Giant pelvic schwannoma: a case report

Schwannomas are benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Pelvic schwannomas which are usually seen in young adults are quite rare tumors and usually present as large masses causing vague symptoms. When asymptomatic huge pelvic masses are detected, it may not always be possible to differentiate benign and malignant lesions without histopathological examination. These tumors do not have specific clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings. Therefore preoperative diagnosis is usually not adequate and complete resection of the mass might be essential. Herein this report, we aimed to describe the clinical, radiological, and pathological findings of a giant pelvic schwannoma detected in a 53-year-old man

Relation of multicenter automatic defibrillator implantation trial implantable cardioverter-defibrillator score with long-term cardiovascular events in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that multicenter automatic defibrillator implantation trial (MADIT) - implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) scores predict replacement requirement and appropriate shock in a mixed population including both primary and secondary prevention and long-term adverse cardiovascular events. METHODS: The study has a retrospective design. Patients who were implanted with ICD in the cardiology clinic of Atatürk University Faculty of Medicine between 2000 and 2013 were included in the study. For this purpose, 1394 patients who were implanted with a device in our clinic were reviewed. Then, those who were implanted with permanent pacemaker (n=1005), cardiac resynchronization treatment (CRT) (n=45) and CRT-ICD (n=198) were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 146 patients (98 males, 67.1%) with a mean age of 61.1 (±14.8) years were recruited. The median follow-up time was 21.5 months (mean 30.6±25.9 months; minimum 4 months, and maximum 120 months). The median MADIT-ICD scores in the patients were 2. MADIT-ICD scores were categorized as low in 15.1%, intermediate in 57.5%, and high score in 27.4% of patients. Accordingly, MADIT-ICD scores (1.29 [1.00–1.68], p=0.050), hemoglobin (0.86 [0.75–0.99], p=0.047), and left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) (0.97 [0.94–0.99], p=0.023) were determined as independent predictors of major adverse cardiovascular events in the long-term follow-up of ICD-implanted population. CONCLUSION: In this study, we showed that there was an independent association of long-term adverse cardiovascular events with MADIT-ICD score, hemoglobin, and EF in patients implanted with ICD

Forecasting of Turkey inflation with hybrid of feed forward and recurrent artifical neural networks

Enflasyon öngörülerinin elde edilmesi önemli bir ekonomik problemdir. Öngörülerin doğru bir şekilde elde edilmesi daha doğru kararlara neden olacaktır. Enflasyon öngörüsü için literatürde çeşitli zaman serileri teknikleri kullanılmıştır. Son yıllarda zaman serisi öngörü probleminde esnek modelleme yeteneği nedeniyle, Yapay Sinir Ağları (YSA) tercih edilmektedir. Yapay sinir ağları doğrusal veya eğrisel belirli bir model kalıbı, durağanlık ve normal dağılım gibi ön koşullara ihtiyaç duymadığından herhangi bir zaman serisine kolaylıkla uygulanabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada Tüketici Fiyat Endeksi (TUFE) için ileri ve geri beslemeli yapay sinir ağları yaklaşımı kullanılarak öngörüler elde edilmiştir. Çözümlemede kullanılan YSA modellerinin öngörülerinin girdi olarak kullanıldığı, YSA’ya dayalı yeni bir melez yaklaşım önerilmiştir.Obtaining the inflation prediction is an important problem. Having this prediction accurately will lead to more accurate decisions. Various time series techniques have been used in the literature for inflation prediction. Recently, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is being preferred in the time series prediction problem due to its flexible modeling capacity. Artificial neural network can be applied easily to any time series since it does not require prior conditions such as a linear or curved specific model pattern, stationary and normal distribution. In this study, the predictions have been obtained using the feed forward and recurrent artificial neural network for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). A new combined forecast has been proposed based on ANN in which the ANN model predictions employed in analysis were used as data

Pregnancy and Toxoplasmosis: should screening be a routine practice?

