Vertical cavity surface emitting laser action of an all monolithic ZnO-based microcavity

We report on room temperature laser action of an all monolithic ZnO-based vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) under optical pumping. The VCSEL structure consists of a 2{\lambda} microcavity containing 8 ZnO/Zn(0.92)Mg(0.08)O quantum wells embedded in epitaxially grown Zn(0.92)Mg(0.08)O/Zn(0.65)Mg(0.35)O distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). As a prerequisite, design and growth of high reflectivity DBRs based on ZnO and (Zn,Mg)O for optical devices operating in the ultraviolet and blue-green spectral range are discussed.Comment: Copyright (2011) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 011101 (2011) and may be found at http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v98/i1/p011101_s

Assessment of Water Quality Parameters of Kpeshie Lagoon of Ghana

A study was carried out on the Kpeshi Lagoon to identify the chemical and physical characteristics of the water. A lot of industrial activities are carried out around the Lagoon and it is being gradually turned into a place of refuse damp. Standard methods were used for determining of chemical and physical characteristics of water samples. Trace metal ions were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The lagoon recorded mean pH and conductivity values of 6.32± 2.20 and 87.31 ms/cm±19.14 respectively. Nutrient and organic matter were found to be the most frequent cause of pollution of the lagoon with mean sulphate, nitrate and phosphate concentrations of 11852 mg/l±2915.08, 2905.71 mg/l±616.52 and 487.14 mg/l±257.02 respectively. Iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) recorded the highest concentration of 13.2 mg/l±3.47 and 13.6 mg/l± 4.29 respectively in water sample. Fish sample revealed calcium and potassium as having the highest concentration of 15709 mg/kg±75.35 and 5999.94 mg/kg±87.30 respectively with sodium and aluminum recording 3775.70 mg/kg± 24.80 and 708.47mg/kg ± 4.95 respectively. The results as compared to the WHO guidelines indicate that the Lagoon is highly contaminated.Keywords: Kpeshi lagoon, nutrients, trace metals

Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors as Predictors of Cardiovascular Events in the U.S. Astronaut Corps

Risk prediction equations from the Framingham Heart Study are commonly used to predict the absolute risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and coronary heart disease (CHD) related death. Predicting CHD-related events in the U.S. astronaut corps presents a monumental challenge, both because astronauts tend to live healthier lifestyles and because of the unique cardiovascular stressors associated with being trained for and participating in space flight. Traditional risk factors may not hold enough predictive power to provide a useful indicator of CHD risk in this unique population. It is important to be able to identify individuals who are at higher risk for CHD-related events so that appropriate preventive care can be provided. This is of special importance when planning long duration missions since the ability to provide advanced cardiac care and perform medical evacuation is limited. The medical regimen of the astronauts follows a strict set of clinical practice guidelines in an effort to ensure the best care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of the Framingham risk score (FRS), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein levels, blood pressure, and resting pulse as predictors of CHD-related death and MI in the astronaut corps, using Cox regression. Of these factors, only two, LDL and pulse at selection, were predictive of CHD events (HR(95% CI)=1.12 (1.00-1.25) and HR(95% CI)=1.70 (1.05-2.75) for every 5-unit increase in LDL and pulse, respectively). Since traditional CHD risk factors may lack the specificity to predict such outcomes in astronauts, the development of a new predictive model, using additional measures such as electron-beam computed tomography and carotid intima-media thickness ultrasound, is planned for the future

