The Atrial Fibrillation in Turkey: Epidemiologic Registry (AFTER)

Background: AFTER (Atrial Fibrillation in Turkey: Epidemiologic Registry) is a prospective,multicenter study designed with the aim of describing the prevalence and epidemiology ofAF practice in Turkey. This study aims to evaluate stroke risk in non-valvular atrial fi brillation(AF) and anticoagulant drug utilization within conformity to AF guidelines.Methods: Patients were recruited in 17 referral hospitals refl ecting all the population of7 geographical regions of Turkey. 2242 consecutive patients who had been admitted with AFon ECG were included in the study. 1745 of these patients, who had non-valvular AF, wereincluded in the statistical evaluation. Stroke risk was evaluated with the CHA2DS2-VASc score.Results: The average age of participants was determined to be 69.2 ± 11.5 years (56%female). Persistent-permanent AF was found to be the most common type of non-valvularAF (78%). The most common comorbid disorder was hypertension (73%). It was found thatoral anticoagulant therapy was used by 40% of all patients, 37% of whom had effective INR(2.0–3.0). Upon multivariate analysis, age was found to be the only independent predictorof stroke among the variables’ effects on thromboembolic events that created CHA2DS2-VAScabbreviations (OR 1.026, p < 0.001).Conclusions: These results suggest that stroke risk scores should be thoroughly heededbased on guidelines, and that anticoagulation must be applied according to their guidance

Electrochemically Fabricated Solid Phase Microextraction Fibers and their Applications in Food, Environmental and Clinical Analysis

Pelit, Levent/0000-0001-8090-703X; Pelit, Fusun/0000-0003-0551-664XWOS: 000494943600003Background: Designing an analytical methodology for complicated matrices, such as biological and environmental samples, is difficult since the sample preparation procedure is the most demanding step affecting the whole analytical process. Nowadays, this step has become more challenging by the legislations and environmental concerns since it is a prerequisite to eliminate or minimize the use of hazardous substances in traditional procedures by replacing with green techniques suitable for the sample matrix. Methods: in addition to the matrix, the nature of the analyte also influence the ease of creating green analytical techniques. Recent developments in the chemical analysis provide us new methodologies introducing microextraction techniques and among them, solid phase microextraction (SPME) has emerged as a simple, fast, low cost, reliable and portable sample preparation technique that minimizes solvent consumption. Results: the use of home-made fibers is popular in the last two decades since the selectivity can be tuned by changing the surface characteristics through chemical and electrochemical modifications. Latter technique is preferred since the electroactive polymers can be coated onto the fiber under controlled electrochemical conditions and the film thicknesses can be adjusted by simply changing the deposition parameters. Thermal resistance and mechanical strength can be readily increased by incorporating different dopant ions into the polymeric structure and selectivity can be tuned by inserting functional groups and nanostructures. A vast number of analytes with wide range of polarities extracted by this means can be determined with a suitable chromatographic detector coupled to the system. Therefore, the main task is to improve the physicochemical properties of the fiber along with the extraction efficiency and selectivity towards the various analytes by adjusting the electrochemical preparation conditions. Conclusion: This review covers the fine tuning conditions practiced in electrochemical preparation of SPME fibers and in-tube systems and their applications in environmental, food and clinical analysis

Assessment of DFG-S19 method for the determination of common endocrine disruptor pesticides in wine samples with an estimation of the uncertainty of the analytical results

WOS: 000314193800009PubMed ID: 23265455A gas chromatographic method for the determination of endocrine disruptor pesticides (Chlorpyrifos, Penconazole, Procymidone, Iprodione, Bromopropylate and Lambda-Cyhalothrin) in wine samples is described. A general DFG-S19 method for residual pesticide determination in all kind of food stuff was investigated to simplify and adopt for wine samples in this work. Alternative sample preparation routes were elucidated and compared according to their recovery values. Four different separation techniques were tested and the method employing florosil column after a LLE procedure was applied for wine samples with satisfactory recovery ratios (72-97%). The pesticides were extracted from the sample by cyclohexane-ethyl acetate mixture (1:1 v/v) and cleaned up by florosil column. The regression coefficients were at least 0.99 and relative standard deviations were no higher than 16%. Detection limits were in the range of 0.6-2.9 ng/mL and the relative expanded measurement uncertainties were calculated in the 7-22% range. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Ege UniversityEge University [2005/Fen/017]; TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [108T660]The authors thank to the Ege University for financial support (Project 2005/Fen/017) and TUBITAK ((Project 108T660)

Determination of Carbidopa, Levodopa, and Droxidopa by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

WOS: 000416519900006Modern treatments of Parkinson's disease include the use of carbidopa and droxidopa along with levodopa that demonstrates the necessity for their binary and simultaneous determination in pharmaceutical tablets and biological matrices. This study presents a rapid, accurate, and precise method for the simultaneous determination of these analytes by liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry method for the first time. Accordingly, performances of two types of analytical columns, namely, octadecylsilane and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic columns, were tested and better resolution was obtained with the former. The pH of aqueous mobile phase (0.5% formic acid) was adjusted to 2.3 to ensure the analytes were in molecular form. Calibration graphs were obtained using multiple reaction mode and detection limits were in the region from 0.002 to 0.007 mu M for both columns. The method developed was applied for quality control samples and tablets and satisfactory recovery values from 100 to 106% were obtained.TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [114 Z 153]This project was supported by TUBITAK with project number 114 Z 153

