A Resilient and Effective Task Scheduling Approach for Industrial Human-Robot Collaboration.

Effective task scheduling in human-robot collaboration (HRC) scenarios is one of the great challenges of collaborative robotics. The shared workspace inside an industrial setting brings a lot of uncertainties that cannot be foreseen. A prior offline task scheduling strategy is ineffective in dealing with these uncertainties.

Total parenteral nutrition prevents further nutritional deterioration in patients with cancer cachexia.

The effects of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on some nutritional variables were prospectively investigated in 12 severely cachectic patients with advanced cancer. The following variables were determined before and at 5-day intervals during the 20-day administration of TPN: anthropometric indices (body weight, arm circumference, triceps skinfold, arm muscle circumference, arm muscle area, arm fat area, total body muscle mass); biochemical indices (total protein, albumin, cholinesterase, total iron binding capacity, thyroxin-binding prealbumin, retinol binding protein, urinary 3-methylhistidine and creatinine excretion, nitrogen balance); and peripheral lymphocyte count. TPN was delivered at 49.

Interventional radiology with venous port (chemotherapy and infusional support).

A completely portable permanent central venous access, consisting of a steel capsule sealed with a silicone membrane and connected to a silicone catheter (Port-a-Cath), was implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of 36 patients, most of whom no longer had accessible peripheral veins and needed to continue chemotherapy or undergo total parenteral nutrition. The access vessel was mostly the subclavian vein and the capsule was sutured to the pectoral fascia. Total subcutaneous implantation seems to afford optimum safety from infection and freedom for personal hygiene, produced no noteworthy complications and proved relatively simple to maintain.

Hypocupremia in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition.

Although hypocupremia is a well-known consequence of long-term total parenteral nutrition (TPN), its incidence as well as the duration of TPN necessary to induce it are still unsettled. The purpose of this study is to review the changes in serum copper level in 25 patients receiving TPN for a period longer than 2 wk (mean duration 6 wk) at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan and to evaluate the possible relationship of cupremia with the basic disease. Main indications for TPN included enterocutaneous fistulas (11 patients), cancer cachexia (10 patients), radiation enteropathy (two patients), and severe postoperative stricture following esophagogastric resection (two patients).

Impact of cancer, type, site, stage and treatment on the nutritional status of patients.

This study analyzed the nutritional status of cancer patients in relation to type and site of origin of the tumor, stage of disease, and previous chemical or radiation therapy. The analysis was performed on 321 patients (280 with cancer and 41 controls). The nutritional parameters included per cent of weight loss, anthropometric indices (arm circumference, triceps skinfold, arm muscle circumference), creatinine-height index, serum protein, albumin, total iron binding capacity and cholinesterase, C3 and C4 components of complement, total peripheral lymphocytes, and skin tests.

Pathogenesis and predictability of central venous catheter sepsis.

The purposes of this study were to analyze the causes and routes of infection of indwelling central venous catheters and to improve the diagnosis of catheter sepsis before the removal of the cannula. One hundred forty catheter tips were prospectively studies; also, cultures of 52 proximal segments of catheters, 44 swabs of the subcutaneous segment, 195 skin entry sites, 181 infusional fluids, 208 blood samples, and 106 infected distant sites were examined. The catheter sepsis rate was 7.

[Parenteral hyperalimentation in patients with advanced neoplastic disease (author's transl)].

Two groups of patients suffering from advanced neoplastic disease were fed parenterally for a period ranging from 1 to 16 weeks. The parameters considered were: weight change, serum albumin level, lymphocyte transformation test and serum immunoglobulin level. There were 23 patients in one group and 21 patients in the other.