Survival of patients with carcinoma of the esophagus treated with combined-modality therapy

Since 1985, 229 cases of carcinoma of the esophagus have been considered for entry into a protocol with the use of preoperative chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed by surgical intervention as the primary element of treatment. One hundred sixty-five patients (93 with adenocarcinoma and 72 with squamous cell carcinoma) had esophagogastrectomy. The 5-year survival of the protocol patients who underwent resection was 25% for both groups--squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Of the protocol patients with squamous cell carcinoma who underwent resection, 40% had a sterilized specimen, whereas of those with adenocarcinoma, 20% had a sterilized specimen. If the patient had a sterilized specimen, the 5-year survival was approximately 60% for adenocarcinoma and 40% for squamous cell carcinoma. Those patients with adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus had a 5-year survival of 55%. Of the patients who underwent only esophagectomy and esophagogastrectomy and had not been entered into the protocol, none lived beyond 3 years. The operative mortality rate for those who had esophagogastrectomy was 5%. Sixty-four patients completed the radiation therapy and chemotherapy but did not undergo surgical procedures because of progressive disease or refusal. Of those patients who completed chemotherapy and radiation therapy without surgical intervention, 5-year survival was 18% in patients with squamous cell carcinoma, whereas no patients with adenocarcinoma survived beyond 3 years. The finding of a sterilized specimen after esophagectomy is a favorable prognostic factor in patients with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. The finding that patients with Barrett's esophagus and adenocarcinoma have an improved chance for survival is perhaps related to an earlier diagnosis. It is clear that some patients with squamous cell carcinoma who did not undergo surgical procedures did have a sterilized specimen, because the survival in this group approached 20% at 5 years.     

Evaluation of sweep resistance of Q Auto-Loop and Square-Loop bonds for semiconductor packaging technology

Wire sweep is a main concern in the semiconductor packaging industry. The wire bonding technology, providing versatile and reliable chip-connection method, is usually adopted for MCM and 3-D package. However, there is no (standard) approach found to determine the ability of sweep resistance for a certain bond profile in the literature. In a parallel study, the concept of sweep stiffness is defined from the slope of the load–transverse displacement curves to express sweep resistance of wire bond. In this paper, two frequently used bond profiles, the Q Auto-Loop and Square-Loop bonds, were investigated experimentally to assess the effect of bond span and height on sweep resistance. Results show that the Q Auto-Loop bond has a higher sweep resistance than the Square-Loop bond, for all wire diameters. Moreover, numerical results and proposed model predictions were performed to compare with sweep stiffness experiments. Underestimated predictions indicate the importance of bond profile characteristics to sweep stiffness values, which must be included in numerical analysis.     

Unusual gunshot injuries

Ectopic meningioma outside the skull and spinal column is uncommon. We report a cutaneous meningioma of the scalp in a 77-year-old man. A review of types and their management options are discussed. We also highlight that in certain carefully selected cases, these lesions can be treated conservatively.     

The simian T-lymphotropic virus STLV-PP1664 from Pan paniscus is distinctly related to HTLV-2 but differs in genomic organization

We have isolated a highly divergent simian T-lymphotropic virus, STLV-PP1664, from a wild-caught bonobo (Pan paniscus). Previous phylogenetic analysis suggested that this virus represents an additional type of STLV but this has now become a matter of discussion. We have now obtained and analyzed the entire genome of STLV-PP1664. All major genes and their corresponding viral messengers were identified. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis indicated that this virus, together with the closely related panp isolate, belongs to an early lineage within the PTLV-2 clade, differing from HTLV-2 by about 25%. In contrast to the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 LTR, only two 21-bp repeats instead of three were found in the STLV-PP1664 LTR. Additional messengers, resulting from alternative splicing, potentially encode five different accessory proteins from open reading frames in the pX region: prorfI, porfII, ptorfV', and two isoforms of Rex. The amino acid sequences of these proteins are only distinctly related to the accessory proteins from HTLV-2. These data suggest a different genomic organization of the STLV-PP1664 pX region than that of HTLV-2. We conclude that STLV-PP1664, although related to HTLV-2, has some distinct features in the LTR and the pX regions, the impact of which needs further investigation. Although arguments pro and contra a distinct classification are nearly equally balanced, we propose to classify this virus as an STLV-2, designated STLV-2PP1664.     

Interobserver variation in wound assessments

Agreement in describing a chronic leg ulcer is pivotal in identifying and treating impediments to the healing process. Six nurses and one doctor without special experience with wound healing registered wound related diagnoses for a five month period. On average each patient was seen by three observers yielding 270 registrations. Agreement beyond chance (global kappa) showed poor to moderate agreement. Agreement was best for the yellow or malodorous wound and lowest for cellulitis, hypergranulation and peripheral pulses. This emphasizes the importance of allocating wound treatment to specialist departments with access to paraclinical investigations.     

