Could Telling Parents About Substance Use Decrease Involvement in Crime of Substance Users?

INTRODUCTION: Substance use disorder and criminal behaviors are increasing all over the world day by day. Factors that affect the involvement in crime among people with substance use disorders need to be examined more. This research aims to investigate the protective factors of substance users' involvement in crime and clarify the importance of telling parents about their substance use. METHOD: A total of 190 patients with substance use disorders were included. Patients were divided into two groups: those who told their families about their substance use (TP+) and those who did not tell (TP-). A sociodemographic data form, the short form of My Memories of Upbringing Scale for perceived parental attitudes, Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised, and Emotional Autonomy Scale were used. RESULTS: Our study found that people in the TP+group were less involved in crime than TP-. Telling rates increased proportionally when individuals' anxious attachment and individuation levels rose. In the TP+group, criminal history was correlated positively with substance use duration. CONCLUSION: Telling their families that they are using substances can be a protective factor in itself against crime among drug users, especially in the early stages of addiction. Professionals in addiction psychiatry should encourage their patients to tell their substance use. Teaching and encouraging them to communicate with their relatives might play a key role for policymakers while dealing with substance use disorders and related outcomes.

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform.

To form a coherent quantum transport in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor (S-Sm) junctions, the formation of a homogeneous and barrier-free interface between two different materials is necessary. The S-Sm junction with high interface transparency will then facilitate the observation of the induced hard superconducting gap, which is the key requirement to access the topological phases (TPs) and observation of exotic quasiparticles such as Majorana zero modes (MZM) in hybrid systems. A material platform that can support observation of TPs and allows the realization of complex and branched geometries is therefore highly demanding in quantum processing and computing science and technology. Here, we introduce a two-dimensional material system and study the proximity induced superconductivity in semiconducting two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) that is the basis of a hybrid quantum integrated circuit (QIC). The 2DEG is a 30 nm thick In0.75Ga0.25As quantum well that is buried between two In0.75Al0.25As barriers in a heterostructure. Niobium (Nb) films are used as the superconducting electrodes to form Nb- In0.75Ga0.25As -Nb Josephson junctions (JJs) that are symmetric, planar and ballistic. Two different approaches were used to form the JJs and QICs. The long junctions were fabricated photolithographically, but e-beam lithography was used for short junctions' fabrication. The coherent quantum transport measurements as a function of temperature in the presence/absence of magnetic field B are discussed. In both device fabrication approaches, the proximity induced superconducting properties were observed in the In0.75Ga0.25As 2DEG. It was found that e-beam lithographically patterned JJs of shorter lengths result in observation of induced superconducting gap at much higher temperature ranges. The results that are reproducible and clean suggesting that the hybrid 2D JJs and QICs based on In0.75Ga0.25As quantum wells could be a promising material platform to realize the real complex and scalable electronic and photonic quantum circuitry and devices.

Macular involvement in secondary systemic amyloidosis.

PURPOSE: A patient with subretinal and preretinal hemorrhage after secondary systemic amyloidosis due to familial Mediterranean fever is presented. METHODS: Case presentation. RESULTS: A 30-year-old woman with secondary systemic amyloidosis secondary to familial Mediterranean fever presented with painless visual loss in the right eye. The examination demonstrated multiple subretinal and preretinal hemorrhages, massive deposits which may represent amyloid material at the left macular region. After 6 months, the hemorrhages disappeared, but deposits persisted. CONCLUSIONS: The macular deposition and hemorrhage is an uncommon manifestation of secondary systemic amyloidosis secondary to familial Mediterranean fever. Further evidence is necessary to understand the nature of these deposits and their relevance to secondary systemic amyloidosis and/or familial Mediterranean fever.

On-Chip Andreev Devices: Hard Superconducting Gap and Quantum Transport in Ballistic Nb-In0.75 Ga0.25 As-Quantum-Well-Nb Josephson Junctions.

A superconducting hard gap in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor devices has been found to be necessary to access topological superconductivity that hosts Majorana modes (non-Abelian excitation). This requires the formation of homogeneous and barrier-free interfaces between the superconductor and semiconductor. Here, a new platform is reported for topological superconductivity based on hybrid Nb-In0.75 Ga0.25 As-quantum-well-Nb that results in hard superconducting gap detection in symmetric, planar, and ballistic Josephson junctions. It is shown that with careful etching, sputtered Nb films can make high-quality and transparent contacts to the In0.75 Ga0.25 As quantum well, and the differential resistance and critical current measurements of these devices are discussed as a function of temperature and magnetic field. It is demonstrated that proximity-induced superconductivity in the In0.75 Ga0.25 As-quantum-well 2D electron gas results in the detection of a hard gap in four out of seven junctions on a chip with critical current values of up to 0.2 µA and transmission probabilities of >0.96. The results, together with the large g-factor and Rashba spin-orbit coupling in In0.75 Ga0.25 As quantum wells, which indeed can be tuned by the indium composition, suggest that the Nb-In0.75 Ga0.25 As-Nb system can be an excellent candidate to achieve topological phase and to realize hybrid topological superconducting devices.

Eye patching as a treatment for amblyopia in children aged 10-16 years.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of full-time patching regimen on the treatment of amblyopia in children aged 10-16 years. METHODS: Forty-seven patients with a mean age of 12.09 ± 1.65 years were included in this study. All of the patients received eye patching for the entire day, 6 days a week, during the first 3 months. The patients who achieved visual acuity of 0.00 logMAR at the third month were provided with additional patching treatment (4-6 h/day). On the other hand, the patients who showed no change in their visual acuity or an increase of less than 0.00 logMAR at the third month had 3 more months of eye patching for the entire day, 6 days a week. RESULTS: Prior to treatment, the best mean visual acuity of the amblyopic eyes was 0.48 ± 0.25 (range 1.00-0.15) logMAR. After follow-up, the visual acuity of the amblyopic eyes was 0.20 ± 0.22 (range 1.00-0.00) logMAR. Thus, visual acuity in the amblyopic eyes improved by 0.2 log unit or more in 38 of 47 patients (81%). CONCLUSIONS: The present results show that patching in older children with amblyopia improves visual acuity with no serious complications. The use of patching in children to improve amblyopia seems promising.