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The stress of the abnormal stromal matrix of solid tumors is a major limiting factor that prevents drug penetration. Controlled, accurate, and efficient delivery of theranostic agents into tumor cells is crucial. Combining ultrasound with nanocarrierbased drug delivery systems have become a promising approach for targeted drug delivery in preclinical cancer therapy. In this study, to ensure effective tumor barrier penetration, access to the tumor microenvironment, and local drug release, we designed targeted nanoparticle (NP)-conjugated microbubbles (MBs); ultrasound could then help deliver acoustic energy to release the NPs from the MBs. The ultrasound-targeted MB destruction (UTMD) system of negatively charged NPs was conjugated with positively charged MBs using an ionic gelation method. We demonstrated the transfer of targeted NPs and their entry into gastric cancer cells through ligand-specific recognition, followed by enhanced cell growth inhibition owing to drug delivery-induced apoptosis. Moreover, the UTMD system combining therapeutic and ultrasound image properties can effectively target gastric cancer, thus significantly enhancing antitumor activity, as evident by tumor localization in an orthotopic mouse model of gastric cancer. The combination of ultrasound and NP-based drug delivery systems has become a promising approach for targeted drug delivery in preclinical cancer therapy.

In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL) has achieved a remarkable achievement and it has attracted researchers' attention in modeling real-life scenarios by expanding its research beyond conventional complex games. Prediction of optimal treatment regimens from observational real clinical data is being popularized, and more advanced versions of RL algorithms are being implemented in the literature. However, RL-generated medications still need careful supervision of expertise parties or doctors in healthcare. Hence, in this paper, a Supervised Optimal Chemotherapy Regimen (SOCR) approach to investigate optimal chemotherapy-dosing schedule for cancer patients was presented by using Offline Reinforcement Learning. The optimal policy suggested by the RL approach was supervised by incorporating previous treatment decisions of oncologists, which could add clinical expertise knowledge on algorithmic results. Presented SOCR approach followed a model-based architecture using conservative Q-Learning (CQL) algorithm. The developed model was tested using a manually constructed database of forty Stage-IV colon cancer patients, receiving line-1 chemotherapy treatments, who were clinically classified as 'Bevacizumab based patient' and 'Cetuximab based patient'. Experimental results revealed that the supervision from the oncologists has considered the effect to stabilize chemotherapy regimen and it was suggested that the proposed framework could be successfully used as a supportive model for oncologists in deciding their treatment decisions.

Mangiferin is a naturally occurring polyphenol, widely distributed in Thymeraceae families, and presents pharmacological activity, including anti-cancer activities in many human cancer cell lines. Mangiferin has also been reported to affect immune responses; however, no available information concerning the effects of mangiferin on immune reactions in leukemia mice in vivo. In the present study, we investigated the effects of mangiferin on leukemia WEHI-3 cell generated leukemia BLAB/c mice. Overall, the experiments were divided into two parts, one part was immune responses experiment and the other was the survival rate experiment. The immune responses and survival rate study, 40 mice for each part, were randomly separated into five groups (N = 8): Group I was normal animals and groups II-V WEHI-3 cell generated leukemia mice. Group II mice were fed normal diet as a positive control; group III, IV, and V mice received mangiferin at 40, 80, and 120 mg/kg, respectively, by intraperitoneal injection every 2 days for 20 days. Leukocytes cell population, macrophage phagocytosis, and NK cell activities were analyzed by flow cytometry. Isolated splenocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and concanavalin A (Con A) were used to determine the proliferation of B and T cells, respectively, and subsequently were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results indicated that mangiferin significantly increased body weight, decreased the liver and spleen weights of leukemia mice. Mangiferin also increased CD3 T-cell and CD19 B cell population but decreased Mac-3 macrophage and CD11b monocyte. Furthermore, mangiferin decreased phagocytosis of macrophages from PBMC and peritoneal cavity at 40, 80, and 120 mg/kg treatment. However, it also increased NK cell activity at 40 and 120 mg/kg treatment. There were no effects on T and B cell proliferation at three examined doses. In survival rate studies, mangiferin significantly elevated survival rate at 40 and 120 mg/kg treatment of leukemia mice in vivo.

