An indexing model for stormwater quality assessment: stormwater management in the Gold Coast

In the age of climate change and rapid urbanisation, stormwater management and water sensitive urban design have become important issues for urban policy makers. This paper reports the initial findings of a research study that develops an indexing model for assessing stormwater quality in the Gold Coast

Analysis of Risk Factors in Patients Who Have Undergone Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery and Valve Replacement Surgery

DergiPark: 584639tmsjAims: The aim of the study is to investigate differences in usual cardiovascular risk factors’ and comorbidities between the patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting surgery and valve replacement surgery at Cardiovascular SurgeryDepartment of Trakya University School of Medicine. Methods: In this study, patients who had coronary artery bypass graftingsurgery and valve replacement surgery at Cardiovascular Surgery Department of Trakya University School of Medicine between01.01.2018 and 31.12.2018 were analyzed retrospectively. All data regarding the type of cardiovascular operation, habits of smoking, alcohol consumption, family history, chronic diseases and laboratory findings were analyzed using R version 3.5.0. Results:The total number of patients in the study was 130. There were 106 patients who had coronary bypass grafting surgery, 90 (95.4%)of them were male and 16 (4.6%) of them were female. The number of the patients who had valve replacement surgery was 24where 15 (62.5%) of them were female and 9 (37.5%) were male. Differences in patients’ high-density lipoprotein levels, fastingblood glucose levels along with gender, habits of smoking, diabetes mellitus status and alcohol consumption between coronaryartery bypass grafting surgery and valve replacement surgery groups were found statistically significant. Conclusion: Risk factors for cardiovascular disease are very dynamic and multifactorial. In our analysis, there was a significant difference betweenrisk factors for coronary artery bypass and valve replacement surgeries including high-density lipoprotein levels, fasting bloodglucose levels, diabetes mellitus, gender and smoking status. The variability may alter according to the living standards, culture,educational status among patients. Keywords: Coronary disease, coronary artery, surgery, risk factor

Retrospective Analysis of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients in Trakya University School of Medicine

DergiPark: 640239tmsjAims: This study aims to establish the data; including demographic features, molecular response status, disease characteristics, and survival rate of chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in Trakya University School of Medicine. Methods: In this study, the data of 102 patients over 18 years old who were diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in Trakya University School of Medicine between January 2003-October 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23.0.0.0. Results: The total number of patients in the study was 102. There were 95 (93.1%) patients on chronic phase and 6 (5.9%) patients on accelerated phase. Eighty-three (81.4%) of the patients had at least a major molecular response and 17 (16.7%) patients could not achieve at least a major molecular response. Conclusion: As our study showed, first line treatment with imatinib may not be enough for some of the patients to recover and therefore different TKIs such as dasatinib, nilotinib, bo-sutinib, and ponatinib are being used in the treatment of CML. Inadequate response, drug side effects and incompliances are the causes of switching the drug choice. Further studies are needed to thoroughly reveal the epidemiology and treatment regimens.Keywords: Chronic myeloid leukemia, tyrosine kinase, neoplasm

The Investigation of Medical Student Journals

DergiPark: 963050tmsjAims: The aim of our study is to examine and evaluate data of medical student journals from around the world for the year 2020. Methods: In this observational study 20 medical student journals were examined. Data analyzed comprised of the year of foundation, country of origin, number of issues per year, types of articles published, and the total number of articles published in a year. Issues that were published in 2020 only were taken into consideration. Results: In 2020, the majority of medical student journals were based in the United States of America, followed by Canada. There were only four indexed (Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded, PubMed) medical student journals; three were from the United States of America, and one from Canada. In comparison with other journals, the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine had the most published issues. They also have the most crowded editorial board. Overall, the median of people on the editorial boards and advisory boards were 17.5 and 14, respectively. The median for issues per year was 2. The median number of publications in medical student journals in 2020 was 23. Among them, 13.1% were original research articles, 10.8% review articles, 9.4% case reports, 4.9% editorials, and 2.9% letters to the editor. The remaining 59.0% were publications that fell into the "others" category. Conclusion: In conclusion, the majority of medical student journals are based in North America and Europe, and a substantial amount of the published articles falls into the “others” category. Considering the lack of effective guidance and regulations with relevance to indexing. Medical student journals face certain challenges regarding visibility, accessibility, and publishing articles. However, provided that the editors of medical student journals remain keen, motivated, and focused, medical student journals will contribute to the scientific community by creating a supportive and intellectual environment for aspiring researchers where they can enhance their understanding of scientific research and publishing skills

