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Objectives: To analyze the treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of mucosal melanoma of the head and neck (MMHN) from a single institution. Methods: From December 1989 to November 2018, 190 patients diagnosed with MMHN were included. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method for univariate analysis with a log‐rank test for significance and Cox regression for multivariate analysis. Results: With a median follow‐up time of 43.5 months, 126 (68.5%) patients died. The median DSS was 35 months. The 3‐ and 5‐year disease‐specific survival (DSS) rates were 48.1% and 33.7%, respectively. The median overall survival (OS) was 34 months. The 3‐ and 5‐year OS rates were 47.0% and 32.9%, respectively. In univariate analysis, the T3 stage, received surgery, R0 resection, and combined therapy (surgery+biotherapy/biochemotherapy) were significantly associated with better survival. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that the T4 stage (HR = 1.692; 95% CI, 1.175–2.438; p =.005) and the N1 stage (HR = 1.600; 95% CI, 1.023–2.504; p =.039) were strong prognostic factors for poor survival, and that combined therapy (surgery+biotherapy/biochemotherapy) was a strong prognostic factor for better survival outcome (HR = 0.563; 95% CI, 0.354–0.896; p =.015). Conclusion: The prognosis of MMHN remains poor. Systemic treatment is warranted to reduce MMHN progression. Surgery combined with biotherapy may improve survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Golden pomelo is delicious and nutritious and has gained great popularity. Golden pomelo will generate bitter taste with the extension of storage time, which seriously affect the development of the related industry. To explore the reason behind, the present work used Meizhou's golden pomelos the research object to investigate the source of bitterness. After grading, the content of titratable acid, soluble solids content, maximum adhesion force, limonin content, nomilin content, naringin content were simultaneously determined by methods such as the random forest method. The results showed that the soluble solids content was extremely significant and positive correlated (R=0.78) with sensory scores. Nomilin (R=-0.69) content and naringin (R=-0.59) content were significantly and negatively correlated with sensory scores. The bitterness source of the golden pomelo after a long-term storage was closely related to its soluble solids content. This study can provide a certain theoretical basis for the research on debittering of golden pomelo and rapid assessment of the fruit quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy of gravitating systems has been an issue since Einstein proposed general relativity: considered to be ill defined, having no proper local density. Energy–momentum is now regarded as quasi-local (associated with a closed 2-surface). We consider the pseudotensor and quasi-local proposals in the Lagrangian–Noether–Hamiltonian formulations. There are two ambiguities: (i) many expressions, (ii) each depends on some nondynamical structure, e.g. a reference frame. The Hamiltonian approach gives a handle on both problems. Our remarkable discovery is that with a 4D isometric Minkowski reference, a large class of expressions — those that agree with the Einstein pseudotensor's Freud superpotential to linear order — give a common quasi-local energy value. With a best-matched reference on the boundary, this value is the nonnegative Wang–Yau mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To develop a simple dementia screening tool to assist primary care physicians in identifying patients with cognitive impairment among subjects with memory complaints or at a high risk for dementia. Design: The Brain Health Test (BHT) was developed by several experienced neurologists, psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists in the Taiwan Dementia Society. Validation of the BHT was conducted in the memory clinics of various levels of hospitals in Taiwan. Participants: All dementia patients at the memory clinics who met the inclusion criteria of age greater or equal to 50 years were enrolled. Besides the BHT, the Mini-Mental State Examination and Clinical Dementia Rating were used to evaluate the cognition state of the patients and the severity of dementia. Results: The BHT includes two parts: a risk evaluation and a cognitive test (BHT-cog). Self or informants reports of memory decline or needing help from others to manage money or medications were significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Among the risk factors evaluated in the BHT, a total risk score greater or equal to 8 was defined as a high risk for dementia. The total score for the finalized BHT-cog was 16. When the cutoff value for the BHT-cog was set to 10 for differentiating dementia and a normal mental state, the sensitivity was 91.5%, the specificity was 87.3%, the positive predictive value was 94.8%, and the negative predictive value was 80.1% The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve between dementia and healthy subjects was 0.958 (95% CI = 0.941–0.975). Conclusions: The BHT is a simple tool that may be useful in primary care settings to identify high-risk patients to target for cognitive screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Dryland maize growth and yields under different N level had been compared. [•] N stress decreased leaves growth and changed dry matter accumulated allocation. [•] N fertilisation improved biomass, yield and the attainable productivity achieved. [•] The greater grain yield due to the more grain number and larger kernel weight. [•] Larger kernel weights depend on the greater grain filling rate and longer duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Mulching significant increased soil temperature and moisture during early stage. [•] The greater soil thermal in mulch plots accelerated plants growth and development. [•] Higher growth rates lead to the greater biomass, yield and water use efficiency. [•] Compared to gravel, plastic film mulch is preferable in the semi-arid areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: CdSO4 and ZnSO4 as co-modifiers of RuLa/SBA-15 lead to improved catalysts for the partial hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene. Based on the experimental results and theoretical calculations, it is shown that CdSO4 acts as surface modification, suppressing more the adsorption of cyclohexene than that of benzene, while the function of ZnSO4 is mainly the stabilization of cyclohexene in the liquid phase, accelerating the desorption as well as hindering the re-adsorption of cyclohexene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Maize straws were collected from different treatments of two long-term fertilization studies, their carbon (C) / nitrogen (N) ratios were determined, and their C and N mineralization rates in soil were compared in an aerobic incubation test. The results showed that comparing with no fertilization, applying chemical fertilizers (NPK) or chemical fertilizers plus manure (MNPK) increased the N content and decreased the C/N ratio of maize straw. The amounts of mineralized and immobilized C and N of the straws from different fertilization treatments differed with incubation time. The straws from treatments NPK, MNPK, and N240 had significantly higher C mineralization rates than that from the treatment without fertilization. After incubation for 60 days, the straw from treatment NPK had the highest C mineralization rate (1324% of added organic C), and the immobilized N from the straws of fertilized plots, especially of MNPK plot, was lesser, compared to unfertilized plots. Adding maize straw into soil increased the metabolic quotient (qCO2) of soil microorganisms, but the difference among the treatments was not significant. During incubation, the amounts of soil microbial biomass C and N from different treatments differed with time. Therefore, in agricultural practices, the differences in the nutrient contents of straw due to different fertilization should be considered when the straw was to be added into soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ru–Ba/SBA-15 catalysts with different Ba/Ru molar ratios were prepared by the ‘two solvents’ method, which can readily introduce the active components into the channels of SBA-15. Characterizations revealed that the crystallite size of Ru was tuned smoothly from 3.6 to 7.5nm by increasing the Ba/Ru ratio from 0.1 to 1.0. In liquid phase hydrogenation of benzene, the maximum yield of cyclohexene was obtained on the Ru–Ba/SBA-15 catalyst with Ru crystallite size of 5.6nm, which is interpreted as the presence of the highest population of the active sites favorable for the production of cyclohexene on such Ru crystallites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

First we briefly review our covariant Hamiltonian approach to quasi-local energy, noting that the Hamiltonian-boundary-term quasi-local energy expressions depend on the chosen boundary conditions and reference configuration. Then we present the quasi-local energy values resulting from the formalism applied to homogeneous Bianchi cosmologies. Finally we consider the quasi-local energies of the FRW cosmologies. Our results do not agree with certain widely accepted quasi-local criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We propose a program for determining the reference for the covariant Hamiltonian boundary term quasi-local energy and test it on spherically symmetric spacetimes. For different observers the quasi-local energy can be positive, zero, or even negative, however the maximum value is positive for both the Schwarzschild and FLRW spacetimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]