Can Tc-99m labeled erythrocyte scintigraphy be an alternative non-invasive method to endometriosis diagnosis?

Background: Endometriosis is defined as the implantation of endometrial gland and stroma ectopically outside the uterus. Clinically, it is a hormone dependent benign disease accompanied by pelvic pain and infertility. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the activated implants with 99m-Tc labeled erythrocyte scintigraphy (99mTc-RBCs) in patients with recurrent endometriosis and compare the results with pelvic MRI results.Methods: Patients who were diagnosed histopathologically as endometriosis either with operation and / or therapeutic laparascopy or laparotomy and, were included to present study. Thirty patients, who were diagnosed as recurrence by clinical, and laboratory terms and 10 healthy volunteer (control group) patients were included in the study. Between the second and fifth days of menstruation when the endometriotic lesions were highly activated, radionuclide imaging was performed by 99mTc-RBCs and compared with pelvic MRI findings.Results: In 27 patients out of 30 patients (90%) pathological accumulation of radioactivity foci with 99mTc-RBCs were present. The focal pathological accumulation was significant in 26 patients and moderate in 1 patient. In 22 patients (81.5%) the increased radioactivity accumulation in radionuclide images was concordant with MRI images. Regarding the MRI as reference, the sensitivity of 99mTc-RBCs was determined as 96%, specificity 29%, positive predicitive value 81% and negative predictive value was 66%.Conclusions: Imaging of endometriosis regions with 99m-Tc-RBCs can be an alternative diagnostic procedure for the patients with recurrent endometriosis

Molecular engineering of organic semiconductors enables noble metal-comparable SERS enhancement and sensitivity

Nanostructured molecular semiconductor films are promising Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) platforms for both fundamental and technological research. Here, we report that a nanostructured film of the small molecule DFP-4T, consisting of a fully π-conjugated diperfluorophenyl-substituted quaterthiophene structure, demonstrates a very large Raman enhancement factor (>105) and a low limit of detection (10-9 M) for the methylene blue probe molecule. This data is comparable to those reported for the best inorganic semiconductor- and even intrinsic plasmonic metal-based SERS platforms. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and computational analysis suggest that both charge-transfer energy and effective molecular interactions, leading to a small but non-zero oscillator strength in the charge-transfer state between the organic semiconductor film and the analyte molecule, are required to achieve large SERS enhancement factors and high molecular sensitivities in these systems. Our results provide not only a considerable experimental advancement in organic SERS figure-of-merits but also a guidance for the molecular design of more sensitive SERS systems

The Social Effects of War Photographs

WOS: 000424685800005In today's world, knowledge is increasingly impacted via visual representation. The messages sent through various sources, such as newspaper, television and the internet, lead people to form opinions about various topics. In this context, photography is one of the most powerful source of information. Moreover, the visual power and the ability to show nonverbal communication makes it a perfect tool for propaganda. These days, photographs showing war themes are used more often than the past. It can be said that war photographs serve as a tool for showing the world the realities of war to those, even to those who turn their back to massacres. After all, a dead body creates a shocking effect in the seer. In this study, the context of the photographs of the war, examined in sample of photograph of Aylan Kurdi, which became the "icon" of immigration due to Syrian civil war and war it relates to and it is studied to understand how it is assessed and understood considering the environment and conditions on the date the photo was taken, existing values, beliefs and things happened in the world in that time, from a critical point of view

Immobilization of glucose isomerase in surface-modified alginate gel beads

Hasirci, Nesrin/0000-0002-4497-0194; Demirel, Gokhan/0000-0002-9778-917XWOS: 000254305800007In this study, glucose isomerase enzyme was entrapped into modified and nonmodified calcium alginate gel beads. Various characteristics of free and immobilized enzymes such as the optimum pH, temperature and dependence of activity on storage and operational stability were evaluated. The optimum pH and temperature of free and immobilized glucose isomerase were found to be the same values as 7.5 and 60C, respectively. For free and immobilized enzymes, kinetic parameters were calculated as 1.79 x 10(-2) and 8.27 x 10(-3) mol/L for Km, and 2.39 x 10(-3) and 6.03 x 10(-3) mol/L min for V-max, respectively. After 42 days of storage at 4C, free enzyme retained 56% of its initial activity, while for the immobilized enzyme, this value was observed as 86%. The immobilized samples were used repeatedly 22 times by retaining more than 85% of their initial activity

US findings in euthyroid patients with positive antithyroid autoantibody tests compared to normal and hypothyroid cases

WOS: 000321103300001PubMed ID: 23302287PURPOSE We aimed to compare the ultrasonographic and laboratory parameters of euthyroid patients who have only positive antithyroid autoantibody test results with those of patients with a hypothyroid status of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-five patients with newly diagnosed HT, 35 euthyroid patients who have autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) and/or thyroglobulin (TgAb), and 40 controls were enrolled in the study. Plasma free T3, free T4, thyroid stimulating hormone, TPOAb, and TgAb levels were obtained retrospectively. For gray-scale ultrasonography, each thyroid gland of all individuals graded with gray-scale grading (GSG), which was determined according to the gland size, parenchymal structure, echogenicity, micronodulation, contour irregularity, and existence of hyperechoic septa. For Doppler analysis, the peak systolic velocity (S), resistive index (RI), and pulsatility index (PI) values were obtained from the superior thyroid artery (STA) and intrathyroidal artery (ITA). The color pixel ratio (CPR), which was computationally evaluated from a power Doppler image of all individuals, was used for quantification of the intrathyroidal vascularity. RESULTS Although the mean GSG values were higher in the HT and antibody-positive groups than they were in the control group, there was no significant difference between the HT and antibody-positive groups. The three study groups demonstrated no statistically significant difference with regard to the S, RI, or PI variables obtained from the STAs and ITAs. Although the CPR values were highest in the HT group, the difference between the HT and antibody-positive group did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION The euthyroid antibody-positive group revealed gray-scale and Doppler ultrasonographic findings that were similar to those of the HT group

Long-term results and comparison of the three different high tibial osteotomy and fixation techniques in medial compartment arthrosis

Background: The purpose of this study is to report and analyze the long-term outcomes of the patients who underwent high tibial osteotomy (HTO) with three different techniques for the treatment of medial compartment arthrosis

Laser-Triggered Degelation Control of Gold Nanoparticle Embedded Peptide Organogels

Further understanding of the interactions between nanoparticles (NPs) and biological molecules offers new possibilities in the applications of nanomedicine and nanodiagnostics. The properties of NPs, including size, shape, and surface functionality, play a decisive role in these interactions. Herein, we evaluated the influences of gold NPs (AuNPs) with different sizes (5–60 nm) and shapes (i.e., spherical, rod, and cage) on the self-assembly of diphenylalanine (Phe–Phe) dipeptides. We found that the size of AuNPs smaller than 10 nm did not affect the self-assembly process of Phe–Phe, while bigger AuNPs (>10 nm) caused the formation of starlike peptide morphologies connected to one center. In the case of shape differences, nanorod and nanocage morphologies acted differently than spherical ones and caused the formation of densely packed, networklike dipeptide morphologies. In addition to these experiments, by combining photothermal properties of AuNPs with a Phe–Phe-based organogel having a thermo-responsive property, we demonstrated that the degelation process of AuNPs embedded organogels may be controlled by laser illumination. Complete degelation was achieved in about 10 min. We believe that such control may open the door to new opportunities for a number of applications, such as controlled release of drugs and tissue engineering