Management of recurrent rectal cancer:A population based study in greater Amsterdam

AIM： To analyze, retrospectively in a populationbased study, the management and survival of patients with recurrent rectal cancer initially treated with a macroscopically radical resection obtained with total mesorectal excision （TME）. METHODS： All rectal carcinomas diagnosed during 1998 to 2000 and initially treated with a macroscopically radical resection （632 patients） were selected from the Amsterdam Cancer Registry. For patients with recurrent disease, information on treatment of the recurrence was collected from the medical records. RESULTS： Local recurrence with or without clinically apparent distant dissemination occurred in 62 patients （10%）. Thirty-two patients had an isolated local recurrence. Ten of these 32 patients （31%） underwent radical re-resection and experienced the highest survival （three quarters survived for at least 3 years）. Eight patients （25%） underwent non-radical surgery （median survival 24 rno）, seven patients （22%） were treated with radio- and/or chemotherapy without surgery （median survival 15 mo） and seven patients （22%） only received best supportive care （median survival 5 too）. Distant dissemination occurred in 124 patients （20%） of whom 30 patients also had a local recurrence. The majority （54%） of these patients were treated with radio- and/or chemotherapy without surgery （median survival 15 mo）. Twenty-seven percent of these patients only received best supportive care （median survival 6 mo）, while 16% underwent surgery for their recurrence. Survival was best in the latter group （median survival 32 mo）. CONCLUSION： Although treatment options and survival are limited in case of recurrent rectal cancer after radical local resection obtained with TME, patients can benefit from additional treatment, especially if a radical resection is feasible.

Regulation Law of Turbine and Generator in Organic Rankine Cycle Power Generation Experimental System

In the performance experiment of organic Rankine cycle power generation experimental system, the loadresistance-regulation method is one of the most important regulation methods. However, the regulation law has not been clear enough to guide the experiment, which is unfavorable to the experimental research on organic Rankine cycle. In this paper the regulation law of turbine and generator by the load-resistance-regulation method is studied theoretically and experimentally. The results show that when the thermal cycle parameters keep constant, the turbine speed increases with the increase of load resistance and there is a maximum value of transmission-generator efficiency with the variation of the turbine speed; when the turbine speed and generator speed keep constant, the transmissiongenerator efficiency decreases and gradually tends to zero with the increase of load resistance.

Two-stage stochastic approach for spinning reserve allocation in dynamic economic dispatch

A novel approach was proposed to allocate spinning reserve for dynamic economic dispatch.The proposed approach set up a two-stage stochastic programming model to allocate reserve.The model was solved using a decomposed algorithm based on Benders' decomposition.The model and the algorithm were applied to a simple 3-node system and an actual 445-node system for verification,respectively.Test results show that the model can save 84.5 US $ cost for the testing three-node system,and the algorithm can solve the model for 445-node system within 5 min.The test results also illustrate that the proposed approach is efficient and suitable for large system calculation.

Application of chaotic modulation to AC motors for electro magnetic interference suppression

Instead of avoiding occurrence of chaos in motor drives, chaos is positively utilized in this paper. A new chaotic pulse width modulation （PWM） scheme is proposed and implemented for AC motors, which functions to significantly suppress harmonic peaks and hence acoustic noise. The key is to employ the Chua＇s circuit for generating a desired chaotic sequence. By using a practical induction motor, computer simulation and experimental results verify that the chaotic PWM has advantages of harmonic peak suppression and simple hardware implementation over the conventional PWM and random PWM.

Exploring the relationship of physical exercise situations, attitude and intensity with middle school students＇ shame

In order to explore the relationship between physical exercises and the feeling of shame, 1258 Shanghai middle school students are surveyed with the help of the middle school students＇ shame measurement scale with the combination of delaminating and random sampling. The results of questionnaire show that the feeling of shame is closely related with the scene of physical exercises, the extent students like physical exercises and the intensity they take exercises, which provide methodological support for the remission of the shame of middle school students with physical exercise.

