DR-70: A promising biomarker for the detection of lung cancer

Objective: Lung cancer (LC) is characterized by an aggressive phenotype with a high mortality rate, early metastasis, and proliferation rate. Treatment options and prognosis differ significantly at each stage. Despite the availability of multiple imaging studies and invasive procedures, the disorder is diagnosed at an advanced stage. Therefore, it is essential to find biomarkers for the early detection of LC. Patients and Methods: Between 2018 and 2020, 73 LC and 71 control with the same demographic characteristics were included in our study. DR-70 level was measured by a photometric method in serum samples taken from all subjects. Results: A total of 144 subjects (110 male, 34 female) was included in the study. DR-70 levels in the LC group (2.53 +/- 2.64 mu g/mL) were found to be statistically significantly higher than the control group (0.56 +/- 1.23 mu g/mL). Clinical sensitivity and specificity of DR-70 for LC were found to be 87.67% and 88.73%. Conclusions: The high sensitivity and specificity of DR-70 can be used as a biomarker for rapid diagnosis in patients with LC. Compared with other tumor biomarkers, DR-70 seems to have a better sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of LC

Dynamic response of a 120 mm smoothbore tank barrel during horizontal and inclined firing positions

AbstractIn this study, the dynamic interaction between a 120 mm smoothbore tank barrel modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli cantilever beam and an accelerating projectile during firing is presented. The interaction was modelled using a new FEM approach that took into account the projectile's inertia, Coriolis, and centripetal forces and the horizontal and inclined positions of the barrel. The mass, exit velocity and acceleration effects of the projectile on the dynamics of the barrel were investigated. The effects of the projectile's inertia, and Coriolis and centripetal forces were evaluated as well. Furthermore, the tip displacements at different firing angles were determined by transferring the mass, stiffness and damping matrices of the barrel with the addition of the instantaneous property matrices of the projectile from a local coordinate to the global Cartesian coordinate with the aid of transformation matrices. Finally, the barrel vibrations caused by the successive firings were evaluated under different firing scenarios. To demonstrate the validity of the current study, comparisons were made with the results of previous studies and a good agreement was achieved. By using the method recommended in this study, it is possible to determine the accurate dynamic behavior of any barrel with sufficient sensitivity, without any costly or time-consuming tests being necessary

Tip Deflection Determination of a Barrel for the Effect of an Accelerating Projectile Before Firing Using Finite Element and Artificial Neural Network Combined Algorithm

Abstract For realistic applications, design and control engineers have limited modelling options in dealing with some vibration problems that hold many nonlinearity such as non-uniform geometry, variable velocity loadings, indefinite damping cases, etc. For these reasons numerous time consuming experimental studies at high costs must be done for determining the actual behaviour such nonlinear systems. However, using advantages of multiple computational methods like Finite Element Method (FEM) together with an Artificial Intelligence (ANN), many complicated engineering problems can be handled and solved to some extent. This study, proposes a new collective method to deal with the nonlinear vibrations of the barrels in order to fulfil accurate shooting expectancy. Using known analytical methods, in practical, to determine dynamic behaviour of the barrel beam is not possible for all conditions of firing that include numerous varieties of ammunition for different purposes, and each projectile of different ammunition has different mass and exit velocity. In order to cover all cases this study proposes a new method that combines a precise FEM with ANN, and can be used for determining the exact dynamic behaviour of a barrel for some cases and then for precisely predicting the behaviour for all other possible cases of firing. In this study, the whole nonlinear behaviour of an antiaircraft barrel were obtained with 3.5% accuracy errors by ANN trained by FEM using calculated analysis results of ammunitions for a particular range. The proposed FEM-ANN combined method can be very useful for design and control engineers in design and control of barrels in order to compensate the effect of nonlinear vibrations of a barrel for achieving a higher shooting accuracy; and can reduce high-cost experimental works

A lethal but treatable complication: free wall rupture after acute myocardial infarction

A 43-year-old male patient was admitted to coronary intensive care unit with the diagnosis of acute inferolateral myocardial infarction and with a picture of cardiogenic shock. In physical examination, systolic blood pressure was 50 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure could not be taken. The patient was diagnosed with cardiogenic shock and was started on saline, dopamine and dobutamine infusion. His blood pressure did not increase although the dosage of positive inotropic agents was increased. A cardiac tamponade revealed with urgent echocardiographic evaluation and pericardiocentesis was carried out. Blood pressure returned to normal range within hours after pericardiosentesis. Echocardiographic examination performed on the second day of AMI on the asymptomatic patient revealed thrombosed myocardial rupture. The patient was referred to emergency surgery with the diagnosis of three-vessel disease and myocardial rupture according to urgent angiography. In the operation, the ruptured region in the ventricle free wall was primarily repaired. By-pass surgery was performed with saphenous vein graft to the LAD and CV-OM1 coronary arteries

Dynamic analysis of gun barrel vibrations due to effect of an unbalanced projectile considering 2-D transverse displacements of barrel tip using a 3-D element technique

<div><p>Abstract In this paper, dynamic analysis of two different weapon systems (35 mm Anti-Aircraft Barrel (AAB) and 120 mm Grooved Tank Barrel (GTB)) under the effect of statically unbalanced projectile has been performed with a new 12 DOF 3-D element technique using Finite Element Method (FEM). The muzzle deviations, which negatively affect the barrel shooting accuracy at firing, are calculated in a time dependent manner using Newmark β algorithm with high accuracy at both axes (y and z) considering the Coriolis centripedal and centrifugal forces. The effect of such fundamental physical parameters as shift from rotating center and angular velocity belonging to the unbalanced projectile on barrel dynamics are analyzed with this new and affective FEM. As a result, it was found out that 1% of a millimeter shift from projectile belonging to a weapon system leads to excessive vibration on both axes and compromises the shooting accuracy of the barrel.</p></div

Early diagnosis of cerebral aspergillosis with various methods: A case report Diagnosi tempestiva di aspergillosi cerebrale effettuata con metodi differenti: Caso clinico

The clinical and laboratory diagnosis of cerebral aspergillosis (CA) is problematic and mortality is quite high, even in cases receiving appropriate treatment. Therefore, an early and accurate diagnosis may prove to be life saving in patients with the diagnosis of CA. In this report, a case of CA which developed in a pediatric patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is presented. Upon development of neutropenia and focal seizures in the left arm during implementation of the ALL treatment protocol, brain MRI was performed in the patient and nodular lesions compliant with brain abscess were detected in the frontal lobe, left cerebellum and the cingulate gyrus on the superior aspect of the left corpus callosum. Direct assessment of brain tissue revealed fungal elements, while consecutive serum galactomannan (GM) values were determined as 3.39 ng/ml and 0.72 ng/ml, and the consecutive serum (1→3)-beta-Dglucan (BG) values were 93 pg/ml and 356 pg/ml. Negative serum real-time polymerase chain reaction (RtPCR) and positive tissue RtPCR were determined, with growth of Aspergillus fumigatus in the culture. Treatment was initiated with amphotericin B and voriconazole; upon disappearance of symptoms and negative control serum BG and GM values, the patient was discharged with recommendations. In conclusion, this case is presented with the objective of indicating the significance of serological and molecular methods used in the early diagnosis of patients with CA