The effects of cognitive and emotional status on smoking cessation.

OBJECTIVE: Smoking cessation is affected by multiple factors including cognitive status of the patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of demographic, emotional and cognitive functions of 39 male and 42 female patients who applied to the smoking cessation outpatient clinic on smoking cessation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study recruited 81 healthy volunteers of equal age, gender, and educational level. Total Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were compared according to age, gender, cessation methods, and Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores in smoking cessation settings. RESULTS: In our study, there were 39 (48.1%) male patients and 42 (51.9%) female patients. While 36 patients were able to quit smoking, the remaining 38 were unable to do so. During follow-up, 7 patients had yet to be reached. Age, years of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day, education level, first reason for starting smoking, reasons for quitting smoking, quitting method, and medical drugs used were found to have no effect on smoking cessation; however, the MoCA total score, Beck depression scale, Beck anxiety scale, and smoking cessation scale score were found to have significant effects on smoking cessation. CONCLUSIONS: Various cognitive processes, particularly visuospatial and attention skills, have been found to be useful in quitting smoking. Furthermore, emotional states, such as depression and anxiety have a negative impact on quitting smoking. We believe that if it is provided to the patients in the smoking cessation outpatient clinic to boost cognitive capabilities and treat mood problems, the success of smoking cessation will increase.

A comparison of the pathological, clinical and radiographical, features of cryptogenic organising pneumonia, acute fibrinous and organising pneumonia and granulomatous organising pneumonia.

AIMS: Cryptogenic organising pneumonia (COP) and acute fibrinous and organising pneumonia (AFOP) are recognised patterns of organising pneumonia (OP), a condition that resembles pneumonia but is not caused by infection. We have recognised granulomatous organising pneumonia (GOP) to be a similar histopathological entity where non-necrotising granulomata are intimately associated with the organising connective tissue. To what degree COP, AFOP and GOP represent distinct clinical and pathological disorders is unknown. This cross-sectional study sought to compare the pathological, clinical, and radiographical features of these OP patterns. METHODS: Surgical lung biopsy specimens were reviewed for consecutive patients referred with OP to a metropolitan cancer centre. Clinical information and CT images were acquired from the hospital electronic medical record to determine the clinical and CT characteristics of each OP pattern. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients (35 men, 26 women), mean age 61.5 years (range 8-85 years), were available for analysis. Of these, 43 patients (70%) had at least one prior cancer; 27 (44%) had received chemotherapy and 18 (30%) had received radiation. Approximately, half (32 patients) had respiratory symptoms, most commonly cough, dyspnoea and/or wheezing. While symptoms and mortality rates were not different among OP groups, AFOP patients more commonly had fever (p=0.04). GOP patients less commonly had received chemotherapy (p=0.03) and were more likely to present as masses/nodules (p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: AFOP and GOP, a newly described OP form, possess clinical and pathological findings that set it apart from a COP, suggesting an emerging spectrum of OP.

Cyanide poisoning caused by ingestion of apricot seeds.

AIM: To report diagnostic, clinical and therapeutic aspects of cyanide intoxication resulting from ingestion of cyanogenic glucoside-containing apricot seeds. METHODS: Thirteen patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Erciyes University between 2005 and 2009 with cyanide intoxication associated with ingestion of apricot seeds were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of the 13 patients, four were male. The mean time of onset of symptoms was 60 minutes (range 20 minutes to 3 hours). On admission, all patients underwent gastric lavage and received activated charcoal. In addition to signs of mild poisoning related to cyanide intoxication, there was severe intoxication requiring mechanical ventilation (in four cases), hypotension (in two), coma (in two) and convulsions (in one). Metabolic acidosis (lactic acidosis) was detected in nine patients and these were treated with sodium bicarbonate. Hyperglycaemia occurred in nine patients and blood glucose levels normalised spontaneously in six but three required insulin therapy for 3-6 hours. Six patients received antidote treatment: high-dose hydroxocobalamin in four and two were treated with a cyanide antidote kit in addition to high-dose hydroxocobalamin. One patient required anticonvulsive therapy. All patients recovered and were discharged from the PICU within a mean (SD, range) 3.1 (1.7, 2-6) days. CONCLUSION: Cyanide poisoning associated with ingestion of apricot seeds is an important poison in children, many of whom require intensive care.

Impact of the incorporation of Au nanoparticles into polymer/fullerene solar cells.

The addition of small amounts of dodecylamine-capped Au nanoparticles into the active layer of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells consisting of poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) and C(60) was recently suggested to have a positive impact on device performance due to improved electron transport. This issue was systematically further investigated in the present work. Different strategies to incorporate colloidally prepared Au nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution into organic solar cells with the more common donor/acceptor system consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) were pursued. Au nanoparticles were prepared with either P3HT or dodecylamine as ligands. Additionally, efforts were undertaken to incorporate nearly ligand-free Au nanoparticles into the system. Therefore, a procedure was successfully developed to remove the dodecylamine ligand shell by a postpreparative ligand exchange with pyridine, a much smaller molecule that can later partly be removed from solid films by annealing. However, for all types of nanoparticles studied here, the performance of the P3HT/PCBM solar cells was found to decrease with the Au particles as an additive to the active layer, meaning that adding Au nanoparticles is not a suitable strategy in the case of the P3HT/PCBM system. Possible reasons are discussed on the basis of detailed investigations of the structure, photophysics and charge transport in the system.

An updatable holographic three-dimensional display.

Holographic three-dimensional (3D) displays provide realistic images without the need for special eyewear, making them valuable tools for applications that require situational awareness, such as medical, industrial and military imaging. Currently commercially available holographic 3D displays use photopolymers that lack image-updating capability, resulting in restricted use and high cost. Photorefractive polymers are dynamic holographic recording materials that allow updating of images and have a wide range of applications, including optical correlation, imaging through scattering media and optical communication. To be suitable for 3D displays, photorefractive polymers need to have nearly 100% diffraction efficiency, fast writing time, hours of image persistence, rapid erasure, and large area-a combination of properties that has not been shown before. Here, we report an updatable holographic 3D display based on photorefractive polymers with such properties, capable of recording and displaying new images every few minutes. This is the largest photorefractive 3D display to date (4 x 4 inches in size); it can be recorded within a few minutes, viewed for several hours without the need for refreshing, and can be completely erased and updated with new images when desired.

Determination of oestrous cycle of the rats by direct examination: how reliable?

For determination of the oestrous cycle in rats classical Papanicolaou technique has long been used successfully. Instead of using many stains in Papanicolaou, staining the vaginal secretions with only methylene blue has also been defined. Recently a new technique in which vaginal samples are directly examined under light microscope has been introduced. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of this new technique by comparing it with the classical staining techniques. From 20 Wistar rats 60 vaginal samples were collected with a micropipette, three from each. Briefly, the vagina was flushed two to three times then the fluid was placed onto a glass slide. The fluid was equally distributed onto three glass slides. The glass slides were coded. Two samples were stained with Papanicolaou and methylene blue while the other one was examined directly. Determination of the phases of the oestrous cycle was made by the same histologist who was blinded to the groups and coding system. After determination of the oestrous phase in all samples, the results were compared and it was found that the results were matching. In conclusion, the same results can be obtained with the direct examination technique and this technique is reliable, so there is no need to use relatively time-consuming, less practical and more expensive techniques such as Papanicolaou or methylene blue.