Prozercon banazensis sp. Nov. (Acari: Mesostigmata: Zerconidae), a new species of zerconid mite from Turkey, with a new record

In this study, Prozercon banazensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated from female and deutonymph specimens collected in Kütahya and Uşak provinces (Turkey). Morphological features of P. morazae Ujvári, 2011, which is a new record for the Turkish fauna, are also given with drawings. Information on habitat and distribution for each species is also provided. © TÜBİTAK

A Concise Review of the Multimodality Imaging Features of Renal Cell Carcinoma

The evaluation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is routinely performed using the multimodality imaging approach, including ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). Ultrasonography is the most frequently used imaging modality for the initial diagnosis of renal masses. The modality of choice for the characterization of the renal mass is multiphasic CT. Recent advances in CT technology have led to its widespread use as a powerful tool for preoperative planning, reducing the need for catheter angiography for the evaluation of vascular invasion. CT is also the standard imaging modality for staging and follow-up. MRI serves as a problem-solving tool in selected cases of undefined renal lesions. Newer MRI techniques, such as arterial spin labeling and diffusion-weighted imaging, have the potential to characterize renal lesions without contrast media, but these techniques warrant further investigation. PET may be a useful tool for evaluating patients with suspected metastatic disease, but it has modest sensitivity in the diagnosis and staging of RCC. The newer radiotracers may increase the accuracy of PET for RCC diagnosis and staging. In summary, the main imaging modality used for the characterization, staging, and surveillance of RCC is multiphasic CT. Other imaging modalities, such as MRI and PET, are used for selected indications

Computed Tomography Imaging Findings of Acute Aortic Pathologies

Acute aortic syndromes (AAS) encompass a spectrum of life-threatening conditions characterized by acute aortic pain. AAS include acute aortic dissection, intramural hematoma, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer, and aneurysm rupture. The prognosis of AAS is clearly related to prompt diagnosis and appropriate management. The different types of AAS cannot be reliably differentiated solely based on clinical presentation since the clinical features are indistinguishable. Multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) with electrocardiographic gating (ECG-gated MDCT) has been used in the acute emergency setting as a powerful clinical tool, which enables rapid and specific diagnosis of aortic pathologies. ECG-gated MDCT significantly reduces motion artifact and avoids potential pitfalls in the diagnosis of AAS. The aim of this review is to evaluate the role of MDCT imaging in the assessment of AAS and to discuss the differentiation of this spectrum of aortic diseases with reference to the key imaging findings

Comparing the trends of postpartum depression screening scores during and before the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Postpartum depression includes major and minor depressive disorders affecting women in the time period after childbirth. The studies reviewed in our literature found that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of postpartum depression for women. Our study location, the Rio Grande Valley is one of the hardest-hit locations by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Our patient population is also one with the higher risk factors for postpartum depression. As such, we are expecting the psychological impact of the pandemic to be even more magnified, and thus, actions need to be taken to support the vulnerable population of postpartum women. Objective: This project is a retrospective study for the period between April 1 - December 1, 2020, to the same time period of 2019. Our objective is to evaluate the trends in total Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores over these months and to correlate the trends in the scoring of the individual questions in the screening questionnaire to parameters of COVID disease in Hidalgo county over the same time periods. Research Plan and Methods: All postpartum patients who delivered at the Women’s Hospital at Renaissance are routinely administered the EPDS. This questionnaire can be collected from the patient\u27s electronic record by the Business Informatics team at DHR without including patient identifiers. Descriptive analysis of the data will be performed. Statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS. Results and Conclusion: Results from the analysis of trends in EPDS scores will be presented and analytic issues will be discussed. No conclusion can be drawn at this time

Cistein proteaza (kaparin) iz kapara (Capparis spinosa)

