A study on analysis of cardiovascular diseases

Commonly seen in adults, cardiovascular diseases are important health problems. In order to investigate the causes of the diseases which affect the heart and the blood vessels, two datasets were used. First, one of these datasets is publicly available dataset provided by the University of California, Irvine Machine Learning  Repository. The effects of  biochemistry and hemogram laboratory test results for the Cardiovascular Diseases were analyzed by using the second dataset which was taken from the cardiology and other services of Yildirim Beyazit University Ataturk Training and Research Hospital. ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) booklet was taken as a reference for the patient and control groups. The successes of the classifier algorithms indicated that working with the datasets which have only limited number of attributes is not right step.Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; logistic regression; machine  learning; medical data; random forest

Acute brucella melitensis M16 infection model in mice treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors

Introduction: There is limited data in the literature about brucellosis related to an intracellular pathogen and anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFα) medication. The aim of this study was to evaluate acute Brucella infections in mice receiving anti-TNFα drug treatment. Methodology: Anti-TNFα drugs were injected in mice on the first and fifth days of the study, after which the mice were infected with B. melitensis M16 strain. Mice were sacrificed on the fourteenth day after infection. Bacterial loads in the liver and spleen were defined, and histopathological changes were evaluated. Results: Neither the liver nor the spleen showed an increased bacterial load in all anti-TNFα drug groups when compared to a non-treated, infected group. The most significant histopathological findings were neutrophil infiltrations in the red pulp of the spleen and apoptotic cells with hepatocellular pleomorphism in the liver. There was no significant difference among the groups in terms of previously reported histopathological findings, such as extramedullary hematopoiesis and granuloma formation. Conclusions: There were no differences in hepatic and splenic bacterial load and granuloma formation, which indicate worsening of the acute Brucella infection in mice; in other words, anti-TNFα treatment did not exacerbate the acute Brucella spp. infection in mice. © 2015 Kutlu et al

Changing the diameter of 3D printed tissue engineering scaffolds made via melt electrospinning writing

Introduction. Due to the structural complexity of the natural tissues, a production of anatomically accurate three-dimensional (3D) structures is a major challenge in tissue engineering. Previously a technology termed melt electrospinning writing (MEW), produced 3D constructs out of filaments sized from 0.8 μm up to 140 μm [1-3]. Here the fiber diameter control during MEW printing was investigated. Methods: Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers were printed with a custom-built MEW device [4] at 73 ± 1 °C temperature, 8.5 kV voltage difference and 6 mm distance between the nozzle and the collector. The polymer flowrate was controlled by the air pressure variation between 0.5 and 4 bar. For the different fiber stretching, collector speed was varied from 300 to 10000 mm/min. Results. Fiber diameter could be changed from 2.02±0.57 μm to 49.93±2.61 μm (Figure 1A). Multi-modal 3D printed structures, produced within a single print are shown in Figure 1B-D. Figure 1B demonstrates a grid pattern of 3 μm fibers overlaid with 30 μm fibers. Figure 1C and 1D shows that multidiameter fibers can be precisely stacked and rotated around each other. As an example of a 3D-printed construct, a tapered frame for spheroid capture is shown in Figure 1E; due to the different diameters, this construct has a larger pore size at the top compared to the bottom. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Bio-based polymer nanocomposites based on layered silicates having a reactive and renewable intercalant

Soybean oil-based polymer nanocomposites were synthesized from acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) combined with styrene monomer and montmorillonite (MMT) clay by using in situ free radical polymerization reaction. Special attention was paid to the modification of MMT clay, which was carried out by methacryl-functionalized and quaternized derivative of methyl oleate intercalant. It was synthesized from olive oil triglyceride, as a renewable intercalant. The resultant nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of increased nanofiller loading in thermal and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The nanocomposites exhibited improved thermal and dynamic mechanical properties compared with neat acrylated epoxidized soybean oil based polymer matrix. The desired exfoliated nanocomposite structure was achieved when the OrgMMT loading was 1 and 2 wt % whereas partially exfoliated nanocomposite was obtained in 3 wt % loading. It was found that about 400 and 500% increments in storage modulus at glass transition and rubbery regions, respectively were achieved at 2 wt % clay loading compared to neat polymer matrix while the lowest thermal degradation rate was gained by introducing 3 wt % clay loading. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Local spatial regression models : a comparative analysis on soil contamination

