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Kadir Eltutar, Fahreddin Acar, Nurhan Dincer, Sibel Zirtiloglu, Erkan Unsal Istanbul Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of intravitreal bevacizumab injection in the treatment of macular thickness and reduced visual acuity in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion. Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated 15 eyes of 15 consecutive patients diagnosed with branch retinal vein occlusion between May 2008 and June 2011 at our institution. Detailed ophthalmologic examination, optical coherence tomography, and/or fundus fluorescein angiography was performed at diagnosis and during follow-up. A 1.25 mg intravitreal bevacizumab injection was administered to all patients on average 2.73 (1–7) times. Visual acuity and macular thickness were evaluated before and after treatment. Results: Eleven patients were female (73.3%) and four were male (26.6%). The mean patient age was 62.6 years. The patients were followed for a mean of 11.4 (range 4–24) months. Mean best-corrected visual acuity was 0.92 ± 0.52 logMAR (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) before treatment and 0.66 ± 0.42 logMAR at the last examination. The increase in visual acuity was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.031). Mean macular thickness was 395.46 ± 106.55 µm before treatment and 302.26 ± 84.6 µm after the final treatment. The decrease in macular thickness was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Intravitreal bevacizumab injection was effective for treatment of retinal vein branch occlusion. Keywords: branch retinal vein occlusion, bevacizumab, macular thickness, optical coherence tomography

Nuclear protein in testis (NUT) carcinoma is a rare neoplasm arising mainly from midline structures. It is an aggressive type of carcinoma associated with poor survival despite the use of multiple treatment modalities. Here, we present a case of a 17-year-old paediatric patient with NUT carcinoma of larynx, which is even rarer among all reported cases. The patient underwent surgery followed by radiotherapy and systemic treatment and he died 15 months after the diagnosis. The management of this rare disease requires further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to investigate whether adult education (AE) can be used as a tool in facilitating transitions to/in the labor market, using the cross-sectional Adult Education Survey of Turkey (2012). AE is defined as the nonformal education for individuals aged older than 25 years. The outcome of AE is measured by changing jobs for employed and finding a job for the unemployed. Concentrating on employed people, we analyze both the determinants and the outcome of participation in AE for the purpose of changing jobs; and second, concentrating on unemployed people, we analyze both the determinants and the outcome of participation in AE for the purpose of getting employed. We find that once young males who are already working participate in AE for changing work, independent of their education or how AE is financed, they can be successful in doing so. The results of the paper suggest that AE programs offered by the government can serve as a tool in increasing income of the less educated and the unemployed by facilitating their transition to the labor market.

The aim of this study is to identify the determinants of participation in adult education in Turkey. The analysis is conducted using the Adult Education Survey (AES), conducted by TurkStat. The results indicate that economic growth in the sector of employment significantly and positively affects the odds for adult education participation. The data also show that the characteristics of men and women who take courses in the most popular fields of education vary. For example, younger, more educated, and employed individuals are more likely to take part in adult education activities in Turkey. A person with no education or only a primary school education is not as active in adult education, independent of gender. The results of this study indicate that policy makers in countries like Turkey need a strategy for encouraging adult education participation among individuals with limited formal education.

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Turkey is a developing, small, open economy with a volatile growth pattern. One of the major problems of its economy is the current account deficit (CAD) problem. Analyzing the current account deficit, one faces more than one transmission channel: (i) credit growth would increase GDP growth and the CAD; (ii) increases in growth would cause real exchange rate appreciation, thereby increasing imports and the CAD; and (iii) increases in capital inflows would result in exchange rate appreciation, which would stimulate imports and discourage exports, increasing the CAD. This article analyzes these transmission mechanisms to CAD by using a vector autoregression (VAR) methodology for the period 1987Q1 to 2011Q4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erkan Ünsal, Kadir Eltutar, Sibel Zirtiloğlu, Nurhan Dinçer, Sezin Özdoğan Erkul, Hülya GüngelDepartment of Ophthalmology, Istanbul Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, TurkeyPurpose: The aim of the study reported here was to assess choroidal thickness (CT) and central macular thickness (CMT) in patients with diabetic retinopathy.Materials and methods: A total of 151 eyes from 80 patients from the retina department of Istanbul Training and Research Hospital who had type 2 diabetes mellitus with diabetic retinopathy were studied retrospectively in this cross-sectional research. Patients were divided into three groups: mild–moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy without macular edema (NPDR), mild–moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy with macular edema (DME), and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). In addition, 40 eyes of 20 healthy individuals comprised a control group. Choroidal thickness was measured from the posterior edge of the retinal pigment epithelium to the choroid/sclera junction at 500-µm intervals up to 1,500 µm temporal and nasal to the fovea. The CMT measurement was obtained for each eye. Serum hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels were measured.Results: The study included 191 eyes, comprising 151 eyes of 80 patients and 40 eyes of 20 healthy individuals. Of the 151 patient eyes, 61 had NPDR, 62 had PDR, and 28 eyes had DME. There was no statistically significant difference in age between the groups (P>0.05). In both the PDR and DME groups, the CT was statistically significantly decreased compared with the control group (P