Background/aim Casticin, one of the active components of Vitex rotundifolia L., presents biological and pharmacological activities including inhibition of migration, invasion and induction of apoptosis in numerous human cancer cells in vitro. This study aimed to assess the effects of casticin on tumor growth in a human oral cancer SCC-4 cell xenograft mouse model in vivo. Materials and methods Twenty-four nude mice were injected subcutaneously with SCC-4 cells and when palpable tumors reached a volume of 100-120 mm3 the mice were randomly divided into three groups. The control (0.1% dimethyl sulfoxide), casticin (0.2 mg/kg), and casticin (0.4 mg/kg) groups were intraperitoneally injected every two days for 18 days. Tumor volume and body weights were measured every two days. Results Casticin significantly decreased tumor volume and weight in SCC-4 cell xenograft mice but there was no statistically significant difference between the body weights of control mice and mice treated with 0.2 mg/kg or 0.4 mg/kg casticin. Therefore, the growth of SCC-4 cells in athymic nude mice can be inhibited by casticin in vivo. Conclusion These findings support further investigations in the potential use of casticin as an oral anti-cancer drug in the future.

The vector graphics with gradient mesh can be attributed to their compactness and scalability; however, they tend to fall short when it comes to real-time editing due to a lack of real-time rasterization and an efficient editing tool for image details. In this paper, we encode global manipulation geometries and local image details within a hybrid vector structure, using parametric patches and detailed features for localized and parallelized thin-plate spline interpolation in order to achieve good compressibility, interactive expressibility, and editability. The proposed system then automatically extracts an optimal set of detailed color features while considering the compression ratio of the image as well as reconstruction error and its characteristics applicable to the preservation of structural and irregular saliency of the image. The proposed real-time vector representation makes it possible to construct an interactive editing system for detail-maintained image magnification and color editing as well as material replacement in cross mapping, without maintaining spatial and temporal consistency while editing in a raster space. Experiments demonstrate that our representation method is superior to several state-of-the-art methods and as good as JPEG, while providing real-time editability and preserving structural and irregular saliency information.

We evaluated the analytical and clinical performance of a novel circulating tumor cell (CTC)-based blood test for determination of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression status in real time in treatment-naïve non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. CTCs were detected in 86% of patients with NSCLC (I-IV) at the time of diagnosis, with a 67% PD-L1 positivity rate (≥ 1 PDL + CTC). Among 33 NSCLC patients with PD-L1 results available via both tissue immunohistochemistry (IHC) and CTC assays, 78.9% were positive according to both methods. The CTC test identified an additional ten cases that were positive for PD-L1 expression but that tested negative via IHC analysis. Detection of higher PD-L1 expression on CTCs compared to that in the corresponding tissue was concordant with data obtained using other platforms in previously treated patients. The concordance in PD-L1 expression between tissue and CTCs was approximately 57%, which is higher than that reported by others. In summary, evaluation of PD-L1 protein expression status on CTCs isolated from NSCLC patients is feasible. PD-L1 expression status on CTCs can be determined serially during the disease course, thus overcoming the myriad challenges associated with tissue analysis.

