Roles of the systemic inflammatory response biomarkers in the diagnosis of cancer patients with solid tumors

Aim: Cancer is still considered as one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Various tumor factors have been used for the diagnosis and follow-up of solid tumors; however, their clinical features remains controversial in terms of their diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive values. In this study, we aimed to investigate the use of the systemic inflammatory response biomarkers, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), in the diagnosis of solid tumors. Method: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 256 patients with solid tumors, including lung, breast, liver, and pancreatic cancers, who were diagnosed at the outpatient clinics of our institution between January 2017 and July 2018. The neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet counts were measured using a hematology analyzer and the results were analyzed statistically. Results: The results of the receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the NLR and LMR could be statistically reliable biomarkers, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.574 (p = 0.017) and 0.596 (p = 0.002). However, the PLR statistically failed to discriminate the patients and the control subjects, with AUC values of 0.545 (p = 0.148). Conclusions: Certain systemic inflammatory response biomarkers, such as the NLR and LMR, can play roles in the clinical diagnosis of patients with solid tumors

Post COVID-19 irritable bowel syndrome

Objectives: The long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection on the gastrointestinal tract remain unclear. Here, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and post-COVID-19 disorders of gut-brain interaction after hospitalisation for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Design: GI-COVID-19 is a prospective, multicentre, controlled study. Patients with and without COVID-19 diagnosis were evaluated on hospital admission and after 1, 6 and 12 months post hospitalisation. Gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety and depression were assessed using validated questionnaires. Results: The study included 2183 hospitalised patients. The primary analysis included a total of 883 patients (614 patients with COVID-19 and 269 controls) due to the exclusion of patients with pre-existing gastrointestinal symptoms and/or surgery. At enrolment, gastrointestinal symptoms were more frequent among patients with COVID-19 than in the control group (59.3% vs 39.7%, p<0.001). At the 12-month follow-up, constipation and hard stools were significantly more prevalent in controls than in patients with COVID-19 (16% vs 9.6%, p=0.019 and 17.7% vs 10.9%, p=0.011, respectively). Compared with controls, patients with COVID-19 reported higher rates of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) according to Rome IV criteria: 0.5% versus 3.2%, p=0.045. Factors significantly associated with IBS diagnosis included history of allergies, chronic intake of proton pump inhibitors and presence of dyspnoea. At the 6-month follow-up, the rate of patients with COVID-19 fulfilling the criteria for depression was higher than among controls. Conclusion: Compared with controls, hospitalised patients with COVID-19 had fewer problems of constipation and hard stools at 12 months after acute infection. Patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher rates of IBS than controls. Trial registration number: NCT04691895

The effect of laying period on egg quality traits and chemical composition of Lindovskaya (Linda) geese reared under breeder conditions

WOS: 000488524400012The study was conducted to determine the effect of laying period on egg quality traits as well as the chemical composition of Lindovskaya geese. The egg quality traits were examined by randomly taking a total of 90 eggs on the 45th +/- 5, 60th +/- 5, and 75th +/- 5 days of the laying period from 3-year-old female Lindovskaya geese. It was determined that the effect of the laying period on external quality traits of eggs was statistically nonsignificant (P > 0.05). The effect of laying period on internal quality traits including height, diameter, and index of the yolk and albumen was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The eggs collected on the 45th +/- 5 day had higher values compared to eggs obtained on the other days in terms of yolk height, diameter, and index, as well as albumen length and albumen width. The effect of laying period on dry matter, protein, and ash ratio of the egg yolk and albumen was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Dry matter and protein ratios of the yolk and albumen reached their peaks on the 75th +/- 5 day of the laying period. These results are the first data for identification of egg quality traits in Turkish-reared Lindovskaya geese. It was concluded that the quality of eggs obtained on the 45th +/- 5 day of the laying period was higher than those obtained on the other two control days in terms of internal traits

Effect of Reductant Type on the Metallothermic Magnesium Production Process

This paper is a contribution to the theoretical and quantitative understanding of the processes for the production of magnesium metal by metallothermic process in vacuum (Pidgeon Process). In the present study, effects of reductant type and amount were investigated. CaC2 is a low-cost alternative to FeSi (ferrosilicon) which is the common reductant in the Pidgeon Process. CaC2 slightly decreases the Mg recovery ratios but it remarkably decreases the process cost. The experimental study, conducted with the change of mass % FeSi-CaC2 ratio at 1,250 degrees C for 360 min, the optimum Mg recovery was measured as 94.7% at 20% CaC2 addition. Also aluminum, as a reductant, allows conducting the process at lower temperatures than that of FeSi. For the experiments conducted with Al addition, the highest Mg recovery ratio was measured as 88.0% in the conditions for 300 min process duration and 100% stoichiometric Al addition at 1,200 degrees C

