Effect of Co-60 gamma-ray irradiation on electrical properties of Ti/Au/GaAs1-xNx Schottky diodes

Current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage-frequency (C-V-f) and conductance-voltage-frequency (G/ω-V-f) measurements at room temperature are used to study 50 kGy 60Co γ-ray electrical properties irradiation dependence of Ti/Au/GaAs1−xNx Schottky diodes with 0.2%; 0.4%; 0.8% and 1.2% nitrogen dilution. This γ-ray irradiation induces a permanent damage that has increased ideality factor and series resistance for all samples. It was accompanied by a decrease in Schottky barrier height with nitrogen content up to 0.4%N and remained constant thereafter. Radiation was also found to degrade the reverse leakage current. At high frequency (1 MHz), capacitance and conductance decreased after radiation due to a decrease in net doping concentration. Interface state density and series resistance were determined from C-V-f and G/ω-V-f characteristics using Hill-Coleman methods. Interface states density exponentially decreased with increasing frequency confirming the behavior of interface traps response to ac signal. Series resistance increases after irradiation is attributed to carrier's removal effect and mobility degradation. It has two peaks in the accumulation and inversion region for some diodes (0.4%N, 0.8%N). γ-ray irradiation produced traps levels and recombination centers that reduce relaxation time. An increase in %N content can impede irradiation damage with even some compensation when the percent of diluted nitrogen is high (1.2%N)

Cytologic findings in pap smears with Actinomyces-like organisms

Objective To detect whether there is a relationship between the presence of Actinomyces-like organisms (ALOs) and cytologic findings

Radiopharmaceutical Properties of Hydroxyapatite Smaller Than 50 Nm Produced From Eggshell and Labeled With Tc-99m and Its Biodistribution in Rabbits

[No Abstract Available

Dynamics of Competition on Openness Strategies and Software Maintenance

Software firms are increasingly adopting an open source strategy, allowing them to leverage the effort exerted by the open source community toward improving software quality. In addition to embracing a proprietary or fully open source strategy, several firms choose a partial openness strategy wherein only certain parts of the code are open source while the rest is proprietary. Specifically, when adopting a partial openness strategy, a firm may choose to make the core software code open source while keeping the extension software code proprietary or keep the core proprietary and make the extension open source. When making decisions related to different openness strategies, firms need to take into account the level of effort they are exerting toward the improvement of the quality of software, the level of engagement of the open source community, and pricing. Hence, the decisions related to a firm’s openness strategy are not straightforward. While this is an important question for many firms, it has not been analyzed in the literature. In this research, we attempt to fill this important gap by analyzing different openness strategies in the context of resource allocation for fixing defects. Specifically, using a game-theoretic model, we explore when a firm should make its software fully open source or partially open source and when it should keep it proprietary. Our results show that when the baseline demand for the firm increases with the extent of openness, the firm should either make its software fully open or keep it proprietary and, importantly, should not rely on partial openness. Next, in scenarios where customers are highly sensitive to security risks, the demand loss to efficiency gain ratio has an important role in determining a firm’s optimal openness strategies. These findings provide important insights to firms on how to effectively plan their openness strategies and also establish a basis for future research on the topic of partial openness

Growth parameter investigation of Al(0.25)Ga(0.75)N/GaN/AlN heterostructures with Hall effect measurements

WOS: 000258875200008Hall effect measurements on unintentionally doped Al(0.25)Ga(0.75)N/GaN/AlN heterostructures grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) were carried out as a function of temperature (20-300 K) and magnetic field (0-1.4 T). Magnetic-field-dependent Hall data are analyzed using the quantitative mobility spectrum analysis (QMSA) technique. The QMSA technique successfully separated electrons in the 2D electron gas (2DEG) at the Al(0.25)Ga(0.75)N/GaN interface from other 2D and 3D conduction mechanisms of the samples. 2DEG mobilities, carrier densities and conductivities of the investigated samples are compared at room temperature and low temperature (20 K). For a detailed investigation of the 2DEG-related growth parameters, the scattering analyses of the extracted 2DEG were carried out for all of the samples. Using the results of the scattering analyses, the relation between the growth and scattering parameters was investigated. Increments in the interface roughness (IFR) are reported with the increased GaN buffer growth temperatures. In addition, a linear relation between the deformation potential and interface roughness (IFR) scattering is pointed out for the investigated samples, which may lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of IFR scattering.State of Planning Organization of TurkeyTurkiye Cumhuriyeti Kalkinma Bakanligi [2001K120590]; TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [104E090, 105E066, 105A005]; Turkish Academy of SciencesTurkish Academy of SciencesThis work is supported by the State of Planning Organization of Turkey under Grant no. 2001K120590 and by TUBITAK under Project nos. 104E090, 105E066 and 105A005. One of the authors (Ekmel Ozbay) acknowledges partial support from the Turkish Academy of Sciences