The present research will be included in molding condition of temperature, pressure etc. in addition to heat of combustion test and improve strength of the Lightweight Composites by the adhesives with waste tire after pyrolysis. The results can serve as a reference to the Waste tire pyrolysis ash Lightweight Composites by production process design. Basically, take extrusion molding technique and sintering, the Lightweight Composites are produced for the ash from the Waste tire pyrolysis after combustion utilization. This study uses the Taguchi Methods to find the best formula, from product performance analysis and process technology manufacturing, The Lightweight composite material meets the expectations of the commercial market, As a reference for future research. This study use three variable, include adhesive, molding temperature, molding pressure .In the choice of adhesive, the study selected chemically modified starch adhesive, Melamine - urea - formaldehyde co - condensation resin, Isocyanate adhesives. This study was learned by Taguchi rule, the best formula for the Isocyanate adhesives, molding temperature at 135°C, molding pressure at 3.5kg/cm2. In the above conditions made by the lightweight composite material, with excellent bending strength and water resistance, In the fire performance on the more traditional wood-plastic board. From the commercial market point of view, the lightweight composite materials not only have the characteristics of fire resistance, good bending resistance, waterproof characteristics. In the material cost, because the processing technology to enhance, effectively reduce manufacturing costs, more commercial market competitiveness.

This study investigates the properties of green diesel produced by pyrolysis of waste tyres. Specifically, it examines the effects of catalyst type, gas pressure and gas cooling rate on the flash point, Sulphur content and heat value of the product. The results can serve as a reference for the design of the production process in order to improve the quality, Sulphur content, flash point and heat value of green diesel so that it meets Chinese national standards. As well as determining the optimum pyrolysis conditions, this study also analyses product properties and ways to improve these, as an important reference to serve as the basis for future studies.

Background Studies have identified frailty as an effective predictor of fracture; however, the correlation between frailty and fracture differs between various stages of frailty. Objectives The main aim is to determine the correlation between various stages of frailty and fracture risk; a secondary purpose is to determine the correlation between subgroups (e.g., females, females with a hip fracture, or aged 65 years or older) within the stages of frailty and fracture risk. Finally, effect of frailty criteria on the association between stages of frailty and fracture risk was tested. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) a prospective study design; (b) subjects aged 55 years or older; (c) a division into robust, prefrail, and frail groups; and (d) reported confidence intervals of hazard ratio. Two investigators independently assessed quality and discussed their findings to reach consensus. The quality of the literature was assessed and the level of evidence was also determined. Results In total, five studies included 103,783 older people and recorded 2,960 fractures. The results identified that the risk of fracture in the frail people was higher than that in both the robust people (summary HR: 1.67; 95% CI [1.46–1.91]) and prefrail people (summary HR: 1.28; 95% CI [1.16–1.40], and that the risk of fracture in the prefrail people was higher than that in the robust people (summary HR: 1.30; 95% CI [1.20–1.41]). A subgroup analysis revealed that among female adults, older females with hip fracture, or those aged 65 years or more, those who were categorized as frail showed the highest fracture risk, followed by those who were categorized as prefrail. Linking Evidence to Action Professional nurses caring for frail or prefrail people should actively develop fracture prevention measures to reduce the risk of death caused by fractures.

Tumors with epicenter in the thalamus occur in about 4 % of pediatric brain tumors. The histological diagnosis is mainly gliomas. Among them, low-grade glioma (LGG) constituted of a significant entity of the tumors (Cuccia et al., Childs Nerv Syst 13:514–521, 1997; Puget et al., J Neurosurg 106:354–362, 2007; Bernstein et al., J Neurosurg 61:649–656, 1984; Bilginer et al., Childs Nerv Syst 30:1493–1498, 2014). Since Kelly’s report in 1989, >90 % resection of thalamic tumors were achieved in reported series (Ozek and Ture, Childs Nerv Syst 18:450–6, 2002; Villarejo et al., Childs Nerv Syst 10:111–114, 1994; Moshel et al., Neurosurgery 61:66–75, 2007; Albright, J Neurosurg 100(5 Suppl Pediatrics): 468–472, 2004; Kelly, Neurosurgery 25:185–195, 1989; Drake et al., Neurosurgery 29: 27–33, 1991). Sixty-nine cases of thalamic tumors in children were retrospectively reviewed. There were 25 cases of LGGs. We analyzed our experience and correlated it with reported series. Summing up of 4 reported series and the present series, there were 267 cases of thalamic tumors in children. Among these tumors, 107 (40.1 %) were LGGs and 91 (34.1 %) were low-grade astrocytomas (LGAs). In the present series, all of the 25 LGGs were LGAs that consisted of 11 pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) and 14 diffuse astrocytomas (DAs). Six cases received biopsy sampling only. The remaining 19 cases received different degrees of surgical resection via several approaches. Radical (>90 %) resection was achieved better in PAs comparing with DAs. There was no operative mortality. Two patients had increased neurological deficits. In a mean follow-up period of 11.9 years, three patients died of tumor progression and one patient died of anaplastic change. The 5- and 10-year overall survival (OS) was 87.1 and 87.1 %, respectively. Thalamic LGGs are mainly LGAs and are indolent. The rate of >90 % resection was relatively low in the present series. By applying contemporary diagnostic MRI studies, surgical facilities, and appropriate approaches in selective cases, we may try maximum neuroprotective radical (>90 %) resection.