Purpose: Stereotactic body radiotherapy is pivotal in the treatment of lung tumors, demonstrating effective local control. However, challenges persist with intra-fractional anatomical changes and organs at risk during delivery. Magnetic resonance-guided online adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy (MRgSBRT) represents a novel technique promising to achieve safe delivery of ablative doses with improved outcomes for primary lung tumors or lung oligometastases., Methods: In this single-institution retrospective analysis, we evaluated 64 patients (92 lesions) with primary lung cancer or lung oligometastases treated with MRgSBRT. Using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test; we estimated local control (LC), local progression-free survival (LPFS), distant progression-free survival (DPFS), and overall survival (OS)., Results: A total of 64 patients (92 lesions) treated with MRgSBRT were included comprising 14.1% primary lung cancer lesions and 85.9% lung oligometastases. Median total dose, fraction number, fraction dose and BED 10 were 50 Gy (range, 21-70 Gy), 5 (range, 1-10), 10 Gy (range, 6-34 Gy), 100 Gy (range, 48-180.0 Gy) respectively. Of the 420 fractions administered, 88.6% (n = 372) involved on-table adapted plans. Median LPFS was not reached and the 1‑ and 3‑year LPFS rates were 96.3% (95% CI 92.4-100.0%) and 86.4% (95% CI 76.9-95.9%), respectively. No local recurrences were observed post-treatment with a total dose of > 50 Gy, BED10 > 100 Gy, fractional dose of > 10 Gy or a CCI > 0.96., Conclusion: Our study of MRgSBRT in 92 lung lesions revealed a 1-year and 3‑year LPFS rates of 96.3 and 86.4%, respectively without ≥ grade 3 toxicity. Future prospective studies evaluating lung MRgSBRT are awaited., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: G. Ugurluer, N. Dincer, T.Z. Mustafayev, G. Gungor, M.U. Abacioglu, M. Sengoz, E. Ozyar and B. Atalar declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: The standard of care in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) is concomitant chemoradiotherapy followed by high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT). Although previous studies compared HDR-BT with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), there is scarce data regarding the dosimetric outcomes of stereotactic MR-guided adaptive radiation therapy (SMART) boost in lieu of HDR-BT., Methods and Materials: In this single-institutional in-silico comparative study, LACC patients who were definitively treated with external beam radiotherapy followed by HDR-BT were selected. Target volumes and organs at risk (OARs) were delineated in MRI and HDR-planning CT. An HDR-BT and a SMART boost plan were generated with a prescribed dose of 28 Gy in four fractions for all patients. The HDR-BT and SMART boost plans were compared in regard to target coverage as well OARs doses., Results: Mean EQD2 D90 to HR-CTV and IR-CTV for HDR-BT plans were 89.7 and 70.5 Gy, respectively. For SMART, the mean EQD2 D90 to HR-PTV, HR-CTV, and IR-CTV were 82.9, 95.4, and 70.2 Gy, respectively. The mean D 2cc EQD2 of bladder, rectum, and sigmoid colon for HDR-BT plans were 86.4, 70.7, and 65.7 Gy, respectively. The mean D 2cc EQD2 of bladder, rectum, and sigmoid colon for SMART plans were 81.4, 70.8, and 73.6 Gy, respectively. All dose constraints in terms of target coverage and OARs constraints were met for both HDR-BT and SMART plans., Conclusions: This dosimetric study demonstrates that SMART can be applied in cases where HDR-BT is not available or ineligible with acceptable target coverage and OAR sparing. However, prospective clinical studies are needed to validate these results., (Copyright © 2023 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The genito-urinary system is one of the most common areas of involvement in brucellosis. To present the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of patients with testicular involvement associated with brucellosis, together with the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches., Methodology: Patients followed up for brucellosis-related testicular involvement between January 2012 and November 2022 were included in the study. Brucellosis is defined as the production of Brucella spp. in cultures, or clinical symptoms together with the serum standard tube agglutination test titer of ≥ 1/160. Inflammation in scrotal Doppler ultrasonography was based on testicular involvement., Results: A retrospective evaluation was made of the data of 194 patients with brucellosis-related testicular involvement. The rate of determination of testicular involvement in brucellosis was 2.57%. The most affected patients were determined in the 16-30 years age range. On presentation, brucellosis was in the acute stage in 83.7% of patients. The most common symptoms on presentation were swelling and/or pain in the testes (86.6%). In the patients where a spermiogram could be performed, oligospermia was determined in 41.7%, and aspermia in 8.3%. When the testicular involvement of brucellosis was evaluated, epididymo-orchitis was present at the rate of 55.7%, epididymitis at 27.3%, and testis abscess at 5.1%., Conclusions: Although epididymo-orchitis was the most frequently determined form of involvement in this study, there was also seen to be a significant number of patients presenting with epididymitis. Male patients presented with the clinical status of brucellosis should be questioned about swelling and pain in the testes to avoid overlooking testicular involvement., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2023 Mehmet Celik, Fethiye Akgul, Sevil Alkan, Deniz Altındag, Fatih Esmer, Ahmet Sahin, Davut Ipek, Yeliz Cicek, Esra Gurbuz, Mehmet Resat Ceylan, Nevin Guler Dincer.)