Unnecessary repeated total cholesterol tests in biochemistry laboratory

Introduction: We aimed to determine the number of repeated cholesterol (RC) tests and the ratio of unnecessary-repeated cholesterol (URC) tests among patients admitted to Pamukkale University Hospital (Denizli, Turkey) and provide solutions to avoid URC testing. Materials and methods: Total cholesterol (T-cholesterol) tests (N = 86,817) between June 2014 and May 2015 were evaluated. The tests performed more than once per patient were determined as RC test (N = 28,811). RC test with an interval shorter than 4 weeks were determined as URC test (N = 3968) according to the shortest retest interval stated in ACC/AHA blood cholesterol guideline. RC testing included internal medicine, surgery and paediatric outpatients and inpatients. Reference change value (RCV) of total cholesterol was calculated. Results: The 33.1% of the T-cholesterol tests were RC tests (N = 28,811), 13.7% of them were URC tests (N = 3968). Our RCV value was 25%. The percentage change between consecutive tests was less than RCV in 86.1% (N = 3418) of URC tests. URC tests were performed more frequently in patients with desirable total cholesterol value (P < 0.001). Conclusion: There is a significant part of repeated T-cholesterol tests requested in our hospital. URC test requests can be evaluated by laboratories and the obtained data should be shared with clinicians. Laboratories can calculate RCV for the tests they performed and report this value with the test result. To prevent from URC tests, a warning plug-in can be added to hospital information software in accordance with guidelines to prevent from URC test requests

Use of a biopolymer for road pavement subgrade

This paper presents an extensive series of laboratory works and a prediction model on the design of a road pavement subgrade with Xanthan Gum (XG) biopolymer. The experimental works were carried out using mixtures of conventional aggregate for road pavement construction and XG at the ratios of 0%, 1%, 2%, and 5%, by dry weight. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and California bearing ratio (CBR) tests were conducted during the experimental works at the end of the various curing periods (4, 8, 16, and 32 days). An example of an improvement in the UCS values for a specimen with 5% XG addition tested at the end of 4-daycuring yields about a 200% increment by the end of a 32-daycuring. The CBR values of clean aggregates were found to be increased by about 300% by 5% XG addition for all curing periods applied. Furthermore, the energy absorption capacity of the aggregates was observed to be increased significantly by both XG inclusion and curing period. Moreover, scaled conjugate gradient (SCG) training algorithm-based models developed for the prediction of CBR and UCS test results displayed a very high estimation performance with the regression coefficients of R-2 = 0.967 and R-2 = 0.987, respectively. Evidently, XG biopolymer is provably of use as an alternative inclusion in road pavement subgrades constructed with conventional aggregates

Effect of taxifolin on acrylamide-induced oxidative and proinflammatory lung injury in rats: Biochemical and histopathological studies

Purpose: To examine the probable beneficial effects of taxifolin against acrylamide damage in lung tissue.Methods: 18 male albino Wistar rats were divided into healthy (HG), acrylamide (AG) and taxifolin + acrylamide (TAG) groups. Once a day for 30 days, acrylamide was orally administered to the AG group (50 mg/kg), while ACL (50 mg/kg) and TAX (20 mg/kg) were orally administered to TAG group. Protein concentration, malondialdehyde (MDA), and total glutathione (tGSH) levels as well as oxidant and antioxidant molecules concentrations of the rat lung tissues were measured. In addition, degree of mononuclear (MN) cell infiltration and bronchial-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) hyperplasia was evaluated by the degree of hyperplasia (absent, mild, moderate, severe). The histopathological andbiochemical data the groups were compared.Results: When compared in terms of MDA levels, it was found that the AG group had high MDA levels, and the TAG group had low MDA levels. (p &lt; 0.001). TAG group was found to have a higher tGSH level than the AG group (p &lt; 0.001). Compared to the AG group, lower TOS and higher TAS levels were obtained in the TAG group (p &lt; 0.001). In addition, when TOS levels of TAG and HG groups were compared, the TOS levels between the two groups were statistically insignificant (p = 0.213). It has been observed that TAX administration prevents the increase in NF-ƘB level. When the NF-ƘB levels of the AG and TAG groups were compared with each other, there was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001). In the AG group, severe MN cell hyperplasia and BALT hyperplasia were observed histopathologically. It was determined that these findings were alleviated in the TAG group. A histopathologically significant difference was found between AG and TAG groups (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: Taxifolin has beneficial effects against lung injury caused by acrylamide, a healthdamaging environmental factor. Regular use of taxifolin can be recommended, especially in people who are known to have intense contact with acrylamide. There is a need for research studies on this subject

Autotetraploid plant production in endemic Onobrychis elata with colchicine treatments

This study aimed to induce autotetraploidy in endemic Onobrychis elata plants by colchicine treatment of seeds or seedlings. Colchicine was applied to O. elata directly on germinated seeds, pre-germinated seeds (root length of 3-8 mm), and apical regions (using cotton) under in vivo conditions. Out of a total of 1,210 colchicine-treated seeds that were evaluated, only 203 survived. There was an inverse relationship between the number of surviving plants and colchicine concentration and exposure time. The highest percentage of tetraploidy in surviving plants (50%) was obtained by applying 0.2% colchicine for 6 hours to pre-germinated seeds. No significant tetraploidy was achieved by colchicine application to seedlings. Flow cytometry observations indicated that DNA content varied between 0.99 and 1.06 pg in diploid plants (controls), while DNA content varied between 2.22 and 2.48 pg in tetraploid plants. It was concluded that tetraploid plants were induced successfully only in seedlings obtained from pre-germinated seeds, with their ploidy level confirmed via flow cytometry analysis

Functional Neural Networks Stratify Parkinson’s Disease Patients Across the Spectrum of Cognitive Impairment

Introduction: Cognitive impairment (CI) is a significant non-motor symptoms inParkinson’s disease (PD) that often precedes the emergence of motor symptoms by several years. Patients with PD hypothetically progress from stages without CI (PD-normal cognition [NC]) to stageswithMild CI (PD-MCI) and PDdementia (PDD). CI symptoms in PD are linked to different brain regions and neural pathways, in addition to being the result of dysfunctional subcortical regions. However, it is still unknown how functional dysregulation correlates to progression during the CI. Neuroimaging techniques hold promise in discriminating CI stages of PD and further contribute to the biomarker formation of CI in PD. In this study, we explore disparities in the clinical assessments and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) among three CI stages of PD. Methods: We enrolled 88 patients with PD and 26 healthy controls (HC) for a cross sectional clinical study and performed intra- and inter-network FC analysis in conjunction with comprehensive clinical cognitive assessment. Results: Our findings underscore the significance of several neural networks, namely, the default mode network (DMN), frontoparietal network (FPN), dorsal attention network, and visual network (VN) and their inter–intra-network FC in differentiating between PD-MCI and PDD. Additionally, our results showed the importance of sensory motor network, VN,DMN, and salience network (SN) in the discriminating PD-NC from PDD. Finally, in comparison to HC, we found DMN, FPN, VN, and SN as pivotal networks for further differential diagnosis of CI stages of PD. Conclusion:We propose that resting-state networks (RSN) can be a discriminating factor in distinguishing the CI stages of PD and progressing from PD-NC toMCI or PDD. The integration of clinical and neuroimaging data may enhance the early detection of PD in clinical settings and potentially prevent the disease from advancing to more severe stages

Monitoring Cardiovascular Physiology using Bio-compatible AlN Piezoelectric Skin Sensors

Arterial pulse waves contain a wealth of parameters indicative of cardiovascular disease. As such, monitoring them continuously and unobtrusively can provide health professionals with a steady stream of cardiovascular health indices, allowing for the development of efficient, individualized treatments and early cardiovascular disease diagnosis solutions. Blood pulsations in superficial arteries cause skin surface deformations, typically undetectable to the human eye; therefore, Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) can be used to measure these deformations and thus create unobtrusive pulse wave monitoring devices. Miniaturized ultrathin and flexible Aluminium Nitride (AlN) piezoelectric MEMS are highly sensitive to minute mechanical deformations, making them suitable for detecting the skin deformations caused by cardiac events and consequently providing multiple biomarkers useful for monitoring cardiovascular health and assessing cardiovascular disease risk. Conventional wearable continuous pulse wave monitoring solutions are typically large and based on technologies limiting their versatility. Therefore, we propose the adoption of 29.5 μm-thick biocompatible, skin-conforming devices on piezoelectric AlN to create versatile, multipurpose arterial pulse wave monitoring devices. In our initial trials, the devices are placed over arteries along the wrist (radial artery), neck (carotid artery), and suprasternal notch (on the chest wall and close to the ascending aorta). We also leverage the mechano-acoustic properties of the device to detect heart muscle vibrations corresponding to heart sounds S1 and S2 from the suprasternal notch measurement site. Finally, we characterize the piezoelectric device outputs observed with the cardiac cycle events using synchronized electrocardiogram (ECG) reference signals and provide information on heart rate, breathing rate, and heart sounds. The extracted parameters strongly agree with reference values as illustrated by minimum Pearson correlation coefficients (r) of 0.81 for pulse rate and 0.95 for breathing rate

ELEVATED NEUTROPHIL/LYMPHOCYTE RATIO IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Background: Inflammatory mechanisms are reported to play important roles in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple and easily accessible indicator of the systemic inflammatory response. Our goal was to investigate whether NLR was higher in patients with schizophrenia than in healthy comparison subjects similar in age, sex, and body mass index. Subjects and methods: In this multicenter cross-sectional study, we analyzed 156 non-obese patients with schizophrenia and 89 healthy control subjects for complete blood count. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale was used to determine the severity of clinical pathology. Results: The mean±SD NLR of patients with schizophrenia was significantly higher than that of healthy controls (2.6±1.1 vs. 1.9±0.6, respectively, p0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that NLR levels are increased in physically healthy, non-obese, patients with schizophrenia when compared with physically and mentally healthy individuals. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated the association between NLR and schizophrenia

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

Diffusion equation including a local fractional derivative and weighted inner product

In this research, we discuss the construction of the analytic solution of the homogenous initial boundary value problem including partial differential equations of fractional order. Since the homogenous initial boundary value problem involves a local fractional order derivative, it has classical initial and boundary conditions. By means of separation of the variables method and the inner product defined on L2 [0, l], the solution is constructed in the form of a Fourier series including the exponential function. The illustrative examples present the applicability and influence of the separation of variables method on time fractional diffusion problems. Moreover, as the fractional order α tends to 1, the solution of the fractional diffusion problem tends to the solution of the diffusion problem which proves the accuracy of the solution

Solution of hybrid time fractional diffusion problem via weighted inner product

In this research, we discuss the construction of the analytic solution of homogenous initial boundary value problem including partial differential equations of fractional order. Since the homogenous initial boundary value problem involves the Hybrid fractional order derivative with various coefficients functions, it has classical initial and boundary conditions. By means of separation of the variables method and the inner product defined on L 2 [0,l], the solution is constructed in the form of a Fourier series including the bivariate Mittag-Leffler function. An illustrative example presents the applicability and influence of the separation of variables method on time fractional diffusion problems. Moreover, as the fractional order α tends to 1, the solution of the fractional diffusion problem tends to the solution of the diffusion problem which proves the accuracy of the solution