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The aim of this study is to provide information about microstructural and thermal properties of tungsten-based composites. Phase composition and microstructural characterization of tungsten composites were performed using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Raman Spectroscopy. SEM images revealed the distribution of tungsten (W), vanadium carbide (VC) and graphite (C) powders in the tungsten matrix. The Raman spectra showed two major peaks, which are recorded at 1331 (vs) cm−1, and 1583 (vs) cm−1. These bands can be attributed to disorder graphite (D) and graphite (G). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements were performed to determine the weight loss and thermal stability of the tungsten-based composites under argon gas atmosphere and at high temperatures. TGA measurements were performed to determine weight loss and thermal stability of tungsten-based composites under argon gas atmosphere and at high temperatures. The TG curve showed a slight weight loss in this temperature range. Mass loss is thought to be due to oxidation and gas desorption of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kumquat puree, with the initial moisture content of 81.02 ± 0.8 (w.b) on wet basis, were dried using two different methods, microwave, and fan assisted hot air microwave (FAHA) until moisture content of kumquat was reduced to average of 25.02 ± 1.35 w.b. Microwave trials at 1.8 , 3.6, and 5.4 Wg- 1 lasted for 51, 19 and 12 min, respectively. FAHA trials at 1.8 , 3.6, and 5.4 Wg-1 at 100 ˚C and 1.8 , 3.6, and 5.4 Wg-1 at 150 ˚C lasted for 46, 38, 18, 15, 12 and 11 minutes, respectively. For foam drying, Soy protein (1%) and Maltodextrin (1%) were used as foaming agent, and carboxymethyl cellulose (1%) was used as foam stabilizer. After the drying trials, dried kumquat was powdered. The scope of this study, a comparison of measurements of moisture with that of the predicted results was made, obtained from 13 thin layer drying models. Further, drying rate, color parameter and energy consumptions were compared for each trial. For all microwave and FAHA trials, Kulcu et. al. (Unpublished) model was the most appropriate models depending on lowest chi-square value and root mean square error values. Color and specific energy consumptions (SEC) were categorized by using (SPSS) and chosen the best efficiency condition for drying as considering SEC. The most suitable drying process according to SEC was obtained at 5.4 Wg-1 microwave drying method with value of 1.94 Whg-1.

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Objective: The aim of the study is determination of myocardial performance index (MPI/Tei index) using pulsed (PD) and tissue Doppler (TD) techniques to show cardiac response in newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and healthy newborns and eventually evaluation of the differences between these two techniques. Methods: The study is a prospective observational study. Twenty term newborns diagnosed as perinatal asphyxia during postnatal 24 hours due to the defined criteria and fifty healthy term neonates as control group were included the study. Hypoxic group was divided into two groups with Sarnat stages, Sarnat Stage 1 and 2-3. MPIs (Tei indexes) were calculated with PD and TD echocardiographic techniques in all groups after the 24 hours of birth and one year later. The statistical differences between same techniques were calculated with Kruskal-Wallis test and Z score was used to compare the superiority of two techniques. Results: The MPI values calculated by PD (0.41±0.04, 0.51±0.02) and TD (0.59±0.04, 0.51±0.02) during the first day of life in Sarnat Stage 2-3 in both ventricles were significantly higher than the control group (p<0.01, p<0.02, p<0.03). While the Z score, calculated for MPI measured by PD and TD methods, were found similar in both ventricles in Sarnat Stage 1 and control groups, it was significantly different in other groups of Sarnat stages. Conclusion: The degree of cardiac response in neonates with HIE is associated with the severity of hypoxia. MPI values are not different from the controls in newborns received mild hypoxia while they are higher in the patients who were received moderate or severe hypoxia. Any advantage could not be found between two techniques according to the measurement values, but higher variability in the value of MPI, measured by TD method, calculated from moderate and severe hypoxia group was detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: To compare echocardiographic findings of infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs), macrosomic infants of nondiabetic mothers and healthy full term appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants. METHODS: Included in this study were 83 infants, admitted to our Neonatology Unit. Thirty-three IDMs, including both macrosomic and nonmacrosomic, comprised Group A, 25 macrosomic infants of nondiabetic mothers comprised group B, and 25 healthy full term AGA infants comprised group C. Echocardiographic measurements were performed in the first three days after birth and compared by using one-way ANOVA, Post Hoc Tukey HSD and Student's t tests. RESULTS: The left ventricular end-systolic/left ventricular end-diastolic diameter ratio of group A was significantly smaller than that of group C (P<0.05). The interventricular septum/posterior wall thickness ratios of groups A and B were greater than those of group C (P<0.05). The left ventricular mass index of group A was greater than those of groups B and C (P<0.05). The shortening fraction and ejection fraction of group A were increased in comparison to group C (P<0.05). When comparing the values of echocardiographic measurements of macrosomic IDMs (n=9) with nonmacrosomic ones (n=24), and infants of pregestational diabetic mothers (n=11) with those of gestational diabetes mothers (n=22), no statistical difference was found. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that underlying mechanisms common to both macrosomic infants of nondiabetic mothers and IDMs lead to less cardiac alterations in the macrosomic infants of nondiabetic mothers than in IDMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benzathine penicillin G (BPG) is effective for secondary prophylaxis of rheumatic fever (RF). However, interval between injections a remains a controversial matter. In a study population of 74 patients, following the initial diagnosis of RF, 3-weekly BPG (1.2 million units) regimen was started. During the first three-week period, serum penicillin concentrations were examined on the 7th, 14th and 21st days and throat culture done for group-A b hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infection. Ten patients (13.5%) at 21st day of injection had low serum penicillin concentration after the first BPG. GABHS was isolated in 5 patients during this period. Although two of these 5 patients had symptoms of respiratory tract infection, according to laboratory data, the other three were accepted as carriers. All 74 patients were then followed-up for rheumatic recurrence (RR) during long-term period (6 to 60 months, mean 25 +/- 5 months). There was no RR among regular (missing no more than one injection a year) group. We concluded that 3-weekly BPG regimen was satisfactory for secondary prophylaxis in RF, even though serum penicillin level was inadequate during the third week in some of the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study was performed to investigate the level of serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a specific marker for myocardial cell damage, in the acute rheumatic carditis (RC).Methods: Twenty seven consecutive patients with acute RC and 23 healthy children were enrolled.Result: cTnI level in both groups showed no statistical difference (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Serum cTnI level did not gain clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma (PACC) is a rare pancreatic tumor with a heterogeneous clinical course and, except for radical surgery, limited treatment options. We present a comprehensive study encompassing whole-genome and RNA sequencing of 7 tumor samples from 3 metastatic PACC patients to further delineate its genomic landscape and potential therapeutic implications. Our findings reveal distinct signatures of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) in patients harboring pathogenic germline BRCA1/2 and FANCL mutations, demonstrating favorable responses to poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP) inhibitors with prolonged disease-free intervals. Additionally, we first describe structural variants in PACC, including BRCA1::TRIM47 fusion and another variant impacting FANCC, both events related to HRD, and we also identify alterations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, including RAF1 duplication as well as novel BRAF::SORBS2 and MAP7D2::SND1 gene fusions, offering potential targets for therapy. Our study underscores the importance of genome and transcriptome-wide profiling of PACC, to help guide personalized treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Kevin Hadi reports a relationship with Isabl Inc that includes: employment. Juan S. Medina-Martinez reports a relationship with Isabl Inc that includes: employment. Aditya Deshpande reports a relationship with Isabl Inc that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Competing interest Kevin Hadi, Aditya Deshpande and Juan S. Medina-Martinez are employees at Isabl, Inc., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Leech therapy has been utilized in modern and traditional medicine. Leech saliva contains versatile peptides and molecules that can exert anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulant, and analgesic activities on the patients. The active components and molecular mechanism of action of these components should be deciphered properly in order to generate biotechnological drug candidates by recombinant production of the leech saliva peptides. In our study, we conducted LC-MS/MS and proteomics analysis on the lyophilized leech saliva extract to determine the components of it. Moreover, this extract was tested on the in vitro-activated macrophages. The extract decreased the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines by the activated mammalian macrophages compared to the positive control groups. These results suggest that the lyophilized leech saliva can be utilized as an anti-inflammatory biotechnological drug candidate against inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. In vitro studies will be conducted to further decipher the most active ingredients in the leech saliva. These active components will be tested on the animal models of the inflammatory and autoimmune disorders to show their drug potential., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: All authors have seen and approved the final version of the submitted article. