Green Building Assessment Model for Historic Buildings of Turkey

Grave structures are architectural works reflecting the cultural accumulation, continuity and political power of societies. In the context of sustainability, while "green building" certification systems are developing in building productions in the world, new guidelines are also being created. Of course, new guidelines are also being developed on the certification as green buildings within the scope of the protection and restoration of historical buildings that should be specially considered. In this study, it is aimed to create a model that will allow the historical buildings in Turkey to be evaluated in the context of “the green building” concept. With this model, it is considered that historical building conservation practices will contribute positively to the works of restorers in making those heritage sites more environmentally friendly and sustainable. For the model designed to evaluate historical buildings within the scope of green buildings, historical buildings were handled under 3 groups: a) 1st Group Historical Buildings, b) 2nd Group Historical Buildings and c) Reconstructed Historical Buildings. As creating the designed model, GBC-Italy system criteria were taken as the basis. The criteria were carried out by conducting a questionnaire with experts in this field. Importance of the relevant evaluation criteria in the scoring system were determined by using the AHP method. As a result of the analyzes and calculations, the accuracy of the scoring was confirmed. As historical buildings are evaluated according to the conditions of their periods, it is obvious that they are sustainable buildings. Naturally, nowadays to be able to preserve historical buildings for the future generations in a proper way is usually ensured by giving them a new function. The requirements of the new functions given to create the necessary equipment to provide today's comfort conditions in historical buildings naturally change the sustainable characteristics of the historical heritage. This evaluation system, designed to preserve the green building characteristics of historical buildings and to ensure their sustainability with their new functions, will be an important guide

The bite force and craniofacial morphology in patients with acromegaly: a pilot study

Objectives: Acromegaly is a metabolic disorder caused by increased growth hormone secretion. As a consequence of acromegaly some typical craniofacial morphology changes appear. This pilot study was conducted to compare the bite force and the characteristic size and shape of the craniofacial components of acromegalic patients with the healthy Turkish individuals. In additon, the correlations between bite force and craniofacial morphology of patients with acromegaly and control individuals were evaluated. Study Design: The maximum bite force of the participants was recorded with strain-gage transducer. Lateral xray scans were made under standard conditions, in centric occlusion. On cephalograms, the linear and angular measurements was performed. Results: Patients with acromegaly showed increased anterior and posterior total face height, ramus length, width of frontal sinuse, gonial angle and a negative difference between maxillary and mandibular protrusions. In addition, females with acromegaly showed larger lower anterior face height and sella turcica, decreased facial angle, increased mandibular plane angle. The cephalometric measurements, except one did not showed correlation with the bite force in acromegalic patients. In control group, significant correlations were observed between anterior total face height and anterior lower face height, mandibular plane angle and gonial angle. Conclusions: The greater changes were observed in the mandible. The maximum bite force of patients with acromegaly showed no difference from healthy individuals. The non-significant difference of bite force between healthy participants and acromegalic patients provide important information for dental treatment and prosthetic rehabilitation of acromegalic patients

Detecting the interferences in adrenocorticotropic hormone measurement - three cases reinforcing the efficiency of the complementary clinical and laboratory audit

Highlights Comparing test results to clinical data enhances the identification of interferences Misinterpretation of ACTH as a result of interference may lead to unnecessary testing Despite the interference, ACTH concentration can be in the reference interval Accurate measurement of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is crucial in the evaluation of pituitary and adrenal disorders. Although great progress has been achieved in ACTH measurement with immunometric assays, interference may occur and adversely affect the clinical management. The report contributes to compiling the evidence on the clinical challenges with the management of the interferences in the ACTH measurement by presenting three cases: two with clinically overt hypercortisolism and discrepant ACTH concentrations within the reference interval; the third case describes the falsely elevated ACTH in a patient with secondary adrenal insufficiency. In all patients, the results obtained with the two immunometric platforms, chemiluminescence (CLIA) immunoassay (Siemens, Immulite) and electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA) immunoassay (Roche, Cobas), were discordant. Serial dilution of plasma samples revealed nonlinearity. After polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation recoveries were less than 22%, 26%, and 3%, respectively, supporting interference. Moreover, a decrease in ACTH concentration after incubation in a heterophile antibody-blocking tube was observed in the second case. In the first case, misinterpretation of ACTH led to inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS), whereas timely detection of assay interference prevented further investigations in other cases. Increasing awareness regarding ACTH interference and comprehensive approach in evaluation could allow timely detection, helping to prevent unnecessary testing and perplexing clinical outcomes

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid diseases

Celiac disease (CD) is a disease that characterized with small intestinal injury by the ingestion of gluten, the major protein of wheat and similar grains in genetically predisposed persons. The clinical presentation may be seen in a wide spectrum from severe malabsorption syndromes to silent asymptomatic cases. Diagnosis of celiac disease requires the finding of a typical mucosal lesion from small bowel biopsy such as villous atrophy and crypt hypertrophy and recovery of the histological findings and clinical improvement after introduction of gluten free diet. The occurrence of antibodies supports the diagnosis of celiac disease. Prevalence of other autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune thyroid diseases, has been reported to be higher than controls. The coexistence of autoimmune thyroid disease and celiac disease may related to genetic predisposition. Thus evaluation of CD patients for thyroid disorders may improve CD patients quality of life and may be important in their clinical management. Patients diagnosed with autoimmune diseases may develop other autoimmune disorders related with different organ systems in consequent years. Clinicians should be aware of this issue and evaluate patients for concomitant endocrinopathies. [Med-Science 2016; 5(4.000): 1055-8