Presence of an alien turtle accelerates hatching of common frog (Rana temporaria) tadpoles

The presence of a predator affects prey populations either by direct predation or by modifying various parts of their life history. We investigated whether the hatching time, developmental stage, and body size at hatching of common frog (Rana temporaria) embryos would be altered in the presence of a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) as a predator. The presence of a predator affected all factors examined. We found that in the absence of the slider, the embryos hatched in 12 days, while hatching was accelerated by two days when sliders were present. At the same time, the embryos hatched smaller and at a lower stage of development with the slider than without it. Our study extends the range of predators studied, including the effect on different phases of development of potential amphibian prey.

Significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in predicting the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in extremity osteosarcoma: a multicentre retrospective study

Background At present, no predictive factor has been validated for the early efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in osteosarcoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in predicting the response to NACT in extremity osteosarcoma. Methods Pathological complete response (pCR) was used to assess the efficacy of NACT. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the Youden index (sensitivity + specificity-1) were used to determine the optimal cut-off values of the NLR. Univariate and multivariate analyses using logistic regression models were conducted to confirm the independent factors affecting the efficacy of NACT. Results The optimal NLR cut-off value was 2.36 (sensitivity, 80.0%; specificity, 71.3%). Univariate analysis revealed that patients with a smaller tumour volume, lower stage, lower NLR and lower PLR were more likely to achieve pCR. Multivariate analyses confirmed that the NLR before treatment was an independent risk factor for pCR. Compared to patients with a high NLR, those with a low NLR showed a more than 2-fold higher likelihood of achieving pCR (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.36-5.17, p = 0.02). Conclusion The NLR is a novel and effective predictive factor for the response to NACT in extremity osteosarcoma patients. Patients with a higher NLR showed a lower percentage of pCR after NACT.

Effect of Flouride Varnish in Prevention of Dental Caries

Objective: To assess the effect of 5% sodium fluoride (NaF) varnish application in prevention of caries in mixed dentition rural Jamshoro school children over the course of 6 months. Methods: children with lower stage caries aged 7 to 10 years were included. Students were equally divided in two groups. In Group-A students, 5% fluoride varnish was applied. While in children of control group necessary instructions were given to the student about dietary control. After 3 months, varnish applied teeth on both group’s children were examined again and the rate of caries were documented by using DMFT. After 3 months fluoride varnish was applied to both groups using same method and same directives. Dental caries was examined using the DMFT score after six months of application of fluoride varnish in both groups. All the data was recorded in the proforma. Results: In this study total 108 children were studied, there was no significant difference according to age and brush frequency among both groups p-value 0.146 and 0.088 respectively. Most of the children were using brush among both groups. A starting of the trail mean of DMFT was 1.22+0.24 in group A and 1.39+0.56 in group B. After 3 months it was almost equal among both groups as, while on six months assessment DMFT was raised in control group in contrast to test group p-value 0.012 Conclusion: It was concluded there was significant preventive effect/impact of fluoride varnish on dental caries. DMFT was raised in control group during 6 months rather than test group. Keywords: Children, Dental caries, Fluoride varnish

Two-Stage Energy Management for Energy Storage System by Using Stochastic Model Predictive Control Approach

There is a growing tendency for industrial consumers to invest in both photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems (ESSs) to meet their electricity requirements. However, the uncertainty of load demand and PV output brings great challenges for ESS operation. In this paper, a stochastic model predictive control (MPC) approach-based energy management strategy for ESSs is proposed. A non-parametric probabilistic prediction method embedded in time series correlation is adopted to describe the uncertainty of load demand and PV output. Then, a two-stage energy management model is proposed aiming at minimizing the total operation cost. The upper stage can generate an hourly operation strategy for ESSs, while the lower stage focuses on a more detailed minute-level operation strategy. The hourly operation strategy is also used as a basis to guide the ESS operation in the lower stage. Besides, a chance constraint was introduced to achieve a win–win solution between PV power consumption and electricity tariff, while the terminal value constraint of the capacity of ESSs to better cope with the uncertainty beyond the prediction time window. Finally, the numerical results showed that the proposed method can achieve an effective ESS energy management strategy.

