Cortical thickness and sulcal depth: insights on development and psychopathology in paediatric epilepsy.

BackgroundThe relationship between cortical thickness (CThick) and sulcal depth (SDepth) changes across brain regions during development. Epilepsy youth have CThick and SDepth abnormalities and prevalent psychiatric disorders.AimsThis study compared the CThick-SDepth relationship in children with focal epilepsy with typically developing children (TDC) and the role played by seizure and psychopathology variables.MethodA surface-based, computational high-resolution three-dimesional (3D) magnetic resonance image analytic technique compared regional CThick-SDepth relationships in 42 participants with focal epilepsy and 46 TDC (6-16 years) imaged in a 1.5 Tesla scanner. Psychiatric interviews administered to each participant yielded psychiatric diagnoses. Parents provided seizure-related information.ResultsThe TDC group alone demonstrated a significant negative medial fronto-orbital CThick-SDepth correlation. Focal epilepsy participants with but not without psychiatric diagnoses showed significant positive pre-central and post-central CThick-SDepth associations not found in TDC. Although the history of prolonged seizures was significantly associated with the post-central CThick-SDepth correlation, it was unrelated to the presence/absence of psychiatric diagnoses.ConclusionsAbnormal CThick-SDepth pre-central and post-central associations might be a psychopathology biomarker in paediatric focal epilepsy.Declaration interestNone.Copyright and usage© 2015 The Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence

Multimodal MRI-based Imputation of the Aβ+ in Early Mild Cognitive Impairment.

ObjectiveTo identify brain atrophy from structural-MRI and cerebral blood flow(CBF) patterns from arterial spin labeling perfusion-MRI that are best predictors of the Aβ-burden, measured as composite 18F-AV45-PET uptake, in individuals with early mild cognitive impairment(MCI). Furthermore, to assess the relative importance of imaging modalities in classification of Aβ+/Aβ- early mild cognitive impairment.MethodsSixty-seven ADNI-GO/2 participants with early-MCI were included. Voxel-wise anatomical shape variation measures were computed by estimating the initial diffeomorphic mapping momenta from an unbiased control template. CBF measures normalized to average motor cortex CBF were mapped onto the template space. Using partial least squares regression, we identified the structural and CBF signatures of Aβ after accounting for normal cofounding effects of age, sex, and education.Results18F-AV45-positive early-MCIs could be identified with 83% classification accuracy, 87% positive predictive value, and 84% negative predictive value by multidisciplinary classifiers combining demographics data, ApoE ε4-genotype, and a multimodal MRI-based Aβ score.InterpretationMultimodal-MRI can be used to predict the amyloid status of early-MCI individuals. MRI is a very attractive candidate for the identification of inexpensive and non-invasive surrogate biomarkers of Aβ deposition. Our approach is expected to have value for the identification of individuals likely to be Aβ+ in circumstances where cost or logistical problems prevent Aβ detection using cerebrospinal fluid analysis or Aβ-PET. This can also be used in clinical settings and clinical trials, aiding subject recruitment and evaluation of treatment efficacy. Imputation of the Aβ-positivity status could also complement Aβ-PET by identifying individuals who would benefit the most from this assessment

Preliminary Evidence of Increased Hippocampal Myelin Content in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Recent findings suggest the formation of myelin in the central nervous system by oligodendrocytes is a continuous process that can be modified with experience. For example, a recent study showed that immobilization stress increased oligodendrogensis in the dentate gyrus of adult rat hippocampus. Because changes in myelination represents an adaptive form of brain plasticity that has a greater reach in the adult brain than other forms of plasticity (e.g., neurogenesis), the objective of this "proof of concept" study was to examine whether there are differences in myelination in the hippocampi of humans with and without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We used the ratio of T1-weighted/T2-weighted magnetic resonance image (MRI) intensity to estimate the degree of hippocampal myelination in 19 male veterans with PTSD and 19 matched trauma-exposed male veterans without PTSD (mean age: 43 ± 12 years). We found that veterans with PTSD had significantly more hippocampal myelin than trauma-exposed controls. There was also found a positive correlation between estimates of hippocampal myelination and PTSD and depressive symptom severity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine hippocampal myelination in humans with PTSD. These results provide preliminary evidence for stress-induced hippocampal myelin formation as a potential mechanism underlying the brain abnormalities associated with vulnerability to stress

