Influence of birth cohort, age and period on suicide mortality rate in Turkey, 1983-2013

Objective: This study is designed to evaluate the potential effects of age, period and cohort (APC) on trends in suicide between 1983 and 2013 in Turkey. Methods: Mortality data were obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute. The data were grouped into seven age groups, four periods and ten birth cohorts. A nonlinear regression model was estimated for both sexes. The effects of age, period and cohort were parameterized using natural spline smoothing functions. Results: There were 61,795 deaths recorded as suicides during the investigated time period, where 64.5% occurred in males (n = 39,862) and 35.5% in females (n = 21,933). There is an upward trend in mortality by age until the end of the study period for males and females. Age effect is decreased until the forties, kept decreasing during the middle ages, and sharply increased after the sixties. The death rates for females declined from 1999 until the end of the study period. For males, the death rates increased until the end of the study period. Conclusion: If the current trends continue, it can be expected that these effects will continue to reduce female mortality and increase male mortality. Future studies on suicide, strongly focused on specific factors attributed to period effects, are needed in Turkey. © National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2019

Esterase variation in Turkish white-toothed shrews (Crocidura): Record of a trimeric esterase

This study focuses on esterase variation of the genus Crocidura in Turkey. A total of 248 white-toothed shrews were analyzed by means of cellulose acetate gel electrophoresis. Liver tissue and alfa naphthyl acetate were used to investigate esterase variation in Turkish white-toothed shrews. A different esterase banding pattern was found in one Crocidura individual. This phenotype had four anodally migrated bands on cellulose acetate gel. The Crocidura individual displaying the given phenotype was identified as Crocidura suaveolens. The different esterase banding pattern observed in this study is considered to be a result of the trimeric structure of esterase in the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens)

Anthropometric measurements of the orbita and gender prediction with three-dimensional computed tomography images

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the orbital anthropometric variations in the normal population using three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) images and to define the effects of age and gender on orbital anthropometry.Materials and methods: Three-dimensional orbita CT of 280 patients, obtained for various reasons, were retrospectively evaluated in 772-bed referral and tertiary-care hospital between April 2011 and June 2012. Using 3D images, orbital width, height, biorbital-interorbital diameter and orbital index were measured. Measurements were obtained comparing right and left sides and male to female. The relation of the results with age and gender was analysed.Results: Right orbit was found to be wider than left (p < 0.0001). Male patients had wider (p < 0.0001) and higher (p = 0.0001) orbits. Right orbital index was found to be smaller than the left one (p = 0.005). No differences were found between the genders in terms of right and left orbital indexes (p > 0.05). Biorbital (p < 0.0001) and interorbital (p = 0.01) widths were found to be higher in males. There was no relation between the age change and the parameters defined (p > 0.05).Conclusions: No relation was found between age and orbital measurements. It was concluded that orbital images obtained with 3D-CT may be used as a method for gender evaluation

Guidance in author instructions of hematology and oncology journals: A cross sectional and longitudinal study.

The debate about the value of biomedical publications led to recommendations for improving reporting quality. It is unclear to what extent these recommendations have been endorsed by journals. We analyzed whether specific recommendations were included in author instructions, which journal characteristics were associated with their endorsement, how endorsement of the domains changed and whether endorsement was associated with change of impact factor between 2010 and 2015. We considered two study samples consisting of "Hematology" and "Oncology" journals of the Journal Citation Report 2008 and 2014, respectively. We extracted information regarding endorsement of the (1) recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, of (2) reporting guidelines, (3) requirement for trial registration and (4) disclosure of conflicts of interest. Data extraction was done by reading the author instructions before conducting a text search with keywords. We calculated a global generalized linear mixed effects model for endorsement of each of the four domains followed by separate multivariable logistic regression models and a longitudinal analysis. We defined endorsement as the author instructions saying that they approve the use of the recommendations. In 2015, the ICMJE recommendations were mentioned in author instructions of 156 journals (67.5%). CONSORT was referred to by 77 journals (33.3%); MOOSE, PRISMA, STARD and STROBE were referred to by less than 15% of journals. There were 99 journals (42.9%) that recommended or required trial registration, 211 (91.3%) required authors to disclose conflicts of interest. Journal impact factor, journal start year and geographical region were positively associated with endorsement of any of the four domains. The overall endorsement of all domains increased between 2010 and 2015. The endorsement of any domain in 2010 seemed to be associated with an increased impact factor in 2014. Hematology and oncology journals endorse major recommendations to various degrees. Endorsement is increasing slowly over time and might be positively associated with the journals' impact factor

