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Objective: Acute pain after cesarean section (CS) can affect the quality of life of patients. This study aimed to assess the impact of bilateral erector spinae plane block (ESPB) under spinal anaesthesia on postoperative pain, analgesic usage, and patient satisfaction in elective CS., Methods: A total of 116 ASA II females aged 18-45 years who had elective CS were included in this prospective randomized study. Adjusted for the patient's height and weight, 0.5% bupivacaine and 12.5 μg fentanyl were administered for spinal anaesthesia. In the ESPB group, ultrasonography-guided ESPB with 10 mL 0.5% bupivacaine+10 mL saline was applied bilaterally at the T12 vertebrae level at the end of the surgery. Postoperative analgesia was planned with diclofenac and paracetamol. Patients' satisfaction, analgesic usage, rest, movement, cough, and low back pain were evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) at postoperative hours 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24. The extent of the sensory block level of ESPB was evaluated after the spinal anaesthesia had worn off., Results: The analysis included 49 patients in the ESPB group and 50 in the control group with comparable demographics. Rest, movement, and cough VAS scores were substantially lower at the 2 nd , 4 th , 6 th , and 12 th h in the ESPB group, and satisfaction was better. Total analgesic consumption and the need for rescue analgesics were higher in the control group. VAS scores and ESPB spread levels are negatively correlated., Conclusion: As a safe component of multimodal analgesia following CS, bilateral ESPB can be effectively performed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (©Copyright 2024 by the Turkish Anesthesiology and Reanimation Association / Turkish Journal of Anaesthesiology & Reanimation is published by Galenos Publishing House.)

Background and Objectives : The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of adjuvant letrozole administration during ovarian stimulation using the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol on treatment outcomes in women categorized into POSEIDON groups 3 and 4. Materials and Methods : This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from patients classified into POSEIDON groups 3 and 4 who underwent fresh embryo transfer subsequent to intracytoplasmic sperm injection following a GnRH antagonist stimulation protocol between January 2017 and December 2021. Patients were divided into two groups: the GnRH-LZ group, who received letrozole at a dosage of 5 mg/day for five consecutive days, and the GnRH-ant group, who did not receive adjuvant letrozole. The primary outcome measure of the study was a comparative analysis of live birth rates between the two groups. Results : A total of 449 patients were deemed suitable for final analysis and were allocated into two groups: 281 patients in the GnRH-ant group and 168 patients in the GnRH-LZ group. Live birth rates were found to be comparable in both groups (11% vs. 9%, p = 0.497). Letrozole administration significantly reduced the total amount of gonadotropins required (2606.2 ± 1284.5 vs. 3097.8 ± 1073.3, p < 0.001), the duration of ovarian stimulation (11.2 ± 3.9 vs. 10.2 ± 3, p = 0.005), and the serum peak estradiol concentration (901.4 ± 599.6 vs. 463.8 ± 312.3, p < 0.001). Conclusions : Adjuvant letrozole administration did not demonstrate a significant impact on live birth rates among women categorized into POSEIDON groups 3 and 4. However, this approach may offer potential cost reductions by diminishing the necessity for exogenous gonadotropins and shortening the duration of ovarian stimulation.

Objective: Despite recent advancements in assisted reproductive technology (ART), the effective management of patients with poor ovarian response (POR) remains a formidable challenge. While various treatment strategies and predictors of live births have been documented to provide guidance to fertility specialists in managing poor responders, research efforts have predominantly encompassed all POSEIDON groups. In this study, our objective was to analyze the factors correlated with live births (LB) within a subset of the POSEIDON groups, with a particular focus on POSEIDON groups 3 and 4., Patients and Methods: Charts of 406 patients belonging to POSEIDON groups 3 and 4 who underwent ART treatment at a university-affiliated infertility clinic following a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist cycle between January 2016 and December 2021 were analyzed. Clinically significant factors associated with live births were incorporated into a logistic regression model for multivariate analysis to ascertain independent predictors of LB. Additionally, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to establish the optimal cut-off values., Results: Live births were achieved in 48 cycles (8.7%). Female age (OR, 0.930; 95% CI: 0.874-0.991; p < 0.024), baseline serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels (OR, 0.854; 95% CI: 0.741-0.984; p < 0.029), and dual triggers (OR, 4.004; 95% CI: 1.290-12.426; p < 0.016) were identified as independent factors associated with LB following multivariate logistic regression analysis. The optimal age cut-off was determined to be 33 years, with a sensitivity of 70.8% and specificity of 75%., Conclusions: Younger age, lower baseline serum LH levels, and dual-trigger administration appear to enhance the likelihood of live birth in POSEIDON groups 3 and 4 following treatments with the GnRH antagonist protocol.

