Optimization of laboratory assays of diel vertical migration of Daphnia pulex in determining fish kairomones using bacterial degradation

M.S. - Master of Scienc

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 3

Progresif familyal intrahepatik kolestaz, biliyer siroz ve kolestaz ile karakterize bir grup hastalıktır. Süt ço- cuğu döneminde başlar ve yaşamın ilk on yılında siroza ilerler. Klinik bulgular, laboratuvar incelemeleri ve morfolojik çalışmalarla diğer çocukluk çağı kolestatik karaciğer hastalıklardan ayrılmıştır. Son moleküler ve genetik çalışmalarla üç tipi için sorumlu genler tanımlanmıştır. Tip 3, yaşamın ilk aylarında görülen ve sonra biliyer siroza ilerleyen tekrarlayan kaşıntı ve/veya sarılık atakları ve artmış serum gama-glutamil transferaz ile karakterizedir. Karaciğer nakli bu hastalıkta tam tedavi sağlamaktadır. Ursodeoksikolik asit ve parsiyel eksternal biliyer diversiyon karaciğer nakline alternatif tedaviler olarak sunulmaktadır. Bu yazıda, sarılık nedeniyle hastanemize başvuran, progresif familyal intrahepatik kolestaz tip 3 tanısı alan ve ursodeoksikolik asit ile tedavi edilen iki aylık erkek hasta sunuldu.Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis is a group of diseases characterised by biliary cirrhosis and cholestasis. This disease begins in infancy and usually progresses to cirrhosis within the frst decade of life. It has been distinguished from other forms of cholestatic liver diseases in childhood by clinical fndings, labora- tory observations, and morphologic studies. Recent molecular and genetic studies have identifed the genes responsible for the three types. Type 3 is characterised by recurrent pruritus or jaundice and/or high serum gamma-glutamyl transferase levels. Liver transplantation is a curative modality of treatment in this disease. Ursodeoxycholic acid and partial external biliary diversion may represent alternatives to liver transplanta- tion. In this paper, we presented a 2-month-old male patient who admitted to our hospital because of jaundice, diagnosed as progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 3, and treated with ursodeoxycholic acid

Hamartoma of the Larynx: An Unusual Cause of Stridor

Background: Hamartoma of the larynx is a very rare lesion, and the number of reported cases is limited. Signs and symptoms include stridor, changes in voice, eating and respiratory complaints. Stridor is a sign of upper airway obstruction. Patients presenting with stridor and severe respiratory distress necessitate urgent otolaryngologic evaluation. Case Report: Herein, we report a case of laryngeal hamartoma presenting with recurrent pneumonia and persistent stridor in a 7-month-old patient. He was admitted to hospital with the initial diagnosis of recurrent pneumonia and persistent stridor. Stridor was not responsive to cool mist, nebulised epinephrine or dexamethasone. Cervical computed tomography (CT) revealed a solid, nodular mass on the posterolateral wall of larynx. The mass was excised surgically. After surgical removal of the hamartoma, the child was relieved of the obstruction. Conclusion: We want to emphasise that patients presenting with persistent stridor and severe distress necessitate urgent otolaryngologic evaluation

Is it important to take the co-occurrence of obesity and cigarette smoking into account in brain imaging studies in major depressive disorder?

Objective: To date, a small number of studies have investigated cortical thickness, cortical surface area, and subcortical volume abnormalities in first-episode, untreated patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The findings of previous studies are not entirely consistent. Previous studies did not match first-episode, untreated patients with MDD to controls regarding body mass index (BMI) and smoking, which could contribute to the inconsistency of results. The aim of the current study was to examine whether morphological abnormalities are present in first-episode and untreated MDD patients in comparison with well-matched controls, particularly concerning BMI and smoking status

Differential diagnosis of bacterial and viral meningitis in childhood acute meningitis: A statistical model

