Real-world efficacy and safety of Ledipasvir plus Sofosbuvir and Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir +/- Dasabuvir combination therapies for chronic hepatitis C: A Turkish experience

Background/Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the real-life efficacy and tolerability of direct-acting antiviral treatments for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with/without cirrhosis in the Turkish population.Material and Methods: A total of 4,352 patients with CHC from 36 different institutions in Turkey were enrolled. They received ledipasvir (LDV) and sofosbuvir (SOF)+/- ribavirin (RBV) ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir +/- dasabuvir (PrOD)+/- RBV for 12 or 24 weeks. Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates, factors affecting SVR, safety profile, and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) occurrence were analyzed.Results: SVR12 was achieved in 92.8% of the patients (4,040/4,352) according to intention-to-treat and in 98.3% of the patients (4,040/4,108) according to per-protocol analysis. The SVR12 rates were similar between the treatment regimens (97.2%-100%) and genotypes (95.6%-100%). Patients achieving SVR showed a significant decrease in the mean serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (50.90 +/- 54.60 U/L to 17.00 +/- 14.50 U/L) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores (7.51 +/- 4.54 to 7.32 +/- 3.40) (p<0.05). Of the patients, 2 were diagnosed with HCC during the treatment and 14 were diagnosed with HCC 37.0 +/- 16.0 weeks post-treatment. Higher initial MELD score (odds ratio [OR]: 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-2.38; p=0.023]), higher hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.31-2.28; p=0.038), and higher serum ALT levels (OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.21-1.83; p=0.042) were associated with poor SVR12. The most common adverse events were fatigue (12.6%), pruritis (7.3%), increased serum ALT (4.7%) and bilirubin (3.8%) levels, and anemia (3.1%).Conclusion: LDV/SOF or PrOD +/- RBV were effective and tolerable treatments for patients with CHC and with or without advanced liver disease before and after liver transplantation. Although HCV eradication improves the liver function, there is a risk of developing HCC.Turkish Association for the Study of The Liver (TASL

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Urartu Krallığı’nın sınırları sorunu

Anahtar Kelimeler: Urartu, Demir Çağı, Arkeoloji, Tarih Van Gölü Havzası merkezli kurulan Urartu Krallığı, kuruluşundan itibaren değişik bölgelere seferler yapmıştır. Yapılan seferlerin büyük çoğunluğu ganimet elde etmek amacıyla yapılmış sefer yazıtlarıdır. Urartu Krallığı’nın sınırları araştırmacılar tarafından en uçlarda bulunan yazıtların bulunduğu alan olarak belirtilmesine rağmen uçlarda bulunan yazıtlar ganimet amacıyla yapılmış sefer yazıtlarıdır. Urartu Krallığı sefer yazıtları dışında yapılaşma faaliyetlerinin anlatıldığı inşa yazıtları da yazdırmıştır. İnşa yazıtlarının bulunduğu alanlar ile sefer yazıtlarının bulunduğu alan arasında önemli bir mesafe söz konusudur. Bundan hareketle Urartu Krallığı için sınır belirleme kriterleri oluşturulmuştur. İnşa yazıtları, kentler, çok odalı kaya mezarları, kaleler ve çanak çömlek gibi Urartu karakterinin net olarak tanımlanabildiği materyaller sayesinde Urartu denetim alanı ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Yapılan değerlendirmeler sonucunda daha önce Urartu denetim alanı içinde olduğu belirtilen yerleşimlerde Urartu karakterindeki materyalin bulunmadığı veya bulunanlarında ise Urartu denetim alanında olduğuna dair önemli bir veri bulunmadığı görülmüştür. Keywords: Urartu, Iron Age, Archeology, History ABSTRACT Basin on Lake Van, Urartian Kingdom made several military attacks and invasions to different regions since its foundation. Most of the invasions written on the inscriptions were for pillage. Despite the fact that borders of Urartian Kingdom is described by many scholars as the regions where the furthest inscriptions located, those inscriptions located in the furthest corners were erected not for designating the borders but for informing the invasions for pillage. Apart from the pillage inscriptions, Urartian Kingdom had some construction inscriptions erected. There is a crucial distance between the pillage inscription regions and construction inscription regions. Based on this data, some criteria are determined for defining the borders of Urartian Kingdom in this thesis. With the help of some materials which share common features of Urartian such as construction inscriptions, cities, multi-room graves of stone, castles, pottery and etc., the Urartian governance zone is identified. As a consequence of these evaluations, in this thesis, it is stated that in settlements which they were identified within the governance zone of Urartu Kingdom in previous research do not have Urartian characteristics or they do not have enough common Urartian features in order to be described within the governance zone of Urartian Kingdom

DEVELOPMENT OF Pt-Cr COATED SS316L ELECTRODES FOR PEM WATER ELECTROLYZERS BY SELECTIVE LASER MELTING METHOD

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer (PEMWE) is used to obtain a high amount ofhydrogen cleanly from water. However, to make PEMWE common in everyday life, their cost must bereduced, and the performance of these systems must be increased. Thus, alternative materials shouldbe developed to obtain low-cost PEMWE systems. In this study, stainless steel 316L (SS316L) is usedas gas diffusion electrode (GDE) materials. The selective laser melting (SLM) method is selected toproduce the SS316L electrode. To enhance to SS316L electrodes’ corrosion resistance and kineticactivity, SS316L electrodes are coated with Pt different thickness values using electron beamevaporation method (EBM) with a Cr interlayer film. Electrochemical properties of SS316L electrodeshave been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), andelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Durability of SS316L electrodes have beenconducted by Tafel and chronoamperometry (CA) techniques. The surface morphologies of SS316Lelectrodes have been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energydispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffractometers (XRD), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis.As a result, electrochemical performance, kinetic activity, and corrosion resistance of the electrodes areenhanced significantly with Pt-Cr material by EBM coating.</p

Cumhuriyet dönemi Türk Balesi tarihi ve Türkiye'de dansçı olmak

Ankara : İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent Üniversitesi İktisadi, İdari ve Sosyal Bilimler Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, 2017.This work is a student project of the The Department of History, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University.by Özer, Abdürrahim