The International Continence Society recommends the supine empty stress test (SEST) as an accessory test in the evaluation of women with urinary incontinence, especially for the presence of intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the SEST and clinical findings in women diagnosed with stress urinary incontinence with single voiding cycle ambulatory urodynamics (AUM). AUM tracings of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS = Lower urinary tract symptoms) ( n = 513) were retrospectively reviewed, and 364 charts with urodynamic SUI were analyzed. Demographics, examination findings, scores of the Sandvik Incontinence Severity Index and validated questionnaires, and AUM findings were compared between SEST-positive and -negative groups. Additionally, the diagnostic accuracy of the SEST in the diagnosis of low abdominal leak point pressure (ALPP ≤ 60 cm H 2 O) in women with pure urodynamic SUI was calculated. The SEST was positive in 41.8% ( n = 152) of the cohort. Women with a positive SEST had higher scores on the Sandvik severity index (9.2 ± 3.6 vs. 7.5 ± 3.8, p = 0.003) and lower ALPP (79.6 ± 29.3 vs. 98.4 ± 31.3, p < 0.001). The negative predictive value of the SEST for ISD was found to be 92.4%. Thus, the SEST seems to be an objective clinical test reflecting urinary incontinence severity while excluding the presence of ISD.

Purpose: Infertility is a stressful condition for couples and can affect patients' circadian rhythm and sleep quality. The goal of this study is to assess differences in chronotype and sleep quality between infertile and fertile people., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The infertile patient population consisted study group. Primiparous patients without any known gynecological disease who presented for routine cervical cancer screening follow-up were included in the control group. The Turkish version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were evaluated between groups., Results: A total of 227 patients were assessed. There were 110 patients in the study (infertile) group and 117 patients in the control (fertile) group. The evening chronotype proportion (23.6 vs. 0.9%, p  < 0.001) was higher in the infertile group. The median of MEQ score was significantly higher in the fertile patients (50, IQR = 43 - 55 vs. 56, IQR = 51 - 59; p  < 0.001), and the median of PSQI score was significantly higher in the infertile patients (5, IQR = 4 - 6, vs. 4, IQR = 3 - 5; p  < 0.001)., Conclusions: In this study, we found significantly worse sleep quality, and more evening chronotype in the patients with infertility.

Introduction: Coital incontinence (CI) is a frequent problem in women with urinary incontinence (UI) with significant impact on female sexuality and quality of life. The underlying mechanism is controversial; it has been known that CI is associated with both stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and detrusor overactivity (DO). However, recently it has been reported that CI is mainly related with SUI and urethral incompetence, but not with DO. Ambulatory urodynamic monitoring (AUM) has been shown to be a sensitive tool for the detection of DO. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical risk factors for CI and the association of CI with urodynamic diagnoses at single voiding cycle AUM., Methods: Records of sexually active women with urinary incontinence attending the urogynaecology unit of a university hospital, who completed the PISQ-12 were reviewed retrospectively ( n = 1,005). Patients were grouped using the 6th question; patients answering "never" to this question were considered as continent during coitus ( n = 591) and patients reporting any urinary leakage at coitus were considered to have CI ( n = 414). Demographics, clinical examination findings, incontinence severity measured by the Sandvik Incontinence Severity Index, scores of Turkish validated questionnaires (PFDI-20, IIQ-7, OAB-V8, and PISQ-12) and single voiding cycle AUM findings were compared, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed., Results: Among all sexually active women with UI, 41.2% had CI; UI was more severe, symptom bother was higher, related quality of life ( p < 0.001) and sexual function were worse (≤0.018) in these women. Younger age (OR 0.967, p < 0.001), history of vaginal delivery (OR 2.127, p = 0.019), smoking (OR 1.490, p = 0.041), postural UI (OR 2.012, p = 0.001), positive cough stress test (OR 2.193, p < 0.001), and positive SEST (OR 1.756, p = 0.01) were found as independent clinical factors associated with CI. Urodynamic SUI (OR 2.168, p = 0.001) and MUI (OR 1.874, p = 0.002) were found as significant and independent urodynamic diagnoses associated with CI, whereas no association was found with DO or UUI., Conclusion: Both clinical and AUM findings supported that CI is a more severe form of UI that it is mainly related with SUI and urethral incompetence, but not with UUI or DO., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Çetinkaya, Seval, Varlı and Dökmeci.)

