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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to construct a competent model that can effectively predict the prognosis of patients with gastric carcinoid (GC) or neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of patients with GC or NEC were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 1975 to 2017. Univariable and multivariable Cox analysis was used to determine the independent factors for patients with GC or NEC. Nomograms were established based on the independent factors and the results were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: A total of 214 patients with GC and 65 patients with gastric NEC were extracted from the SEER database. Independent prognostic factors for patients with GC were M stage, gender, age, and chemotherapy. Independent prognostic factors for patients with gastric NEC included age, M stage, and chemotherapy. ROC curves, calibration curves, and DCA confirmed that the nomograms can precisely predict the prognosis of patients with GC and NEC. CONCLUSIONS: The nomograms can effectively predict survival in patients with GC or NEC, which may assist the clinician in their decision-making and quantitatively judge the prognosis of individual patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The damage of deep anchorage cavern is a key index to judge the stability of underground engineering, but the existing damage analysis of deep anchorage cavern does not consider the influence of dynamic-static coupling and in-situ stress at the same time. To investigate the damage law of the deep anchorage cavern, the damage evolution process of the deep anchorage cavern under top explosion was analyzed by using numerical simulation method, the influence of in-situ stress on that was also explored, and the corresponding failure forms were obtained. Results show that under the top explosion, the tensile and compressive damage to the vault is mainly influenced by the dynamic loading, which of the floor is mainly affected by the static loading. With the increase of hydrostatic confining pressure, the failure mode of the vault is from the overall collapse of the anchoring area to the local peeling off of the free surface of the cavern, and the floor heave becomes more serious. As the lateral pressure coefficient increases, the anchorage cavern is most stable under the hydrostatic pressure, and only the local peeling occurs on the free surface of the cavern arch. When the lateral pressure coefficient is less than 1.0, the local anchoring zone above the anchorage cavern will form penetration directly. When the lateral pressure coefficient exceeds 1.0, the overall collapse may occur from the explosion source to the anchorage cavern. The obtained conclusions can provide the basis and reference for the similar deep cavern support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat capacities of the ternary compounds RENiC[sub 2] (RE=Dy, Ho, Er, and Y) were studied in the temperature range between 2 and 30 K. From the heat capacity curves, the ordering temperatures are found to be 7.5, 3.0, and 8.1 K for DyNiC[sub 2], HoNiC[sub 2], and ErNiC[sub 2], respectively. Also a small peak is found at 4.7 K for DyNiC[sub 2]. The heat capacity of YNiC[sub 2] was well-fitted with an average Debye temperature of 456 K in the temperature range between 2 and 30 K. The magnetic heat capacities and the changes of magnetic entropy for RENiC[sub 2] (RE=Dy, Ho, and Er) indicate a strong influence of the crystal field on these compounds. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:This study aimed to test the expression of maspin in invasive fungal rhinosinusitis and explore its value in diagnosing invasive fungal rhinosinusitis.Methods:Forty-two fungal rhinosinusitis cases (12 invasive and 30 non-invasive) were selected as the experimental group, and 30 chronic rhinosinusitis cases comprised the control group. Maspin expression was assessed in nasal mucous membrane specimens by immunohistochemical staining.Results:Compared with the control group, maspin expression was down-regulated in the fungal rhinosinusitis group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the staining score for maspin was lowest in the invasive fungal rhinosinusitis group, as compared with both the non-invasive fungal rhinosinusitis group and the control group (p < 0.05). A maspin staining score of 5.70 was the critical value for diagnosis of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis, with sensitivity and specificity of 91.7 per cent and 88.3 per cent, respectively.Conclusion:The results of this study suggest that the maspin staining score may be a biomarker for effective and rapid diagnosis of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting children with developmental disability requires specialized caring skills and knowledge. The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of Chinese parents in caring for these children. The focus group research approach was adopted. Twenty-three parents of children hospitalized with developmental disability from a Maternal and Children Hospital, Guangzhou, China participated in four focus group interviews. Validity of interpretation was ascertained. Inter-coder reliability was established with inter-coder agreement at 0.77. Data were fully transcribed, coded and analysed by content analysis. Eventually, five categories of needs were identified: parental, informational, attitude towards the child, coping and support. Parents needed to be equipped with practical parenting skills and information on developmental disability, and they needed to have realistic expectations for the child. They also needed professional support to cope with caring tasks and activities. Education is recommended as a fundamental strategy to enhance parents’ caring competency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

High quality epitaxial thin films of FeSe1-xTe_x (x=0–1) have been successfully fabricated. Their superconducting transition temperatures are around 8–13 K. Microwave properties of a film (x=0.7) was studied by a sapphire dielectric cavity at 9.315 GHz. The cavity, which has a quality factor of 45000 in room temperature with TE011-mode, is specially designed for the measurement of small samples with the sapphire cylinder having a small hole in the center. Thin film samples with dimension of 1–2 mm can be put in the middle of the hole, supported by a very thin sapphire rod. The cavity is sealed in a vacuum chamber soaked in the liquid ^4He and the temperature of the thin sapphire rod (hence the sample) can be controlled from 1.6 K to 60 K with a stability about \pm1 mK. Temperature dependence of transmission response and Q-factors were measured by a network analyser (Agilent N5230C). The results showed a clear signature of multi-gap superconductivity. No evidences of existence of node in the energy gap were found as the normalized change in the surface reactance and the corresponding normalized change in the in-plane penetration depth have flat dependence at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]