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Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an outstanding technique for treatment of tumor nodules which is currently used for treatment of skin metastases, and now it is being developed for treatment of internal organs such as, bone, liver, etc. In this work the authors' goal was finding a simple and proper needles configuration, allowing electroporation of whole cancer cell membranes, possibly minimizing direct cell death of healthy tissue.

This work shows numerical analysis of the ECT of a deep-seated tumor, like in bone tissue of human limb. The tumor is excited by a sequence of square-wave electric pulses (5 kHz), inducing a 1,000 V/cm electric field through a suitable configuration of 30 mm long steel needle electrodes inserted in a part of limb long 20 cm. Treated element is numerically modeled in a very simplified 3D geometry. All materials are assumed as homogeneous, linear and isotropic mediums.

Electrochemotherapy is based on the local application of short and intense electric pulses that transiently permeabilizes neoplastic cells membrane, thus allowing cytotoxicity increase of a chemotherapeutic drug, bleomycin, and reducing its dosage. The local field in target tissues depends on geometry and position of electrodes, that have to be placed according cancer shape and size, and excited by electric pulses of opportune amplitude. Current efforts are aimed to test whether electric pulses can be applied to bone through invasive needles without affecting the recovery of osteogenetic activity.

The results of the simulation study can help to establish the appropriate geometric and electric setup for treatment of bone metastases in clinical ECT trials. This paper reports results from different needles configurations and show that a proper needle positioning allows complete electroporation of the whole tumor

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the increasing importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in smart tourism destinations, in their integration in the activity of the tourism companies, and in their interaction with visitors/tourists. In summary, it is intended to evaluate in the city of Porto how the use of technology before, during and after the visit influences the tourist experience.

The authors empirically investigate the importance of using ICTs during tourism experience, assess the access/availability of ICT at the destination and its importance in tourist’s decisions. It is analyzed if the applications and/or information available on the internet are important and positively influence the tourism experience in Porto, that is, the degree of tourist satisfaction. The empirical evidence is based on a quantitative analysis, using a data set involving 423 tourists in the city of Porto.

The importance of the internet access at the destination, especially in places like airports and hotels, since most tourists are primarily using their mobile devices and computers during the trip, and the existing information technologies available in the destination (internet, smartphones or other mobile devices and applications) are considered very important in explaining tourists’ experience.

This study identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the technological strategies, providing useful information for destination management, discussing innovation in tourism, and proposing a framework that empirically evaluates how technological components used in smart tourism destinations can improve tourists’ experiences.