Major apoptotic mechanisms and genes involved in apoptosis

As much as the cellular viability is important for the living organisms, the elimination of unnecessary or damaged cells has the opposite necessity for the maintenance of homeostasis in tissues, organs and the whole organism. Apoptosis, a type of cell death mechanism, is controlled by the interactions between several molecules and responsible for the elimination of unwanted cells from the body. Apoptosis can be triggered by intrinsically or extrinsically through death signals from the outside of the cell. Any abnormality in apoptosis process can cause various types of diseases from cancer to auto-immune diseases. Different gene families such as caspases, inhibitor of apoptosis proteins, B cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 family of genes, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor gene superfamily, or p53 gene are involved and/or collaborate in the process of apoptosis. In this review, we discuss the basic features of apoptosis and have focused on the gene families playing critical roles, activation/inactivation mechanisms, upstream/downstream effectors, and signaling pathways in apoptosis on the basis of cancer studies. In addition, novel apoptotic players such as miRNAs and sphingolipid family members in various kind of cancer are discussed

Two cases with HSSDRESS syndrome developing after prosthetic joint surgery: does vancomycin-laden bone cement play a role in this syndrome?

We report two cases of hypersensitivity syndrome/drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (HSS/DRESS) syndrome following systemic and local (via antibiotic laden bone cement (ALBC)) exposures to vancomycin. Both cases developed symptoms 2-4 weeks after the initiation of treatment. They responded to systemic corticosteroid treatment and were cured completely. Various drug groups may cause HSS/DRESS syndrome, and vancomycin-related cases do not exceed 2-5% of the reported cases. Almost all of these cases developed the syndrome following systemic exposure to vancomycin. ALBC seems to be the safer antibiotic administration method, as systemic antibiotic levels did not reach a toxic threshold level. However, local administration may not always be sufficient for bone-related/joint-related infections; these infections may require systemic antibiotics as well. As HSS/DRESS syndrome can mimic infectious diseases, it must be considered during differential diagnosis before suspecting failure of treatment and initiation of a different antibiotic course. Copyright 2015 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved

En-Gendering the Police: Women\u27s Police Stations and Feminism in São Paulo

This article contributes to feminist state theory and studies of women\u27s police stations in Latin America by examining the processes shaping the multiple and changing positions of explicit alliance, opposition, and ambiguous alliance assumed by policewomen regarding feminists since the creation of the world\u27s first women\u27s police station in 1985 in São Paulo. While studies of women\u27s police stations tend to overlook the political conjuncture, much of the literature on the state and gender explains the relationship between the state and women\u27s movements as a function of the political regime. I argue for a more grounded feminist state theory, taking into account interactive macro and micro, local and international forces. As this case study demonstrates, policewoman-feminist relations evolve due to interactions between the political conjuncture, the hegemonic masculinist police culture, developments in the feminist discourse on violence against women, and the impact of the contact policewomen sustain with women clients

Real-world efficacy and safety of Ledipasvir plus Sofosbuvir and Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir +/- Dasabuvir combination therapies for chronic hepatitis C: A Turkish experience

Background/Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the real-life efficacy and tolerability of direct-acting antiviral treatments for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with/without cirrhosis in the Turkish population.Material and Methods: A total of 4,352 patients with CHC from 36 different institutions in Turkey were enrolled. They received ledipasvir (LDV) and sofosbuvir (SOF)+/- ribavirin (RBV) ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir +/- dasabuvir (PrOD)+/- RBV for 12 or 24 weeks. Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates, factors affecting SVR, safety profile, and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) occurrence were analyzed.Results: SVR12 was achieved in 92.8% of the patients (4,040/4,352) according to intention-to-treat and in 98.3% of the patients (4,040/4,108) according to per-protocol analysis. The SVR12 rates were similar between the treatment regimens (97.2%-100%) and genotypes (95.6%-100%). Patients achieving SVR showed a significant decrease in the mean serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (50.90 +/- 54.60 U/L to 17.00 +/- 14.50 U/L) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores (7.51 +/- 4.54 to 7.32 +/- 3.40) (p<0.05). Of the patients, 2 were diagnosed with HCC during the treatment and 14 were diagnosed with HCC 37.0 +/- 16.0 weeks post-treatment. Higher initial MELD score (odds ratio [OR]: 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-2.38; p=0.023]), higher hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.31-2.28; p=0.038), and higher serum ALT levels (OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.21-1.83; p=0.042) were associated with poor SVR12. The most common adverse events were fatigue (12.6%), pruritis (7.3%), increased serum ALT (4.7%) and bilirubin (3.8%) levels, and anemia (3.1%).Conclusion: LDV/SOF or PrOD +/- RBV were effective and tolerable treatments for patients with CHC and with or without advanced liver disease before and after liver transplantation. Although HCV eradication improves the liver function, there is a risk of developing HCC.Turkish Association for the Study of The Liver (TASL

