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A better knowledge of the fatigue could be of the greatest importance for the high-grade glioma (HGG) patients, who are a unique and vulnerable population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and the predictors of the fatigue in HGG patients, using a specific fatigue scale. The study was designed as a cross-sectional study. The study population included sixty-seven consecutive outpatients with HGG. We used these measures: Brief Fatigue Inventory, Karnofsky Performance Scale, Functional Independence Measure, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Psychological Distress Inventory and SF-36, EORTC QLQ-30 and EORTC QLQ-BN20 for quality of life (QoL). Sixteen out of sixty-seven (23.9 %) patients were affected by Anaplastic Astrocytoma and 51/67 (76.1 %) by Glioblastoma Multiforme. About one-third (36.2 %) of patients had a clinically relevant fatigue (Brief Fatigue Inventory ≥3). In regression analysis, physical and mental aspects of QoL were statistically significant related with fatigue (p < 0.01 and p < 0.02, respectively). Our data underlined the relevant occurrence of fatigue in HGG patients and support the development of further studies exploring a tailored rehabilitation program.

Devolatilization and oxidation kinetics of torrefied wood have been studied by evaluating thermogravimetric curves measured in nitrogen and air at various heating rates. Samples consist of Norway spruce wood chips torrefied at several process temperatures and residence times. Data about untreated wood have also been obtained for comparison. Measured curves are well predicted by means of a five-reaction mechanism, consisting of three devolatilization reactions for the pseudo-components hemicellulose. cellulose and lignin and, in air, of two additional reactions for char devolatilization and combustion. The torrefaction pre-treatment only requires model modifications in the amounts of volatiles generated from the decomposition of pseudo-components, indicating that only their relative percentages and not their reactivities are modified. On the other hand, a slightly different thermal stability is found for the char generated from torrefied wood, which results in higher activation energy and lower reaction order for the oxidation step. Hence torrefaction conditions can affect the subsequent conversion characteristics of the char product. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.