Low Resistance Polycrystalline Diamond Thin Films Deposited by Hot Filament Chemical Vapour Deposition

Polycrystalline diamond thin films with outgrowing diamond (OGD) grains were deposited onto silicon wafers using a hydrocarbon gas (CH4) highly diluted with H2 at low pressure in a hot filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD) reactor with a range of gas flow rates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM showed polycrystalline diamond structure with a random orientation. Polycrystalline diamond films with various textures were grown and (111) facets were dominant with sharp grain boundaries. Outgrowth was observed in flowerish character at high gas flow rates. Isolated single crystals with little openings appeared at various stages at low gas flow rates. Thus, changing gas flow rates had a beneficial influence on the grain size, growth rate and electrical resistivity. CVD diamond films gave an excellent performance for medium film thickness with relatively low electrical resistivity and making them potentially useful in many industrial applications

Abdominal cystic echinococcosis in Bangladesh: a hospital-based study

Introduction: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is reported from nearly all geographic areas of Bangladesh, but little information is available on its epidemiologic and clinical features. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical manifestations of hepatic and abdominal CE cases presenting to tertiary referral hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted via chart reviews of hepatic and abdominal CE patients under care at tertiary referral hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between 2002 and 2011. Age, sex, education level, occupation, urban versus rural residence, drinking water source, history of dog ownership, cyst type and location, and clinical manifestations were recorded for all patients. Results: Of the 130 patients enrolled, 92 (70.8%) were female and 38 (29.2%) were male. The majority of patients were from rural (76.2%) rather than urban (23.8%) areas. All cases were from the northern part of the country, with no cases reported from the south or southeast. Most patients were between 21 and 40 years of age. A total of 119 patients (91.5%) had cysts only in the liver, with the remaining 8.5% having cysts in both the liver and lungs or in the abdominal cavity. Seventy-six (58.5%) of the hepatic cysts were stage CE1, indicating recent infection. Conclusions: Active transmission of Echinococcus granulosus appears to be occurring in Bangladesh, as indicated by the high number of CE1 hepatic cysts seen at tertiary care hospitals. Community ultrasound screening studies are warranted to better define the distribution of cases and risk factors for parasite transmission

An Accurate Definition of the Status of Inactive Hepatitis B Virus Carrier by a Combination of Biomarkers (FibroTest-ActiTest) and Viral Load

BACKGROUND: The combination of transaminases (ALT), biopsy, HBeAg and viral load have classically defined the inactive status of carriers of chronic hepatitis B. The use of FibroTest (FT) and ActiTest (AT), biomarkers of fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity, has been previously validated as alternatives to biopsy. We compared the 4-year prognostic value of combining FT-AT and viral load for a better definition of the inactive carrier status. METHODS AND FINDINGS: 1,300 consecutive CHB patients who had been prospectively followed since 2001 were pre-included. The main endpoint was the absence of liver-related complications, transplantation or death. We used the manufacturers' definitions of normal FT (< = 0.27), normal AT (< = 0.29) and 3 standard classes for viral load. The adjustment factors were age, sex, HBeAg, ethnic origin, alcohol consumption, HIV-Delta-HCV co-infections and treatment. RESULTS: 1,074 patients with baseline FT-AT and viral load were included: 41 years old, 47% African, 27% Asian, 26% Caucasian. At 4 years follow-up, 50 complications occurred (survival without complications 93.4%), 36 deaths occurred (survival 95.0%), including 27 related to HBV (survival 96.1%). The prognostic value of FT was higher than those of viral load or ALT when compared using area under the ROC curves [0.89 (95%CI 0.84-0.93) vs 0.64 (0.55-0.71) vs 0.53 (0.46-0.60) all P<0.001], survival curves and multivariate Cox model [regression coefficient 5.2 (3.5-6.9; P<0.001) vs 0.53 (0.15-0.92; P = 0.007) vs -0.001 (-0.003-0.000;P = 0.052)] respectively. A new definition of inactive carriers was proposed with an algorithm combining "zero" scores for FT-AT (F0 and A0) and viral load classes. This new algorithm provides a 100% negative predictive value for the prediction of liver related complications or death. Among the 275 patients with the classic definition of inactive carrier, 62 (23%) had fibrosis presumed with FT, and 3 died or had complications at 4 year. CONCLUSION: In patients with chronic hepatitis B, a combination of FibroTest-ActiTest and viral load testing accurately defined the prognosis and the inactive carrier status

Virologic and clinical characteristics of HBV genotypes/subgenotypes in 487 Chinese pediatric patients with CHB

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The association of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes/subgenotypes with clinical characteristics is increasingly recognized. However, the virologic and clinical features of HBV genotypes/subgenotypes in pediatric patients remain largely unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four hundred and eighty-seven pediatric inpatients with CHB were investigated, including 217 nucleos(t)ide analog-experienced patients. HBV genotypes/subgenotypes and reverse transcriptase (RT) mutations were determined by direct sequencing. The stage of fibrosis and degree of inflammatory activity were evaluated by the Metavir score system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 487 enrolled pediatric patients, HBV genotype C2 and B2 were the most two prevalent (73.7% and 21.1%). Comparing with HBV/B2 infected patients, no significant difference was observed in the incidence rate and mutant patterns of lamivudine- or adefovir-resistant mutations in HBV/C2 infected patients (<it>P </it>> 0.05). Importantly, we found that the degree of hepatic inflammation degree, fibrosis stage and ALT level were significantly higher in HBV/C2-infected HBeAg positive patients than it was in HBV/B2-infected ones.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The pediatric patients with HBV/C2 infection might be more susceptible to develop severe liver pathogenesis.</p

Photolumniscence/Fluorescence Spectroscopic Technique for Nanomaterials Characterizations

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