Characteristics of patients operated for primary hyperparathyroidism at university hospitals in Türkiye: Differences among Türkiye's geographical regions

Purpose: The aim of this study was to define the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients operated on for primary hyperpatathyroidism (PHPT) at university hospitals in Türkiye, and to investigate the differences in the clinical presentations of the disease between different geographical regions. Methods: Patients operated on for PHPT in the university hospitals of Türkiye were included in the study. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings and the operational data of the patients were investigated according to the whole country and to different geographical regions. Comparisons were performed according to whole country and regions. Results: A total of 1,162 cases were included in the study from different regions and 20 university hospitals. The mean age of patients was 52.4 ± 0.38 (mean ± standard error) in the general population of Türkiye. The rates of hypertension, urolithiasis, bone disease and 25-hydroxyvitamin D insufficiency were 35%, 18.6%, 67.6%, and 63%, respectively. The median parathormone (PTH), serum total calcium (Ca+2) and phosphorus value were 220 pg/mL (range, 70-2,500 pg/mL), 11.2 mg/dL (range, 9.5-11.2 mg/dL), and 2.4 mg/dL (range, 1-4.7 mg/dL), respectively. The median size of the adenomas resected was 16 mm (range, 4-70 mm). Significant differences were observed in the clinical and laboratory findings of the patients operated on due to PHPT between different geographical regions of Türkiye (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patients with PHPT in different geographical regions of Türkiye differ. Furthermore, the general findings of the cases in Türkiye give us a hint that the severity of the disease here is somewhere between Eastern and Western countries. Copyright © 2016, the Korean Surgical Society

A reappraisal of the impact of dairy foods and milk fat on cardiovascular disease risk

Background This review provides a reappraisal of the potential effects of dairy foods, including dairy fats, on cardiovascular disease (CVD)/coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Commodities and foods containing saturated fats are of particular focus as current public dietary recommendations are directed toward reducing the intake of saturated fats as a means to improve the overall health of the population. A conference of scientists from different perspectives of dietary fat and health was convened in order to consider the scientific basis for these recommendations. Aims This review and summary of the conference focus on four key areas related to the biology of dairy foods and fats and their potential impact on human health: (a) the effect of dairy foods on CVD in prospective cohort studies; (b) the impact of dairy fat on plasma lipid risk factors for CVD; (c) the effects of dairy fat on non-lipid risk factors for CVD; and (d) the role of dairy products as essential contributors of micronutrients in reference food patterns for the elderly. Conclusions Despite the contribution of dairy products to the saturated fatty acid composition of the diet, and given the diversity of dairy foods of widely differing composition, there is no clear evidence that dairy food consumption is consistently associated with a higher risk of CVD. Thus, recommendations to reduce dairy food consumption irrespective of the nature of the dairy product should be made with cautionJ. Bruce German, Robert A. Gibson, Ronald M. Krauss, Paul Nestel, Benoît Lamarche, Wija A. van Staveren, Jan M. Steijns, Lisette C. P. G. M. de Groot, Adam L. Lock and Frédéric Destaillat

Deaths in Turkish military services, 1998-2000

The aim of this study was to evaluate the causes of death in the military in Turkey and to evaluate the previously obtained data relating to the characteristics peculiar to the army in those cases of death that have acquired a juridical attribute. In this study, the cases presented in the years 1998 and 2000 have been investigated retrospectively. Seventy military cases investigated within a period of 3 years were all men. Except for the 20 cases in which the cause of death could not be determined, 30 of 50 cases in our study are included in the group of "natural deaths" and 20 are included in the group of "forced deaths." In conclusion, natural causes are still the leading cause of death in Turkey, and regarding this, it can be suggested that these deaths could be preventable by better health care and more careful premilitary health examinations

TURKIYE KLINIKLERI TIP BILIMLERI DERGISI

Objective: Suicides among children and adolescents occur very seldom and only a few case reports and even fewer comprehensive studies are available in the forensic literature. We attempted to investigate socio-demographic characteristics like suicide age, sex, suicide method and cause of suicidal deaths among children and adolescents in Ankara, and to determine the causes of suicides which were preventable. Material and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the autopsy records of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ankara, where all autopsies requested from the health centres in Ankara and surrounding 17 cities were performed, and the database of the judicial records from 2001 to 2006. The suicide cases were divided into three age groups: 7-10 years, 11-15 years and 16-18 years. Results: There were 114 suicides involving 60 females (52.6%) and 54 males (47.3%) aged between seven and 18 years with a median age of 16.0 years (SD=2.21). The most frequently used suicide method was hanging, followed by firearm injuries with handguns, firearm injuries with rifles, drug intoxication and jumping from a high place. Eighty one point two per cent of intoxication cases aged between 16 and 18 years. However, there was no significant difference in the toxic substance use between the genders. Of all suicide cases, 28 (24.6%) had ethanol in blood. Conclusion: In this study, the number of female suicides was higher than that of male suicides and there were differences in suicide methods, causes of suicides and suicide age, consistent with the results of several other studies from Turkey. Children and adolescents should be prevented from accessing firearms and toxic substances, which will play an important role in prevention of suicides

