The efficacy of new oral contrast mixture for computed tomography enterography

Purpose: To show the reliabilities of the new mixture (composed of water, methylcellulose, lactulose, locust bean gum, and sorbitol) and to compare the luminal distension and radiological confidence scores of this solution with water-lactulose mixture. Material and methods: Computed tomography enterography (CTE) images in a three-year period were included randomly in our institutional review board-approved and retrospective study. Ninety-one patients drank a lactulose and water mixture (Group 1), and 54 patients drank the new mixture (Group 2). Patients who drank the oral contrast agent were taken to a 64-detector row multiple detector computed tomography machine. Coronal and sagittal reformatted images were also formed. The gastrointestinal tract was divided into 11 segments for scoring. Each segment was graded for distensional and radiological confidence. CTE images were evaluated by two radiologists. Results: Inter- and intra-reader reliabilities were good or excellent for all gastrointestinal segments in both groups (p < 0.001). The best κ values were obtained in sigmoid colon assessments. Lower agreement values were detected in duodenum and jejunum scores. The new mixture group (Group 2) showed better results than Group 1 for ileum and colonic segments according to distension and confidence scorings. Conclusions: Inter- and intra-reader reliabilities of the new mixture were good or excellent for CTE. The new mixture seems to be more efficient and reliable for ileum and colon. The new mixture can increase bowel distention, radiological confidence, and quality in CTE evaluations

Investigation of MEFV gene polymorphisms (G138G and A165A) in adult patients with familial Mediterranean fever

AbstractAimVarious mutations have been identified in the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene which is reported to be responsible from Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). In our study, we aimed to determine the frequency of the MEFV mutations in our region and to investigate the impact of G138G (rs224224, c.414A>G) and A165A (rs224223, c.495C>A) gene polymorphisms on the clinical findings of the disease.MethodsOne hundred and sixteen patients diagnosed with FMF and 95 control subjects were included in this study. We used the DNA sequence analysis method to identify the most prevailing 10 mutations located in exon 2 and 10 of MEFV gene.ResultsAs a result of the MEFV mutation analysis, the most common mutation was the M694V mutation allele with a frequency rate of 41.8%. When the patients group and control group were compared in terms of frequency of both polymorphic alleles (G polymorphic allele, observed in G138G and the A polymorphic allele, observed in A165A), the variation was observed to be statistically significant (p<0.001). It was found that the MEFV mutation types have no relation with clinical findings and amyloidosis (p>0.05).ConclusionsTo our knowledge, our study is the first study in the Southern Marmara region that reports the frequency of MEFV mutations. Our findings imply that the polymorphisms of G138G and A165A may have an impact on progress of the disease. We think that more studies, having higher number of cases and investigating the polymorphisms of MEFV gene, are needed

Effects of Systemic and Local Interferon Beta-1a on Epidural Fibrosis

Study DesignLevel 1 randomized controlled study.PurposeTo investigate the effects of systemic and local interferon-beta-1a (IFN-β-1a) on prevention of epidural fibrosis using histopathological parameters.Overview of LiteratureEpidural fibrosis involves fibroblastic invasion of nerve roots into the epidural space. Formation of dense fibrous tissue causes lumbar and radicular pain. Many surgical techniques and several materials have been proposed in the literature, but no study has assessed the effect of IFN-β-1a on prevention of epidural fibrosis.MethodsForty-eight adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups of eight: sham group, control group, systemic 44 μg IFN-β-1a group and 22 μg IFN-β-1a group (after laminectomy and discectomy, 0.28 mL and 0.14 mL IFN-β-1a applied subcutaneously three times for a week, respectively), local 44 μg IFN-β-1a group (laminectomy and discectomy, followed by 0.28 mL IFN-β-1a on the surgical area), and local 22 μg IFN-β-1a group (laminectomy and discectomy, followed by 0.14 mL IFN-β-1a on the surgical area). All rats were sacrificed after 4 weeks and groups were evaluated histopathologically.ResultsCompared with sham and control groups, significantly less epidural fibrosis, dural adhesion, and fibroblast cell density were observed in the local and systemic 44 μg IFN-β-1a groups. No other differences were evident between the local and systemic groups.ConclusionsIFN-β-1a is effective in preventing epidural fibrosis with systemic and local application

