Adiponectin and Cardiac Hypertrophy in Acromegaly

Background. Adiponectin is an adipocytes-derived hormone which has been shown to possess insulin-sensitizing, antiatherogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties. In acromegaly, the data on adiponectin is contradictory. The relationship between adiponectin levels and cardiac parameters has not been studied.Objectives. The aim of this study was to find out how adiponectin levels were affected in acromegalic patients and the relationship between adiponectin levels and cardiac parameters.Material and Methods. We included 30 subjects (15 male, 15 female), diagnosed with acromegaly and 30 healthy (10 male, 20 female) subjects. Serum glucose, insulin, GH, IGF-1 and adiponectin levels were obtained and the insulin resistance of the subjects was calculated. Echocardiographic studies of the subjects were performed.Results. We determined that adiponectin levels were significantly higher in the acromegalic group than the control group. In the acromegalic group, there was no statistically significant relation between serum adiponectin and growth hormone (GH), or insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels (p = 0.3, p = 0.1). We demonstrated that cardiac function and structure are affected by acromegaly. IVST, PWT, LVMI, E/A ratio, DT, ET, IVRT, VPR, and LVESV values were increased and the results were statistically significant. In the acromegalic group, adiponectin levels were positively related with left ventricle mass index (LVMI) but this correlation was found to be statistically weak (p = 0.03). In our study, there was a positive correlation between VAI and LVM. We also could not find any correlation between VAI and adiponectin levels.Conclusions. Although insulin resistance and high insulin levels occur in active acromegaly patients, adiponectin levels were higher in our study as a consequence of GH lowering therapies. Our study showed that adiponectin levels may be an indicator of the cardiac involvement acromegaly. However, the usage of serum adiponectin levels in acromegalic patients as an indicator of cardiac involvement should be supported with other, wide, multi-centered studies

How Are the Leadership Behavior of School Principals Perceived by Their Teachers? A Case Study in Turkey

In social psychology, the term "person perception" refers to the different mental processes that people use to form impressions of other people. This term includes how they form these impressions, and the different conclusions they make about other people based upon their impressions. Person perception can be a very subjective process that can be influenced by the characteristics of the person being observed, the context of the situation, and people's own personal characteristics. Educational leadership increasingly gained importance in today's world, because it is recognized that the quality of leadership makes a significant difference to school and student outcomes. There is also increasing recognition that schools require effective leaders and managers if they are to provide the best possible education for their learners. In order for students to have high-quality learning each year, schools must be highly functioning, which means that they must be led by effective principals. Studies note that the greatest impact on school success can be determined through the leadership practices of principals. The principals and school leaders who are implementing their roles and duties should be constantly reviewed and assessed for transparency in school, because their leadership has an impact on "teacher morale, job satisfaction, and motivation". Principals should have key skills related to communicating, facilitating, team-building, coaching, managing conflict, involving others in decision-making, and acting politically, also the development of technological advancement. This study aims to find the impact of school principals' leadership behavior on teachers and teachers' perceptions about the impact and the styles of their leadership. The survey is distributed in 10 public elementary schools in one region of Istanbul, Turkey. The sample consisted of 100 teachers; of which 64 were female teachers and 36 were male teachers. Questionnaire consisted of two parts: demographic information and questions about the perception of leadership behavior. The scale was developed b

Magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosis of bipartite patella : usefulness and relationship with symptoms

Purpose: Bipartite patella is a rare developmental variation of the knee cap. We aimed to identify the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of bipartite patella and evaluate the association with clinical symptoms. Material and methods: MRI exams of 61 patients with bipartite variant were evaluated for types of bipartite patella, oedema around the synchondrosis, bipartite fragment height (FH), distance between the fragment and the patella (FPD), and signal characteristics within the synchondrosis. The study was designed with two observers in order to achieve intra- and interobserver compliance. Any other major knee pathologies that can cause pain were also recorded. Results: Of the 61 participants the average age was 40.1 ± 14.3 years, 44 were males, and 17 were females. Fifty-nine of the bipartite fragments were located at the superolateral quadrant of the patella. There was oedema at the bipartite area in 35 patients. Ten of these patients had no major MRI diagnosis other than oedema, and they were classified as the symptomatic group. The age of the patients in the symptomatic group was statistically lower than in the asymptomatic group (p 0.05). High concordance correlation coefficients were observed on measurements Conclusions: MRI of the knee is highly accurate in evaluation of bipartite patella. To our knowledge; a detailed MRI analysis, like in our study, has not previously been performed, and our report is unique in showing that the symptomatic occurrence of bipartite patella is statistically higher in young patients

Evaluation of the propensity of strain burst in brittle granite based on post-peak energy analysis

