Seasonal dynamics of soft bottom zoobenthic communities in polluted and unpolluted areas of Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea)

The polluted and unpolluted parts of Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea) were sampled seasonally in 1995 and 1996 in order to delineate effects of pollution on the spatial-temporal distributions of soft bottom benthic animals. A total of 298 species, represented by 6014 individuals, belonging to 10 major groups were determined, of which Polychaetes accounted for almost 51% of the total number of species (153 species) and 82% of the total number of individuals (4942 specimens). Crustaceans and molluscs were next dominant after the Polychaeta. By utilising the result of the cluster analysis, four main species assemblages were recognised in the area, each containing different dominant species. The heavily polluted inner bay, which was mainly dominated by the opportunistic polychaetes, Capitella capitata, Polydora spp. and Ophiodromus pallidus, reached azoic conditions in summer and autumn. As the results of the present study compare with those of previous studies held in the bay, it can be concluded that pollution in the bay tends to increase and adversely affects distributions of zoobenthic animals particularly in the inner part of Izmir Bay

Improving Hospital Discharge Flow Through Scalable Use of Discrete Time Simulation and Scenario Analysis

This is the author accepted manuscript.Inadequate patient flow from hospitals into community care is often blamed for bed blockages in the acute setting. This is bad for patient experience and outcomes and has an upstream knock-on effect for Accident and Emergency performance and, in turn, ambulance offload delays and response times. Despite the large numbers of acute bed-days lost to delayed discharges and the ambition to expand home-based community care, there has been a deficit of modelling studies investigating the dynamics of this pathway and providing the relevant insights to service planners. Working closely with healthcare managers, this paper reports on the development and deployment of versatile simulation tools for modelling both the home-based and bedded community step-down pathways, known as ‘Discharge to Assess’ or D2A in England’s NHS. Developed in open source ‘R’, these tools offer scalable solutions for exploring different scenarios relating to demand, capacity and patient length of stay.Health Data Research U

Melatonin decreases the nitric oxide response in thyrotoxic rats [Melatonin tirotoksikozLu slçanlarda nitrik oksit yanitini baskilar]

Purpose: Hyperthyroidism results In free radical production and this free radical production results in cell damage. Melatonin, which is an effective hormone in the management of the metabolism, prevents the harmful effects of free radicals like nitric oxide via its direct antioxidant effect. This study was conducted to investigate the role of nitric oxide In experimental hyperthyroidism and the effect of melatonin on nitric oxide. Materials and Methods: Thirty Wistar Albino female rats were randomized into three groups: Group A [negative control group] underwent saline injection; Group B [positive control group] underwent intraperitoneal L-Thyroxine 0.2 mg/kg/day and Group C (treatment group] underwent intraperitoneal L-Thyroxine 0.2 mg/kg/day+ melatonin 3 mg/kg/day. After 3 weeks, all rats were decapitated and blood, liver and heart tissue samples were taken. Biochemically, FT3, FT4, TSH and NO levels were investigated. Results: There was a significant change in FT3 levels between Groups A and B, and Groups B and C [p<0.001 and p=0.004, respectively). Concerning FT4 levels, there was a significant change between Groups A and Band Groups A and C [p<0.001 and p = 0.02 respectively]. Changes In median blood NO levels of Group A. B and C were significantly different [5,93 µM/L; 48,41 µM/L and 42, 69 µM/L, respectively) [p<0.001). Heart NO level of Group B is similar to Group A (1,74 µmol/g vs. 1,74 µmol/g]. There was also no statistically significant difference between Group B and C, although heart levels decreased in Group C (1,25 µmol/g), [p=0,05). Liver NO levels showed a significant difference between Group A and B, while there was no significant difference between Groups B and C [0,30 µmol/g: 0,46 µmol/g ve 0,41 µmol/g. respectively). Conclusion: Results of this study should be confirmed with future studies conducted with different doses and application time intervals of melatonin. We believe that these future studies will lead melatonin to a major role in the fight against pathologies like hyperthyroidism that affect many systems

Private and Dynamic Time-Series Data Aggregation with Trust Relaxation

Abstract. With the advent of networking applications collecting user data on a massive scale, the privacy of individual users appears to be a major concern. The main challenge is the design of a solution that allows the data analyzer to compute global statistics over the set of individual inputs that are protected by some confidentiality mechanism. Joye et al. [7] recently suggested a solution that allows a centralized party to compute the sum of encrypted inputs collected through a smart metering network. The main shortcomings of this solution are its reliance on a trusted dealer for key distribution and the need for frequent key updates. In this paper we introduce a secure protocol for aggregation of time series data that is based on the Joye et al. [7] scheme and in which the main shortcomings of the latter, namely, the requirement for key updates and for the trusted dealer are eliminated. Moreover our scheme supports a dynamic group management, whereby as opposed to Joye et al. [7] leave and join operations do not trigger a key update at the users

Comparison of rigid and semi-rigid instrumentation under acute load on vertebrae treated with posterior lumbar interbody fusion/transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion procedures: An experimental study

Rigid and semi-rigid fixations are investigated several times in order to compare their biomechanical stability. Interbody fusion techniques are also preferable for maintaining the sagittal balance by protecting the disk height. In this study, the biomechanical comparison of semi-rigid and rigid fixations with posterior lumbar interbody fusion or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion procedures is conducted under trauma. There were four different test groups to analyze the effect of acute load on treated ovine vertebrae. First and second groups were fixed with polyetheretherketone rods and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and posterior lumbar interbody fusion cages, respectively. Third and fourth groups were fixed with titanium rods and posterior lumbar interbody fusion and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion cages, respectively. The drop tests were conducted with 7 kg weight. There were six samples in each group so the drop test repeated 24 times in total. The test samples were photographed and X-rayed (laterally and anteroposteriorly) before and after drop test. Two fractures were observed on group 1. Conversely, there were no fractures observed for group 2. There were no anterior element fractures for both groups 1 and 2. However, one fracture seen on group 3 was anterior element fracture, whereas the other three were posterior element fractures. All three fractures were anterior element fractures for group 4. Treated vertebrae with polyetheretherketone rods and posterior lumbar interbody fusion cages showed the best durability to the drop tests among the groups. Semi-rigid fixation gave better results than rigid fixation according to failed segments. Posterior lumbar interbody fusion cages seem to be better option for semi-rigid fixation, however mentioned surgical disadvantages must be considered

PDCD1 polymorphisms are not associated with Takayasu's arteritis in Turkey

Objectives: Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic arterial inflammation of unknown etiology involving mainly the aorta and its major branches. Based on the associations of programmed death-1 (PD-1) protein encoding gene (PDCD1) with connective tissue diseases and vasculitides, PDCD1 polymorphisms are studied for susceptibility to TA in this study. Methods: The study group is made up of TA patients (n=229) fulfilling the 1990 ACR classification criteria and compared to 193 healthy controls (HC). PD-1.3, PD-1.5 and PD-1.6 single nucleotide polymorphisms of PDCD1 gene are genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and restriction analysis (PCR-RFLP). Results: The distribution of PD-1.5 polymorphism in TA patients and HC revealed a similar presence of TT genotype in patients and controls (13.3% vs. 11.4%). PD-1.3 and PD-1.6 were less polymorphic and did not differ between the groups. Rare AA genotype of PD-1.3 (1.4% vs. 1.0%) and AG genotype of PD-1.6 was again similarly (22.4% vs. 19.2%) present in TA and HC. Conclusion: PD-1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 polymorphisms of PDCD1 gene, which were shown to be associated with various autoimmune disorders and vasculitides, are not associated with a susceptibility to TA in Turkish population. © Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2012