MWA showed better results than TACE in the management of large HCC lesions.

An exclusive study of the characteristics of the interactions accompanied by the backward emission (θLab ≥ 90°) of relativistic and fast hadrons in the collisions of 4.5 A GeV/c 32S beam with emulsion nuclei is carried out. The experimental multiplicity distributions of different particles emitted in the forward (θLab < 90°) and backward hemispheres due to the interactions with the two emulsion components (CNO, AgBr) are presented and analysed. The correlations between the multiplicities of the different emitted particles are also investigated. This study reveals that there are signatures for a collective mechanism, which plays a role in the production of particles in the backward hemisphere. Hence, the backward multiplicity distribution of the emitted shower or grey particles at 4.5 A GeV/c incident momentum can be represented by a decay exponential law formula independent of the projectile size. The exponent of the power was found to increase with decreasing target size. The experimental data favour the idea that the backward particles were emitted due to the decay of the system in the latter stage of the reaction. While the mean values of the shower particles emitted in the forward hemisphere ⟨nfs⟩ are strongly dependent on the projectile size and incident energy, the mean value of the multiplicity of the shower particles flying into the backward hemisphere ⟨nbs⟩ are found to be only a function of the target size (i.e. impact parameter). Therefore, the results yield quite interesting information regarding the mechanism of the backward particle production in heavy ion interactions. The present data are believed to support the mechanism, which considers the backward particle production as a consequence of the isotropic decay of a highly excited target system, in its rest frame, after the forward particle emission.

Background Conflicting studies were proposed either suggested or denied the relationship between early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence and the use of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for chronic hepatitis C management Aim of the study To evaluate HCC recurrence rate post-DAAs and potential predictive factors. Study This prospective cohort study included all HCC patients achieved complete response attending our multidisciplinary HCC clinic, Cairo University, from November 2013 to February 2018. Group I (60 patients) who received DAAs after HCC ablation and group II (273 patients) who were DAAs-untreated. We studied factors that could play a role in HCC recurrence.Results The sustained virological response rate was 88.3% among DAA-treated patients. HCC recurrence rate was 45% in the post-DAA group vs. 19% in the non-DAAs group; P < 0.001. Mean survival was significantly higher in the post-DAA group (34.23 ± 16.16 vs. 23.92 ± 13.99 months respectively; P value <0.001). There was a significant correlation between HCC recurrence rate and age, male gender, mean size of tumors and time interval between complete HCC ablation and occurrence of HCC recurrence. Conclusion Our study reports high rate of HCC recurrence post-DAA therapy in patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization but not in those treated with curative measures. DAA therapy after curative treatment for HCC led to significantly earlier HCC recurrence, which correlated with specific clinic-pathologic features in our prospective singleinstitution study. However, future independent prospective randomized studies are warranted to evaluate this correlation which may lead to a change in the current standard-of-care approach to patients with hepatitis C virus-related HCC.

The behavior of relativistic hadron multiplicity for 4 He-nucleus interactions is investigated. The experiment is carried out at 2.1 A and 3.7 A GeV (Dubna energy) to search for the incident energy effect on the interactions inside different emulsion target nuclei. Data are presented in terms of the number of emitted relativistic hadrons in both forward and backward angular zones. The dependence on the target size is presented. For this purpose the statistical events are discriminated into groups according to the interactions with H, CNO, Em, and AgBr target nuclei. The separation of events, into the mentioned groups, is executed based on Glauber's multiple scattering theory approach. Features suggestive of a decay mechanism seem to be a characteristic of the backward emission of relativistic hadrons. The results strongly support the assumption that the relativistic hadrons may already be emitted during the de-excitation of the excited target nucleus, in a behavior like that of compound-nucleus disintegration. Regarding the limiting fragmentation hypothesis beyond 1 A GeV, the target size is the main parameter affecting the backward production of the relativistic hadron. The incident energy is a principal factor responsible for the forward relativistic hadron production, implying that this system of particle production is a creation system. However, the target size is an effective parameter as well as the projectile size considering the geometrical concept regarded in the nuclear fireball model. The data are analyzed in the framework of the FRITIOF model.

The target fragmentation in 60A and 200A GeV 16O interactions with emulsion nuclei is analyzed. The validity of the nuclear limiting fragmentation hypothesis is confirmed at ultrarelativistic energies. The emission mechanism of the fast target proton (grey particle) is investigated in terms of the multiplicity characteristics. The anisotropy ratio and asymmetry parameter, while found to be independent of the projectile size or incident energy, are dependent on the target size and system centrality. This dependence is insignificant for heavy targets and in more central regions, where constancy exists. In this species, the system of the grey particle emission cannot exhibit the optimum symmetry or asymmetry between the forward and backward hemispheres. It is seen that these target protons originate from two emission sources in the earlier stage of the target fragmentation. One them emits nucleons isotropically in the 4π space. The other is the main emission source, which emits nucleons, in the forward hemisphere only, as a result of the binary nucleon–nucleon collisions and (or) intranuclear cascade.

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A detailed study on the multiplicity characteristics of the slow target fragments emitted in relativistic heavy-ion collisions has been carried out at E Lab = 3.7 A and 200A GeV using 32 S projectile. The beam energy dependence of the black particles produced in the full phase space of 32 S -emulsion (32 S -Em) interactions on the target size in terms of their moments (mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis) is investigated. The various order moments of target fragments emitted in the interactions of 32 S beams with the heavy ( AgBr ) target nuclei are estimated in the forward (FHS) and backward (BHS) hemispheres. The investigated values of ratio of variance to mean at both energies show that the multiplicity distributions (MDs) are not Poissonian and the strongly correlated emission of target fragments are in the forward directions. The degree of anisotropic fragment emission and nature of correlation among the emitted fragments are investigated. The energy dependence of entropy is examined in both hemispheres. The entropy values normalized to average multiplicity are found to be energy independent. Scaling of MD of black particles produced in these interactions has been studied to verify the validity of scaling hypothesis via two scaling (Koba–Nielsen–Olesen (KNO)-scaling and Hegyi-scaling) functions. A simplified universal function has been used in each scaling to display the experimental data.

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