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The purpose of this study was to evaluate emotion dysregulation and temperament-character traits in adolescents with functional neurological symptom disorder (FNSD). Forty adolescents with FNSD and 40 healthy adolescents were evaluated by a semiconstructed diagnosis interview, Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Regulation of Emotions Questionnaire (REQ), and Children's Somatization Inventory-24 (CSI-24). The external and internal dysfunctional emotion regulation scores of REQ, all subscales of DERS, except the awareness subscale, and CSI-24 scores were significantly higher in FNSD patients compared with healthy controls. There were significant differences between the groups in terms of harm avoidance and reward dependence subscale scores of TCI. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the external dysfunctional emotion regulation strategy, somatization, and reward dependence are significant predictors of FNSD. Our results provide evidence that adolescents with FNSD experience emotional dysregulation and that the differential value of some temperament-character traits in the diagnosis of FNSD.

For the sustainability of water resources, the recovery of water, organic matter (OM), energy, and nutrients from municipal wastewater become very attractive resources. As direct application of water, nutrient, and energy recovery from municipal wastewater cannot be feasible, the wastewater needed to be concentrated. In this study, the molecular weight distribution of OM content was determined in wastewater samples, up-concentration potential of direct microfiltration (DMF) of municipal wastewater and water recovery were investigated. In OM fractionation studies, around 52% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater was particulate or colloidal (>10 kDa) and 48% was soluble (<300 Da). In DMF tests, the COD concentration was concentrated up to 1,573 mg/L after sequential DMF experiments. Additionally, the theoretic total energy requirement of the DMF process was found around 0.3 kWh/m3and it would be potentially energy positive. In crossflow experiments, the reverse osmosis (RO) process was performed using DMF effluent. When microfiltration and RO membranes were chemically cleaned, flux recovery rates of 100% and 99% were achieved, respectively. However, the foulants could not be completely removed during the cleaning according to scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and attenuated total reflection-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy results of the virgin, fouled, and cleaned membranes. This study reveals that the DMF+RO process is a promising technology for the recovery of OM and water from municipal wastewater.

The kinetics of lambda carrageenan (λ-car) adsorption/desorption on/from anchoring layers under diffusion- and convection-controlled transport conditions were investigated. The eighth generation of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers and branched polyethyleneimine possessing different shapes and polydispersity indexes were used for anchoring layer formation. Dynamic light scattering, electrophoresis, streaming potential measurements, optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy, and quartz crystal microbalance were applied to characterize the formation of mono- and bilayers. The unique combination of the employed techniques enabled detailed insights into the mechanism of the λ-car adsorption mainly controlled by electrostatic interactions. The results show that the macroion adsorption efficiency is strictly correlated with the value of the final zeta potentials of the anchoring layers, the transport type, and the initial bulk concentration of the macroions. The type of the macroion forming the anchoring layer had a minor impact on the kinetics of λ-car adsorption. Besides significance to basic science, the results presented in this paper can be used for the development of biocompatible and stable macroion multilayers of well-defined electrokinetic properties and structure.

The neurobiological basis of tic disorders is thought to be a series of interactions including genetic, environmental and gender related factors. Being male is thought to be an especially important risk factor in the pathogenesis of tics. Our aim in this study was to investigate gender-related hormones such as testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and cortisol in tic patients. A total of 26 patients who had not entered puberty and had been diagnosed with chronic tic disorder and 25 healthy children were included in the study. Serum total testosterone, cortisol and DHEA-S levels were measured and the relationship with clinical data was investigated. The testosterone and DHEA-S levels of the patient group were higher than that of the control group (P=0.019, P=0.025) but no statistical difference was found between the cortisol levels (P=0.642). No statistical correlation was found between total tic severity, general disturbance, movement tic subscale scores and the DHEA-S (P=0.77, P=0.45, P=0.819 respectively) and testosterone levels (P=0.954, P=0.669, P=0.909 respectively). The results of this study reveal an elevation of testosterone and DHEA-S levels in patients. Future studies with a larger number of patients are likely to help elucidate the importance of these androgens in tic disorder.

Certain androgenic neurosteroids have been shown to have a relationship with anxiety disorders in adults. Demonstrating these changes in pediatric patients as well is important in terms of elucidating the etiology of these disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol levels in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. A total of 39 pediatric OCD patients aged 7–16 years and 34 healthy children of similar age and gender were included in this study. Serum total testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol levels were measured by using the ELISA method and their relationship with clinical data was investigated. No statistically significant difference was found between the patient and control groups in terms of testosterone, DHEA-A and cortisol levels in the analyses performed (p=0.175, p=0.642, p=0.842, respectively). The results of this first study have revealed that testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol levels in pediatric OCD patients are not different than in the controls. However, the fact that these neurosteroid levels have been found to differ between adult patients and controls previously indicates that neurosteroid changes may be a finding that appears during the course of anxiety disorders.