A single pulmonary nodule resected at VATS was more likely to be malignant in patients with known cancer. Nodules larger than 1 cm but smaller than 3 cm resected at VATS were more likely to be malignant. Nodules smaller than 0.5 cm were more likely to be benign.

The performance of pointing systems mounted on top of a vehicle can be aVected by the bending vibrations as the vehicle runs on a bump course. In order to improve the pointing performance, the vibrations of the pointing structure should be suppressed. In this paper, a non-linear controller is designed to control the tip position of the pointing system while actively suppressing the vibrations. To cope with high-order dynamics and non-linearity of the plant and the hydraulic actuating system, a two-stage sliding mode controller is designed. The desired actuating pressure is obtained in the ®rst stage and then the input current to the hydraulic servo system is computed to generate the pressure. The simulation results show the eVectiveness of this scheme and the improvements obtained in pointing accuracy.

SID530 is a new parenteral formulation of docetaxel containing hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). In this study, a comparative pharmacokinetic study of 2 docetaxel parenteral solutions, SID530 and Taxotere, was carried out. In a crossover experimental design, 6 male cynomolgus monkeys received each formulation by intravenous infusion of a single dose. The concentration of docetaxel in whole blood and plasma was determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The 2 formulations showed similar pharmacokinetic parameters in both whole blood and plasma, and displayed comparable values for maximum serum concentration (Cmax), time to peak concentration (Tmax), and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC). The 90% confidence intervals for the ratios of Cmax and AUC values for SID530 to Taxotere were within the acceptable range of 0.80-1.20 in both plasma and whole blood. These findings indicate that SID530 and Taxotere are comparable in terms of their distribution in the blood and their plasma profile; consequently, these drugs are bioequivalent in the monkey.

The fluorescence EXAFS spectra, measured at a grazing incidence angle larger than the critical angle for total reflection, were examined to test a numerical conversion from the distorted fluorescence data to the 'true' absorption spectra, achieving a reliable transferability between the transmission and the fluorescence data. Under various entrance and exit angles, full numerical corrections were made in terms of the sample's selfabsorption, the measurement geometry, and the energy dependent efficiency function of the I,, ionization chamber detector. Particularly, a numerical code was developed for the x-ray fluorescence geometry configured without a scattering discrimination filter.For an illustration of glancing-angle fluorescence EXAFS spectra, we performed an in-situ measurement for the thick porous nickel specimens undergoing a heated-air surface oxidation process.Keywords: Grazing Incidence; Fluorescence EXAFS; Numerical Code. Description of Fluorescence EXAFS SignalIn the fluorescence EXAFS mode, the flux of incident x-ray at the monochromatic energy (EA is monitored by the front semitransparent ionization chamber (L,), and a combin~ition of fluorescence photon energy (EF) and the scattered radiation (EF