This paper investigates a method of reducing the vibration property of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) with dual three-phase windings, especially focusing on carrier harmonics. ...Electromagnetic excitation force on carrier harmonics, which makes carrier harmonic vibration, is formulated and the relationship of the carrier phase difference between the space and the time phase difference to cancel out the excitation force is calculated for dual three-phase winding PMSM. Then, the carrier phase-shift space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM), which makes any difference between the PWM carrier phase of the first and second windings, is applied to a 24-slot 20-pole PMSM. A test motor is manufactured and measured results reveal that the vibration and sound pressure can be approximately halved at around carrier harmonic and twice carrier harmonic when the carrier phase is π/2 radian compared to conventional in-phase carrier PWM.
Objective
This study was designed to estimate the clinical significance of the C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin ratio (CAR) for prediction of postoperative survival in patients with colorectal cancer ...(CRC).
Background
The Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), calculated from the serum levels of CRP and albumin, is well known to be a valuable inflammation-based prognostic system for several types of cancer. A recent study has demonstrated that the CAR is also useful for prediction of treatment outcome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methods
Uni- and multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazards model were performed to detect the clinical characteristics that were most closely associated with overall survival (OS). All recommended cutoff values were defined using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to compare OS curves between the two groups.
Results
A total of 627 patients who had undergone elective CRC surgery were enrolled. Multivariate analysis using the results of univariate analyses demonstrated that CAR (>0.038/≤0.038) was associated with OS (hazard ratio 2.596; 95 % confidence interval 1.603–4.204;
P
< 0.001) along with pathological differentiation (others/well or moderately), carcinoembryonic antigen level (>8.7/≤8.7, ng/ml), stage (III, IV/0, I, II), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (>2.9/≤2.9), and GPS (2/0, 1). Kaplan–Meier analysis and log rank test demonstrated a significant difference in OS curves between patients with low CAR (≤0.038) and those with high CAR (>0.038;
P
< 0.001).
Conclusions
CAR is as useful for predicting the postoperative survival of patients with CRC as previously reported inflammation-based prognostic systems, such as GPS and NLR.
Measuring the semantic similarity between words is an important component in various tasks on the web such as relation extraction, community mining, document clustering, and automatic metadata ...extraction. Despite the usefulness of semantic similarity measures in these applications, accurately measuring semantic similarity between two words (or entities) remains a challenging task. We propose an empirical method to estimate semantic similarity using page counts and text snippets retrieved from a web search engine for two words. Specifically, we define various word co-occurrence measures using page counts and integrate those with lexical patterns extracted from text snippets. To identify the numerous semantic relations that exist between two given words, we propose a novel pattern extraction algorithm and a pattern clustering algorithm. The optimal combination of page counts-based co-occurrence measures and lexical pattern clusters is learned using support vector machines. The proposed method outperforms various baselines and previously proposed web-based semantic similarity measures on three benchmark data sets showing a high correlation with human ratings. Moreover, the proposed method significantly improves the accuracy in a community mining task.
Recent studies have revealed that the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), an inflammation-based prognostic score that includes only C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin, is a useful tool for ...predicting postoperative outcome in cancer patients. However, few studies have investigated the mGPS in patients undergoing chemotherapy for far-advanced or recurrent unresectable colorectal cancer (AR-UCRC).
To demonstrate the influence of the mGPS for prognostication of patients undergoing chemotherapy for AR-UCRC.
The mGPS was calculated as follows: patients with an elevated level of CRP (>1.0 mg/dL) were allocated a mGPS of 1 or 2 depending on the absence or presence of hypoalbuminemia (<3.5 g/dL) and patients showing no elevated level of CRP (< or =1.0 mg/dL) were allocated a mGPS of 0. Prognostic significance was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier, univariate, and multivariate analyses.
One hundred twelve patients who had undergone chemotherapy for AR-UCRC with regimens such as FOLFIRI (5-fluorouracil/l-leucovorin/irinotecan hydrochloride) or FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil/oxialiplatin) were evaluated retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test revealed that mGPS 2 predicted a higher risk of mortality than mGPS 0 or 1 (P < 0.0001). Univariate analyses revealed that the neutrophil ratio (P = 0.0411), CA 19-9 (P = 0.0473), CRP (P = 0.0477), albumin (P = 0.0043), and mGPS (0, 1/2) (P < 0.0001) were associated with mortality. Multivariate analyses using these 5 factors revealed that only mGPS (0, 1/2) (odds ratio: 6.071; 95% CI: 1.625-22.68; P = 0.0073) was an independent risk factor of mortality.
mGPS is an important and independent predictor of mortality in patients undergoing chemotherapy for AR-UCRC.