Robust Design Method for Adjustable Mechanisms

Most conventional robust design methods assume design solutions are fixed values. Using these methods, designers set each control factor to a fixed value to maximize the robustness of objective characteristics. However, fluctuations in the objective characteristic often exceed the allowable range in a design problem. Consequently, it is difficult to obtain sufficient robustness using conventional methods. This research defines adjustable control factors whose values can be adjusted within a given range to increase robustness and proposes a method to calculate robustness, including factors to adjust the objective characteristic and derive optimum ranges of the factors. The robustness index, which indicates the feasibility that the objective characteristic values are within the tolerance by the adjustment, is calculated by the Monte Carlo method, while the range of adjustable control factors is optimized using the Vector evaluated particle swarm optimization. Finally, an engineering example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method.

Remedial Learning： A CALL Approach

Computer Assisted Language Learning （CALL） has been in use as a learner centered method since 1960. In this paper an attempt is made to evolve a Remedial Grammar （RG） which enables the teacher to develop a repertoire of remedial activities based on the errors identified following Error Analysis （EA） for repeated presentation. The error types are considered as teaching/learning points. The present paper argues that CALL is the right model for effective remedial learning. Remedial Gmaster （RGm）, an authoring package is introduced. This is an exclusive mode of error correction in which interlingual, intralingual, developmental, and global errors are dealt with. The syntactical problems due to the subtle difference between simple past and perfect tenses in English language use are discussed and CALL authoring package presented.

A new coordination method for multi-robot system

This paper proposes a new coordination method for multi-robot system.The state space for a multi-robot system is constructed according to the task requirements and system characteristics.Reachable statefor the system is constrained by the system s internal and external constraints,under which the task isexecutable if there exists a state transition trajectory from the initial to the goal state in its state space.Ifthe task is realizable,the feasible or the optimal strategy for task execution could then be investigated inthe state space.Otherwise,the task could be modified to be realizable via adjusting system s configura-tions and/or task constraints,which provides critical guidance for system reconstructions.This con-tributes to the designing and planning of the robotic tasks.Experiments of multi-robot formation movementare conducted to show the validity of the proposed method.

UNBOUNDED BATCH SCHEDULING WITH A COMMON DUE WINDOW ON A SINGLE MACHINE

The common due window scheduling problem with batching on a single machine is dealt with to minimize the total penalty of weighted earliness and tardiness. In this paper it is assumed that a job incurs no penalty as long as it is completed within the common due window. It is the first time for the due window scheduling to be extended to this situation so that jobs can be processed in batches. An unbounded version of batch scheduling is also considered. Hence, jobs, no matter how many there are, can be processed in a batch once the machine is free. For two cases that the location of due window is either a decision variable or a given parameter, polynomial algorithms are proposed based on several optimal properties.

Virtual design and analysis with multi-dimension coupling for engineering machinery cooling system

A good cooling circle should ensure that the system can work at an appropriate temperature in the requirements of power increase,engine compartment constraint and working demands for modern engineering machinery,which asks for a thorough understanding of system thermal loads before practical production.However,traditional experiment method spends a long time,costs a huge resource but lacks efficiency,whereas virtual design can avoid the shortcomings of traditional method and can analyze operating states adequately with variable loads on engine,generator,drives,battery pack and HVAC systems.Therefore,this paper focuses on a new virtual design method based on multi-dimension coupled simulation adopting Flowmaster software for initial prediction and CFX tool for further optimization.The simulation results in different operating conditions are compared and validated with experiments.Orthogonal experiment and range analysis are used to explore key parameters of cooling system.The research will be helpful in guiding future design and optimization of engineering machinery.

English Vocabulary Learning Strategy Use in a Chinese Key Middle School

This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 first year junior secondary school pupils （247 boys and 228 girls） were surveyed about their strategy use in learning English vocabulary. Sixteen pupils （8 boys and 8 girls） participated in paired semi-structured interviews about their experiences of learning English vocabulary. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on language learning, the inquiry established the interconnections between the participants＇ strategy use and beliefs and identified the roles that agency played in their vocabulary learning. The analysis of interview data further revealed that the participants＇ strategy use emerged from interaction between their agency and the mediation of contextual resources and social agents including parents and teachers. These findings suggest that it is important for language teachers to collaborate with social agents such as parents in their efforts to support young learners＇ strategic vocabulary learning.