In a real-life setting, direct-acting antivirals to people who inject drugs with chronic hepatitis c in Turkey

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) should be treated in order to eliminate hepatitis C virus in the world. The aim of this study was to compare direct-acting antivirals treatment of hepatitis C virus for PWID and non-PWID in a real-life setting. Methods: We performed a prospective, non-randomized, observational multicenter cohort study in 37 centers. All patients treated with direct-acting antivirals between April 1, 2017, and February 28, 2019, were included. In total, 2713 patients were included in the study among which 250 were PWID and 2463 were non-PWID. Besides patient characteristics, treatment response, follow-up, and side effects of treatment were also analyzed. Results: Genotype 1a and 3 were more prevalent in PWID-infected patients (20.4% vs 9.9% and 46.8% vs 5.3%). The number of naïve patients was higher in PWID (90.7% vs 60.0%), while the number of patients with cirrhosis was higher in non-PWID (14.1% vs 3.7%). The loss of follow-up was higher in PWID (29.6% vs 13.6%). There was no difference in the sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after treatment (98.3% vs 98.4%), but the end of treatment response was lower in PWID (96.2% vs 99.0%). In addition, the rate of treatment completion was lower in PWID (74% vs 94.4%). Conclusion: Direct-acting antivirals were safe and effective in PWID. Primary measures should be taken to prevent the loss of follow-up and poor adherence in PWID patients in order to achieve World Health Organization’s objective of eliminating viral hepatitis

Recent Advances in Health Biotechnology During Pandemic

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in 2019, cut the epoch that will make profound fluctuates in the history of the world in social, economic, and scientific fields. Urgent needs in public health have brought with them innovative approaches, including diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. To exceed the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, various scientific authorities in the world have procreated advances in real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based diagnostic tests, rapid diagnostic kits, the development of vaccines for immunization, and the purposing pharmaceuticals for treatment. Diagnosis, treatment, and immunization approaches put for- ward by scientific communities are cross-fed from the accrued knowledge of multidisciplinary sciences in health biotechnology. So much so that the pandemic, urgently prioritized in the world, is not only viral infections but also has been the pulsion in the development of novel approaches in many fields such as diagnosis, treatment, translational medicine, virology, mi- crobiology, immunology, functional nano- and bio-materials, bioinformatics, molecular biol- ogy, genetics, tissue engineering, biomedical devices, and artificial intelligence technologies. In this review, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of various scientific areas of health biotechnology are discussed

Aydın yöresinde, kanatlı hayvanlarda Bordetella avium ve Ornithobacterium rhinotracheate infeksiyonları' nın ELISA ile teşhisi

Kanatlı hayvanlarda Solunum Sistemi Hastalıkları (SSH), modern işletmelerin en sık karşılaştıkları infeksiyonlardandırlar. Diğer infeksiyonlarda olduğu gibi S SH'!arında da infeksiyona neden olan faktörlerin belirlenmesi, tedavi açısından oldukça önemlidir. Çünkü, kanatlı hayvanlarda SSH'na neden olan pekçok mikroorganizma bulunmaktadır ve genellikle SSH'nın semptomları da birbirlerine oldukça benzemektedir. Bordetella avium ve Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale kanatlı hayvanlarda SSH hastalıklarına neden olan önemli bakteriyel etkenlerdendirler. Bu çalışma, Türkiye'de Aydın yöresinde O. rhinotracheale ve B. avium'un seroprevelansinin incelendiği ilk çalışmadır. Serum örnekleri Aydın ilindeki işletmelerde bulunan solunum sistemi şikayeti olan 276 tavuk, 360 hindiden alındı ve bu serumlar ticari ELISA kitleri ile incelendi. O. rhinotracheale infeksiyonu yönünden tavukların % 66,3'ü (toplam 276 serumun 183'ü pozitif), hindilerin % 11,1'i (incelenen 270 serumun 30'u pozitif); B. avium infeksiyonu yönünden hindilerin % 29,l'i (toplam 360 serumun 105'i pozitif) pozitif olarak tesbit edildi. Böylece, Aydın yöresindeki kanatlılarda ilk kez O. rhinotracheale ve B. avium infeksiyonlarmın varlığı bu çalışma ile serolojik olarak belirlendi.Espiratory system diseases (SSH) in poultry are among the most common infections encountered by modern enterprises. As in other infections, determining the factors that cause infection in S SH is very important in terms of treatment. This is because there are many microorganisms that cause SSH in poultry, and the symptoms of SSH are very similar. Bordetella avium and Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale are important bacterial agents that cause SSH diseases in poultry. In this study, the Aydin region in Turkey O. rhinotracheale and B. avium is the first study of seroprevalence. Serum samples were taken from 276 chickens and 360 turkeys with complaints of respiratory system in the establishments in Aydın and these sera were examined with commercial ELISA kits. For O. rhinotracheale infection, 66.3% of chickens (183 out of a total of 276 sera were positive), 11.1% of turkeys (30 of the 270 sera examined) were positive; In terms of B. avium infection, 29.1% of the turkeys (105 of the total 360 sera were positive) were positive. Thus, for the first time, the presence of O. rhinotracheale and B. avium infections was determined serologically in poultry in Aydın region