Proteases are enzymes that perform very important functions in organisms and are used for a variety of objectives in vitro. In recent years, proteases have been used for clinical, pharmaceutical (alimentary digestion, anti-inflammatory, etc.) and industrial applications (cheese production, meat tenderizing, leather tanning). In this research, a protease has been purified from capsules of caper (Capparis spinosa) and characterized. Caper plants have been used for food and medicine since ancient times. The plant grows abundantly in certain regions of Turkey. Ammonium sulphate fractionation and a CM Sephadex column were used for purification of the enzyme. The purification enzyme has an optimum pH=5.0 and its optimum temperature was 60 °C. The vmax and Km values determined by Lineweaver-Burk graphics were 1.38 μg/(L·min) and 0.88 μg/L, respectively. The purification degree and the molecular mass of the enzyme (46 kDa) were determined by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration chromatography. It was investigated whether the purified and characterized protease could cause milk to congeal or digest chicken and cow meat. The results show that protease can be used for industrial production.Proteaze su enzimi koji imaju vrlo važnu funkciju u organizmu i razne mogućnosti primjene in vitro. Posljednjih se godina sve više primjenjuju u medicini, farmaciji (u liječenju probavnih tegoba, raznih upala i dr.) i industriji (u proizvodnji sira, mekšanju mesa i štavljenju kože). U ovom je radu opisan postupak pročišćavanja i karakterizacije proteaze iz kapara (Caparis spinosa). Kapare se od davnine koriste kao hrana i u medicinske svrhe, a obilato rastu u nekim dijelovima Turske. Pročišćavanje enzima provedeno je frakcioniranjem pomoću amonijeva sulfata i kromatografijom u CM-Sephadex koloni. Optimalna pH-vrijednost pročišćenog enzima bila je 5, a optimalna temperatura 60 °C. Pomoću dijagrama Lineweaver-Burke određene su vrijednosti vmax od 1,38 μg/(L×min) i Km od 0,88 μg/L. Stupanj pročišćavanja i molekularna masa enzima od 46 kDa utvrđeni su SDS-PAGE elektroforezom i gel-filtracijskom kromatografijom. Također je istraženo može li pročišćeni i karakterizirani enzim zgrušati mlijeko ili probaviti govedinu i piletinu. Rezultati su pokazali da se proteaza može primijeniti u industrijskoj proizvodnji hrane

Impact of Academic Golden Weekend Initiative on Academic Success for an Internal Medicine Clerkship

Background: COVID-19 precautions led to a change in the number of protected weekends for the UTRGV Internal Medicine Clerkship, going from 2 protected weekends to none. The aim of Academic Golden Weekends during a fully inpatient clerkship has been to maximize the student experience by providing enough time to balance all the necessary components of the student experience. Starting April 26, 2021, all cohorts completing their Internal Medicine Clerkship as third-year medical students had 3 protected weekends. Methods: Two surveys were created to compare the pre-intervention and post-intervention cohorts. The surveys focused on student satisfaction regarding the time they had for self-study, accomplishing clerkship requirements, and overall well-being. Furthermore, IM Clerkship NBME grade and clerkship final grade data have been retrieved and deidentified, later analyzed by a blinded party to assess the impact of the Academic Golden Weekend Initiative on academic performance. Results: Prior survey analysis has shown that prior to the implementation of Academic Golden Weekends, students had a higher rate of dissatisfaction regarding time available for self-study, accomplishing clerkship requirements, and self-care. The leading cause for overall dissatisfaction was lack of protected weekends.100% of students in the post-intervention cohort reported feeling that Academic Golden Weekends had a positive impact on their academic performance and self-care and reported increased levels f satisfaction across all categories. However, the preliminary analysis of the impact that this initiative had on academic performance, did not show a significant improvement on average NBME, and clerkship grades. Conclusions: While the Academic Golden Weekends initiative has led to improved student satisfaction for academic performance and self-care, the limited data collected thus far does not reveal a significant improvement in academic performance in terms of NBME and clerkship grades. Once more data is gathered these variables will be re-analyzed for statistical differences

