Efficacy of letrozole versus clomiphene citrate for infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Background: The aim was to compare ovulation induction protocols in anovulatory patients, who make up a significant percentage of infertility patients, and to determine the most appropriate treatment for patients in the clinic based on the findings.Methods: The effectiveness of clomiphene citrate (CC) and letrozole (aromatase inhibitor) in ovulation induction treatments were retrospectively compared in patients who applied for infertility in the last 5 years and were found to be anovulatory. 20 of these patients were being treated with clomiphene citrate, while the 18 were being treated with letrozole.Results: The study included a total of 38 anovulatory infertile patients. The mean age of the patients was found to be 29.3. When the endometrial thicknesses (ET) after the treatment were compared, the first group's mean EC was 6.1, while that of the second group was 9.05. The endometrial thicknesses measured after the treatments were found to be significantly different, which were consistent with other studies in the literature. Post-treatment ovulation responses were similar with 55% in both groups. In the evaluation of pregnancy outcomes, 20% of pregnancy was achieved in the first group and 33% in the second group.Conclusions: The use of letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, may be suggested as an alternative to CC in the ovulation induction protocol in our clinical practice, particularly in obese patients

Two Electrons in a Quantum Dot: A Unified Approach

Low-lying energy levels of two interacting electrons confined in a two-dimensional parabolic quantum dot in the presence of an external magnetic field have been revised within the frame of a novel model. The present formalism, which gives closed algebraic solutions for the specific values of magnetic field and spatial confinement length, enables us to see explicitly individual effects of the electron correlation.Comment: 14 page

Risk based uncertainty quantification to improve robustness of manufacturing operations

The cyber-physical systems of Industry 4.0 are expected to generate vast amount of in-process data and revolutionise the way data, knowledge and wisdom is captured and reused in manufacturing industries. The goal is to increase profits by dramatically reducing the occurrence of unexpected process results and waste. ISO9001:2015 defines risk as effect of uncertainty. In the 7Epsilon context, the risk is defined as effect of uncertainty on expected results. The paper proposes a novel algorithm to embed risk based thinking in quantifying uncertainty in manufacturing operations during the tolerance synthesis process. This method uses penalty functions to mathematically represent deviation from expected results and solves the tolerance synthesis problem by proposing a quantile regression tree approach. The latter involves non parametric estimation of conditional quantiles of a response variable from in-process data and allows process engineers to discover and visualise optimal ranges that are associated with quality improvements. In order to quantify uncertainty and predict process robustness, a probabilistic approach, based on the likelihood ratio test with bootstrapping, is proposed which uses smoothed probability estimation of conditional probabilities. The mathematical formulation presented in this paper will allow organisations to extend Six Sigma process improvement principles in the Industry 4.0 context and implement the 7 steps of 7Epsilon in order to satisfy the requirements of clauses 6.1 and 7.1.6 of the ISO9001:2015 and the aerospace AS9100:2016 quality standard

Anatomical structure and degradation characteristics of bioincised oriental spruce wood by Physisporinus vitreus

This study is a part of a Ph.D. study at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey, and financially supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Project No: 115O934) and The Coordination Unit for Scientific Research Projects (BAP), Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa (Project No: 24880).Even though oriental spruce (Picea orientalis L.), a common species in the East Black Sea Region of Turkey, is used in a wide range of applications, its wood has low permeability. This study investigated the degradation effects of the bioincising process to improve its treatability with wood preservatives on the microstructure of oriental spruce wood. Test samples were previously subjected to bioincising by Physisporinus vitreus fungus, and the bioincised samples were examined under both a light microscope and scanning electron microscope to observe the effects of the bioincising on the anatomical properties. Bordered pits on the longitudinal tracheid radial walls, piceoid-type cross-field pits, ray tracheid bordered pits, and ray tracheid cell walls in the earlywood and latewood regions within a growth ring were particularly subjected to anatomical evaluations. In the study, the degradation intensity in the samples after the bioincising was well correlated with the weight losses occurred. Splits and factures were determined on the tori of bordered pits on the tracheid cell walls while tears and cracks were present on the pit apertures. The results also show that P. vitreus, a Type I and II white rot fungus, may cause a Type I soft rot

Effects of basin edge on the distribution of damage in 1995 Dinar, Turkey earthquake

An earthquake of magnitude M-L = 5.9 occurred in Dinar, a town located at the edge of an alluvial basin in Southeast Anatolia, Turkey. Inflicted structural damage throughout the town was highly concentrated in a region located on the alluvium and adjacent to the rock outcrop bounding the eastern side of the town. As an attempt to explain this discrepancy, possible effects of the edge of basin on which the town is located were investigated through 1D and 2D response analyses. Response spectra, computed at distinct locations of the town were contrasted to the building damage statistics of the three zones identified in the town. It is found that the 1D analyses considerably underpredict the spectral response in the heavily damaged area. Differences between the spectral responses obtained from the two approaches diminish with increasing distance from the rock outcrop. These results, which indicate that the 2D amplification was significant over a distance from the edge of the basin, provide a meaningful explanation for the observed distribution of damage throughout the town

Evaluation of pit dimensions and uptake of preservative solutions in wood after permeability improvement by bioincising

Bioincising is a biotechnological process to improve the permeability of wood by biological organisms. In recent years, there has been a great interest to determine the changes in the anatomical structure of wood as a result of bioincising process. In this study, the effects of bioincising by Physisporinus vitreus on the pit structure and permeability of Picea orientalis L. sapwood and heartwood were studied. Bioincised and non-bioincised samples were then treated with micronized copper quaternary and Celcure AC-500 wood preservatives by either dipping or vacuum method. The copper distribution and amount of copper retained in treated wood were evaluated by SEM-EDX and ICP-OES, respectively. The area of copper fixation in treated wood was also measured by the ArcGIS software package. The effects of P. vitreus activity were examined in the wood microstructure after bioincising by light microscope and SEM analyses on radial sections. After the bioincising, a significant increase was observed in the uptake of wood preservatives by vacuum, particularly in heartwood. The measurements on bordered pit, crossfield pit, and ray tracheid bordered pit dimensions in the microstructure of wood indicated that the degradation of pits was the most important factor in improved penetration and uptake of preservative solutions employed