Subtractive photonics.

Realization of a multilayer photonic process, as well as co-integration of a large number of photonic and electronic components on a single substrate, presents many advantages over conventional solutions and opens a pathway for various novel architectures and applications. Despite the many potential advantages, realization of a complex multilayer photonic process compatible with low-cost CMOS platforms remains challenging. In this paper, a photonic platform is investigated that uses subtractively manufactured structures to fabricate such systems. These structures are created solely using simple post-processing methods, with no modification to the foundry process. This method uses the well-controlled metal layers of advanced integrated electronics as sacrificial layers to define dielectric shapes as optical components. Metal patterns are removed using an etching process, leaving behind a complex multilayer photonic system, while keeping the electronics'metal wiring intact. This approach can be applied to any integrated chip with well-defined metallization, including those produced in pure electronics processes, pure photonics processes, heterogeneously integrated processes, monolithic electronic-photonic processes, etc. This paper provides a proof-of-concept example of monolithic electronic-photonic integration in a 65 nm bulk CMOS process and demonstrates proof-of-concept photonic structures. The fabrication results, characterization, and measurement data are presented.

Investigation of Different Selenium Sources and Supplying Methods for Selenium Enrichment of Basil Vegetable (A Case Study under Calcareous and Non-calcareous Soil Systems).

BACKGROUND: Selenium (Se) is a crucial component of selenoaminoacids and selenoproteins. Therefore, Se-enriched agricultural products can reduce health complications induced by Se deficiency. OBJECTIVE: This research was carried out to investigate the effects of Se bio-enrichment on Basil grown in calcareous and non-calcareous soil systems and also to evaluate the changes in Se concentration in the soil after harvesting. METHODS: The experiment executed in two calcareous and one non-calcareous soil systems, and different Se application methods (control, soil application, seed inoculation, foliar application, and soil + foliar application) were administered. Selenobacteria, a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), derived from the soil was used as a biofertilizer, compared to the other Se sources. RESULTS: The results showed that both soil types and the methods of Se application had significant effects (P ˂ 0.01) on root and shoot dry weights and concentrations of P, K, Zn, Fe, and Se in both of the root and shoot. Shoot dry weight of plants treated with foliar Se was maximum in the calcareous soil. Compared to the control treatment, foliar application of Se increased shoot Se content in both calcareous and non-calcareous soils by 242% and 204%, respectively. Furthermore, the increase in shoot Se concentration in calcareous soil induced by Se application increased the concentration of other nutrients in the shoot and root. Plant growth parameters and concentrations of nutrients were significantly increased by using selenobacter inoculum. CONCLUSION: The application of Se-containing compounds can improve vegetable quality. Considering the daily requirement of the human body for minerals and nutrients, enriching basil with Se can play an important role in community health. Moreover, some patents have reported the effectiveness of endophyte bacteria.

A Rare Cause of Ascites in a Young Woman Mimicking Peritoneal Carcinomatosis.

Peritoneal granulomatous reaction to foreign body-like materials of a dermoid cyst is a rare condition and has always been challenging in diagnosis for physicians. Macroscopic view of granulomatous peritoneum, which mimics peritoneal carcinomatosis or peritoneal seeding originating from ovarian carcinoma, necessitates a detailed microscopic evaluation of peritoneum, which shows multinucleated giant cells and granuloma formation indicating a foreign body reaction in the peritoneum. To avoid unnecessary radical surgeries and salvage chemotherapies in these patients, a detailed microscopic evaluation of their peritoneum is necessary. The present study introduces a 23-year-old woman with new-onset ascites and an elevation of CA125 level suspicious of ovarian carcinoma but with a peritoneal microscopic finding pathognomonic of foreign body reaction.

High sensitivity active flat optics optical phased array receiver with a two-dimensional aperture.

Optical phased arrays (OPAs) on integrated photonic platforms provide a low-cost chip-scale solution for many applications. Despite the numerous demonstrations of OPA transmitters, the realization of a functional OPA receiver presents a challenge due to the low received signal level in the presence of noise and interference that necessitates high sensitivity of the receiver. In this paper, an integrated receiver system is presented that is capable of on-chip adaptive manipulation and processing of the captured waveform. The receiver includes an optoelectronic mixer that down-converts optical signals to radio frequencies while maintaining their phase and amplitude information. The optoelectronic mixer also provides conversion gain that enhances the system sensitivity and its robustness to noise and interference. Using this system, the first OPA receiver with a two-dimensional aperture of 8-by-8 receiving elements is demonstrated which can selectively receive light from 64 different angles. The OPA receiver can form reception beams with a beamwidth of 0.75° over an 8° grating-lobe-free field of view.

