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This study proposes a new deep learning-based method that demonstrates high performance in detecting Covid-19 disease from cough, breath, and voice signals. This impressive method, named CovidCoughNet, consists of a deep feature extraction network (InceptionFireNet) and a prediction network (DeepConvNet). The InceptionFireNet architecture, based on Inception and Fire modules, was designed to extract important feature maps. The DeepConvNet architecture, which is made up of convolutional neural network blocks, was developed to predict the feature vectors obtained from the InceptionFireNet architecture. The COUGHVID dataset containing cough data and the Coswara dataset containing cough, breath, and voice signals were used as the data sets. The pitch-shifting technique was used to data augmentation the signal data, which significantly contributed to improving performance. Additionally, Chroma features (CF), Root mean square energy (RMSE), Spectral centroid (SC), Spectral bandwidth (SB), Spectral rolloff (SR), Zero crossing rate (ZCR), and Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) feature extraction techniques were used to extract important features from voice signals. Experimental studies have shown that using the pitch-shifting technique improved performance by around 3% compared to raw signals. When the proposed model was used with the COUGHVID dataset (Healthy, Covid-19, and Symptomatic), a high performance of 99.19% accuracy, 0.99 precision, 0.98 recall, 0.98 F1-Score, 97.77% specificity, and 98.44% AUC was achieved. Similarly, when the voice data in the Coswara dataset was used, higher performance was achieved compared to the cough and breath studies, with 99.63% accuracy, 100% precision, 0.99 recall, 0.99 F1-Score, 99.24% specificity, and 99.24% AUC. Moreover, when compared with current studies in the literature, the proposed model was observed to exhibit highly successful performance. The codes and details of the experimental studies can be accessed from the relevant Github page: (https://github.com/GaffariCelik/CovidCoughNet)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Covid-19 has become a worldwide epidemic which has caused the death of millions in a very short time. This disease, which is transmitted rapidly, has mutated and different variations have emerged. Early diagnosis is important to prevent the spread of this disease. In this study, a new deep learning-based architecture is proposed for rapid detection of Covid-19 and other symptoms using CT and X-ray chest images. This method, called CovidDWNet, is based on a structure based on feature reuse residual block (FRB) and depthwise dilated convolutions (DDC) units. The FRB and DDC units efficiently acquired various features in the chest scan images and it was seen that the proposed architecture significantly improved its performance. In addition, the feature maps obtained with the CovidDWNet architecture were estimated with the Gradient boosting (GB) algorithm. With the CovidDWNet+GB architecture, which is a combination of CovidDWNet and GB, a performance increase of approximately 7% in CT images and between 3% and 4% in X-ray images has been achieved. The CovidDWNet+GB architecture achieved the highest success compared to other architectures, with 99.84% and 100% accuracy rates, respectively, on different datasets containing binary class (Covid-19 and Normal) CT images. Similarly, the proposed architecture showed the highest success with 96.81% accuracy in multi-class (Covid-19, Lung Opacity, Normal and Viral Pneumonia) X-ray images and 96.32% accuracy in the dataset containing X-ray and CT images. When the time to predict the disease in CT or X-ray images is examined, it is possible to say that it has a high speed because the CovidDWNet+GB method predicts thousands of images within seconds., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The concept of maintaining apical patency (AP) is a controversial issue in endodontics. The primary objectives of this systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were to determine the influence of maintaining AP during instrumentation on postoperative pain severity and the prevalence of flare-ups. A second objective was to assess the effect of maintaining AP on the use of analgesics., Methods: RCTs and controlled clinical trials were searched for in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and the Cochrane Library. Four reviewers independently screened all identified articles for eligibility. The included studies were assessed for bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to rate the quality of the body of evidence. Because of the considerable heterogeneity of the studies, a meta-analysis was not possible. Therefore, the results were analyzed narratively., Results: Five RCTs that included a total of 848 patients were found eligible and included in the review. An assessment of the risk of bias in the included studies provided results that classified the studies as showing a low risk (n = 1), high risk (n = 1), or unclear risk (n = 3) of bias. The available evidence indicated that maintaining AP (1) did not increase postoperative pain in teeth with nonvital pulp, (2) did not increase postoperative pain in teeth with vital pulp, and (3) did not cause (0%) flare-ups. The available evidence also indicated that maintaining AP did not increase analgesic use. The available evidence indicated that maintaining AP did not increase postoperative pain when a single-visit or 2-visit root canal treatment approach was used., Conclusions: In light of the current evidence, maintaining AP does not increase postoperative pain in teeth with vital/nonvital pulp when compared with nonapical patency (low to moderate quality evidence). Furthermore, maintaining AP did not cause flare-ups (low evidence) and did not increase analgesic use (moderate evidence)., (Copyright © 2018 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Pilonidal sinus disease is an inflammatory disease seen in the intergluteal region, which is a commonly encountered problem in surgical practice that mostly affects young people. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the modified Limberg flap technique with eyedrop excision in the treatment of pilonidal sinus disease., Patients: The study population consisted of 91 patients with pilonidal disease in the sacrococcygeal region who underwent operation between June 2010 and December 2012. All cases underwent eyedrop-shaped excision and modified Limberg flap reconstruction., Results: The mean operative time was 41.2 ± 6.7 minutes. All patients were followed up for >8 months, and the mean follow-up period was 13.1 ± 3.7 months. There were three wound dehiscences because of fecal contamination and riding cycle on postoperative Day 5. Seroma and flap echimosis were observed in two and four cases, respectively. Five patients experienced recurrence in this series (4.5%)., Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that use of the eyedrop-shaped modified Limberg flap is associated with a lower maceration and recurrence rate when compared with the available data on the use of the Limberg flap. Flap necrosis and wound healing was better, and the routine use of drains did not affect the wound-related complications and recurrence rates., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.)