Pharmaceutical value chain: opportunities for outsourcing

Industry value chains take important place in the architecture of the global economy. In recent years, cross-border pharmaceutical value chains have been actively developing, the formation of which took place both through offshoring and outsourcing processes under the control of Big Pharma companies, which keep leading positions in the pharmaceutical markets. The study evaluates the possibilities of outsourcing, as well as identifies its features at various stages of the pharmaceutical chain. The multistage pharmaceutical chain, as well as its high degree of its modularity, have created favourable opportunities for outsourcing at every stage, from the lower stage of retail sales to the upper stage of RD. This is so-called bottom - up outsourcing. An increase in costs and a decrease in the efficiency of the entire pharmaceutical chain, caused by the complication of the development and production of drugs, led to a crisis in pharmaceutical innovation. Outsourcing allowed to partially solve arisen problems, increase the productivity of the chain and distribute financial risks, which has led to the emergence of contract organizations that have taken over the implementation of certain pharmaceutical services (contract development and manufacturing, sales, packaging, research organizations). The pharmaceutical RD market was one of the last to get involved in outsourcing processes, due to the fact, that Big Pharma, which manage outsourcing processes, on the one hand, strives to expand outsourcing in order to improve the efficiency of the pharmaceutical chain, and, on the other hand, are very wary of it, since they want to retain ownership and control over their key competencies, which in the case of outsourcing is not always possible.

Patterns of Post-Mastectomy Radiotherapy in Immediate Breast Reconstruction – Results from the iBRA-2 Cohort Study

PurposeLong-term data indicates that post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) is associated with improved overall survival in all node-positive breast cancer patients. Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) remains controversial in the context of planned PMRT, but rates of IBR are increasing. The aim of this study was to examine current practice of PMRT in patients undergoing mastectomy +/- IBR.MethodsData were collected from 2,526 patients enrolled in the iBRA-2 prospective cohort study undergoing mastectomy +/- IBR between 1st July and 31st December 2016, recruited consecutively at 71 centres across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and five international centres.ResultsOf a total of 2,590 breast procedures included in the analysis, 696 were implant-based, 105 pedicled flap and 230 free-flap reconstruction. 31.4% of implant-based, 34.3% of pedicled, and 32.5% of free-flap reconstructions were recommended for PMRT. PMRT recommendation by cancer stage was 21% for T1-2 N0, 65% for T1-2 N1, and 89% for Tany N2 and T3 Nany disease. On multivariate analysis, patients undergoing IBR were no less likely to be recommended for PMRT than patients having mastectomy only. However, patients in Northern Ireland/Ireland, the North of England, and Scotland were less likely to be recommended for PMRT.ConclusionAlthough IBR was more likely to be performed for lower stage cancers and younger patients with fewer co-morbidities, patients undergoing IBR were no less likely to be recommended for PMRT, irrespective of reconstruction technique. This study also highlighted regional variation in PMRT practice within the UK which merits further investigation.

ON THE STRATIGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LOW TERRACES OF THE SUZUN STRATA OF THE UPPER OB RIVER REGION

Studies of the end of the 20th century showed that there are no sediments of the glacial-dammed lakesea, as well as sediments of periglacial alluvium in sections of low terraces of the Upper Ob River region, known as the Suzun Strata. The lower stage of terraces is composed of alluvial sediments, and the upper one is epresented by subaerial complex, which includes both deluvium and aeolian deposits. The height of areas varies significantly and is predetermined by thickness of the subaerial complex in each particular area. Сonsequently, the geomorphological principle does not work when differentiating the Suzun Strata into heterochronous geological bodies of accumulative terraces above the flood-plain.

