Epidemiology of pemphigus in Turkey: One-year prospective study of 220 cases

Pemphigus is a group of rare and life-threatening autoimmune blistering diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. Although they occur worldwide, their incidence shows wide geographical variation, and prospective data on the epidemiology of pemphigus are very limited. Objective of this work is to evaluate the incidence and epidemiological and clinical features of patients with pemphigus in Turkey. All patients newly diagnosed with pemphigus between June 2013 and June 2014 were prospectively enrolled in 33 dermatology departments in 20 different provinces from all seven regions of Turkey. Disease parameters including demography and clinical findings were recorded. A total of 220 patients were diagnosed with pemphigus during the 1-year period, with an annual incidence of 4.7 per million people in Turkey. Patients were predominantly women, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.41. The mean age at onset was 48.9 years. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) was the commonest clinical subtype (n=192; 87.3%), followed by pemphigus foliaceus (n=21; 9.6%). The most common clinical subtype of PV was the mucocutaneous type (n=83; 43.2%). The mean Pemphigus Disease Area Index was 28.14±22.21 (mean ± Standard Deviation).  The incidence rate of pemphigus in Turkey is similar to the countries of South-East Europe, higher than those reported for the Central and Northern European countries and lower than the countries around the Mediterranean Sea and Iran. Pemphigus is more frequent in middle-aged people and is more common in women. The most frequent subtype was PV, with a 9-fold higher incidence than pemphigus foliaceus.   </p

Effect of mica powder-filled styrene-butadiene rubber compounds on crosslink density and mechanical properties

In this study, four different compounds were produced by adding different proportions of mica powder (0-5-10-20%) to styrene-butadiene rubber. After vulcanization, the crosslink density, hardness, density, tensile strength, elongation percentage, and tearing strength of the compounds were measured. In addition, the effects of crosslink density on mechanical properties were discussed. The physio-mechanical properties of the new compounds produced were compared both among them­selves and with the properties of the rubber being referenced. It was observed that increasing the crosslink density of mica powder provided an advantage in terms of hardness, tensile strength, tearing strength, and percentage elongation properties. To explain the changes in mechanical properties, the tensile fracture surfaces were determined by SEM and energy dispersive spectroscopy. In the light of the obtained results, it was determined that the use of carbon black could be reduced by using mica powder in the rubber industry

Optimization of Climatic Conditions Affecting Determination of the Amount of Water Needed by Plants in Relation to Their Life Cycle with Particle Swarm Optimization, and Determining the Optimum Irrigation Schedule

Plants' need for water has become a topic of research for the agriculture industry. The fact that plant species are very diverse and each plant's need for water varies makes it difficult to plan programs with conventional irrigation methods. Plants exhibit different stages from their seed time to harvest season. Each stage is defined within as days, and the amount of water needed by the plant throughout these stages varies. In this study, optimization of the irrigation schedule for each stage of a plant is provided. The amount of water needed by the plant was first figured out by using climatic data, and then, these values were recalculated in relation to the plant type. The amount of water needed at each stage was related to the plant type by using particle swarm optimization. The obtained results revealed the optimal irrigation schedule for each stage with the obtained data

HHV-8 and EBV Positive Lymphoproliferative Disease: A Challenging Case.

Human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) is linked to four lymphoproliferative diseases: primary effusion lymphoma, HHV-8 positive multicentric Castleman disease (MCD), HHV-8 positive diffuse large B cell lymphoma and HHV-8 positive germinotropic lymphoproliferative disorder (GLPD). The diagnosis of HHV-8 associated lymphoproliferative diseases is quite challenging because each entity is rare and has a wide morphological spectrum. Our aim is to emphasize the overlapping histopathological features of MCD and GLPD as well as to underline the importance of clinicopathological correlation in case these two entities cannot be distinguished by pathological examination

Distal tibial reconstruction with use of a circular external fixator and an intramedullary Nail. the combine technique

