Aim Sarcopenia is a robust prognostic indicator of outcomes after surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, there are no serum markers routinely available for estimating skeletal muscle mass (SMM). The present study aimed to describe a new sarcopenia index (SI), serum creatinine (Scr) 9 cystatin C-based glomerular filtration rate, and investigate its association with shortterm complications after curative resection of CRC.Method Consecutive patients who underwent curative resection of CRC from December 2011 to January 2017 were retrospectively identified. Skeletal muscle cross-sectional area was analysed on L3 computed tomographic images. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the cutoff points of SI for sarcopenia were below 56.1 in men and below 43.7 in women. Patients were classified into low and high SI groups in accordance with these cutoff values. The association between SI and body composition and the impact of preoperative SI on postoperative outcomes were analysed.Results Among 417 patients, SI showed a stronger correlation with skeletal muscle area (SMA) (r = 0.537, P < 0.001) than with the Scr/cystatin C ratio (r = 0.469, P < 0.001) and Scr (r = 0.447, P < 0.001). The low SI group had a lower SMA, lower preoperative haemoglobin, a higher prevalence of sarcopenia and experienced more postoperative complications compared with the high SI group (all P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors for overall complications were low preoperative haemoglobin, low SI, sarcopenia and American Society of Anesthesiologists grade ≥ 3.Conclusion This new SI is a simple and useful surrogate marker for estimating SMM, and is associated with outcomes after CRC surgery.What does this paper add to the literature? We describe a novel, simple approach with which to diagnose sarcopenia. The new sarcopenia index (SI), serum creatinine 9 cystatin C-based glomerular filtration rate, is closely associated with skeletal muscle mass. A low SI is an independent risk factor for postoperative complications after curative resection of colorectal cancer.

A system based on phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) is proposed for simultaneously strain and vibration sensing. The strain of fiber is detected by comparing the patterns of signal for different laser frequencies, and the vibration of fiber is detected simultaneously from the signals for any certain laser frequency. During the measurement, frequencies of the probe optical pulses are modulated sequentially in ascending or descending order. Using the signals generated by optical pulses with the same frequency, the vibration of fiber is detected with fast response speed; using that with different frequencies, the strain of fiber is detected with high resolution. In our experiment, a sensing system with 2 m spatial resolution, up to 1 kHz frequency measurement range and 10 n strain resolution is realized for a 9 km sensing fiber length. Index Terms-Distributed optical fiber sensor, phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry, strain measurement, vibration measurement

Hexagonal LuFeO3 has drawn a lot of research attention due to its contentious room-temperature multiferroicity. Due to the unstability of hexagonal phase in the bulk form, most experimental studies focused on LuFeO3 thin films which can be stabilized by strain using proper substrates. Here we report on the hexagonal phase stabilization, magnetism, and magnetoelectric coupling of bulk LuFeO3 by partial Sc-substitution of Lu. First, our first-principles calculations show that the hexagonal structure can be stabilized by partial Sc substitution, while the multiferroic properties including the noncollinear magnetic order and geometric ferroelectricity remain robustly unaffected. Therefore, Lu1-xScxFeO3 can act as a platform to check the multiferroicity of LuFeO3 and related materials in the bulk form.Second, the magnetic characterizations on bulk Lu1-xScxFeO3 demonstrate a magnetic anomaly (probable antiferromagnetic ordering) above room temperature,~425-445 K, followed by magnetic transitions in low temperatures (~167-172 K). In addition, a magnetoelectric response is observed in the low temperature region. Our study provides useful information on the multiferroic physics of hexagonal RFeO3 and related systems.PACS numbers: 75.85.+t, 71.15.Mb,

We demonstrate a high-power red-green-blue laser source based on the quasi-phase-matching and intermittent oscillating dual-wavelength laser technique. A cascaded LiTaO3 superlattice was used to achieve the generation of red light at 660 nm, green light at 532 nm, and blue light at 440 nm to obtain the output of red-green-blue laser light from a diode-side-pumped Q-switched intermittent oscillating dual-wavelength Nd:YAG laser. The average output power of red-green-blue of 1.01 W was achieved under the total fundamental power of 5.1 W, which corresponds to the conversion efficiency of 20%.