The ıntegration between agriculture and ındustry in Turkey, problems and suggestions for solution

Ülkelerin ekonomik gelismeleri için, ekonominin temelini olusturan tarım ve sanayi sektörlerinin birbiriyle entegre olması ve birbirine paralel olarak gelisme göstermesi gerekmektedir. Tarım sanayi entegrasyonu sadece ülkelerin gelismesi açısından degil, aynı zamanda üreticiler ve tarıma dayalı sanayiler açısından da bir çok avantaj saglamaktadır. Bu nedenle, Türkiye'de de tarımın sanayi ile entegrasyonuna dönük uygulamalar önem arz etmektedir. Bu uygulamaların basında, sözlesmeli tarım ve kooperatiflesme gelmektedir. Ancak, Türkiye'de tarımın sanayiye entegrasyonunda tarımsanayi politikaları ile ilgili genel nitelikli sorunlarla birlikte, alt sektörler itibariyle ve entegrasyon sekilleri açısından da bazı sorunlar ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu çalısmada, tarım sanayi entegrasyonunun saglanmasında ortaya çıkan sorunlar ve bu sorunlara yönelik bazı çözüm önerileri degerlendirilmistir.Agriculture and industry have to integrate with each other and progress mutually, in order to help a country's economic development. In addition, the integration of agriculture to industry has a lot of advantages for the producers and manufacturers. For these reasons, the applications of integration of the agriculture and industry are also very important inTurkey. Contracted farming and cooperativization are the most common applications of the integration. However, there occur some problems both general ones about the agriculture and industry's integration in Turkey with respect to agriculture-industry policies, to sub sectors and to integration forms. Therefore in this paper, problems arised in enhancing agriculture and industry's integration and suggestions to solve them, are evaluated

The comparison of milking hygiene with bulk tank somatic cell count and total bacterial count in dairy herds in Tekirdag province

Sunulan çalışma ile Tekirdağ ilindeki aile tipi süt işletmelerinde meme sağlığı ve sağım hijyeni uygulamalarının incelenmesi, işletmelerden alınan tank sütü örneklerinde somatik hücre sayısı (SHS) ve toplam bakteri sayısı sonuçlarının değerlendirilmesi, elde edilen sonuçların karşılaştırılması ve eksikliklerin ortaya konulması amaçlandı. Tekirdağ ilinin farklı bölgelerinde bulunan 50 farklı işletme ve çiğ süt toplama merkezi seçilerek, 150 mL’lik steril kaplara süt örnekleri alındı. Süt örneklerinde SHS ve toplam canlı bakteri sayısı ölçüldü. Tank sütü örneklerinin alındığı gün aynı işletmelerin çalışanlarına ya da işletme sahiplerine anket uygulaması yapılarak işletmede uygulanan mastitis kontrol programlarına ait bilgiler değerlendirildi. Alınan tank sütü örneklerinde SHS ortalaması 560.204,08 (±12.399,769) hücre/mL, toplam canlı bakteri sayısı ortalama 1.796.718,36 (±156.573,31) kob/mL olarak tespit edildi. Yapılan anket ve laboratuvar analizleri sonrası işletmelerde sağım öncesi meme başlarının yıkanması, kurulanması, teat dipping, ön sağım ve ön sütün kontrolü, kuru dönem idaresi ve meme sağlığı kontrollerinin neredeyse hiç uygulanmadığı görüldü. Sonuç olarak, Tekirdağ ilinde bulunan aile tipi sütçü işletmelerde tank sütü SHS ve toplam canlı bakteri sayısının kabul edilebilir değerlerin üzerinde olduğu, bunun sebebinin işletmelerde uygulanmayan veya dikkat edilmeyen meme sağlığı kontrol programları olabileceği kanısına varıldı. Bu bölgedeki sütçü işletmelere meme sağlığını üst seviyelerde tutmak ve süt kalitesini en iyi düzeye getirebilmek amacıyla bu konuda yoğun eğitim seminerleri ve/veya bilgilendirme toplantılarının yapılmasının uygun olacağı kanaatine varıldı.The investigation of mammary health and milking hygiene procedures, bulk tank milk somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial counts, and detecting deficiencies and mistakes following the comparisons of results in Tekirdag province were aimed. The bulk tank milk samples were collected from 50 family farms. 150 mL of sterile milk samples were taken from milk tanks. Somatic cell counts and total viable bacterial counts were analyzed. On the milk sampling day, a questionnaire was filled out to farm personal or owner to evaluate mastitis control programs applied in the farms. In the bulk tank milk samples, mean SCC was found 560204.08 (±12399.769) cells/mL, and mean total viable bacterial count were found 1,796,718.36 (±156,573.31) CFU/mL. After survey and laboratory analyzes, it was detected that premilking cleaning and drying, teat-dipping, strip before milking, dry-cow management and mastitis control program procedures were using hardly ever. In conclusion, SCC and total bacterial count were higher than acceptable values due to the insufficient practice of mastitis control programs in the small and middle family farms in Tekirdag province. It was considered that some education seminars and/or contact meetings about this issue should be planned to increase mammary health status and milk quality

