Search

Most modern optoelectronic devices are composed of epitaxial heterostructures comprising several semiconductor layers. Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) is a technique used to grow epitaxial layers from a supersaturated liquid solution [1]. Some of the materials commonly used as a solvent in the growth of epitaxial films III-V semiconductors are gallium and indium. The LPE technique allows semiconductor devices such as lasers, photodiodes, phototransistors as well as hetero-lasers to be made up of multiple layers [2]. It should be mentioned that the components obtained through the Liquid Phase Epitaxy technique have excellent optical and electrical characteristics [3].

Study Design: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data from a multicentric database.Objectives: To determine the clinical impact of diagnosis, age, and gender on treatment outcomes in surgically treated adult spinal deformity (ASD) patients.Methods: A total of 199 surgical patients with a minimum follow-up of 1 year were included and analyzed for baseline characteristics. Patients were separated into 2 groups based on improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) parameters by minimum clinically important difference. Statistics were used to analyze the effect of diagnosis, age, and gender on outcome measurements followed by a multivariate binary logistic regression model for these results with statistical significance.Results: Age was found to affect SF-36 PCS (Short From-36 Physical Component Summary) score significantly, with an odds ratio of 1.017 (unit by unit) of improving SF-36 PCS score on multivariate analysis (P< .05). The breaking point in age for this effect was 37.5 years (AUC = 58.0, P= .05). A diagnosis of idiopathic deformity would increase the probability of improvement in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) by a factor of 0.219 and in SF-36 PCS by 0.581 times (P< .05). Gender was found not to have a significant effect on any of the HRQOL scores.Conclusions: Age, along with a diagnosis of degenerative deformity, may have positive effects on the likelihood of improvement in SF-36 PCS (for age) and ODI (for diagnosis) in surgically treated patients with ASD and the breaking point of this effect may be earlier than generally anticipated. Gender does not seem to affect results. These may be important in patient counseling for the anticipated outcomes of surgery.

Study Design: Comparative cohort study. Objective: To compare coronal deformity control, lengthening efficacy, and sagittal alignment between distraction-based growing rod constructs utilizing tandem versus wedding band connectors. Summary of Background Data: Different construct designs exist for growing rod treatment of early-onset scoliosis. All use a version of a rod connector, with the two main types being tandem and wedding band. Little data exist to quantify the impact of connector choice on radiographic outcomes of treatment. Methods: A multicenter database of prospectively and retrospectively collected data on early-onset scoliosis patients was reviewed. Patients of any thoracic or thoracolumbar coronal plane deformity whose initial growing rod treatment was initiated before age 10 years and underwent at least 3 years of dual growing rod treatment with either tandem or wedding band connectors were included. Preoperative, immediate postoperative, and prefinal radiographs were reviewed and compared in regard to major curve magnitude, T1–T12 and T1–S1 spinal length, length of instrumentation, and sagittal plane measures. Results: A total of 209 patients were included. The overall percent change from preoperative to prefinal in all radiographic parameters was not different between the two groups indicating similar efficacy in treatment. After controlling for institutional variation, the improvement of the major coronal Cobb angle from preoperative to prefinal was statistically improved for the tandem group (34° vs. 29°, p = .002) and the difference in T5–T12 kyphosis from preoperative to prefinal was significantly different between the groups (-6° vs. +1.3°, p = .008). Conclusion: We identified little difference in the effects of connector type on radiographic outcomes of patients treated with traditional growing rod, which indicates that both wedding band and tandem connectors function similarly. The small differences detected suggest that tandem connectors may improve major Cobb correction, and wedding band connectors may maintain thoracic kyphosis over time. Level of Evidence: Level III

Comparative cohort study.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Objective: Examination of distraction-based treatment effect on thoracic dimensions in patients compared to predicted individual normal values, at initial treatment and subsequent follow-up after lengthenings. Summary of Background Data: Change in thoracic dimensions and spine length is an important outcome measure in treatment of children with early-onset scoliosis; however, it is difficult to use to make comparisons between patients and the normal population because of the heterogeneous nature of early-onset scoliosis. Methods: Early-onset scoliosis patients treated with distraction-based therapy who had radiographic parameters (pelvic inlet width, chest width, and thoracic height) preoperatively, immediately postoperatively, and at a minimum 5-year follow-up were included. Individual thoracic measurements were compared with predicted normal measures based on pelvic inlet width, and expressed as a percentile of predicted measure. Results: Comparisons were made in 41 patients; mean age at time of primary surgery was 4.5 years, and median follow-up was 6.5 years. Thoracic height percentile increased from a mean preoperative value of.78 to a postoperative percentile of.88 (p &lt;.001); at long-term follow-up, it was.85. Absolute thoracic height increased at all 3 time points: 141.6, 159.79, and 203.45 mm, respectively Mean chest width was similar preoperatively (170 mm) and immediately postoperatively (166.5 mm) but increased at latest follow-up (206.9 mm). Chest width percentile was similar at all 3 times (.93,.90, and.91). Conclusions: Distraction-based treatment increases absolute thoracic height over time. There is significant improvement in the thoracic height percentile normalized after initial surgery, which was maintained over time. Measuring expected gains as a percentile normalized for pelvic width may be a more relevant outcome measure compared with measuring only absolute values.

The standard potential of the Zn-Hg (sat)/ZnCl2(M)/AgCl/Ag cell was determined at 25°C using several extrapolation procedures and the value 0.9843 V is proposed for E°. The emf of the Zn-Hg (sat)/ZnCl2(M), salt (M)/AgCl/Ag cell [salt=NaClO4, LiClO4, Mg(ClO4)2, Mg(NO3)2] have been measured at different concentrations of salt. From these data, the mean ionic activity coefficients of ZnCl2 are determined and their variations explained with the aid of Pitzer's treatment. It seems necessary to take into account structure in the ionic cospheres in order to explain the observed variations.

The composition of carrion assemblages is analyzed at local and regional scales studying carrion beetles at 2 arid sites in southeastern Spain. Assemblage composition at the 2 sites is similar to assemblages described in other arid regions, although divergence in composition occurs because of biogeographical and environmental differences. Analysis of the trophic composition shows the dominance of specialist predators and necrovores in terms of abundance; opportunistic detritivores also are an important component of the assemblage, contributing substantially to both species richness and biomass. The carrion beetle assemblages are characterized by high variability, not only through a high change in species composition between sites, but also from different seasonal activity patterns in each site. Despite these qualitative differences between sites, only abundance and biomass of necrovores differ significantly. High variability caused by stochastic fluctuations can explain the lack of statistical differences in the rest of the assemblage. These results suggest that extreme variability is, in fact, the pattern for carrion beetle dynamics in the study area. Abiotic factors, competition, and predation contribute to the spatial and temporal variability of the carrion beetle assemblages, suggesting that environmental variations are important factors in the generally observed pattern of divergence in desert communities.