On the use of the SOS metaheuristic algorithm in hybrid image fusion methods to achieve optimum spectral fidelity

Image fusion aims to spatially enhance a low-resolution multispectral (MS) image by utilizing a high-resolution panchromatic (Pan) band. Various image fusion methodologies have been proposed with the aim to improve the spatial detail quality without deteriorating the colour content of the input MS image. Previous studies revealed the fact that there is no such thing as 'the best image fusion method' since all fusion methods cause either spectral distortion or spatial detail loss to some extent, which motivates the researchers to develop more advanced methods to keep the colour content while increasing the spatial detail quality. This study proposed to use the Symbiotic Organisms Search (SOS) metaheuristic algorithm in hybrid image fusion methods to achieve the optimum colour quality in the fused images. The SOS algorithm was used in two hybrid fusion approaches, one including the Intensity-Hue-Saturation (IHS) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) methods and the other one including the IHS and Discrete Wavelet Frame Transform (DWFT) methods. The results of the proposed methods were qualitatively and quantitatively compared in three test sites against those of eighteen widely-used image fusion methods. It was concluded that the proposed methods led to superior colour quality with both singlesensor and multisensor input images, regardless of the spatial resolution difference between the input images. The proposed methods were also found to be very successful in sharpening the images, despite the fact that their main purpose was to keep the colour content as much as possible

Nonisocyanate based polyurethane/silica nanocomposites and their coating performance

A series of silica nano-particles with different size were prepared by sol–gel technique, then surface modification by using cyclic carbonate functional organoalkoxysilane (CPS) was performed. Various amounts of carbonated silica particles directly added into carbonated soybean oil (CSBO) and carbonated polypropylene glycol (CPPG) resin mixture to prepare polyurethane–silica nanocomposite coating compositions by nonisocyanate route using an aliphatic diamine as a curing agent. Cupping, gloss, impact, and taber abrasion tests were performed on aluminum panels coated with those nano-composite formulations and tensile tests, thermogravimetric and SEM analyses were conducted on the free films prepared from the same coating formulations. An increase in abrasion resistance of CSBO-CPPG resin combination with the addition of silica was observed. In addition, the maximum weight loss of CSBO-CPPG resin combination was shifted to higher temperatures with incorporation of silica nano-particles The positive effect of modified silica particles on thermal stability of CSBO-CPPG system could be explained in such a way that PPG chains are able to disperse particles in the medium throughout the interactions between ether linkages and silanol groups

The efficacy of cinacalcet in the treatment of hyperparathyroidism in Turkish hemodialysis patient population

WOS: 000393291900012OBJECTIVE: Cinacalcet reduces parathyroid hormone levels by increasing the sensitivity of the parathyroid gland to calcium. in this study, we firstly aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cinacalcet in Turkish hemodialysis patients. MATERIAL and METHODS: 4483 hemodialysis patients were screened and 469 patients who had used cinacalcet were included in the study. the patients were divided into 4 groups according to drug usage durations (Group 1: 3 months, Group 2: 6 months, Group 3: 9 months and Group 4: 12 months). the patients' Parathormone, Ca, P and CaxP levels at the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months were compared to the start of treatment and previous months. RESULTS: the levels of Parathormone, Ca, P and CaxP significantly decreased compared to their initial levels in all groups (from 1412 pg/ml to 1222 pg/mL for Parathormone, p< 0,001) in the 3rd month. However, this reduction was not continued in the subsequent months (Parathormone: 1381 pg/ml for the 12th month). CONCLUSION: Cinacalcet may not provide adequate benefit in control of hyperparathyroidism in Turkish hemodialysis patient population

Evaluation of patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease: Preliminary results from the Turk-UIP study

OBJECTIVE: Differential diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is important among fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILD). This study aimed to evaluate the rate of IPF in patients with fibrotic ILD and to determine the clinical-laboratory features of patients with and without IPF that would provide the differential diagnosis of IPF. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included the patients with the usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern or possible UIP pattern on thorax high-resolution computed tomography, and/or UIP pattern, probable UIP or possible UIP pattern at lung biopsy according to the 2011 ATS/ERSARS/ALAT guidelines. Demographics and clinical and radiological data of the patients were recorded. All data recorded by researchers was evaluated by radiology and the clinical decision board. RESULTS: A total of 336 patients (253 men, 83 women, age 65.8 +/- 9.0 years) were evaluated. Of the patients with sufficient data for diag-nosis (n=300), the diagnosis was IPF in 121 (40.3%), unclassified idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in 50 (16.7%), combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in 40 (13.3%), and lung involvement of connective tissue disease (CTD) in 16 (5.3%). When 29 patients with definite IPF features were added to the patients with CPFE, the total number of IPF patients reached 150 (50%). Rate of male sex (p<0.001), smoking history (p<0.001), and the presence of clubbing (p=0.001) were significantly high in patients with IPE None of the women <50 years and none of the men <50 years of age without a smoking history were diagnosed with IPE Presence of at least 1 of the symptoms suggestive of CTD, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and antinuclear antibody (FANA) positivity rates were significantly higher in the non-IPF group (p<0.001, p=0.029, p=0.009, respectively). CONCLUSION: The rate of IPF among patients with fibrotic ILD was 50%. In the differential diagnosis of IPF, sex, smoking habits, and the presence of clubbing are important. The presence of symptoms related to CTD, ESR elevation, and EANA positivity reduce the likelihood of IPF

Computer self-efficacy beliefs of primary school teachers and their attitudes towards computer-aided instruction

Bu çalışmanın amacı Niğde İlinde görev yapan ilköğretim öğretmenlerinin bilgisayar öz-yeterlik inançları ile BDÖ?ye yönelik tutumlarını çeşitli değişkenler (yaş, cinsiyet, çalıştıkları yerleşim birimi, kıdem, bilgisayar ve Internet bağlantısına sahip olup olmama, Internet kullanım sıklığı ve bilgisayarla ilgili eğitim alıp almama gibi) açısından incelemektir. Bununla birlikte öğretmenlerin bilgisayar öz-yeterlik inançları ile bilgisayara yönelik tutumları arasındaki ilişki de irdelenmiştir. Çalışmada genel tarama modeli kullanılmış, çalışmanın örneklemini Niğde ili ilköğretim okullarında 2011-2012 öğretim yılında görev yapan 480 ilköğretim öğretmeni oluşturmuştur. Veri toplama araçları olarak “Kişisel Bilgi Formu”, “Bilgisayar Öz-Yeterlik İnancı Ölçeği” ile “Bilgisayar Destekli Öğretime Yönelik Tutum Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır. Çalışmadan elde edilen bulgular ışığında, öğretmenlerin yüksek düzeyde bilgisayar öz-yeterlik inançlarına sahip oldukları ve bilgisayar destekli öğretime yönelik olumlu tutum içerisinde bulundukları saptanmıştır. Bununla birlikte bilgisayar öz-yeterlik inancı ve bilgisayar destekli öğretime yönelik tutumlara ilişkin ölçek verilerinden elde edilen ortalamalar çeşitli değişkenler açısından karşılaştırılmış ve değişkenler arasında anlamlı farklılıklar görülmüştür. Ayrıca öğretmenlerin öz-yeterlik inançları ve tutumları orta düzeyde, pozitif yönde ve anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.Purpose: The computer is a tool to be used in the service of people and now more and more people are using computers throughout the world. Besides using computer technology anytime and anywhere, Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI) is getting more and more important. Educational institutions from primary school to universities use CAI to teach different lessons such as writing, reading, arithmetic, art, science, mathematics, music, history, geography, economics, business, architecture and engineering. As in most counties, computers are also used to improve education in schools in Turkey. So, education systems are harmonized with CAI. Teachers have an important role in education systems for the success of CAI. Teachers‘ level of knowledge, case of using CAI in their lessons and self-efficacy beliefs about CAI affects the their using of CAI in lessons efficiently. In addition, teachers‘ having positive attitudes to CAI is as important as using computer technology. When the literature is reviewed, it is realized that the number of studies examining computer self-efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers and their affective approaches to the use of computer technologies in instruction and determining relationship between self-efficacy and the attitudes is insufficient. Also, it is seen that the majority of existing studies were conducted with small samples consisting of teacher candidates. This situation leaded to this study. The purpose of this study is to examine the computer self-efficacy beliefs of primary school teachers who work in the province of Nigde and their attitudes towards CAI with respect to different variables and examine the relationship between their self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes. Method: A general survey model has been used to search computer self-efficacy beliefs, attitudes towards CAI of pre-service teachers and the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes. The population of the scan type of study carried out has comprised all primary school teachers in the province of Nigde within the academic year 2011-2012 and sample thereof consisted of 480 teachers designated primarily in a stratified and subsequently random manner among cited teachers. In this study, the data collection tool &amp;#8213;Personal Information Form&amp;#8214; developed through researchers has been employed together with &amp;#8213;Computer Self-Efficacy Belief Scale&amp;#8214; and &amp;#8213;Computer-Aided Instruction Attitude Scale&amp;#8214; both developed through Sensoy (2004). Cronbach's alpha coefficients of internal consistency of the scales in the development works were .89 and .88. In this study, t-test, one-way ANOVA and Scheffe analyzes have been used in the comparison of variables with normal distribution, while Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H test have been employed in the comparison of variables without normal distribution. The Pearson product moment correlation coefficient has been applied in order to reveal relationships. Results: In the light of the findings computer self-efficacy beliefs of teachers have been determined as high level and their attitudes towards CAI has shown a high level. Teachers‘ selfefficacy beliefs have shown significant differences according to gender and age variables however the same variables have not shown an important factor in attitudes. Statistically significant differences incident to self-efficacy and attitudes have been observed both in terms of seniority of teachers and the lieu of their works. It has been determined that teachers who had a computer with Internet connection and who have used the Internet more frequently tended to have significantly higher self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes. A middle level, positive and significant relationship has been observed between teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes. Through this research it has been indicated that teachers are at high level self-efficacy beliefs in terms of using computers and generally have positive attitudes towards CAI. The positive, significance correlation at middle level between self-efficacy and attitude has shown that teachers at acceptable level in terms of using computers have more positive attitudes to CAI. Discussion: Previous studies and this study have revealed that individuals with high computer self-efficacy beliefs are more willing in participating in activities vis a vis computers and the expectations thereof germane to such studies are higher. Teachers with developed computer self-efficacy beliefs both prior to and during the service thereof are expected to be more successful in CAI applications in the process of education. The findings of the study are expected to contribute to teachers and relevant persons who conduct studies on cited field. Conclusion: In this study, it was found that new findings can be attained by replicating the studies in the literature related to self-efficacy beliefs of the teacher candidates mostly in different subject areas on the sample of in-service teachers. Therefore, it is suggested that future studies should examine self-efficacy and attitudes of the teachers in other educational institutions except from primary education with different variables