It is a necessary but challenging task for creative producers to have an idea of the depth perception of the target audience when watching a stereoscopic film in a cinema during production. This paper proposes a novel metric, geometric perceived depth percentage (GPDP), to numerate and depict the depth perception of a scene before rendering. In addition to the geometric relationship between the object depth and focal distance, GPDP takes the screen width and viewing distance into account. As a result, it provides a more intuitive means for predicting stereoscopy and is universal across different viewing conditions. Based on GPDP, we design a practical tool to visualize the stereoscopic perception without the need for any 3-D device or special environment. The tool utilizes the stereoscopic comfort volume, GPDP-based shading schemes, depth perception markers, and GPDP histograms as visual cues so that animators can set stereoscopic parameters more easily. The tool is easily implemented in any modern rendering pipeline, including interactive Autodesk Maya and offline Pixar’s RenderMan renderer. It has been used in several production projects including commercial ones. Finally, two user studies show that GPDP is a proper depth perception indicator and the proposed tool can make the stereoscopic parameter setting process easier and more efficient.

The present research was involved in forming Modulation, Atomizing temperature, adding proportion etc. In addition to ameliorate heat value and Combustion stability of the Emulsified heavy oil modulated from liquid waste after the waste rubber pyrolysis in resource chemical plant. Solve waste rubbers pyrolysis process liquid wastes generated problems This study explored optimal condition of Emulsified heavy oil modulation based on relevant tests to enhance its heat value and combustion stability for optimal utilization of emulsified fuel. The results can serve as a reference to the Emulsified heavy oil modulation process design and mixing with liquids waste. The main component of the formula is an emulsion, Surfactant as emulsion to make the fuel oil uniformly mix with liquid waste. Besides finding a suitable formula, this study also conducted analysis on product property and developed technique to improve process and product property, as an important reference for future studies.

Disposal of such high-Oil content (up to 8%-23%) waste (Carbon ash) troubles the Waste tire resource plant. The Fluidized bed Gasifier medium (SiO2 in Common) possesses the strong ability of heat reservation that makes the high-oil content waste pre-drying. In addition, the utilization of absorbed-Molecular sieves can get rid of generated. It is applicable to direct gasification pyrolysis of Carbon ash, Due to its collective characteristics of pre-drying, pyrolysis and clean of pollutant. This research was devoted to study the feasibility for self-sustained combustion of high-oil content ZKHN Waste tire pyrolysis waste by Scrolling-Type Fluidized bed Gasifier. Research results indicate that the suitable for operating temperature is about 370°C with about 150 pa Pressure difference and 82.9% burning efficiency for self-sustained gasification of carbon ash. In other words, the oil content must be controlled below 26%. The volatile gases and organic solvents of participates can be neglected. The emission of CO was an Important issue, but can be suppressed by best regulation some factors that are operating temperature, axial temperature distribution, primary air & excess air. These factors influence the results of this study.

