, is studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A general analytic approach to the study of structural deformation effects on the electrodynamic properties of elementary cubic networks of Josephson junctions (JJs) is presented. The undeformed network consists of twelve JJs interrupting the edges of a superconducting cubic structure. By first order perturbation analysis on the deformation parameters it is shown that, as in the unperturbed case, for well defined applied field orientations, the voltage vs. applied magnetic flux curves present a period which can be an uncommensurate multiple of the elementary flux quantum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A mathematical model for fluid dynamics in a rotating bidispersive porous medium, horizontally isotropic, is introduced. • Linear and nonlinear stability analyses for thermal convection are performed. • The coincidence between linear instability and non-linear stability thresholds has been proved. • The influence of a uniform rotation on the onset of convection has been examined. Linear and nonlinear stability analyses for thermal convection in a rotating bidispersive porous medium, horizontally isotropic, is performed. Since the coincidence between linear instability and non-linear stability thresholds has been proved, the linear theory captures completely the physics of the problem at stake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations from surface drifters and Argo floats elucidate details of two upper-ocean pathways through which freshwater from the Bay of Bengal (BoB) is advected into the tropical Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea (AS). The western route is located along the east coast of India and feeds into the westward Northeast Monsoon Current (NMC) south of Sri Lanka during the winter monsoon, whereas the eastern path is located along the western margin of Sumatra reaching at times as far south as the Indonesian Throughflow plume near 10°S. While the former pathway is highly seasonal and affected by mesoscale variability, the latter is a year-round feature and may be dominant from an annual perspective. The observations do not support the notion of a continuous current system comprised of the NMC and the West India Coastal Current around the Laccadive High in boreal winter that can directly export surface freshwater from the BoB to the AS. Further, the observations indicate an occasional leakage of low-salinity water by a westward coastal current between the eastward Southwest Monsoon Current (SMC) and Sri Lanka in boreal summer that may be caused by equatorial wave processes. The SMC, which exhibits considerable Ekman contributions in contrast to its geostrophically-balanced NMC counterpart in boreal winter, facilitates the transport of saltier AS water into the BoB, with subsequent spreading into the upper thermocline of the BoB setting up an estuary-like circulation pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]