Mean platelet volume and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio decrease in patients with depression with antidepressant treatment

Objective: Not only white blood cells but also platelets are being considered in inflammatory reactions from now on. Mean platelet volume (MPV) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) have been shown to change in inflammatory diseases like myocardial infarction, stroke and implicated in psychiatric disorders nowadays. Our first aim is to investigate the relation of MPV and NLR with depression and secondly to assess if they change with the treatment of depression. Methods: Forty-nine patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and hospitalized in a university hospital psychiatry inpatient unit retrospectively included in the study. Control group consisted of 48 hospital workers with no known disease. Complete blood count, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (CGI-S) scores at admission and at discharge were noted and compared for the patient group. Discussion: MPV of depressed patients was higher than controls. When we look at admission and discharge scores of clinical scales, decrement is statistically significant for both HAM-D and CGI-S. There was decline both in MPV and NLR which were both statistically significant. Conclusion: Decreasing MPV and NLR values with the treatment of depression confirm the involvement of inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of depression

The effect of smoking on cardiac diastolic parameters including Vp, a more reliable and newer parameter

Background: Previous studies have focused mainly on the acute effects of smoking on the diastolic function of the heart. The present study was conducted to demonstrate the chronic effects of smoking on the diastolic functional parameters of the heart, including transmitral M- mode coloured flow propagation velocity (Vp), among relatively younger asymptomatic adults. Method: Hundred smokers with histories of incessant smoking for at least one year prior to the time of the investigation were included in the prospectively designed study as group I. Group II consisted of 35 non-smokers, matched for age and gender. Addiction to smoking was graded according to the modified Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (M-FNDT). Each smoker was designated by a nicotine dependence index (NDI) according to the M-FNDT. Groups I and II were compared with respect to major diastolic functional parameters on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), including the E/A ratio, deceleration time (DT), isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) and Vp, along with basic clinical and echocardiographic parameters. Results: Thirty one smokers in group 1 and 5 non-smokers in group 2 were excluded from the study according to the pre-defined exclusion criteria. Therefore 69 smokers (mean age: 30 &#177; 4.9 years, M/F: 32/37) in group I were compared with 30 non-smokers (mean age: 31.4 &#177; 4.8 years, M/F: 15/15) in group II. In group I the mean values of E/A and Vp were significantly lower (p < 0.001), whereas the mean values of IVRT and DT were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in group II. In group I the value of NDI was positively correlated with the values of DT and IVTR (p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with the value of Vp (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Conventional and relatively new parameters of cardiac diastolic function, in particular Vp, were found to be impaired in smokers demonstrating the chronic adverse effects of smoking on the diastolic function of the heart. The severity of this impairment was closely correlated with the degree of addiction to smoking. (Cardiol J 2007; 14: 281-286

Türkiye’de diş hekimlerinin bifosfonatlar konusundaki farkındalık ve bilgilerinin değerlendirilmesi