EFFECT OF THE REDUCTANTS ON THE PRODUCTION OF IRON BASED ALLOYS FROM MILL SCALE BY METALLOTHERMIC PROCESS

In this study, iron based alloys (Fe, Fe-Cr-M-Mo, etc.) were produced by using metallothennic methods starting from Mill Scales obtained continuous casting processes. During the process, the combustion was realized by ignition and the produced wave propagates throughout the reactant mixture yielding the desired product. In this work, Mill scale used as an iron source, which includes +2, +3 values iron oxides. Aluminum, Magnesium and Silicon were used as reductants. In these metallothermic experiments, different ratios of reductants were examined, and their effects on the metal recovery and alloy compositions were investigated. The samples were characterized by using chemical analysis (AAS), XRD and XRF techniques

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE REDUCTION OF MILL SCALE FROM CONTINUOUS CASTING PROCESSES

In this study, iron and iron based alloys (Fe, Fe-Ni, Fe-Cr-Ni, etc.) were produced by using metallothermic and carbothermic reduction of continuous casting mill scale. Mill scales are an oxidised layer of steel alloys containing iron oxide, which includes +2, +3 values, forming on the surface of slabs and billets during annealing in heating furnace at integrated iron and steel milling plants and continuous casting units. In the metallothermic experiments, different ratios of starting mixtures and addition of the reductant powders (Al, Si, Mg) were examined, and their effects on the metal recovery and alloy compositions were carried out. In the carbothermic experiments, direct reduction experiments were conducted with different types of reductant in various amounts and at various temperatures. Raw materials and obtained metallic and slag phases were characterized by using chemical analysis, XRD, XRF and EPMA/WDS techniques. Results were compared to determine the most effective reduction process

Evaluation of Bio-Rad D-10® and arkray adams HA-8160® HPLC analyzers in HbA1c measurement

Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is an important parameter used for the assessment of time-dependent glycemic status and the diagnosis and follow-up of diabetes. This study aimed to evaluate the analytical performance of two HPLC analyzers, the Bio-Rad D-10®, and the Arkray Adams HA-8160®. Accuracy and imprecision studies were conducted, and a method comparison study was performed with 105 samples. Samples were collected on five consecutive days and measured on both analyzers within two hours. Bland-Altman and regression analyses were used for statistical evaluation of the data. Low and high-level within-day CV values were calculated as 1.22% and 0.60% for the Arkray analyzer and 1.2% and 0.30% for the Bio-Rad analyzer, respectively. They were calculated as 1.27% and 2.52% for the Arkray analyzer and 2.32% and 3.44% for the Bio-Rad analyzer, respectively, between days. The within-day CV values for both analyzers were below the limit of 2.5% specified by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC). The bias average for three months was 3.2% for the Arkray analyzer and 1.2% for the Bio-Rad analyzer. The Spearman correlation coefficient (r) was 0.973 (p [Med-Science 2019; 8(4.000): 953-6

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ABOUT PRODUCTION OF VANADIUM CARBIDE VIA SELF PROPAGATING HIGH TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS AND REDUCTION

Vanadium carbide is important for industrial applications because of its high hardness, high temperature resistance, high chemical, and thermal stability. It is generally obtained from the reaction between V and C powders at a high temperature ranging from 1100 to 1500°C. Investigations on these high strength, high abrasion resistant, hard materials have been intensified in recent years and consequently, significant improvements have been achieved. In this study, VC alloys are produced with low cost processes, by reducing the oxides of their components by SHS methods and ball mill-assisted carbothermal reduction. In the experimental stage, V2O5 was used as oxidized Vanadium source, Cblack as carbon source, magnesium and Cblack as reductant. In the study, VC powders were synthesized by two different methods and optimum production conditions were determined. Furthermore, the effect of different stoichiometric charge components and the effect of experiment durations were realized by X-ray diffraction, HSC Chemistry, and SEM analyses for different reductants

Gradient-Boosting Algorithm for Microwave Breast Lesion Classification&mdash;SAFE Clinical Investigation

(1) Background: Microwave breast imaging (MBI) is a promising breast-imaging technology that uses harmless electromagnetic waves to radiate the breast and assess its internal structure. It utilizes the difference in dielectric properties of healthy and cancerous tissue, as well as the dielectric difference between different cancerous tissue types to identify anomalies inside the breast and make further clinical predictions. In this study, we evaluate the capability of our upgraded MBI device to provide breast tissue pathology. (2) Methods: Only patients who were due to undergo biopsy were included in the study. A machine learning (ML) approach, namely Gradient Boosting, was used to understand information from the frequency spectrum, collected via SAFE, and provide breast tissue pathology. (3) Results: A total of 54 patients were involved in the study: 29 of them had benign and 25 had malignant findings. SAFE acquired 20 true-positive, 24 true-negative, 4 false-positive and 4 false-negative findings, achieving the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 80%, 83% and 81%, respectively. (4) Conclusions: The use of harmless tissue radiation indicates that SAFE can be used to provide the breast pathology of women of any age without safety restrictions. Results indicate that SAFE is capable of providing breast pathology at a high rate, encouraging further clinical investigations