The evaluation of pediatric forensic cases presented to emergency department

Introduction: Pediatric age group serves as a preparation stage for the rest of the life. This age group has specific psychological, physiological and social conditions. This present study examined pediatric forensic cases aged between 0–18. Obtained parameters determined characteristics of pediatric age group foren- sic cases.  Methods: 1624 pediatric forensic cases aged between 0–18 who were admitted to the emergency de- partment at a tertiary healthcare service between the dates 31 October 2014 and 31 October 2016 were evaluated retrospectively. The cases were evaluated in terms of age, gender, nationality, admission time and season, reasons for presentation, radiological imaging techniques, consultation, intervention, treatment ward, clinical outcome and application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.  Results: Age average of the patients was 9,2 ± 6,2. Adolescent age group (49, 4%) was the most frequent- ly admitted after traumatization. 61% of the patients constituted male patients. An association between age and gender was not detected. The most frequent reasons for admissions were assault (28,7%) and drug intoxication (22,4%). Assault, drug intoxication, traffic accidents, substance intake, penetrating stab wounds, falling down from the height and animal bites were frequently seen in adolescents whereas sim- ple falling, corrosive substance ingestion and burn were highly seen in infants. Assault, penetrating stab wounds and gunshot injuries were detected to be frequent in males; drug and substance use was seen to be frequent in females. The patients (57%) were seen to be admitted to the emergency between the hours 1600–2400. 46.4% of the patients underwent radiological imaging. Trauma patients were seen to undergo radiological imaging more frequently. A consultation was required for 42.4% of the patients. The discharge rate of the patients from the emergency was 66.9%. Patients discharged from the emergency were seen to undergo radiography and computed tomography directly. This was found to be significantly high.  Conclusions: Pediatric forensic cases are seen in adolescence and school-age children more frequently. The most frequent forensic cases were assaults and intoxications. Forensic cases are more frequently seen in males. Assaults are more frequent in males whereas intoxications are more frequent in females. Most of theforensiccasesaredischargedfromtheemergencydepartment. Patientsdischargedfromtheemergency undergo radiological imaging at higher rates compared to the other patients. 

Association of carbon monoxide ratio with neutrophil-lymphocyte ratios and cardiac indicators in carbon monoxide intoxication; a pilot study

INTRODUCTION: Carbon monoxide is still a public health problem in developing countries. Brain and heart tissues are mostly affected by intoxications. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes the development of cardiac ischemia and cardiac conduction disorders. Our aim is to study the associations of NRL with cardiac indicators in patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning.   MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients who admitted to the E.R. between the dates 01.10.2015–01.06.2017 were examined retrospectively. Of 54 patients diagnosed with carbon monoxide intoxication, 41 patients with complete parameters and follow-ups were included in the study. Their demographic information, complete blood count, troponin and CK-MB values and carbon monoxide levels were recorded.   RESULTS: Of the patients who included in the study, 18 (43.9%) were female and 23 (43.9%) were male. Their age average was 43.7 ± 18.9. Troponin, CK-MB, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio levels of the patients were not correlated with carbon monoxide levels (respectively p = 0.238, 0.707, 0.364). Troponin levels of the patients had a positive correlation with neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (r: 0,309, p = 0.049).   CONCLUSIONS: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio can be used to identify an early diagnosis of cardiac impacts in carbon monoxide poisonings. However, more studies on the subject are needed

Stakeholder Opinions on Urban Agriculture: The Case of Iğdır

Urban agriculture encompasses all agricultural activities within or near urban areas. Due to its complex interactions within environmental, social, and economic contexts, urban agriculture faces various challenges. Therefore, various stakeholders are involved in the process of developing urban agriculture. This study aims to determine the place and importance of urban agriculture in the eyes of stakeholders in Iğdır City and its surrounding areas. This will provide an understanding of what can be done in the region within the scope of urban agriculture. Semi-structured interview forms were used in the study. Five questions were asked to the stakeholders, and descriptive analysis, one of the qualitative data analysis methods, was used to analyze the data. According to the findings, it was concluded that Iğdır city holds significant potential in terms of urban agricultural activities. Based on the stakeholder opinions, opportunities for urban agriculture in Iğdır City were discussed

Evaluation of paediatric head trauma patients with computed tomography; The requirement of computed tomography in children with head injury: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: In this study, we aimed to reveal the cranial computed tomography (CT) results of paediatric head trauma cases taken in our hospital and what clinical variables might be related to pathology in cranial CT.   MATERIAL AND METHODS: Age, gender, glasgow coma scale (GCS), open or suspicious skull fracture, vomiting≥ 2, retrograde amnesia ≥ 30 minutes, the detailed mechanism of injury and CT findings (if CT is available)were evaluated.   RESULTS: 66 of the cases were female (35.7%) and 119 were male (64.7%). The ages of the patients vary between 0 and 16 and the average age is 6.76. 108 (58.4%) of the patients had admitted to the hospital with traumas resulted from falling. 33 (17.8%) of them were passengers of a four-wheeled vehicle and 15 (8.1%) were had been crashed with a four-wheeled vehicle.   CONCLUSIONS: In paediatric head traumas, falls and traffic accidents are in the first place and the measures taken in this regard should be increased