Survival in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: A Population-Based Analysis 1973-2015

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is the least common and most aggressive of the thyroid cancers. ATC typically represents less than 5% of all thyroid cancer diagnoses but represents up to 50% of thyroid cancer deaths. The rarity of ATC lends itself to study by population-based studies. Methods. The most recent 1973-2015 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was queried for patients with a diagnosis of ATC. Data on demographics, overall survival, surgical treatment, and staging were extracted. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank analysis was used to evaluate for univariate survival differences, and logistic regression analysis was used to conduct a multivariate analysis. Results. A total of 1642 patients were identified (1021 female, 621 male). The largest age group was 75-79 years old, with the majority of patients older than 60. Univariate analysis showed that age at diagnosis, AJCC overall stage, T, N, and M stage, and surgical treatment vs. nonsurgical treatment significantly affected overall survival. Conclusions. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is a rare and aggressive malignancy. It has a relatively dismal prognosis, but younger age, surgical treatment, and lower stage improve overall survival outcomes.

The five-year survival of gastric cancer patients with a focus on its prognostic factors

Introduction: Despite extensive advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer, it is still one of the most common causes of death worldwide. In addition to stage and recurrence, the degree of tumor differentiation affects the survival of patients. Objectives: The current study was conducted to investigate the prognostic factors and survival rate of patients with gastric cancer. Patients and Methods: The current prospective study was conducted on patients with gastric cancer from 2010 to 2017 in Imam Khomeini and Apadana hospitals in Ahvaz, Southwest of Iran. For each patient, curative (total or subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy) or palliative surgery (partial gastrectomy and gastrojejunostomy) were carried out based on clinical indications. Then Cox model was used to analyze factors affecting survival and the Kaplan-Meier test was also utilized to analyze the five-year survival of patients with SPSS version 21. Results: Around 154 patients with gastric cancer, including 101 males (65.6%), with a mean age of 62.21±13.76 years, were studied. The two- and five-year overall survival (OS) of patients were 57.7% and 28.5%, respectively (median OS=28 m). Lower stage, well-differentiated tumors, absence of metastasis, lack of recurrence, receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and curative surgery were significantly associated with greater OS (P<0.05). Conclusion: OS rate of patients with gastric cancer undergoing surgery, especially in the ones with high-grade tumors, metastasis and recurrence, is relatively low, hence careful implementation of screening programs should be considered as the most important preventive strategy.

Analysis Predictors of the Outcome of Adjuvant of Hormone Therapy on Estrogen Receptor-positive Breast Cancer in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: An existing study reported variation of the outcome of adjuvant hormone therapy on breast cancer. AIM: This study aimed to examine predictors of the hormone therapy to the outcome of recurrence-free survival (RFS) of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. METHODS: In this cohort study, we followed up 219 eligible breast cancer patients with ER+ who had hormone therapy in 2017–2018. Age of patients, cancer stage, and various histopathology parameters were collected from the medical records, then we followed up with the patients within 2 years (2019–2020) to assess the RFS outcome. Bivariate analysis was conducted to assess the association between the clinicopathology parameters with RFS outcome. Multivariate analysis with logistic regression was also performed to see the dominant predictor. Mediation path analysis was also performed to determine the estimated effect of a predictor on the level of RFS and to see the visualization of the association of predictors with RFS. RESULTS: Breast cancer RFS was 91.3% within 2 years of hormone therapy. The recurrent rate was only 8.7%, which most of them (68.4%) were local. There was no association of age, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status with RFS. Based on the molecular subtype, the RFS was better in luminal A (p = 0.045), and also better gradually in the lower stage (p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis shows that the cancer stage was the dominant predictor of the RFS outcome (p = 0.001) with OR = 4.271 (Exp[B] = 1.937–9.417). Mediation analysis also found that there was a positively associated molecular subtype with RFS through cancer stage mediation (r = 16.7%, p = 0.006) but no statistically significant association of age, LVI, PR, and HER2 status (p > 0.005). CONCLUSION: Cancer stage is the main predictor of RFS of hormone therapy outcome. Luminal A is most also likely to have a better outcome of RFS, especially mediated by the lower stage.