Cerebral Amyloid and Hypertension are Independently Associated with White Matter Lesions in Elderly.

In cognitively normal (CN) elderly individuals, white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are commonly viewed as a marker of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). SVD is due to exposure to systemic vascular injury processes associated with highly prevalent vascular risk factors (VRFs) such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes. However, cerebral amyloid accumulation is also prevalent in this population and is associated with WMH accrual. Therefore, we examined the independent associations of amyloid burden and VRFs with WMH burden in CN elderly individuals with low to moderate vascular risk. Participants (n = 150) in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) received fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI at study entry. Total WMH volume was calculated from FLAIR images co-registered with structural MRI. Amyloid burden was determined by cerebrospinal fluid Aβ1-42 levels. Clinical histories of VRFs, as well as current measurements of vascular status, were recorded during a baseline clinical evaluation. We tested ridge regression models for independent associations and interactions of elevated blood pressure (BP) and amyloid to total WMH volume. We found that greater amyloid burden and a clinical history of hypertension were independently associated with greater WMH volume. In addition, elevated BP modified the association between amyloid and WMH, such that those with either current or past evidence of elevated BP had greater WMH volumes at a given burden of amyloid. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that cerebral amyloid accumulation and VRFs are independently associated with clinically latent white matter damage represented by WMHs. The potential contribution of amyloid to WMHs should be further explored, even among elderly individuals without cognitive impairment and with limited VRF exposure

Ekspresja caveoliny-1 w tkance okołoguzowej jest związana ze stopniem zróżnicowania histopatologicznego w surowiczych guzach jajnika

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) can ambiguously behave as tumor suppressor or tumor promoter in different neoplasms, depending on cancer type. Some findings have also revealed that cell proliferation, migration and invasion were attenuated by the knockdown of Caveolin-1 expressions. However, the functional and prognostic significance of Caveolin-1 in most tumors remains to be fully elucidated. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate a possible association between tissue Caveolin-1 expression and the clinicopathologic features of ovarian serous tumors. Material and methods: Caveolin-1 expression was studied in a total of 82 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens of ovarian serous tumors and its association with different clinicopathologic parameters was evaluated. Results: The study included 36 (43.9%) benign, 12 (14.6%) borderline and 34 (41.5%) malignant serous tumors. Mean patient age was 43.9±14.4 years (17-72 years). Statistical analysis revealed that if the tumor becomes more aggressive and invasive, it losses the stromal Caveolin-1 expression (p=0.001). Also, parallel changes between stromal and perivascular Caveolin-1 expressions were observed. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated a link between Caveolin-1 expression and the aggressiveness of ovarian cancer. Therefore, it seems safe to suggest that Cav-1 may act as a differential diagnostic biomarker in ovarian serous tumors.Wstęp: Wcześniejsze badania wykazały, że Caveolina-1 (Cav-1) może zachowywać się niejednoznacznie w zależności od rodzaju nowotworu, jako jego supresor lub promotor. Niektóre badania pokazały, że proliferacja komórek, migracja i inwazja były osłabiane przez obniżoną ekspresję Caveoliny-1. Jakkolwiek czynnościowe i prognostyczne znaczenie Caveoliny-1 w wielu guzach pozostaje w pełni do wyjaśnienia. Cel pracy: Celem badania była ocena możliwych związków pomiędzy ekspresją Caveoliny-1 i cechami klinicznopatologicznymi surowiczych guzów jajnika. Materiał i metoda: Ekspresję Caveoliny-1 oceniono w 82 tkankach surowiczych guzów jajnika utrwalonych w formalinie i zatopionych w parafinie i skorelowano z różnymi cechami kliniczno-patologicznymi. Wyniki: Do badania włączono 36 (43,9%) niezłośliwych, 12 (14,6%) granicznych i 34 (41,5%) złośliwych guzów surowiczych. Średnia wieku wynosiła 43,9±14,4 lat (17-72 lata). Analiza statystyczna wykazała, że im bardziej agresywny i inwazyjny był guz, tym bardziej tracił ekspresje Caveoliny-1 (p=0,001). Równolegle obserwowano zmiany ekspresji Caveoliny-1 w tkance łącznej i okołonaczyniowej. Wnioski: Nasze badania pokazują związek pomiędzy ekspresją Caveoliny-1 i złośliwością raka jajnika. Wydaje się, że Caveolina-1 może pełnić rolę biomarkera w diagnostyce różnicowej surowiczych guzów jajnika

