Detection of Expenditure Trends in the Telecommunication Sector

In the telecommunication sector, particularly in the cellular phone service area, customer expenditures have been in the areas of voice, short messages, and internet usage, leading to a pattern of more or less regular monthly bills. Recently, telecommunication companies started to associate retail stores to their billed commercial activities, resulting in unusual variations in the monthly payment sequences of their customers. In the present work we propose a method for detecting retail expenditure in monthly bills. We then code the information of the discretized version into a binary hierarchical tree and we classify them as positive or negative with respect to complaint potential

Probabilistic earthquake hazard assessment for Ankara and its environs

The capital and the second largest city of Turkey, Ankara, is generally considered to be safe in terms of seismic activities and earthquake hazard. However, recent studies and earthquakes experienced in the region showed that Ankara is not indeed seismically safe. As the number of studies on Ankara's seismic hazard increases, the number of scientists who claim that the earthquake hazard in Ankara is higher than expected also increases. However, to date no detailed analysis has been undertaken as to the earthquake hazard facing Ankara. This study has compiled data from the earthquake catalogues available in Turkey and employed the latest knowledge available to produce an Ankara-specific earthquake catalogue. Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of the unified data was then used to produced peak ground acceleration (PGA) values for 5%, 10%, 20%, and 40% probability of exceedance over a 50-year return period. The PGA values at main rock sites were determined using the most appropriate attenuation relationship. These show an exceedance probability of 10% over a 50-year return period to range from 0.20 g to 0.25 g for the Ankara provincial districts of Ayas, Cankaya, Etimesgut, Sincan, and Yenimahalle; from 0.25 g to 0.30 g for Altindag, Golbasi, Kecioren, and Mamak; and from 0.30 g to 0.35 g for Akyurt, Cubuk, Elmadag, and Kazan

Autophagy and nuclear changes in FM3A breast tumor cells after epirubicin, medroxyprogesterone and tamoxifen treatment in vitro

Objective: Autophagy is a form Of physiological programmed cell death Which is, observable after hormonal withdrawal. In this study, the FM3A murine breast tumor cell line was treated with epirubicin alone and with medroxyprogesterone, acetate: (MPA) or tamoxifen, to determine if structural and kinetic signs, of autophagy may also Occur in an enhanced manner during epirubicin sensitization via hormonal, agents. Methods: One-week soft agar colony growth, 96-hour values of plating and pulse thymidine, labeling and electron microscopical examinations were performed following treatment with MPA and tamoxifen alone: or with epirubicin. Results. Tamoxifen. induced signs of autophagy, which was enhanced. when it was combined with M PA. Epirubicin also induced autophagy of secretory granules, which coalesced to form an intracytoplasmic lumen. Combining MPA with epirubicin enhanced the, formation of apoptotic blebs and chromatin fragmentation. When epirubicin was combined with tamoxifen, peculiar nuclear structures were formed. Conclusions: Hormonal agents may modulate anthracycline activity towards specific patterns in eliciting cell death, via autophagy and/or as yet unknown nucleolus-specific interactions. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

Medicinal leech therapyâan overall perspective

Complementary medicine methods have a long history, but modern medicine has just recently focused on their possible modes of action. Medicinal leech therapy (MLT) or hirudotherapy, an old technique, has been studied by many researchers for possible effects on various diseases such as inflammatory diseases, osteoarthritis, and after different surgeries. Hirudo medicinalis has widest therapeutic usage among the leeches, but worldwide, many different species were tested and studied. Leeches secrete more than 20 identified bioactive substances such as antistasin, eglins, guamerin, hirudin, saratin, bdellins, complement, and carboxypeptidase inhibitors. They have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, platelet inhibitory, anticoagulant, and thrombin regulatory functions, as well as extracellular matrix degradative and antimicrobial effects, but with further studies, the spectrum of effects may widen. The technique is cheap, effective, easy to apply, and its modes of action have been elucidated for certain diseases. In conclusion, for treatment of some diseases, MLT is not an alternative, but is a complementary and/or integrative choice. MLT is a part of multidisciplinary treatments, and secretes various bioactive substances. These substances vary among species and different species should be evaluated for both treatment capability and their particular secreted molecules. There is huge potential for novel substances and these could be future therapeutics. Keywords: Hirudo medicinalis, hirudotherapy, leec

Corneal topography, anterior segment and high-order aberration assessments in children with >= 2 diopter astigmatism

Purpose To assess topographic findings, anterior segment parameters and high-order aberrations (HOAs) by using corneal tomography in children with 2 diopters (dp) or more astigmatism. Methods Children with 2 dp or more astigmatism (study group) and children with astigmatism less than 1 dp (control group) were recruited. Corneal astigmatism, mean, steep, flat keratometry (K) findings, anterior and posterior K results and anterior segment parameters including anterior chamber depth, kappa distance, horizontal corneal diameter, mean, central, middle, peripheral corneal thicknesses (CT), white-to-white (WTW) distance and pupil diameter were measured by Galilei G4 Dual Scheimpflug corneal tomography. HOAs were also assessed and compared between groups. Results Fifty-eight eyes of 37 children in the study group and 37 eyes of 37 children in the control group were enrolled. The mean ages of groups were 9.7 +/- 2.4 years and 9.3 +/- 1.6 years in study and control groups, respectively. The mean astigmatism was 3.3 +/- 1.1 dp and 0.5 +/- 0.3 dp in study and control groups, respectively (p < 0.05). Total corneal astigmatism was 3.3 +/- 0.84 dp and 1.14 +/- 0.47 dp in study and control groups, respectively (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference between groups in terms of posterior steep K and posterior astigmatism values. Among anterior segment parameters, mean CT and WTW values were statistically different between groups. HOAs were found to be statistically different between groups. Conclusion Higher posterior corneal astigmatism, thinner mean CT and lower WTW distance were found in children with 2 dp or more astigmatism. Besides, HOAs were much more in these astigmatic children

Morbidly obese pregnant woman with congenital leptin deficiency: Follow-up and obstetric outcome

Congenital leptin deficiency is a rare congenital genetic disease. It is characterized by early-onset, severe morbid obesity. The disease occurs due to mutations in the LEP gene. Obesity is a severe consequence of the disease. It also causes reproductive and obstetric complications. In this study, we present a 26-year-old pregnant case who had been previously diagnosed with congenital leptin deficiency. The pregnancy made it more difficult to regulate the metabolic changes caused by the disease. Problems were held by a multidisciplinary approach, with the contribution of endocrinology and cardiology departments. The patient gave birth to a healthy girl at the 37th week of gestation. Spontaneous pregnancy resulting in a live birth is very uncommon in women with congenital leptin deficiency. The follow-up and treatment approaches during pregnancy and the obstetric outcome are presented with the literature

Serological Investigation of Occupational Exposure to Zoonotic Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Infection

Objective: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an acute and highly fatal disease. In this study, our aim was to compare and evaluate the prevalence of CCHF virus (CCHFV) antibody among occupational high-risk groups by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and draw attention to the occupational groups that are at high risk for CCHF infection in an endemic region for this zoonotic infection in Erzurum, Turkey

Dimethyl sulfoxide increases the antitumor cytotoxicities of 5-fluorouracil and adriamycin on FMA-3 cell line cultures in tumor colony-forming assays

Background: Previous studies demonstrated that combinations of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with several antineoplastic agents produced in vitro synergistic cytotoxicity against some human tumors. The purpose of this study was to determine if 2% DMSO also enhances the antitumor activity of various chemotherapeutic agents against FMA-3 mouse mammary tumor cell lines performing tumor colony-forming assays