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Background and Objectives: This study aims to translate and culturally adapt the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) for Latin American Spanish–speaking patients, enhancing the tool's accessibility for evaluating postsurgical functional outcomes in sarcoma patients across Latin America. Methods: The TESS questionnaires for lower extremity (LE) and upper extremity (UE) were translated and adapted following international guidelines. The process included forward and backward translation, expert committee review, and pretesting with cognitive interviewing. Patients treated for bone or soft tissue tumors in LE or UE were recruited to complete the adapted questionnaires. Test–retest reliability was evaluated by having participants complete the questionnaire again 2 weeks after the initial assessment. Results: A total of 89 participants completed the questionnaires. The study found high internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values reaching 0.9437 for LE and 0.9402 for UE. An agreement rate of 98.4% for the global score of TESS‐LE (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.909–1.059) and 93.9% for TESS‐UE (95% CI: 0.882–0.995) was observed, demonstrating strong test–retest reliability. Conclusions: The Latin American Spanish version of TESS for both lower and upper extremities is a reliable and culturally appropriate tool for assessing physical function in limb sarcoma patients. Further validation across diverse Latin American populations is encouraged to strengthen its broad applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of time series analysis of blazar PKS 1440-389, observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in two sectors. We find that the source has a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) of about 3.1 days for sector 11 and around 3.7 days for sector 38 in the optical band. We use two methods to assess the QPO and its confidence level: Lomb–Scargle periodogram and weighted wavelet Z-transforms. We explore various potential explanations for these rapid quasi-periodic variations and propose that their source most likely resides within the innermost region of the accretion disk. Within this framework, we estimate the mass of the central black hole of this blazar. We obtain black hole masses of 6.65 × 108 M ⊙ (Schwarzschild black hole) and 4.22 × 109 M ⊙ (maximally rotating Kerr black hole), with a main period of 3.7 days. Finally, we utilize the kink instability model to explain the QPO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Limb salvage surgery and amputation are two commonly performed procedures for lower extremity tumors. When comparing these procedures in tumor patients, it is important to consider their impact on quality of life (QOL) and functional mobility. These patients often experience physical, emotional, and psychological challenges, making these factors crucial in determining the most suitable treatment approach. Method: The outcomes of lower extremity tumors patients for QOL were collected from PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Google Scholar until 28 February 2023. The physical function, mental health, role function, social function, emotional function, Toronto Extremity Salvage Score, and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Score outcomes were analyzed to determine the differences between the two procedures. Results: Five articles were included according to the selection criteria with a total of 245 patients. The standard mean difference (SMD) values of each parameter were slightly higher in limb salvage surgery patients but not higher enough to produce statistically significant results; the SMD values for physical function and mental health were 0.72 and 0.04, respectively. This study did not report any heterogeneity or publication bias. Conclusions: QOL is a large and enhanced term, which carries its importance and is challenging to compare between any procedures. The minimal rise in SMD of different QOL parameters highlighted only a slight advantage of limb salvage surgery over amputation. Therefore, further research is required to explore the impact of this crucial topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the discovery of 66 new eclipsing binaries using a 2-algorithm data pipeline from sector 3 of the GSFC-eleanor-lite database. This database, which contains eleanor- processed full-frame image light curves, was analyzed with a pipeline consisting of two algorithms: ECLIPSR and BLS. In the paper, I present details on the pipeline and the methods used to verify the existence of the eclipsing binaries. I also provide a catalog of the 66 new eclipsing binaries, including the properties measured by the two algorithms. In comparison with the majority of other papers, this pipeline is faster, consisting of per-light-curve runtimes of approximately one second, while still delivering accurate detections. Finally, this work also identifies a lower eclipsing binary density in the GSFC-eleanor-lite database compared with most short cadence photometry analyses but it simultaneously has a higher percentage of new eclipsing binaries as opposed to reconfirming previously discovered ones.

