Is gynecomastia related to the disease characteristics and prognosis in testicular germ cell tumor patients?

PURPOSEWe aimed to assess the relationship between gynecomastia and tumor markers, histologic subtypes, and prognosis in patients with testicular germ cell tumors.METHODSThis study included 73 testicular germ cell cancer patients with pretreatment chest, abdomen and pelvis computed tomography (CT) scans and tumor markers (β-human chorionic gonadotropin [β-hCG], lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], α-fetoprotein [AFP]). The volumetric analysis of the breast glandular tissue, the presence of gynecomastia and metastatic disease were determined using CT scans. Patients were classified according to the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) prognostic classification. The association between gynecomastia, breast glandular tissue volume, tumor markers, metastatic disease, and disease prognosis were evaluated.RESULTSThirty-four of the patients (46.6%) had gynecomastia. A breast volume cutoff value of 0.78 cm3 to diagnose gynecomastia led to 85% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Serum β-hCG level correlated with the breast glandular tissue volume weakly (r=0.242, P = 0.039). Gynecomastia was more common in patients with elevated β-hCG levels (P = 0.047), and was not associated with pulmonary, nonpulmonary distant, or nodal metastases (P = 0.378, P = 0.884, P = 0.333, respectively). No significant association was found between the disease prognosis and gynecomastia (P = 0.556).CONCLUSIONGynecomastia was common among testicular germ cell cancer patients with elevated β-hCG. However, it was not associated with metastatic disease and prognosis

Estimation of Demographic Traits of the Deputies through Parliamentary Debates Using Machine Learning

One of the most impressive applications of the combined use of natural language processing (NLP), classical machine learning, and deep learning (DL) approaches is the estimation of demographic traits from the text. Author Profiling (AP) is the analysis of a text to identify the demographics or characteristics of its author. So far, most researchers in this field have focused on using social media data in the English language. This article aims to expand the predictive potential of demographic traits by focusing on a more diverse dataset and language. Knowing the background of deputies is essential for citizens, political scientists and policymakers. In this study, we present the application of NLP and machine learning (ML) approaches to Turkish parliamentary debates to estimate the demographic traits of the deputies. Seven traits were determined: gender, age, education, occupation, election region, party, and party status. As a first step, a corpus was compiled from Turkish parliamentary debates between 2012 and 2020. Document representations (feature extraction) were performed using various NLP techniques. Then, we created sub-datasets containing the extracted features from the corpus. These sub-datasets were used by different ML classification algorithms. The best classification accuracy rates were more than 31%, 27%, 35%, 41%, 29%, 59%, and 32% according to the majority baseline for gender, age, education, occupation, election region, party, and party status, respectively. The experimental results show that the demographics of deputies can be estimated effectively using NLP, classical ML, and DL approaches

What do parents of young children expect from preschool directors? A comparison of parental and managerial expectations

This study aimed to examine the parental expectations from preschool management and the perception of parental expectations by the managers. The research sample consisted of 927 parents (mother-father) who has been residing within Balıkesir central districts (Karesi and Altıeylül) boundaries, and whose children have benefitted the pre-school education service in the state funded independent kindergartens. The data collection tool was developed to be used in this study by the researchers. The first part of the tool was designed to aggregate demographic information about participants. The scale in the second part consisted of a total of 18 items and four sub-scales (Communication and Accessibility, Health and Safety, Physical Resources, and Education) targeting the expectations of parents from the school management. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (DFA) was performed to examine construct validity of the scale. The mean scores parents and school managers obtained from the subscales of Expectations from Kindergarten Management Scale were analyzed using the MANOVA test. The results demonstrated that parental expectations from kindergarten management differ based on their gender. Mother had significantly higher scores from two subscales (Communication and Accessibility and Health and Safety) than fathers did. The results indicated no statistically significant difference in the mean scores of kindergarten managers. A comparison of parents’ and managers’ mean scores indicated that kindergarten managers obtained higher scores on the Physical Resources subscale than the parents

Transformational Leadership and Innovative Climate: An Examination of the Mediating Effect of Psychological Empowerment