The impact of Ki-67 index, squamous differentiation, and several clinicopathologic parameters on the recurrence of low and intermediate-risk endometrial cancer

Endometrial endometrioid carcinoma (EEC) represents approximately 75-80% of endometrial carcinoma cases. Three hundred and thirty-six patients with EEC followed-up in the authors’ medical center between 2010 and 2018 were included in our study. Two hundred and seventy-two low and intermediate EEC patients were identified using the European Society for Medical Oncology criteria and confirmed by histopathological examination. Recurrence was reported in 17 of these patients. The study group consisted of patients with relapse. A control group of 51 patients was formed at a ratio of 3:1 according to age, stage, and grade, similar to that in the study group. Of the 17 patients with recurrent disease, 13 patients (76.5%) were Stage 1A, and 4 patients (23.5%) were Stage 1B. No significant difference was found in age, stage, and grade between the case and control groups (p > 0.05). Body mass index, parity, tumor size, lower uterine segment involvement, SqD, and Ki-67 index with p<0.25 in the univariate logistic regression analysis were included in the multivariate analysis. Ki-67 was statistically significant in multivariate analysis (p = 0.018); however, there was no statistical significance in SqD and other parameters. Our data suggest that the Ki-67 index rather than SqD needs to be assessed for recurrence in patients with low- and intermediate-risk EEC

Comparison of two sample tests in statistical shape analysis

Şekil; nesneden öteleme, ölçekleme ve döndürme etkileri kaldırıldığında geriye kalan geometrik bilgidir. İstatistiksel Şekil Analizi, şekillerin geometrik yapılarını incelemek için kullanılan yöntemleri içermektedir. İstatistiksel şekil analizi literatüründe iki örneklem karşılaştırma problemi üzerine temellenen testler mevcuttur. Bu çalışmada, istatistiksel şekil analizi literatüründe kullanılan Hotelling T2, Goodall F, James FJ testleri ve min test istatistiğinin tip I hata oranına göre performanslarının karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Simulasyon çalışmasında, şekil uzayının seçimi, farklı örneklem büyüklükleri ve varyans değerleri göz önünde bulundurularak bu testlerin klasik, bootstrap ve permütasyon versiyonlarıyla birlikte ilgili p-değerleri hesaplanmıştır. Ayrıca isotropik ve isotropik olmayan varyans yapıları da dikkate alınmıştır. Simulasyon sonuçları, incelenen tüm örneklem büyüklüklerinde ve varyans değerlerinde isotropik varyans yapısına göre tanjant şekil uzayında hesaplanan Hotelling T2 testinin permütasyon versiyonun en iyi performansa, şekil uzayının geometrisiyle birlikte kompleks aritmetikten faydalanan min test istatistiğinin klasik versiyonunun ise en kötü performansa sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. İsotropik olmayan varyans yapısı için şekil uzayı olarak tanjant uzayı kullanıldığında Hotelling T2 testinin permütasyon ve klasik versiyonları, Goodall F testinin bootstrap ve permütasyon versiyonları ve James Fj testinin permütasyon versiyonu, şekil uzayının geometrisiyle birlikte kompleks aritmetikten faydalanıldığı durumda ise Hotelling T2 testinin permütasyon ve klasik versiyonları, Goodall F testinin permütasyon versiyonu, James Fj testinin permütasyon versiyonu ve min test istatistiğinin permütasyon versiyonunun en iyi performansı gösterdiği görülmektedir. İsotropik olmayan varyans yapısı için, en kötü performansı şekil uzayının kullanımına bağlı her iki durum içinde geçerli olmak üzere Goodall F testinin klasik versiyonu ve min test istatistiğinin klasik versiyonunun gösterdiği görülmektedir.Shape is all geometrical information that remains when location, scale and rotational effects are removed from an object. Statistical Shape Analysis involves methods for examining the geometrical structures of shapes. In statistical shape analysis literatüre, there are several tests based on two sample comparison problem. In this sutudy it is aimed to compare Hotelling T2, Goodall F, James FJ tests and min test statistics performance with respect to type I error rate. Through the simulation study, tabular, bootstrap and permutation versions of these tests and related p-values were computed with considering the selection of shape space, different sample size and various variance values. Also isotropic and anisotropic variance structures were considered. For isotropic variance structure, simulation results showed that in all sample sizes and variance level conditions, for both selection of shape space permutation versions of Hotelling T2 tests computed in tangent space has the best performance while tabular version of min test statistic has the worst performance which uses complex arithmetic and exploit the geometry of the shape space. For anisotropic variance structure, simulation results showed that in all sample sizes permutation and tabular versions of Hotelling T2 test, bootstrap and permutation versions of Goodall F test and permutation version of James Fj test computed in tangent space, have the best performance, permutation and tabular versions of Hotelling T2 test, permutation version of Goodall F test, permutation version of James FJ test and permutation version of min test statistic which use complex arithmetic and exploit the geometry of the shape space have the best performance. For anisotropic variance structure in both usage of shape space, tabular version of Goodall F test and tabular version of min test statistic which uses complex arithmetic and exploit the geometry of the shape space have the worst performance