Erityisyyden merkitys minäkuvalle:erilaisuuden kokemuksia

Tiivistelmä. Erityisyys pohjaa yhteiskunnan arvojen ja sosiaalisten normien pohjalta määritettyyn ajatukseen normaalista ja poikkeavasta. Poikkeavuus on ilmiönä universaali, mutta ei ole olemassa universaalia tapaa olla poikkeava. Lääketieteen näkökulmasta erilaisuutta voidaan määritellä diagnoosien perusteella. Tässä tutkimuksessa erityisyys ja erilaisuus nousevat ulkoapäin määriteltyjen diagnoosien pohjalta. Minäkuva kuvaa yksilön käsitystä itsestään, vastaten kysymyksen ”millainen olen”. Miten ulkoapäin erilaiseksi määrittely kohtaa yksilön omissa kuvailuissa itsestään ja mikä merkitys saadulla diagnoosilla on tässä yhteydessä. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää, mikä merkitys ulkoapäin määritellyllä erityisyydellä on yksilön minäkuvan kehitykselle. Merkityksiä pyritään löytämään haastateltavien henkilökohtaisten erilaisuuden kokemusten kautta. Teoreettinen viitekehys tässä tutkimuksessa muodostuu erilaisuuden ja minäkuvan käsitteiden tarkastelusta. Tutkimus on toteutettu kvalitatiivisia eli laadullisia tutkimusmenetelmiä käyttäen. Aineistoa on lähestytty narratiivisen tutkimusotteen näkökulmasta painottaen henkilökohtaisia kokemuksia. Tämän laadullisen tutkimuksen aineisto on kerätty teemahaastattelun avulla viideltä eri tavoin diagnosoidulta aikuiselta tammikuun 2019 aikana. Haastateltavien diagnoosit ovat moninaisia ja he ovat iältään 22–45-vuotiaita. Tutkimuksen aineisto on analysoitu sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Tutkimustuloksissa oman erityisyyden merkitys itselle koettiin positiivisten, neutraalien ja negatiivisten kokemusten kautta. Erilaisuuden kokemuksia synnyttäviksi tekijöiksi määriteltiin koettu minä ja muut -asetelma, ulkoapäin saatu palaute sekä samaistumattomuus. Erilaisuuden kokemuksia ehkäiseviksi tekijöiksi nimettiin omien ja ympäristön ajatusmallien muutoksia sekä koulun toimintaympäristöön liittyviä kehitysehdotuksia. Tutkimuksessa omaa erityisyyttä ei nähty vahvuutena tai heikkoutena. Oman erilaisuuden koettiin olevan vaikuttavana tekijänä masennuksen puhkeamiseen sekä kykenemättömyyteen opiskella. Tulosten perusteella ei voida yleistää erityisyyden merkityksiä minäkuvalle. Tuloksista voidaan nostaa koulun merkittävyys erilaisuuden kokemusta mahdollistavaksi. Minä ja muut -asetelma kuvaa erilaisuuden sisäänrakennettua olemusta.How difference influences one self’s self-concept : experiences of being different. Abstract. Difference is a universal phenomenon but there is no universal way of being different. From medical point of view difference can be defined by diagnosis. In this study difference and special needs are defined from the outside by diagnosis. Individual forms an opinion about him-/herself through self-concept. Self-concept responds to the question “What am I like?”. How does the act of being defined different from the outside meets the individual’s way of describing him-/herself and what kind of a role does the given diagnosis have in this process? The main focus in this study is to find out what kind of relevance does difference defined form outside have for the development of self-concept. In this study relevancies are searched through individual’s personal experiences about being different. The theoretical framework of this study consists of observing the concepts of being different and self-concept. This study is a qualitative study. The data has been approached by their narrative aspect emphasizing personal experiences. The data of this study consists of five (5) interview. Interviewees are young adults aged form 22 to 45 years with different kind of diagnosis. The data has been collected during January 2019. The data has been analyzed with content analysis. The results of this study shows that individual’s own difference was seen through positive, neutral and negative experiences. Otherness, feedback from the others and un-identifying were experienced as factors that produce difference. Changes in the ways of thinking and in the school concept were named to be preventing factors for experiences of difference. In this study individual’s own difference was not seen as weaknesses or strengths. However individual’s own difference was found to be an active factor for depression and inability to study. Based on these results it can’t be generalized how difference influences one self’s self-concept. The results highlights the importance of school concept for producing and preventing the experiences of difference. The otherness that rose from being different from others describes the universal nature of difference

Transcriptomic characterization of the larval stage in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) by 454 pyrosequencing

Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) is a teleost belonging to the family Sparidae with a high economical relevance in the Mediterranean countries. Although genomic tools have been developed in this species in order to investigate its physiology at the molecular level and consequently its culture, genomic information on post-embryonic development is still scarce. In this study, we have investigated the transcriptome of a marine teleost during the larval stage (from hatching to 60 days after hatching) by the use of 454 pyrosequencing technology. We obtained a total of 68,289 assembled contigs, representing putative transcripts, belonging to 54,606 different clusters. Comparison against all S. aurata expressed sequenced tags (ESTs) from the NCBI database revealed that up to 34,722 contigs, belonging to about 61% of gene clusters, are sequences previously not described. Contigs were annotated through an iterative Blast pipeline by comparison against databases such as NCBI RefSeq from Danio rerio, SwissProt or NCBI teleost ESTs. Our results indicate that we have enriched the number of annotated sequences for this species by more than 50% compared with previously existing databases for the gilthead seabream. Gene Ontology analysis of these novel sequences revealed that there is a statistically significant number of transcripts with key roles in larval development, differentiation, morphology, and growth. Finally, all information has been made available online through user-friendly interfaces such as GBrowse and a Blast server with a graphical frontend

Survival and risk of adverse events in older patients receiving postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for resected stages II-IIIA lung cancer: observational cohort study

Objective To compare the survival and risk of serious adverse events in older patients with stages II-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer treated with or without postoperative platinum based chemotherapy

Komplex molekuláris genetikai vizsgálati algoritmus myeloproliferativ neoplasiák diagnosztikájában

Introduction: Mutations in Janus kinase 2, calreticulin and thrombopoietin receptor genes have been identified in the genetic background of Philadelphia chromosome negative, "classic" myeloproliferative neoplasms. Aim: The aim of the authors was to identify driver mutations in a large myeloproliferative cohort of 949 patients. Method: A complex array of molecular techniques (qualitative and quantitative allele-specific polymerase chain reactions, fragment analyzes, high resolution melting and Sanger sequencing) was applied. Results: All 354 patients with polycythemia vera carried Janus kinase 2 mutations (V617F 98.6%, exon 12: 1.4%). In essential thrombocythemia (n = 468), the frequency of V617F was 61.3% (n = 287), that of calreticulin 25.2% (n = 118), and that of thrombopoietin receptor mutations 2.1% (n = 10), while 11.3% (n = 53) were triple-negative. Similar distribution was observed in primary myelofibrosis (n = 127): 58.3% (n = 74) V617F, 23.6% (n = 30) calreticulin, 6.3% (n = 8) thrombopoietin receptor mutation positive and 11.8% (n = 15) triple-negative. Conclusions: The recent discovery of calreticulin gene mutations led to definite molecular diagnostics in around 90% of clonal myeloproliferative cases. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(52), 2074-2081

Jejunal Amyloidoma - a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding

We report a case of localized amyloid tumor of the jejunum which presented with abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding. We reviewed the pathophysiologic process that precipitates bleeding in this rare tumor. We also examined the documented radiologic and endoscopic features of amyloidosis of the small bowel in the light of our reported case. All with a view to add to the growing evidence on this rare tumor which will facilitate accurate diagnosis and management