Migraine headaches among university students using id migraine test as a screening tool

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Migraine is a significant health problem, especially for the young people, due to its frequency and accompanying morbidity, causing disability and loss of performance. In this study, our aim was to determine the prevalence of migraine headaches among university students in Edirne, a Turkish city.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, study population was composed of students registered to Trakya University in the academic year of 2008-2009. Out of these, 3694 of them accepted to participate. Participants who had two or more headaches in the last 3 months formed the headache group. Afterwards, two preliminary questions were applied to the headache group and participants with at least one affirmative response were asked to perform the validated ID-Migraine™ test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of 3694 students participated in the study was 19.23 ± 1.84 (17-39 years), with adolescents:adult ratio being 2.5:1. 1613 students (43.7%) did have at least two headaches in the last three months. Migraine-type headache was detected in 266 subjects (7.2%) based on the ID-Migraine™ test. Of the migraine group, 72 were male (27.1%) and 194 were female (72.9%). There was no significant difference in migraine prevalence between adolescent and adult age groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With a prevalence similar to adults, primary care physicians should be aware of the probability of migraine headaches in university students in order to maintain a successful school performance.</p

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Turkey

Nineteen cases of suspected Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever reported from Turkey

Investigation of atypical bacteria and virus antigens in respiratory tract infections by use of an immunofluorescence method

WOS: 000221138100001PubMed: 15118204In this study an immunofluorescence (IF) method was used to investigate the antigens of viruses and atypical bacteria in respiratory tract infections (RTI) in pediatric and adult age groups. In this prospective study of 2 years (1998 - 2000), IF was used to investigate the antigens of 7 viral and 3 atypical bacteria to be used for the etiological diagnosis of RTI. Sputum (33.6%) and nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens were obtained from pediatric patients (Group I, 76 cases) and adults (Group II, 135 cases) with RTI symptoms. Antigen detection rates were found to be 44.7% in Group I and 67.4% in Group II (P 0.05); Mycoplasma pneumoniae, 0 and 9.6% (P 0.05); respiratory syncytial virus, 9.2 and 1.5% (P 0.05); and influenza B virus, 1.3 and 1.5% (P > 0.05). Mixed agents were found at a rate of 2.6 and 3.7% (P > 0.05) in Groups I and II, respectively. Parainfluenza virus type 3 and Legionella pneumophila antigens were not found. Since detecting etiological agents provides an important guide for determining the most appropriate antibiotic therapy, this IF method could be applied in clinical practice for arriving at a correct diagnosis and administration of effective treatment

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the mandible

We report a case of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) primary within the mandible of a 32year-old female. The mandible is a rare location of MFH, accounting for only 3% of all tumours of this type occurring within bone. The clinical, pathological and radiographic features are discussed with special emphasis on the radiographic features of this lesion

GJB2 mutations in Turkish patients with ARNSHL: prevalence and two novel mutations.

Contains fulltext : 47829.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Mutations in the connexin 26 gene (GJB2) cause a significant proportion of prelingual non-syndromic autosomal recessive deafness in all populations studied so far. To determine the percentage of hearing loss attributed to GJB2 in northeast Turkey, 93 unrelated patients with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) were screened. Seven different mutations were found in 29 of the patients with severe to profound hearing loss. The 35delG mutation was the most common mutation, accounting for 76% of all mutant GJB2 alleles. Four already described mutations, W24X, 310del14, delE120 and R184P and two novel mutations, Q80K and P173S, were identified. The allelic Delta(GJB6-D13S1830), which can cause hearing loss in combination with GJB2 mutations, was not present in our patients. Our results are comparable to those reported in other regions in Turkey and indicate that GJB2 mutations account for about 30% of Turkish patients with ARNSHL. Besides 35delG, W24X and delE120 occur more than once in the Turkish ARNSHL population with a frequency of about 5%

Molecular epidemiology of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates carrying IMP-1 metallo-?-lactamase gene in a university hospital in Turkey

