Impact of musculoskeletal degradation on cancer outcomes and strategies for management in clinical practice

The prevalence of malnutrition in patients with cancer is one of the highest of all patient groups. Weight loss (WL) is a frequent manifestation of malnutrition in cancer and several large-scale studies have reported that involuntary WL affects 50–80% of patients with cancer, with the degree of WL dependent on tumour site, type and stage of disease. The study of body composition in oncology using computed tomography has unearthed the importance of both low muscle mass (sarcopenia) and low muscle attenuation as important prognostic indications of unfavourable outcomes including poorer tolerance to chemotherapy; significant deterioration in performance status and quality of life (QoL), poorer post-operative outcomes and shortened survival. While often hidden by excess fat and high BMI, muscle abnormalities are highly prevalent in patients with cancer (ranging from 10 to 90%). Early screening to identify individuals with sarcopenia and decreased muscle quality would allow for earlier multimodal interventions to attenuate adverse body compositional changes. Multimodal therapies (combining nutritional counselling, exercise and anti-inflammatory drugs) are currently the focus of randomised trials to examine if this approach can provide a sufficient stimulus to prevent or slow the cascade of tissue wasting and if this then impacts on outcomes in a positive manner. This review will focus on the aetiology of musculoskeletal degradation in cancer; the impact of sarcopenia on chemotherapy tolerance, post-operative complications, QoL and survival; and outline current strategies for attenuation of muscle loss in clinical practice

Developing and Diagnosing Climate Change Indicators of Regional Aerosol Optical Properties

Given the importance of aerosol particles to radiative transfer via aerosol-radiation interactions, a methodology for tracking and diagnosing causes of temporal changes in regional-scale aerosol populations is illustrated. The aerosol optical properties tracked include estimates of total columnar burden (aerosol optical depth, AOD), dominant size mode (ngstrm exponent, AE), and relative magnitude of radiation scattering versus absorption (single scattering albedo, SSA), along with metrics of the structure of the spatial field of these properties. Over well-defined regions of North America, there are generally negative temporal trends in mean and extreme AOD, and SSA. These are consistent with lower aerosol burdens and transition towards a relatively absorbing aerosol, driven primarily by declining sulfur dioxide emissions. Conversely, more remote regions are characterized by increasing mean and extreme AOD that is attributed to increased local wildfire emissions and long-range (transcontinental) transport. Regional and national reductions in anthropogenic emissions of aerosol precursors are leading to declining spatial autocorrelation in the aerosol fields and increased importance of local anthropogenic emissions in dictating aerosol burdens. However, synoptic types associated with high aerosol burdens are intensifying (becoming more warm and humid), and thus changes in synoptic meteorology may be offsetting aerosol burden reductions associated with emissions legislation

Laser Applications

Contains research objectives and reports on three research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DAAB07-71-C-0300U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Contract F44620-71-C-0051)Naval Air Systems Comman

Enterprise architecture driven design of an artefact to support strategic Information Technology decision-making of Small Enterprises in Nigeria and South Africa

Information Technology (IT) is inevitably influencing the way enterprises operate, compete, and grow. The contemporary disruption has not excluded small companies. Small enterprises play a significant role in the growth of every economy but are hindered by limited skills, time, and money. The attributes of small enterprises influence the strategic and day-to-day operations. Small enterprise owners are often the managers who make the strategic decisions in order to solve specific problems. The decision style of small enterprise owner-managers limits the leveraging of IT. To ensure the sustainability of small enterprises in a contemporary business ecosystem, it is pertinent to strategise IT investment decisions. Enterprise architecture is a well-known approach to business and IT alignment. This study aimsto discover and develop how the complex enterprise architecture principles can strategise the IT decisionmaking process in small enterprises with limited resources and informal structures. The pragmatic philosophic stance was the premise for understanding the decision challenges and the development of a roadmap to intervene the problems the researcher identified. The Vaishnavi and Kuechler design science research methodology guided this study. The qualitative research approach was employed to collect verbal data with eleven small enterprise ownermanagers to understand the processes and the challenges of making IT decision in small enterprises. A thematic analysis of the findings revealed that lack of formalisation, limited information, and lack of IT skill created a critical bottleneck of IT investment decisions in small enterprises. An enterprise architecture-driven framework was developed to overcome the bounded rationality approach to IT choices in small enterprises. The framework holistically assesses organisational business-IT capabilities, constraints, and criteria to guide the decisionmaker's choice. The characteristics of small enterprises limit the successful implementation of the enterprise architecture-driven framework as a theoretical guideline for making optimal IT decisions in small enterprises. This study further developed an online IT decision-assistive tool informed by the framework. The instantiation artefact was demonstrated with six small enterprise owners from Nigeria and South Africa. The findings affirmed the prospect, potential, and relevance of an enterprise architecture-driven artefact as a tool to optimise strategic IT decisions in small manufacturing, service, and retail enterprises. The artefact developed in this study provided a practical intervention to the challenges of IT investment decisions in small enterprises