Objective: In this study, we compared the changes in arterial stiffness in chronic hemodialysis patients treated with 8-h vs. 4-h thrice weekly in-center hemodialysis., Methods: Sixty prevalent chronic hemodialysis patients assigned to 8-h nocturnal in-center thrice weekly HD (NHD) and 60 control cases assigned to 4-h thrice weekly conventional HD (CHD) were followed for one year. Radial-carotid pulse wave velocity, augmentation index and echocardiography were performed at baseline and 12th month., Results: Mean age of the patients was 49±11 years, 30.8% were female, 27.5% had diabetes mellitus and mean dialysis vintage was 57±47 months. Baseline demographical, clinical and laboratory parameters were similar between groups. During a mean follow-up of 15.0±0.1 months, blood pressure remained similar in both groups while the number of mean daily anti-hypertensive substances decreased in the NHD group. In the NHD group, time-averaged serum phosphorus and calcium-phosphorus product were lower than the CHD group. Pulse wave velocity and augmentation index decreased in the NHD group (from 11.02±2.51 m/s to 9.61±2.39 m/s and from 28.8±10.3% to 26.2±12.1%; p=0.008 and p=0.04, respectively). While augmentation index increased in the CHD group (28.0±9.4 to 31.0±10.7%, p=0.02), pulse wave velocity did not change. Subendocardial viability ratio and ejection duration improved in the NHD group (from 135±28 to 143±25%, p=0.01 and from 294±34 ms to 281±34 ms, p=0.003, respectively), accompanied by regression of left ventricular mass index. In multiple stepwise linear regression analyses, NHD was associated with improvements in augmentation index, ejection duration and subendocardial viability ratio., Conclusions: These data indicate that arterial stiffness is ameliorated by implementation of longer hemodialysis sessions., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Epidemiological characteristics of sarcoidosis differ according to geographical distribution. The aim of our study was to disclose epidemiological characteristics in our country. The data was collected from investigators, who sent information on newly-diagnosed patients via internet. In 2 years 198 female and 95 male patients were enrolled to the study (f/m:2.08). Mean age of patients was 44+/-13 years (17-90). Mean age of male patients was 38+/-12 while mean age of female patients was 48+/-13 (p<0.001). 73.4% of patients were nonsmokers (85.4% of females; 48.4% of males; (p<0.001)). About 50% of our 293 patients were housewives. Familial sarcoidosis was found in 3 patients' first degree relatives. Estimated annual incidence of sarcoidosis for Turkey was calculated as 4 per 100,000 person. According to our study, 2/3 of sarcoidosis patients were women; mean age of patients was 45 and the disease began 10 years later in female patients. 80% of patients were nonsmokers; negative relation between sarcoidosis and smoking was evident especially in women. Familial sarcoidosis frequency was lower compared to other studies in the literature. There was no occupational exposure history in our patients. Our incidence rate, is similar with the results of other European studies.

