Nosocomial hepatitis C virus infection in a renal transplantation center

AbstractNosocomial hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections were recorded in the renal transplantation unit of the university hospital. There were cases of acute HCV infection with aggressive clinical courses diagnosed from a positive HCV RNA test in the early post-transplantation period and which remained anti-HCV negative. Their anti-HCV seronegativity was attributed to them having acquired HCV under intense immunosuppressive therapy and suggested that the aggressive clinical course could be due to the deficient immune response resulting in an inability to limit viral replication. There were also donors diagnosed as having acute HCV infection in the early post-operative period. Genotyping and sequence analysis for HCV were performed on the isolates of eight of these patients who were consecutively transplanted and of three donors whose recipients were infected with HCV prior to transplantation, and who acquired acute HCV infection after transplantation. Of the eight recipients in the first group three were genotype 1a, three were genotype 1b, one wasgenotype 3a, and the last one was genotype 4 according to Simmond's classification. Of the three donor-recipient couples both the HCV isolates from one couple were genotyped as 1b and the phylogenetic analysis indicated that the patients were infected with a common variant of HCV, but the genotypesof HCV isolates from the other couples were different. Recipients were genotype 1b and the donors were genotype 1a in these couples. Genotype results of the first group and donor-recipient couples, and sequence analysis of genotype 1b and 1a isolates, showed that the source of infection was not a unique strain and there were multiple breaks in universal precautions while managing these patients

Vapor-Phase Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol Using Manganese Oxide Octahedral Molecular Sieves (OMS-2)

Vapor-phase selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol has been accomplished using cryptomelane-type manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) catalysts. A conversion of 92% and a selectivity to benzaldehyde of 99% were achieved using OMS-2. The role played by the oxidant in this system was probed by studying the reaction in the absence of oxidant. The natures of framework transformations occurring during the oxidation reaction were fully studied using temperature-programmed techniques, as well as in situ X-ray diffraction under different atmospheres

A case study for block-based linked data generation: Recipes as jigsaw puzzles

This article is a proof-of-concept case study to evaluate the functionality of a block metaphor–based linked data generator. In this work, we chose to produce linked data repository of recipes, which provide a medium for people to share their regional and healthy recipes with the masses. However, the same approach can also be adapted easily to other domains. Therefore, the applicability of our approach extends well beyond the food domain that we are considering in this article. As a medium for information sharing and understanding between heterogeneous systems, ontologies will play an important role in the realisation of the Internet of things (IoT) vision. Therefore, an ontology-based recipe repository would also be one of the basic blocks of a smart kitchen environment. However, building ontologies is a challenging task, especially for users who are not conversant in the ontology building languages. This article proposes an approach that can be used even by non-experts and facilitates the sharing and searching of recipe data. In our case, we exploit the features of the block paradigm to publish recipes in Linked Data format. In this way, users do not have to know the OWL (Web Ontology Language) syntax and the text input is kept minimal. As far as we know, this article is the first study that produces linked data using Blockly in the literature. We also conducted a user-based evaluation of the proposed approach using the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. © The Author(s) 2019

Optimizing a Rete-based inference engine using a hybrid heuristic and pyramid based indexes on ontological data

This paper describes indexing of ontological data to reduce the memory consumption of a Rete-based reasoner whose time performance is increased using a hybrid optimization heuristic. The aforementioned indexing mechanism is known as the Pyramid Technique. Our work organizes three dimensional ontological data in a way that works efficiently with this indexing mechanism and it constructs a subset of the querying scheme of the Pyramid Technique that supports querying ontological data. This work also implements an optimization on the Pyramid Technique. Finally, it represents the progress in the memory consumption of the reasoner. © 2007 ACADEMY PUBLISHER

Klinik viroloji-seroloji laboratuvarında maliyeti yüksek test isteklerinin değerlendirilmesi

