Less post-operative pain, and a faster return to usual activities are the main advantages of laparoscopic repair compared to the traditional approach. The use of fibrin sealant reduces in our experience the risk of post- and intra-operative complications such as bleeding and incisional hernia; recurrence rates are similar, but the operative time is longer.

In colorectal cancer patients high plasma fibrinogen, FVIII and FIX levels might represent further risk factors for venous thrombotic complications in the immediate post-surgery period, while decreased FVII and FXII concentrations may be an index of intravascular coagulation activation, still in a subclinical phase.

Our study suggests that, in gastric cancer, the risk factors of thrombophilic cancer state are on acquired rather than on a genetic basis and that prothrombin G20210A does not seem to be a cofactor in gastric cancer pathogenesis.

In patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer the acute-phase response is associated with antiphospholipid generation. This could represent a further pathogenetic mechanism for the short-term post-surgery thrombotic complications of patients with colorectal cancer.

This study indicates that a plication of colonic smooth muscle wall can re-create a high-pressure zone in the anal canal after the internal anal sphincter has been excised.

Alkali-free flash setting accelerators are widely used in the area of underground construction as they allow a very rapid hardening of cementitious systems. These admixtures are particularly used for wet-mix shotcrete, which involves pneumatically pumping a previously prepared concrete to a nozzle, where liquid accelerator is added.Compressed air is used to 'shoot' the mixture onto the receiving surface. The resulting concrete layer acts as a consolidating shield that helps to avoid the tendency of the excavated section to squeeze (convergence) or collapse.The accelerator's efficiency is related to many parameters such as cement class, environmental conditions (humidity, temperature), concrete mix design and aggregate type. A limited number of papers have been published on the effects of these factors on the accelerating properties of alkali-free accelerators. In this paper, the influence of the aggregates chemical nature is studied. Setting time and mechanical strength development of mortar samples containing calcareous or siliceous sands, with the addition of an alkali-free accelerator, are analysed. It is discovered that calcium-carbonate-based aggregates strongly improve accelerator performances. In order to better understand this phenomenon, the influence of calcium carbonate on accelerated hydrating cement mortar is investigated through thermo-chemical hydration profiles, thermogravimetry (TG), environmental scanning electron microscopyfield emission gun (ESEM-FEG), induced coupled plasma -atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). From the results, a significant increase of ettringite is evident in the accelerated mortars containing calcite.

In patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer the acute-phase response is associated with antiphospholipid generation. This could represent a further pathogenetic mechanism for the short-term post-surgery thrombotic complications of patients with colorectal cancer.

No abstract