An analysis of demographic and pregnancy outcome data to explain non-attendance for postpartum glucose testing in women with gestational diabetes mellitus: Why are patients missing follow-up?

OBJECTIVES: To identify significant differences in the demographic and pregnancy factors for women with gestational diabetes mellitus who attended or failed to attend for postpartum glucose testing. STUDY DESIGN: A database of 1052 patients with gestational diabetes mellitus was reviewed. The sample was divided into those who attended for postpartum glucose testing and those who did not. Demographic and obstetric outcomes for the two groups were compared. RESULTS: Seventy-four per cent of patients who did not attend for postpartum glucose testing were in the two most deprived quintiles. Smokers, unemployed, younger women, those of higher parity and those who did not breast feed were less likely to attend. CONCLUSIONS: Failure to attend for postpartum glucose testing is associated with demographic factors reflective of deprivation. The opportunity to afford lifestyle changes and diabetes screening in these groups of women has been missed. Targeted patient education and accessible postpartum testing may improve compliance.

Near-field optical properties of quantum dots, applications and perspectives.

Recent years have witnessed tremendous research in quantum dots as excellent models of quantum physics at the nanoscale and as excellent candidates for various applications based on their optoelectronic properties. This review intends to present theoretical and experimental investigations of the near-field optical properties of these structures, and their multimodal applications such as biosensors, biological labels, optical fibers, switches and sensors, visual displays, photovoltaic devices and related patents.

Theory of spontaneous emission of quantum dots in the linear regime.

We develop a fully quantum-mechanical theory for the interaction of light and electron-hole excitations in semiconductor quantum dots. Our theoretical analysis results in an expression for the photoluminescence intensity of quantum dots in the linear regime. Taking into account the single-particle Hamiltonian, the free-photon Hamiltonian, the electron-hole interaction Hamiltonian, and the interaction of carriers with light, and applying the Heisenberg equation of motion to the photon number expectation values, to the carrier distribution functions and to the correlation term between the photon generation (destruction) and electron-hole pair, we obtain a set of luminescence equations. Under quasi-equilibrium conditions, these equations become a closed-set of equations. We solve them analytically, in the linear regime, and we find an approximate solution of the incoherent photoluminescence intensity. The validity of the theoretical analysis is tested by investigating the emission spectra in the high-temperature regime, interpreting the experimental findings for the emission spectra of a lens-shaped In(0.5)Ga(0.5)As self-assembled quantum dot. Our theoretical predictions for the interlevel spacing as well as for the dephasing time caused by electron-longitudinal optical phonon interactions are in good agreement with the experimental results.

[Evaluation of penicillin alone and penicillin combined with anti-anthrax serum in experimental anthrax in mice]. / Farelerde olusturulan deneysel sarbonda penisilin ve penisilinle beraber sarbon serumunun degeri.

In this study penicillin alone versus penicillin combined with anti-anthrax serum were compared in the treatment of experimental anthrax of mice. Three groups of mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with the same suspension of Bacillus anthracis. Ten hours after the onset of infection the control group received no treatment, to the second group penicillin-G was injected every day, and the 3 rd group received penicillin-G plus anti-anthrax serum. The survival rate of the latter two groups was significantly higher than that of the control group. But, there was no difference in the survival of mice and the distribution of the bacilli in various tissues between the penicillin treated mice and the penicillin plus anti-anthrax serum treated group of mice.