Residual stress relaxation and microstructure in ZnO thin films

Stability under normal environmental conditions over a long period of time is crucial for sustainable thin-film device performance. Pure ZnO films with thicknesses in the 140 - 450 nm range were deposited on amorphous glass microscope slides and (100)-oriented single crystal silicon wafers by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The depositions were performed at a starting temperature of 200 oC. ZnO films had a columnar microstructure strongly textured along the direction. XRD peak-shift analysis revealed that the films were under residual, compressive, in-plane stress of -5.46 GPa for the glass substrate and -6.69 GPa for the Si substrate. These residual stresses could be completely relaxed by thermal annealing in air. When left under normal environmental condition over an extended period of time the films failed under buckling leading to extensive cracking of the films. The XRD and SEM results indicated different mechanisms of stress relaxation that were favored in the ZnO thin films depending on the energy provided. Although thermal annealing eliminated residual stresses, serious micro-structural damage upon annealing was observed. Thermal annealing also led to preferential growth of some ZnO crystals in the films. This kind of behavior is believed to be indicative of stress-induced directional diffusion of ZnO. It appears that for the extended stability of the films, the stresses have to be eliminated during deposition

Influence of Reduced Folate Carrier and Aminoimidazole Carboxamide Ribonucleotide Transformylase gene polymorphisms on the efficacy of methotrexate in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

PubMe

Nasopharynx evaluation in children of unilateral cleft palate patients and normal with cone beam computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the morphological characteristics of the nasopharynx in unilateral Cleft lip/palate (CL/P) children and non-cleft children using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS: A retrospective study consisted of 54 patients, of which 27 patients were unilateral CL/P, remaining 27 patients have no CL/P. Eustachian tubes orifice (ET), Rosenmuller fossa (RF) depth, presence of pharyngeal bursa (PB), the distance of posterior nasal spine (PNS)-pharynx posterior wall were quantitatively evaluated. RESULTS: The main effect of the CL/P groups was found to be effective on RF depth-right (p < 0.001) and RF depth-left (p < 0.001). The interaction effect of gender and CL/P groups was not influential on measurements. The cleft-side main effect was found to be effective on RF depth-left (p < 0.001) and RF depth-right (p  =  0002). There was no statistically significant relationship between CL/P groups and the presence of bursa pharyngea. CONCLUSIONS: Because it is the most common site of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), the anatomy of the nasopharynx should be well known in the early diagnosis of NPC

Real-World Outcomes of Anti-VEGF Treatment for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Turkey: A Multicenter Retrospective Study, Bosphorus Retina Study Group Report No: 1

Objectives: To evaluate the real-world outcomes of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) patients. Materials and Methods: Multicenter, retrospective, interventional, non-comparative study. The records of nAMD patients treated with an anti-VEGF agent on a pro re nata treatment regimen basis between January 2013 and December 2015 were reviewed. The patients who completed a follow-up period of 12 months were included. Primary outcome measures of this study were the visit and injection numbers during the first year. Results: Eight hundred eighty eyes of 783 patients met the inclusion criteria for the study. Mean number of visits at month 12 was 6.9±2.5 (range: 1-15). Mean number of injections at month 12 was 4.1±1.9 (range: 1-11). Mean visual acuity at baseline and months 3, 6, and 12 was 0.90±0.63 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), 0.79±0.57 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), 0.76±0.57 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), and 0.79±0.59 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), respectively. Mean central retinal thickness at baseline and months 6 and 12 was 395±153 μm (range: 91-1582), 330±115 μm (range: 99-975), and 332±114 μm (range: 106-1191), respectively. Conclusion: The numbers of visits and injections were much lower than ideal and were insufficient with the pro re nata treatment regimen

New Mediterranean biodiversity records (October, 2014)

