Evaluation of patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease: Preliminary results from the Turk-UIP study

OBJECTIVE: Differential diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is important among fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILD). This study aimed to evaluate the rate of IPF in patients with fibrotic ILD and to determine the clinical-laboratory features of patients with and without IPF that would provide the differential diagnosis of IPF. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included the patients with the usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern or possible UIP pattern on thorax high-resolution computed tomography, and/or UIP pattern, probable UIP or possible UIP pattern at lung biopsy according to the 2011 ATS/ERSARS/ALAT guidelines. Demographics and clinical and radiological data of the patients were recorded. All data recorded by researchers was evaluated by radiology and the clinical decision board. RESULTS: A total of 336 patients (253 men, 83 women, age 65.8 +/- 9.0 years) were evaluated. Of the patients with sufficient data for diag-nosis (n=300), the diagnosis was IPF in 121 (40.3%), unclassified idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in 50 (16.7%), combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in 40 (13.3%), and lung involvement of connective tissue disease (CTD) in 16 (5.3%). When 29 patients with definite IPF features were added to the patients with CPFE, the total number of IPF patients reached 150 (50%). Rate of male sex (p<0.001), smoking history (p<0.001), and the presence of clubbing (p=0.001) were significantly high in patients with IPE None of the women <50 years and none of the men <50 years of age without a smoking history were diagnosed with IPE Presence of at least 1 of the symptoms suggestive of CTD, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and antinuclear antibody (FANA) positivity rates were significantly higher in the non-IPF group (p<0.001, p=0.029, p=0.009, respectively). CONCLUSION: The rate of IPF among patients with fibrotic ILD was 50%. In the differential diagnosis of IPF, sex, smoking habits, and the presence of clubbing are important. The presence of symptoms related to CTD, ESR elevation, and EANA positivity reduce the likelihood of IPF

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Economic importance of water for sustainable development and sectorial sharing

Dünya ekonomisini sosyal kapsayıcılık ve çevresel duyarlılıkla birleştirerek normatif bir bakış açısı sunmayı amaçlayan sürdürülebilir kalkınmada, suyun ekonomik değeri ve sektörel paylaşımı tez konusunu oluşturmuştur. Bu anlamda, ulusal ve uluslararası kuruluşlar, sivil toplum örgütleri, internet siteleri ve konu ile ilgili çeşitli kitap, makale, bildiri ve rapor gibi belgelerden toplanan bilimsel veriler analiz edilerek makro düzeyde suyun sürdürülebilir kalkınmada ekonomik önemi ve sektörel paylaşımı ortaya konmuştur. Çalışmada, sürdürülebilir kalkınma çağı, dünya su varlığı ve su ayak izi, su hakkı, suyun ticarileştirilmesi, Avrupa Birliği su politikaları, sınıraşan sular ve sürdürülebilir kalkınmada suyun paylaşımı adlarıyla yedi ana başlık altında, değişen su paradigması dâhilinde analizler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Tüm canlılar için ikame edilemeyen bir kaynak olan, insanlığın ortak hakkı olarak kabul edilen ve gelecek kuşaklar için korunması gereken suyun, ülkelerin kalkınmasında ki yeri ve önemi vurgulanmıştır. Artan dünya nüfusu ve gelişen sanayi sektörü nedeniyle bugün alınıp satılan bir ticari meta olarak, yatırım ve kazanç unsuru olan su, artık kendi ekonomisini oluşturmuştur. Tüm canlıların ve ekonomik sektörlerin müştereği olarak görülen suyun, doğal çevrim dâhilinde insanlar tarafından gerek miktar gerekse kalite olarak en verimli şekilde ekonomik, sosyal ve çevresel yararlar içinde, bugünün gereksinmelerini karşılarken gelecek kuşaklarında kendi gereksinmelerini karşılama olanaklarını elinden almadan, sürdürülebilir bir kalkınma içinde kullanılması önerilmiştir.In sustainable development, which aims to present a normative perspective by combining the world economy with social inclusion and environmental awareness, the economic value and sectorial sharing of water has constituted the thesis subject. In this sense, by analysing scientific data collected from national and international organizations, non-governmental organizations, websites and documents such as various books, articles, declarations and reports on the subject, the economic importance and sectorial sharing of water in sustainable development at macro level has been revealed. In the study, analyses were carried out within the changing water paradigm under seven main headings: the age of sustainable development, the world water existence and water footprint, the right to water, the commercialization of water, the European Union water policies, transboundary waters and water sharing in sustainable development. The place and importance of water, which is an indispensable resource for all living things, accepted as the common right of humanity and which should be preserved for future generations, has been emphasized. As a commercial commodity that is bought and sold today due to the increasing world population and the developing industrial sector, water, which is an investment and gain element, has now formed its own economy. Water, which is seen as the common of all living things and economic sectors, has been suggested to be used by people within the natural cycle in the most efficient way both in terms of quantity and quality, within the economic, social and environmental benefits, while meeting the needs of today, without taking away the opportunities to meet their needs in future generations, in a sustainable development