In today's medical practice clinicians need to struggle with a huge amount of data to improve the outcomes of the patients. Sometimes one clinician needs to deal with thousands of ultrasound images or hundred papers of laboratory results. To overcome this shortage, computers get in help of human beings and they are educated under the term "artificial intelligence." We were using artificial intelligence in our daily lives (i.e., Google, Netflix, etc.), but applications in medicine are relatively new. In obstetrics and gynecology, artificial intelligence models mostly use ultrasound images for diagnostic purposes but nowadays researchers started to use other medical recordings like non-stress tests or urodynamics study results to develop artificial intelligence applications. Urogynecology is a developing subspecialty of obstetrics and gynecology, and articles about artificial intelligence in urogynecology are limited but in this review, we aimed to increase clinicians' knowledge about this new approach., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Seval and Varlı.)

Objectives: To compare success rates and complications in women undergoing laparoscopic versus open surgical management of tubo-ovarian abscess. We further examined whether early laparoscopic intervention has any impact on pregnancy rates in a subgroup of infertile patients following frozen-thawed embryo transfer., Material and Methods: Hospital records of 48 patients diagnosed with TOA between January 2015 and December 2020, who underwent surgical intervention or received only medical treatment were analyzed. All patients were hospitalized, and parenteral antibiotics were commenced on admission initially. Laparoscopic or open surgery was performed within 48 hours course of intravenous antibiotherapy (early intervention) or later according to the clinical findings and antibiotherapy response., Results: Of 48 patients with TOA, 18 (37.5%) underwent laparoscopic and 30 (62.5%) underwent open surgical intervention. The median postoperative hospital stay was shorter (4.5 days vs 7.5 days, respectively; p = 0.035), and postoperative opioid analgesic requirement was lesser in the laparoscopy group compared to open surgery group (22% vs 53%, respectively; p = 0.034). Intra- and post-operative complication rates were similar between the groups. Of these 48 patients, seven were diagnosed to have TOA following oocyte retrieval, and four of these conceived with frozen thawed embryo transfer all of whom underwent laparoscopic surgery within 48 hours of diagnosis., Conclusions: Minimal invasive surgery should be preferred even in the presence of severely adhesive and inflammatory TOA in order to improve postoperative outcomes. Moreover, early laparoscopic intervention may be considered in infertile patients with an aim to optimize pregnancy rates in a subsequent frozen-thawed embryo transfer.

Background: In this single-center study, we aimed to analyze texture features of primary uterine lesions on 18F-FDG PET/CT to predict lymph node metastases., Methods: Totally, 157 (mean age: 62 ± 10.2 years) patients were included in the analysis. Histopathological examination results were considered as the standard reference for nodal involvement. On 18F-FDG PET/CT images, only the primary tumor was segmented. SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVpeak, MTV, and TLG of primary uterine lesions were calculated for analyses. For texture analysis first, second, and higher-order texture features were calculated., Results: Mean diameter of primary uterine lesions was calculated as 35± 18.1 mm. Lymph node metastases were detected in 19% of patients in histopathological examination of surgical materials. While 26 patients had pelvic lymph node metastases, 19 patients had additional paraaortic lymph node metastases. On radiomics analysis for 20 features, a significant difference was found between patients with and without lymph node metastasis. With using data mining methods GLZLM ZLNU, EntropyGLCM, Entropyhisto, GLRLM LRHGE, GLZLM HGZE, GLZLM SZHGE, GLRLM HGRE, GLRLM SRHGE were found significant radiomics features to predict lymph node metastasis with a diagnostic accuracy of 0.8., Discussion: The radiomics analysis of intratumoral heterogeneity is a promising method for improving triage of the patients for lymph node dissection in endometrial carcinoma.

