Nosocomial hepatitis C virus infection in a renal transplantation center

AbstractNosocomial hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections were recorded in the renal transplantation unit of the university hospital. There were cases of acute HCV infection with aggressive clinical courses diagnosed from a positive HCV RNA test in the early post-transplantation period and which remained anti-HCV negative. Their anti-HCV seronegativity was attributed to them having acquired HCV under intense immunosuppressive therapy and suggested that the aggressive clinical course could be due to the deficient immune response resulting in an inability to limit viral replication. There were also donors diagnosed as having acute HCV infection in the early post-operative period. Genotyping and sequence analysis for HCV were performed on the isolates of eight of these patients who were consecutively transplanted and of three donors whose recipients were infected with HCV prior to transplantation, and who acquired acute HCV infection after transplantation. Of the eight recipients in the first group three were genotype 1a, three were genotype 1b, one wasgenotype 3a, and the last one was genotype 4 according to Simmond's classification. Of the three donor-recipient couples both the HCV isolates from one couple were genotyped as 1b and the phylogenetic analysis indicated that the patients were infected with a common variant of HCV, but the genotypesof HCV isolates from the other couples were different. Recipients were genotype 1b and the donors were genotype 1a in these couples. Genotype results of the first group and donor-recipient couples, and sequence analysis of genotype 1b and 1a isolates, showed that the source of infection was not a unique strain and there were multiple breaks in universal precautions while managing these patients

Assessment of Effect of Flux Scheme and Turbulence Model on Blade-to-blade Calculations

Today, due to advances in computing power, Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solvers are widely preferred for quasi-three-dimensional (Q3D) blade-to-blade analysis. This study investigates the performance of different flux calculation methods and turbulence models with a density-based RANS solver (Numeca®) in blade-to-blade analysis. A block-structured mesh topology is used to create a solution grid around the airfoil. Spatial discretization is performed in the pitchwise direction to represent the quasi three-dimensional flow, while only one computational cell is used in the radial direction to simulate the flow through the Q3D cascade. The computational grid around the airfoil is created with the Autogrid® tool using the block mesh topology. For the convective flow calculations, both the central and upwind methods available in Numeca® are applied separately. The Baldwin Lomax (BL), Spalart Allmaras (SA), Shear Stress Transport (SST), Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress Model (EARSM) and k-ε (KEPS) turbulence models are used for the turbulent shear stress calculations. In order to evaluate the aerodynamic performance of the spatial discretization methods and turbulence models, the isentropic Mach distribution on the airfoil surface, the total pressure loss and the exit flow angle behind the blade are compared with the experimental data of six test cases. In the compressor cases, the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model with the Central scheme gives the best results in terms of average loss prediction, while no turbulence model is superior to the other in terms of exit angle prediction. On the turbine side, EARSM and KEPS give better performance in terms of loss prediction for the low Reynolds case compared to others, while the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model is better for the high Reynolds cases

Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Democratic Backsliding in Turkey: Beyond the Narratives of Progress

Unpacking the core themes that are discussed in this collection, this article both offers a research agenda to re-analyse Turkey’s ‘authoritarian turn’ and mounts a methodological challenge to the conceptual frameworks that reinforce a strict analytical separation between the ‘economic’ and the ‘political’ factors. The paper problematises the temporal break in scholarly analyses of the AKP period and rejects the argument that the party’s methods of governance have shifted from an earlier ‘democratic’ model – defined by ‘hegemony’ – to an emergent ‘authoritarian’ one. In contrast, by retracing the mechanisms of the state-led reproduction of neoliberalism since 2003, the paper demonstrates that the party’s earlier ‘hegemonic’ activities were also shaped by authoritarian tendencies which manifested at various levels of governance

Towards Comprehensive Foundations of Computational Intelligence

Abstract. Although computational intelligence (CI) covers a vast variety of different methods it still lacks an integrative theory. Several proposals for CI foundations are discussed: computing and cognition as compression, meta-learning as search in the space of data models, (dis)similarity based methods providing a framework for such meta-learning, and a more general approach based on chains of transformations. Many useful transformations that extract information from features are discussed. Heterogeneous adaptive systems are presented as particular example of transformation-based systems, and the goal of learning is redefined to facilitate creation of simpler data models. The need to understand data structures leads to techniques for logical and prototype-based rule extraction, and to generation of multiple alternative models, while the need to increase predictive power of adaptive models leads to committees of competent models. Learning from partial observations is a natural extension towards reasoning based on perceptions, and an approach to intuitive solving of such problems is presented. Throughout the paper neurocognitive inspirations are frequently used and are especially important in modeling of the higher cognitive functions. Promising directions such as liquid and laminar computing are identified and many open problems presented.

Örme konfeksiyonda kumaş eni ile kumaş ve model türünün ikinci kalite maliyetine etkisi [The effects of fabric width, fabric and model type on the cost of second quality in terms of apparel]

Nowadays, for apparel companies to compete in national and international markets, they have to satisfy the expectations of the customers in terms of time, cost and quality. Fabric cost is close to or more than 50% of total cost of garment. The aim of this study is to determine the parameters that affect the marker efficiency and thus the raw material cost and the second quality cost and then to examine the effects of these parameters. For this aim, six different models from upper group garments are chosen. The numbers and shapes of patterns of the models are carefully selected to be different from each other. The cutting plans (marker plans) of these models are prepared in three different fabric widths and four different fabric types with Gemini NestExpert Program. Model type, width of the fabric and fabric type (shrinkage value) are selected as independent variables and cost of second quality as dependents variable. The obtained data is also statistically analyzed and interpreted