Abstract Background Validated self-reporting tools are required to evaluate the functional outcome and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for those who had extremity bone sarcomas in their childhood or adolescence. Our study pursued cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the pediatric Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (pTESS) and Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) to assess the functional outcome for Egyptian children and adult survivors following surgeries of extremity bone sarcomas. In the modified versions of pTESS and TESS, mental domains were added to allow the evaluation of HRQOL using a specific instrument for childhood bone cancer. Methods The internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the studied forms were assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and Intra-class coefficients (ICC), respectively. For convergent validity, correlations between scores of the generic Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0) and pTESS /TESS scores were reported. Factor Analysis was feasible for pTESS-leg; due to the insufficient samples, only the average inter-item correlation coefficients were reported for the remaining versions. Results Out of 233 participants, 134 responded to pTESS-leg, 53 to TESS-leg, 36 to pTESS-arm, and only 10 to TESS-arm. All versions showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha >0.9), good test–retest reliability (ICC >0.8), moderate to strong correlations with PedsQL, and acceptable average inter-item correlation coefficients (≥0.3). Three factors were extracted for the pTESS-leg, in which all mental items were loaded on one separate factor with factor loadings exceeding 0.4. Active chemotherapy, less than one year from primary surgery, or tibial tumors were associated with significantly inferior pTESS/TESS scores in the lower extremity group. Conclusion The Egyptian pTESS and TESS are valid and reliable self-reporting tools for assessing the functional outcome following surgeries for extremity bone sarcomas. The modified pTESS and TESS versions, which include additional mental domains, enabled the assessment of the overall health status of our population. Future studies should include a larger sample size and evaluate the ability of pTESS/TESS to track progress over time.

PurposeLimb salvage surgery and amputation are two commonly performed procedures for lower extremity tumors. When comparing these procedures in tumor patients, it is important to consider their impact on quality of life (QOL) and functional mobility. These patients often experience physical, emotional, and psychological challenges, making these factors crucial in determining the most suitable treatment approach.MethodThe outcomes of lower extremity tumors patients for QOL were collected from PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Google Scholar until 28 February 2023. The physical function, mental health, role function, social function, emotional function, Toronto Extremity Salvage Score, and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Score outcomes were analyzed to determine the differences between the two procedures.ResultsFive articles were included according to the selection criteria with a total of 245 patients. The standard mean difference (SMD) values of each parameter were slightly higher in limb salvage surgery patients but not higher enough to produce statistically significant results; the SMD values for physical function and mental health were 0.72 and 0.04, respectively. This study did not report any heterogeneity or publication bias.ConclusionsQOL is a large and enhanced term, which carries its importance and is challenging to compare between any procedures. The minimal rise in SMD of different QOL parameters highlighted only a slight advantage of limb salvage surgery over amputation. Therefore, further research is required to explore the impact of this crucial topic.

Planets orbiting binary stars—circumbinary planets—play a paramount role in our understanding of planetary and stellar formation and evolution, dynamical interactions in many-body systems, and the potential for habitable environments beyond the Solar System. Each new discovery holds immense value and inherent fascination both for the astronomical community and for the general public. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the 1500+ citations of the discovery papers for the 14 known transiting circumbinary planets and the dozens of related press-releases in major news outlets. This article reviews the observational and theoretical aspects related to the detection and confirmation of transiting circumbinary planets around main-sequence binaries from space-based surveys, discusses the associated challenges, and highlights some of the recent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology‐led NASA Explorer‐class mission planned to spend 2 years discovering transiting exoplanets by an all‐sky survey. The observatory contains four wide field‐of‐view camera systems for a total of 16.8 Megapixel, low‐noise, low‐power CCD detectors. Now over 5 years beyond its launch date and 10 years after the CCD design tape out, we report on our approach for managing camera system development, with particular emphasis on the design, fabrication, and testing of the silicon detectors, developed on 200‐mm high‐resistivity wafer substrates. Finally, we present implications of the CCD manufacture observed in the on‐orbit performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of time series analysis of blazar PKS 1440-389, observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in two sectors. We find that the source has a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) of about 3.1 days for sector 11 and around 3.7 days for sector 38 in the optical band. We use two methods to assess the QPO and its confidence level: Lomb–Scargle periodogram and weighted wavelet Z-transforms. We explore various potential explanations for these rapid quasi-periodic variations and propose that their source most likely resides within the innermost region of the accretion disk. Within this framework, we estimate the mass of the central black hole of this blazar. We obtain black hole masses of 6.65 × 108M⊙ (Schwarzschild black hole) and 4.22 × 109M⊙ (maximally rotating Kerr black hole), with a main period of 3.7 days. Finally, we utilize the kink instability model to explain the QPO.