The association between clinical symptoms, laboratory findings and serum endothelin 1 concentrations, in cirrhotic patients with and without hepatopulmonary syndrome.

AIM: This study evaluated the association between serum endothelin- 1 level and symptoms, clinical examination, laboratory and cardio-respiratory parameters, in patients with cirrhosis compared to controls. BACKGROUND: Cirrhosis is associated with significant portal, pulmonary and systemic vascular abnormities. Recent studies have suggested that endothelin -1 may have a significant role in the regulation of vascular tone. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this case - control study, subjects that had been evaluated and diagnosed with biopsy-proven cirrhosis and age-matched controls with no evidence of cardio-vascular or liver disease were recruited. Review of medical records, routine laboratory investigations and cardio-respiratory investigations including echocardiography to look for evidence of hepato-pulmonary syndrome were performed. RESULTS: 50 patients were subjects were recruited. The most common aetiology of the cirrhosis was chronic hepatitis B viral infection. 7/50 cases had evidence of the hepatopulmonary syndrome. Among the patients with evidence of the hepatopulmonary syndrome, dyspnoea (100%) and cyanosis (90%) were the most common of the symptoms and signs recorded. Pao2 and arterial - alveolar oxygen gradients were the most sensitive tests in the diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome. Orthodoxy specificity was 100%. The median concentration of serum endothelin-1 in cases with hepatopulmonary syndrome was 1.06+/- 0.015 pg/ml (range 0.92 - 1.21), in cases of sub-clinical hepatopulmonary syndrome, 2.49+/- 0.08 (4.05- 0.93) in patients with cirrhosis but no evidence of hepatopulmonary syndrome criteria 0.85+/-0.74(1.06-0.64) in controls. CONCLUSION: There was a significant difference in serum endothelin- 1 levels between patients with cirrhosis and controls, but not between patients with cirrhosis complicated by hepatopulmonary syndrome and controls.

A retrospective study of patients with colorectal polyps.

AIM: The aim of this study was to report the anatomical location and histologic type of colorectal polyps in a large series of Iranian patients that attended for colonoscopy. BACKGROUND: Polyps that develop through the adenoma-carcinoma pathway are considered neoplastic and may eventually progress to invasive carcinomas. In addition polyps can develop with no neoplastic potential. These neoplastic and non-neoplastic polyps can be identified and removed at colonoscopy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, the medical records of patients who had attended for colonoscopy were reviewed. Patient demographics and colonoscopy findings were reviewed. The anatomical location, macroscopic appearance and histological assessment of any polyps were recorded. RESULTS: 716 patients' records were reviewed. 437 patients (61 %) were male and 279(39%) were females. The mean patient age was 55.3 yr (18-89 yr). A total of 936 polyps were identified. 779 (83.3%) were neoplastic and 157(16.7%) polyps were non-neoplastic.727 of the polyps were adenomatous. Of the 727 adenomatous polyps: 198(27.2%) were in sigmoid, 156(21.24%) were in caecum and ascending colon, 153(21%) were in descending colon, 131(18%) were in transverse colon and 89(12.3%) were in rectum. 39.5% of adenomas were proximal to the splenic flexure. Carcinoma was observed in 52 cases. 18 carcinomas (34.5%) were left sided and 34 (65.5% of carcinomas) were right sided. Of the 716 patients, 179 patients (25%) had synchronous lesion(s). CONCLUSION: A significant number of adenomas and carcinomas lie proximal to the splenic flexure and occur in the absence of distal lesions. These lesions would be missed if the distal colon was examined and the entire colon examined only if a distal lesion was identified.

Impact of age on prognosis in Iranian patients with gastric carcinoma: review of 742 cases.