The present research will be involved in molding condition of temperature, pressure etc. in addition to improve strength and heat of combustion test of the solid fuel product by the adhesives with barley husk after pyrolysis. The results can serve as a reference to the barley husk solid fuel production process design. In sequence, take extrusion molding technique and sintering, the lightweight Buildings are produced for the carbon ash from the solid fuel after combustion utilization. More than finding a suitable formula, this study also conducted analysis on product performance and developed technique to improve process and product performance, as an important reference for future studies.In this study, the variation factors of the solid fuel produced from the barley husk was 3 × 3 × 3. The solid fuel produced from the barley husk used chemically modified starch adhesive, molding temperature and pressure as variation factors. ANOVA multifactor analysis of variance was conducted for the significanc...

Purpose: Carcinoma of unknown origin has a poor outcome and usually occurs in elderly patients. In this article, we analyzed the prognostic factors in elderly patients with cancer of unknown primary site (CUP) for treatment considerations. Patients and Methods: Patients >70 years old with histologically proven carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed. The prognostic factors were analyzed with univariate and multivariate Cox regression. Results: We included 63 patients aged 70–79 years and 51 patients ≥80 years old. The results of multivariate Cox regression in the 70–79 years age group revealed white blood cell count ≤104/ml [p = 0.033; hazard ratio (HR) 2.51, range 1.079–5.840] and albumin ≥3.5 g/dl (p = 0.007; HR 3.38, range 1.398–8.177) as independent factors. In the group of patients ≥80 years old, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 4/ml (p = 0.001), albumin ≥3.5 g/dl (p = 0.006), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ≤250 U/l (p = 0.002) and non-chest metastasis (p = 0.043) were significantly better with univariate analysis. Multivariate Cox regression revealed albumin ≥3.5 g/dl (p = 0.007; HR 3.28, range 1.389–7.745) and LDH ≤250 U/l (p = 0.045; HR 3.18, range 1.026–9.848) as independent factors. Conclusions: For elderly patients with CUP, the serum albumin level seems to be a consistently independent prognostic factor. In patients >80 years old, serum LDH plays an important role in prognosis. This study is helpful in predicting the outcome and management for this group of patients.

Candida parapsilosis was recently reclassified into 3 closely related species, C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, Candida orthopsilosis, and Candida metapsilosis. Variation in susceptibility characteristics and prevalence of the 3 genomic species could have therapeutic and epidemiologic implications. The aim of this study is to characterize the genetic and antifungal susceptibility profiles of 97 C. parapsilosis isolates from 71 patients. Among the 71 nonduplicate isolates, 85.9% (61/71) were identified as C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, 5.6% (4/71) as C. metapsilosis, and 8.5% (6/71) as C. orthopsilosis species based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. The delineation of these 3 species is concordant with that achieved by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of BssHII restriction fragments at 75% similarity. Antifungal susceptibility tests showed that most isolates were susceptible to flucytosine, azoles, amphotericin B, and echinocandins, whereas 3 C. metapsilosis isolates from 1 patient showed resistance and susceptible-dose dependence to fluconazole. The C. metapsilosis isolates exhibited significantly higher MIC values to both fluconazole and voriconazole than those of C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and C. orthopsilosis. On the other hand, the C. metapsilosis isolates showed significantly lower MIC values on 24 h to caspofungin than those of C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and C. orthopsilosis. For micafungin, the isolates of C. parapsilosis sensu stricto had significantly higher MIC values on 24 h than those of C. orthopsilosis and C. metapsilosis. Compared to Candida albicans, mutations from proline to alanine were identified on the hot spot 1 of Fks1 in all these C. parapsilosis sensu lato isolates regardless of their MIC levels. Some of the C. orthopsilosis and C. metapsilosis isolates expressed the isoleucine to valine substitution on the hot spot 2 region. However, the amino acid variations in these isolates did not correlate to their MIC values of echinocandin.

