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Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in developing countries. The oral tongue is the most common site involved by OSCC. About one-third of the patients have neck nodal metastasis at presentation. Oral tongue reconstruction after resection for cancer is necessary for proper rehabilitation. For patients who are medically unfit for prolonged surgery like a free tissue transfer, local flaps are employed for tongue reconstruction. The submental flap is a popular option. However, when there is an extensive floor of mouth involvement or bulky nodal disease in ipsilateral level 1, submental flap harvesting based on contralateral facial vessels is possible without compromising oncological safety. This study discusses the feasibility and outcomes of contralateral submental artery island flap (SMIF) for reconstruction after resection of oral tongue carcinoma in a retrospective series of 34 patients followed up for a median of 8.5 months. Of the 34 oral tongue cancer patients in the study, 16 had neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery. Thirty-three underwent bilateral neck dissection. Two patients had partial flap loss, which was managed conservatively. Five patients had either locoregional or distant recurrence, but none in the flap site. Three had pathological positive nodes at ipsilateral level 1b, and one had pathologically positive nodes at contralateral level 1b. Tongue motility and speech intelligibility were satisfactory on follow-up. In the properly selected patient, contralateral SMIF offers an oncologically safe and technically simpler alternative for free flap reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-induced GaN nanowires were grown on Si (211) substrates by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that nitridation of Si (211) substrates at high temperatures in excess of 1170 °C leads to the nanopatterning of the Si (211) surface thereby providing the template for patterned growth of nanowires. The grown nanowires were characterised by field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy which reveal that the GaN nanowires have wurtzite crystal structure and are of high crystalline quality. Through this paper we show that high index silicon substrates with Si (111) terraces can be used to grow nanowires aligned at desired angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]