Aims: To investigate the involvement of the RB2/p130 gene in the pathogenesis of sporadic ovarian cancer in addition to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods: Paired tumour and patient matched normal DNA samples from 43 sporadic ovarian tumours and 39 normal/tumour HNSCC DNA samples were screened. The mutation screen used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification followed by single strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing of the PCR products. Exons 19 and 20 (B domain) and exons 21 and 22 (C-terminus) were analysed for mutations. These exons were chosen because most of the point mutations in RB2/ p130 are located in the C-terminal region and mutations in these exons have been identified previously in nasopharyngeal carcinomas and primary lung tumours. Results: No abnormal band shifts were seen in the samples analysed, and no bands directly sequenced revealed the presence of mutations. Conclusions: Genetic alterations in the RB2/p130 gene (exons 19-22) are unlikely to be involved directly in the pathogenesis of sporadic ovarian cancer or HNSCC. O varian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancy in Western women. Most cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage because of a lack of reliable and effective screening strategies and the late onset of symptoms. Epidemiological risk factors include early menarche, late menopause, and nulliparity, but most significant is a family history of the disease. High parity, breast feeding, and the use of oral contraceptive pills decrease the risk of ovarian cancer (reviewed by Berchuck et al).

Most people use stairs during emergencies and evacuations. Therefore, this study addressed the impact of staircase rotation to minimize physical effort and evacuation time, hypothesizing that staircase rotation affects the evacuation speed and the safety of the occupants. This study consisted of two stages. In the first stage, a questionnaire was delivered to architects, with two key questions about the preferred direction in daily use and the other regarding evacuation cases. The second stage involved field experiments on two different staircases in the rotational direction, which were applied to 53 participants to measure the efficiency of the staircases in four cases (slow descent, slow ascent, fast descent and fast ascent). The counter-clockwise staircase during the field experiments showed better results and was more efficient. The heart pulse rate (pulse/min) in the clockwise case showed a clear increase compared to the counter-clockwise case by 12.89% for slow descending, 6.91% for fast descending, 21.51% for slow ascending, and 18.27% for fast ascending. Therefore, the theoretical and practical results of the study validated the hypothesis on the impact of the staircase rotation on user comfort and evacuation speed. Moreover, it was concluded that counter-clockwise staircases provided faster evacuation with less physical effort.