Reproduction in rare bathyal octopods Pteroctopus tetracirrhus and Scaeurgus unicirrhus (Cephalopoda: Octopoda) in the east Mediterranean as an apparent response to extremely oligotrophic deep seas

WOS: 000342260200007Reproductive patterns of two benthic bathyal octopods, Pteroctopus tetracirrhus and Scaeurgus unicirrhus have been studied in extremely nutrient-poor environment of the deep-sea Eastern Mediterranean. Both species were found to exhibit a reproductive tactics of producing eggs much larger than in the western part of the sea which likely results in larger hatchlings with higher viability. P. tetracirrhus exhibited a typical "deep-sea" spawning strategy of simultaneous maturation of a single batch of large eggs with atresia of excessive oocytes, whereas reproductive strategy of S. unicirrhus is particular for shelf octopodids: asynchronous maturation of numerous batches of small eggs with no obvious regulatory atresia. Existence of these two types of ovary development and utilisation of fecundity are closely related to two types of evolutionary stable reproductive strategies based on existence of either very large or very small eggs with a few species occupying the "intermediate" position. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.EBILTEM (Science and Technology Centre of Ege University)Ege University [2008/SUF/004]; Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [108Y102]Authors sincerely thank the EBILTEM (Science and Technology Centre of Ege University) (Project no. 2008/SUF/004) and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK, Project no. 108Y102) for financial support, both anonymous reviewers and Dr. Chingiz Nigmatullin for valuable comments, and Dr. Marta Soffker for improving English

A Strategy Based on the Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction of Cadmium in Environmental Samples Prior to Its Determination by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A simple method was developed by combining dispersive liquid-liquid microexraction (DLLME) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). For the pre-concentration of trace amounts of cadmium, a new complexation chelate of 2-[(4-phenylpiperazine-5-Thioxo- 4,5-dihydro-1 ,3,4-oxadiazole-2- yl)methyl]-5-methyl-4-[2-(1H-indol e-3-yl)ethyl]-2,4-dihydro-3H-1, 2,4-Triazole-3-one (PPTOMDT) was used and mixed with the solvents of chloroform and methanol. The mixture of the extraction solutions was then directly injected into an aqueous solution containing Cd2+ ions. After centrifugation, the settled phase was diluted with 500 mu L of ethanol/nitric acid and aspirated into the FAAS. The limit of detection (LOD) was found at 0.69 mu g L-1 under optimum conditions. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for 15 replicates at a 3.75 mu g L-1 Cd2+ concentration level was 3.21%. The calibration plot was linear within the range of 2.5-15 mu g L-1 of Cd2+. After the analytical characteristics were determined, the CRM-TMDW-500 Drinking Water and CRM-SA-C Sandy Soil C, both certified reference materials, were analyzed in order to validate the method. The application of the DLLME method has been successfully tested for the determination of cadmium in solid and liquid samples. The recoveries of the spiked sample ranged between 92-96%

Ribavirin is not effective against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever: observations from the Turkish experience

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral infection associated with a high mortality rate. Ribavirin is the only drug used in the treatment of this disease. Studies investigating the effectiveness of ribavirin in CCHF have been retrospective and to date have included only a small number of cases. In recent years, due to climate changes, the number of cases of CCHF in Turkey has increased, and experience in the treatment of CCHF has improved. Several studies have evaluated the efficacy of ribavirin in Turkey, including one randomized controlled trial and two studies with a large number of cases. In these studies, ribavirin therapy was not shown to decrease mortality rates; the mortality rate was 2-9% in patients treated with ribavirin and 5.6-11% in those who were not treated with this drug. These findings suggest that patients with CCHF should be followed with supportive care only until randomized controlled trials with larger groups have been conducted. (C) 2013 International Society for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A new model using platelet indices to predict liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection

We aimed to investigate whether mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) are variables determining the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infection. Patients were divided into two groups with fibrosis scores of 0-2 and 3-6 (according to Ishac scoring system). Whether MPV and PDW were independent variables determining the severity of liver fibrosis score or not was investigated by comparing these groups. Of the 111 cases, 74 (66.7 %) were male (mean age 37.7 +/- 11.6 years). Twenty-two of the cases (19.8 %) were HBeAg-positive. Fibrosis scores of 42 cases (37.8 %) were a parts per thousand yenaEuro parts per thousand 3 and the remaining 69 cases had fibrosis scores < 3 (62.2 %). Independent variables determining the severity of fibrosis score were low levels of albumin and mean platelet volume, and high levels of prothrombin time and PDW (Odds ratio (95 % confidence interval) and p values were 0.105 (0.018-0.605) and 0.012 for albumin, 0.402 (0.234-0.692) and 0.001 for mean platelet volume, 1.529 (1.183-1.975) and 0.001 for PDW, and 0.924 (0.875-0.976) and 0.005 for prothrombin time, respectively). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of regression model that is established using above mentioned parameters were 88.1, 75.3, 68.5, and 91.7 %, respectively (AUC = 0.886, p = 0.0001). MPV and PDW are independent variables determining the severity of liver fibrosis, and the regression model that is established using these parameters along with other markers, may give more information about the severity of liver fibrosis.Novartis Pharmaceutical Company; Merck Pharmaceutical Company(1) The presented data belong to Realist Observational Study. Realist Observational study is supported financially by Novartis Pharmaceutical Company. (2) Payment for English translation of the article was made by Merck Pharmaceutical Company