Effect of different levels of royal jelly on biochemical parameters of swimmers

This study aims to investigate the effects of different levels of royal jelly supplementation on biochemical parameters in swimmers. Randomly selected 40 male swimmers aged 18 to 25 years attending the same trainings were recruited. Swimmers were assigned to 4 groups each with 10 subjects. Varying amounts of royal jelly (2, 1 g and 500 mg) were given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd groups and placebo (corn starch) to the 4th group. Participants were trained by swimming totally 20 km in 2 h on 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Resting blood samples were taken before royal jelly administration and after 30 days of application. Then biochemical analyses were performed. Different levels of royal jelly were found to be ineffective on glucose, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels of the swimmers. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels increased after the training program, and BUN level was higher in the group receiving 500 mg royal jelly than those in the other groups. The increment in creatinine levels was higher in those groups receiving higher amounts of royal jelly after the training. A supplementation of 500 mg, 1 and 2 g/day of royal jelly throughout the 30 day-exercise program was not significantly effective in the swimmers. Also, due to its high amino acid content, BUN and creatinine levels tended to increase.Key words: Royal jelly, swimming, exercise, biochemical parameters, ergogenic aids

Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap

Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the “Istanbul seismic gap”) has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5–5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain

Prediction of pathological stage in patients with prostate cancer: a neuro-fuzzy model

The prediction of cancer staging in prostate cancer is a process for estimating the likelihood that the cancer has spread before treatment is given to the patient. Although important for determining the most suitable treatment and optimal management strategy for patients, staging continues to present significant challenges to clinicians. Clinical test results such as the pre-treatment Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) level, the biopsy most common tumor pattern (Primary Gleason pattern) and the second most common tumor pattern (Secondary Gleason pattern) in tissue biopsies, and the clinical T stage can be used by clinicians to predict the pathological stage of cancer. However, not every patient will return abnormal results in all tests. This significantly influences the capacity to effectively predict the stage of prostate cancer. Herein we have developed a neuro-fuzzy computational intelligence model for classifying and predicting the likelihood of a patient having Organ-Confined Disease (OCD) or Extra-Prostatic Disease (ED) using a prostate cancer patient dataset obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network. The system input consisted of the following variables: Primary and Secondary Gleason biopsy patterns, PSA levels, age at diagnosis, and clinical T stage. The performance of the neuro-fuzzy system was compared to other computational intelligence based approaches, namely the Artificial Neural Network, Fuzzy C-Means, Support Vector Machine, the Naive Bayes classifiers, and also the AJCC pTNM Staging Nomogram which is commonly used by clinicians. A comparison of the optimal Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) points that were identified using these approaches, revealed that the neuro-fuzzy system, at its optimal point, returns the largest Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC), with a low number of false positives (FPR = 0.274, TPR = 0.789, AUC = 0.812). The proposed approach is also an improvement over the AJCC pTNM Staging Nomogram (FPR = 0.032, TPR = 0.197, AUC = 0.582)

Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review

Toy M, Önder FO, Wörmann T, et al. Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review. BMC infectious diseases. 2011;11(1): 337.BACKGROUND: To provide a clear picture of the current hepatitis B situation, the authors performed a systematic review to estimate the age- and region-specific prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Turkey. METHODS: A total of 339 studies with original data on the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Turkey and published between 1999 and 2009 were identified through a search of electronic databases, by reviewing citations, and by writing to authors. After a critical assessment, the authors included 129 studies, divided into categories: 'age-specific'; 'region-specific'; and 'specific population group'. To account for the differences among the studies, a generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the overall prevalence across all age groups and regions. For specific population groups, the authors calculated the weighted mean prevalence. RESULTS: The estimated overall population prevalence was 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.58, 5.76, and the estimated total number of CHB cases was about 3.3 million. The outcomes of the age-specific groups varied from 2.84, (95% CI: 2.60, 3.10) for the 0-14-year olds to 6.36 (95% CI: 5.83, 6.90) in the 25-34-year-old group. CONCLUSION: There are large age-group and regional differences in CHB prevalence in Turkey, where CHB remains a serious health problem

Mutations in APC, CTNNB1 and K-ras genes and expression of hMLH1 in sporadic colorectal carcinomas from the Netherlands Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: The early to intermediate stages of the majority of colorectal tumours are thought to be driven by aberrations in the Wnt (APC, CTNNB1) and Ras (K-ras) pathways. A smaller proportion of cancers shows mismatch repair deficiency. The aim of this study was to analyse the co-occurrence of these genetic alterations in relation to tumour and patient characteristics. METHODS: In a group of 656 unselected sporadic colorectal cancer patients, aberrations in the APC, K-ras, CTNNB1 genes, and expression of hMLH1 were investigated. Additionally, tumours were divided in groups based on molecular features and compared with respect to patient's age at diagnosis, sex, family history of colorectal cancer, tumour sub-localisation, Dukes' stage and differentiation. RESULTS: Mutations at the phosphorylation sites (codons 31, 33, 37, and 45) in the CTNNB1 gene were observed in tumours from only 5/464 patients. Tumours with truncating APC mutations and activating K-ras mutations in codons 12 and 13 occurred at similar frequencies (37% (245/656) and 36% (235/656), respectively). Seventeen percent of tumours harboured both an APC and a K-ras mutation (109/656). Nine percent of all tumours (58/656) lacked hMLH1 expression. Patients harbouring a tumour with absent hMLH1 expression were older, more often women, more often had proximal colon tumours that showed poorer differentiation when compared to patients harbouring tumours with an APC and/or K-ras mutation. CONCLUSION: CTNNB1 mutations seem to be of minor importance in sporadic colorectal cancer. The main differences in tumour and patient characteristics are found between groups of patients based on mismatch repair deficiency

Open heart surgery applications in dogs suffering from natural infection of Dirofilaria immitis

WOS: 000230905400020This study includes 6 dogs naturally infected with Dirofflaria immitis of different ages and sexes. Clinical, radiographical, blood gas and blood biochemical evaluations were examined in the preoperative period. Microfilariae were determined in 6 cases with a modified Knott test. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and open-heart surgery were carried out. Animals were prepared for cannulation under general anesthesia. The heart was approached by right lateral thoracotomy. The femoral artery and vena cavas were cannulated before CPB. During the operation, arterial blood pressure and the heart rate were monitored and blood gas values were continuously observed. Before and 1 hour after the operation cardiac output was monitored. Mean operation time was 155 +/- 35 minutes, and cross-clamp time was 34 +/- 9 minutes. A total of 12 +/- 5 mature Dirofilaria immitis were collected from the right heart and the pulmonary artery. Radiographical evaluation showed that the heart was hypertrophic in all cases and right heart dilatation was seen in one case. In blood gas analysis, an increase in pCO(2) and decreases in pO(2), HCO3 and pH were observed. One dog was extubated for 1 hour, while the remaining 5 dogs were extubated for 3 hours after the operation. One dog was followed for 1.5 years whereas the others were followed for 6 months after surgery. No complications occurred during the operation, but premature ventricular contractions were observed in all cases. Arterial blood pressure and cardiac output decreased significantly when compared to preoperative values 1 hour after the operation. The heart rate increased significantly. In two cases, a postoperative superficial infection was identified. Two dogs were still infected with microfilariae two weeks after the operation. Ivermectin was administered and the microfilariae were destroyed two months after this medication. All dogs tolerated the CPB and open-heart surgery procedures well