AB1302 EVALUATING THE CLINICAL UTILITY OF PATIENT ACCEPTABLE SYMPTOM STATE IN PATIENTS WITH FAMILIAL MEDITERRANEAN FEVER

BackgroundFamilial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent attacks of fever, serositis, arthritis and erysipelas-like erythema. Patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) is a disease evaluation method to assess disease activity with a simple question especially in rheumatic diseases.ObjectivesWe aimed to investigate clinical utility of PASS in FMF patients.MethodsThe research involved 54 FMF patients. Patient acceptable symptom state was applied to all patients in the study. The answers to PASS were compared with the patients clinical and laboratory features.Results28 out of 54 patients (51.8%) were colchicine responsive whereas, 26 patients (48.2%) had colchicine resistant disease. The number of patients who answered yes to PASS (I’m happy with my current disease condition) was 32 (59%), while answered no (I need further treatment options) was 22 (41%). Considering the disease severity assessed with International severity scoring FMF (ISSF) of those who answered yes, 22 (68%) patients had mild disease, 10 patients had moderate (32%) disease, and there was no patient with severe disease in this group. Among those who answered no, 3 (14%) had mild disease, 14 (63%) had moderate disease, and 5 (23%) had severe disease (p &lt;0.001). When the CRP levels of the patients were compared, the median CRP value of those who answered yes was found to be 4.45 mg/L, and the median value of CRP for those who answered no was 11.25 mg/L (p= 0.04).Sensitivity and specificity of PASS for detecting patients in remission was 78% and 61% respectively. Moreover, PASS had a positive and negative predictive value of %68 and %72 respectively, for determining patients in remission. If cut off level of CRP was chosen as 6.5 mg/L for answering “yes” to PASS, sensitivity of test has been found to be 62.5% while the specificity is 59.1%. On the other hand, if cut off level of CRP is selected as 9.35 mg/L; sensitivity and specificity of the test was found as 75% and 72.7% respectively (p=0.045).ConclusionPatient acceptable symptom state is found beneficial in evulation these patients simply and swiftly especially in terms of distinguishing severe FMF disease. In FMF, laboratory remission is as important as clinical remission, therefore, PASS by alone, is not sufficient for making treatment decisions and should be supported by inflammatory markers.References[1]Ozdogan, H. and S. Ugurlu, Familial Mediterranean Fever. Presse Med, 2019. 48(1 Pt 2): p. e61-e76.[2]Lubrano, E., et al., Assessment of the Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS) in psoriatic arthritis: association with disease activity and quality of life indices. RMD Open, 2020. 6(1).[3]Salaffi, F., et al., Patient Acceptable Symptom State in Self-Report Questionnaires and Composite Clinical Disease Index for Assessing Rheumatoid Arthritis Activity: Identification of Cut-Off Points for Routine Care. Biomed Res Int, 2015. 2015: p. 930756.[4]Maksymowych, W.P., et al., Evaluation and validation of the patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Arthritis Rheum, 2007. 57(1): p. 133-9.AcknowledgementsNone of authors obtained any financial supportDisclosure of InterestsNone declared</jats:sec

AB1301 DETERMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERUM INTERLEUKIN 33 LEVELS AND CLINICAL FEATURES OF THE DISEASE IN PATIENTS WITH FAMILIAL MEDITERRANEAN FEVER

BackgroundFamilial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent fever, serositis, arthritis and erysipelas-like erythema caused by mutations over activating caspase-1. As Interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-33 is a nuclear cytokine from IL-1 family which is activated by caspase-1. IL-33 is known to take part in pathogenesis of several rheumatic diseases.ObjectivesThe aim of this research is determining the relationship between serum IL-33 levels and clinical features of the disease in patients with FMF disease.MethodsThe research involved 54 FMF patients and 29 healthy volunteers. Serum IL-33 levels were evaluated in both patients and healthy individuals, and its relationship between clinical and laboratory features of FMF.Results28 out of 54 patients (%51.8) had favorable response to colchicine while 26 patients (%48.2) had colchicine resistant disease. FMF patients had lower IL-33 levels compared to healthy control group (p= 0.06). There were no difference between colchicine responsive and resistant patients (p=0.12) and no association was found between clinical features and serum IL-33 levels. Additionally, IL-33 did not correlated with C-reactive protein and disease activity assessed by autoinflammatory disease activity index.ConclusionNo association was found between serum IL-33 levels and FMF disease features and laboratory findings. This may be due to the small size of our patient group, the involvement of IL-33 in tissue homeostasis as well as inflammation, and the use of higher doses of colchicine in the resistant disease group than in the remission group. Additional research is needed to determine IL-33’s role in FMF pathogenesis and its relationship with clinical and laboratory features.References[1]Ozdogan, H. and S. Ugurlu, Familial Mediterranean Fever. Presse Med, 2019. 48(1 Pt 2): p. e61-e76.[2]Cayrol, C. and J.P. Girard, Interleukin-33 (IL-33): A nuclear cytokine from the IL-1 family. Immunol Rev, 2018. 281(1): p. 154-168.[3]Duan, L., et al., The role of IL-33 in rheumatic diseases. Clin Dev Immunol, 2013. 2013: p. 924363.AcknowledgementsNone of the authors obtained any financial support.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared</jats:sec