Use of highly overcoupled couplers to detect shifts in Braggwavelength [strain sensors]

The authors present a technique for detecting Bragg wavelength shifts using highly overcoupled couplers (HOCC). An HOCC of 60%/nm was fabricated with 626 cycles. With our HOCC, a 5 μW LED and a 95% reflective Bragg grating we were able to detect 10 μstrain (Δλ=0.01 nm)     

The success of locoregional, low-dose recombinant interleukin-2 therapy in tumor-bearing mice is dependent on the time of rIL-2 administration

The most common chromosomal aberrations in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are complete or partial loss of chromosomes 5 and 7, and trisomy 8. To identify genes important in the pathogenesis of this disease that could be associated with these gross chromosomal defects, we have employed the differential display PCR (DDPCR) procedure developed by Liang and Pardee. This method allows simultaneous comparison of several cDNA sources for the presence of differentially expressed genes. Polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) from two MDS patients, containing a 5q deletion or a trisomy 8, and three healthy controls were used. Initial screening resulted in the identification of five and three partial cDNA sequences, respectively that were either differentially expressed in both patient samples or in individual patients, as compared with the controls. The authenticity of aberrant expression was verified by reanalyzing the same primer combinations on newly prepared cDNA. Differential expression of the three remaining fragments was subsequently checked on a larger panel of MDS patients, using amplicon-specific primer sets. These were obtained by cloning and sequencing of the fragments. For one partial cDNA (DC3), the original expression pattern, i.e., decreased expression in individual MDS patients, was confirmed. These results demonstrate the utility of the DDPCR procedure to isolate differentially expressed sequences in primary patient samples where the availability of cells is a limiting factor.     

Simultaneous chromizing-aluminizing coating of austenitic stainless steels

Chromium and aluminum were simultaneously co-deposited by diffusion into austenitic stainless steel substrates, by a single-step, pack-cementation process. The mechanism for the formation of diffusion-coated products on 304 and 316 stainless steels and on Incoloy 800 is discussed. The morphologies of the phases formed at the surface, i.e., an external beta layer and an underlying multiphase interdiffusion zone, are presented. The formation of the brittle, , outer layer was minimized by variations in the pack composition and activator. The coated 304 and 316 steels exhibited excellent scaling resistance upon oxidation in air at 1000°C.     

Formation of a chromium-carbide conversion coating on silicon carbide

The formation of a chromium-carbide conversion coating on SiC was achieved using the pack-cementation technique. The conversion coating is intended to improve the corrosion resistance of SiC and its derivatives, such as SiC-base continuous fibers and composites, by forming a protective Cr₂O₃ scale upon exposure to high-temperature corrosive environments. Different pack chemistry and processing parameters were evaluated in the laboratory. Results indicated that the coating morphologies and compositions achieved were significantly affected by variation of these processing factors. In this paper, the conversion coating obtained from one of the systems investigated is reported. The coating consists of a multilayered structure with each of the sublayers containing a high-Cr concentration. In addition, the coating surface is relatively dense and pore free compared to the underlying SiC substrate material. A dense and pore-free morphology is highly desirable for coating applications, especially on porous substrates. The multilayered coating structure consists of the following sublayers: Cr₂₃C₆/Cr₇C₃/Cr₇C₃+Cr₃Si/Cr₅Si₃C_x/SiC substrate.     

Amphoteric water‐soluble copolymer for barium titanate slurries. I. Synthesis and dispersing ability

An amphoteric water‐soluble copolymer, polyacrylamide/[α‐N,N‐dimethyl‐N‐(3‐(β‐carboxylate)acrylamino)propyl] ammonium ethanate (PAM/DAE) was synthesized and used as a dispersion agent for BaTiO₃ particles. PAM/DAE was prepared from acrylamide and [α‐N,N‐dimethyl‐N‐(3‐(β‐carboxylate)acrylamino)propyl] ammonium ethanate in a basic condition through a free‐radical polymerization. The structure of this copolymer was verified by IR and ¹H‐NMR spectra. The dispersing effects of PAM/DAE were examined by measuring the viscosity and sedimentation of BaTiO₃ suspensions, and by analyzing the particle size. The results indicate that this copolymer could uniformly disperse the particles, and the resulting suspensions were less viscous, more stabilized, and contained powder with smaller particle size. The dispersing/stabilizing ability of PAM/DAE is close to, or slightly better than, that of a commercial dispersant, ammonium salt of poly(methacrylic acid). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 1443–1450, 2005