First description of enhanced expression of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-?) and glia maturation factor-beta (GMF-ß) correlate with severity of neuropathology in border disease virus-infected small ruminants

PubMed ID: 30654008Border disease (BD) is caused by Pestivirus and characterized by severe neuropathology, and histopathologically observed severe hypomyelination. We have previously shown that small ruminants infected with border disease virus (BDV) play an important role for neuropathology and pathogenesis of severe oxidative damage in brain tissue, neuronal mtDNA; in the production of high pathologic levels of nitric oxide; in glial cell activation and stimulation of intrinsic apoptosis pathway. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between glia maturation factor beta (GMF-ß) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-?) expressions and the causes of BDV-induced neuropathology and to investigate their role in neuropathogenesis in a way that was not presented before. Expression levels of GMF-ß and TGF-? were investigated. Results of the study revealed that the levels of GMF-ß (P < 0.005) and TGF-? (P < 0.005) expression in the brain tissue markedly increased in the BDV-infected animals compared to the non-infected healthy control group. While TGF-? expressions were predominantly observed in neurons, GMF-ß expressions were found in astrocytes, glial cells and neurons. These results were reasonable to suggest that BDV-mediated increased GMF-ß might play a pivotal role neuropathogenesis and a different type of role in the mechanism of neurodegeneration/neuropathology in the process of BD. The results also indicated that increased levels of GMF up-regulation in glial cells and neurons causes neuronal destruction, suggesting pathological pathway involving GMF-mediated brain cell cytotoxicity. It is clearly indicated that the cause of astrogliosis is due to severe TGF-a expression. This is the first study to demonstrate the expression of GMF-ß and TGF-? in neurons and reactive glial cells and its association with neuropathology in BD. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

