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Based on an empirical model for predicting the transit time of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) proposed by Gopalswamy, 52 CME events which are related to the geomagnetic storms of Dst < −50 nT, and 10 CME events which caused extremely strong geomagnetic storms ( Dst < −200 nT) in 1996– 2007 are selected, and combined with the observational data of the interplanetary solar winds that collected by the ACE satellite at 1AU, to analyze the influence of convective effect of ambient solar winds on the prediction of the CME transit time when it arrives at a place of 1 AU. After taking the convective effect of ambient solar winds into account, the standard deviation of predictions is reduced from 16.5 to 11.4 hours for the 52 CME events, and the prediction error is less than 15 hours for 68% of these events; while the standard deviation of predictions is reduced from 10.6 to 6.5 hours for the 10 CME events that caused extremely strong geomagnetic storms, and the prediction error is less than 5 hours for 6 of the 10 events. These results show that taking the convective effect of ambient solar winds into account can reduce the standard deviation of the predicted CME transit time, hence the convective effect of solar winds plays an important role for predicting the transit times of CME events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The treatment of chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis remains a challenge for orthopedic and plastic surgeons. The basis of surgical therapy includes thorough debridement of infected tissue and reconstruction with well-vascularized flaps. Methods A "hybrid" sural flap composed of an adiponeurofascial flap proximally and a neurofasciocutaneous flap distally is described here. The adiponeurofascial flap was used to obliterate the bone cavity, and the distal part was used to resurface soft tissue defects. Five patients with chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis were treated with this modified sural flap. Results The size of the adiponeurofascial flap ranged from 5.0 x 4.0 cm to 13.0 x 5.0 cm, and that of the neurofasciocutaneous flap ranged from 6.5 x 3.0 cm to 6.0 x 8.0 cm. The donor defects were covered with skin grafts in three patients and closed primarily in two patients. All the flaps survived completely without any complications, the skin graft and the skin over the adiponeurofascial flap healed uneventfully. There was no evidence of recurrent infection during the follow-up period. Conclusion The modified "hybrid" sural flap is simple and reliable and is a good candidate for treatment of chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]