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: The 2020 American Cancer Society guidelines preferred primary human papillomavirus (HPV) screening for cervical cancer prevention. Studies investigating the role of cytology in detection of cervical precancer/cancer have focused on high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) or worse interpretations. Here, we have examined the significance of all those cytology results that require histologic follow-up as per the current management guidelines, regardless of the HPV test result., Materials and Methods: A database search (September 2010 to December 2019) retrieved cervical Papanicolaou tests with any of the following interpretations: ≥ atypical squamous cells - cannot exclude HSIL or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, HSIL cannot be excluded, and ≥ atypical glandular cells, not otherwise specified and its subcategories. Of these, those with concurrent negative HPV test result were included for further analysis. For this cohort, relevant clinical history and histologic follow-up (within 1 year) were recorded., Results: The study cohort comprised 763 patients. Of them, 586 (76.8%) patients had histologic follow-up: 53 (9.0%) had ≥ HSIL/adenocarcinoma in situ; of which, 43 (81.1%) had prior abnormal cytology/histology/not otherwise specified history and/or HPV positivity, and 66 (11.3%) had HPV-unassociated neoplasia; of which, 60 (90.9%) had a known diagnosis or clinical signs/symptoms of the disease., Conclusion: With widespread adoption of risk-based approach to management, the role of cytology, by itself, will likely diminish in the detection of HPV-associated lesions. Additional data regarding the role of cytology in the screening of patients with no/unknown/limited history and in the detection/management of HPV-independent lesions may be helpful for designing future screening guidelines., (Copyright © 2023 American Society of Cytopathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the 3-dimensional changes in upper airway space of class 3 patients after surgery with sleep-related breathing disturbance. This is a retrospective cohort study included 25 patients who had undergone bimaxillary orthognathic surgery with maxillary advancement and mandibular setback for skeletal class 3 deformity. The changes in minimum axial area, nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal airway volume were determined by cone-beam computed tomography images, as well as the sleep parameters by polysomnography preoperatively and postoperatively. The impacts of mandibular setback and maxillary advancement amounts on the airway structures were evaluated and compared with other parameters. The results show that pharyngeal volume measurement means were found to be significantly increased postoperatively ( P <0.05). No significant difference was observed in the mean values of minimum axial area and sleep parameters after the operation ( P> 0.05). A positive relationship was determined between the oropharyngeal volume and minimum axial area changes at a rate of 60% ( r : 0.600). No relationship was revealed between airway volume changes and polysomnographic parameters. An increase in the total airway volume and no postoperative sleep-related disturbance symptoms were observed in the patients treated by maxillary advancement and mandibular setback surgery., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.)

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between internal derangement and morphological features of the temporomandibular joint by comparing joint morphology between patients with ID and control patients., Methods: The current study prospectively is evaluated the cone-beam computed images of 106 ID patients and 122 patients with asymptomatic joints; recorded angular and linear measurements. The relationships between these measurements and ID are investigated; the differences between the two groups using paired t tests., Results: There were significant differences in the values of articular slope and the condyle height/glenoid fossa depth (CH/GFD) ratio between patients in the ID and control groups (p < 0.05). There was also a relationship between these parameters and the gender of patients with ID. The condylar position was posterior in the ID group., Conclusion: Posteriorly and superiorly located condyles with an increased CH/GFD ratio, condyles located eccentrically, and a steeper posterior slope may be risk factors for ID., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japanese Society for Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.)

Competing Interests: None disclosed.