Aim: Bisphosphonates (BPs) are inorganic pyrophosphate analogs used for the treatment of various diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of general dental practitioners (GDP), specialist trainees (ST), and specialists (S) in Turkey toward medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) and to optimize future training programs in this field. Materials and Methods: A self-report questionnaire consisting of 7 questions about demographic data, knowledge about BPs, MRONJ and treatment modalities was prepared and send to the members of Turkish Dental Association via email. Results: A total of 209 participants were included in this survey. The mean age of the ST group was significantly lower than the mean ages of the GDP and S groups (P= 0.003, P= 0.038). GDP are less likely to think of BPs administration and radiotherapy treatment than S or ST upon observation of an exposed bone in the head-and-neck region (P=0.048, P=0.008). In comparison to the S and ST groups, the GDP group displayed less knowledge regarding the radiological and intraoral examination of patients undergoing BP therapy (P= 0.034). Conclusion: The increasing awareness of dentists about usage and side effects of BPs is important for preventing MRONJ. The GDP group displayed significantly less knowledge regarding the radiological and intraoral examinations of patients undergoing BP therapy. Greater efforts are required to increase education and knowledge of MRONJ and BPs among dental practitioners.Amaç: Bisfosfonatlar çeşitli hastalıkların tedavisinde kullanılan inorganik pirofosfat analoglarıdır. Bu çalışma uzman olmayan diş hekimlerinin, uzmanlık öğrencilerinin ve uzmanların ilaca bağlı gelişen çene osteonekrozuna yönelik bilgi ve tutumlarını değerlendirmenin yanında, gelecekteki eğitim programlarını optimize etmeyi amaçlamıştır. Materyal ve Metot: Çalışmaya 209 katılımcı dahil edilmiştir. Türk Dişhekimleri Birliği’nin desteğiyle bir anket hazırlanmış ve üyeler arasında e-posta ile paylaşılmıştır. Katılımcıların demografik bilgiler, ilaca bağlı çene osteonekrozları, bisfosfonatlar ve tedavi yaklaşımları ile ilgili 7 sorudan oluşan anketi yanıtlamaları istenmiştir. Bu anket sorularına hekimlerin verdiği cevaplar sayı ve yüzde ile tanımlanmıştır. Bulgular: Ankete katılan uzmanlık öğrencilerinin ortalama yaşı, uzman olmayan diş hekimleri ve uzmanlardan anlamlı olarak düşük bulunmuştur (P = 0.003, P = 0.038). Uzman olmayan diş hekimleri, baş-boyun bölgesinde gözlemlenen ekspoze kemiğin bisfosfonat tedavisi ya da radyoterapiye bağlı olabilme ihtimalini diğer gruplara göre daha az değerlendirmiştir (P=0.048, P=0.008). Uzman ve uzmanlık öğrencilerine kıyasla uzman olmayan diş hekimleri, bisfosfonat kullanan hastaların radyolojik ve ağız içi bulguları hakkında daha az bilgi sahibi olduğunu belirtmiştir (P = 0.034). Sonuç: Diş hekimlerinin bisfosfonatların kullanımı ve yan etkileri konusunda artan farkındalığı MRONJ’un önlenmesi için önemlidir. Diş hekimleri arasında MRONJ ve bisfosfonatlar ile ilgili bilincin artırılması için daha fazla çaba gösterilmesi ve hedef kitleye yönelik eğitim planları oluşturulması gerekmektedi

The contribution of vacuum-assisted modified Menghini type needle to diagnosis of US-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid

PURPOSEWe aimed to determine the contribution of vacuum-assisted modified Menghini type needle to diagnosis of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the thyroid evaluated by a pathologist at the bedside.METHODSA total of 147 thyroid nodules in 138 patients (122 women, 16 men) were included in this prospective study. Sonographic features of nodules, number of aspirations, pain and pain severity during the process, hemorrhage, and presence of sample obtained for cell block analysis were recorded and analyzed with the results of aspiration biopsy.RESULTSUsing the 21G modified Menghini type needle, a diagnosis could not be reached in 14.3% of nodules. Adequate samples for cell block analysis were obtained in 47 nodules (32%), 17 of which contributed to the diagnosis. While the difference between diagnostic cytopathology results and the contribution of the cell block were statistically significant, obtainability of cell block samples was not significantly correlated with the number of aspirations or the presence of a cystic component in the nodule.CONCLUSIONFNAB with 21G vacuum-assisted modified Menghini type needle is a safe procedure with very low complication rates. In addition to the cytologic smear samples, microtissue fragments obtained with this method help pathologists in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules

Elit Türk kadın hentbolcularda 30 – 15 intermittent fitness test ile anaerobik performans ilişkisinin değerlendirilmesi

