Rate of history of tuberculosis among healthcare workers in Turkey: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Healthcare workers (HCWs) possess a high risk for both latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and active disease. This study aimed to investigate tuberculosis (TB) disease history in hospital staff working in healthcare institutions in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 460 HCWs employed in 5 hospitals in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. Between May 01 and July 31, 2016, the participants were asked to answer a questionnaire, including data about TB history. The data about family TB history, Bacilli Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination, or tuberculin skin test (TST) application before starting work were also evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 460 participants, 69.3% were women (n=319) and 30.7% (n=141) were men. The mean age was 32 (17-63) years. A total of 8 participants (1.7 %) had TB history. There was no statistically significant relationship between TB history and age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking habits, or presence of comorbidities (p>0.05 for all variables); family history of TB (p0.05). The duration of work (years) was higher in participants with a TB history. The p value was very close but did not reach the limits of significance (p=0.059). CONCLUSION: In this study, the rate of TB among HCWs was 1.7% (8 of 460 HCWs). Family history of TB and TST positivity are strong predictors of TB in HCWs

Is it worth using thrombolytic therapy in elderly patients with pulmonary embolism

Objective: Antithrombotic treatment is avoided in geriatric population owing to its side effects. Thus, we aimed to examine complication rates related to thrombolytic treatment in geriatric patients with pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). Materials and Methods: The study included patients aged >65 years who received thrombolytic treatment for a diagnosis of PTE. Patient files were screened retrospectively to extract data on etiology, clinical risk scores, laboratory values, thrombolytic treatment-related complications, and early mortality development. Results: The study included 68 patients (female: 70.6%; mean age: 77.8 years). The Simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index score was high in all patients. Early mortality risk classification at admission was high, medium-high, and medium-low risk in 64.7%, 23.5%, and 11.8% patients, respectively. In-hospital mortality was 30.9%. The causes of death were secondary to PTE in 85.7% patients, respiratory failure in 9.6%, and sepsis in 4.7%. Complication-related mortality was not observed. The only independent risk factor for mortality was change in consciousness. Conclusion: Mortality and complication rates in geriatric patients receiving thrombolytic treatment are not as high as expected

Adolescents with unexplained chest pain reported depression and impaired emotional and social functioning

AimChest pain is common in adolescence, but there are no established criteria for managing this problem, which is rarely associated with cardiac disease. This study addressed the gaps in the literature by evaluating psychosocial factors that could be associated with medically unexplained chest pain.MethodsWe consecutively selected 100 patients (68% girls) aged 13‐18 who were diagnosed with unexplained chest pain when they presented to the cardiology outpatient clinics of Tepecik Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey, between 30 September 2015 and 30 June 2018. The controls were 76 age‐ and sex‐matched adolescents (69% girls) aged 13‐18 who were undergoing routine cardiology assessments before joining sports clubs. We assessed their health‐related quality of life and any depression and physical symptoms.ResultsRegression analysis showed some adolescents were a number of times more likely to report chest pain. These included those who reported boredom (4.1 times), felt stressed or anxious (2.2) and those who experienced sleep disturbance (2.6), co‐morbid headaches (2.0), back pain (3.1) and impaired social functioning (1.2).ConclusionThe results indicated a significant association between unexplained chest pain and physical symptoms, depression and impaired emotional and social functioning. These factors warrant further evaluation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156129/2/apa15144.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156129/1/apa15144_am.pd

Applications And Development Of A New Fluorometric Antioxidant Method

Tez (Doktora) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2014Thesis (PhD) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2014Bu çalışmanın amacı, gıdalardaki toplam antioksidan kapasitesinin belirlenmesinde çokça kullanılan spektrofotometrik yöntemlere altenatif olarak basit, hızlı, hassasiyeti ve seçiciliği yüksek yeni spektroflorimetrik bir yöntem geliştirilmesidir.  Floresans metotlar, yüksek hassaiyet ve seçiciliğe sahip olmalarının yanında çok basit ve düşük maliyetli cihazların kullanıldığı yöntemlerdir. Spektroflorimetrik CERAC (Ce(IV) iyonu indirgeyici antioksidan kapasite) yöntemi, sülfat asitli ortamda Ce(IV) iyonları ile antioksidanlar arasındaki reaksiyon sonucu oluşan Ce(III) iyonlarının tayinine dayanan bir yöntemdir. Bu çalışma kapsamında ilk olarak ortamda bulunan sitrik asit ve indirgen şeker gibi organik maddelerin varlığında Ce(IV) iyonlarının sadece antioksidan bileşiklerle reaksiyona girdiği optimum deney koşullarının belirlenmesi ve belirlenen bu koşullarda modifiye CERAC yönteminin geliştirilmesi, ikinci olarak ise gıdaların toplam antioksidan kapasitelerinin belirlenmesi için spektrofotometrik yöntemlere kıyasla hızlı, basit ve güvenilir bir yöntem olan spektroflorimetrik yeni yöntem geliştirilmesidir. Floresans ölçümüne dayalı yöntemler, absorpsiyon ölçümüne dayalı yöntemlere göre daha çok tercih edilir çünkü florimetrik yöntemlerin duyarlılıkları, emisyon bantlarının darlığı, Ce(IV) ve antioksidan bileşiklerin çalışılan dalga boyunda floresans özellik göstermemeleri tercih edilme sebepleri olarak sıralanabilir. Ayrıca, spektrofotometrik yöntemlerin belirlenen optimum dalga boylarında, bitki pigmentlerinin interferans etkilerinin olduğu bilinmektedir buna karşılık florimetrik yöntemlerde ise bu problem söz konusu olmaz.The purpose of this work was to develop and validate a rapid, simple and reliable fluorometric method as an alternative approach to the widely used spectrophotometric methods for the determination of total antioxidant capacity in food. Fluorescence method is particularly appealing for this purpose, because it combines very simple and relatively low-cost instrumentation with high sensitivity and selectivity. Spektrofluorometric CERAC method is based on the determination of Ce(III) ions which were produced by the reaction of Ce(IV) ions with antioxidants in sulfuric acid medium.In this study was firstly found optimal conditions (i.e., optimal sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate concentrations) for Ce(IV) oxidation of antioxidants but not of citric acid and reducing sugars and improved the modified CERAC method at the same condition and  secondly developed a rapid, simple and reliable fluorometric method as an alternative approach to the widely used spectrophotometric methods for the determination of total antioxidant capacity of foods. Also, the fluorescence method was preferred to absorptimetric assay due to its sensitivity, narrowness of emission bands, and lack of fluorescence of either Ce(IV) reagent or antioxidant analyte at the analytical wavelength. Besides, the optimum wavelengths of spectrofluorometric methods do not show interfering effects with plant pigments, unlikely spectrophotometric methods.DoktoraPh