PubMed: 17949306Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates carrying IMP- or VIM-type metallo-?-lactamase (MBL) have been increasingly reported in hospitals worldwide. One hundred P. aeruginosa clinical isolates from unrelated inpatients hospitalized at a Turkish university hospital were screened for the presence of blaIMP and blaVIM genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One (1%) isolate was found to carry a VIM-type MBL gene, whereas nine (9%) carried an IMP-1 MBL gene carried on a cassette inserted into a class 1 integron. Only four of the IMP producers were detected as MBL producers according to E-test MBL. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of imipenem for the IMP-1 and VIM-type MBL-producers were highly variable (MIC values, 8-128 ?g/ml). Imipenem resistance was not plasmid-mediated according to the transformation assays. Piperacillin/tazobactam was the only effective drug in antimicrobial susceptibility testing. No aztreonam-resistant IMP and VIM producers were detected to produce an extended-spectrum ?-lactamase (ESBL). Three class 1 integrons of approximately 2,300 bp, 1,800 bp, and 1,500 bp in size were detected in each of the nine IMP-positive isolates. Sequencing revealed three novel gene cassette arrays, aac(3)-1c-cmlA5, bla IMP-1-aadA7-like, and aacA7-smr-2-orfD. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR) indicated that a clonal spread of IMP-1-producers had occurred in this hospital. © 2007 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc

Characteristics and analysis of risk factors for mortality in infective endocarditis

PubMedID: 16450203Objective: The aim of our study was to establish the etiology of and risk factors for infective endocarditis (IE) and determine the prognostic factors for adverse outcome during hospital admission in a Turkish population. Material and Methods: Between January 2002 and January 2004, the clinical and laboratory features of 112 consecutive adult patients (>18 years) with diagnosis of IE who were referred to the infectious diseases clinics/departments of 17 teaching hospitals in Turkey were evaluated. Cases of IE were defined according to the modified Duke Criteria. Mortality was defined as death occurring within 30 days or during hospital stay period. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to predict the factors related to fatal outcome. Results: A total of 112 consecutive patients presented with 101 definite and 11 probable IE episodes were defined according to the modified Duke Criteria. The mean age was 45.2±19.9. Fifty percent of the patients were male. Ninety (60.4%) of the 112 patients had risk factors for IE and 48 (42.9%) of them had ?2 risk factors. On the other hand, 49.1% of patients had cardiac risk factors. Blood cultures were positive in 94 (83.9%) cases. Staphylococci were the most common agents (50.0%), followed by streptococci (28.7%) and enterococi (16.0%). Native cardiac valves were detected in 93 (83%) of the episodes of suspected IE. Valvular involvement was present in 103 (92%) patients; the mitral valve, alone or in combination with other valves, was affected in 70 (62.5%) of the patients. Echocardiography detected vegetations in 105 patients (93.8%). The mortality rate was 28.6%. Three factors were independently associated with mortality: haemodialysis OR: 14.5 (95% CI: 1.5-138.2), mobile vegetation OR: 4.8 (95% CI: 1.5-15.4) and mental alteration OR: 4.1 (95% CI: 1.1-15.6). Conclusion: Mortality is still high in IE. Our data indicate that patients with altered mental status, mobile vegetation, or on haemodialysis had poorer prognosis. © Springer 2006

Graphene/Copper Heterostructures for Thermal Management

With the technological developments in the microelectronic systems used in military computers, the number of circuit elements per unit area increases enabling the production of faster and more efficient processors. To be able do this, these circuit elements are required to withstand higher current densities and thus higher temperatures are generated by Joule heating. Overheating (in general non-uniformly) at some specific areas in chips, adversely affects the performance and reliability of electronic devices. Therefore, it is critical to control temperature distribution within the chip and the efficient heat management is one of the most important issues for today’s high power electronic devices and thus, every improvement in the area is very valuable. In this context, to increase the lateral heat conduction, the graphene-copper heterostructures (graphene-copper laminate structures for heat spreaders and graphene-copper porous structures for heat sinks/exchangers) are studied both experimentally and through computational studies. For the experimental studies, first graphene is synthesized on Cu via CVD. The thermal diffusivity measurements, which were performed through the laser flash method, show that the presence of graphene did not make a contribution to the thermal properties in graphene-copper laminate system. These results were also confirmed by the computational studies which showed that to see an increase in the thermal conductivity, the ratio of graphene/copper should be higher than 1/20. Within the scope of these findings, 3D graphene-Cu porous heterostructures are studied to increase the graphene’s contribution to the thermal diffusivity. 3D graphene-Cu porous heterostructures showed an increase in the thermal diffusivity by 10% at the room temperature and 30% at 400 °C. Graphene’s positive effect on the thermal properties is attributed to its high thermal conductivity and the protection of Cu structure against the oxidation at higher temperatures. Our studies show that the graphene-copper porous structures developed in this study can be a good lightweight candidate for a heat sink/exchanger with corrosion resistant and high thermal conductivity