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was used to characterize the genetic profiles of 52 Candida tropicalis isolates collected from 10 hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 33 diploid sequence types (DSTs) were differentiated among the 52 isolates and all were novel to the Internet C. tropicalis DST database (http://pubmlst.org/ctropicalis/). Eleven (33.3%) of the 33 DSTs could be assigned to 3 major clonal clusters (1-3) based on eBURST calculation. Only clonal cluster 1 co-clustered isolates from UK and the United States. Clonal cluster 2 was enriched with isolates with resistance or trailing growth of fluconazole (14/20, 70%). Furthermore, there are a number of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis subtypes associated with the isolates in this cluster, demonstrating that possibly more than one clone with resistant or trailing property have emerged and spread in Taiwan in 1999.

This study was designed to pursue the identification of optimal restriction enzyme for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of Candida tropicalis. Twelve restriction enzymes were tested on C. tropicalis strains. Our results indicate that BssHII, NaeI, and RsrII were useful enzymes for PFGE analysis, and NaeI was the best for PFGE analysis of C. tropicalis isolates.

A micro-PET/CT system was developed by combination of an in-house micro-CT and a microPET® R4 scanner. The cone-beam micro-CT consists of a rotational gantry that fits an X-ray tube, a CCD-based X-ray detector, and motor-driven linear stages. The gantry was designed to be coaxial with the scanner of microPET® R4. It can be moved for the convenience of mounting the Ge-68 point-source holder for PET's calibration. The image volumes obtained from two modalities is registered by a pre-determined, inherent spatial transformation function. This hardware-approach fusion, which provides accurate and no labor-intensive alignment, is suitable for mass scanning. The micro-PET/CT system has been operated successfully. Merging the anatomical and functional images benefit studies of the small animal imaging.

We report on the analysis of quantum transport through an Aharonov-Bohm ring with embedded double quantum dots. The normal metal leads are assumed to be weakly coupled to the two quantum dots. In the quantum dot region, Rashba spin-orbit coupling and electron-electron interaction are considered. The quantum transport is analyzed based on the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. A spin-polarized current emerges in this device due to the combined effect of a magnetic flux, threading through the AB ring, and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. An interesting switching property of the spin polarization by turning on and off the gate within small voltage window is observed. This feature, however, does not exist in the Aharonov-Bohm ring structure with single quantum dot. We therefore propose a theoretical idea of a bipolar spin polarization switch

Objectives Successful clones of Neisseria gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing sequence type (ST) 1407 and ST1407-related genotypes have been reported to cause cefixime and ceftriaxone treatment failure in many countries. We characterized the 47 isolates of a strain cluster of ST4378, a genotype that differs in the porB sequence by only one nucleotide from ST1407, in Taiwan during April 2006 to June 2012. Methods We identified 47 ST4378 isolates among our 2357 total isolates from the Gonococci-National Isolate Collection for Epidemiology. The corresponding patients' medical records were collected. The 47 isolates were further typed by multilocus sequence typing. Genes involved in β-lactam (ponA), quinolone (gyrA and parC) and multidrug (mtrR, porB1b and pilQ) resistance were sequenced. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disc diffusion test and Etest. Results Cefixime MICs for the 47 isolates ranged from 0.016 to 0.19 mg/L and ceftriaxone MICs ranged from 0.012 to 0.094 mg/L. Forty-six of the 47 isolates had a mosaic penA allele type XXXIV and one had a new allele type XL, which appeared to be a recombinant of mosaic penA type XXXIV and non-mosaic penA type II. All of the isolates harboured nearly identical polymorphism in the ponA, gyrA, parC, mtrR, porB1b and pilQ genes. Among the 33 patients with known medical records, 25 (76%) were men who have sex with men (MSM), 3 (9%) were bisexual and 5 (15%) were heterosexual. Fourteen (42%) of the 33 patients had HIV, 8 (24%) had syphilis and 7 (21%) had both infections. Conclusions This is the first report of a cluster of ST1407-related strains in Taiwan. ST4378 is a genotype that may develop to cause third-generation cephalosporin treatment failures. Our results showed that ST4378 strains primarily transmitted in a high-risk MSM/bisexual network. The potential of these strains to become untreatable and spread to other low-risk sexual networks should be closely monitored.