Revealing Individual Neuroanatomical Heterogeneity in Alzheimer Disease Using Neuroanatomical Normative Modeling

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is highly heterogeneous, with marked individual differences in clinical presentation and neurobiology. To explore this, we employed neuroanatomical normative modelling to index regional patterns of variability in cortical thickness. We aimed to characterise individual differences and outliers in cortical thickness in patients with AD, people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls. Furthermore, we assessed the relationships between cortical thickness heterogeneity and cognitive function, amyloid-beta, phosphor-tau, ApoE genotype. Finally, we examined whether cortical thickness heterogeneity was predictive of conversion from MCI to AD. METHODS: Cortical thickness measurements across 148 brain regions were obtained from T1-weighted MRI scans from 62 sites of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. AD was determined by clinical and neuropsychological examination with no comorbidities present. MCI participants had reported memory complaints, and controls were cognitively normal. A neuroanatomical normative model indexed cortical thickness distributions using a separate healthy reference dataset (n= 33,072), employing hierarchical Bayesian regression to predict cortical thickness per region using age and sex, whilst adjusting for site noise. Z-scores per region were calculated, resulting in a z-score 'brain map' per participant. Regions with z-scores <-1.96 were classified as outliers. RESULTS: Patients with AD (n=206) had a median of 12 outlier regions (out of a possible 148), with the highest proportion of outliers (47%) in the parahippocampal gyrus. For 62 regions, over 90% of these patients had cortical thicknesses within the normal range. Patients with AD had more outlier regions than people with MCI (n=662) or controls (n=159) [F(2, 1022) = 95.39), P = 2.0×10-16]. They were also more dissimilar to each other than people with MCI or controls [F(2, 1024) = 209.42, P = 2.2×10-16]. A greater number of outlier regions was associated with worse cognitive function, CSF protein concentrations and an increased risk of converting from MCI to AD within three years (HR = 1.028, 95% CI[1.016,1.039], P =1.8×10-16). DISCUSSION: Individualised normative maps of cortical thickness highlight the heterogeneous impact of AD on the brain. Regional outlier estimates have the potential to be a marker of disease and could be used to track an individual's disease progression or treatment response in clinical trials

Evaluation of The Factors Affecting the Benefiting Level from The Young Farmers Project Support in TR 71 Region of Turkey

In Turkey, various agricultural support policies were applied some time to increase the production, sometimes to reduce the over-production and to compensate the production. However, these policies have not been fully attained since they have been implemented without first solving the major structural problems of agriculture. Parallel to developments in the world's countries, entrepreneurship needs to be embraced by the young population and young entrepreneurs must be supported. Turkey attaches great importance to the supports in recent years regarding the determination of entrepreneurial individuals, and the promotion of entrepreneurship. For this purpose, in order to support young people in the agriculture sector, "Young Farmer Projects Support (YFPS)" was added to the "National Agricultural Project" in 2016. This support policy aims to encourage young farmers to stay in agriculture by supporting young farmers and to prevent migration from the village to the city. In this context, a survey has been carried out in the TR 71 Region of Turkey (Aksaray, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Nevsehir and Nigde provinces), and a total of 248 young farmers (139 supported, and 109 non-supported) were interviewed. The logit model was used in the analysis of the data. According to Logit model results, the factors such as gender, marital status, farming situation of young farmer, farming situation of young farmer’s family, residence population, social security status, agricultural education certificate status and ownership of property which are influencing on individuals benefiting from young farmer support were found statistically significant