Cutaneuos findings in patients with predialysis chronic kidney disease

ConclusionsThis is the largest study investigating dermatologic findings in a well-characterized predialysis CKD patient population. We found that at least one cutaneous finding was present in almost all of the CKD patients. Cutaneous findings are very common and diverse among predialysis CKD patients

Epidemiology and determinants of pruritus in pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients

CKD-P was almost present in one in every five pre-dialysis CKD patients. Interestingly, the prevalence was not affected by the stage of the CKD. For the first time, our results showed a significant association between CKD-P and peripheral eosinophilia and anemia. Besides this, xerosis cutis seems a determinant factor for CKD-P and its severity

MTA-1 expression is associated with metastasis and epithelial to mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer cells

Although metastasis associated protein 1 (MTA1) has been widely linked to tumor metastasis, the relevant mechanisms remain to be elucidated, especially in colorectal cancer (CRC). Here, we have investigated the link between MTA1, metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in CRC. Eighteen normal colon tissues and 91 resected tumor samples were analyzed for MTA1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). IHC indicated low or no nuclear MTA1 expression in the normal tissues and significantly higher expression in Grade II, Grade III and liver metastasis tumors. No statistically significant difference was observed in MTA1 expression between Grade III and liver metastatic tumors. To demonstrate the functional importance of MTA1 in vitro, the gene was silenced in HCT-116 cells and LoVo cells and overexpressed in HCT-116 cells. MTA1 overexpression in HCT-116 cells enhanced proliferation, adhesion to fibronectin, motility, migration, invasion through Matrigel, anchorage-independent growth, neoangiogenesis and induced a loss of apoptosis. Silencing of MTA1 resulted in a reversal of all of these features. Mechanistically, MTA1 silencing caused an increase in the epithelial markers E-cadherin and ZO-1 and a decrease in the mesenchymal marker vimentin while MTA1 overexpression caused an increase in vimentin expression. Moreover, MTA1 enhanced the expression of Snai1 and Slug; silencing of MTA1 reduced their recruitment to the promoter of E-cadherin, thereby leading to its expression. MTA1 is highly expressed in higher grade tumors and is important in the orchestration of various phenotypic changes in CRC, most likely by inducing EMT. This further corroborates its role as a master regulator in tumorigenesis

The NF-kappa B target genes ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 are differentially regulated during spontaneous differentiation of Caco-2 cells

Intestinal epithelial differentiation entails the formation of highly specialized cells with specific absorptive, secretory, digestive and immune functions. Cellcell and cellmicroenvironment interactions appear to be crucial in determining the outcome of the differentiation process. Using the Caco-2 cell line, which undergoes spontaneous re-differentiation when grown past confluency, we observed a loss of VCAM-1 (vascular cell adhesion molecule 1) mRNA expression, while ICAM-1 (intercellular cell adhesion molecule 1) mRNA expression was seen to increase over the course of differentiation. Protein kinase C? (PKC?) acted downstream of protein kinase Ca (PKCa) to inactivate inhibitor of ?B (I?B) and activate nuclear factor ?B (NF-?B) in undifferentiated cells, and this pathway was inhibited in the differentiated cells. The increase in ICAM-1 mRNA expression in the differentiated cells was due to increased promoter recruitment of C/EBP beta, which transcriptionally up-regulated ICAM-1 mRNA. However, protein expression of ICAM-1 was found to decrease over the course of differentiation due to degradation in the proteasome and lysosome. Immunohistochemistry using tumor samples from colon cancer patients indicated that non-transformed matched normal cells (well-differentiatied) showed no ICAM-1 expression, but the poorly differentiated tumor cells showed higher expression. Functionally, a decrease in adhesion to human umbilical vein endothelial cells was observed in the differentiated Caco-2 cells. Thus, regulation of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, although both NF-?B target genes, appears to be different over the course of epithelial differentiation in Caco-2 cells