BACKGROUND: Gastric carcinoma is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies worldwide. Some studies have suggested that it has a worse prognosis in non-elderly than in elderly patients. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether the patient's age is an independent prognostic factor. METHODS: A total of 742 patients with gastric carcinoma, who had registered in our cancer registry center between years 2001- 2006 were reviewed to investigate the prognostic significance of age. They were divided into the following two groups: non-elderly (under 70 years) and elderly (70 years or older). The clinicopathological features were reviewed retrospectively and a multivariate analysis was carried out. RESULTS: Lymph node metastasis and differentiated type were more frequently observed in non-elderly than in elderly patients (P<0.0001) and older patients diagnosed with more advanced stages compared with those younger than 70 years old (P=0.015). 5-year survival rates were 27.2 and 15.2% in non-elderly and elderly patients, respectively, the difference being statistically significant (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that age and wall penetration were independent prognostic factors CONCLUSIONS: Age clinically serves as an important predictor of survival in patients with gastric carcinoma and elderly patients with gastric carcinoma have a worse prognosis than nonelderly patients.

Clinical and pathological characteristics of colorectal polyps in Iranian population.

BACKGROUND & AIM: Colon polyps are important lesions and a concern because of the potential for colorectal cancer. Colorectal carcinoma is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths in Iranian population. The distribution of polyps in the colon may affect the efficacy of a screening modality. The aim of this study was to determine clinical & pathology characteristics of colorectal polyps in Iranian population. MATERIAL & METHODS: In this study is cross sectional survey that 856 polypectomies were done in 716 patients. Anatomical distribution, size and histopathology of polyps were described in 2004 - 2008 in the educational hospital of Taleghani in Tehran. RESULTS: polyps were observed in 437 males and 279 females and gastroenterologists did colonoscopic polypectomy. 3.12 percent of polyps were located in the rectum, 19.6 percent in sigmoid, 24.4 percent in descending colon, 13.9 percent in transverse colon, 29.6 percent were in cecum and ascending colon. 77 (9%) polyps were non-neoplastic and 779 (91%) were neoplastic. Adenomas were present in 727 (85%) cases, of these 411 (56% of adenomas) were left-sided and 316 (44% of adenomas) were right-sided. Carcinoma was observed in 52 cases, of these 18 (34.5%) were left sided and 34 (65.5% of carcinomas) were right sided. Of them 354 were advance polyp (> 1 cm, villous type, high grade dysplasia). 87 (34%) of Advance polyps were in under 50 year patients and 149 (58.6%) were right sided. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that a significant number of adenomas and carcinomas lie proximal to the splenic flexure. Thus, in the absence of left-sided lesions, it is expected that examination of the colon limited to the splenic flexure would miss 44% of such lesions. The increasing right-sided prevalence of these lesions with age suggests that evaluation of the proximal bowel is particularly important in older people. In addition there were higher stages of dysplasia and malignancy in larger polyps.

New perspective for integrated information management in national colorectal cancer screening in Iran.

Colorectal cancer screening management, especially for those with a genetic predisposition, depends on adequate and standard reporting. Standardized reporting systems for diagnostic and screening tests facilitate quality improvement of programs and clear communication among health care providers. This article presents a comprehensive picture of the information content of colorectal cancer screening in the national plan of Iran, consisting of demographic and medical findings and other standard reports (colonoscopy, pathology, genetics and pedigree data). In addition this review presents data flow in screening and data elements in patient perspectives on colorectal cancer screening.

Statistical comparison of survival models for analysis of cancer data.

BACKGROUND: The Cox Proportional Hazard model is the most popular technique to analysis the effects of covariates on survival time but under certain circumstances parametric models may offer advantages over Cox's model. In this study we use Cox regression and alternative parametric models such as: Weibull, Exponential and Lognormal models to evaluate prognostic factors affecting survival of patients with stomach cancer. Comparisons were made to find the best model. METHODS: To determine independent prognostic factors reducing survival time for stomach cancer, we compared parametric and semi-parametric methods applied to patients who registered in one cancer registry center located in southern Iran using the Akaike Information Criterion. RESULTS: Of a total of 442 patients, 266 (60.2%) died. The results of data analysis using Cox and parametric models were approximately similar. Patients with ages 60-75 and >75 years at diagnosis had an increased risk for death followed by those with poor differentiated grade and presence of distant metastasis (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the Hazard Ratios in the Cox model and parametric ones are approximately similar, according to Akaike Information Criterion, the Weibull and Exponential models are the most favorable for survival analysis.