Evaluation of Five Different Desensitizers: A Comparative Dentin Permeability and SEM Investigation In Vitro

Background/Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and durability of five different dentin desensitizers (Gluma Desensitizer Powergel, Bifluorid 12, Gluma Self Etch Bond, D/Sense Crystal, Nupro Sensodyne Prophylaxis Paste with Novamin) on tubule occlusion and dentin permeability reduction in vitro. Method: The quantitative changes in permeability of 100 dentin discs were measured after desensitizer treatments and following posttreatments of 6% citric acid challenge for 1 min or immersion in artificial saliva for 24 hours under hydrostatic pressure generated by a computerised fluid filtration meter. Qualitative SEM analyses were also carried out. Results: Dentin permeability decreased after desensitizer application in all groups. Nevertheless, only the difference between 'Gluma Self Etch Bond' and 'Nupro Sensodyne Prophylaxis Paste with Novamin' groups was significantly different (p 0.05). Of all the artificial saliva-subgroups, only the difference between 'D/Sense Crystal' and 'Bifluorid 12' was significantly different (p<0.05). In SEM analysis, morphological changes were detected on the dentin surface and within the tubules following desensitizer treatments and post-treatments. Conclusion: All the desensitizers significantly reduced dentin permeability by changing the morphology of the dentin surface and/or dentinal tubules. Following post-treatments, there was some reduction in the efficacy of the desensitizers which was represented by the reduction in permeability values. SEM analysis revealed some physical changes in the dentin structure which can partly give an explanation to the reduced efficacy of tested desensitizers

Preparation and characterisation of polypyrrole - carbon nanomaterial composite solid-phase microextraction fibres and their applications to the determination of fungicide residues in grape juice samples

Pelit, Levent/0000-0001-8090-703XWOS: 000497640300001Present study describes the use of a lab-made polypyrrole (PPy) coated solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibres modified with carbonaceous nanomaterials for effective adsorption of volatile fungicides used in vineyards for subsequent determination by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer. the SPME fibres were fabricated electrochemically by dipping a stainless steel wire in a cell containing pyrrole monomer where the polymeric film was coated on the wire by cycling the potential between -0.5 and 2.0 V at a rate of 50 mV s(-1). Then, the procedure was repeated in the presence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) or graphene (Gr) nanoplates dispersed in tartrate solution. the coated fibres were attached to a holder for subsequent headspace extraction of volatile fungicides in grape juice samples. Initial studies were conducted with commercial fibres adoptable to a fully automated system and optimal conditions were studied by using an 85 mu m PA fibre. Then, the fabricated fibres have been tested manually under optimised conditions for unbiased comparison. Overall results have suggested that PPy-MWCNT-SPME and PPy-Gr-SPME have given the comparable results with commercial fibres in the concentration range of 1.0-50 ng mL(-1) by allowing the determination of these fungicides at LOQ levels varied in the range of 0.55-6.94 ng mL(-1) ranges. in comparison to the literature values, more results that are sensitive were obtained with these two fibres with satisfactory recovery values without any solvent consumption or labour-intensive pre-treatment processes.TubitakTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [114Z394]; Ege University Scientific Research ProjectEge University [[2015 FEN 032]]This work was supported by the Tubitak [114Z394] and Ege University Scientific Research Project [2015 FEN 032] for financial support

Gas chromatographic analysis of alcohols in blood with a chemometric approach

WOS: 000324489100031The objective of the present study is to examine the main and interactive effects of different factors related with headspace-solid phase extraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography (GC) conditions for the simultaneous determination of alcohols (ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, n-propanol) and acetone in blood samples. In order to evaluate the simultaneous effects of the significant variables, a chemometric approach was utilized to reveal the important parameters. The factors affecting the headspace extraction of alcohols on the SPME fiber was first deduced in a screening study by applying a Plackett-Burman design. According to the screening results, the factors that possess a positive effect on peak areas are sample concentration, inlet temperature, flow rate for the carrier gas and volume of the solution. Based on the results of the screening study, to continue optimization, six insignificant values were fixed at the appropriate amounts (oven temperature: 50 degrees C; detector temperature: 250 degrees C; H-2 gas flow rate: 35 mL min(-1); split flow rate: 30 mL min(-1); equilibrium temperature: 55 degrees C, extraction time: 4 min). Subsequently, a central composite design (CCD) was constructed for optimization and response surface methodology (RSM) was used to interpret the effect of each pair of independent variables on the response. The optimized method for alcohol and acetone analysis via HS-SPME-GC was validated through spike recovery tests.Ege University Research FoundationEge University [2002/037]; TubitakTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [TBAG-HD/6 (105T017)]Authors would like to thank Ege University Research Foundation (Project no 2002/037) and Tubitak (TBAG-HD/6 (105T017)) for financial support