Genesis Of The 1.45 Ga Kratz Spring Iron Oxide-Apatite Deposit Complex In Southeast Missouri, USA: Constraints From Oxide Mineral Chemistry

Seven major and numerous lesser Fe oxide occurrences within the 1.47 Ga St. Francois Mountains terrane in Missouri (USA) have previously been described as iron oxide-apatite (IOA) and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits. Researchers speculate that these contain significant amounts of critical minerals, most notably rare earth elements and cobalt. One of the less-studied deposits in the region is the 1.455 Ga Kratz Spring deposit. The deposit consists of two steeply dipping magnetite bodies beneath 450 m of sedimentary cover. The genesis of the Kratz Spring deposit and its relationship to nearby IOA-IOCG deposits remains poorly constrained. To better understand the formation of the Kratz Spring deposit, the authors integrated stratigraphic, petrographic, and bulk rock studies within situ trace element and Fe isotope chemistry of magnetite and hematite. These data show that the Kratz Spring deposit is hydrothermal in origin but is divided into two sub deposits according to different fluid sources and formation conditions: (1) a deep but cooler hydrothermal Kratz Spring South deposit with a juvenile fluid source and (2) a shallow but hotter magmatic-hydrothermal Kratz Spring North deposit with variable fluid sources. Our genetic model suggests the two Kratz Spring deposits are local expressions of the same mineralization system, i.e., the Kratz Spring South deposit is a distal, lower-temperature offshoot of the feeder system that formed the Kratz Spring North deposit. Understanding the magmatic-hydrothermal plumbing system that formed Missouri\u27s IOA-IOCG deposits is important to guiding critical mineral exploration efforts in the region

A Modified Surface on Titanium Deposited by a Blasting Process

Abstract : Hydroxyapatite (HA) coating of hard tissue implants is widely employed for its biocompatible and osteoconductive properties as well as its improved mechanical properties. Plasma technology is the principal deposition process for coating HA on bioactive metals for this application. However, thermal decomposition of HA can occur during the plasma deposition process, resulting in coating variability in terms of purity, uniformity and crystallinity, which can lead to implant failure caused by aseptic loosening. In this study, CoBlast™, a novel blasting process has been used to successfully modify a titanium (V) substrate with a HA treatment using a dopant/abrasive regime. The impact of a series of apatitic abrasives under the trade name MCD, was investigated to determine the effect of abrasive particle size on the surface properties of both microblast (abrasive only) and CoBlast (HA/abrasive) treatments. The resultant HA treated substrates were compared to substrates treated with abrasive only (microblasted) and an untreated Ti. The HA powder, apatitic abrasives and the treated substrates were characterized for chemical composition, coating coverage, crystallinity and topography including surface roughness. The results show that the surface roughness of the HA blasted modification was affected by the particle size of the apatitic abrasives used. The CoBlast process did not alter the chemistry of the crystalline HA during deposition. Cell proliferation on the HA surface was also assessed, which demonstrated enhanced osteo-viability compared to the microblast and blank Ti. This study demonstrates the ability of the CoBlast process to deposit HA coatings with a range of surface properties onto Ti substrates. The ability of the CoBlast technology to offer diversity in modifying surface topography offers exciting new prospects in tailoring the properties of medical devices for applications ranging from dental to orthopedic settings

Species interactions modulate the response of saltmarsh plants to flooding

Background and aims The vegetation that grows on coastal wetlands is important for ecosystem functioning, a role mediated by plant traits. These traits can be affected by environmental stressors and by the competitive environment the plant experiences. The relative importance of these influences on different traits is poorly understood and, despite theoretical expectations for how factors may interact, empirical data are conflicting. Our aims are to determine the effect of flooding, species composition and their interaction on plant functional traits, and assess the role of biodiversity and species composition in driving community-level responses to flooding. Methods We conducted a factorial glasshouse experiment assessing the effects of species composition (all combinations of three saltmarsh species, Aster tripolium, Plantagomaritima and Triglochin maritima) and flooding (immersion of roots) on a suite of functional traits. We also related biomass in mixed species pots to that expected from monocultures to assess how species interactions affect community-level biomass. Key results Species composition frequently interacted with flooding to influence functional traits and community level properties. However, there was also considerable intraspecific variability in traits within each treatment. Generally, effects of flooding were more pronounced for belowground than aboveground biomass, while composition affected aboveground biomass more than belowground biomass. We found both negative and positive interactions between species (indicated by differences in above and belowground biomass from expectations under monoculture), meaning that composition was an important determinate of community function. Conclusions While the effect of flooding alone on traits was relatively weak, it interacted with species composition to modify the response of both individual plants and communities. Our results suggest that responses to increased flooding will be complex and depend on neighbourhood species interactions. Furthermore, intraspecific trait variability is a potential resource that may dampen the effects of changes in flooding regime