Fine-grained Classification of Solder Joints with {\alpha}-skew Jensen-Shannon Divergence

Solder joint inspection (SJI) is a critical process in the production of printed circuit boards (PCB). Detection of solder errors during SJI is quite challenging as the solder joints have very small sizes and can take various shapes. In this study, we first show that solders have low feature diversity, and that the SJI can be carried out as a fine-grained image classification task which focuses on hard-to-distinguish object classes. To improve the fine-grained classification accuracy, penalizing confident model predictions by maximizing entropy was found useful in the literature. Inline with this information, we propose using the {\alpha}-skew Jensen-Shannon divergence ({\alpha}-JS) for penalizing the confidence in model predictions. We compare the {\alpha}-JS regularization with both existing entropyregularization based methods and the methods based on attention mechanism, segmentation techniques, transformer models, and specific loss functions for fine-grained image classification tasks. We show that the proposed approach achieves the highest F1-score and competitive accuracy for different models in the finegrained solder joint classification task. Finally, we visualize the activation maps and show that with entropy-regularization, more precise class-discriminative regions are localized, which are also more resilient to noise. Code will be made available here upon acceptance.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technolog

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about cervical cancer among women working in primary health care services in Van

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and behaviors of cervical cancer among women working in primary health care services in Van.Methods: Among the 194 women working in primary care settings, 164 (85.4%) completed a self-administered questionnaire containing questions on demographic knowledge, cervical cancer knowledge (eight questions), attitudes related to cervical cancer (two questions), and cervical cancer-related behaviors (two questions).Results: The mean age of the participants was 30.20±5.17 years. Of the women, 53.7% (n=88) were university graduates and 54.0% (n=88) were single. The median knowledge score of the participants was 6 (1stquartile 4; 3rdquartile 6). Of the participants, 17.8% (n=29) had regular gynecological examination, and only 19.2% (n=23) had a Pap smear test. The knowledge score of those with university degrees was higher than those with high school or lower education (Z=3.21; p=0.001), married women had higher knowledge scores compared to the single ones (Z=2.89; p=0.004), and those who had a Pap smear test had higher knowledge scores than those who did not (Z=2.85; p=0.004). Conclusions: Although the knowledge level of primary care health care providers about cervical cancer and Pap smear was high, their practices were not in accordance with the knowledge. On the other hand, considering that the participants were health workers, better results could be expected. Primary care health professionals have a duty to transfer and implement preventive health services to society. Thus, it is regarded as useful to increase in-service training and improve the knowledge and behavior of women working in primary health care services on cervical cancer

Hypertension and obesity in cardiology outpatients: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death worldwide. Both hypertension and obesity are frequent in Turkey and are seen in around 30% of the population. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and to investigate its relationship with obesity in patients admitted to a cardiology outpatient clinic. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between the 15th of January and the 28th of February 2018 at the Medical Park İzmir Hospital Cardiology Polyclinics. Data were collected from 55 out of 256 people who were referred to the clinic on the specified dates. Data were collected about systolic and diastolic blood pressures, height, weight, gender, age category, educational status, marital status, and history of hypertension. Results: Of the participants, 35 (63.6%) were men, and 20 (36.4%) were women. The mean age and body mass index values were 44.60±11.03and 28.18±3.89kg/m2, respectively. In total, 85.4% were overweight or obese. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 140.09±7.99 mmHg and 90.69±7.07 mmHg, respectively. 31 (56.4%) patients had systolic, 34 (61.8%) had diastolic, and 37 (67.3%) had systolic or diastolic hypertension. Of those with hypertension, 26 (70.2%) were not aware of their condition. In the regression analysis, gender was the only independent factor predicting high blood pressure (p=0.005; odds ratio=6.4). Conclusion: Hypertension and obesity were common among patients in the cardiology outpatient clinics. Family physicians are expected to be competent in managing common health problems and are focused on preventive health practices, and thus, they should take a more active role in the struggle against hypertension and obesity

Van ili birinci basamak sağlık hizmetlerinde çalışan kadınların serviks kanserine ilişkin bilgi tutum ve davranışlarının değerlendirilmesi

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and behaviors of cervical cancer among women working in primary health care services in Van.Methods: Among the 194 women working in primary care settings, 164 (85.4%) completed a self-administered questionnaire containing questions on demographic knowledge, cervical cancer knowledge (eight questions), attitudes related to cervical cancer (two questions), and cervical cancer-related behaviors (two questions).Results: The mean age of the participants was 30.20±5.17 years. Of the women, 53.7% (n=88) were university graduates and 54.0% (n=88) were single. The median knowledge score of the participants was 6 (1stquartile 4; 3rdquartile 6). Of the participants, 17.8% (n=29) had regular gynecological examination, and only 19.2% (n=23) had a Pap smear test. The knowledge score of those with university degrees was higher than those with high school or lower education (Z=3.21; p=0.001), married women had higher knowledge scores compared to the single ones (Z=2.89; p=0.004), and those who had a Pap smear test had higher knowledge scores than those who did not (Z=2.85; p=0.004). Conclusions: Although the knowledge level of primary care health care providers about cervical cancer and Pap smear was high, their practices were not in accordance with the knowledge. On the other hand, considering that the participants were health workers, better results could be expected. Primary care health professionals have a duty to transfer and implement preventive health services to society. Thus, it is regarded as useful to increase in-service training and improve the knowledge and behavior of women working in primary health care services on cervical cancer

