Quality of life of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma after curative gastrectomy

Quality of life (QOL) was evaluated in 162 patients having radical gastrectomy for cancer. The results showed that more than half of the patients had a good appetite; they consumed a normal diet and a normal volume of food. Approximately 60% of the patients had weight loss of more than 5 kg. Patients who underwent a total gastrectomy had poor tolerance of normal food and frequent eating and body weight loss versus those who had a subtotal gastrectomy. Patients who underwent Billroth II reconstruction after a distal subtotal gastrectomy lost more body weight than those with a Billroth I anastomosis. The extent of lymphadenectomy did not influence the QOL. Patients under 65 years of age had a better QOL. Nearly all patients had normal work and daily living activities. Some patients appeared to lack energy or had a period of anxiety or depression. These data indicate that radical gastrectomy can be performed with an acceptable QOL for a potentially curable gastric carcinoma.     

Optimized offset to eliminate first-order mode excitation at thejunction of straight and curved multimode waveguides

Applications to equip semiconductor phased-array wavelength demultiplexers with nonbirefringent waveguides are increasing. In several applications, the waveguides are multimodal and elimination of first-order mode excitation is required for their design. The optimized offset for eliminating the first-order mode excitation at the junction of straight and curved waveguides with a two-dimensional (2-D) structure is analyzed theoretically. We assume that the waveguide has a laterally symmetric index profile. By the perturbation method, the offset is obtained to the first order in the inverse of the bending radius. The offset is simply expressed by the effective refractive indices of the straight waveguide     

Design of Scalable Continuous Media Servers

Multimedia applications place high demands for quality-of-service (QoS), performance, and reliability on systems. These stringent requirements make design of cost-effective and scalable systems difficult. Therefore efficient adaptive and dynamic resource management techniques in conjunction with data placement techniques can be of great help in improving performance, scalability, and reliability of such systems. This is the focus of our paper.     

机械扩孔二次注浆锚索技术在边坡治理中的工程实践

通过工程实例,介绍机械扩孔二次注浆锚索技术。该技术具有锚索锚固段短、锚索承载力高、可降低造价等优点。     

带有长管接头及焊有密排鳍片的集箱制造

电站锅炉制造中，经常碰到的一个难题，即带有长管接头及焊有赛排鳍片的集箱制造。由于采用工艺技术不同，对制造质量带来影响。此文着重介绍采用先小拼排再与集箱组装的全新、合理的先进工艺技术，解决了焊后收缩变形、焊缝表面质量、几何尺寸公差难控制等问题。     

A study on the loss of heterozygosity at the APC/MCC and DCC genetic loci in colorectal cancers

To evaluate the role of APC, MCC and DCC genes in the development and progression of colorectal cancers, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at these genetic loci was investigated in 41 surgically resected specimens of colorectal cancer by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. LOH at APC or/and MCC was detected in 38.9% (14/38) of the informative cases; at the APC in 28.0% (7/25) and at MCC locus in 36.4% (8/22). LOH at DCC genetic locus was detected in 55.3% (21/38) of the informative cases. LOH rates DCC gene in the cancer specimens with lymphnode metastasis (80.0%) and in Dukes' stage III and IV (71.4%) were significantly higher than that in specimens without lymphnode metastasis (39.1%) and in Dukes' stage I and II (35.3%) (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that LOH at APC/MCC and DCC is the common genetic alterations in colorectal cancer and DCC genetic LOH assay may be useful in predicting the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer.     

High-dose therapy with peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) support using an innovative mobilization regimen in patients with high-risk primary or chemoresponsive metastatic breast cancers

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies are necessary to determine the prevalence of allergic diseases. This varies widely depending on allergen preparations and patients studied. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of atopic disease, skin test reactivity, total and specific IgE to common allergens, and other variables in a sample of students from Málaga, southern Spain. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-five students (age 17.9 +/- 1.18) were interviewed by an allergist. Skin prick tests were performed with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Artemisia vulgaris, Plantago lanceolata, Chenopodium album, Olea europaea, Phleum pratense, Parietaria judaica, Cynodon dactylon, Alternaria tenuis, and cat dander. Total and specific IgE to D. pteronyssinus, Olea, and Parietaria were determined. RESULTS: Of all subjects studied, 19.9% suffered from rhinoconjunctivitis, 4.1% rhinoconjunctivitis plus asthma, 3.1% asthma alone, and 0.8% atopic dermatitis; 46.4% had a positive skin test to at least one allergen (28.2% to D. pteronyssinus, 20.4% to Olea, 13.8% to Phleum); and 43% had total IgE > 100 kU/L and 44.7% a family history of atopy. Allergic symptoms were strongly associated with skin test positivities and family allergic history. Patients with asthma or skin prick test positive had higher total IgE values than others (P < .01). There was a significant correlation between specific IgE values and wheal size in skin test. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the high prevalence of atopic diseases, and the close relationship of skin tests reactivity (or presence of specific IgE) to allergens with symptoms of asthma and rhinitis. The presence of a family history of allergic diseases influences the development of positive skin tests and atopic illness. Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and pollen of Olea europaea were found to be the most common allergens.     

Densities of cerebrospinal fluid and spinal anaesthetic solutions in surgical patients at body temperature

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of monopolar diathermy on the bile ducts in pigs. DESIGN: Experimental study. SETTING: University hospital, Norway. MATERIAL: 18 pigs. INTERVENTIONS: Laparotomy, application of diathermy at standard sites along the cystic duct, the bile ducts, and a cystic duct containing a metal clip, 3 to 12 times of 5 seconds' duration at each site. Temperature was subsequently recorded at standard measurement points on the bile ducts. Twelve pigs were killed after three weeks for assessment of the bile ducts at necropsy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Increase in temperature in the bile duct walls and late changes in the bile ducts. RESULTS: Temperature increased by 4-6 degrees C during 6 of 330 diathermy applications along the cystic duct, by 4-18 degrees C in 8 of 126 applications along the common bile duct, and by 4-11 degrees C at the clip in 9 of 54 applications. There were no macroscopic or microscopic changes in the bile ducts. CONCLUSION: Monopolar diathermy induced unexpected distant increases in the temperature of the bile duct walls and at a clip on the cystic duct probably because diathermy current energy was distributed along channels of high current conductivity.     

Industrial computing. A grand challenge

To make a truly significant impact, integrated industrial computing technologies must be actively transitioned into practice. First, practitioner needs must be clearly articulated at the beginning of RandD projects and throughout the development process. Second, the new knowledge must be codified into engineering procedures for ready use by the industry. Finally. truly significant new technologies should be supported by open standards so that they can be used cost-effectively. Industrial computing touches upon almost every aspect of our daily life and affects our nation's competitiveness and security. The creation of a renewable industrial computing architecture and transitioning it into practice is a Grand Challenge for computing in the nineties. The author introduces a series of papers which address a ubiquitous aspect of industrial computing: meeting real-time and fault-tolerant requirements