Background: Distal tibial reconstruction with use of an external fixator when there is bone loss, limb-length discrepancy, and/or ankle instability is associated with many problems. The technique of limb-lengthening, ankle arthrodesis, and segmental transfer over an intramedullary nail has been introduced to overcome these problems. The present study investigates this combined technique. Methods: Between 2002 and 2005, six patients, who ranged from seventeen to seventy years old, underwent distal tibial reconstruction and ankle arthrodesis with use of a circular external fixator and an intramedullary nail to treat a distal tibial defect following resection for chronic osteomyelitis or tumor or to treat a limb-length discrepancy combined with ankle instability. Functional and radiographic results were evaluated, with use of the criteria described by Paley et al., at an average follow-up of thirty-four months. Results: The mean size of the bone defects in three patients was 5.3 cm (2, 7, and 7 cm), and the mean amount of the limb-shortening in four patients was 5.25 cm (range, 4 to 6 cm). The mean external fixation time was 3.5 months, and the mean external fixator index was 0.57 mo/cm. There was no recurrence of infection in the two patients with osteomyelitis. All six patients had excellent bone results, and the functional results were excellent for two patients and good for four patients. There were four complications, three of which were categorized, according to Paley, as a problem (a difficulty that occurs during lengthening and is resolved without operative intervention) and one that was categorized as an obstacle (a difficulty that occurs during lengthening and needs operative treatment). Conclusions: The combined technique is an improvement over the classic external fixation techniques of distal tibial reconstruction with ankle arthrodesis. It reduces the duration of external fixation, thus increasing patient acceptance, and it is associated with a low complication rate facilitating more rapid rehabilitation

An agglomerative hierarchical clustering tool for renewable energy sources

The wind power based energy generation technologies are intensively studied in renewable energy generation issues since last century. The main demands directed to a renewable energy source are being reliable, sustainable and low-cost. Several studies are performed to increase the efficiency of an installed wind power plants. The preliminary analyses such as geographical structures, climate conditions, and land topography should be also considered during feasibility analyses of a wind plant. Although the obtained data could be processed by using numerical or various estimation methods, the data mining techniques provide more accurate results among others. In this study, the agglomerative hierarchical clustering tool is designed and is capable to process any data set supplied by expert to system. The case study is performed using monthly average wind speed data of Central Anatolia Region of Turkey in the paper. It is observed that the developed tool clusters the given sample data set in an efficient and successful way

Distal tibial reconstruction with use of a circular external fixator and an intramedullary nail - The combined technique

Background: Distal tibial reconstruction with use of an external fixator when there is bone loss, limb-length discrepancy, and/or ankle instability is associated with many problems. The technique of limb-lengthening, ankle arthrodesis, and segmental transfer over an intramedullary nail has been introduced to overcome these problems. The present study investigates this combined technique

Plasma beta-Carotene, Vitamin A and Vitamin C Levels in Cyclic and Pregnant Cows

AKOZ, MEHMET/0000-0001-5835-7115;WOS: 000278958100008The aim of this study was to determine the plasma beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin C levels and correlation between these parameters in cyclic and pregnant dairy cattle. A total of 101 Holstein cows used for this aim. Artificial inseminations (AI) were performed 12 h after determining the oestrus. The cows were allocated to two groups as pregnant (n=81) and nonpregnant (n=20) after the determination of pregnancy. Progesterone level was only higher on day 21 in pregnant cows than that in nonpregnant cows (P<0.05). There were variations in the mean levels of beta-carotene and vitamin A in pregnant and nonpregnant cows (P<0.05) whereas vitamin C levels in nonpregnant cows did not differ during the oestrus cycle. There was a negative correlation between the plasma levels of progesterone and beta-carotene (P<0.01) and progesterone and vitamin A (P<0.05) in pregnant cows, and a positive correlation between the plasma levels of beta-carotene and vitamin A in both pregnant and nonpregnant cows (P<0.01), during the cycle. In conclusion, differences were determined in the levels of beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin C in pregnant cows, and b-carotene and vitamin A in nonpregnant cows with the stages of the oestrus cycle in this study. In addition to this, more research is needed evaluating the relationship between these parameters and their effects on bovine reproduction

Very-short term modeling of global solar radiation and air temperature data using curve fitting methods

The development of renewable energy technologies is an inevitable requirement to cope with environmental, economic and political challenges. Solar energy is regarded as one of the most promising types among renewable energy sources. So, the characterization of solar parameters is a significant process in solar energy installations. In this paper, we use three different curve fitting methods called Fourier, sum of sines and smoothing spline in order to model global solar radiation and air temperature parameters at 10-min intervals over a month. In the stage of accuracy comparison, we computed the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and the root mean squared error (RMSE) for the mentioned methods. In consequence, the smoothing spline model leads to the best modeling results