The Collective Article 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records' of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of alien and native species respectively. The new records of alien species include: the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (Crete and Lakonikos Gulf, Greece); the red alga Grateloupia turuturu (along the Israeli Mediterranean shore); the mantis shrimp Clorida albolitura (Gulf of Antalya, Turkey); the mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Ionian Sea); the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Chios Island, Greece); the isopod Paracerceis sculpta (northern Aegean Sea, Greece); the sea urchin Diadema setosum (Gökova Bay, Turkey); the molluscs Smaragdia souverbiana, Murex forskoehlii, Fusinus verrucosus, Circenita callipyga, and Aplysia dactylomela (Syria); the cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoea cyanomarginata (Baia di Puolo, Massa Lubrense, Campania, southern Italy); the topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Civitavecchia, Tyrrhenian Sea); the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (Plemmirio marine reserve, Sicily); the silver-cheeked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Saros Bay, Turkey; and Ibiza channel, Spain); the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus in Kastelorizo Island (Greece); and the foraminiferal Clavulina multicamerata (Saronikos Gulf, Greece). The record of L. sceleratus in Spain consists the deepest (350-400m depth) record of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. The new records of native species include: first record of the ctenophore Cestum veneris in Turkish marine waters; the presence of Holothuria tubulosa and Holothuria polii in the Bay of Igoumenitsa (Greece); the first recorded sighting of the bull ray Pteromylaeus bovinus in Maltese waters; and a new record of the fish Lobotes surinamensis from Maliakos Gulf.peer-reviewe

First-line treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer

Fluoropyrimidine+cisplatin/oxaliplatin+trastuzumab therapy is recommended for the first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. However, there is no comprehensive study on which platinum-based treatment should be preferred. This study aimed to compare the treatment response and survival characteristics of patients with HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer who received fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin (mFOLFOX)+trastuzumab or cisplatin and fluorouracil (CF)+trastuzumab as first-line therapy. It was a multicenter, retrospective study of the Turkish Oncology Group, which included 243 patients from 21 oncology centers. There were 113 patients in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm and 130 patients in the CF+trastuzumab arm. The median age was 62 years in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm and 61 years in the CF+trastuzumab arm (P = 0.495). 81.4% of patients in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm and 83.1% in the CF+trastuzumab arm had gastric tumor localization (P = 0.735). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly higher in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm (9.4 months vs. 7.3 months, P = 0.024). The median overall survival (OS) was similar in both groups (18.4 months vs. 15.1 months, P = 0.640). Maintenance trastuzumab was continued after chemotherapy in 101 patients. In this subgroup, the median OS was 23.3 months and the median PFS was 13.3 months. In conclusion, mFOLFOX+trastuzumab is similar to CF+trastuzumab in terms of the median OS, but it is more effective in terms of the median PFS in the first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic gastric and GEJ cancer. The choice of treatment should be made by considering the prominent toxicity findings of the chemotherapy regimens

Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains.Peer reviewe

The Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Genotypes in Women with Abnormal Cervical Cytology

