Endothelial function in patients with familial Mediterranean fever-related amyloidosis and association with cardiovascular events

Objectives. Secondary amyloidosis is the most important complication of FMF and endothelial function is more severely impaired. Elevated asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) may mediate the excess cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk of this group. We aimed to compare endothelial function characteristics, including ADMA, in patients with FMF-related amyloidosis and primary glomerulopathies and to define risk factors for a CVD event. Methods. We undertook a cross-sectional study with prospective follow-up including consecutive patients with FMF-related amyloidosis (n = 98) or other non-diabetic glomerulopathies (n = 102). All patients had nephrotic-range proteinuria and normal glomerular filtration rate. Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was assessedand ADMA levels, CRP and pentraxin 3 (PTX3) were determined. Patients were followed for cardiovascular events. Results. Amyloidosis patients secondary to FMF showed higher levels of ADMA, CRP and PTX3 and lower FMD as compared with patients with other glomerulopathies. Cardiovascular events (n = 54) were registered during 3 years of follow-up. Increased ADMA levels and lower FMD were observed in patients with cardiovascular risk in both groups, but especially in individuals with amyloidosis.Conclusion. Patients with FMF-related amyloidosis have increased CVD event risk, probably related to the high ADMA levels, elevated inflammatory markers and decreased FMD measures observed in these patients

Soğan sak nematodu (ditylenchus dipsaci)’nun sarımsak bitkisinde moleküler karakterizasyonu

TEZ 635.25/AKAsKaynakça: 61-65 ss.[Özet Yok

Support vector machine skin lesion classification in Clifford algebra subspaces

summary:The present study develops the Clifford algebra ${\rm Cl}_{5,0}$ within a dermatological task to diagnose skin melanoma using images of skin lesions, which are modeled here by means of 5D lesion feature vectors (LFVs). The LFV is a numerical approximation of the most used clinical rule for melanoma diagnosis - ABCD. To generate the ${\rm Cl}_{5,0}$ we develop a new formula that uses the entries of a 5D vector to calculate the entries of a 32D multivector. This vector provides a natural mapping of the original 5D vector onto the 2-, 3-, 4-vector ${\rm Cl}_{5,0}$ subspaces. We use a sample set of 112 5D LFVs and apply the new formula to calculate 112 32D multivectors in the ${\rm Cl}_{5,0}$. Next we map the 5D LFVs onto the 2-, 3-, 4-vector subspaces of the ${\rm Cl}_{5,0}$. In every subspace we apply a binary support vector machine to classify the mapped 112 LFVs. With the obtained results we calculate six metrics and evaluate the effectiveness of the diagnosis in every subspace. At the end of the paper we compare the classification results, obtained in every subspace, with the results obtained by the four diagnosing rules most used in clinical practice and contemporary machine learning methods. This way we reveal the potential of using Clifford algebras in the analysis and classification of medical images

P95 HER2 fragments and breast cancer outcome

HER2 is a 185-kDa transmembrane oncoprotein encoded by the HER2 gene. It is located on chromosome 17q21 and is overexpressed in approximately 15% of invasive breast cancers. In addition, it is a poor prognostic factor for survival and disease progression. Approximately 30% of HER2-positive tumors also express a series of carboxy-terminal HER2 fragments known as p95HER2, in addition to the full-length HER receptor. Previous studies have found that p95HER2 represents an independent prognostic marker in patients with HER2-positive disease. Moreover, p95HER2 status might be a decisive factor when choosing between different therapies because p95HER2 fragment-positive tumors are resistant to trastuzumab but respond to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as lapatinib, as do p95HER2-negative tumors. p95HER2 fragments arise through at least two different mechanisms: proteolytic shedding of the full-length p185HER2 receptor extracellular domain and translation of HER2 mRNA from internal initiation codons. The present review is based primarily on recent studies suggesting p95HER2 constitutes a new surrogate marker for an aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer subtype with distinct clinical and biological features

Superior effects of quetiapine compared with aripiprazole and iloperidone on MK-801-induced olfactory memory impairment in female mice

Cognitive dysfunction is commonly observed in schizophrenic patients and the administration of antipsychotic treatments results in different outcomes. Although the typical antipsychotic treatments, such as haloperidol, appear to be unable to improve cognition dysfunction, the atypical antipsychotic drugs (quetiapine, aripiprazole and iloperidone) exert a beneficial effect. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of atypical antipsychotics on olfactory memory in mice, utilizing the social transmission of food preference (STFP) tests to evaluate the effects of drugs on MK-801-induced cognitive dysfunction. Female BALB/c mice were treated with quetiapine (5 and 10 mg/kg), aripiprazole (3 and 6 mg/kg), iloperidone (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) or MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) alone or concurrently prior to retention sessions of STFP tests. In the STFP tests, quetiapine (10 mg/kg; P<0.05), aripiprazole (3 and 6 mg/kg; P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively), iloperidone (0.5 and 1 mg/kg; P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively) and MK-801 (P<0.001) significantly decreased cued/total food eaten (%). Quetiapine (5 mg/kg; P<0.05) significantly increased MK-801-induced decreases in cued/total food eaten (%), while aripiprazole and iloperidone demonstrated no significant effects. The results revealed that all of the drugs disturbed olfactory memory in the naive mice; however, only quetiapine reversed MK-801-induced memory impairment in the STFP test