Because infectious agents can reach the fetus through the placenta, pregnancy is regarded as a particular period for contagious diseases. Identification of infections during pregnancy and appropriate treatment can prevent fetal disorders. For this purpose, to avoid their harmful effects on fetus and newborn, various infectious diseases are screened during pregnancy. Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnancy is transmitted through the transplacental pathway leading to severe neurological sequelae such as fetal abortion, stillbirth, intrauterine growth retardation, cranial calcifications, blindness, deafness, and mental retardation. This can lead to serious social and economic problems for the family and the infant, as well as society. To prevent these sequelae, infections during pregnancy need to be identified and appropriately treated. There are different opinions and practices in the world regarding the screening of T. gondii during pregnancy follow-up. This review aimed to assess the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection during gestation in Turkey and the world, its effects on the fetus, ways of protection, and suggestions about screening in the world and in Turkey in light of the literature, so that this becomes a guide for clinical practice for physicians

Otantik Liderlik ile Bilgi Yönetimi Arasındaki İlişkide Örgüt Kültürünün Düzenleyici Rolü Moderating Role of Organizational Culture on the Relationship between Authentic Leadership and Knowledge Management

Bu çalışmanın amacı otantik liderlik ile bilgi yönetimi arasındaki ilişkide örgüt kültürünün düzenleyici bir rolü olup olmadığını araştırmaktır. Araştırmanın örneklemini Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi’nde çalışan öğretim üyeleri oluşturmaktadır. 8 akademik birimde çalışan 103 öğretim üyesine anket uygulanmış ve analiz yapılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler üzerinde frekans analizi, doğrulayıcı faktör analizi, güvenilirlik analizi, korelasyon analizi ve düzenleyici etkiyi ölçmek amacıyla hiyerarşik regresyon analizleri uygulanmıştır. Bulgulara göre otantik liderlik ile bilgi yönetimi arasında pozitif ve anlamlı bir ilişki vardır. Buna karşılık destekleyici örgüt kültürünün bilgi yönetimi ile otantik liderlik arasındaki ilişkide düzenleyici bir etkiye sahip olmadığı bulunmuştur. Bu sonuçların yanında teori ve uygulama açısından bazı kısıtlar ve gelecekteki araştırmaları yönlendirme bakımından öneriler sunulmuştur. The aim of this study is to investigate whether organizational culture plays a moderating role in the relationship between authentic leadership and knowledge management. The sample of the study consists of the faculty members working at Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University. A questionnaire was applied to 103 faculty members working in 8 academic units and analyzed. Hierarchical regression analyzes were performed to measure frequency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and moderating effect. According to the findings, there is a positive and significant relationship between authentic leadership and knowledge management. On the other hand, it has been found that the supportive organization culture has no moderating effect on the relationship between knowledge management and authentic leadership. In addition to these results, some limitations in terms of theory and practice and suggestions for future research are presented

Glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 gene polymorphisms in patients with chronic plaque-type psoriasis: A case-control study

Objective: To determine the role of glutathione S-transferase (GST) isoenzyme polymorphisms as susceptibility factors in patients with psoriasis in a Turkish cohort. Subjects and Methods: In this case-control study, 105 patients with plaque-type psoriasis and 102 healthy controls were recruited from the dermatology outpatient clinics of two university hospitals. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood using a DZ DNA isolation kit. Multiplex PCR was used to determine GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms in the isolated DNAs. Results: Of the 150 patients with psoriasis, 83 (79%) were identified with the GSTT1 genotype and 22 (21%) with the null genotype. Of the 102 patients in the control group, 69 (67.6%) subjects were identified with the GSTT1 genotype and 33 (32.4%) with the null genotype. There was no significant difference between the patient and control groups (p = 0.063). Regarding the GSTM1 polymorphism, 54 (51.4%) patients were identified with this genotype and 51 (48.6%) with the null genotype; in the control group, 50 (49%) were identified with this genotype and 52 (51%) with the null genotype. Again there was no statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.957). Conclusion: In this Turkish cohort of patients with psoriasis, neither GSTT1 nor GSTM1 polymorphisms were associated with disease susceptibility. Larger studies with a wider range of GST isoenzyme are needed

Design and implementation of an isolated-word Turkish speech recognition system with data augmentation