Bir kardiyoloji polikliniğinde hipertansiyon ve obezite yaygınlığı: Kesitsel bir araştırma‎

Introduction: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death worldwide. Both hypertension and obesity are frequent in Turkey and are seen in around 30% of the population. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and to investigate its relationship with obesity in patients admitted to a cardiology outpatient clinic. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between the 15th of January and the 28th of February 2018 at the Medical Park İzmir Hospital Cardiology Polyclinics. Data were collected from 55 out of 256 people who were referred to the clinic on the specified dates. Data were collected about systolic and diastolic blood pressures, height, weight, gender, age category, educational status, marital status, and history of hypertension. Results: Of the participants, 35 (63.6%) were men, and 20 (36.4%) were women. The mean age and body mass index values were 44.60±11.03and 28.18±3.89kg/m2, respectively. In total, 85.4% were overweight or obese. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 140.09±7.99 mmHg and 90.69±7.07 mmHg, respectively. 31 (56.4%) patients had systolic, 34 (61.8%) had diastolic, and 37 (67.3%) had systolic or diastolic hypertension. Of those with hypertension, 26 (70.2%) were not aware of their condition. In the regression analysis, gender was the only independent factor predicting high blood pressure (p=0.005; odds ratio=6.4). Conclusion: Hypertension and obesity were common among patients in the cardiology outpatient clinics. Family physicians are expected to be competent in managing common health problems and are focused on preventive health practices, and thus, they should take a more active role in the struggle against hypertension and obesity

Synthesis and Characterization of Fe3O4-Mptms-Plga Nanocomposites for Anticancer Drug Loading and Release Studies

Magnetic nanocomposites (Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA) were synthesized by single oil emulsion method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Particle size of nanocomposites was between 117 nm and 246 nm. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to investigate drug loading (paclitaxel, PTX) and release from Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX nanocomposites. The percentages of drug loading and encapsulation efficiency onto nanocomposites were found as 7.35 and 68.58, respectively. Cytotoxities of free anticancer drug and anticancer drug-loaded nanocomposites were determined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. In vitro cell culture studies indicated that Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX had significant toxicity on MG-63 cancer cells.WoSScopu

Allopurinol Ameliorates Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Rats

WOS: 00044520410210

Relationship Between Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism (Insertion/Deletion) and the Clinical Condition of Sepsis in Turkish Children

WOS: 000277987300021Objective: It has been postulated that genetic predisposition may influence the susceptibility to infection and the disease outcome. The D allele of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is associated with many diseases. However, there are only few reports available about infection. We have investigated the association between ACE I/D polymorphism and sepsis, its clinical features such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and mortality. Material and Methods: Ninety-eight children who had been diagnosed with sepsis and 100 healthy individuals were included. The patients were divided into groups based on the presence of ARDS, MODS and survivor or nonsurvivor. The ACE gene polymorphism was analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction. Results: There was no statistical difference between the control and patient's genotype (p = 0.29). No evidence emerged regarding the association of ACE I/D polymorphism with MODS, but there was evidence of association with sepsis-related ARDS. It was found that carrying D/D genotypes increased the risk of the having ARDS 4.5 fold (95%CI 1.15-19.6, p = 0.028). On the other hand, there was not statistically significant difference between ACE gene polymorphism and mortality. Conclusion: In our study, the deletion polymorphism in angiotensin-converting enzyme gene is associated with increase in the risk of sepsis-related ARDS but not MODS and mortality in Turkish children

The Association between Vitamin D Deficiency and Hepatosteatosis in Children and Adolescents with Obesity

Introduction: Increasingly, research groups have been studying the association of serum vitamin D and metabolic health indicators, especially in patients with obesity. We compared the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in children and adolescents who had obesity and hepatosteatosis with children and adolescents who had obesity without hepatosteatosis and investigated the relationship between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and severity of hepatosteatosis. We also aimed to assess the effect of vitamin D treatment after 6 months on hepatosteatosis and liver biochemistry. Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients with obesity (body mass index [BMI] >+2 standard deviations [SDs] for their age and gender) and vitamin D deficiency (serum 25(OH)D 0.05). There was no significant difference in BMI SD, HOMA-IR, and liver enzymes between subjects with and without hepatosteatosis (p > 0.05). Despite improvement in serum 25(OH)D concentrations at 6 months post-treatment (34.7 ± 10.6 ng/mL vs. 8.7 ± 2.4 ng/mL; p < 0.0001), there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with different severity of hepatosteatosis as compared to before treatment (p = 0.88). Conclusion: Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were lower in children and adolescents with obesity and hepatic steatosis as compared to those without hepatic steatosis, with an inverse association between the severity of hepatosteatosis and serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Vitamin D treatment in children and adolescents with obesity and hypovitaminosis D did not improve severity of hepatic steatosis on ultrasonography at 6 months

Screening of PROP-1, LHX2 and POU1F1 Mutations in Patients with Ectopic Posterior Pituitary Gland

WOS: 000384166801385..