Light-weight and flexible Ni-doped CuO (Ni:CuO) thin films grown using the cost-effective SILAR method for future technological requests

Products based on nanostructured flexible thin films, which are anticipated to make their way into our lifetimes in the near future. Therefore, nanostructured metal-oxide thin-film materials grown on flexible substrates are anticipated to meet emerging technological requests. In this article, we present a promising light-weight and flexible thin-film material using un-doped and Ni-doped CuO samples. Ni:CuO flexible thin-film materials were fabricated by using the cost-effective SILAR method on cellulose acetate substrates and the effects of both Ni doping and bending on the change in electrical and optoelectronic performances were investigated. It is observed that Ni doping has a great impact on the main physical properties of flexible CuO samples. The optical bandgap value of the un-doped CuO film improves with increasing Ni ratio in the growth bath. Also, sheet resistance values of the un-doped and Ni:CuO samples are a little affected due to bending of samples for bending radius ~ 20 mm. These flexible all solution-processed nanostructured CuO samples are promising candidates for use in future optoelectronic applications

Promoter methylation analysis of CDH1 and p14ARF genes in patients with urothelial bladder cancer

BACKGROUND/AIM: Urothelial bladder cancer arises from the accumulation of multiple epigenetic and genetic changes. We aimed to investigate the specificity and sensitivity of gene-specific promoter methylation of CDH1 and p14ARF genes in the early diagnosis of bladder cancer and compare those with other diagnostic tests in our population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the current study, 65 patients with urothelial bladder cancer and 35 controls without any history of cancer were recruited. Methylation profiles of CDH1 and p14ARF genes from tumor and urine samples were determined by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction method. RESULTS: Methylation of CDH1 and p14ARF genes in tumor samples was 95.4% and 78.5%, respectively. The methylation frequencies were found to be 68.8% for CDH1 gene and 72.9% for p14ARF gene in urine samples. Sensitivities of CDH1, p14ARF and urine cytology were found to be 67.4%, 72.1% and 34.9%, respectively, while their specificities were 93.9%, 63.6% and 93.9%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Aberrant promoter methylation of CDH1 and p14ARF genes can be used to detect urothelial bladder cancer. In low-grade tumors, when compared with urine cytology, combined methylation analysis of CDH1 and p14ARF genes may not increase the sensitivity to identify malignant cells in urine samples

Turkish Accession and Defining the Boundaries of Nationalism and Supranationalism: Discourses in the European Commission

The European Union in general and the European Commission in particular are characterised by supranational governance. The enlargement policy gives the Commission the opportunity to export and promote supranational norms and define the boundaries of Europe as a supranational polity through the conditionality of membership and intensive contact with the candidate countries. This article analyses the discourses of the Commission on Turkey and gives us insights into how well Turkey fits the supranational model in the eyes of Commission officials. It demonstrates how the boundaries of supranationalism are set and even challenged by the prospects of Turkey’s accession

Effects of salicylic acid on wheat salt sensitivity

Salicylic acid (SA), a plant phenolic compound, is now considered as a hormone-like endogenous regulator, and there is a great interest to clarify its role in the defence mechanisms against biotic and abiotic stressors. In this study, investigations on the effects of foliar-applied SA on salt sensitivity, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation and activities of antioxidant enzymes like peroxidase (POX) and catalase (CAT) in plant tissues under salt stress was performed. SA treatment significantly increased the fresh and dry weights in both root and shoots of wheat plants under salt stress. Similarly, POX and CAT activities were also augmented by SA treatment. While the highest POX activity was recorded at SA+120 mM NaCl, CAT activity also exhibited an increase compared to salt treatment without SA. In parallel to increasing antioxidative activity, SA treatment decreased H2O2 content when compared to plants growing under salt stress without SA. The results revealed that salt-induced deleterious effect in wheat seedlings were significantly alleviated by the SA treatment. SA can be used as a signal molecule to investigate plant defense to abiotic stress. After the application of SA, increasing tolerance of wheat seedlings to salt stress may be related to increases in antioxidative enzyme activitiy.Key words: Wheat, salicylic acid, antioxidative enzyme activities, peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content

SIAM Data Mining Brings It to Annual Meeting

The Data Mining Activity Group is one of SIAM\u27s most vibrant and dynamic activity groups. To better share our enthusiasm for data mining with the broader SIAM community, our activity group organized six minisymposia at the 2016 Annual Meeting. These minisymposia included 48 talks organized by 11 SIAM members on - GraphBLAS (Aydın Buluç) - Algorithms and statistical methods for noisy network analysis (Sanjukta Bhowmick & Ben Miller) - Inferring networks from non-network data (Rajmonda Caceres, Ivan Brugere & Tanya Y. Berger-Wolf) - Visual analytics (Jordan Crouser) - Mining in graph data (Jennifer Webster, Mahantesh Halappanavar & Emilie Hogan) - Scientific computing and big data (Vijay Gadepally) These minisymposia were well received by the broader SIAM community, and below are some of the key highlights

The Oak Ridge Polycystic Kidney mouse: Modeling ciliopathies of mice and men

The Oak Ridge Polycystic Kidney (ORPK) mouse was described nearly 14 years ago as a model for human recessive polycystic kidney disease. The ORPK mouse arose through integration of a transgene into an intron of the Ift88 gene resulting in a hypomorphic allele (Ift88(Tg737Rpw)). The Ift88(Tg737Rp omega) mutation impairs intraflagellar transport (IFT), a process required for assembly of motile and immotile cilia. Historically, the primary immotile cilium was thought to have minimal importance for human health; however, a rapidly expanding number of human disorders have now been attributed to ciliary defects. Importantly, many of these phenotypes are present and can be analyzed using the ORPK mouse. In this review, we highlight the research conducted using the OPRK mouse and the phenotypes shared with human cilia disorders. Furthermore, we describe an additional follicular dysplasia phenotype in the ORPK mouse, which alongside the ectodermal dysplasias seen in human Ellis-van Creveld and Sensenbrenner's syndromes, suggests an unappreciated role for primary cilia in the skin and hair follicle

Capital Fixity and Mobility in Response to the 2008-09 Crisis: Variegated Neoliberalism in Mexico and Turkey

The article examines the 2008-9 crisis responses in Mexico and Turkey as examples of variegated neoliberalism. The simultaneous interests of corporations and banks relative to the national fixing of capital and their mobility in the form of global investment heavily influenced each state authority’s policy responses to the crisis at the expense of the interests of the poor, workers, and peasantry. Rather than pitching this as either evidence of persistent national differentiation or some Keynesian state resurgence, we argue from a historical materialist geographical framework that the responses of capital and state authorities in Mexico and Turkey actively constitute and reconstitute the global parameters of market regulatory design and neoliberal class rule through each state’s distinct domestic policy formation and crisis management processes. While differing in specific content the form of Mexico and Turkey’s state responses to the crisis ensured continuity in their foregoing neoliberal strategies of development and capital accumulation, most notably in the continued oppression of workers. That is, the prevailing strategy of accumulation continues to be variegated neoliberalism