Bu çalışmada toplamda doksan iki adet sesli komuttan oluşan bir yalıtık sözcüklü Türkçe konuşma tanıma sistemi tasarlanmış ve gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sistem, destek vektör makinesi (SVM) tabanlı olup, eğitimde kullanılan veri kümesi kaydedilen konuşmaların yapay olarak çeşitlendirilip artırılmasıyla elde edilmiştir. Farklı yapay veri oranlarının tanıma başarımı üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Akustik öznitelik olarak, mel frekansı kepstral katsayıları (MFCC) kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca, ses aktivitesi tespitinin ve MFCC katsayılarının tanıma başarımına etkileri de irdelenmiştir. Sonuçta doksan iki yalıtık komut için ortalama %92.6’lık doğrulukla çalışan bir konuşma tanıma sistemi geliştirilmiştir.In this study, an isolated-word Turkish speech recognition system comprising of ninety-two voiced commands has been designed and implemented. The system is support vector machine (SVM) based and the data set used in training has been obtained by augmenting the original recordings artificially. The effect of different augmented data amounts on recognition performance has been examined. As acoustic features, mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) were used. Moreover, the effects of voice activity detection and MFCCs on recognition performance have also been investigated. In the end, 92.6% recognition accuracy on average has been obtained for ninety-two isolated commands

Born in the Ear Canal: Tick Larva on the Eardrum

We report the case of a 54-year-old woman who presented to the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) outpatient clinic with hearing loss, tinnitus, and fullness in her right ear. In the first clinical examination, a pouch hanging in the anterior upper quadrant was detected in the tympanic membrane of the right ear. A tick larva was found in the cyctic lesion located on the tympanic membrane. Our case was unique due to this unexpected diagnosis

Prevalence of Subclinical Hypothyroidism among Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Introduction. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is defined as a serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level above the upper limit of normal despite normal levels of serum free thyroxine. There is growing evidence that SCH is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We tried to investigate prevalence of SCH in acute myocardial infarction patients. Methods and Results. We evaluate free T3, free T4, and TSH levels of 604 patients (age 58.4) retrospectively, who have been admitted to the coronary intensive care unit between years 2004–2009 with the diagnosis of ST elevation (STEMI) or non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Mild subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH 4.5 to 9.9 mU/l) was present in 54 (8.94%) participants and severe subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH 10.0 to 19.9 mU/l) in 11 (1.82%). So 65 patients (10.76%) had TSH levels between 4.5 and 20. Conclusions. In conclusion, 65 patients (10.76%) had TSH levels between 4.5 and 20 in our study, and it is a considerable amount. Large-scale studies are needed to clarify the effects of SCH on myocardial infarction both on etiologic and prognostic grounds

Türkiye’de Enflasyonun İleri ve Geri Beslemeli Yapay Sinir Ağlarının Melez Yaklaşımı ile Öngörüsü

Obtaining the inflation prediction is an important problem. Having this prediction accurately will lead to more accurate decisions. Various time series techniques have been used in the literature for inflation prediction. Recently, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is being preferred in the time series prediction problem due to its flexible modeling capacity. Artificial neural network can be applied easily to any time series since it does not require prior conditions such as a linear or curved specific model pattern, stationary and normal distribution. In this study, the predictions have been obtained using the feed forward and recurrent artificial neural network for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). A new combined forecast has been proposed based on ANN in which the ANN model predictions employed in analysis were used as data.Enflasyon öngörülerinin elde edilmesi önemli bir ekonomik problemdir. Öngörülerin doğru bir şekilde elde edilmesi daha doğru kararlara neden olacaktır. Enflasyon öngörüsü için literatürde çeşitli zaman serileri teknikleri kullanılmıştır. Son yıllarda zaman serisi öngörü probleminde esnek modelleme yeteneği nedeniyle, Yapay Sinir Ağları (YSA) tercih edilmektedir. Yapay sinir ağları doğrusal veya eğrisel belirli bir model kalıbı, durağanlık ve normal dağılım gibi ön koşullara ihtiyaç duymadığından herhangi bir zaman serisine kolaylıkla uygulanabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada Tüketici Fiyat Endeksi (TUFE) için ileri ve geri beslemeli yapay sinir ağları yaklaşımı kullanılarak öngörüler elde edilmiştir. Çözümlemede kullanılan YSA modellerinin öngörülerinin girdi olarak kullanıldığı, YSA’ya dayalı yeni bir melez yaklaşım önerilmiştir