Is neck circumference measurement an indicator for abdominal obesity? A pilot study on Turkish Adults

Background: Neck circumference (NC) measurement is one of the simple screening measurements which can be used as an index of upper body fat distribution to identify obesity.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between neck circumferences and obesity.Methods:A total 411 volunteer adults participated in this study (174 men, 237 women). A questionnaire which consisted of anthropometric measurements and demographic features was used. Patients with NC ≥37 cm for men and ≥34 cm for women require evaluation of overweight status.Results: The percentages of the men and women with BMI ≥ 25kg/m2 were 55.2% and 27.0% respectively and with high neck circumferences were 85.1% and 38.8%, respectively. The percentages of the men and women with high waist circumference were 31.6% and 79.3%, respectively. In both gender there were positive significant correlations between neck circumference, body weight (men, r=0.576; women, r=0.702; p=0.000), waist circumferences (men, r=0.593; women r=0.667; p=0.000), hip circumferences (men, r=0.568; women, r=0.617; p=0.000) and BMI (men, r=0.587; women, r=0.688; p=0.000).Conclusions: This study indicates that NC was associated with body weight, BMI, waist and hip circumferences and waist/hip ratio for men and women. A significant association was found between NC and conventional overweight and obesity indexes. NC was associated with waist/hip ratio for men and women.Key words: Neck circumference, obesity

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

Microstructural analysis with graded and non-graded indium in InGaN solar cell

In this study are graded and non graded InGaN/GaN samples grown on c-oriented sapphire substrate using the Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) technique. The structural and morphological properties of the grown InGaN/GaN solar cell structures are analyzed using High Resolution X-ray Diffraction (HRXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM). Each structures c and a lattice parameters strain, biaxial strain, hydrostatic strain, stress, lattice relax, tilt angle, mosaic crystal size, dislocation densities of GaN and InGaN layers are determined by XRD measurements. In accordance with these calculations, the effect of graded structure on the defects, are discussed. As a dramatic result; although values of full width at half maximum (FWHM) are broad, a considerable decrease at dislocations is noticed. The AFM observations have revealed that the two dimensional growth of the graded sample is more significant and its roughness value is lower. JV measurements shown that the performance of the graded structure is higher. It is determined that all test results are consistent with each other. © Copyright 2017 by American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved

Examination of the temperature related structural defects of InGaN/GaN solar cells

In this study the effects of the annealing temperature on the InGaN/GaN solar cells with different In-contents grown on sapphire substrate by the Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) are analyzed by High Resolution X-ray Diffraction (HRXRD) and an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The plane angles, mosaic crystal sizes, mixed stress, dislocation intensities of the structure of the GaN and InGaN layers are determined. According to the test results, there are no general characteristic trends observed due to temperature at both structures. There are fluctuating failures determined at both structures as of 350 °C. The defect density increased on the GaN layer starting from 350 °C and reaching above 400 °C. A similar trend is observed on the InGaN layer, too. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

X-ray detector XRD on BeEagleSat and the development of the improved x-ray detector iXRD

Many interesting astrophysical objects are intense X-ray emitters. Hard X-ray observatories in various sizes have been operating in space and providing exciting scientific results that we cannot obtain in our laboratories on Earth. Nanosatellites with CdZnTe hard X-ray detectors have been launched into orbit as well, and the future holds great promise with such small satellites contributing significantly to high energy astrophysics. One of those satellites is the BeEagleSat which carried the X-ray detector (XRD)to low Earth orbit. The XRD has a 15⨯15⨯3 mm 3 volume CdZnTe detector, a cross-strip electrode design, a RENA readout chip controlled by an MSP 430 microcontroller. Due to a communication problem with the receiver, no science data could have been downloaded from the XRD. Recently, an improved version of the XRD has been designed (called the iXRD)and currently it is in the production phase. The improvements compared to the XRD are the larger volume crystal with almost three times the collecting area, a collimator to limit the field of view for focused scientific return, and a motherboard-daughterboard design to reduce electronic noise

Dietary Restriction Depends on Nutrient Composition to Extend Chronological Lifespan in Budding Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

10.1371/journal.pone.0064448PLoS ONE85

Effect of different rootstocks on the bud-take, nutrient absorption rate and growth of some apricot cultivars

In this work 5 rootstocks (apricot seedling, Nemaguard, GF-31, Pixy, a plumcot) and 7 cultivars (as dried apricot cvs: Hacihaliloglu, Kabaasi, as table apricot cvs: Karacabey, Aprikoz, Beliana, Rouge du Roussillon, J.Foulon) were used. The rates of bud-takes of all experimental cvs were low on Pixy rootstocks. From the stand point of stem diameters and heights it was found that apricot seedlings and plumcot's rooted cuttings were the strongest, GF-31's rooted cuttings were strong and Nemaguard and Pixy seedlings were weak rootstocks. Among the cvs, Kabaasi seemed to be weaker than the others. Branching of the nursery plants was less on Pixy than the other rootstocks. The uptakes of N, P, Ca and Mg were affected by the rootstocks. In the leaves of the cvs budded on different rootstocks the levels of N and P were found normal but the K levels were generally very high due to the high K contents of the soils. The leaves were found deficient in Ca and Mg because of the antagonistic effect of K, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu contents of the leaves were found adequate and it seemed that their uptakes with the exception of that of Fe, were not affected by the rootstocks