Seismotectonic setting at the North Anatolian Fault Zone after the 1999 Mw=7.4 Izmit earthquake based on high-resolution aftershock locations

International audienceThe most recent devastating earthquakes that occurred along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in northwestern Turkey were the 1999 Izmit (Mw=7.4) and Düzce (Mw=7.1) events. In this study we present a catalog of Izmit aftershock hypocenters that was deduced from a network covering the entire 140 km long rupture of the mainshock. 7348 events with a location accuracy better than 5 km are analysed. Aftershocks were observed along the entire ruptured segment along a 20 km wide band of activity. Events are clustered in distinct regions and dominantly occur at 5 to 15 km depth. The eastern termination of the Izmit rupture is characterized by a sharp and steeply dipping boundary exactly where the Düzce mainshock initiated 87 days after the Izmit event. Relocation of the events using double-difference technology results in 4696 high-resolution hypocenters that allow resolving the internal structure of the seismically active areas with a resolution of 300 m (horizontal) and 400m (vertical). Below the Akyazi Plain, representing a small pull-apart structure at a triple junction of the NAFZ, we identify planes of activity that can be correlated with nodal planes of EW extensional normal faulting aftershocks. Along the easternmost Karadere-Düzce segment we identify the down-dip extension of the Karadere fault that hosted about 1 m of right-lateral coseismic slip. At the easternmost rupture we correlate a cloud-type distribution of seismic activity with the largest aftershocks in this area, a subevent of the Izmit mainshock and the Düzce mainshock that all have an almost identical focal mechanism. This part of the NAFZ is interpreted as a classical example of a seismic barrier along the fault

Eltrombopag for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia: The aegean region of Turkey experience

Objective: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an immune-mediated disease characterized by transient or persistent decrease of the platelet count to less than 100x109/L. Although it is included in a benign disease group, bleeding complications may be mortal. With a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, thrombopoietin receptor agonists, which came into use in recent years, seem to be an effective option in the treatment of resistant cases. This study aimed to retrospectively assess the efficacy, long-term safety, and tolerability of eltrombopag in Turkish patients with chronic ITP in the Aegean region of Turkey. Materials and Methods: Retrospective data of 40 patients with refractory ITP who were treated with eltrombopag in the Aegean region were examined and evaluated. Results: The total rate of response was 87%, and the median duration of response defined as the number of the platelets being over 50x109/L was 19.5 (interquartile range: 5-60) days. In one patient, venous sinus thrombosis was observed with no other additional risk factors due to or related to thrombosis. Another patient with complete response and irregular follow-up for 12 months was lost due to sudden death as the result of probable acute myocardial infarction. Conclusion: Although the responses to eltrombopag were satisfactory, patients need to be monitored closely for overshooting platelet counts as well as thromboembolic events. © 2015 Turkish Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

A novel rapid-onset high-penetrance plasmacytoma mouse model driven by deregulation of cMYC cooperating with KRAS12V in BALB/c mice

Our goal is to develop a rapid and scalable system for functionally evaluating deregulated genes in multiple myeloma (MM). Here, we forcibly expressed human cMYC and KRAS12V in mouse T2 B cells (IgM+B220+CD38+IgD+) using retroviral transduction and transplanted these cells into lethally irradiated recipient mice. Recipients developed plasmacytomas with short onset (70 days) and high penetrance, whereas neither cMYC nor KRAS12V alone induced disease in recipient mice. Tumor cell morphology and cell surface biomarkers (CD138+B220−IgM−GFP+) indicate a plasma cell neoplasm. Gene set enrichment analysis further confirms that the tumor cells have a plasma cell gene expression signature. Plasmacytoma cells infiltrated multiple loci in the bone marrow, spleen and liver; secreted immunoglobulins; and caused glomerular damage. Our findings therefore demonstrate that deregulated expression of cMYC with KRAS12V in T2 B cells rapidly generates a plasma cell disease in mice, suggesting utility of this model both to elucidate molecular pathogenesis and to validate novel targeted therapies

Deep generative modeling for single-cell transcriptomics.

Single-cell transcriptome measurements can reveal unexplored biological diversity, but they suffer from technical noise and bias that must be modeled to account for the resulting uncertainty in downstream analyses. Here we introduce single-cell variational inference (scVI), a ready-to-use scalable framework for the probabilistic representation and analysis of gene expression in single cells ( https://github.com/YosefLab/scVI ). scVI uses stochastic optimization and deep neural networks to aggregate information across similar cells and genes and to approximate the distributions that underlie observed expression values, while accounting for batch effects and limited sensitivity. We used scVI for a range of fundamental analysis tasks including batch correction, visualization, clustering, and differential expression, and achieved high accuracy for each task

Seismotectonic setting at the North Anatolian Fault Zone after the 1999 Mw=7.4 Izmit earthquake based on high-resolution aftershock locations

The most recent devastating earthquakes that occurred along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in northwestern Turkey were the 1999 Izmit (Mw=7.4) and Düzce (Mw=7.1) events. In this study we present a catalog of Izmit aftershock hypocenters that was deduced from a network covering the entire 140 km long rupture of the mainshock. 7348 events with a location accuracy better than 5 km are analysed. Aftershocks were observed along the entire ruptured segment along a 20 km wide band of activity. Events are clustered in distinct regions and dominantly occur at 5 to 15 km depth. The eastern termination of the Izmit rupture is characterized by a sharp and steeply dipping boundary exactly where the Düzce mainshock initiated 87 days after the Izmit event. Relocation of the events using double-difference technology results in 4696 high-resolution hypocenters that allow resolving the internal structure of the seismically active areas with a resolution of 300 m (horizontal) and 400m (vertical). Below the Akyazi Plain, representing a small pull-apart structure at a triple junction of the NAFZ, we identify planes of activity that can be correlated with nodal planes of EW extensional normal faulting aftershocks. Along the easternmost Karadere-Düzce segment we identify the down-dip extension of the Karadere fault that hosted about 1 m of right-lateral coseismic slip. At the easternmost rupture we correlate a cloud-type distribution of seismic activity with the largest aftershocks in this area, a subevent of the Izmit mainshock and the Düzce mainshock that all have an almost identical focal mechanism. This part of the NAFZ is interpreted as a classical example of a seismic barrier along the fault

Level of everyday life satisfaction of elderly from different socioeconomical backgrounds: Case of Ankara

Background and Aim: Getting older, level of life satisfaction of elderly is changed. The aim of the study is to determine the level of evereyday life satisfaction of elderly in Ankara. Materials and Method: The sample includes 1268 people who are older than 60 and from different socioeconomical levels. It is considered that their views about living place, neighbour and friend relationships, health and physical conditions, economic status, marriage, evaluation about occupation and family life in elder's life satisfaction. Level of satisfaction is measured using five point scale. Variance analysis and T test are used to analyze the data. Results: Its found that higher the economical status and educational level, higher the level of satisfaction (p<0.01). Those who are married are found to have higher levels of satisfaction. Men have higher levels of satisfaction than women. It is also found that younger ones have higher satisfaction levels than older ones (P<0.01). Conclusion: It is thought that the findings of the study can be useful for plans and politics toward elderly