Pathologic Apoptosis And Diagnostic Methods

İlk kez Kerr ve arkadaşları tarafından 1972 de tanımlanan apoptozis, biyolojik görevlerini tamamlamışyapısal elemanları ya da DNA’sı hasar görmüş hücrelerin, ilişkili olduğu doku ve hücrelere zarar vermeyecek birbiçimde ortadan kaldırılmasını sağlayan, genlerle kontrol altında tutulan ve gerçekleşmesi için enerjiye ihtiyaçduyan programlı hücre ölümüdür. Apoptozisi fizyolojik olarak yaşamın her dönemimde görebiliriz. Patolojikapoptozis ise otoimmün ve nörodejeneratif hastalıklar, kanser, kalp hastalıkları ve viral enfeksiyonlar gibi birçokhastalığın patogenezinde yakından ilişkilidir. Apoptozis emri alan bir hücrede kromatin yoğunlaşması görülür vehücrenin boyutları küçülmeye başlar. Daha sonra apoptotik cisimciklere ayrılırlar. Bu apoptotik cisimcikleryüzeylerinde yeni reseptörlerle birlikte yakındaki fagositik sistem hücrelerini çağırarak fagotositoz ileuzaklaştırılır. Apoptozisin inhibisyonu/aktivasyonu tedavi için gen ürünleri ise tanı için potansiyel hedeflerdir.Bu makale; apoptozisin morfolojik özelliklerini ve nekrozdan farklarını, genetik düzenlenmesini, tanıyöntemlerini ve özellikle hastalıklardaki yakın ilişkisini içeren son literatür bilgileri gözden geçirilerektartışılmış bir derlemedir.First defined by Kerr et al. in 1972, the apoptosis is the programmed cell death which is kept undercontrol by genes and needs energy to occur, allowing structural elements with completed biological duties orcells with damaged DNA to be removed without damaging the associated tissue and cells. Apoptosis can be seenphysiologically in all stages of life. Pathological apoptosis is closely related in the pathogenesis many diseases,including autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, heart diseases and viral infections. Chromatincondensation is observed and the size of cell becomes smaller in a cell that receives the apoptosis order. Thenthey are fragmented into apoptotic bodies. These apoptotic bodies are removed by phagocytosis by callingnearby phagocytic system cells together with new receptors on their surfaces. Inhibition/activation of apoptosisand gene products are potential targets for treatment and diagnosis, respectively. This article is a compilation thatdiscusses morphologic characteristics of apoptosis, its differences from necrosis, genetic regulation, diagnosismethods and close association with diseases by reviewing the latest literature

Evaluation Of Different Outlier Detection Methods For Gps Networks

GPS (Global Positioning System) devices can be used in many applications which require accurate point positioning in geosciences. Accuracy of GPS decreases due to outliers resulted from the errors inherent in GPS observations. Several approaches have been developed to detect outliers in geodetic observations. It is important to determine which method is most effective at distinguishing outliers from normal observations. This paper investigates the behavior of conventional statistical test methods (Data Snooping (DS), Tau and t tests), some robust methods (Andrews's M-Estimation, Huber's M-Estimation, Tukey's M-Estimation, Danish Method, Yang-I M-Estimation, Yang-II M-Estimation, and fuzzy logic method in detection of outliers for three GPS networks having different characteristics. Test results are evaluated and the performances of different methods are presented quantitatively.WoSScopusPubMe

Role of nitric oxide and oxidative stress in pathophysiology of liver injury in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic rats

WOS: 000416989900006Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a severe chronic metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycaemia because of the alterations in insulin secretion or its action. It is previously shown that hyperglycemia related oxidative stress (OS) and excessive nitric oxide (NO) production may cause severe complications in kidney and brain. In this report, it is aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effects of NO and to evaluate possible interaction with T1DM related hepatopathology. Expression levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and glutathione reductase (GR) were examined by immunohistochemistry in liver tissues. Results of the study revealed that levels of 8-OHdG (P<0.001), eNOS (P<0.001), eNOS (P<0.001), SOD1 (P<0.001) and GR (P<0.001) were remarkably higher in liver with T1DM than control. The most prominent finding of this study is the increased levels of 8-OHdG in the mostly hepatocyte cytoplasm. These results suggest an involvement of oxidative DNA damage and OS might play a pivotal role on hepatic degeneration and this is a novel insight of pathogenesis on the explanation of cellular processes in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic rats'liver. Furthermore, these results also suggested that STZ-induced hepatic pathology might have been augmented by the contribution of high NO expression mediated OS. Taken together, the results suggest NO related hepatic inflammation and degeneration closely implicated in pathophysiology of T1DM. The results also clearly indicated that OS plays an important role on hepatic pathology and OS biomarkers might indicate the progress of the T1DM.Scientific Research Projects Commission of the Gumushane University, Turkey [15.B0421.02.2]This work was funded and supported by the Scientific Research Projects Commission of the Gumushane University, Turkey (Project Code: 15.B0421.02.2). This study was presented as an oral presentation in the 32nd World Veterinary Congress, 13-17 September 2015, Istanbul