Logistic regression analysis and comparison of classification characteristics of artifical nueural network techniques and an application

Bu çalışma, lojistik regresyon analizi ve yapay sinir ağlarının sınıflama etkinliklerini karşılaştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Lojistik regresyon analizi ve yapay sinir ağları teknikleri, bireylerin sınıflandırma oranlarına göre karşılaştırılmışlardır. Çalışmaya dahil edilen veri seti, Ercan ve arkadaşları (1) tarafından yapılan çalışmanın veri setinden lojistik regresyon analizi ve yapay sinir ağı tekniklerine uyacak şekilde seçilen 140 klinik hastasından oluşmaktadır. Yapılan analizler sonucunda, örnek veri seti doğru sınıflandırma oranları, lojistik regresyon analizi için % 81,4 ve yapay sinir ağları tekniği için de % 85 olarak hesaplanmış ve çalışmaya alınan veri seti için yapay sinir ağları tekniğinin lojistik regresyona göre daha iyi bir “doğru sınıflandırma oranına” sahip olduğu görülmüştür.This study was aimed to compare the classification effectivities of logistic regression analysis and artificial neural network. Comparison of logistic regression analysis and artificial neural network techniques was carried out according to individual’s classification ratios. Data set included in the study was selected from the data set of the study done by Ercan et al(1). Data of 140 clinical patients that were appropriate for logistic regression analysis and artificial neural network techniques were included. As a result of the analysis, correct classification ratios of the sample data set for logistic regression analysis and artificial neural network techniques were calculated as 81.4% and 85% respectively. For the data set included, artificial neural network technique was found to have a better “correct classification ratio” than the logistic regression analysis

