Bioaccumulation of trace metals and genotoxicity responses in Liza aurata as an indicator of industrial pollution

Heavy metal contamination in the coastal and marine ecosystems is becoming a serious risk to aquatic organisms and humans. This study reports the effects, including genetic damage, of accumulations of trace metals on Liza aurata, which is used as a bio-indicator species, in the Payas coast of Iskenderun Bay, north-eastern Mediterranean by COMET Assay. L. aurata were seasonally collected from a sampling site and a reference site for one year. Physicochemical parameters in water and trace metals in the tissues of fish collected from these sites were determined by electrochemical techniques. High DNA damage frequency in L. aurata was observed along the Payas coast of Iskenderun Bay compared to the reference site because of pollutants. The detected high levels of Cd, Pb, Fe and Cu accumulation in L. aurata exceed the maximum levels allowed by the national and international limit values. Significant positive correlations between Cd, Pb, Hg, Cr, Fe, Zn, and Cu accumulations and DNA damage parameters were observed in the present study. Additionally, we first reported the successful use of the electrochemical technique in the determination of trace metal concentrations in mullet. Moreover, L. aurata constitutes a key tool as a sentinel organism for biomonitoring of coastal ecosystems. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-022-02591-

The annotation scheme of the Turkish Discourse Bank and an evaluation of inconsistent annotations

In this paper, we report on the annotation procedures we developed for annotating the Turkish Discourse Bank (TDB), an effort that extends the Penn Discourse Tree Bank (PDTB) annotation style by using it for annotating Turkish discourse. After a brief introduction to the TDB, we describe the annotation cycle and the annotation scheme we developed, defining which parts of the scheme are an extension of the PDTB and which parts are different. We provide inter-coder reliability calculations on the first and second arguments of some connectives and discuss the most important sources of disagreement among annotators

The annotation scheme of the Turkish Discourse Bank and an evaluation of inconsistent annotations

In this paper, we report on the annotation procedures we developed for annotating the Turkish Discourse Bank (TDB), an effort that extends the Penn Discourse Tree Bank (PDTB) annotation style by using it for annotating Turkish discourse. After a brief introduction to the TDB, we describe the annotation cycle and the annotation scheme we developed, defining which parts of the scheme are an extension of the PDTB and which parts are different. We provide inter-coder reliability calculations on the first and second arguments of some connectives and discuss the most important sources of disagreement among annotators

Factors Affecting Inadequate Empirical Antimicrobial Therapy and the Clinical Course of Upper Urinary Tract Infections in Elderly Patients: A Multicenter Study

7th International Congress of Infectious-Diseases-and-Clinical-Microbiology-Speciality-Society-of-Turkey -- MAY 08-13, 2018 -- Antalya, TURKEYIntroduction: In this study, we aimed to determine the risk factors associated with inadequate empirical antibiotherapy (IEAT) and hospital-related mortality in elderly patients being treated for upper urinary tract infections (UTI). Materials and Methods: This study included individuals aged 65 years and over who were hospitalized after being diagnosed of community-acquired UTI or community-onset healthcare-associated UTI and followed-up in clinics and/or intensive care units (ICU) of 33 hospitals between March and September 2017. Results: A total of 525 patients (48% males; mean age: 76.46 +/- 7.93 years) were included in the study. Overall, 68.2% of the patients were hospitalized through the emergency department and 73.9% of patients were followed-up for pyelonephritis. Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and Gram-negative and positive mix growths were determined in 88%, 9.3%, and 2.7% of urine cultures, respectively. Fifty-six (10.7%) of the patients died. In multivariate analysis, the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [Odds ratio (OR): 2.278], age 85 years and over (OR: 2.816), admission to the ICU (OR: 14.831), and IEAT (OR: 2.364) were independent factors that significantly affected mortality. The presence of a urinary catheter, being followed-up in the ICU, benign prostate hypertrophy, use of antibiotics other than piperacillin-tazobactam and carbapenem were determined as independent factors that significantly affected IEAT (p<0.05). Conclusion: In our study, we found a direct correlation between IEAT and mortality. Therefore, knowing the most frequent microorganisms and antibiotic susceptibility profiles observed in the UTI of elderly patients may help to decrease the mortality and morbidity associated with these infections.Infect Dis & Clin Microbil Special Soc Turkiy

Annotating Subordinators in the Turkish Discourse Bank

In this paper we explain how we annotated subordinators in the Turkish Discourse Bank (TDB), an effort that started in 2007 and is still continuing. We introduce the project and describe some of the issues that were important in annotating three subordinators, namely kars¸ın, ragmen ˘ and halde, all of which encode the coherence relation Contrast-Concession. We also describe the annotation tool

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

An Unexpected Pseudomonas Luteola Bacteremia: Case Report

Pseudomonas luteola has rarely been reported as a human pathogen. It was showed in previous studies showed that P. luteola may cause septicemia, bacteremia, peritonitis, and endocarditis in patients with underlying disease or with indwelling devices. In this article we report a case of P. luteola bacteremia without any source. We successfully treated our patient with ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin combination

Osteoarticular Involvement among Brucellosis Cases in Konya City

Purpose: Brucellosis is a systemic disease that can affect many organs and tissues. Musculoskeletal system is one of the most commonly affected systems. Disease may present itself with sacroiliitis, peripheral arthritis, spondylitis, paraspinal abscess, bursitis or osteomyelitis. The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency, types and clinical features of osteoarticular involvement among cases with brucellosis in Konya city and to establish the differences between patients with and without osteoarticular involvement. Material and Methods: Three hundred and sixteen patients with Brucellosis who presented between June 2003 and June 2014 were included in the study. Brucellosis was diagnosed by positive Bruce Ila Standard Agglutination Test (1/160 titer) and/or growth of Bruce Ila spp. in blood culture in addition to the presence of clinical signs and findings. Diagnosis of osteoarticular system complications was established by physical examination and radiological findings obtained by diagnostic imaging tools. Magnetic resonance images of the thoracic, lumbar or sacral vertebrae were acquired in patients with back pain, low back pain and sacro-iliac joint pain. Results: Osteoarticular involvement was noted in 129 patients (40.8%) (females: 52% and males: 48%). The most common route of transmission was employment in farming and/or consumption of un-pasteurized milk or dairy products, especially fresh cheese, in 97 (75%) cases. Mean age was 46 18 years. Sacroiliitis was the most frequent osteoarticular involvement (n: 68, 52.7%), 70.5% of which were bilateral. Sacroiliitis was followed by spondylodiscitis in 35 (38.7%), peripheral arthritis in 20 (15.5%), bursitis in 1 (0.8%) cases. Patients with osteoarticular involvement received medical treatment for at least three months. Discussion: Ratio and anatomical region of osteoarticular involvement in brucellosis shows variability among areas. In the present study, we demonstrated that sacroiliitis was the most common form in Konya city. This disease should be included in differential diagnosis in patients with symptoms of sacroiliitis, spondylodiscitis or those with articular pain. Key words: Brucellosis, osteoarticular involvemen