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Childhood asthma is a chronic disease with high incidence worldwide. As a lifelong disease, asthma has episodes. Inflammation continues to occur in the clinical remission of asthma. It can be difficult to diagnose childhood asthma, especially in clinical remission. We hypothesized that some cytokines secreted to nasal fluid from the airway during inflammation might help diagnose clinical remission of asthma. Moreover, sampling nasal fluid is an easy and non-invasive procedure, so it may be a preferable sampling method.

Background/Aim: Stabilization appliances have traditionally been used for the treatment of temporomandibular disorders and bruxism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two appliances (hard and soft) with different thicknesses on the electromyographic (EMG) activities of masseter and anterior temporalis muscles. Material and Methods: 30 healthy subjects have been divided into two groups of 15, according to the appliance material used (soft, hard). For each subject in both groups, two appliances have been prepared with 3 mm and 6 mm thickness. EMG recordings of bilateral masseter and anterior temporalis muscles were taken for each appliance. Results: The results showed that, the decrease in average EMG values during maximum voluntary clenching with a 3-mm and 6-mm-thick hard appliance was statistically significant compared with the average EMG of maximum voluntary clenching in the intercuspal position. The increase in average EMG values during maximum voluntary clenching with a soft appliance of 3 mm and 6 mm thickness was statistically significant. Conclusions: The hard stabilization appliances decrease the activity of the masseter and temporalis muscles, while the soft appliances increase the activity of the masseter and temporalis muscles.

The Wingless/INT (WNT) signaling network has roles in renal cancer development. It was shown that the tumor-suppressor microRNA-124 (miR-124) is associated with the Wnt pathway. Thus, we aimed to measure miR-124 expression levels to evaluate whether it is a prognostic marker or a potential treatment strategy. Thirty tumor and 30 surrounding healthy kidney tissues from the same subjects diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), were included in the study. The expression levels of miR-124 were measured with real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and determined by the 2–ΔΔCT method. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 program was used for statistical analyses and a p value of 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The expression levels of miR-124 was found to be about 3-fold lower in tumors than in healthy tissues (p 0.001) and decreased expression levels correlated with tumor stage, tumor diameter, body mass index (BMI) and neutrophil values (p 0.05). Our results showed that miR-124 expression levels are associated with RCC. MicroRNA-124 may be assessed as a biomarker in prognosis and the restoration of miR-124 expression might be effective in the treatment of RCC.

Elif Nur Yilmaz,1,2 Sadik Bay,1 Gurkan Ozturk,1,3 Mehmet Hikmet Ucisik1,4 1Regenerative and Restorative Medicine Research Center (REMER), Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey; 2Graduate School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey; 3Department of Physiology, International School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey; 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Beykoz, Istanbul, TurkeyCorrespondence: Mehmet Hikmet UcisikDepartment of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Yeditepe University, 34755 Istanbul TurkeyTel +90 216 578 0000 - 3259Fax +90 216 578 0829Email m.h.ucisik@gmail.comPurpose: Curcumin, a polyphenol isolated from the rhizomes of turmeric, holds great potential as a neuroprotective agent in addition to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics. The poor bioavailability and low stability of curcumin are the greatest barriers to its clinical use. This study aims to investigate the neuroprotective effect of curcumin on axonal injury, by delivering the lipophilic polyphenol to a primary hippocampal neuron culture by means of a lipid-based drug delivery system, named emulsomes.Methods: To study neuroregeneration ex vivo, an injury model was established through single-cell laser axotomy on hippocampal neurites. Upon treatment with curcumin-loaded emulsomes (CurcuEmulsomes), curcumin and CurcuEmulsome uptake into neurons was verified by three-dimensional Z-stack images acquired with confocal microscopy. Neuron survival after axonal injury was tracked by propidium iodide (PI) and Hoechst staining. Alterations in expression levels of physiological markers, such as anti-apoptotic marker Bcl2, apoptotic marker cleaved caspase 3, neuroprotective marker Wnt3a and the neuronal survival marker mTOR, were investigated by immunocytochemistry analyses.Results: The results indicated significant improvement in the survival rate of injured neurons upon CurcuEmulsome treatment. Bcl2 expression was significantly higher for injured neurons treated with curcumin or CurcuEmulsome. Reduction in caspase 3 expression was seen in both curcumin and CurcuEmulsome treatment, whereas there were no significant changes in Wnt3a and mTOR expression.Conclusion: The established laser-axotomy model was proven as a reliable methodology to study neurodegenerative models ex vivo. CurcuEmulsomes delivered curcumin to primary hippocampal neurons successfully. Treated with CurcuEmulsomes, injured hippocampal neurons benefit from the neuroprotective effects of curcumin, exhibiting a higher survival rate and increased anti-apoptotic marker levels.Keywords: curcumin, lipid-based nanodrug delivery, neurodegeneration, hippocampus, axon injury

Background: Vitamin D regulates calcium and phosphorus metabolism, and it is essential for bone formation. Several factors can affect vitamin D levels in plasma. In present study we compare vitamin D levels of outpatients, who admit to Maltepe University Hospital between 2011 and 2013 and had vitamin D measurements regarding gender, age, and season. Methods: Hospital records were evaluated to identify the outpatients with vitamin D levels and their gender, age, and vitamin D levels and the seasons of measurements were recorded. Results: Data of 48 60 subjects (74% female) were analyzed and 69.2% were between 18-64 years old. Vitamin D levels were as follows: 43.1% < 10 ng/mL, 31.9% between 10 ng/mL and 20 ng/mL, 16.1% between 20 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL, and only 8.9% > 30 ng/mL. The number of females with vitamin D levels < 10 ng/mL was significantly higher than that of males, while the number of males with vitamin D levels between 10 ng/mL and 20 ng/mL was significantly higher than that of females (P = 0.001) for each of the individuals, 6.2% and 11.1% had sufficient levels in winter and summer, respectively. Overall, it was observed that 6.6% of individuals between 1 8-4 4 years old, 8.2% of individuals between 4 5-6 4 years old and 10.3% of individuals over 65 years old had vitamin D levels > 30 ng/mL. Conclusions: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in outpatients of Maltepe University Hospital in Marmara region was 75% (< 20 ng/mL).