Total influence number in complementary prisms

The graph labeling problem that appears in graph theory has a fast development recently. Numerous variations of labeling have been investigated in the literature. The total influence number is a new approach to the concept of graph labeling. The total influence number can be viewed as vertex labeling problems concerned with the sum of the labels. Although many vertex labeling problems concerning with the sum of all of the labels study to minimize the sum, the total influence number has the aim of maximizing the sum. This means that this parameter attempt to maximize the profit associated with each vertex. In this paper, we consider the total influence number in complementary prisms. We determined the total influence number of GG for specific graphs G

Konutta enerji etkinliği : Türkiye örneği

This study aims to analyze residential electricity demand of Turkey between 2008 and 2015, provide relative efficiency scores of provinces in electricity use and reveal the determinants of (in)efficiency through stochastic frontier approach. Empirical results indicate that having higher income, inhabiting in densely populated provinces and living at detached houses result in increasing electricity consumption at the residential sector. On the other hand, as household size increases, electricity consumption per capita decreases. The findings also point out that Turkish households do not use electricity for the purpose of heating and cooling in general. Nonetheless, prosperous provinces use electricity for cooling at high temperatures. Based on the estimated efficiency scores, 8-year mean energy efficiency of Turkey is found to be approximately 0.83. This suggests that on average Turkey could have used 17% less electricity to produce the same amount of energy services between 2008 and 2015. In other words, Turkish households have an average electricity saving potential of 17% in the study period. The results of the inefficiency effects equation suggest that being well-educated of women and being married have a positive impact on improving residential efficiency. On the other hand, provinces located in the coastal area and those with higher loss-illegal electricity use rates are more inefficient in electricity use. Furthermore, the findings of the study imply that inefficient use of electricity at the residential sector has not declined over time. This can be evaluated such that the efficiency policies implemented by the authorities after 2007 did not have a significant impact on improving efficiency in residential electricity use. Since our study is the first one that analyzes electricity consumption and efficiency at the provincial level based on frontier analysis, it can shed light on the consecutive studies of regional development and energy efficiency.Thesis (M.S.) -- Graduate School of Social Sciences. Economics

Semitotal domination of Harary graphs

Let G be a simple finite undirected and an isolate-free graph. A set S of vertices in G is a semitotal dominating set of G if it is a dominating set of G and every vertex in S is within distance 2 of another vertex of S. The semitotal domination number, γt2(G), is the minimum cardinality of such a set. In this paper, we study the semitotal domination number for Harary graphs, which was first introduced by Frank Harary. Since Harary graphs have the maximum possible connectivity with the minimum number of edges, many researchers are interested in studying its stability properties

Semitotal bondage number of certain graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G with no isolated vertices is a semitotal dominating set, abbreviated STDset, of G if S is a dominating set of G and every vertex in S is within distance 2 of another vertex of S. The semitotal domination number, denoted by 2() t G , is the minimum cardinality of a STD-set of G. We say that a vertex v is semitotal dominated by a set S of vertices in G if v ∈ S and v is within distance 2 from some other vertex of S in G or v ∈ V(G)\S and v is dominated by S in G. The semitotal bondage number 2() t bG of G is the minimum number of edges whose removal enlarges the semitotal domination number. Let G be a graph with no isolated vertices. Then the edge set is a semitotal bondage edge set satisfying the properties: (i) there is no isolated vertex in and (ii) . If at least one semitotal bondage edge set can be found for the graph G, we define semitotal bondage number, denoted by , such that . Otherwise the value of the semitotal bondage number of the graph is . In this paper, we establish lower bound for the semitotal bondage number of a vertex-transitive graph. We also obtain lower bounds for graphs by considering the total bondage number. As applications, we study the semitotal bondage numbers for some certain graphs such as complete, complete bipartite, path, cycle, wheel, star graphs and determine the exact values