α-thalassaemia

Alpha-thalassaemia is inherited as an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by a microcytic hypochromic anaemia, and a clinical phenotype varying from almost asymptomatic to a lethal haemolytic anaemia

Analytic model for organic thin film transistors (OTFTs): effect of contact resistances application to the octithiophene

Thin film organic field-effect transistors were grown with vapor-deposited polycrystalline-octithiophene on silicon oxide insulating layers. This component requires an ohmic source and drain contacts for ideal operation. The performance of organic electronic-devices is often limited by injection. In many real situations, however and specifically in organic devices, the injection of charge carriers from metals into semiconductors is non-linear. This has an adverse impact on the performance of thin film transistors, and makes the analysis of electrical measurements a complex task because contact effects need to be disentangled from transistor properties. This paper deals with the effects of non-ohmic contacts on the modeling of organic transistors and gives specific rules on how to extract the real transistor parameters using only electrical measurements. Several methods are used in order to study the influence of the contact resistance on the performance of organic transistors. This influence appears especially on the current-voltage characteristics of organic field effect transistor. We present a first method used to extract the key parameters of OFET such as; mobility, threshold voltage and contact resistances using the fit of the transfer characteristic of the devices. The second method has been used to exploit the different functional dependences of current on gate voltage which is induced by the presence of contact resistances in the linear and in the saturation regimes. All electrical key parameters of OFETs based on octithiophene have been extracted and we demonstrate that both mobility and contact resistance depend on gate voltage and temperature

Rare thalassemic syndrome caused by interaction of Hb Questembert (alpha 1 codon 131, TCT > CCT, Ser > Pro) with an alpha-thalassemia-2 deletion: implications for diagnosis and management

Abnormal globin chain biosynthesis may result in deficient quantity (thalassemia) or structural variation (abnormal hemoglobins) and traditionally, they represent two phenotypically distinct groups of disorders. However, the phenotypic expression of unstable hemoglobin variants often combine features of thalassemia together with variable peripheral hemolysis. To achieve definitive diagnosis in a child presenting with hemolytic anemia along with features associated with thalassemia intermedia, we evaluated clinical, hematological, biochemical, globin biosynthetic and molecular data. Definitive diagnosis was achieved by DNA analysis which characterized the proband to be a compound heterozygote for a common alpha-thalassemia-2 deletion (3.7kb) and Rb Questembert (alpha131[H14] Ser>Pro) caused by a C>T mutation in codon 131 of the alpha1 globin gene in trans. The phenotype of thalassemia intermedia with marked dyserythropoiesis, found in patients inheriting alpha-thalassemia mutations along with unstable alpha-globin variants (i.e., alpha-thalassemic hemoglobinopathies), represents a distinct type of thalassemic syndrome. The proband in this study additionally had variable peripheral hemolysis, presumably related to characteristics of the unstable Hb Questembert. There is minimal experience for the management of such atypical cases and this case illustrates that it is probably insufficient to monitor clinical status in patients with such hemoglobinopathies based only on the levels of hemoglobin. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved