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PURPOSE: This study examined the prognostic associations of pre-treatment quality of life (QoL) with overall survival (OS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DFMS) among patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) who underwent free flap reconstruction. METHODS: A cohort of 127 HNC patients who received free flap reconstruction between November 2010 and June 2014â¯at a hospital were recruited. Pre-treatment QoL was measured by the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire, which contains six physical domains, including speech, swallowing, appearance, saliva, taste and chewing, as well as the six social-emotional domains of pain, activity, recreation, shoulder, mood, and anxiety. Cox regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Results showed that pre-treatment QoL was predictive of OS and DMFS. Of the domains, swallowing, chewing, speech, taste, saliva, pain and shoulder were demonstrated to be significant predictors of OS. Additionally, swallowing, chewing, speech, pain and activity were demonstrated making significant contributions to DMFS. CONCLUSION: Our data supported that physical domains of pre-treatment QoL were predictors for OS and DFMS in HNC patients with free-flap reconstruction. Longitudinal studies are warranted to clarify the prognostic abilities of social-emotional domains. Information on pre-treatment QoL should be taken into account to individualize care plan for these patients, and hence prolong their survival.
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Retalhos de Tecido Biológico , Neoplasias de Cabeça e Pescoço/cirurgia , Metástase Neoplásica/prevenção & controle , Cuidados Pré-Operatórios/psicologia , Qualidade de Vida/psicologia , Sobrevida/psicologia , Adulto , Idoso , Estudos de Coortes , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Prognóstico , Procedimentos de Cirurgia Plástica , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
A total of 216 chicken offal samples (chicken liver = 72; chicken heart = 72; chicken gizzard = 72) from wet markets and hypermarkets in Selangor, Malaysia, were examined for the presence and density of Listeria monocytogenes by using a combination of the most probable number and PCR method. The prevalence of L. monocytogenes in 216 chicken offal samples examined was 26.39%, and among the positive samples, the chicken gizzard showed the highest percentage at 33.33% compared with chicken liver (25.00%) and chicken heart (20.83%). The microbial load of L. monocytogenes in chicken offal samples ranged from <3 to 93.0 most probable number per gram. The presence of L. monocytogenes in chicken offal samples may indicate that chicken offal can act as a possible vehicle for the occurrence of foodborne listeriosis. Hence, there is a need to investigate the biosafety level of chicken offal in Malaysia.
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Listeria monocytogenes/isolamento & purificação , Carne/microbiologia , Animais , Galinhas , Moela das Aves/microbiologia , Coração/microbiologia , Fígado/microbiologia , Malásia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase/métodosRESUMO
This study aimed to determine the prevalence Listeria monocytogenes in raw chicken meat samples at hypermarkets and wet markets. Chicken drumsticks, breasts, and thighs were randomly selected. The most probable number (MPN) PCR method was used to quantify the L. monocytogenes in the samples. Listeria monocytogenes was detected in 20% of the samples. Occurrence of L. monocytogenes was highest in breast (42.03%) followed by drumstick (11.27%) and thigh (7.14%). Samples from hypermarkets showed higher occurrence (25.71%) of L. monocytogenes compared with wet markets (14.29%). The density of L. monocytogenes found in samples ranged from <3.0 to 16 MPNâ¢g(-1). The presence of L. monocytogenes in raw chicken meat is unwanted but unpreventable. Thus, further research on the processing method to reduce and eliminate this kind of bacteria in chicken meat before consumption is necessary. The presence of L. monocytogenes in chicken samples suggests the importance of this pathogen in chicken. Thus, more study is needed to find ways to eliminate this pathogen from poultry.
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Microbiologia de Alimentos , Listeria monocytogenes/isolamento & purificação , Carne/microbiologia , Animais , Galinhas , Comércio , Malásia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase/métodosRESUMO
We report fabrication, measurement and simulation of silicon single-electron-transistors made on silicon-on-insulator wafers. At T-2 K, these devices showed clear Coulomb blockade structures. An external perpendicular magnetic field was found to enhance the resonant tunneling peak and was used to predict the presence of two laterally coupled quantum dots in the narrow constriction between the source-drain electrodes. The proposed model and measured experimental data were consistently explained using numerical simulations.
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The local melting point of a Ge thin film can be controlled by a hole-array pattern on the host Si substrate due to the variations in the stress distribution and the surface morphology induced by the pattern. A simple annealing process is developed from this effect to produce Ge NCs with a single-domain-crystal size over 20 nm, confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, from an electron-gun-evaporated Ge thin film on the patterned Si substrate. The effect of the dimensions of the hole array is also investigated. Photoluminescence observed around 1157 nm from some of the samples shows the possibility of improving the infrared emission capability by this proposed method.
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The enhancement of light extraction from Si(0.5)Ge(0.5)/Si multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with nanowall structures fabricated by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma etching is presented. It is shown that the ECR plasma treatment does not damage the crystalline quality. At a driving current of 5.5 × 10(6) A m(-2), the light output intensity of the MQWs with nanowall structures shows an enhancement of about 50% compared with that of the original MQWs. In addition to the enhanced light extraction, the improved optoelectronic properties are also attributed to the strain relaxation in nanowall structures.
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Nearly thirty years ago, Daoud and de Gennes derived the scaling predictions for the linear polymer chains trapped in a slit with dimension close to the Kuhn length; however, these predictions have yet to be compared with experiments. We have fabricated nanoslits with vertical dimension similar to the Kuhn length of ds-DNA (110nm) using standard photolithography techniques. Fluorescently labeled single DNA molecules with contour lengths L ranging from 4 to 75 microm were successfully injected into the slits and the chain molecules undergoing Brownian motions were imaged by fluorescence microscopy. The distributions of the chain radius of gyration and the two-dimensional asphericity were measured. It is found that the DNA molecules exhibit highly anisotropic shape and the mean asphericity is chain length independence. The shape anisotropy of DNA in our measurements is between two and three dimensions (2D and 3D). The static scaling law of the chain extension and the radius of gyration
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DNA/química , DNA/ultraestrutura , Modelos Químicos , Modelos Moleculares , Nanoestruturas/química , Nanoestruturas/ultraestrutura , Simulação por Computador , Elasticidade , Movimento (Física) , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico , Estresse MecânicoRESUMO
In this article, we demonstrate that a subwavelength metal slit surrounded by dielectric surface gratings possesses a directional beaming effect. We propose a surface plasmon diffraction scheme to explain the three kinds of beaming conditions. The numerical simulations of the illustrative structures undertaken used a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) Method and a Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) Method. Our simulations were found to be consistent and in agreement with the experimental results. In comparison with other metal structures, we find that dielectric metal structures offer better performance as well as the advantage of being able to be efficiently mass produced for large volume industrial applications.
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In this experiment, Bacillus insolitus was isolated and selected from a mixed culture that have been acclimated to chlorophenols. Decomposition of chlorophenolic compounds will be studied using this pure culture in both suspended and immobilized form. The results are: at lower initial concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenol (10-50 mg/l), immobilized Bacillus insolitus shows a higher removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol than Bacillus insolitus in suspended growth. When the 2,4-dichlorophenol concentration becomes higher (50-200 mg/l), both immobilized and suspended Bacillus insolitus have approximately the same efficiency for removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol. Higher concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenol are inhibitive to the growth of either suspended or immobilized Bacillus insolitus. At lower concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenol, immobilized mixed culture may have the same removal efficiency of 2,4-dichlorophenol as immobilized pure culture of Bacillus insolitus. But with regard to the overall 2,4-dichlorophenol removal efficiency, immobilized pure culture is considered to be superior to immobilized mixed culture.