Background: Validated self-reporting tools are required to evaluate the functional outcome and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for those who had extremity bone sarcomas in their childhood or adolescence. Our study pursued cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the pediatric Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (pTESS) and Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) to assess the functional outcome for Egyptian children and adult survivors following surgeries of extremity bone sarcomas. In the modified versions of pTESS and TESS, mental domains were added to allow the evaluation of HRQOL using a specific instrument for childhood bone cancer. Methods: The internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the studied forms were assessed with Cronbach's alpha and Intra-class coefficients (ICC), respectively. For convergent validity, correlations between scores of the generic Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0) and pTESS /TESS scores were reported. Factor Analysis was feasible for pTESS-leg; due to the insufficient samples, only the average inter-item correlation coefficients were reported for the remaining versions. Results: Out of 233 participants, 134 responded to pTESS-leg, 53 to TESS-leg, 36 to pTESS-arm, and only 10 to TESS-arm. All versions showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.9), good test–retest reliability (ICC >0.8), moderate to strong correlations with PedsQL, and acceptable average inter-item correlation coefficients (≥0.3). Three factors were extracted for the pTESS-leg, in which all mental items were loaded on one separate factor with factor loadings exceeding 0.4. Active chemotherapy, less than one year from primary surgery, or tibial tumors were associated with significantly inferior pTESS/TESS scores in the lower extremity group. Conclusion: The Egyptian pTESS and TESS are valid and reliable self-reporting tools for assessing the functional outcome following surgeries for extremity bone sarcomas. The modified pTESS and TESS versions, which include additional mental domains, enabled the assessment of the overall health status of our population. Future studies should include a larger sample size and evaluate the ability of pTESS/TESS to track progress over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of the magnetic activity of different types of variable stars holds significant implications for our understanding of the physical processes and evolution of stars. This study's International Variable Star Index (VSX) variable star catalog was cross-matched with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data, resulting in 26,276 labeled targets from 76,187 light curves. A total of 25,327 stellar flare events were detected, including 245 eclipsing binaries, 2324 rotating stars, 111 pulsating stars, and 629 eruptive stars. The results showed that flares from eclipsing binaries, rotating stars, eruptive stars, and pulsating stars have durations such that 90% are less than 2 h, and 91% of their amplitudes are less than 0.3. Flare events mainly occurred in the temperature range of 2000 K to 3000 K. The power-law indices of different types of variable stars were 1.72 ± 0.025 (eclipsing binaries), 1.82 ± 0.062 (rotating stars), 1.80 ± 0.0116 (eruptive stars), and 1.73 ± 0.060 (pulsating stars). Among them, the flare energy of pulsating stars is more concentrated in the high-energy range. In all samples, flare energies were distributed from 3.99 × 10 31 erg to 6.18 × 10 38 erg. The LAMOST DR9 low-resolution spectral survey has provided H α equivalent widths for 398 variable stars. By utilizing these H α equivalent widths, we have determined the stellar activity of the variable stars and confirmed a positive correlation between the flare energy and H α equivalent width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planets orbiting binary stars—circumbinary planets—play a paramount role in our understanding of planetary and stellar formation and evolution, dynamical interactions in many-body systems, and the potential for habitable environments beyond the Solar System. Each new discovery holds immense value and inherent fascination both for the astronomical community and for the general public. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the 1500+ citations of the discovery papers for the 14 known transiting circumbinary planets and the dozens of related press-releases in major news outlets. This article reviews the observational and theoretical aspects related to the detection and confirmation of transiting circumbinary planets around main-sequence binaries from space-based surveys, discusses the associated challenges, and highlights some of the recent results.

