Long Term Functional and Esthetic Outcomes After Fibula Free Flap Reconstruction of the Mandible

Objectives: To report functional and esthetic outcomes, after fibula free flap (FFF) reconstruction of the mandible for oral cancer, assessed by physicians, non-clinicians and patients. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five long term survivors from oral cancer after FFF reconstruction were recalled for head and neck examination by surgeons and patient reported outcomes, using EORTC, QLQ C-30, H&N-35 and FACE-Q questionnaires. Results: Physicians reported 64% restoration of functionality compared to normal. Patients reported high scores on QLQ-C30, but lower scores on H&N-35. Esthetic scores were reported higher by clinicians than non-clinicians. The decline in function and appearance was attributed to loss of lower dentition, trismus, mal occlusion, xerostomia and tissue atrophy. Conclusion: To minimize the decline in function and appearance, immediate dental implants in FFF, better reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint, newer methods of radiotherapy to minimize xerostomia and oral exercises to prevent trismus should be considered

Excitation functions of 3He-particle-induced nuclear reactions on 103Rh: Experimental and theoretical investigations

Excitation functions for the 3He-induced reactions on 103Rh as alternative pathway for the production of the medically used 103Pd were studied by the stacked foil technique. Excitation functions of the 103Rh(3α, x) 103Pd, 103,104,104m,105Ag and 100,101,101m,102,102mRh reactions were determined up to 27 MeV by detecting only the characteristic γ-rays obtained from the decay of residual nuclei. The experimental results were compared with the theoretical ones obtained from the EMPIRE-3.2 code and ‎the TENDL nuclear data library. From the measured cross-section data integral production yields were calculated

Life after logging in tropical forests of Borneo: A meta-analysis

Selectively logged tropical forests retain high species richness and functional diversity, but species composition changes after logging, suggesting that some species are more vulnerable to logging than others. We did a meta-analysis to summarise the effect of logging on the abundance of individual bird and mammal species in tropical forests of Borneo, which have suffered some of the most intense selective logging in the tropics. We found that species classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘near-threatened’ are generally less abundant in logged tropical forests than those classified as ‘least concern’. However, the effect of logging within each IUCN category is variable, indicating that logging is not the only or main cause of decline in abundance. While our results show that closely related species responded similarly to logging, in birds there was significant variation between responses of some closely related species. Bigger species were significantly more susceptible to logging than smaller species in both birds and mammals. We also found that cavity-nesting birds suffered more from logging than did other species. Our results highlight the importance of identifying which factors lead individual species to flourish or suffer in logged tropical forests

Eotvos, an inertial instrument for testing the equivalence principle

A really inertial platform for highest sensitivity instruments needing to be absolutely free from any disturbances like drag and other forces in space is proposed for the case of an equivalence principle test with differential accelerometers. A spin-stable platform, inside a corotating outer spacecraft shielding it, constitutes the reference proof mass for a simple position servo system. Position measurements, as well as signal transmissions, are achieved optically. Power is supplied by microwave beams. The proposed ambient temperature EP-mission E¨otv¨os in an 800 km equatorial orbit would constitute a simple, very economic experiment. Limitations to the potentially very high precision are expected to be set by thermal disturbances

Step (satellite test of the equivalence principle)

STEP is one of a number of missions now being developed to take advantage of the quiet space environment to carry out very sensitive gravitational experiments. Using pairs of concentric free-falling proof-masses, STEP will be able to test the equivalence principle (EP) to a sensitivity at least five orders of magnitude better than currently achievable on ground. The EP is a founding principle of general relativity and STEP is the most sensitive experiment of this type planned so far, aiming at 1 part in 1018. 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR