Development of Low-Resistance Ohmic Contacts with Bilayer NiO/Al-Doped ZnO Thin Films to p-type GaN.

The fabrication of low-resistance and thermally stable Ohmic contacts is essential for the realization of reliable GaN power devices. In the particular case of p-type GaN, a thin Ni/Au bilayer is commonly used for Ohmic contacts. However, Au metal contacts are quite expensive, are incompatible with the complementary metal oxide-semiconductor foundries, and also have poor thermal stability.

Case Report and Literature Review of Giant Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma: What's Keeping Patients Away?

Giant cutaneous malignant melanoma (MM) is a term that has previously been used to define lesions that are at least 10 cm in diameter or 48 mm in thickness. Such tumours are rare. There is no substantial body of evidence considering why patients may delay presentation with MM until they reach this size.

Does 'Prison Napalm' work? Measuring the cooling temperature of sugar solution burns in a porcine model.

Non-accidental scalds sustained with sugar solution are potentially devastating and often associated with assaults within prisons where they are commonly known as 'Napalm' attacks. However, little is known about the mechanism behind such injuries. Proposed explanations have included a higher initial temperature, increased viscosity compared to water and lower emissivity, although these have yet to be demonstrated in any experimental model.

The first pelvic examination: A rite of passage for the women. A qualitative study about French women.

French general practitioners (GP) and gynaecologists can make use of recommendations when performing a patient's first pelvic examination. The indications and techniques for this examination are clear. The relational aspects and experience of the patients have been dealt with little.

Temporary Migration for Training: A Special Case.

Background: Against a background of globalization and medical migration, issues have been raised regarding training outside the clinician's own context.

Objective: There is a dearth of published literature on these issues and we aimed to explore these.

Methods: Taking Chang Gung Memorial Hospital fellowships in microfacial and craniofacial surgery as our case study, we developed an online survey to look at the circumstances leading junior doctors to seek specific, high-level training outside their country of intended practice and how effective this was for their future career, the service they provide, and their institutions.

Selective Fiber Degeneration in the Peripheral Nerve of a Patient With Severe Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is characterized by chronic debilitating pain disproportional to the inciting event and accompanied by motor, sensory, and autonomic disturbances. The pathophysiology of CRPS remains elusive. An exceptional case of severe CRPS leading to forearm amputation provided the opportunity to examine nerve histopathological features of the peripheral nerves.

Optical properties of functionalized nanodiamonds.

Detonation nanodiamonds exhibit strong nonlinear optical properties depending on their electronic properties. In the present paper, the nanodiamond functional groups are chemically modified to obtain nanodiamonds with primary amines on their surface. The optical properties of such nanodiamonds placed in water suspensions are studied and compared with the one of classical detonation nanodiamonds.

Propionibacterium avidum infection following breast reduction: high morbidity from a low-virulence pathogen.

Propionibacterium avidum is a common inhabitant of sebaceous glands, traditionally considered to be of low virulence and generally found on implanted foreign material. We report a rare case of P. avidum breast abscess, causing severe morbidity following breast reduction surgery.

Temporal variability of QT interval and changes in T wave morphology in dogs as markers of the clinical risk of drug-induced proarrhythmia.

Introduction: The aim of this experiment was to establish the usefulness of assessing temporal variability of the QT interval and changes in the T wave morphology in dogs as markers of pro-arrhythmic risk in humans. For this purpose, the electrocardiographic effects of astemizole and cisapride, two well known pro-arrhythmic drugs in humans, were assessed in dogs.

Methods: Astemizole was administered intravenously at single doses of 1 and 3 mg/kg whilst cisapride was administered orally at doses of 1.

Quantitative relationship between plasma potassium levels and QT interval in beagle dogs.

The aim of the current study was to establish the quantitative relationship between plasma potassium concentrations and the QT interval of the electrocardiogram in dogs. Furosemide, a potent diuretic, was given at increasing doses (5-60 mg/kg) to five male and five female beagle dogs. Electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded three times each day, simultaneous to blood sampling for measurement of plasma potassium.

Propofol decreases reperfusion-induced arrhythmias in a model of "border zone" between normal and ischemic-reperfused guinea pig myocardium.

Unlabelled: We examined the effect of propofol on the main mechanisms involved in ischemia/reperfusion-induced arrhythmias (i.e., spontaneous arrhythmias, conduction blocks, and dispersion of repolarization) in vitro.

Desflurane affords greater protection than halothane against focal cerebral ischaemia in the rat.

Background: We studied the potential neuroprotective effects of halothane and desflurane, compared with the awake state, on infarct size following 2 h of intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and 22 h of reperfusion.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anaesthetized with desflurane or halothane, intubated, and mechanically ventilated. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), blood gases, and pH were controlled.

Mechanisms of sevoflurane-induced myocardial preconditioning in isolated human right atria in vitro.

Background: The authors examined the role of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium channels and adenosine A(1) receptors in sevoflurane-induced preconditioning on isolated human myocardium.

Methods: The authors recorded isometric contraction of human right atrial trabeculae suspended in oxygenated Tyrode's solution (34 degrees C; stimulation frequency, 1 Hz). In all groups, a 30-min hypoxic period was followed by 60 min of reoxygenation.

Impact of stavudine phenotype and thymidine analogues mutations on viral response to stavudine plus lamivudine in ALTIS 2 ANRS trial.

Objective: Stavudine-based antiretroviral combinations are less effective in zidovudine-experienced patients than in naive subjects and recently, mutations have been described to be associated to the use of both stavudine and zidovudine. In the ALTIS 2 trial, it was shown that a combination of stavudine and lamivudine is less effective in zidovudine-experienced patients than in naive patients. We conducted a retrospective genotypic and phenotypic resistance study (expressed as stavudine phenotypic index, calculated by dividing the inhibitory concentrations 50% [IC50] by the mean value of the sensitive viruses) to evaluate the factors associated with decrease in plasma HIV-1 RNA.

Electrophysiological effects of morphine in an in vitro model of the 'border zone' between normal and ischaemic-reperfused guinea-pig myocardium.

Background: Morphine is commonly used in clinical practice in pain management. Although morphine has been shown to precondition the myocardium, its effects on action potential parameters and ischaemia-reperfusion-induced arrhythmias and conduction blocks remain unknown.

Methods: In a double-chamber bath, guinea-pig right ventricular muscle strips were subjected partly to normal conditions and partly to 30 min of simulated ischaemia (hypoxia, hyperkalaemia, acidosis, and lack of nutritional substrate) followed by 30 min of reperfusion.

Mechanisms of desflurane-induced preconditioning in isolated human right atria in vitro.

Background: The authors examined the role of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels, adenosine A1 receptor, and alpha and beta adrenoceptors in desflurane-induced preconditioning in human myocardium, in vitro.

Methods: The authors recorded isometric contraction of human right atrial trabeculae suspended in oxygenated Tyrode's solution (34 degrees C; stimulation frequency, 1 Hz). Before a 30-min anoxic period, 3, 6, and 9% desflurane was administered during 15 min.

Noscapine alters microtubule dynamics in living cells and inhibits the progression of melanoma.

Cellular microtubules, polymers of tubulin, alternate relentlessly between phases of growth and shortening. We now show that noscapine, a tubulin-binding agent, increases the time that cellular microtubules spend idle in a paused state. As a result, most mammalian cell types observed arrest in mitosis in the presence of noscapine.

Centrosome reorientation in wound-edge cells is cell type specific.

The reorientation of the microtubule organizing center during cell migration into a wound in the monolayer was directly observed in living wound-edge cells expressing gamma-tubulin tagged with green fluorescent protein. Our results demonstrate that in CHO cells, the centrosome reorients to a position in front of the nucleus, toward the wound edge, whereas in PtK cells, the centrosome lags behind the nucleus during migration into the wound. In CHO cells, the average rate of centrosome motion was faster than that of the nucleus; the converse was true in PtK cells.

Retrieval of the ultraviolet aerosol optical depth during a spring campaign in the Bavarian Alps.

A measurement campaign was organized in March 1999 in the Bavarian Alps as part of the European project, Characteristics of the UV Radiation Field in the Alps (CUVRA), to analyze the effect of altitude, aerosols, and snow cover on ground-level UV spectral irradiance. We present the results of simultaneous measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) made at various sites on two cloudless days in March 1999. The two days exhibited different aerosol conditions.

Low-rate emergence of thymidine analogue mutations and multi-drug resistance mutations in the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase gene in therapy-naive patients receiving stavudine plus lamivudine combination therapy.

Objectives: Mutations usually associated with zidovudine exposure have been observed in zidovudine-naive patients treated by stavudine in combination. These mutations were named thymidine analogue mutations (TAMs). This fact, combined with phenotypical and biochemical findings provided additional evidence for cross-resistance between zidovudine and stavudine.

The in vitro effects of remifentanil, sufentanil, fentanyl, and alfentanil on isolated human right atria.

Because some clinical studies have suggested that opioids used in anesthesia may have different deleterious hemodynamic effects, we compared the direct myocardial effects of cumulative concentrations of remifentanil, sufentanil, fentanyl, and alfentanil on inotropic and lusitropic variables of isolated human myocardium in vitro. Human right atrial trabeculae, obtained from patients scheduled for coronary bypass surgery or aortic valve replacement, were suspended vertically in an oxygenated (95% oxygen/5% CO(2)) Tyrode's modified solution ([Ca(2+)](o) = 2.0 mM, 37 degrees C, pH 7.

Antagonistic forces generated by myosin II and cytoplasmic dynein regulate microtubule turnover, movement, and organization in interphase cells.

Photoactivation of caged fluorescent tubulin was used mark the microtubule (MT) lattice and monitor MT behavior in interphase cells. A broadening of the photoactivated region occurred as MTs moved bidirectionally. MT movement was not inhibited when MT assembly was suppressed with nocodazole or Taxol; MT movement was suppressed by inhibition of myosin light chain kinase with ML7 or by a peptide inhibitor.

Cell cycle-dependent changes in microtubule dynamics in living cells expressing green fluorescent protein-alpha tubulin.

LLCPK-1 cells were transfected with a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-alpha tubulin construct and a cell line permanently expressing GFP-alpha tubulin was established (LLCPK-1alpha). The mitotic index and doubling time for LLCPK-1alpha were not significantly different from parental cells. Quantitative immunoblotting showed that 17% of the tubulin in LLCPK-1alpha cells was GFP-tubulin; the level of unlabeled tubulin was reduced to 82% of that in parental cells.