The rise in the standard of living, worldwide growing population and development plans will result in an increase in energy and growing water consumption. For this, we have to install more Nuclear Cogeneration Plant (NCP) or utilized the already installed NCP flexibly and more efficiently within the area of cogeneration applications having power and heat demands of varying nature such as in District heating systems, for seawater or cleaner desalination. The purpose of this study is to discuss how to manage varying energy demands and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A thermal heat storage system is included in the NCP for this reason, assisting in the delivery of heat to the District heating system while also charging the NCP

The investigation of the magnetic activity of different types of variable stars holds significant implications for our understanding of the physical processes and evolution of stars. This study’s International Variable Star Index (VSX) variable star catalog was cross-matched with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data, resulting in 26,276 labeled targets from 76,187 light curves. A total of 25,327 stellar flare events were detected, including 245 eclipsing binaries, 2324 rotating stars, 111 pulsating stars, and 629 eruptive stars. The results showed that flares from eclipsing binaries, rotating stars, eruptive stars, and pulsating stars have durations such that 90% are less than 2 h, and 91% of their amplitudes are less than 0.3. Flare events mainly occurred in the temperature range of 2000 K to 3000 K. The power-law indices of different types of variable stars were 1.72±0.025 (eclipsing binaries), 1.82±0.062 (rotating stars), 1.80±0.0116 (eruptive stars), and 1.73±0.060 (pulsating stars). Among them, the flare energy of pulsating stars is more concentrated in the high-energy range. In all samples, flare energies were distributed from 3.99×1031 erg to 6.18×1038 erg. The LAMOST DR9 low-resolution spectral survey has provided Hα equivalent widths for 398 variable stars. By utilizing these Hα equivalent widths, we have determined the stellar activity of the variable stars and confirmed a positive correlation between the flare energy and Hα equivalent width.

Emotion recognition from speech has its fair share of applications and consequently extensive research has been done over the past few years in this interesting field. However, many of the existing solutions aren't yet ready for real time applications. In this work, we propose a compact representation of audio using conventional autoencoders for dimensionality reduction, and test the approach on two benchmark publicly available datasets. Such compact and simple classification systems where the computing cost is low and memory is managed efficiently may be more useful for real time application. System is evaluated on the Ryerson Audio-Visual Database of Emotional Speech and Song (RAVDESS) and the Toronto Emotional Speech Set (TESS). Three classifiers, namely, support vector machines (SVM), decision tree classifier, and convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been implemented to judge the impact of the approach. The results obtained by attempting classification with Alexnet and Resnet50 are also reported. Observations proved that this introduction of autoencoders indeed can improve the classification accuracy of the emotion in the input audio files. It can be concluded that in emotion recognition from speech, the choice and application of dimensionality reduction of audio features impacts the results that are achieved and therefore, by working on this aspect of the general speech emotion recognition model, it may be possible to make great improvements in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To perform translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) scoring system in Greek patients with lower extremity sarcoma. Methods: The Greek version of the MSTS for the lower extremity and TESS questionnaires was developed using previously reported methods. Included were 100 patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma who underwent limb salvage surgery. The test–retest reliability [interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between 2 different time points], internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), construct validity (Kaiser's criteria, Eigenvalue > 1 rule), and external validity (Short form-36, Spearman's Rho) were assessed. Results: The test–retest reliability (ICC was 0.99 for MSTS-LE and 1 for TESS) and internal consistency were high (Cronbach's alpha was 0.763 for MSTS-LE and 0.924 for TESS) for both questionnaires. Based on the Scree plot, the number of factors retained was 1 for MSTS-LE and 2 for TESS. The TESS showed a strong correlation with SF-36 (Spearman's rho = 