Vitiligo is an acquired disease of unknown etiology. Several theories have been proposed to understand the pathogenesis. The role of oxidative stress has been getting more important in recent years. One of the primary antioxidant enzymes in vitiligo is the superoxide dismutase (SOD). The aim of this study is to investigate the polymorphisms of the SOD1 and SOD2 in Turkish vitiligo patients. One hundred one vitiligo patients and 99 healthy controls without family history of vitiligo were included into the study. The SOD1 35 A/C and SOD2 A16V (C/T) polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphim (PCR-RFLP). Vitiligo patients and control group of SOD1 35 A/C and SOD2 A16V (C/T) polymorphism allele frequencies were compared by using χ2 tests. The distribution of the SOD1 35 AA and AC genotypes were similar in vitiligo patients and control group. When the patient and the control groups were compared for the SOD2 Ala9Val (C/T) polymorphism, a significant difference was determined for the distribution of the genotypes [p = 0.047, odds ratio (OR) = 2.075, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.008-4.272]. The relative risk for development of vitiligo was found as a 2-fold increase in the TT genotype. The increase of TT homozygosity in the vitiligo cases creates the problem on the transfer of the enzyme to the mitochondria and thus, the SODs antioxidant effect may decrease in vitiligo but the polymorphism was not determined in all patients, so this study needs to be substantiated by other studies containing a higher number of patients.

Background: Sample classification and registration have been recognized as important and time-consuming processes in laboratories. There is increasing pressure on laboratories to automate processes due to intense workload and reduce manual procedures and errors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the positive effects of an automatic tube registration and sorting system on specimen processing. Methods: An automatic tube registration and sorting system (H CTS2000 M K2, m-u-t AG, Wedel, Germany) was evaluated. Turnaround time (TAT), rate of sample rejection and unrealized tests were examined 12 months preand post-implementation of the automatic tube sorting and registration system. Results: The mean TAT of routine chemistry immunoassay, complete blood cell count (CBC) and coagulation samples were significantly improved (P< 0.001). The number of rejected samples and unrealized tests was insignificantly decreased post-implementation of the system (0.4% to 0.2% and 4.5% to 1.4%, respectively) (P> 0.05). Conclusions: By reducing delays and errors in the preanalytical processing and sorting of samples, significant improvements in specimen processing were observed after im - plementation of the system. These results suggest that an automatic tube registration and sorting system may also be used to improve specimen processing in a higher-volume core laboratory.

The focal representation of a generic regular curve γ in Em+1 consists of the centers of the osculating hyperplanes. A k-slant helix γ in Em+1 is a (generic) regular curve whose unit normal vector Vk makes a constant angle with a fixed direction in Em+1. In the present paper we proved that if γ is a k-slant helix in Em+1, then the focal representation Cγ of γ in Em+1 is an (m− k + 2)-slant helix in Em+1.

Research related to the design and development of new incontinence containment products for women is scarce., Purpose: The purpose of this 2-part study was to 1) develop a new incontinence containment product for fecal incontinence and 2) examine the effect of this new product on the occurrence of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD)., Methods: In part 1, a new incontinence containment product was designed, developed, and trialed among 10 healthy female volunteers. The product was comprised of a double layer of polypropylene nonwoven fabric and 100% cotton interlock fabric with a 3-ply 100% cotton interlock fabric added into the perianal section. Participants wore the product for 8 hours and were asked to defecate into the product and evaluate its comfort, ability to contain liquids and protect privacy, any personal allergic reaction, and air permeability. In part 2, after any product modifications, 12 bedridden women treated in the neurology unit of a hospital in western Turkey who had an indwelling urinary catheter and fecal incontinence and who did not have diabetes mellitus, a darkly pigmented area in the perianal area, pressure injury, or erythema were randomized to 2 groups (study product and control, a premium adult diaper) and monitored for 8 days for the development and severity of perineal dermatitis (scored from 0 [no erythema] to 4 [broken, abraded skin]) using a skin assessment tool. Any type of erythema was considered IAD. Skin care (cleansing with a washcloth and water) was provided daily and after each defecation to all study participants. Data were collected via paper-and-pencil completion of the perineal skin integrity assessment and patient observation forms and entered into and analyzed by a computerized statistical program. Fisher's exact test and the chi-squared test were used to analyze the difference in IAD incidence and severity between the 2 groups, and the Mann Whitney U test was used to detect differences in the number and consistency of defecations., Results: No statistically significant differences were noted among the characteristics of the 12 participants (6 in each group) except for age; patients in the study product group were significantly older (70.66 ± 10.36 vs 52.20 ± 16.78 years; P <.05. Four (4) patients in the study group exhibited 13 areas of perineal dermatitis (degree 1 = 6 areas; degree 2 = 6 areas; degree 3 = 1 area; and degree 4 = 0); 1 patient in the control group had 4 areas with degree 1., Conclusion: This prototype product is not sufficient to be used in clinical practice in patients with fecal incontinence, but further study in a larger population is warranted..