Bu araştırmanın amacı elit Türk kadın hentbolcuların dayanıklılık performanslarının belirlenmesinde kullanılan saha temelli 30-15 aralıklı test (IFT) performansı ile anaerobik performans; 30 saniye Wingate Anaerobik güç ve kapasite, çeviklik T-Testi performans sonuçları ilişkilerini araştırmaktır. Çalışmaya Türkiye Süper liginde oynayan 30 kadın hentbolcu gönüllü olarak katılmış 4 tanesi çalışmayı tamamlayamamıştır. Araştırma hipotezini test etmek için kesitsel tanımlayıcı korelasyon tasarımı kullanılmıştır. Ölçümler üç ayrı günde 30-15 IFT, Çeviklik T-Test ve Wingate 30 sn Anaerobik güç ve kapasite testleri 72 saat ara ile uygulanmıştır. Araştırma hipotezini test etmek için ilk olarak 30-15 IFT performans sonuçları ile anaerobik performans ve çeviklik ilişki katsayıları hesaplanmış ve ilişki tespit edilen değişkenlerin 30-15 IFT performansını ne kadar tahmin ettiğini belirlemek için de Çoklu Doğrusal Regrasyon analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Katılımcıların 30-15 dayanıklılık testi ile VO2maks kapasitelerine ulaşılmış ve oyuncuların VO2maks seviyeleri ile anaerobik güç ve kapasite arasındaki ilişkiye bakılmış bunun sonucunda yapılan regresyon analizinde, bu iki parametre arasında anlamlı bir ilişkiye rastlanılmamıştır (R2= 0,110 p>0,05). Çalışmada VO2maks ile çeviklik performansı arasındaki ilişki de incelenmiştir. Regresyon analizi bu iki parametre arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olmadığını ortaya çıkarmıştır (R2= 0,134 p>0,05). Özetle, elit kadın hentbolcularda, 30-15 IFT testinin anaerobik performans ile bir ilişkisinin olmadığı belirlenmiştir

Wpływ palenia tytoniu na parametry funkcji rozkurczowej lewej komory, w tym na Vp jako nowszy i bardziej wiarygodny parametr

Wstęp: We wcześniejszych badaniach skupiano się głównie na doraźnym, bezpośrednim wpływie palenia tytoniu na funkcję rozkurczową serca. Celem niniejszej pracy było przedstawienie wpływu długotrwałego palenia tytoniu na parametry funkcji rozkurczowej serca, w tym prędkość propagacji napływu mitralnego (Vp), ocenianą w badaniu doplerowskim znakowanym kolorem w prezentacji jednowymiarowej u stosunkowo młodych dorosłych bez objawów. Metody: Badanie miało charakter prospektywny. Do grupy I zakwalifikowano 100 osób palących tytoń nieprzerwanie przez przynajmniej rok przed rozpoczęciem badania. Grupę II stanowiło 35 niepalących pacjentów, dostosowanych do grupy I pod względem wieku i płci. Za pomocą zmodyfikowanego Kwestionariusza Tolerancji Nikotyny Fagerströma (M-FNDT) oceniono stopień uzależnienia od nikotyny u badanych pacjentów. Następnie na podstawie wskaźnika uzależnienia od nikotyny (NDI) uzyskanego z M-FNDT każdego z palaczy przydzielono do odpowiedniej podgrupy. Obie grupy pacjentów porównano na podstawie głównych parametrów rozkurczowych uzyskanych za pomocą echokardiografii przezklatkowej, takich jak stosunek E/A, czas deceleracji (DT), czas rozkurczu izowolumetrycznego (IVRT) i Vp, a także na podstawie podstawowych parametrów klinicznych i echokardiograficznych. Wyniki: Opierając się na wstępnych kryteriach wyłączenia, z badania wykluczono 31 palaczy z grupy I oraz 5 niepalących z grupy II. W rezultacie porównano 69 palaczy (śr. wiek: 30 &#177; &#177; 4,9 roku, M/K: 32/37) z grupy I oraz 30 niepalących (śr. wiek: 31,4 &#177; 4,8 roku, M/K: 15/15) z grupy II. W grupie I średnie wartości stosunku E/A oraz Vp były wyraźnie niższe (p < 0,001), podczas gdy średnie wartości IVRT oraz DT były znamiennie wyższe (p < 0,001) niż w grupie II. W grupie I wartość NDI była wprost proporcjonalna do DT oraz IVTR (p < 0,001) oraz odwrotnie proporcjonalna do Vp (p < 0,001). Wnioski: Zarówno konwencjonalne, jak i względnie nowe parametry oceny funkcji rozkurczowej lewej komory, zwłaszcza Vp, okazały się znacznie gorsze u osób palących tytoń, co odzwierciedla szkodliwy wpływ palenia na funkcję rozkurczową serca. Wielkość tego pogorszenia ściśle korelowała ze stopniem uzależnienia od palenia. (Folia Cardiologica Excerpta 2007; 2: 485&#8211;491

Extended Multilingual Protest News Detection -- Shared Task 1, CASE 2021 and 2022