Biyotaklit Güneş Yakıt Cihazı Için Grafen Temelli Elektrotlar

Yirmi birinci yüzyılın en büyük sorunu artan dünya nüfusuyla beraber enerji ihtiyacında gözlenen artıstır. Bu ihtiyacı karsılamak amacıyla bilim dünyası çevre dostu, yenilenebilir alternatif enerji kaynakları arayısına yönelmistir. Günes enerjisi, günes ısıgını absorblayarak enerji dönüsümü saglayan yeni materyaller sayesinde süphesiz en çok ümit vadeden alternatif enerji kaynagı olarak karsımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu projenin amacı, hali hazırda günes enerjisinden yararlanarak yakıt elde edebilen cihazlara kıyasla daha üstün özelliklere sahip, yeni günes-yakıt cihazları için elektrodlar tasarlamaktır. Dolayısıyla elde edilecek olan bu elektrodun tasarımında elektrik iletimindeki benzersiz özellikleri ve düz bir yüzeye sahip olması nedeniyle tek katmanlı grafen yüzeyler kullanılmıstır. Grafen, Cyanidioschyzon merolae (C. Merolae) gibi dogal fotosentetik sistemlerden enerji transferinde neredeyse ideal bir elektrod gibi davranır. Bu hedeften yola çıkarak oldukça kararlı dogal fotosentetik kompleksler, fonksiyonel gruplar ile modifiye edilmis grafen kaplı elektrod yüzeyine spesifik olarak baglanmıstır. Proje kapsamında (i) daha önce kullanılan elektrodların aksine, ısık absorblayan fotosentetik kompleks yapıların yüzeye spesifik bir sekilde baglandıgı elektrodların eldesi, (ii) kontrollü bir oryantasyonun saglanmasıyla ısık absorpsiyonunun arttırılması ve bunun bir sonucu olarak foto dönüsüm verimliliginin yükselmesi, (iii) elde edilen elektrodun bir yıgın heteroeklem (BHJ) günes hücresi içindeki aktivitesinin incelenmesi, hedeflenmistir. Bu amaçla genis bir literatür arastırması yapılmıs, mevcut metodlara yeni yaklasımlar önerilmistir. Yüksek düzeyde disiplinlerarası özellikte olan bu proje çalısmasında, spektroskopiden moleküler biyolojiye, fotosentetik komplekslerin biokimyasından grafen elektrodların nanomühendisligine, fotosentetik yapılardaki plasmonik ve plasmon artısına dahası günes hücresi çalısmalarına kadar uzanan genis bir yelpazede deneyim sahibi olmayı sunmaktadır. Tüm bu disiplinlerin bir araya gelmesiyle fotoelektrokimyasal enerji dönüsümün gerçeklesebilmesi için gereken tecrübe ve uzmanlık temin edilmis olacak ve ?yesil? biyofotoelektrod yapım hedefi amaçlanmıstır. Proje içerigi, Bilim ve Teknoloji Yüksek Kurulu (BTYK) ve TÜBITAK tarafından Ulusal Bilim ve Teknoloji Politikaları kapsamında belirlenen Vizyon 2023 Strateji Belgesi'nde, öncelikli stratejik teknoloji alanları içinde, nanoteknoloji baslıklı kısmın, nanoelektronik, nanofotonik ve nanobiyoteknoloji alt baslıkları ile ilgili olup ülke öncelikleri arasındadır

Assessment of Liliequist membrane by 3D-SPACE technique at 3 T

Liliequist membrane (LM) is the most important anatomic structure for the success of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV). Identification of this membrane is difficult with conventional MRI techniques. The purpose of this retrospective study is to determine the impact of three-dimensional sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip-angle evolutions (3D-SPACE) sequence with variant flip-angle mode (VFAM) in the assessment of LM at 3-T MRI devices

Retrospective analysis of decompressive craniectomy performed in pediatric patients with subdural hematoma

BACKGROUND: The impact of decompressive craniectomy (DC) on the overall outcome of pediatric acute subdural hematoma patients has not been fully determined to date. In this paper, we aimed to investigate the role of decompressive craniectomy performed to treat traumatic subdural hematoma in patients from the pediatric age group.METHODS: We described our experience with DC in pediatric acute subdural hematoma patients and analyzed the outcomes.RESULTS: Eleven (7 unilateral and 4 bilateral) DCs were performed. The patients' ages ranged from 8 months to 15 years. The mean GCS score at admission was 7.8. All patients underwent DC with duraplasty within 2 hours of injury. All the patients were admitted to the intensive care unit for 10 days postoperatively. The mean hospital stay was 22 days and the mean follow-up period was 3.7 years.CONCLUSION: Early DC for pediatric subdural hematoma patients, independent of their initial GCS, was recommended. Larger studies are needed to define the indications, surgical techniques, and timing of DC in the pediatric population

Fully automated morphological analysis of patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Background/aim: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a disease characterized by episodic hypoxia. We aimed to use the Freesurfer program for global evaluation of morphological changes in OSAS patients