Application of Recommender System for Spending Habits Based Campaign Management

Nowadays, banks are working on finding a suitable campaign for every customer profile. With this study, we aimed to develop a recommendation system that will direct the customer to the appropriate campaign. With the data received from a private bank, credit card transactions of the users were analyzed, and spending habits were modeled. We aimed to recommend the most suitable campaign to the users through the created models. Within the scope of the study, 662.088 credit card transactions performed by 4997 customers within three months were analyzed, and three campaigns were proposed for each customer as a result of the study. The ALS (Alternating Least Square) algorithm was used on Spark to establish the recommendation system. The primary purpose of the study is to increase customer satisfaction by finding unique users based on spending habits instead of campaigns that are applied collectively to customers by making a personalized campaign offer

Apocrine carcinomas of the breast in Turkish women: Hormone receptors, c-erbB-2 and p53 immunoexpression

The aims of this study were twofold: (i) to determine the occurrence frequency of apocrine carcinoma of the breast (ApBCa) in Turkish breast cancer (BCa) patients; and (ii) to evaluate the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), androgen receptor (AR), gross cystic disease protein-15 (GCDFP-15), c-erbB-2, and p53 in these cases. Six hundred and twenty-six cases of BCa were studied immunohistochemically (streptoavidin-biotin horseradish peroxidase method). The results of ApBCa were compared with those of invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified type (IDC-NOS) cases of similar grade. Thirteen cases of ApBCa were encountered, accounting for 2.1% of all BCa cases. Immunohistochemically, ApBCa positivity was as follows: GCDFP-15 (100%), ER (39%), PR (8%), AR (54%), p53 (39%), and c-erbB-2 (85%). In the IDC-NOS group, GCDFP-15* was expressed in less than 50% of the tumors. The occurrence frequencies of the other markers were as follows: ER (69%), PR (69%)*, AR (46%), c-erbB-2 (0%)*, and p53 (31%), (*) indicating significant differences between the two groups. For Turkish BCa patients, (i) the occurrence rate of ApBCa (2.1%) was high; and (ii) the following combination would allow for an immunohistochemical identification of ApBCa: GCDFP-15(+), c-erbB-2(+), and PR-. (C) 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Attachment and Psychopathology: Relationship between Adult Attachment and Depression, Panic Disorder, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between adult attachment dimensions and different types of psychopathologies. One hundred and four individuals who were diagnosed with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or panic disorder; and 77 individuals who were not diagnosed with a psychopathology (i.e., control group) participated in the study. Participants completed self-report measures of adult attachment. All three disorder groups reported higher attachment anxiety as compared to the control group. Moreover, patients diagnosed with depression reported higher avoidant attachment as compared to the other disorder groups. A discriminant function analysis was conducted to test if adult attachment dimensions discriminate among different disorder groups and the control group. First function, which was defined by attachment anxiety, discriminated the control group from the three psychopathology groups and the second function, which was defined by attachment avoidance, discriminated the depression group from the other groups. These findings indicate that high attachment anxiety and avoidance emerge as risk factors to develop psychopathology. Possible mechanisms mediating the link between adult attachment and psychopathology are discussed in light of findings of the current study and cultural factors

Nurses’ Burnout in Oncology Hospital Critical Care Unit

Objective: Burnout is common in intensive care units (ICU) because of high demands and difficult working conditions. The aim of this study was to analyse nurses’ burnout in our oncology ICU and to determine which factors are associated with. Material and Method: The study was carried out in Ankara Oncology Hospital ICU. A self- reporting questionnaire in an envelope was used for the evaluation of burnout (Turkish- language version of Maslach Burnout Inventory) and depression (Beck Depression Scale). Results: From a total of 37 ICU nurses, 35 participated in the study (%94,5 response rate). High levels of emotional exhaustion in 82% and depersonalization in 51,4% of nurses was determined. Personal accomplishment was higher at 80%. Mild to moderate emotional state and mild anxiety was revealed. Years in profession,finding salary insufficient, finding the profession in its proper, choosing the profession of his own accord, work environment satisfaction and finding the social activity adequate were associated with burnout (p≤0.05). Conclusion: In our study, intensive care unit nurses’ burnout scores were found to be higher. Burnout was rare in nurses that choose the profession of his own accord, find the nursing profession in its proper, and social activity adequate and are satisfied with the work environment. Therefore, we believe that attention should be given to individual needs and preferences in the selection of ICU staff