We report results of the CASE 2022 Shared Task 1 on Multilingual Protest Event Detection. This task is a continuation of CASE 2021 that consists of four subtasks that are i) document classification, ii) sentence classification, iii) event sentence coreference identification, and iv) event extraction. The CASE 2022 extension consists of expanding the test data with more data in previously available languages, namely, English, Hindi, Portuguese, and Spanish, and adding new test data in Mandarin, Turkish, and Urdu for Sub-task 1, document classification. The training data from CASE 2021 in English, Portuguese and Spanish were utilized. Therefore, predicting document labels in Hindi, Mandarin, Turkish, and Urdu occurs in a zero-shot setting. The CASE 2022 workshop accepts reports on systems developed for predicting test data of CASE 2021 as well. We observe that the best systems submitted by CASE 2022 participants achieve between 79.71 and 84.06 F1-macro for new languages in a zero-shot setting. The winning approaches are mainly ensembling models and merging data in multiple languages. The best two submissions on CASE 2021 data outperform submissions from last year for Subtask 1 and Subtask 2 in all languages. Only the following scenarios were not outperformed by new submissions on CASE 2021: Subtask 3 Portuguese \& Subtask 4 English.Comment: To appear in CASE 2022 @ EMNLP 202

Real-World Outcomes of Anti-VEGF Treatment for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Turkey: A Multicenter Retrospective Study, Bosphorus Retina Study Group Report No: 1

Objectives: To evaluate the real-world outcomes of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) patients. Materials and Methods: Multicenter, retrospective, interventional, non-comparative study. The records of nAMD patients treated with an anti-VEGF agent on a pro re nata treatment regimen basis between January 2013 and December 2015 were reviewed. The patients who completed a follow-up period of 12 months were included. Primary outcome measures of this study were the visit and injection numbers during the first year. Results: Eight hundred eighty eyes of 783 patients met the inclusion criteria for the study. Mean number of visits at month 12 was 6.9±2.5 (range: 1-15). Mean number of injections at month 12 was 4.1±1.9 (range: 1-11). Mean visual acuity at baseline and months 3, 6, and 12 was 0.90±0.63 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), 0.79±0.57 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), 0.76±0.57 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), and 0.79±0.59 LogMAR (range: 0.0-3.0), respectively. Mean central retinal thickness at baseline and months 6 and 12 was 395±153 μm (range: 91-1582), 330±115 μm (range: 99-975), and 332±114 μm (range: 106-1191), respectively. Conclusion: The numbers of visits and injections were much lower than ideal and were insufficient with the pro re nata treatment regimen

Classification of Human Motion Using Radar Micro-Doppler Signatures with Hidden Markov Models

One of the desirable features in a ground surveillance radar is to provide information about what a detected person is doing. This would give a law enforcement organization ability to detect suspicious activities remotely and act accordingly. Previously, micro-Doppler radar signatures from humans were shown to have the necessary features to make that distinction. Typically, micro-Doppler signal spectrograms are used to obtain features to classify what the person is doing. However, most of these techniques treat the spectrogram as an image, and obtain features through some image processing techniques. In this work, we propose the use of hidden Markov models as an alternative method to statistically model both instantaneous and correlated long-term variations within the micro-Doppler signal to classify a motion. In addition, we propose use of principle component analysis (PCA) as a data driven feature extraction approach that captures vital statistics of the input at a much reduced dimension. Experiments show that with the proposed methods, perfect classification of four different motions can be attained when training and testing set both contains data from same people, and 90% accuracy is obtained when training and testing set has data from different people

Small bowel intussusception together with appendicitis in childhood: A case report

Simultaneous diagnosis of intussusception and appendicitis in the same patient have rarely been described in the pediatric population. We reported a small bowel intussusception case together with acute suppurative appendicitis. A 9 years old boy had abdominal colic pain and he had vomit frequently. On physical examination, he was awake, active and uncomfortable. Abdominal ultrasound (US) suggested ileoileocolic intussusception. Laparotomy was performed and an ileoileocolic intussusception was visualized. Ileoileocolic intussusception was reducted manually. After reduction appendix was visualized and it was acute suppurative appendicitis. Appendectomy was performed. Neither medical nor surgical problem occurred during long term follow-up. In conclusion, we though that it is important to examine the other pathologic conditions such as leading points, bowel complications and even appendicitis in case of intussusception