Purpose: The attitudes of healthcare workers toward COVID-19 vaccines ensure that health services are able to run without interruption and potentially have a role in the messaging about vaccination that they convey to the public. Hence, healthcare workers' attitudes ultimately have a significant role in controlling the pandemic. This study aimed to qualitatively investigate the attitudes of healthcare workers in Turkey in relation to COVID-19 vaccines., Methods: The study used the phenomenological approach. The sample consisted of 36 healthcare workers who were employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected online using focus group interviews. A total of four focus group interviews were conducted., Findings: Following analysis of the data, the attitudes of healthcare workers in Turkey toward the COVID-19 vaccine were divided into three themes: "influencing factors," "priority group" and "trust.", Conclusions: Vaccination was found to create negative emotions among some of the healthcare workers. Their opinions about the COVID-19 vaccines were affected by the negative emotions and burnout they experienced during the pandemic. In addition, they saw the vaccination process as impacted by contraindications and uncertainty about the duration of the protection, the balance of the benefits and harm of the vaccines, and by vaccine myths and prejudices about the country where the vaccine was developed. Healthcare professionals expressed the need for trust to be established in the whole vaccination process. They suggested that different vaccine options should be offered, that the appointment and process notification system for vaccination should be improved, that evidence-based information about vaccines should be provided and that a safe environment should be created., Practice Implications: Vaccine hesitancy can be addressed by careful attention to the application of vaccination programs, correct and effective use of social media, transparent, and precise management of political processes, and the provision of evidence-based information about the vaccines., (© 2021 NANDA International, Inc.)

In response to T-dependent Ag, germinal centers (GC) generate bone marrow-resident plasma cells (BMPC) and memory B cells (MBC). In this study, we demonstrate that the bone morphogenetic protein receptor 1A (BMPR1A) signaling pathway, which regulates differentiation and self-renewal in multiple stem cell populations, regulates GC dynamics and resultant establishment of BMPC and MBC. Expression studies using quantitative PCR and novel Bmpr1a IRES.EGFP reporter mice demonstrated that Bmpr1a expression is upregulated among GC B cells (GCBC) and subsets of MBC, bone marrow plasmablasts, and BMPC. In immunized mice carrying B cell-targeted Bmpr1a gene deletions, the GC response was initially diminished. Subsequently, the GCBC compartment recovered in size, concurrent with accumulation of GCBC that carried unmodified rather than deleted Bmpr1a alleles. Similarly, the resulting class-switched MBC and BMPC carried retained non-recombined alleles. Despite the strong selective pressure for "leaky" B cells that retained Bmpr1a , there was a permanent marked reduction in switched bone marrow Ab-forming cells (plasmablasts + plasma cells), BMPC, MBC, and Ag-specific serum IgM in mice carrying B cell-targeted Bmpr1a gene deletions. These findings demonstrate a novel role for BMPR1A in the modulation of the B cell response and in the establishment of long-term memory., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors.)

Antibodies are key components of the skin immune barrier, and antibodies directed toward skin structures can result in disease. Wilson et al. (2019) show that healthy skin is a niche for antibody secreting plasma cells and plasmablasts, and that inflammation and immunization increase their numbers. This work advances our understanding of skin associated B and plasma cells in health and disease., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study was performed in order to study the prevalence of Pediculus humanus capitis (P. h. capitis)., Methods: The study was carried out on pupils between 5-15 years old in a school and kindergarden belonging to the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Stock Exchange Organization in Van City between November-December 2007. The hair of 863 pupils (especially the neck and the back of head areas), 385 girls and 478 boys, were examined for eggs, nymphs and adults of P. h. capitis. A questionnaire was given to the pupils, which was collected the following day. Lice and their eggs/nits, which were removed from the head of children were transferred to a bottle containing 5% glycerin in 70% ethyl alcohol. Later they were sent to the Parasitology Laboratory of the Health Research and Training Hospital of Yüzüncü Yıl University., Results: Eggs/nits were found in 164 (42.6%) of the girls and in 34 (7.1%) of the boys (overall 198 (22.9%) infested pupils). The prevalence of P. h. capitis was high, especially in girls., Conclusion: The infestation rates observed and the evaluation of the questionnaire showed that there is a statistically significant relationships between pediculosis capitis and sex, level of family income, education level of the mother, number of baths taken per weekly, number of family members living in the same home, room number per capita, and hair length (p<0.001). However, there was no significant relationship between pediculosis capitis and cleaning materials used to wash the head (p>0.05).