Background & Aims Outcome prediction is uniquely different in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as the progressive functional impairment of the liver impacts patient survival independently of tumour ...stage. As chronic inflammation is associated with the pathogenesis of HCC, we explored the prognostic impact of a panel of inflammatory based scores, including the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), in independent cohorts. Methods Inflammatory markers, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) and Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) scores were studied in a training set of 112 patients with predominantly unresectable HCC (75%). Independent predictors of survival identified in multivariate analysis were validated in an independent cohort of 466 patients with an overall lower tumour burden (BCLC-A, 56%). Results In both training and validation sets, mGPS and CLIP scores emerged as independent predictors of overall survival. The predictive accuracy of the combined mGPS and CLIP score (c score 0.7, 95% CI 0.6–0.8) appeared superior to that of the CLIP score alone (c score 0.6, 95% CI 0.5–0.7). Conclusions Systemic inflammation as measured by the mGPS, independently predicts overall survival in HCC. We have validated a novel, easy to use inflammatory score that can be used to stratify individuals. These data enable formulation of a new prognostic system, the inflammation based index in HCC (IBI). Further validation of the IBI considering treatment allocation and survival is warranted in an independent patient cohort.
Purpose
Catarrhal appendicitis (CA) could be treated effectively with antibiotics in some patients because of the milder inflammation associated with this form of appendicitis. Although several ...trials have compared surgery with antibiotic therapy for acute appendicitis (AA), the indications for antibiotic therapy remain controversial.
Methods
The subjects of this study were 342 patients who underwent appendectomy at our hospital between January, 2000 and March, 2013. The patients were divided into two groups based on the severity of their appendicitis: Group A comprised patients with severe appendicitis and Group B comprised patients with CA. Statistical analyses were performed to assess the clinical features associated with CA.
Results
Multivariate analysis of the eight clinical features correlated with CA according to univariate analysis revealed that the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (
<
5/>5), age (
<
38/>38 years), fever (
<
38/>38 °C), white blood cell count (
<
11.5/>11.5 × 10
3
/mm
3
) and serum level of C-reactive protein (
<
110/>110 mg/L) were significantly associated with CA. The NLR (
<
5/>5) (OR 0.421; 95 % CI 0.218–0.811;
P
= 0.010) was the most useful predictor of CA, because the area under the ROC curve of NLR was the lowest of all these features.
Conclusion
The preoperative NLR in patients undergoing appendectomy is closely associated with CA.
Abstract Background Few studies have investigated the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods This study compared the prognostic value of the GPS and ...Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) score in patients undergoing surgery for HCC. Results A total of 398 patients were evaluated retrospectively. Kaplan–Meier analyses revealed that GPS ( P < .001) and CLIP score ( P < .001) were associated with overall survival. GPS could classify patients with low CLIP score (0 or 1) into 3 independent groups ( P < .001). Univariate analyses selected GPS ( P = .006) and CLIP score ( P = .002) as the predictive factors associated with overall survival. Multivariate analysis using these 2 scoring systems disclosed that both GPS ( P = .025) and CLIP score ( P = .010) were associated with overall survival. Conclusions GPS is not only an important predictor of overall survival after surgical treatment of HCC as well as CLIP score, but also is able to clearly divide patients with low CLIP score into 3 independent groups.
Purpose
Although surgical site infections (SSI) are a major postoperative complication of appendectomy, few studies have focused on the risk factors for SSI. In this study, we investigated the risk ...factors for SSI in patients who had undergone appendectomy.
Methods
Three hundred patients who had undergone open appendectomy were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of SSI. A statistical analysis was performed to assess the clinical features associated with SSI after appendectomy.
Results
A multivariate analysis using the results of univariate analyses revealed that the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level (≤65/>65, mg/l), length of the operation (≤80/>80, min) and pathology (catarrhal, phlegmonous/gangrenous) were associated with SSI. Among these three clinical features, only the CRP level was found to predict the risk of SSI prior to appendectomy (odds ratio 3.797; 95 % confidence intervals 1.305–11.04;
P
= 0.014).
Conclusion
Preoperative elevation of the serum CRP level (>65 mg/l) is a valuable predictor of SSI in patients undergoing appendectomy.
Purpose
The pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) is useful for stratifying outcomes in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. However, it is unclear whether preoperative PIV can predict the ...surgical outcomes of patients with stage I–III colorectal cancer who receive surgery.
Methods
The records of 758 patients with stage I–III colorectal cancer who received surgical treatment were retrospectively reviewed. The preoperative PIV was calculated as follows: (neutrophil count × platelet count × monocyte count)/lymphocyte count. The cut-off value was determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve for overall survival.
Results
The cut-off value of the preoperative PIV was 376. Five hundred sixty-eight patients (74.9%) had low values (≤ 376), and 190 (25.1%) had high values (> 376). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the PIV (> 376/ ≤ 376) (HR 2.485; 95% CI 1.552–3.981,
P
< 0.001) was significantly associated with overall survival, as well as age (> 60/ ≤ 60, years) (HR 1.988; 95% CI 1.038–3.807,
P
= 0.038), globulin-to-albumin ratio (> 0.83/ ≤ 0.83) (HR 2.013; 95% CI 1.231–3.290,
P
= 0.005) and postoperative complication (C–D grade III–V/0–II) (HR 1.991; 95% CI 1.154–3.438,
P
= 0.013). The Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test showed significant differences in overall survival between patients with stage I–III disease with high (> 376) and low (≤ 376) PIVs.
Conclusion
The preoperative PIV is useful for predicting surgical outcomes in patients with stage I–III colorectal cancer.
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