Background Carcinoma of unknown primary site (CUP) has a poor prognosis and the prognostic factors in these patients are not well established. Furthermore, there are no selection criteria for patients who should benefit from chemotherapy. Methods The medical records of 179 CUP patients who were treated at Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 2000 to 2009 were reviewed. Factors associated with survival were determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Differences between the groups with and without palliative chemotherapy were analyzed. Results Univariate analysis revealed multiple prognostic factors, including performance status, lung metastasis, number of metastatic organs, serum albumin, corrected serum calcium, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sodium, and cholesterol levels, palliative chemotherapy, and white blood cell and lymphocyte counts. Multivariate analysis showed that performance status < 2, serum albumin level ≥ 3.5 g/dl, corrected serum calcium level < 10.7 mg/dl, single metastatic organ, and palliative chemotherapy were independent factors of better prognosis. Patients with better performance status, higher serum albumin, and lower serum LDH levels had significantly greater benefit from palliative chemotherapy. Conclusions Certain patients with unfavorable CUP will have better survival. Identification of patients with unfavorable CUP who could benefit from palliative chemotherapy warrants future prospective studies.

Tissue expansion has become invaluable for burn-scar reconstruction. However, its use is hindered by the complications that often result in expansion failure. This study attempts to identify the risk factors of expansion failure in burn patients, as such factors have not been clearly defined.This study included 62 tissue expansions in 37 burn patients from January 2001 to June 2009. Factors including patient's age, sex, co-morbidities, expander size, implantation site, volume injected at implantation, preinflation volume ratio (PVR=volume injected at implantation/expander size), final inflation volume ratio (FIVR=cumulative volume injected at completion of expansion/expander size) and expansion duration were analysed. Cases were allocated into success (n=53) and failure (n=9) groups. Logistic regression was used in multivariate analysis for identifying predictors of expansion failure.The mean age of the patients was 29.6 years. The male to female ratio was 1:1.4. Expansion complication and failure rates were 53% (n=33) and 14.5% (n=9), respectively. The risk factors statistically correlated to expansion failure (p0.05) were age, expander size, PVR and implantation at lower limb. Expansion of lower limbs carried a risk of failure 43 times greater than other sites.We conclude that tissue expansion should be avoided in older patients and in lower limbs. The largest possible expander size and inflation at time of implantation should be used to lower the risk of expansion failure.

We investigate the enhancement of intrinsic spin Hall accumulation in a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba and Dresselhaus (001) spin-orbit coupling. Employing the real-space Landauer–Keldysh Green’s function formalism, we show that intrinsic spin Hall accumulation can be strongly enhanced at the specific energy point where the system develops two charge current vortices with certain chirality. We find that the localized vortex state is accompanied by a conductance dip arising from the Fano–Rashba effect. The spin-orbit force picture is used to analyze the enhanced spin accumulation patterns.

The mean-field-assisted Landauer–Keldysh formalism is employed to study the flip of an impurity spin under a uniaxial anisotropic field in two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The spin-flip process with uniaxial anisotropic axis set to three different directions is investigated in a four-terminal Landauer setup. We show that the spin flip follows a three-dimensional trajectory rather than in-plane motion. As bias voltage changes sign, the impurity spin will flip from one saturated state to another and move along a different trajectory, depending on the chosen initial saturated state.

We report on the analysis of electron transport through an Aharonov–Bohm interferometer with laterally coupled triple quantum dots. Analytical expressions for the linear conductance and density of states with an indirect coupling parameter α are obtained. The conductance spectrum shows the Breit–Wigner and the Fano resonances. The suppression of the resonance at α=1 is ascribed to the existence of a bound state in the continuum. This resonance is well resolved and clearly observed as α decreases. For particular values of the magnetic flux, two antiresonances are observed due to the destructive quantum interference. They disappear due to the localization of the bonding and antibonding states.