Atmospheric conditions of extreme precipitation events in western Turkey for the period 2006–2015

This paper investigates the precipitation types and background physical mechanisms of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) over western Turkey during the period 2006–2015. The EPEs are described as the precipitation values above the 90th percentile obtained from the hourly precipitation dataset, which has high spatial resolution. Precipitation types associated with EPEs are identified by using radar outputs and the Lamb weather type (LWT) approach. It is found that EPEs occurred more frequently in the Marmara and Aegean regions during autumn and winter months. In Marmara, mainly 21&thinsp;%, 17&thinsp;%, and 15&thinsp;% of total autumn EPEs show convective, cyclonic, and sea-effect precipitation characteristics, respectively. While convective EPEs are seen more commonly in the southern portions, cyclonic and sea-effect-originated EPEs mainly affect the southwest and northeastern parts of Marmara. Among these three precipitation types, convective mechanisms generally produce more intense daily precipitation (66.1&thinsp;mm on average) in the Marmara Region under the proper synoptic conditions (high-pressure center over the Balkan Peninsula and low-pressure center over the eastern Mediterranean). Based on the hourly observations, convective types of extreme precipitation (EP) show two peak values during afternoon and evening times of the day and are linked to diurnal heating. In terms of the Aegean Region, cyclone-originated EP, which includes 65&thinsp;% of the total winter EPEs, is more common in the whole territory and reaches its peak value during the early hours of the day.</p

Use of social networking in the Middle East: student perspectives in higher education

This study aims to determine the benefits, risks, awareness, cultural factors, and sustainability, allied to social networking (SN) use in the higher education (HE) sector in Middle Eastern countries, namely Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Using an online survey, 1180 complete responses were collected and analyzed using the statistical confirmatory factor analysis method. The use of SN in the Middle Eastern HE sector has the capacity to promote and motivate students to acquire professional and personal skills for their studies and future workplace; however, the use of SN by tertiary students is also associated with several risks: isolation, depression, privacy, and security. Furthermore, culture is influenced by using SN use, since some countries shifted from one dimension to another based on Hofstede's cultural framework. The study new findings are based on a sample at a specific point in time within a culture. The study findings encourage academics to include SN in unit activities and assessments to reap the benefits of SN, while taking steps to mitigate any risks that SN poses to students. Although other studies in the Middle East examined the use of Learning Management System and Facebook in, HE as a means of engaging students in discussions and communications, however, this study contributes a better understanding of the benefits and risks, awareness, culture, and sustainability, associated with the use of SN in the HE sector in the Middle East. Finally, the paper concludes with an acknowledgment of the study limitations and suggestions for future research

Metallothionein – overexpression as a highly significant prognostic factor in melanoma: a prospective study on 1270 patients

Metallothioneins (MT) are ubiquitous, intracellular small proteins with high affinity for heavy metal ions. In the last decades, it was shown that MT overexpression in a variety of cancers is associated with resistance to anticancer drugs and is combined with a poor prognosis. In this prospective study, we examined the role of MT overexpression in melanoma patients as a prognostic factor for progression and survival. Between 1993 and 2004, 3386 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma were investigated by using a monoclonal antibody against MT on routinely fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. In all, 1270 patients could be followed up for further statistical analysis (Fisher's exact test, Mantel–Haenszel χ2 test, Kaplan–Meier curves). The MT data of disease-free interval and overall survival were compared univariately and multivariately in Cox regression analysis. Immunohistochemical overexpression of MT in tumour cells of patients with primary melanoma (310 of 1270; 24.4%) was associated with a higher risk for progression (117 of 167; 70.1%) and reduced survival (80 of 110; 72.7%) of the disease (P<0.0001). Similarly, Kaplan–Meier curves gave highly significant disadvantages for the MT-positive group. Univariate analysis (relative risk 7.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.2–10.2; P<0.0001 for progression; relative risk 7.1; 95% CI 4.7–10.9; P<0.0001 for survival), as well as multivariate analysis with other prognostic markers resulted in MT overexpression as a highly significant and independent factor for prognosis in primary melanoma

Alteration of proliferation and apoptotic markers in normal and premalignant tissue associated with prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: Molecular markers identifying alterations in proliferation and apoptotic pathways could be particularly important in characterizing high-risk normal or pre-neoplastic tissue. We evaluated the following markers: Ki67, Minichromosome Maintenance Protein-2 (Mcm-2), activated caspase-3 (a-casp3) and Bcl-2 to determine if they showed differential expression across progressive degrees of intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer in the prostate. To identify field effects, we also evaluated whether high-risk expression patterns in normal tissue were more common in prostates containing cancer compared to those without cancer (supernormal), and in histologically normal glands adjacent to a cancer focus as opposed to equivalent glands that were more distant. METHODS: The aforementioned markers were studied in 13 radical prostatectomy (RP) and 6 cystoprostatectomy (CP) specimens. Tissue compartments representing normal, low grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (LGPIN), high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), as well as different grades of cancer were mapped on H&E slides and adjacent sections were analyzed using immunohistochemistry. Normal glands within 1 mm distance of a tumor focus and glands beyond 5 mm were considered "near" and "far", respectively. Randomly selected nuclei and 40 × fields were scored by a single observer; basal and luminal epithelial layers were scored separately. RESULTS: Both Ki-67 and Mcm-2 showed an upward trend from normal tissue through HGPIN and cancer with a shift in proliferation from basal to luminal compartment. Activated caspase-3 showed a significant decrease in HGPIN and cancer compartments. Supernormal glands had significantly lower proliferation indices and higher a-casp3 expression compared to normal glands. "Near" normal glands had higher Mcm-2 indices compared to "far" glands; however, they also had higher a-casp3 expression. Bcl-2, which varied minimally in normal tissue, did not show any trend across compartments or evidence for field effects. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that proliferation and apoptosis are altered not only in preneoplastic lesions but also in apparently normal looking epithelium associated with cancer. Luminal cell expression of Mcm-2 appears to be particularly promising as a marker of high-risk normal epithelium. The role of apoptotic markers such as activated caspase-3 is more complex, and might depend on the proliferation status of the tissue in question

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p&lt;0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p&lt;0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised