To compare the intermediate-term outcomes and patient-reported outcomes of robotassisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) and radical external beam radiotherapy (RT) in Chinese patients with localised prostate cancer. Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with localised prostate cancer diagnosed between 2010 and 2011 and treated with either RALP or RT. Baseline patient and disease characteristics, posttreatment complications, and latest disease status were retrospectively collected from hospital records. For assessment of patient-reported outcomes, the Chinese version of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) questionnaire was completed by the patients. Results: Ninety three patients aged 58 to 84 years were recruited. Thirty patients were treated by RALP (32.3%), whereas 63 received RT (67.7%). The RALP group had significantly lower baseline prostatespecific antigen levels than the RT group (P<0.001). More patients who underwent RALP reported urinary incontinence (70.0% vs 3.2%, P<0.001), whereas more patients who underwent RT reported other voiding symptoms (87.3% vs 50.0%, P<0.001) and perirectal bleeding (36.5% vs 0%, P<0.001) during follow-up. Of the 85 patients who were still alive at the time of the study, 52 (61.2%) returned completed questionnaires. Patients who underwent RALP had poorer median (interquartile range)
The different performances of batteries can affect the reliability of primary battery packs, but the traditional reliability method does not consider this effect properly. In this paper, the universal generating function method is proposed and extended to analyse the reliability of primary battery packs, and a numerical example is illustrated. The results show that the reliability of primary battery packs estimated by the traditional reliability method is conservative, and the universal generating function method is very effective for analysing the reliability of primary battery packs.
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