Effects of the hippocampal deep brain stimulation on cortical epileptic discharges in penicillin - induced epilepsy model in rats

Aim: Experimental and clinical studies have revealed that hippocampal DBS can control epileptic activity, but the mechanism of action is obscure and optimal stimulation parameters are not clearly defined. The aim was to evaluate the effects of high frequency hippocampal stimulation on cortical epileptic activity in penicillin-induced epilepsy model. Material and Methods: Twenty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted DBS electrodes. In group-1 (n=10) hippocampal DBS was off and in the group-2 (n=10) hippocampal DBS was on (185 Hz, 0.5V, 1V, 2V, and 5V for 60 sec) following penicillin G injection intracortically. In the control group hippocampal DBS was on following 8μl saline injection intracortically. EEG recordings were obtained before and 15 minutes following penicillin-G injection, and at 10th minutes following each stimulus for analysis in terms of frequency, amplitude, and power spectrum. Results: High frequency hippocampal DBS suppressed the acute penicillin-induced cortical epileptic activity independent from stimulus intensity. In the control group, hippocampal stimulation alone lead only to diffuse slowing of cerebral bioelectrical activity at 5V stimulation. Conclusion: Our results revealed that continuous high frequency stimulation of the hippocampus suppressed acute cortical epileptic activity effectively without causing secondary epileptic discharges. These results are important in terms of defining the optimal parameters of hippocampal DBS in patients with epilepsy

Health technology assessment in Türkiye: Current status and perspectives on future implementation

Objective:: Türkiye's health care system reforms have led not only to increased access to health care but also to rising pharmaceutical expenditures. Therefore, health technology assessment (HTA) has become an important tool for evaluating priorities in reimbursement and budget allocation. Our study aimed to describe the current HTA environment in Türkiye and explore long-term perspectives from a broad spectrum of Turkish stakeholders on the development of HTA in the next ten years. Methods:: In 2019, we used a convenience sampling method to conduct an online survey with stakeholders from different areas in the health system. Additional face-to-face discussions were conducted to clarify answers when needed. We assessed the current evaluation process for pharmaceuticals and examined the need for HTA in Türkiye. Online survey data were extracted into Microsoft Excel for analysis. Quantitative data were summarised descriptively. Results:: A total of 27 Turkish stakeholders completed the survey; 21 were employed in the public sector, and 6, in the private sector. The majority of participants (18/27) suggested introducing HTA for all new health technologies considered for public reimbursement and instituting an additional review process for currently reimbursed technologies. Most respondents (25/27) agreed that a threshold for cost-effectiveness should be applied in the next ten years. Conclusion:: The stakeholders concurred that Türkiye must implement an HTA process soon. However, further discussion and interaction between stakeholders are essential to ensure a broad commitment to the implementation of a structured HTA process in Türkiye

Measurements of Elastic Moduli of Silicone Gel Substrates with a Microfluidic Device

Thin layers of gels with mechanical properties mimicking animal tissues are widely used to study the rigidity sensing of adherent animal cells and to measure forces applied by cells to their substrate with traction force microscopy. The gels are usually based on polyacrylamide and their elastic modulus is measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM). Here we present a simple microfluidic device that generates high shear stresses in a laminar flow above a gel-coated substrate and apply the device to gels with elastic moduli in a range from 0.4 to 300 kPa that are all prepared by mixing two components of a transparent commercial silicone Sylgard 184. The elastic modulus is measured by tracking beads on the gel surface under a wide-field fluorescence microscope without any other specialized equipment. The measurements have small and simple to estimate errors and their results are confirmed by conventional tensile tests. A master curve is obtained relating the mixing ratios of the two components of Sylgard 184 with the resulting elastic moduli of the gels. The rigidity of the silicone gels is less susceptible to effects from drying, swelling, and aging than polyacrylamide gels and can be easily coated with fluorescent tracer particles and with molecules promoting cellular adhesion. This work can lead to broader use of silicone gels in the cell biology laboratory and to improved repeatability and accuracy of cell traction force microscopy and rigidity sensing experiments

Scapular winging: anatomical review, diagnosis, and treatments

Scapular winging is a rare debilitating condition that leads to limited functional activity of the upper extremity. It is the result of numerous causes, including traumatic, iatrogenic, and idiopathic processes that most often result in nerve injury and paralysis of either the serratus anterior, trapezius, or rhomboid muscles. Diagnosis is easily made upon visible inspection of the scapula, with serratus anterior paralysis resulting in medial winging of the scapula. This is in contrast to the lateral winging generated by trapezius and rhomboid paralysis. Most cases of serratus anterior paralysis spontaneously resolve within 24 months, while conservative treatment of trapezius paralysis is less effective. A conservative course of treatment is usually followed for rhomboid paralysis. To allow time for spontaneous recovery, a 6–24 month course of conservative treatment is often recommended, after which if there is no recovery, patients become candidates for corrective surgery

A study on the fattening traits of Sönmez type lambs [Sönmez kuzularinda besi özellikleri üzerine bir araştirma]

This study was conducted to determine the fattening performance of Sönmez type lambs weaned on average at 60±5 days old. Sixty lambs were put into four different pens, as single males (15), single females (15), twin males (15) and twin females (15), and the fattening period was 56 days in length. The daily weight gains were 282.14 g, 242.49 g, 207.31 g and 179.99 g for single males, single females, twin males and twin females, respectively. The average daily weight gain in Sönmez type lambs was 227.98 g. Feed efficiency levels in Sönmez lambs were 3.98, 4.32, 4.49 and 4.63 for single males, single females, twin males and twin females, respectively. The average feed efficiency value in Sönmez type lambs was found to be 4.35

Cross-talk between ribosome biogenesis, translation, and mTOR in CD133+4/CD44+prostate cancer stem cells

Acikgoz, Eda/0000-0002-6772-3081WOS: 000491662000001PubMed: 31630355Objective To investigate the gene expression profile of CSCs and to explore the key pathways and specific molecular signatures involved in the characteristic of CSCs. Materials and methods CD133+ /CD44+ CSCs and bulk population (non-CSCs) were isolated from DU-145 cells using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). We used Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 Expression to investigate gene expression profiling of CSCs and non-CSCs. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was performed using the STRING database. Biomarkers selected based on gene expression profiling were visually analyzed using immunofluorescence staining method. An image analysis program, ImageJ (R), was used for the analysis of fluorescence intensity. Results in microarray analysis, we found that many ribosomal proteins and translation initiation factors that constitute the mTOR complex were highly expressed. PPI analysis using the 33 genes demonstrated that there was a close interaction between ribosome biogenesis, translation, and mTOR signaling. the fluorescence amount of mTOR and MLST8 were higher in CSCs compared to non-CSCs. Conclusions the increase in a number of genes associated with ribosome biogenesis, translation, and mTOR signaling may be important to evaluate prognosis and determine treatment approach for prostate cancer (PCa). A better understanding of the molecular pathways associated with CSCs may be promising to develop targeted therapies to prolong survival in PCa