Spatial data analysis focuses on both attribute and locational information. Local analyses deal with differences across space whereas global analyses deal with similarities across space. This paper addresses an experimental comparative study to analyse the spatial data by some weighted local regression models. Five local regression models have been developed and their estimation capacities have been evaluated. The experimental studies showed that integration of objective function based fuzzy clustering to geostatistics provides some accurate and general models structures. In particular, the estimation performance of the model established by combining the extended fuzzy clustering algorithm and standard regional dependence function is higher than that of the other regression models. Finally, it could be suggested that the hybrid regression models developed by combining soft computing and geostatistics could be used in spatial data analysis

8-Bromo-1,3-diphenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-naphtho­[1,2-e][1,3]oxazine

The title compound, C24H18BrNO, consists of an envelope-configured oxazine ring with a fused 8-bromo-1,3-diphenyl group and two bonded phenyl rings. The dihedral angles between the mean planes of the 8-bromo-1,3-diphenyl and the phenyl rings are 54.5 (6) and 87.4 (8)°, respectively. The oxazine is essentially coplanar with the 8-bromo-1,3-diphenyl [dihedral angle = 9.4 (1)°]. Weak C—H⋯π inter­actions contribute to the crystal packing

Turner syndrome and associated problems in turkish children: A multicenter study

Objective: Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder caused by complete or partial X chromosome monosomy that manifests various clinical features depending on the karyotype and on the genetic background of affected girls. This study aimed to systematically investigate the key clinical features of TS in relationship to karyotype in a large pediatric Turkish patient population. Methods: Our retrospective study included 842 karyotype-proven TS patients aged 0-18 years who were evaluated in 35 different centers in Turkey in the years 2013-2014. Results: The most common karyotype was 45,X (50.7%), followed by 45,X/46,XX (10.8%), 46,X,i(Xq) (10.1%) and 45,X/46,X,i(Xq) (9.5%). Mean age at diagnosis was 10.2±4.4 years. The most common presenting complaints were short stature and delayed puberty. Among patients diagnosed before age one year, the ratio of karyotype 45,X was significantly higher than that of other karyotype groups. Cardiac defects (bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta and aortic stenosi) were the most common congenital anomalies, occurring in 25% of the TS cases. This was followed by urinary system anomalies (horseshoe kidney, double collector duct system and renal rotation) detected in 16.3%. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was found in 11.1% of patients, gastrointestinal abnormalities in 8.9%, ear nose and throat problems in 22.6%, dermatologic problems in 21.8% and osteoporosis in 15.3%. Learning difficulties and/or psychosocial problems were encountered in 39.1%. Insulin resistance and impaired fasting glucose were detected in 3.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Dyslipidemia prevalence was 11.4%. Conclusion: This comprehensive study systematically evaluated the largest group of karyotype-proven TS girls to date. The karyotype distribution, congenital anomaly and comorbidity profile closely parallel that from other countries and support the need for close medical surveillance of these complex patients throughout their lifespan. © Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology

Bilayer manganites: polarons in the midst of a metallic breakdown

The exact nature of the low temperature electronic phase of the manganite materials family, and hence the origin of their colossal magnetoresistant (CMR) effect, is still under heavy debate. By combining new photoemission and tunneling data, we show that in La{2-2x}Sr{1+2x}Mn2O7 the polaronic degrees of freedom win out across the CMR region of the phase diagram. This means that the generic ground state is that of a system in which strong electron-lattice interactions result in vanishing coherent quasi-particle spectral weight at the Fermi level for all locations in k-space. The incoherence of the charge carriers offers a unifying explanation for the anomalous charge-carrier dynamics seen in transport, optics and electron spectroscopic data. The stacking number N is the key factor for true metallic behavior, as an intergrowth-driven breakdown of the polaronic domination to give a metal possessing a traditional Fermi surface is seen in the bilayer system.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, includes supplementary informatio

Risk of pneumonia in patients with COPD initiating fixed dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) / long-acting bronchodilator (LABD) formulations containing extrafine beclometasone dipropionate versus patients initiating LABD without ICS

Professor Dave Singh is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Jaco Voorham is acknowledged for his contribution to protocol development. We would also like to acknowledge Ms. Shilpa Suresh (MSc) of the Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute (OPRI), Singapore, for editorial and formatting assistance which supported the development of this publication. This study was conducted by the Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute (OPRI) Pte Ltd and was funded by Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.Peer reviewedPublisher PD