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Copyright of Archives of the Turkish Society of Cardiology / Türk Kardiyoloji Derneği Arşivi is the property of KARE Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses chronic inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Various parameters, scoring systems, and imaging methods are used to evaluate disease activity and treatment outcomes. Ultrasound elastography is a noninvasive, radiation-free method that assesses intestinal fibrosis and activity. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound elastography in assessing disease activity in IBD patients, both in remission and active phases. Methods: This prospective descriptive study included 38 patients with ulcerative colitis and 22 with Crohn’s disease. Disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients was evaluated using the Mayo score, Truelove-Witts score, and Endoscopic Activity Index (EAI), while Crohn’s disease patients were assessed using the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Harvey Bradshaw Index (HBI). Patients were categorized according to disease activity. An experienced radiologist used 2D shear wave elastography (SWE) to measure intestinal stiffness in kilopascals (kPa). Statistical analysis was conducted using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Mann-Whitney U tests. The ROC curve and Youden Index were applied to determine the cut-off value for diagnostic accuracy. Results: The mean age of the patients was 43.4±14.5 years. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between intestinal wall thickness and HBI, CDAI, ESR, and CRP in the Crohn’s disease group (P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.005, P=0.001, respectively). In the ulcerative colitis group, a statistically significant correlation was also observed between intestinal wall thickness and TWS, Mayo score, EAI, ESR, and CRP (P<0.001, P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.027, P<0.001, respectively). Additionally, a statistically significant correlation was found between tissue stiffness and HBI, CDAI, and CRP in Crohn’s disease, and between tissue stiffness and TWS, Mayo score, EAI, ESR, and CRP in ulcerative colitis. Conclusion: The study revealed a statistically significant correlation between stiffness measurements (kPa) obtained through 2D-SWE, intestinal wall thickness measured by transabdominal ultrasound, and disease activity scores. 2D-SWE is a valuable tool that can complement other clinical indicators in evaluating disease activity in IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joseph Fewsmith's book, "Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927-1934," offers a fresh perspective on the early years of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Fewsmith argues that the conventional history, which focuses on Mao Zedong's central role, overlooks the contributions of local revolutionaries like those in the Donggu Revolutionary Base Area. By examining the relationship between local and non-local revolutionaries, Fewsmith demonstrates how the CPC transformed from a fragmented movement into a disciplined Leninist party. The book explores topics such as the collapse of the United Front, the role of educated local youth in grassroots party organizations, Mao's land policy, and the sufan campaign against counterrevolutionaries. Fewsmith's analysis sheds light on the complex dynamics within the CPC during this crucial period of Chinese history. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Hitit Medical Journal is the property of Hitit Medical Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Determination of the optimal route in transportation activities is one of the major problems in transportation. Therefore, efficient techniques deserve our utmost attention to detect optimal routes. In this study, a novel method called Cluster Path Covering (CPC) has been developed and introduced to identify a route based on a sequence of location points on a network. There are already models to minimize the total path cost between the pair of nodes following a kind of sequence. However, our method aims to minimize the path cost, including the neighbourhood accessibility of the path nodes on the network. One of the major challenges for the new model is to reveal the accessibility costs between the nodes. The methodology presents the CPC method clustering the location points on a network and indicating the optimum point for each cluster. Then, the CPC method generates the best path by connecting the specific location points representing the clusters. Moreover, the shortest covering of the neighbourhood path problem (SCNPP) is introduced in this study. The novel CPC method is utilized for SCNPP, a distinctive version of the shortest covering path problem (SCPP). The performance of the CPC method is then tested on two different benchmark networks. According to the results, it provides robust and efficient outcomes for decreasing the routes' transportation costs (e.g., distances). The issues that can be solved via the CPC method include the accessibility costs of public transportation paths and the locations of stops by minimizing the costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Adnan. Ekinci, Emre. Demir, Halil. Ekinci Background: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is a common disease characterized by single or multiple, self-healing, well-circumscribed, periodic ulcers occurring in the oral cavity. Although [...]