Ice nucleation activity of agricultural soil dust aerosols from Mongolia, Argentina, and Germany

Soil dust particles emitted from agricultural areas contain considerable mass fractions of organic material. Also, soil dust particles may act as carriers for potentially ice-active biological particles. In this work, we present ice nucleation experiments conducted in the Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere (AIDA) cloud chamber. We investigated the ice nucleation efficiency of four types of soil dust from different regions of the world. The results are expressed as ice nucleation active surface site (INAS) densities and presented for the immersion freezing and the deposition nucleation mode. For immersion freezing occurring at 254 K, samples from Argentina, China, and Germany show ice nucleation efficiencies which are by a factor of 10 higher than desert dusts. On average, the difference in ice nucleation efficiencies between agricultural and desert dusts becomes significantly smaller at temperatures below 247 K. In the deposition mode the soil dusts showed higher ice nucleation activity than Arizona Test Dust over a temperature range between 232 and 248 K and humidities RHice up to 125%. INAS densities varied between 109 and 1011m-2 for these thermodynamic conditions. For one soil dust sample (Argentinian Soil), the effect of treatments with heat was investigated. Heat treatments (383 K) did not affect the ice nucleation efficiency observed at 249 K. This finding presumably excludes proteinaceous ice-nucleating entities as the only source of the increased ice nucleation efficiency.Fil: Steinke, I.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Funk, R.. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research; AlemaniaFil: Busse, J.. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research; AlemaniaFil: Iturri, Laura Antonela. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Kirchen, S.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Leue, M.. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research; AlemaniaFil: Möhler, O.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Schwartz, T.. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Schnaiter, M.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Sierau, B.. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science; SuizaFil: Toprak, E.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Ullrich, R.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Ulrich, A.. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research; AlemaniaFil: Hoose, C.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Leisner, T.. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania. Heidelberg University; Alemani

Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea after treatment for advanced T-stage head and neck cancer

Purpose: Treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) may lead to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but conclusive results on the prevalence of OSA are lacking. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of OSA in a cohort of patients treated for advanced T-stage HNC. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two tertiary cancer care centers including patients at least 1 year after treatment with curative intent with surgery and/or (chemo)radiotherapy ((C)RT) for advanced T-staged (T3-4) cancer of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx. A polysomnography (PSG) was performed in all participants. OSA was defined as an apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) of 15 events/h or higher or an AHI of 5 events/h and higher with OSA related symptoms, such as sleeping problems, daytime dysfunction and/or cardiac/metabolic comorbidities collected through file review and questionnaires. Results: Of the 67 participants, 48 (72%, 95% CI 59–82%) were diagnosed with OSA. Possible risk factors are male gender, higher BMI, greater neck circumference, more nicotine pack years, cardiometabolic comorbidities, use of medication with sleepiness as side effect, present tonsils, lower T-stage (T3 vs. T4 stage), higher AJCC stage and a HPV-negative tumor. Conclusion: In this population of advanced T-stage HNC patients, the prevalence of OSA was 72%, which is considerably higher than in the general population (2–50%). Given the high prevalence, screening of this entire subgroup for OSA may be indicated. Future studies to identify high risk factors and develop an OSA screening protocol are needed

Analytic philosophy for biomedical research: the imperative of applying yesterday's timeless messages to today's impasses

The mantra that "the best way to predict the future is to invent it" (attributed to the computer scientist Alan Kay) exemplifies some of the expectations from the technical and innovative sides of biomedical research at present. However, for technical advancements to make real impacts both on patient health and genuine scientific understanding, quite a number of lingering challenges facing the entire spectrum from protein biology all the way to randomized controlled trials should start to be overcome. The proposal in this chapter is that philosophy is essential in this process. By reviewing select examples from the history of science and philosophy, disciplines which were indistinguishable until the mid-nineteenth century, I argue that progress toward the many impasses in biomedicine can be achieved by emphasizing theoretical work (in the true sense of the word 'theory') as a vital foundation for experimental biology. Furthermore, a philosophical biology program that could provide a framework for theoretical investigations is outlined

The protective effect of ischemic preconditioning on rat testis

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