University of Udine

About: University of Udine is a education organization based out in Udine, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 6745 authors who have published 20530 publications receiving 669088 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli Studi di Udine & Universita degli Studi di Udine.

Current trends in initial management of oropharyngeal cancer: the declining use of open surgery.

Abstract: The widespread availability of novel primary treatment approaches against oropharyngeal cancers has provided several potentially curative surgical and nonsurgical treatment options for patients, generating both hope and controversy. As treatment is usually curative in intent, management considerations must include consideration of primary tumor and nodal disease control as well as long-term toxicities and functional outcomes. Anatomical and functional organ preservation (speech and deglutition) remains of paramount importance to patients with oropharyngeal cancer and the physicians involved in their care, accounting for the growing popularity of chemoradiotherapy and transoral surgical techniques for this indication. These novel approaches have greatly diminished the role of open surgery as initial therapy for oropharyngeal cancers. Open surgery which is often reserved for salvage on relapse, may still be an appropriate therapy for certain early stage primary lesions. The growing treatment armamentarium requires careful consideration for optimal individualized care. The identification of oncogenic human papillomavirus as a predictive and prognostic marker in patients with oropharyngeal cancer has great potential to further optimize the choice of treatment. In this review, novel primary therapies against oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma are presented in the context of anatomical, quality of life, and emerging biological considerations.

Electron reconstruction and identification efficiency measurements with the atlas detector using the 2011 lhc proton-proton collision data

Abstract: Many of the interesting physics processes to be measured at the LHC have a signature involving one or more isolated electrons. The electron reconstruction and identification efficiencies of the ATLAS detector at the LHC have been evaluated using proton-proton collision data collected in 2011 at TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb. Tag-and-probe methods using events with leptonic decays of and bosons and mesons are employed to benchmark these performance parameters. The combination of all measurements results in identification efficiencies determined with an accuracy at the few per mil level for electron transverse energy greater than 30 GeV.

Antimicrobial therapy in critically ill patients: a review of pathophysiological conditions responsible for altered disposition and pharmacokinetic variability

Abstract: Antimicrobials are among the most important and commonly prescribed drugs in the management of critically ill patients. Selecting the appropriate antimicrobial at the commencement of therapy, both in terms of spectrum of activity and dose and frequency of administration according to concentration or time dependency, is mandatory in this setting. Despite appropriate standard dosage regimens, failure of the antimicrobial treatment may occur because of the inability of the antimicrobial to achieve adequate concentrations at the infection site through alterations in its pharmacokinetics due to underlying pathophysiological conditions. According to the intrinsic chemicophysical properties of antimicrobials, hydrophilic antimicrobials (β-lactams, aminoglycosides, glycopeptides) have to be considered at much higher risk of inter- and intraindividual pharmacokinetic variations than lipophilic antimicrobials (macrolides, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, chloramphenicol, rifampicin [rifampin]) in critically ill patients, with significant frequent fluctuations of plasma concentrations that may require significant dosage adjustments. For example, underexposure may occur because of increased volume of distribution (as a result of oedema in sepsis and trauma, pleural effusion, ascites, mediastinitis, fluid therapy or indwelling post-surgical drainage) and/or enhanced renal clearance (as a result of burns, drug abuse, hyperdynamic conditions during sepsis, acute leukaemia or use of haemodynamically active drugs). On the other hand, overexposure may occur because of a drop in renal clearance caused by renal impairment. Care with all these factors whenever choosing an antimicrobial may substantially improve the outcome of antimicrobial therapy in critically ill patients. However, since these situations may often coexist in the same patient and pharmacokinetic variability may be unpredictable, the antimicrobial policy may further benefit from real-time application of therapeutic drug monitoring, since this practice, by tailoring exposure to the individual patient, may consequently be helpful both in improving the outcome of antimicrobial therapy and in containing the spread of resistance in the hospital setting.