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SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to reveal the incidence, clinicopathological, and oncological outcomes of appendiceal neoplasms. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study from a single institution. Patients with a pathological diagnosis of malignancy who underwent appendectomy between January 2011 and 2021 were included in the study, and groups were formed according to pathological type. Clinical, pathological, and oncological results were compared in these groups. RESULTS: The incidence of neoplasia was 2.38% (n=34) in a cohort of 1,423 appendectomy cases. Of the cases, 56% (n=19) were female. The median age in the entire cohort was 55.5 (range: 13–106) years. In the cohort, the rate of neuroendocrine tumor mucinous cystadenoma adenocarcinoma, and low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm, according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification of appendiceal neoplasms, was 32.3% (n=11), 26.4% (n=9), 26.4% (n=9), and 14.7% (n=5), respectively. Neuroendocrine tumor patients (median age: 35 years) were younger than the other groups (p=0.021). Secondary complementary surgery was performed in 66.7% (n=6) of adenocarcinoma patients and 27.3% (n=3) of neuroendocrine tumor patients. Right hemicolectomy was performed in all neuroendocrine tumor patients requiring secondary surgery, while right hemicolectomy was performed in three adenocarcinoma patients and cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in three adenocarcinoma patients. After a median follow-up of 44.4 months (95% confidence interval: 18.6–70.1), the mean survival rate was 55% in appendiceal adenocarcinoma patients compared to 100% in neuroendocrine tumor patients. CONCLUSION: Appendiceal neoplasms are rare but remain an important cause of mortality. Appendiceal adenocarcinomas are associated with poorer oncological outcomes compared to other neoplasms.

Thermal management is a challenging engineering problem for CubeSats due to the limited available volumes restricting the thermal control applications. Therefore, performing thermal modeling and analyses of these small satellites is very crucial for applying proper thermal control measures to maintain safe operating conditions in space. Despite the growing interest in this field, there are still a limited number of studies investigating the thermal behavior of CubeSats. In this paper, surface temperature profiles of 1U, 2U, 3U, 5U, 6U, and 12U sized CubeSats are simulated for varying low earth orbits. The effects of altitudes changing from 400 km to 2000 km and the beta angles changing from 0 to 75 deg are analytically investigated. Not only the coatings with different absorptance and emissivity values but also different amounts of internal heat dissipations are examined to reveal their impact on the thermal balance of satellites. Results demonstrate surface temperatures are highly dependent on those variables. The amount of heat absorbed by satellite panels is affected by the different sizes of CubeSats, different coating properties of panels, and different orbital configurations. The outcomes of this research may be beneficial especially in the early design phase for designing small satellites and selecting proper orbital configurations.

There has been increasing interest in satellite design and manufacture. Satellites require complex components that must withstand severe mechanical and thermal conditions. Thermal design of a satellite relies on several dynamic factors. Satellites experience both extreme temperatures and rapid temperature changes. This situation induces high thermal stresses and may damage components of satellites on-board. In order to build a safely operating satellite for space conditions, this is to be modeled, simulated and tested accurately for several scenarios. Analytical approaches are established to perform thermal analysis in the early stage of satellite technology. Various methods are applied to solve heat balance equations analytically. Though the efforts provide good approximation, more detailed studies are required to perform multi-objective evaluations to determine the optimal design parameters. Numerical procedures play a crucial role for thermal modeling. Commercial software and built-in tools are useful in solving of heat balance equations numerically for achieving temperature distribution of complex and detailed structures. Besides, numerical procedures increase the accuracy and enable flexibility to designers. However, they have drawbacks on excessive calculation times. This paper focuses on available concepts in thermal modeling and analysis of satellites and to demonstrate recent trends in thermal design of satellites. The motivation of this study is to arouse the researchers to pay attention to the basic understanding for the thermal modeling and analysis of satellites under space conditions. In this review, we present useful knowledge about the novel trends and further studies to design, model and analyze the space satellites.

Prescribing optimal prosthetic feet to ensure successful rehabilitation is difficult since there are no generally established clinical guidelines based on objective data. The aim of the study was to compare functional capacity, pain intensity, satisfaction level and quality of life (QoL) of high activity patients with unilateral transtibial amputation using non-articulated carbon foot (non-articulating ankle, NAA) with those of using carbon foot with hydraulic ankle (articulating hydraulic ankle, AHA).Forty-two patients (21 with NAA and 21 with AHA) with unilateral transtibial traumatic amputation from tertiary rehabilitation center were participated in this cross-sectional study. Outcome measures were six-minute walking test (6MWT), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36). The level of difficulty experienced during ambulating on different terrains was recorded on a 5-point Likert scale.There were no significant statistical differences in 6MWT, pain intensity, prosthetic foot satisfaction level and QoL between the two groups. The level of difficulty experienced during descending ramps was higher in the NAA group than in the AHA group (p = 0.016). The most common reason for dissatisfaction were inflexibility for the NAA group (14.3%), frequent dysfunction for the AHA group (28.6%).Our results showed that the level of difficulty experienced during descending ramps was higher in the NAA group than in the AHA group. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed comparing microprocessor AHAs with NAA and AHA.

IntroductionCholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a cancer arising from the intra- or extrahepatic bile ducts Here, we evaluated the prognostic significance of a new inflammation-based scoring system derived from preoperative lymphocyte count x albumin (LA) in cholangiocarcinoma patients.Material and methodsThe study included 36 patients who underwent surgical treatment for cholangiocarcinoma between 2010 and 2021. We defined the LA as lymphocyte count (/L)×albumin (g/L) The cut-off point was determined by ROC curves. The patients were divided into two groups according to the cut-off point: Group1 (Low LA) and Group2 (High LA). These groups were compared for clinical characteristics, recurrence, and overall survival.ResultsThe patients were divided into two groups as Group1 (Low LA) and Group2 (High LA) according to the cut-off point of 5400. The male sex was dominant in the groups (76.2% vs. 86.7%; p:0.434). Hgb was lower (11.7 vs. 13.7; p:0.002) and CA19.9 was higher (310 vs. 71; p:0.013) in Group1. The length of hospital stay, reoperation, and 90-day readmission rate, were similar in the groups. The tumor size (2.8 cm vs. 3.13 cm; p:0.683) was similar in the groups. At follow-up, 33% of the patients in Group1 and 6.7% of the patients in Group2 developed recurrence (p:0.104). The survival was shorter in Group 1 (18 vs. 41.5 months; p:0.003).ConclusionsOur study established that an LA score below the cut-off point of 5400 was a prognostic factor associated with reduced survival. LA scores can be used to predict prognosis and make more individualized decisions in cholangiocarcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma metastases to the breast have been reported only rarely. A 63-year-old male patient with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma presented with a lump in his left breast. On physical examination, there was a hard, well-circumscribed, and partially mobile mass of 2 cm in diameter in the lower middle quadrant of the left breast. Breast ultrasound revealed a hypoechoic solid lesion of 1.8 cm × 1.9 cm in diameter in the lower middle quadrant of the left breast. F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging revealed bilateral subcutaneous nodular lesions of anterior chest wall that were adjacent but not invasive to the glandular tissues of the breasts, with high SUVmax values. Tru-cut biopsy result of the mass in the left breast region was reported as hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis. Positive immunohistochemical staining for Hep Par 1 and glypican-3 were detected. While the patient was on sorafenib therapy, he died 6 months later. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common malignancy for which chronic hepatitis B infection has been defined as the most common etiologic factor. The most frequent metastatic sites are the lung, bone, lymphatics, and brain, respectively, and metastases to the breast have been reported extremely rarely. Breast metastasis from non-mammary malignant neoplasm is rare, accounting for approximately 2% of breast tumors. Metastasis to the breast from an extramam mary neoplasm usually indicates disseminated metastatic disease and a poor prognosis. It should be borne in mind that a mass lesion detected in the breast region by physical examination and imaging methods may be a hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis in male or female patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. KEY WORDS: Breast, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Metastasis.Le metastasi di carcinoma epatocellulare al seno sono un reperto molto raro. Un paziente maschio di 63 anni con carcinoma epatocellulare metastatico presentava un nodulo al seno sinistro. All’esame obiettivo, c’era una massa dura, ben circoscritta e parzialmente mobile di 2 cm di diametro nel quadrante medio inferiore del seno sinistro. L’ecografia mammaria ha rivelato una lesione solida ipoecogena di 1,8 cm × 1,9 cm di diametro nel quadrante medio inferiore del seno sinistro. L’imaging F-18 FDG PET / CT ha rivelato lesioni nodulari sottocutanee bilaterali della parete toracica anteriore che erano adiacenti ma non invasive ai tessuti ghiandolari del seno, con valori di SUV massimo elevati. Il risultato della biopsia tru-cut della massa nella regione del seno sinistro ha diagnosticato trattarsi di una metastasi del carcinoma epatocellulare. Sono state rilevate colorazioni immunoistochimiche positive per Hep Par 1 e glypican-3. Il decesso del paziente si è verificato 6 mesi dopo, nel corso di trattamento con sorafenib. Il carcinoma epatocellulare è un tumore maligno noto per essere l’infezione da epatite B cronica il suo fattore eziologico più comune. I siti metastatici più frequenti sono rispettivamente il polmone, l’osso, i linfatici e il cervello; le metastasi al seno sono state riportate molto raramente. La metastasi al seno da neoplasia maligna non mammaria è rara e rappresenta circa il 2% dei tumori al seno. Le metastasi al seno dovute a una neoplasia non della mammella di solito indicano l’esistenza di una disseminazione di malattia metastatica e una prognosi sfavorevole. Alla luce di questa esperienza va tenuto presente che una massa rilevata nel contesto della ghiandola mammaria con esame fisico e strumentali di imaging in pazienti di maschi o femmine portatori di un carcinoma epatocellulare, può esserne una manifestazione metastatica.