Europium and terbium lanthanide ions co-doping in TiO2photoanode tosynchronously improve light-harvesting and open-circuit voltage for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells

WOS:000528209300023In this study, we explore the effects on the incorporation of europium (Eu3+) and terbium (Tb3+) rare-earth ions into titanium dioxide (TiO2) photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies affirm that the Eu3+ ions are arranged at the cationic locales of Ti4+ in the matrix whereas the site inhabitance was remunerated by Tb3+ ions, supporting that the anatase phase stays unaltered without generating any new deformities. Additionally, the Eu3+ ions decidedly changed the conduction band minimum of TiO2, actually, Tb3+ ions contrarily conversion because of various vacant trap states in the band gap. Besides, the photoinduced electron transfer estimations show an efficient interfacial charge transfer for co-doped TiO2 (k(ET) = 3.1 ns) contrasted with the bare TiO2 (2.6 ns). DSSCs based on Eu3+/Tb3+ co-doped TiO2 display higher efficiency (9.11%) than those for the bare TiO2 (7.20%) and the exclusively Eu3+ (8.01%) or Tb3+ (7.10%) doped samples, which is ascribed to the joined impact of a faster electron transportation and longer electron lifetime in the co-doped TiO2 film. This work may open another approach to further improve the performance of DSSCs by Eu3+/Tb3+ co-doping technique, advancing the development of DSSCs toward commercial applications

Hardware implementation of K2RED and plantard modular multiplication algorithms in post-quantum cryptography

As the era of Post-Quantum Cryptography emerges, the demand for efficient and secure cryptographic algorithms has intensified. This conference paper navigates through the details of employing Number Theoretic Transform based modular multiplication algorithm which is K2RED tailored for post-quantum cryptographic applications, with a specific emphasis on their Field Programmable Gate Array implementation. NTT is an operation of Lattice Based Cryptography and it converts the numbers to finite field and modular multiplication operation is carried out. So, modular multiplication is the essential operation of NTT and its efficiency is critical for NTT operation. Our findings not only contribute to the growing body of knowledge in PQC but also offer practical guidance for engineers and researchers seeking to implement robust and efficient cryptographic solutions on FPGA platforms. The presented performance metrics serve as a benchmark for evaluating the feasibility and scalability of modular multiplication algorithms in the context of PQC systems. We present a detailed analysis of the area, speed, and latency performance of the implemented modular multiplication algorithms on FPGA platforms. Given the novelty offered by this study, it has demonstrated that the K2RED algorithm can be used with different bit lengths. Similarly, Plantard and K2RED algorithms have been utilized to create and report different circuit schematics according to various requirements

An insight into titania nanopowders modifying with manganese ions: A promising route for highly efficient and stable photoelectrochemical solar cells

WOS:000418314500005In this study, we firstly report the synthesis of pure and manganese (Mn) doped titania nanopowders by solution-based chemical process followed by ball-milling and ultra-sonication processes and their usage as photoanode material in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Besides examining the properties of physical and charge transfer dynamics, we also made a detailed cost analysis to compare with commercial P25 nanopowders. By incorporating Mn4+ ions into titania matrix, we have also succeeded not only in lower price but also in significantly enhancing the dye loading capability by increasing specific surface area and the retarding the recombination of electron-hole pairs by forming the discrete interstitial states within the band gap as well as accelerating electron transfer by tailoring in energy gap, leading to better photovoltaic performance. Such that, the cell assembled with 0.4 mol% Mn doped TiO2 yields an efficiency of 7.33%, which is similar to 47% and similar to 65% higher than the value obtained for P25 and pure titania-based photoanode, respectively, and shows a fast, stable, and completely reversible photocurrent response accompanying each switch-on/off event. Furthermore, the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) measurements indicate an efficient interfacial charge transfer for 0.4 mol%Mn doped titania (k(ET) = 0.99 x 10(8) s(-1)) compared to the both synthesized pure TiO2 (0.74 x 10(8) s(-1)) and commercial P25 (0.94 x 10(8) s(-1)) photoanodes. This work renders the possibility of synthesizing low-cost and easy-preparation Mn-doped titania nanopowders and describes an innovative approach to further boost the efficiency of green technologies such as solar-driven water splitting, photoelectrochemical and perovskite solar cells applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved