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Tomoki Nakamura,1 Jun Sugaya,2 Norifumi Naka,3 Hiroshi Kobayashi,4 Tomotake Okuma,5 Toshiyuki Kunisada,6 Kunihiro Asanuma,1 Hedetatsu Outani,7 Shunji Nishimura,8 Hiroyuki Kawashima,9 Toru Akiyama,10 Taketoshi Yasuda,11 Shinji Miwa,12 Akihiro Sudo,1 Takafumi Ueda13 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu 514-8507, Japan; 2Department of Musculoskeletal Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan; 3Musculoskeletal Oncology Service, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-8567, Japan; 4Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan; 5Department of Musculoskeletal Oncology, Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center, Komagome Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8677, Japan; 6Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan; 7Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; 8Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kindai University Hospital, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka 589-8511, Japan; 9Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8510, Japan; 10Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Saitama Medical Center, Jichi Medical University, Saitama, Saitama 330-8503, Japan; 11Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan; 12Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa 920-8641, Japan; 13Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka National Hospital, Chuo-ku, Osaka 540-0006, JapanCorrespondence: Tomoki NakamuraDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, JapanTel +81-592315022Fax +81-592315211Email tomoki66@clin.medic.mie-u.ac.jpBackground: The outcomes of unplanned surgery for bone sarcomas have not been frequently discussed. However, it is important to recognize patterns, treatment, and clinical outcomes of unplanned surgeries for patients with bone sarcomas. This multicenter study aimed to characterize the clinical outcomes of patients with bone sarcomas who underwent unplanned surgeries.Patients and Methods: Data of 43 patients with bone sarcomas who underwent unplanned surgery between 2006 and 2017 were obtained from 23 hospitals in Japan. These included 18 cases of osteosarcoma, 9 of Ewing sarcoma, 8 of chondrosarcoma, and 6 of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. The study included 28 men and 15 women, with a mean age of 46 years. The mean follow-up duration was 59 months.Results: The main primary tumor sites were the femur (n = 19), spine (n = 6), pelvis (n = 5), tibia (n = 3), and humerus (n = 3). The primary diagnoses were benign bone tumor (n = 24), trauma (n = 7), bone metastasis (n = 5), osteomyelitis (n = 4), degeneration (n=2), and unknown (n = 1). As unplanned surgeries, curettage, with or without bone graft, was performed in 26 patients; internal fixation was performed in 7; spinal surgery in 5; arthroplasty in 4; and arthroscopy in one. Thirty-eight patients received additional standard treatments. Thirty-four of these patients underwent surgical tumor resections, including amputation (n = 10), and the remaining 4 received radiotherapy or carbon ion radiotherapy as additional standard treatments. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rates in patients with osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and chondrosarcoma were 65.5%, 58.3%, and 72.9%, respectively. Twelve (27.9%) patients developed local recurrences (LR); among the total 43 patients studied, the 5-year DSS rates were significantly worse for those who developed LR compared to those who did not (p = 0.03). The 5-year DSS rates in patients with and without LR were 44% and 73.8%, respectively.Conclusion: We recommend that patients who have undergone unplanned surgery be administered standard treatment, including the option of amputation because herein, LR was shown to be a risk factor for decreased DSS.Keywords: bone sarcoma, unplanned surgery, local recurrence, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, chondrosarcoma

Background. In children, hypernatraemia occurs most commonly in infants (younger than 1 year). Although hypernatraemia is associated with high mortality and morbidity rates, it is variably defined in the paediatric literature as either serum sodium ≥150 mmol/L or serum sodium >145 mmol/L. In hospitalised adults, a serum sodium level >145 mmol/L but <150 mmol/L (called borderline hypernatraemia) has recently been identified as an independent risk factor for mortality. There are limited data about a potential association between borderline hypernatraemia and mortality in infants. Objectives. To determine whether borderline hypernatraemia is associated with increased mortality in hospitalised infants. Methods. We conducted a single-centre, retrospective observational study of 8 343 infants admitted to a tertiary-level academic hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, of whom 254 had borderline hypernatraemia, 376 had hypernatraemia (serum sodium ≥150 mmol/L), and 7 713 did not have hypernatraemia. Mortality rates were reported as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. In 254 infants with borderline hypernatraemia, 115 (45.3%) were neonates (≤28 days old) and 140 (55.1%) were male. In 139 infants >28 days old with borderline hypernatraemia, the mortality rate (n=9/139; 6.5%) was significantly higher than the mortality rate observed in infants without hypernatraemia (n=194/5 857; 3.3%) (OR 2.02; 95% CI 1.03 - 3.98). Conclusion. Borderline hypernatraemia may be a risk factor associated with higher mortality in hospitalised infants. Prospective studies are required to determine whether borderline hypernatraemia contributes independently to mortality risk in hospitalised infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobility-lifetime (μ τ) product is an important parameter that determines the performance of electronic and photonic devices. To overcome the previously reported difficulties in measuring the μ τ product at cryogenic temperatures, we implement a time-resolved cyclotron resonance method to determine the carrier lifetime τ. After clarifying the difference between the AC and DC mobilities measured by cyclotron resonance and time-of-flight methods, respectively, we demonstrate an inverse temperature dependence of the μ τ product. The highest recorded μ τ product of 0.2 cm2/V, which is approximately 100 times the room-temperature value, was obtained at 2 K for chemical-vapor-deposition diamond of the highest currently available purity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental understanding of the photoexcited carrier system in diamond is crucial to facilitate its application in photonic and electronic devices. Here, we report the detailed balance between free carriers and excitons in intrinsic diamond by using a deep-ultraviolet pump in combination with broadband terahertz (THz) probe spectroscopy. We investigated the transformation of photoexcited carriers to excitons by using an internal transition of excitons, which is found to occur at a frequency of 16 THz. We determined the equilibrium constant in the Saha equation from the temperature dependence of the free-carrier density measured at chemical equilibrium. The derived exciton binding energy is larger than the conventional value, which indicates an energy shift due to the fine-structure splitting of the exciton states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article describes the energy evaluation of bubble generation and shock wave emission by laser focusing in liquid nitrogen at 78 K. By adjusting the ambient pressures to 164.9 kPa which corresponds to an overpressure, Δp, of 58.8 kPa, the threshold energy for bubble generation can be investigated. When the energy level of a laser beam at the focus exceeds an irradiance threshold, optical breakdown occurs, followed by a series of high-speed phenomena such as plasma formation, shock wave emission, and vapor bubble generation. It is found that at a threshold laser energy there is some probability of a cavitation bubble being generated whose extent tends to decrease with increasing Δp. For an incident laser energy larger than the energy capable of forming cavities with 100% probability, a cavitation bubble is inevitably generated and its maximum size tends to increase with the incident laser energy. The cavitation bubble energy E[sub B] reaches about 26% of the consumed laser energy, which is the energy substantially dissipated at the focus, fluctuating between 20% and 30% and independent of the overpressure. The shock wave energy E[sub s], is estimated by solving a nonlinear wave equation and calculated as about 35% of the consumed laser energy. Consequently, for liquid nitrogen, the conversion rate of absorbed laser energy to mechanical energy, E[sub B] + E[sub s], is calculated as 55%-65%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The CD transition spectra under an external magnetic field are calculated based on quantum mechanical perturbation method, and the results are compared with measurements in glow-discharge plasmas. The values of the equilibrium molecular constants, T e , , and B e for the state, are determined from the comparison of the spectra under no magnetic field. The measured spectra under a field strength up to 4.0T are well reproduced by the calculation using these molecular constants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) in early squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus has been shown to result in complete response (CR) and cure. However, local recurrence after PDT develops frequently even after complete remission. Because the effect of PDT had been reported to depend on apoptosis, and apoptosis is inhibited by bcl-2 protein, the relationship between the expression of bcl-2 protein and local recurrence after PDT was examined immunohistochemically. From 1983 to 1997, 50 patients with 59 early squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus received PDT, and a CR was obtained in 43 lesions (72.8%). As there was no recurrence among tumours that were disease-free for more than 2 years, in this study the tumours were defined as cured when recurrence did not occur 2 years subsequent to the receiving of PDT. Of these CR lesions, 31 carcinomas (53.4%) resulted in a cure. Bcl-2 immunoreactivity was detected in 23 tumours (46.9%) and p53 immunoreactivity was detected in 22 tumours (44.9%). When all tumours were divided into either a large tumour with a longitudinal tumour length of 10 mm or more, or a small tumour with a length of less than 10 mm, the large tumour expressed more bcl-2 protein than the small tumour (P = 0.0155). The degree of bcl-2 expression was significantly related with tumour size (P = 0.0155). The expression of bcl-2 and p53 protein was not associated with the cure rate due to PDT. Tumour length and T status in TNM staging were significantly related to the cure by univariate analysis. T status was the only predictor of the cure according to mutivariate analysis. Of 42 CR lesions, the expression of neither bcl-2 nor p53 protein was associated with local recurrence; only T status was significantly associated (P = 0.008). The relationship between the expression of oncoprotein and local recurrence after PDT was not documented in this study. The success of PDT may depend on the exact assessment of tumour size under optimized PDT illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The density distribution of cold exciton clouds generated into a strain-induced potential well by two-photon excitation in Cu2O is studied at 2 K. We find that an anomalous spike, which can be interpreted as accumulation of the excitons into the ground state, emerges at the potential minimum. The accumulation can be due to stimulated scattering of cold excitons, mediated by acoustic phonon emission. The possibility of the formation of the thermodynamic Bose–Einstein condensate of paraexcitons is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Initial behavior and the subsequent motion of a bubble in liquid nitrogen are investigated experimentally using high-speed photography. A bubble is generated by focusing a pulsed ruby laser into liquid nitrogen at 78.0 K, changing the ambient pressures up to 253.2 kPa which corresponds to the applied pressure (or overpressure), Δp, being 147.1 kPa. When the energy level of the laser beam at the focus exceeds an irradiance threshold, for instance 5.4x10[sup 11] W/cm[sup 2] for Δp=4.9 kPa, the optical breakdown occurs in the liquid nitrogen, followed by a series of high-speed phenomena such as plasma formation, shock wave emission, and vapor bubble generation. It is found that during a very short period after the plasma formation a bubble grows nonspherically reflecting from the plasma shape, but the bubble volume itself varies with time in the same way for all cases performed in the present experiment. The liquid inertia is a dominant factor affecting the bubble growth, while the thermal effect becomes remarkable during the bubble collapse, resulting in the retardation of the bubble motion. The characteristic behavior of a laser-induced cavitation bubble in liquid nitrogen is significantly influenced by the phase change of vapor at the bubble surface as well as by the vapor pressure inside the bubble. Immediately after the bubble rebound, instabilities are amplified over the bubble surface similar to those caused in the water case. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the geometry of embedded Si1− x Ge x source/drain junctions on the stress field. Stress simulations were performed using TSUPREM4 2D software to further investigate the elastic strain relaxation as a function of Si1− x Ge x alloy active size, in the regime where no plastic relaxation is present. Moreover, the role of the epilayer thickness and the Ge content on the stress levels is also discussed. The work is complemented with experimental Raman spectroscopy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]