WOS: 000246531100007PubMed: 17427553Acute bacterial meningitis (BM) which is a pediatric emergency with high mortality and morbidity, must be diagnosed and treated promptly. There is no unique method to prove or rule out the diagnosis of BM in a patient with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings consistent with BM but negative Gram stain and culture results. For this purpose the combination of CSF parameters are used for diagnosis. The aims of this study were to compare retrospectively the mean leukocyte count, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), CSF leukocyte and neutrophil, CSF protein and glucose values in 40 bacterial and 29 viral meningitis (VM) patients, ages between 1 month and 14 years, and to develop a statistical model for the differentiation of BM and VM cases. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between BM and age, CRP, ESR, leukocyte count, CSF leukocyte, neutrophil, protein and glucose values. Based on CSF protein and neutrophil ratio which were found as independent variables, the regression model could predict the patients having BM with 95% and viral meningitis with 93.2% accuracy

Abnormal white matter integrity and impairment of cognitive abilities in adolescent inhalant abusers

WOS: 000348955000010PubMed ID: 25479538Inhalant abuse represents a major health problem especially among adolescents and young adults. However, less is known about white matter (WM) microstructure in adolescent inhalant abusers. In the present study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study WM changes in adolescent inhalant abusers compared with healthy controls. We also tested whether there was any relationship between WM integrity and neuropsychological measures in adolescent inhalant abusers. The study included 19 adolescent inhalant abusers and 19 healthy control subjects. Whole brain analysis of WM microstructure was performed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to detect abnormal WM regions between groups. Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) and Stroop test were used to measure neuropsychological performance. We found that adolescent inhalant abuser group had significantly higher axial diffusivity (AD) values in left parietal, occipital and temporal WM than in healthy control group. Inhalant abuser and control groups did not differ significantly on fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) values. Adolescent inhalant abusers showed worse performance when compared with control group in WCST and Stroop test. There was no significant correlation of AD values in significant clusters with neuropsychological test performances within the two groups. We only found discrete impairments in neuropsychological test performance and WM integrity in adolescent inhalant abusers compared with healthy control subjects and we were not able to demonstrate a direct correlation between WM alterations and neurocognitive performance. Future work is required to longitudinally evaluate brain abnormalities through methods assessing brain structure, function and connectivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Ege University Science and Technology Application and Research CenterEge University [09/EGEBAM/001]This research was funded by Ege University Science and Technology Application and Research Center (grant number 09/EGEBAM/001) which had no role in the design of the study, collection and analysis of data and decision to publish

Impact of food concentration on diel vertical migration behaviour of Daphnia pulex under fish predation risk

Vertical migration of Daphnia represents the best-studied predator-avoidance behaviour known; yet the mechanisms underlying the choice to migrate require further investigation to understand the role of environmental context. To investigate the optimal habitat choice of Daphnia under fish predation pressure, first, we selected the individuals exhibiting strong migration behaviour. The animals collected from the hypolimnion during the daytime were significantly larger, being more conspicuous, and in turn performed stronger diel vertical migration (DVM) when exposed to fish cue. We called them strong migrants. Second, we provided the strong migrant D. pulex with food at high and intermediate (1 and 0.4 mg C l(-1), respectively) levels, which were well above the incipient limiting level and of high quality. They traded the benefits of staying in the warm water layer and moved down to the cold water in response to fish cue indicating fish predation. The availability of food allowed the animals to stay in the cold hypolimnion. However, at the low food level (0.1 mg C l(-1)), which is an additional constraint on fitness, Daphnia moved away from the cold hypolimnion. Poor food condition resulted in strong migrant Daphnia to cease migration and remain in the upper warmer water layer. Although temperature is known to be a more important cost factor of DVM than food, our results clearly show that this is only true as long as food is available. It becomes clear that food availability is controlling the direction of vertical positioning when daphnids experience a dilemma between optimising temperature and food condition while being exposed to fish cue. Then they overlook the predation risk. Thus, the optimal habitat choice of Daphnia appears to be a function of several variables including temperature, food levels and fish predation