The native and treated fungal biomass of Phanerocheate chrysosporium was used for the biosorption of a textile dye (i.e., Reactive Blue 4). In the batch system, the biosorption equilibrium time was about 4 h and the maximum dye uptake on all the tested fungal biomass preparations was observed at pH 3.0. The dye uptake capacities of the biosorbents at 600 mg L(-1) dye concentration were found to be 132.5, 156.9, 147.6 and 81.1 mg g(-1) for native and heat-, acid- and base-treated dry fungal preparations, respectively. The dye uptake capacity order of the fungal preparations was found as heat-treated>acid-treated>native>base-treated. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption models were used for the mathematical description of the biosorption equilibrium. The Freundlich and Temkin models were able to describe the biosorption equilibrium of Reactive Blue 4 on native and treated fungal preparations. The dye biosorption on the fungal biomass preparations followed Ritchie kinetic model. Biosorption of the dye from aqueous solution was also investigated in a continuous flow system. The maximum biosorption capacity of the heat-treated fungal biomass P. chrysosporium was 211.6 mg (g dry biomass)(-1) at an initial dye concentration of 600 mg L(-1) and at a flow rate of 20 mL h(-1).

The untreated, heat- and alkali-treated Lentinus sajor-caju mycelia were used for the recovery of uranium from aqueous solutions. The effect of pH, temperature, initial concentration of UO(2)(2+) ions and contact time parameters were investigated in a batch system. The particles sizes of the fungal mycelia were ranging from 100 to 200 microm. Biosorption equilibriums were established in about 30 min and the correlation regression coefficients show that the adsorption process can be well defined by the Freundlich equation. The alkali treated form had a high biosorption capacity (378 mg/g) than those of the untreated (268 mg/g) and heat-treated fungal mycelia (342 mg/g). Optimum biosorption was observed at pH 4.5 for all the tested fungal preparations and was independent of temperature (5-35 degrees C). In addition, the polarity and surface energy of the fungal biomass film preparations were determined by contact angle measurement. The fungal biomass could be regenerated using 10mM sodium carbonate, with up to 93% recovery. The biosorbents were used in six biosorption-desorption cycles and no considerable loss in the biosorption capacity was observed.

The hexavalent chromium biosorption onto untreated and heat-, acid- and alkali-treated Lentinus sajor-caju mycelia were studied from aqueous solutions. The particles sizes of the fungal mycelia ranged from 100 to 200 microm. The effect of pH, temperature, biosorbent dose, initial concentration of chromium ions, contact time parameters were investigated in a batch system. Biosorption equilibrium was established in about 4 h. The surface charge density of the fungal preparations varied with pH, and the maximum absorption of chromium ions on the fungal preparations were obtained at pH 2.0. The biosorption of chromium ions by the tested fungal preparations increased as the initial concentration of chromium ions increased in the medium. The maximum biosorption capacities of the untreated and heat, HCl- and NaOH-treated fungal biomass were 0.363, 0.613, 0.478 and 0.513 mmol Cr6+ per gram of dry biomass, respectively. The correlation regression coefficients and the Langmuir constant values show that the biosorption process can be well defined by Langmuir equation. The chromium adsorption data were analysed using the first- and the second-order kinetic models. The first-order equation is the most appropriate equation to predict the biosorption capacities of all the fungal preparations. In addition, the polarity and surface energy of the untreated and all the modified biomass film preparations were determined by contact angle measurement. All the tested fungal biomass preparations could be regenerated using 0.1 M NaOH solution.

Background: Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from the existing vascular bed, is essential step for the growth and invasion of the primary tumor. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to play crucial role in tumor angiogenesis. Increased serum VEGF levels may be associated with poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)., Methodology: In the present study, we measured plasma VEGF levels in 20 normal subjects and 75 patients with untreated NSCLC; 23 operable (stages I, II, IIIA) and 52 inoperable (stages IIIB, IV) (Histology: squamous cell carcinoma, 40; adenocarcinoma, 27; undetermined, 8). VEGF was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay., Results: The median VEGF level in patient group was 119 pg/ml (29-1235), which was significantly higher than the control group (P = 0.044). Median survival of patients was 210 days (30-220). The patients were divided into high VEGF (> 119 pg/ml) and low VEGF (< 119 pg/ml) groups using the median value as a cut-off. It was investigated if there were significant associations between serum VEGF level and clinico-pathological parameters like age, sex, histopathological diagnosis and TNM staging. Also high VEGF and low VEGF patient groups were compared according to the median survival., Conclusions: Serum VEGF level is significantly associated with the clinical staging of the patients (operable and inoperable) (P = 0.031) and it also correlates with the prognosis of the patients (P = 0.0006).