WOS: 000422381100009Problem Statement: The most important characteristic of today's organizations is too much change. The demand of organizations to fulfill objectives within dynamic environmental aspects has required strong leadership. Organizations' accommodation to changes, generating new ideas, adapting these ideas to organizations, and also the individual and intellectual development of employees have revealed the transformational leadership concept. Transformational leaders empower participants independently from supervision and control of leadership; they create an environment free from punishment, so that participants feel themselves as empowered, and this leads to their behaving in an innovative manner. Transformational leaders empower employees and generate a climate that supports innovation. Research about transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, and innovative climate is generally conducted within a business organization, and there are so few studies about these variables within schools. Method: The survey model was used in this study. 303 teachers working in Eskisehir Central Secondary School participated in this research. However, outlier values were examined, and the values of two participants including improper data sets were deleted; therefore, the number of participants was determined to be 301. Three different scales were used in this research. The validity and reliability of the scales were examined. Mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation and stepwise regression analysis techniques were used. Findings: It was found that there was a significant positive relationship between transformational leadership and psychological empowerment. A significant positive relationship was found between psychological empowerment and innovative climate, as well. The stepwise regression analysis showed a significant relationship between transformational leadership and innovative climate. According to the Sobel test results, the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative climate was decreasing but significant (z=2.43, p<0.05). Therefore, it has been determined that psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative climate. Conclusion and Recommendations: Transformational leadership affects innovative climate both directly and indirectly through psychological empowerment. However, research about psychological empowerment in educational organizations and innovation and creativity at schools is very limited. In relation to this study, the effect of the leadership roles of principals, on the level of the psychological empowerment of teachers on their innovative and creative behaviors, can be examined

Ladik Gölü (Samsun, Türkiye)'ndeki Çapak Balığı, Abramis brama (L., 1758)'nın Yaşı, Büyümesi ve Üreme Dönemi

Özet: Bu çalışma, Türkiye iç sularında yaşayan Çapak Balığı, Abramis brama (L., 1758)'nın biyolojik özellikleri üzerine ilk kapsamlı araştırmadır. Ladik Gölü'nden (Samsun) Kasım 2009-Ekim 2010 tarihleri arasında aylık olarak yakalanan toplam 722 birey kullanılarak türün boy ve ağırlık dağılımları, yaş ve eşey kompozisyonları, boy-ağırlık ve boy-boy ilişkileri, von Bertalanffy büyüme parametreleri, kondisyon faktörü değerleri ve üreme dönemi belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen örneklerin çatal boyları 8,1-44,6 cm ve ağırlıkları 8-1790 g arasında dağılım göstermiştir. Eşey oranı (D:E) 1:1,58 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Maksimum yaş her iki eşey için 8 yıl olarak tespit edilmiştir. Boy-ağırlık ilişkisi dişilerde W=0,0081ÇB3,229, erkeklerde W=0,0103ÇB3,148 şeklinde bulunmuştur. Total boy-çatal boy, çatal boy-standart boy ve standart boy-total boy arasında kuvvetli ilişkiler gözlenmiştir. Von Bertalanffy büyüme denklemi parametreleri dişiler için L∞=84,95 cm, W∞=13732,62 g, k=0,08 (yıl-1), t0=-0,54 yıl, erkekler için L∞=89,20 cm, W∞=14209,72 g, k=0,06 (yıl-1), t0=-1,13 yıl olarak hesaplanmıştır. Fulton'un kondisyon faktörünün (K) ortalama değeri dişilerde 1,63, erkeklerde 1,58 ve tüm örneklerde 1,59 olarak saptanmıştır. Ortalama K, yaş ve boy gruplarına göre bir artış eğilimi sergilemiştir. En yüksek ortalama K değeri dişiler için Nisan (K=1,75), erkekler için Ağustos (K=1,64) aylarında elde edilmiştir. Gonadosomatik indeks (GSİ) değerlerinin aylık değişimine göre üreme Nisan-Haziran ayları arasında gerçekleşmektedir. Anahtar kelimeler: Yaş, büyüme, üreme dönemi, Abramis brama, Ladik Gölü Age, growth and reproductive season of freshwater bream, Abramis brama (L., 1758) in Lake Ladik (Samsun, Türkiye) Abstract: This study is the first comprehensive investigation on the biological characteristics of freshwater bream, Abramis brama (L., 1758) living in Türkiye's inland waters. The length and weight distributions, age and sex compositions, length-weight and length-length relationships, parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation, condition factor values, and reproductive period of the fish in question were examined by using a total of 722 specimens captured on a monthly basis from Lake Ladik (Samsun) between November 2009 and October 2010. Fork lengths of fish ranged from 8.1 to 44.6 cm and their weights ranged from 8 to 1790 g. The overall sex ratio (F:M) was 1:1.58. The maximum age was 8 years. The length-weight relationship was found as W=0.0081ÇB3.229 for females and W=0.0103ÇB3.148 for males. All relationships among total length, fork length, and standard length were highly significant. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation were calculated as L∞=84.95 cm, W∞=13732.62 g, k=0.08 (year-1), t0=-0.54 year for females and L∞=89.20 cm, W∞=14209.72 g, k=0.06 (year-1), t0=-1.13 year for males. The mean values of the Fulton's condition factor (K) for females, males, and all individuals were 1.63, 1.58, and 1.59, respectively. Mean K displayed an upward trend with reference to age and length groups. The highest value of mean K was observed in April (K=1.75) for females and August (K=1.64) for males. According to the monthly variation of gonadosomatic index (GSI), the reproduction takes place between April and June. Key words: Age, growth, reproductive season, Abramis brama, Lake Ladi