Aim: Retrospective analysis of the inappropriate test requests from a virology/serology laboratory for the diagnosis of HBV, HCV and HIV infections related to requesting second step tests before first step tests and evalating the economic impact of these costly second step tests were aimed. Material and Methods: Quantitative HBV DNA, quantitative HBV DNA, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV confirmatory requests in 20 work days in October and December 2008 were evaluated according to patient's age, sex, department, former test results, ICD 10 codes, whether the patient was hospitalized, and the title of the doctor who made the request. Statistical analysis were done with chi-square test using SPSS 11.0. Results: The ratio of inappropriate laboratory test requests of these expensive tests were high as 64.71 % and 44.44 % in anti- HCV and anti-HIV confirmatory tests and low in quantitative HBV DNA (2.89 %) and quantitative HCV RNA (6.13 %) respectively. When inappropriate laboratory test requests were compared with clinician's title no statistical significance was observed in confirmatory test requests but there was a significance related with residents (p;lt; 0.05) in quantitative HBV DNA and quantitative HCV RNA test requests. The cost of inappropriate laboratory test requests of these four tests were evaluated as approximately 6000 TL per 20 work day (month). Conclusion: Laboratories should monitor the cost analysis of the inappropriate test requests routinely and should plan education programs for avoiding inappropriate test requests when necessary. Within the institution control measures should be established locally in coorperation with the clinician, laboratory and hospital administration.Amaç: HBV, HCV ve HIV enfeksiyonlarının tanısında birinci basamak testleri istenmeden ikinci basamak testlerin istenmesine bağlı olan gereksiz istekleri retrospektif olarak belirlemek ve bunun sonucu olarak pahalı olan ikinci basamak testlerin getirdiği mali yükü saptamak amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem ve Gereç: Ekim ve Aralık 2008 aylarına ait 20 iş gününde kantitatif HBV DNA, kantitatif HCV RNA, anti-HCV doğrulama ve anti-HIV doğrulama test istekleri çalışmaya alındı. Olguların, cinsiyet, yaş, geldiği yer (klinik, poliklinik), geldiği klinik, ICD 10 kodları, gönderen hekimin ünvanı ve kayıtlarımızdaki önceki sonuçlarına göre isteğin gerekli olup olmadığı değerlendirilmiştir. İstatistiksel analizde ki-kare testi kullanılmış ve SPSS 11.0.0'da değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular: Yüksek maliyetli olan bu testlerden anti-HCV ve anti-HIV doğrulama test isteklerinde gereksiz istek oranı sırasıyla %64.71 ve %44.44 şeklinde yüksek, buna karşılık kantitatif HBV DNA(%2.89) ve HCV RNA (%6.13) testlerinde ise düşük bulunmuştur. Gereksiz istekleri yapan hekimlerin ünvanları değerlendirildiğinde doğrulama isteklerinde istatistiksel bir fark bulunmamış, ancak kantitatatif HBV DNA ve HCV RNA isteklerinde asistan isteklerinden kaynaklanan bir fark saptanmıştır (p 0.05). Ele alınan dört testin toplam gereksiz maliyeti ise yaklaşık 6000 TL / 20 iş günü (ay) bulunmuştur. Sonuç: Laboratuvarların test isteklerinin maliyet analizlerini sürekli yaparak izlemeleri ve testlerin doğru istenmesi için eğitimi planlamaları gerekir. Kurum olarak ise mevcut yerel koşullara göre klinisyen, laboratuvar ve hastane yönetimi işbirliği ile kontrol mekanizmaları devreye sokulmalıdır

Seroprevalence of hepatitis a infection in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Materials and Methods: A total of 660 unvaccinated persons 1 to 30 years old were selected for the study with cluster sampling. Information on sociodemographic characteristics was gathered for each participant and, in 641 of them, anti-HAV antibodies were assayed using an enzyme immune assay. Results: Anti-HAV prevalence in the Turkish population under the age of 30 in Northern Cyprus was 23.9%. For the age groups 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 years, seroprevalence rates were relatively low (11.4, 9.4 and 12%, respectively). For age groups 16 years and over, HAV seroprevalence gradually increased with age, rising to 30.4% in 16 to 20 years and to 52.5% in 21 to 30 years of age. In addition to age, other variables significantly associated with HAV seroprevalence included low family income, family size, waste water sewage, and the education level of parents. Conclusions: Anti-HAV seroprevalence in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus shows an intermediate prevalence. As well as expanding health education and improving sanitation, a hepatitis A universal mass vaccination program would be logical for the population. © TÜBITAK