Risk Factors and Management of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation in Patients With Hematological Disorders

DergiPark: 420829tmsjAims: The aim of this study is to evaluate hepatitis B virus serological status and to categorize the risks of our treatmentmodalities in patients with both benign and malignant hematological disorders.Methods: This was a retrospective study of 552 patients who were admitted to the Trakya University Hospital Hematologyunit between 01.01.2017 and 31.12.2017. All data regarding the diagnosis, treatment and HBV serologicalstatus were collected from patient files. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS V.20 using descriptive statistical analysis.Results: Hepatitis B surface antigen was positive in 45 (8.2%) patients, antibody to the hepatitis B surface antigenwas positive in 279 (50.5%) patients and antibody to the hepatitis B core antigen was positive in 247 (44.7%) patients.According to these results, 32 patients were found to be vaccinated for hepatitis B virus. Reactivation was observed in4 (0.7%) patients who have been hepatitis B surface antigen positive and have received adequate duration of antiviralprophylaxis with tenofovir. These 4 patients have received monoclonal antibody for immunosuppressive treatment.Conclusion: To conclude, although the rate of hepatitis B surface antigen reactivation is quite low, as many patientsas possible should be vaccinated to reduce the costs of antiviral treatments and monitorization. If there is notime to vaccinate, patients should be categorized according to guidelines by their hepatitis B surface antigen serologicalstatus and by the planned immunosuppressive treatments

Sabah ve Gece Yapılan Aerobik Egzersizin Antrenmanlı Deneklerde Serum İrisin Düzeyine Etkilerinin Belirlenmesi

Amaç: Egzersizin enerji homeostazisinin düzenlenmesinde önemli yararlı etkileri olduğu bilinmektedir. Enerji düzenlenmesi ile ilgili hormon düzeylerinin değişiminde egzersizin etkisi araştırmacılar arasında yoğun bir ilgiye sahip olan ilginç bir konudur ve irisin bu konuda özel bir öneme sahiptir. Bu çalışmada antrenmanlılarda irisin düzeyine sabah ve gece yapılan akut egzersizin olası yararlı etkilerinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır.Gereç ve Yöntem: Yirmi antrenmanlı erkek denek sabah ve geceaerobik egzersiz koşu egzersizine katılmışlardır. Egzersizden önce ve sonra venöz kan örnekleri alınmıştır. Serum irisin düzeyi ELISA yöntemiyle ölçülmüştür.Bulgular: Bazal irisin düzeyi her iki testte de istatistiksel olarak anlamlı değişmemiştir. Fakat irisin düzeyi sabah 262.01±37 ng/ml’den 299.74±39 ng/ml’ye ve gece 268.57±30 ng/ml’den 316.04±33 ng/ml’ye istatistiksel olarak anlamlı oranda artış göstermiştir p < 0.0001 . Sonuç: Bu çalışma sonuçları egzersiz antrenmanı zamanının antrenmanlı deneklerde irisin düzeyinde farklı etkilere sahip olmadığını göstermektedir.Bu deneysel düzenek egzersizin enerji düzenlenmesinde bir role sahip olan irisini artırdığını açıkça göstermektedi

Enabling a robust scalable manufacturing process for therapeutic exosomes through oncogenic immortalization of human ESC-derived MSCs

10.1186/1479-5876-9-47Journal of Translational Medicine9

Are serum Netrin-4 levels predictive of preeclampsia?

Objective: To investigate the levels of anti-angiogenic factors, namely sFlt-1 and Netrin-4, in patients with preeclampsia (PE). Material and methods: Cord-blood (UC) sFlt-1 and Netrin-4 concentrations were measured in 30 patients with severe PE, 30 patients with PE and 30 control infants and their mothers (MS). Results: Maternal sFlt-1 levels were significantly higher in the severe PE and PE groups than in the control group. There were no statistical differences among the three groups in maternal and fetal Netrin-4 levels. But Netrin-4 levels were found to be the lowest in the control group and higher in the PE and severe PE groups. The correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between maternal sFlt-1 levels and maternal Netrin-4 levels (p = 0.012, and r = 0.263), maternal sFlt-1 levels and fetal sFlt-1 levels (p = 0.012, and r = 0.263). Conclusions: There was a positive correlation found between maternal sFlt-1 levels and maternal Netrin-4 levels. We are of the opinion that elevation in levels of Netrin-4 might be secondary to placental hypoxia occurring in PE. The present study led to the consideration of anti-angiogenic biomarkers (sFlt-1 and Netrin-4) on automated platforms for clinical use as an aid in establishing the diagnosis and prognosis of PE