0.714, p < 0.001), but the correlation between MSTS for lower extremity and SF-36 was weak (Spearman's Rho = 0.313, p = 0.002). Conclusions: The Greek version of both the MSTS for lower extremity and TESS questionnaire showed sufficient reliability, internal consistency and good performance using the loading factor analysis when used postoperatively in Greek patients who underwent surgical resection of lower extremity sarcoma. However, only the TESS showed strong correlation with the SF-36, indicating that MSTS for lower extremity was not as powerful for the evaluation of the global health status of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CoRoT was the first space mission dedicated to exoplanet detection. Operational between 2007 and 2012, this mission discovered 37 transiting planets, including CoRoT-7b, the first terrestrial exoplanet with a measured size. The precision of the published transit ephemeris of most of these planets has been limited by the relative short durations of the CoRoT pointings, which implied a danger that the transits will become unobservable within a few years due to the uncertainty of their future transit epochs. Ground-based follow-up observations of the majority of the CoRoT planets have been published in recent years. Between Dec. 2018 and Jan. 2021, the TESS mission in its sectors 6 and 33 re-observed those CoRoT fields that pointed towards the Galactic anti-center. These data permitted the identification of transits from nine of the CoRoT planets, and the derivation of precise new transit epochs. The main motivation of this study has been to derive precise new ephemerides of the CoRoT planets, in order to keep these planets’ transits observable for future generations of telescopes. The TESS data were analyzed for the presence of transits and the epochs of these re-observed transits were measured. The original CoRoT epochs, epochs from ground-based follow-up observations and those from TESS were collected. From these data, updated ephemerides are presented for nine transiting planets discovered by the CoRoT mission in its fields pointing towards the Galactic anti-center. In three cases (CoRoT-4b, 19b and 20b), transits that would have been lost for ground observations, due to the large uncertainty in the previous ephemeris, have been recovered. The updated ephemerides permit transit predictions with uncertainties of less than 30 min for observations at least until the year 2030. No significant transit timing variations were found in these systems.

There are numerous ways to estimate the true number of species in a community based on incomplete samples. Nonetheless, comparable approaches to estimate the number of species shared between two incompletely sampled communities are scarce. Here, we introduce the 'total expected species shared' (TESS) measure and provide the R function for its calculation. Based on parametric asymptotic models, TESS provides estimates of the true number of species shared between incompletely sampled communities based on abundance data. We compare TESS results with abundance‐based non‐parametric methods in terms of precision and accuracy, using different simulated sampling scenarios. We further calculate TESS using an empirical dataset, highlighting changes in accuracy and precision with increasing sample size. We also demonstrate how TESS values can be combined with species richness estimators in turnover estimates using traditional β‐diversity indices. Our results show that mean values of TESS reliably approximate the true shared species number for varying sample completeness scenarios, with both accuracy and precision increasing with increasing sample completeness. Overall, we demonstrate the viability of TESS in estimations of the true number of species shared between two incompletely sampled communities. We also stress the importance of a sufficient sample size for the accuracy of estimates – requiring sampling designs that carefully balance sampling effort per site with the number of sampling sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Objective: The preferred treatment for malignant bone and soft tissue tumors is limb salvage surgery; the Toronto extremity salvage score (TESS) is commonly used to measure physical functioning of the affected extremity. The aims of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the German version of the TESS, as well as to explore its convergent reliability, validity and re-test reliability. Study design: Patients (n = 50) 32 lower extremity (LE) and 18 upper extremity (UE) were asked to fill out the German TESS two times (t1: clinical visit, t2: regular email) and the SF-36 once. Methods: The TESS questionnaires were translated from English into German, back translated into English, and culturally adapted. The reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha (α). The validity was measured with the SF-36 physical component score and TESS using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (r). Furthermore, the test-retest reliability was calculated with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Internal consistency for both questionnaires was excellent (LE t1: α = 0.924, t2: α = 0.952; UE t1: α = 0.957, t2: α = 0.898). A statistically significant correlation was found between the SF-36 physical component scale and the German TESS (LE r = 0.741, UE r = 0.713). The ICC between baseline (t1) and re-test (t2) was 0.952 and 0.871 for the lower and upper extremities, respectively. Conclusion: Initial evidence demonstrated that the German TESS is a valid and reliable instrument for use with patients after surgical treatment of malignant bone or soft tissue sarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) is an international ground-based experiment dedicated in the measurement of the polarized fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background. It is based on bolometric interferometry, an original detection technique which combines the immunity to systematic effects of an interferometer with the sensitivity of low-temperature incoherent detectors. QUBIC will be deployed in Argentina, at the Alto Chorrillos mountain site near San Antonio de los Cobres, in the Salta Province. The QUBIC detection chain consists in 2048 NbSi transition edge sensors (TESs) cooled to 350 mK.The voltage-biased TESs are read out with time domain multiplexing based on Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices at 1 K and a novel SiGe application-specific integrated circuit at 60 K allowing to reach an unprecedented multiplexing factor equal to 128. The QUBIC experiment is currently being characterized in the laboratory with a reduced number of detectors before upgrading to the full instrument. I will present the last results of this characterization phase with a focus on the detectors and readout system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of feminist theory, this paper absorbs and inherits the existing research results, makes a deep interpretation of the two works, and makes a richer comparison and exploration of the tragic causes of Tess and Emily, which is conducive to a better understanding of the value of the works, revealing the significance of the works, and hoping to provide a new perspective to think for the study of their works and calling on the society to recognize the female subject status and self-identity, then to get rid of the shackles of traditional thoughts and to master the fate of themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) searches for Earth-size planets around nearby dwarf stars. To identify specific weak variations in the light curves of stars, sophisticated data processing methods and analysis of the light curve shapes should be developed and applied. We report some preliminary results of our project to find and identify minima in the light curves of stars collected by TESS and stored in the MAST (Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes) database. We developed Python code to process the short-cadence (2-min) TESS PDCSAP (Pre-search Data Conditioning Simple Aperture Photometry) light curves. Our code allows us to create test samples to apply machine learning methods to classify minima in the light curves taking into account their morphological signatures. Our approach will be used to find and analyze some sporadic events in the observed light curves originating from transits of comet-like bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asteroseismic methods offer a means to investigate stellar activity and activity cycles as well as to identify those properties of stars which are crucial for the operation of stellar dynamos. With data from CoRoT and Kepler, signatures of magnetic activity have been found in the seismic properties of a few dozen stars. Now, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission offers the possibility to expand this, so far, rather exclusive group of stars. This promises to deliver new insight into the parameters that govern stellar magnetic activity as a function of stellar mass, age, and rotation rate. We derive a new scaling relation for the amplitude of the activity-related acoustic (p-mode) frequency shifts that can be expected over a full stellar cycle. Building on a catalog of synthetic TESS time series, we use the shifts obtained from this relation and simulate the yield of detectable frequency shifts in an extended TESS mission. We find that, according to our scaling relation, we can expect to find significant p-mode frequency shifts for a couple hundred main-sequence and early subgiant stars and for a few thousand late subgiant and low-luminosity red giant stars.