The influence of alcohol related accidents on health care cost

Introduction: Road traffic accidents are globally leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Alcohol is among the most frequently used pleasure-inducing substances in the world. Use of motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol is completely illegal in some countries. However, it is allowed up to a certain level of eth- anol in blood in other countries. Traffic accidents caused by alcohol consumption are known to cause more harmonhealthofindividuals.Thealcoholaffectsnervoussystem. Alcoholslowsreflexesandimpairsbalance. In other words, alcohol intake reduces capability of individuals while using any motor vehicle. This study aims to search the health care cost of individuals who had traffic accidents under the influence of alcohol.  Methods: This present study included 657 patients who were admitted to the E.R. resulting from traffic accidents between the dates 01.01.2017–01.06.2017. Demographic information of the patients, their time of hospital admission, medical analyses and examinations, the cost of those analyses and examinations, and their ethanol levels were recorded.  Results: 657 patients were included in the study. 460 (68.1) of those patients were males. Their age average was 35.57 ± 15.18. 61 (9.0%) of the patients were seen to have ethanol positive blood. The health care expenditures of ethanol positive patients were found to be 374,75 ± 251,3 TL whereas the expenditures of ethanol free patients were identified to be 283,17 ± 222,72 TL. The health care expenditures of ethanol positive patients were seen to have substantially increased. (p = 0,003).  Conclusions: Alcohol intake is known to be a leading cause of traffic accidents that generally results in deaths and heavy injuries. This present study displays that traffic accidents caused by alcohol consumption increases the cost of health care as well.

SUMOylation of the chromodomain factor MRG-1 in C. elegans affects chromatin-regulatory dynamics

Epigenetic mechanisms to control chromatin accessibility and structure is important for gene expression in eukaryotic cells. Chromatin regulation ensures proper development and cell fate specification but is also essential later in life. Modifications of histone proteins as an integral component of chromatin can promote either gene expression or repression, respectively. Proteins containing specific domains such as the chromodomain recognize mono-, di- or tri-methylated lysine residues on histone H3. The chromodomain protein MRG-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans is the ortholog of mammalian MRG15, which belongs to the MORF4 Related Gene (MRG) family in humans. In C. elegans MRG-1 predominantly binds methylated histone H3 lysine residues at position 36 (H3K36me3). MRG-1 is important during germline maturation and for safeguarding the germ cell identity. However, it lacks enzymatic activity and depends on protein-protein interaction to cooperate with other factors to regulate chromatin. To elucidate the variety of MRG-1 interaction partners we performed in-depth protein-protein interaction analysis using immunoprecipitations coupled with mass-spectrometry. Besides previously described and novel interactions with other proteins, we also detected a strong association with the Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO). Since SUMO is known to be attached to proteins in order to modulate the target proteins activity we assessed whether MRG-1 is post-translationally modified by SUMOylation. Notably, we provide evidence that MRG-1 is indeed SUMOylated and that this post-translational modification influences the chromatin-binding profile of MRG-1 in the C. elegans genome. Our presented study hints towards an important role of SUMOylation in the context of epigenetic regulation via the chromodomain protein MRG-1, which may be a conserved phenomenon also in mammalian species

Galectin-3: a novel blood test for the classification of patients with COPD. An observational study

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the major causes of mortality and mortality affecting the whole world. In the inflammatory process, lectin is elevated and consequently, Galectin-3 expression is increased. This relation has been revealed by studies on coronary diseases. However, studies on the association of Galectin-3 with COPD and even other pulmonary diseases have been limited, although it has been studied and described on cardiologic patients. For this reason, in this study Galectin-3 levels in different stages of COPD patients were investigated and whether Galectin-3 could be a guide clinically.  MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is an observational prospective study, approved by local ethic committee (30112015-12), which included three groups of patients, COPD exacerbation, COPD stable and control group, admitted to tertiary healthcare between 01.09.2016 and 01.09.2017.  RESULTS: 137 subjects were included in the study. The mean age of patients in the study was 70.6. Galectin- 3 level in the group of COPD (exacerbation and stable) was significantly lower than the control group (p < 0.001). The Galectin-3 level was significantly lower in COPD exacerbation group than groups of stable COPD and control. And also, Galectin-3 level was significantly lower in stable COPD group than the control group (p values: 0.034, 0.001 and 0.013, respectively). The ROC analysis for the Galectin-3 levels between the COPD patients (exacerbation and stable) and the control group is shown in Figure 2 (AUC = 0.784). When the cut-off points of Galectin-3 is selected as 11.4; for this cut-off point, sensitivity is 83% and specificity is 71% for this cut-off point (AUC: 0.79 %95 GA: 0.70–0.86 p < 0.001).  CONCLUSIONS: COPD is a disease with high mortality and morbidity and efforts are being made to identify its severity and exacerbations with various biomarkers. In this study, Galectin-3 levels were found to be lower in patients with stable COPD group according to the control group. In addition, galactin-3 levels were found to be lower in COPD exacerbation group according to both Stable COPD group and control group. Although a certain threshold value was found in this study, more studies are needed to determine this threshold value more precisely. However, it is clear that these data are promising