Group theory, entropy and the third law of thermodynamics

Abstract Curado et al. (2016) have recently studied the axiomatic structure and the universality of a three-parameter trace-form entropy inspired by the group-theoretical structure. In this work, we study the group-theoretical entropy Sa,b,r in the context of the third law of thermodynamics where the parameters {a,b,r} are all independent. We show that this three-parameter entropy expression can simultaneously satisfy the third law of thermodynamics and the three Khinchin axioms, namely continuity, concavity and expansibility only when the parameter b is set to zero. In other words, it is thermodynamically valid only as a two-parameter generalization Sa,r. Moreover, the restriction set by the third law i.e., the condition b=0, is important in the sense that the so obtained two-parameter group-theoretical entropy becomes extensive only when this condition is met. We also illustrate the interval of validity of the third law using the one-dimensional Ising model with no external field. Finally, we show that the Sa,r is in the same universality class as that of the Kaniadakis entropy for 0<r<1 while it has a distinct universality class in the interval −1<r<0

Effects of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor on incisional wound healing in an experimental diabetic rat model

The exact nature of poor wound healing in diabetes is uncertain. Neutrophils play a critical role in the host defense mechanism, and it is suggested that impaired neutrophil functions cause healing difficulties with or without infections in diabetic patients. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is used clinically when given systematically to increase the circulating neutrophils, but its wound-healing effects have not been systematically studied. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of GM-CSF on incisional wound healing in an experimental diabetic rat model. Forty rats were randomly divided into three groups, group I receiving saline as control, diabetes-induced group II receiving saline and diabetes-induced group III receiving GM-CSF. The anesthetized rats in all groups were wounded 21 days after diabetes induction by streptozotocin. Blood neutrophil counts and neutrophil fractions were also determined three days after wounding. Tensile strengths of wounded skin and the hydroxyproline (hyp) level of the wound were determined and wound healing processes were evaluated by light and electron microscopy, fourteen days after wounding. Neutrophil counts and phagocytosis were significantly increased in group III and neutrophil counts decreased in group II (p < 0.05). Although the hydroxyproline level of wound tissue significantly decreased in group II as compared with group III (p < 0.05), there was no differences of tensile strength between group II and III (p < 0.05). Wound score in group II was less than that in groups I and III (p < 0.05). It is concluded that PMN may have a role in modulating wound healing. GM-CSF may be useful for creating better wound healing healing. GM-CSF may be useful for creating better wound healing in risky patients such as diabetics

Effects of kaolin and dicarboxylic acid based stress inhibitors on aroma composition of two table grape cultivars (V. vinifera L.)

In this study, effects of two stress inhibitors (particle film – PF and dicarboxylic acid – DA) on aroma composition of Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless grape cultivars were investigated. Analysis of the aroma components was carried out using solid-phase microextraction technique with gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS). A total of 36 and 24 aroma compounds were identified in Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless, respectively. The C6-compounds (hexanal and 2-hexenal) were determined as the most abundant compounds in both grape cultivars and they accounted for 40.1% and 72.3% of total aroma composition in Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless, respectively. Monoterpenes (geraniol, nerol and neric acid) and sesquiterpenes (α-ylangene and germacrene) had a significant contribution of 35% to the total flavor of Beauty Seedless. Benzophenone, maltol, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, 2-ethyl hexanol, 2-pentyl furan, acetic acid, hexanoic acid were other compounds detected at the highest amount. In Tekirdag Seedless, benzene acetaldehyde, 2-ethyl hexanol, maltol, 4-hexen-1-ol, acetic acid and hexanoic acid were determined as proportionally important compounds. When taken into consideration the use of stress inhibitors becoming an interesting area in viticulture, the effects of treatments in the aromatic composition is limited. In the presented study, proportional levels of any aroma compounds could not be attributed to influence of the stress inhibitors. However, findings presented useful contribution for future studies. On the other hand, this study is the first report on aroma composition of Beauty Seedless and Tekirdag Seedless grape cultivars