Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) belongs to the group of gamma-herpes viruses and was the first recognized human oncovirus. EBV is responsible for infectious mononucleosis and multiple lymphoid and epithelial malignancies including B-cell lymphomas (Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder), various T-cell/NK lymphoproliferative disorders, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and gastric carcinoma, respectively. In addition, the presence of EBV has been documented in other cancers including breast, prostate, oral, and salivary gland carcinomas. The presence and role of EBV in cervical cancer and its precursor lesions (CIN) have also been described, but the results from the literature are inconsistent, and the causal role of EBV in cervical cancer pathogenesis has not been established yet. In the present review, we briefly surveyed and critically appraised the current literature on EBV in cervical cancer and its variants (lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma) as well as its precursor lesions (CIN). In addition, we discussed the possible interactions between EBV and human papilloma virus as well as between EBV and immune checkpoint regulators (PD-L1). Though further studies are needed, the available data suggest a possible causal relationship between EBV and cervical cancer pathogenesis.

It has been reported in recent years that elevated thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) values can be associated with thyroid malignancy. The aim of this study is to determine whether serum TgAb have a predictive role in thyroid cancer in patients with thyroid nodules. The crossed study included 100 patients with scintigraphic cold thyroid nodules divided in two groups. Demographic data, TgAb levels and final histopathological findings were recorded. The first group consisted of 50 patients with histopathological verified malignant nodules and the second group of 50 patients with histopathological verified benign nodules. TgAb were estimated by the radio-immunity assay (RIA) method. The median of TgAb in the group with benign nodules were 14.3 (10-32) IU / mL and in the group with malignant nodules 42.9 (13-156) IU / mL. TgAb values were significantly higher in patients with malignant nodules (p = 0.02 The increase in values of TgAb by 1 IU / mL increased the risk for malignancy by 0.7%. The cut-off for TgAb of > 35 IU / mL discriminates between diagnosis of the malignant and benign thyroid nodule. TgAb of > 35 IU / mL, with a sensitivity of 56% and a specificity of 78%, was found to be a limit value for predicting malignant thyroid lesion. TgAb serum values were predictor of malignant thyroid lesion and their preoperative measurement in combination with other risk factors could assist in preoperative diagnosis in patients with cytological indeterminant thyroid nodules.

Our increasing dependence on complex and critical information infrastructures and the emerging threat of sophisticated attacks, ask for extended efforts to ensure the correctness and security of these systems. Byzantine fault-tolerant state-machine replication (BFT-SMR) provides a way to harden such systems. It ensures that they maintain correctness and availability in an application-agnostic way, provided that the replication protocol is correct and at least \(n-f\) out of n replicas survive arbitrary faults. This paper presents Velisarios, a logic-of-events based framework implemented in Coq, which we developed to implement and reason about BFT-SMR protocols. As a case study, we present the first machine-checked proof of a crucial safety property of an implementation of the area’s reference protocol: PBFT.

BackgroundAcute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical disease, and appendectomy is the treatment of choice in the majority of cases. A correct diagnosis is key for decreasing the negative appendectomy rate. The management can become difficult in case of complicated appendicitis. The aim of this study is to describe the worldwide clinical and diagnostic work-up and management of AA in surgical departments.MethodsThis prospective multicenter observational study was performed in 116 worldwide surgical departments from 44 countries over a 6-month period (April 1, 2016–September 30, 2016). All consecutive patients admitted to surgical departments with a clinical diagnosis of AA were included in the study.ResultsA total of 4282 patients were enrolled in the POSAW study, 1928 (45%) women and 2354 (55%) men, with a median age of 29 years. Nine hundred and seven (21.2%) patients underwent an abdominal CT scan, 1856 (43.3%) patients an US, and 285 (6.7%) patients both CT scan and US. A total of 4097 (95.7%) patients underwent surgery; 1809 (42.2%) underwent open appendectomy and 2215 (51.7%) had laparoscopic appendectomy. One hundred eighty-five (4.3%) patients were managed conservatively. Major complications occurred in 199 patients (4.6%). The overall mortality rate was 0.28%.ConclusionsThe results of the present study confirm the clinical value of imaging techniques and prognostic scores. Appendectomy remains the most effective treatment of acute appendicitis. Mortality rate is low.

The paper presents two approaches in assessing the business continuity management (BCM) attitudes in the organizational context: qualitative and quantitative. The first approach - case study analysis is based on a series of in-depth interviews with the key people involved in the BCM processes in Croatia (Chief Information Officers – CIOs, Chief Executive Officers – CEOs and BC managers). The second approach is an empirical research that was conducted among companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on Confirmative Factor Analysis (CFA) which is used for psychometrically validation of the measurement scale of BCP and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and t-test for the hypotheses testing. The empirical research has shown that there is a statistically significant difference in terms of attitudes of respondents regarding business continuity depending of companies' size and sector that company belongs to. Specifically, financial sector is in all of BCM segments more coherent than other sectors.In addition, qualitative research revealed the results showing that business continuity plan (BCP) and disaster recovery plan (DRP) were the only IT governance areas that were implemented in business practice. The reason for that may be found in the fact that BCP and DRP are very expensive to implement especially for small companies.

A bstractWe provide an ultraviolet (UV) complete model for the R(D(∗)) anomalies, in which the additional contribution to semi-tauonic b → c transitions arises from decay to a right-handed sterile neutrino via exchange of a TeV-scale SU(2)L singlet W′. The model is based on an extension of the Standard Model (SM) hypercharge group, U(1)Y , to the SU(2)V × U(1)′ gauge group, containing several pairs of heavy vector-like fermions. We present a comprehensive phenomenological survey of the model, ranging from the low-energy flavor physics, direct searches at the LHC, to neutrino physics and cosmology. We show that, while the W′ and Z′-induced constraints are important, it is possible to find parameter space naturally consistent with all the available data. The sterile neutrino sector also offers rich phenomenology, including possibilities for measurable dark radiation, gamma ray signals, and displaced decays at colliders.