Available online 11 October 2019The increasing demand for resources and depletion of near ground mineral resources caused deeper mining operations under highstress rock mass conditions. As a result of this, strain burst, which is the sudden release of stored strain energy in the surrounding rock mass, has become more prevalent and created a considerable threat to workers and construction equipment. It is, therefore, imperative to understand how strain burst mechanism and stored excess strain energy are affected due to the high confinement in deep underground conditions. For this purpose, post-peak energy distributions for brittle rocks were investigated using a newly developed energy calculation method associated with acoustic emission (AE). A series of quasi-static uniaxial and triaxial compression tests controlled by the circumferential expansion was conducted. Snap-back behaviour known as Class-II behaviour associated with energy evolution and the material response under self-sustaining failure were analysed on granites under a wide range of confining pressures (0–60 MPa). The experimental results underline that the energy evolution characteristics are strongly linked to confinement. Stored elastic strain energy (dUE), energy consumed by dominating cohesion weakening (dUCW) and energy dissipated during mobilisation of frictional failure (dUFM) showed a rising trend as increasing the confining pressure. An intrinsic ejection velocity was proposed to express the propensity of strain burst that was purely determined by the excess strain energy released from Class II rock.Selahattin Akdag, Murat Karakus, Giang D. Nguyen, Abbas Taheri, Thomas Brunin

AI for Everyone? Critical Perspectives

We are entering a new era of technological determinism and solutionism in which governments and business actors are seeking data-driven change, assuming that Artificial Intelligence is now inevitable and ubiquitous. But we have not even started asking the right questions, let alone developed an understanding of the consequences. Urgently needed is debate that asks and answers fundamental questions about power. This book brings together critical interrogations of what constitutes AI, its impact and its inequalities in order to offer an analysis of what it means for AI to deliver benefits for everyone. The book is structured in three parts: Part 1, AI: Humans vs. Machines, presents critical perspectives on human-machine dualism. Part 2, Discourses and Myths About AI, excavates metaphors and policies to ask normative questions about what is ‘desirable’ AI and what conditions make this possible. Part 3, AI Power and Inequalities, discusses how the implementation of AI creates important challenges that urgently need to be addressed. Bringing together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and regional contexts, this book offers a vital intervention on one of the most hyped concepts of our times

HLA tapasin independence: broader peptide repertoire and HIV control.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I allotypes vary in their ability to present peptides in the absence of tapasin, an essential component of the peptide loading complex. We quantified tapasin dependence of all allotypes that are common in European and African Americans (n = 97), which revealed a broad continuum of values. Ex vivo examination of cytotoxic T cell responses to the entire HIV-1 proteome from infected subjects indicates that tapasin-dependent allotypes present a more limited set of distinct peptides than do tapasin-independent allotypes, data supported by computational predictions. This suggests that variation in tapasin dependence may impact the strength of the immune responses by altering peptide repertoire size. In support of this model, we observed that individuals carrying HLA class I genotypes characterized by greater tapasin independence progress more slowly to AIDS and maintain lower viral loads, presumably due to increased breadth of peptide presentation. Thus, tapasin dependence level, like HLA zygosity, may serve as a means to restrict or expand breadth of the HLA-I peptide repertoire across humans, ultimately influencing immune responses to pathogens and vaccines

Does the unification of health financing affect the distribution pattern of out‐of‐pocket health expenses in Turkey?

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149529/1/ijsw12389_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149529/2/ijsw12389.pd

Genome-wide association study identifies variants in the MHC class I, IL10, and IL23R-IL12RB2 regions associated with Behcet's disease

Behcet's disease is a genetically complex disease of unknown etiology characterized by recurrent inflammatory attacks affecting the orogenital mucosa, eyes and skin. We performed a genome-wide association study with 311,459 SNPs in 1,215 individuals with Behcet's disease (cases) and 1,278 healthy controls from Turkey. We confirmed the known association of Behcet's disease with HLA-B*51 and identified a second, independent association within the MHC Class I region. We also identified an association at IL10 (rs1518111, P = 1.88 x 10(-8)). Using a meta-analysis with an additional five cohorts from Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, comprising a total of 2,430 cases and 2,660 controls, we identified associations at IL10 (rs1518111, P = 3.54 x 10(-18), odds ratio = 1.45, 95% CI 1.34-1.58) and the IL23R-IL12RB2 locus (rs924080, P = 6.69 x 10(-9), OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.18-1.39). The disease-associated IL10 variant (the rs1518111 A allele) was associated with diminished mRNA expression and low protein production

Clinical Use and Therapeutic Potential of IVIG/SCIG, Plasma-Derived IgA or IgM, and Other Alternative Immunoglobulin Preparations

Intravenous and subcutaneous immunoglobulin preparations, consisting of IgG class antibodies, are increasingly used to treat a broad range of pathological conditions, including humoral immune deficiencies, as well as acute and chronic inflammatory or autoimmune disorders. A plethora of Fab- or Fc-mediated immune regulatory mechanisms has been described that might act separately or in concert, depending on pathogenesis or stage of clinical condition. Attempts have been undertaken to improve the efficacy of polyclonal IgG preparations, including the identification of relevant subfractions, mild chemical modification of molecules, or modification of carbohydrate side chains. Furthermore, plasma-derived IgA or IgM preparations may exhibit characteristics that might be exploited therapeutically. The need for improved treatment strategies without increase in plasma demand is a goal and might be achieved by more optimal use of plasma-derived proteins, including the IgA and the IgM fractions. This article provides an overview on the current knowledge and future strategies to improve the efficacy of regular IgG preparations and discusses the potential of human plasma-derived IgA, IgM, and preparations composed of mixtures of IgG, IgA, and IgM