Introduction: Achieving maximum functional outcome in primary malignant bone sarcoma surgery (PMBS) patients, is challenging for both patients and clinicians. This study, aimed to evaluate different factors that affect postoperative functional outcome of the primary malignant bone sarcoma patients following upper limb (UL) and lower limb (LL) salvage surgery using Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS). Methods: 136 PMBS adult patients were identified and were grouped as lower limb (LL) and upper limb (UL). Each group then sub-grouped to major and minor surgeries. Their functional outcome was compared using TESS by demographic variables(gender and age), neoadjuvant/adjuvant therapy and tumour variables (anatomical sites). In the UL groups, TESS was also compared for major and minor surgery subgroups based on their dominant or non-dominant limb. Results: The result of TESS has revealed that chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and gender have no effect on the functional outcome in PMBS patients. Functional outcome however was significantly affected by age in both LL and UL groups. The TESS was significantly different between major and minor subgroups in UL group with p= 0.0001. In patients with upper LSS on their dominant limb, no significant difference between major/ minor surgery subgroups was observed with p=0.077. Conclusion: Our findings using TESS revealed that factors such as patient's age, and type of surgery (major or minor) in PMBS patients will affect the patients' functional outcome after LSS especially in those PMBS patients with upper LSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Latest trends in shoulder replacement aim at bone stock preservation. Long-term results of stemless anatomical total shoulder implants compare favourably with stemmed designs in terms of function and survivorship. The Total Evolutive Shoulder System (TESS) has been one of the first designs offering a stemless implant not only for anatomical but also for reverse total shoulder arthroplasty with optional short stem attachment in cases with poor bone quality. The aim of the present study was to evaluate long-term results of the reverse Total Evolutive Shoulder System (TESS).Materials and Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, 49 shoulders in 47 patients were replaced using the Biomet reverse Total Evolutive Shoulder System (TESS). 29 shoulders in 27 patients who were aged 72.4 ± 6.7 (53-88) years were available for review at a mean follow-up of 101.6 ± 24.6 (75-142) months.Results: The implant survival rate was 93.1% at 101 months (8.4 years). The overall revision rate of the TESS implant was 17.2%. No implant associated complications to the reverse corolla implant could be observed. All reverse corolla implants showed solid fixation at follow-up. Scapular notching was found in 72.3% of the shoulders. Clinical scores significantly improved at long-term follow-up (VAS from 7.5 ± 1.2 to 1.4 ± 1.5, p < 0.001; quick-DASH from 70.9 ± 12.0 to 28.9 ± 22.9, p < 0.001 and Constant score from 13.0 ± 3.7 to 60.5 ± 16.8, p < 0.001).Conclusions: In terms of clinical scores, radiographic loosening, complication rates and implant survivorship the reverse Total Evolutive Shoulder System provides results comparable to those of conventional stemmed reverse shoulder arthroplasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective To investigate T 2 mapping as a possible marker for low-grade human articular cartilage lesions during a one-year follow-up, possible changes during the follow-up and compare the reliability and sensitivity of these measurements on high-field (3 T) and ultra-high-field (7 T) MRI scanners. Design Twenty-one patients with femoral, tibial and patellar cartilage defect in the knee joint participated in the study. The MRI protocol consisted of morphological, as well as three-dimensional triple-echo steady-state (3D-TESS) T 2 mapping sequences with similar parameters at 3T and 7T. Patients were scanned at five time-points up to 12 months. T 2 values were evaluated in the lesion and healthy-appearing regions for superficial and deep cartilage zone. The repeated ANOVA was used to determine differences in T 2 values at various time points. Results A significant decrease in T 2 values was observed between baseline and six months in the superficial layer of the lesion in patients at 3 T (decrease from 41.89 ± 9.3 ms to 31.21 ± 7.2 ms, which is a difference of −5.67 ± 2.2 ms (p = 0.031)), and at 12 months in the superficial layer of the lesion in patients at 3 T (decrease from 41.89 ± 9.3 ms to 35.28 ± 4.9 ms, which is a difference of −6.60 ± 4.4 ms (p = 0.044). No significant differences were recorded at 7 T. Conclusion The change in T 2 values acquired with 3 T 3D-TESS appears to be reflecting subtle changes of cartilage composition in the course of low-grade lesion development. 7 T T 2 mapping does not reflect these changes probably due to completely decayed short T 2 component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a major pest introduced to almost all main pome fruit production regions worldwide. This species was detected in Chile during the last decade of the 19th century, and now has a widespread distribution in all major apple-growing regions. We performed an analysis of the genetic variability and structure of codling moth populations in Chile using five microsatellite markers. We sampled the codling moth along the main distribution area in Chile on all its main host-plant species. Low genetic differentiation among the population samples (FST = 0.03) was found, with only slight isolation by distance. According to a Bayesian assignment test (TESS), a group of localities in the coastal mountain range from the Bío-Bío Region formed a distinct genetic cluster. Our results also suggest that the codling moth that invaded the southernmost locality (Aysén Region) had two origins from central Chile and another unknown source. We did not find significant genetic differentiation between codling moth samples from different host-plant species. Our results indicate high genetic exchange among codling moth populations between the different Chilean regions and host plants.