Preoperative radiotherapy for adenocarcinoma of the rectosigmoid

Ninety-seven patients with adenocarcinoma of the rectosigmoid have been treated with high dose (5000-6000 rad) preoperative irradiation from 1960 through 1972 at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center. Fifty-seven were initially clinically resectable and 40 were initially inoperable. Forty of the 57 initially clinically resectable patients had "curative" resections and are at risk for more than 5 years. An increase in 5-year survival (from 38% to 53%) and an absence of pelvic recurrence have occurred in those patients receiving preoperative irradiation and "curative" resection. Four of the 40 initially inoperable patients are alive without tumor. Three of the four survivors had irradiation and surgery; one had irradiation only. An additional four patients had no evidence of tumor at death. Tumor was totally sterilized by irradiation and nine patients and reduced to microfocal extent in an additional three of the 97 patients. Incidence of complications was no greater than has been reported in a surgical series from the same institution.     

Effects of Sexually Objectifying Media on Self-Objectification and Body Surveillance in Undergraduates: Results of a 2-Year Panel Study

This study used objectification theory (B. L. Fredrickson & T.-A. Roberts, 1997) to predict that the media's insidious practice of objectifying bodies socializes individuals to take an outsider's perspective on the physical self (i.e., self-objectify) and to habitually monitor their appearance (i.e., engage in body surveillance). To test these hypotheses, a 2-year panel study using an undergraduate sample was conducted. Cross-lagged path models showed that exposure to sexually objectifying television measured during Year 1 increased trait self-objectification (trait SO) during Year 2 for both women and men. At the same time, trait SO during Year 1 decreased exposure to sexually objectifying television during Year 2, suggesting that both male and female participants selectively avoided sexually objectifying television based on antecedent trait SO. Moreover, exposure to sexually objectifying television and magazines increased body surveillance for men only. The discussion focuses on the process by which the media create body-focused perceptions.     

Electrical, microstructural, physical and chemical characterization of HV XLPE cable peelings for an electrical aging diagnostic data base

The aim of the European project "ARTEMIS" is to develop a diagnostic system for assessing aging in power cable insulation. Its first task was to make a thorough characterisation of the cable insulation before aging. This is intended to provide a background against which any changes introduced by thermo-electric aging can be identified. The aging markers derived from this initial characterisation will be considered both as diagnostic indicators in their own right, and also to develop an aging model for predictive purposes, if and when possible. This stage of the ARTEMIS programme is now complete and we will present an analysis of the results, and show how they may be correlated with the concepts proposed in aging theories.     

Performance dependence of InGaP/InGaAs/GaAs pHEMTs on gatemetallization

The performance of InGaP-based pHEMTs as a function of gate metallization is examined for Mo/Au, Ti/Au, and Pt/Au gates. DC and microwave performance of pHEMT's with 0.7-μm gate lengths is evaluated. Transconductance, threshold voltage, f_t, and f_max are found to depend strongly on gate metallization. High-speed performance is achieved, with f_t of 41.3 GHz and f _max of 101 GHz using Mo/Au gates. The difference in performance between devices with different gate metallizations is postulated to be due to a combination of the difference in Schottky barrier heights and different gate-to-channel spacings due to penetration of the gate metal into the InGaP barrier layer     

Wet shells and dry tales: the evolutionary ‘Just-So’ stories behind the structure–function of biominerals

The ability of evolution to shape organic form involves the interactions of multiple systems of constraints, including fabrication, phylogeny and function. The tendency to place function above everything else has characterized some of the historical biological literature as a series of ‘Just-So’ stories that provided untested explanations for individual features of an organism. A similar tendency occurs in biomaterials research, where features for which a mechanical function can be postulated are treated as an adaptation. Moreover, functional adaptation of an entire structure is often discussed based on the local characterization of specimens kept in conditions that are far from those in which they evolved. In this work, environmental- and frequency-dependent mechanical characterization of the shells of two cephalopods, Nautilus pompilius and Argonauta argo, is used to demonstrate the importance of multi-scale environmentally controlled characterization of biogenic materials. We uncover two mechanistically independent strategies to achieve deformable, stiff, strong and tough highly mineralized structures. These results are then used to critique interpretations of adaptation in the literature. By integrating the hierarchical nature of biological structures and the environment in which they exist, biomaterials testing can be a powerful tool for generating functional hypotheses that should be informed by how these structures are fabricated and their evolutionary history.     

Thermal Properties of the Starch/Water System Part I. Measurement of Heat of Gelatinisation by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

The application of Differential Scanning Calorimetry to the gelatinisation of concentrated starch/water suspensions produced a well-defined endotherm under suitable conditions. Measurement of the peak area enabled the heat of gelatinisation to be calculated. The method has been applied to the following aspects of gelatinisation: — 1 Intercomparison of different starches, 2) Effect of granule size, 3 Application to wheat flour, 4 Effect of starch damage, 5 Staling of starch gels, 6 Amylose and amylopectin.     

Rotative quadrature phase-shift keying

A rotative quadrature phase-shift keying (RQPSK) modulation scheme is proposed. By rotating the QPSK signal constellation by pi /2 either clockwise or anticlockwise during a symbol duration, the conventional QPSK scheme can be modified to transmit 3 bits per symbol to achieve both power and bandwidth efficiency.<>     

Smooth and Vertical Facet Formation for AlGaN-Based Deep-UV Laser Diodes

Using a two-step method of plasma and wet chemical etching, we demonstrate smooth, vertical facets for use in Al _x Ga_1−x N-based deep-ultraviolet laser-diode heterostructures where x = 0 to 0.5. Optimization of plasma-etching conditions included increasing both temperature and radiofrequency (RF) power to achieve a facet angle of 5 deg from vertical. Subsequent etching in AZ400K developer was investigated to reduce the facet surface roughness and improve facet verticality. The resulting combined processes produced improved facet sidewalls with an average angle of 0.7 deg from vertical and less than 2-nm root-mean-square (RMS) roughness, yielding an estimated reflectivity greater than 95% of that of a perfectly smooth and vertical facet.