Giriş: Human papillomavirüs (HPV) servikal kanserin majör sebebidir. Servikal kanser kadınlar arasında dünya genelinde ikinci en sık görülen kanser olmakla birlikte, gelişmekte olan ülkelerde kansere bağlı ölümlerin önemli etkenlerinden biridir. Dünyada her yıl yaklaşık 500.000 yeni servikal kanser tanımlanmakta ve bunların yarısına yakınının ölümle sonuçlandığı tahmin edilmektedir. Servikal kanser taramasında yüksek riskli HPV DNA testi ve sitolojik tarama testinin birlikte kullanılmasıyla servikal prekanseröz lezyonların erken tanısı ve tedavisi sonucu servikal kanser büyük oranda önlenebilir bir hastalıktır. Servikal kansere karşı primer koruma sağlayan profilaktik HPV aşılarının 2006 yılından itibaren uygulanmaya başlanmasıyla servikal kanser sıklığı ve mortalitenin azalması amaçlanmıştır. HPV aşısının, yüksek risk (HR) HPV tiplerine karşı immünite gelişmesini sağlayarak prekanseröz lezyonlara karşı korunmada etkin olduğu ispatlanmış ve bu aşı birçok ülkede rutin aşı programına dahil edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, anormal servikal sitolojili kadınlarda gerçek zamanlı polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu (PCR) testi kullanılarak HPV prevalansı ve genotiplerinin tespiti amaçlanmıştır. Materyal ve Metod: Çalışmaya, 2015-2017 yılları arasında Çukurova Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Kadın Hastalıkları ve Doğum Polikliniğine başvuran yaşları 30-65 yıl arasında değişen, HPV taraması yapılan, 53’ü anormal servikal sitolojili ve 262’si normal servikal sitolojili toplam 315 kadına ait servikal sürüntü örneği dahil edilmiştir. Servikal sürüntü örneklerden HPV genotiplemesi HPV Genotipleme Testi Bosphore HPV Genotyping High Risk Kit v1 (Anatolia Geneworks, Turkey) kullanılarak gerçek zamanlı PCR testiyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular: Anormal sitolojili 53 kadında HPV infeksiyonunun prevalansı %69.8 (n= 37), kontrol grubunda ise %39.7 (n= 104) idi. Anormal sitolojili HPV pozitif 37 kadında en baskın HPV genotipi HPV 16 (%45.9) olup bunu HPV 56 (%18.9), HPV 18 (%16.2), HPV 52 (%13.5), HPV 68 (%13.5), HPV 33 (%10.8), HPV 35 (%10.8), HPV 58 (%10.8), HPV 51 (%8.1), HPV 39 (%5.4), HPV 45 (%5.4) ve HPV 66 (%5.4) izlemiştir. Kontrol grubunda HPV pozitif 104 kadın arasında en yaygın genotiplerin HPV 16 (%52.9), HPV 18 (%27.9), HPV 45 (%13.5), HPV 56 (%13.5), HPV 68 (%12.5) ve HPV 52 (%8.7) olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç: Servikal prekanseröz lezyonu olan kadınlarda en baskın genotip HPV 16 olup servikal kanser için risk altındaki kadınların tespitinde onkojenik HPV genotiplerinin tanısı gereklidirIntroduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the major cause of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in the world among women and is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in developing countries. Approximately 500.000 new cervical cancers are identified each year in the world, and close to half of them are estimated to have resulted in death. Cervical cancer is largely a preventable disease by early detection and treatment of cervical precancerous lesions with the combined use of high risk (HR) HPV DNA testing and cervical cytology test in cervical cancer screening. Prophylactic human papillomavirus vaccines, which provide primary protection against cervical cancer, have been started to be applied since 2006 with the aim of decreasing the incidence of cervical cancer and mortality. HPV vaccine has been proven to be effective in protecting against precancerous lesions by providing immunity against high risk (HR) HPV types and has been included in the routine vaccination program in many countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotypes of HPV using real-time PCR test in women with abnormal cervical cytology. Materials and Methods: Between 2015-2017, a total of 315 women aged between 30 and 65 years were screened for HPV in the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University. Out of the 315 female cervical swabs, a total of 53 had abnormal cervical cytology and 262 had normal cervical cytology. HPV genotyping from cervical swab samples was performed by realtime PCR using Bosphore HPV Genotyping High Risk Kit v1 (Anatolia Geneworks, Turkey). Results: The prevalence of HPV infection in 53 women with abnormal cytology was 69.8% (n= 37) and 39.7% (n= 104) in the control group. The most prevalent HPV genotype among 37 HPV-positive women with abnormal cytology was HPV 16 (45.9%), followed by HPV 56 (18.9%), HPV 18 (16.2%) HPV 52 (13.5%), HPV 68 (13.5%), HPV33 (10.8%), HPV35 (10.8%), HPV 58 (10.8%), HPV 51(8.1%), HPV 39 (5.4%), HPV 45 (5.4%), and HPV 66 (5.4%). Among HPV-positive 104 women as the control group, the most common genotypes were HPV 16 (52.9%), HPV 18 (27.9%), HPV 45 (13.5%), HPV 56 (13.5%), HPV 68 (12.5%,) and HPV 52 (8.7%). Conclusion: The most common genotype was HPV 16 in women with cervical precancerous lesions, and the diagnosis of oncogenic HPV genotypes is necessary to identify women at risk for cervical cancer

Self induced crystallinity in RF magnetron sputtered ZnO thin films

ZnO films were coated on the order of micrometer thickness on various substrates using RF magnetron sputtering. Glass, mica and Si were used as amorphous and crystalline substrates to study film growth. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed a self-induced, (002) oriented texture on all substrates. Effects of residual stresses on growth behavior and possible mechanisms of textured crystallization on crystalline and amorphous substrates are discussed