SUMOylation of the chromodomain factor MRG-1 in C. elegans affects chromatin-regulatory dynamics

Epigenetic mechanisms control chromatin accessibility and gene expression to ensure proper cell fate specification. Histone proteins are integral chromatin components, and their modification promotes gene expression regulation. Specific proteins recognize modified histones such as the chromodomain protein MRG-1. MRG-1 is the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of mammalian MRG15, which is involved in DNA repair. MRG-1 binds methylated histone H3 and is important for germline maturation and safeguarding. To elucidate interacting proteins that modulate MRG-1 activity, we performed in-depth protein-protein interaction analysis using immunoprecipitations coupled with mass spectrometry. We detected strong association with the Small ubiquitin-like modifier SUMO, and found that MRG-1 is post-translationally modified by SUMO. SUMOylation affects chromatin-binding dynamics of MRG-1, suggesting an epigenetic regulation pathway, which may be conserved

Post-traumatic stress disorder after terrorist attack in healthcare professionals

INTRODUCTION: On the date of 15 July 2016 a terrorist organization launched a terrorist attack using helicopters and heavy combat weapons in the city centers of Istanbul and Ankara simultaneously. Numerous civilian were hurt and many of them lost their lives during the attacks. Terrorism is a form of combat designed to cause the highest psychological influence on the masses. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychological disorders after such disasters. The aim of this study is to determine the associated risk factors and PTSD rates in healthcare professionals who were on call during the 15 July 2016 terrorist attacks. METHOD: Since the hospital is in a neighbouring the street to where terror attacks occurred, all healthcare professionals ≥ 18 years of age who were on duty that night in the Dr. Ridvan Ege Training and Research Hospital and were auditory or visual witnesses of the event were included in the study as the first group while healthcare professionals who work in the same hospital but were not on duty that night were included as the control group. RESULTS: The mean post-traumatic diagnostic scale stress score of the control group was 11.87. The mean post-traumatic diagnostic scale stress score of the Group 1 was 21.91. There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of posttraumatic diagnostic scale stress score (p < 0.05). While the healthcare professionals on duty on July 15, 2016 (Group 1) had moderate-severe (21.91 ± 5.11) stress disorder, the healthcare professionals who were not at the hospital on July 15, 2016 (Control Group) had moderate stress disorder (11.87 ± 6.86). CONCLUSION: Our country is at risk from the fact that such attacks may be experienced again because of its unique conditions. The results of our work support the data on the high level of exposure to PTSD when exposed to a terrorist attack. For this reason, the identification of the characteristics of pre-traumatic health individuals at risk is useful in planning the presentation of preventive and curative health services. At the same time, there is a need for longer-term work and wider samples to reveal the psychological consequences of such attacks

Is blue light exposure a cause of precocious puberty in male rats?

PurposeOur study aimed to examine the effects of blue light exposure on prepubertal male rats’ puberty and testis tissue.MethodsEighteen 21-day-old male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three groups consisting of six rats in each group: Control Group (CG), Blue Light-6 hours (BL-6), and Blue Light-12 hours (BL-12). CG rats were maintained with 12/12-hour light-dark cycles. The rats of BL-6 and BL-12 were exposed to blue light (450-470nm/irradiance level 0.03uW/cm2) for 6 hours and 12 hours, respectively. Rats were exposed to blue light until the first signs of puberty. The ELISA method was used to analyze the serum levels of FSH, LH, testosterone, DHEA-S, leptin, ghrelin, melatonin, glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde. Testes were dissected for histomorphological examination.ResultsThe medians of the pubertal entry days of the CG, BL-6, and BL-12 were 38th, 30th, and 28th days, respectively. (p:0.001) The FSH, LH, and testosterone concentrations of all groups were similar. The FSH concentration increased as the LH concentration increased (r: 0.82 p: 0.001). The serum LH concentration increased as serum testosterone, and DHEAS decreased, respectively (r: -0.561, p: 0.01) (r:-0.55 p:0.01). Testicular lengths and weights of the BL groups were smaller compared to CG (p: 0.03),(p: 0.04). GPx was higher for BL-6 and BL-12 than the CG (p:0.021, p:0.024). Testis tissue was compatible with the pubertal period in all groups. As the blue light exposure time increased, spermatogenesis was suppressed, and capillary dilatation and edema in the testis tissue increased.ConclusionOur study is the first to show the effects of blue light exposure on male rats’ puberty process. And we showed that exposure to blue light and the duration of exposure lead to precocious puberty in male rats. The blue light exposure suppressed spermatogenesis, marked vasodilatation in the interstitial area of the testis, and disrupted the integrity of the basement membrane. These findings intensified with increasing exposure time