In vitro skin permeation of escin in the new gel formulation of Aesculus hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut)

Aesculus hippocastanum L. (Hippocastanaceae) is used in topical pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations by industries. The aim of this work is to develop a new A. hippocastanum product having good stability and better skin permeation compared with the other products on the market. Two new gel formulations were prepared to evaluate escin ex vivo permeation through pig skin by using Franz-type diffusion and to analyse by HPLC. The first gel formulation has contained only A. hippocastanum extract (G1) and the second gel formulation has contained a mixture of A. hippocastanum and M. chamomilla extracts (G2), as active ingredients. The reference gel has escin as active ingredient and it was purchased from a pharmacy. G2 showed significantly better skin permeation ability with good stability compared to G1 and reference gel. Owing to its favourable penetration and stability characteristics the new gel formulation could be an alternative for the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency and inflammatory soft tissue inflammation

Efficacy of ultrasound and shear wave elastography for the diagnosis of breast cancer-related lymphedema

Kamali Polat, Ayfer/0000-0001-6414-9435; Ozturk, Mesut/0000-0003-4059-2656; Polat, Ahmet Veysel/0000-0002-9740-3580WOS: 000495228800001PubMed: 31705687Objectives To assess the feasibility of ultrasound and shear wave elastography (SWE) in the diagnosis of breast cancer-related lymphedema. Methods Forty-one patients with a history of unilateral breast surgery and axillary dissection or sentinel lymph node excision were included in this prospective study. The patients were classified as having normal findings, latent lymphedema, and clinical lymphedema on the basis of a physical examination, lymphedema index scores, and limb circumference measurements. The thickness and stiffness of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue of the forearm and arm were measured by ultrasound and SWE. The thickness and stiffness of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue of the affected limb and contralateral limbs of the normal, latent lymphedema, and clinical lymphedema groups were compared. Results The mean age +/- SD of the 41 patients was 55.42 +/- 10.12 years. There were 15 patients with normal findings, 10 with latent lymphedema, and 16 with clinical lymphedema. In the latent lymphedema group, the thickness measurements of the cutaneous tissue of the affected forearm and the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue of the affected arm were significantly greater than those of the contralateral forearm and arm (P = .034; P = .022; and P = .002, respectively), and the stiffness measurements of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue of the affected forearm were significantly greater than those of the contralateral forearm (P = .011; and P = .002). In the clinical lymphedema group, the thickness and stiffness measurements of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue of the affected forearm and arm were significantly greater than those of the contralateral limb (P < .001-P = .032). Conclusions Ultrasound and SWE are effective for diagnosing breast cancer-related lymphedema even at a latent stage

Bony structure dimensions-fish length relationships of pike (Esox lucius L., 1758) in Lake Ladik (Samsun, Turkey)

WOS: 000403914500021The relationships between otolith length (OL), otolith width (OW), otolith weight (OWE), cleithrum length (CL) and fish length (TL) of pike captured from Lake Ladik were evaluated using 11 different mathematical models. Total lengths of the samples ranged from 273 mm to 744 mm. The variations in the right and the left side measurements of the two bony structures were not statistically significant (p>0.05). There was significant difference in cleithrum lengths of females and males (p<0.05). The relationships between TL versus OL, TL versus OW and TL versus CL were determined as linear, whereas the relationship between TL versus OWE was determined as logarithmic