Social Appearance Anxiety in Adult Patients with Acne: A Cross-Sectional Study

The severity of acne may not directly reflect the psychological state of a patient. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the social appearance anxiety with overall morbidity in patients with acne. One hundred adult patients with acne and 67 age and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The patients and controls were asked to complete the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Acne severity was evaluated objectively by the Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) and subjectively by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).  The mean score on SAAS (37.69±13.53; mean ± Standard deviation) was significantly higher than in the control group (32.48±9.34) (p=0.05). No significant difference was observed between the GHQ-12 scores of the acne (2.19±2.64) and the control group (1.63±2.2) (p=0.152). There was no correlation between the GAGS and the VAS (p=0.417). The SAAS scores of the patients with acne were correlated with the GAGS scores (p=0.05) but not correlated with VAS (p=0.481). The GHQ-12 scores were not correlated with GAGS (p=0.96) or with VAS (p=507). No statistical correlation was established between sex and the GAGS scores (p=0.385), SAAS scores (p=0.611), and GHQ-12 scores (p=0.196). The duration of acne was not correlated with SAAS scores (p=0.814) or with GHQ-12 scores (p=0.24). Social appearance anxiety is significant in adult patients with acne and it is correlated with objective acne severity. However, acne does not seem to be associated with substantial psychological distress or formal psychiatric disorder in adults.   </p

Cistein proteaza (kaparin) iz kapara (Capparis spinosa)

Proteases are enzymes that perform very important functions in organisms and are used for a variety of objectives in vitro. In recent years, proteases have been used for clinical, pharmaceutical (alimentary digestion, anti-inflammatory, etc.) and industrial applications (cheese production, meat tenderizing, leather tanning). In this research, a protease has been purified from capsules of caper (Capparis spinosa) and characterized. Caper plants have been used for food and medicine since ancient times. The plant grows abundantly in certain regions of Turkey. Ammonium sulphate fractionation and a CM Sephadex column were used for purification of the enzyme. The purification enzyme has an optimum pH=5.0 and its optimum temperature was 60 °C. The vmax and Km values determined by Lineweaver-Burk graphics were 1.38 μg/(L·min) and 0.88 μg/L, respectively. The purification degree and the molecular mass of the enzyme (46 kDa) were determined by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration chromatography. It was investigated whether the purified and characterized protease could cause milk to congeal or digest chicken and cow meat. The results show that protease can be used for industrial production.Proteaze su enzimi koji imaju vrlo važnu funkciju u organizmu i razne mogućnosti primjene in vitro. Posljednjih se godina sve više primjenjuju u medicini, farmaciji (u liječenju probavnih tegoba, raznih upala i dr.) i industriji (u proizvodnji sira, mekšanju mesa i štavljenju kože). U ovom je radu opisan postupak pročišćavanja i karakterizacije proteaze iz kapara (Caparis spinosa). Kapare se od davnine koriste kao hrana i u medicinske svrhe, a obilato rastu u nekim dijelovima Turske. Pročišćavanje enzima provedeno je frakcioniranjem pomoću amonijeva sulfata i kromatografijom u CM-Sephadex koloni. Optimalna pH-vrijednost pročišćenog enzima bila je 5, a optimalna temperatura 60 °C. Pomoću dijagrama Lineweaver-Burke određene su vrijednosti vmax od 1,38 μg/(L×min) i Km od 0,88 μg/L. Stupanj pročišćavanja i molekularna masa enzima od 46 kDa utvrđeni su SDS-PAGE elektroforezom i gel-filtracijskom kromatografijom. Također je istraženo može li pročišćeni i karakterizirani enzim zgrušati mlijeko ili probaviti govedinu i piletinu. Rezultati su pokazali da se proteaza može primijeniti u industrijskoj proizvodnji hrane

PD-L1 expression in immune cells is a favorable prognostic factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background: Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been determined as a reliable prognostic factor for various malignancies. In this study, we aimed to determine the prognostic effect of PD-L1 expression in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.Methods: Seventy patients diagnosed with non-metastatic NPC were included in the study. PD-L1 expression on immune cells was analyzed by immunohistochemical method. Patients were categorized into two groups according to the PD-L1 expression level in TIICs (level of PD-L1 staining ≥5% positive vs <5% negative).Results: Median follow-up period was 34 months (range = 1 - 188). 1 and 2 years survival rate were found as 75% and 63% in PD-L1 negative TIICs group (47%), and 85% and 83% in PD-L1 positive TIICs group (53%), respectively. PD-L1 positivity in immune cells (ICs) was detected in 53% of the patients. The survival rate was found better in the PD- L1 positive group compared to the negative group (P = 0.049).Discussion: In conclusion, the survival rate was found significantly better in the PD-L1 positive TIICs group, compared to the negative group