Background: There is scarce information on the effectiveness of the laparoscopic single mesh sacrohysteropexy (smSHP). Attachment of a single sheet of flat mesh posteriorly to the cervix provides less mesh use and a less invasive distal mesh fixation., Objectives: To assess medium to long-term follow-up results of patients who underwent laparoscopic smSHP utilising a less invasive technique with single sheet flat mesh., Materials and Methods: In the present retrospective cohort study, the data of 71 women who underwent laparoscopic smSHP for apical uterine prolapse with or without colporrhaphy (anterior and/or posterior) at the urogynaecology unit of a university hospital between January 2008 and January 2020 was reviewed. Data was collected on demographics, presenting symptoms, preoperative findings, surgery, and postoperative outcomes., Main Outcome Measures: Medium to long-term patient-reported outcomes., Results: The median age of the study population was 44 years. Median follow-up duration was 5 years (1-12). Symptomatic recurrence over time and repeat surgery rates were 13.1% and 3.1% respectively. Comparison of the pre-operative and medium to long-term evaluation scores of the pelvic floor distress inventory-20 (PFDI-20) and assessment of the patient global impression of improvement (PGI-I) revealed long-standing improvement in pelvic floor dysfunction., Conclusions: Laparoscopic smSHP appears to be successful and safe with low recurrence and complication rates and provides satisfactory patient reported outcomes., What's New?: Medium to long-term patient-reported outcomes based on PFDI-20 and PGI-I surveys are satisfactory following smSHP.

Objective: In this study we aimed to assess anorexigenic peptide levels in patients with or without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and their effects on assisted reproductive treatment (ART) outcomes., Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted in a tertiary care university-based ART clinic. Eighty-three patients were included in the study. The PCOS group included 41 patients, and the non-PCOS group included 42 controls. The 2003 Rotterdam criteria were used for PCOS patient selection. The ART indications in the non-PCOS group were tubal factor or unexplained infertility. Venous blood samples were taken on the third day of the menstrual cycle to determine the serum anorexigenic peptide levels. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used for laboratory analyses., Results: In the PCOS group, serum obestatin levels were significantly lower than in the control group, but serum anorexigenic peptide levels were similar in PCOS patients with or without clinical pregnancy. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) was diagnosed only in PCOS patients, and the obestatin levels of OHSS patients were significantly lower than those of other PCOS patients., Conclusion: Baseline anorexigenic peptide levels did not affect the clinical pregnancy rate in ART cycles. Obestatin may play a role in the pathophysiology of OHSS. This possibility should be confirmed in further research.

Objective: This study evaluated diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative sentinel lymph node (SLN) frozen section examination and scrape cytology as a possible solution for management of SLN positive patients., Study Design: Clinically early-stage endometrial cancer patients who underwent SLN algorithm and intraoperative SLN examination were analyzed. Findings were compared with final pathology results and diagnostic accuracy of frozen section and scrape cytology were evaluated., Results: Of the 208 eligible patients, 100 patients (48 %) had frozen section examination and 108 (52 %) had scrape cytology of the SLN. Intraoperative examination and final pathology were negative for metastasis in 187/208 (90 %) cases. The rest 21 cases had metastatic SLNs according to final pathology. 12 of 21 (57 %) metastases were classified as macrometastasis. Intraoperative examination of SLNs correctly identified 13 cases (true positive) and missed 8 cases (false negative). Five of 8 false negative cases had micrometastasis or isolated tumor cells. Considering identification of macrometastasis, sensitivity and negative predictive value were 85.71 % and 98.94 %, respectively, for the frozen section and 60.00 % and 98.15 %, respectively, for the scrape cytology., Conclusion: Frozen section examination of SLN has higher sensitivity in detecting macrometastasis compared to scrape cytology and it could help the surgeon in decision for further lymphadenectomy intraoperatively., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Morcellation allows the removal of a large uterus and fibroids through small incisions with minimally invasive surgery. It helps to prevent the complications associated with large incisions in both hysterectomy and myomectomy operations. Currently, there is much debate regarding the use of power morcellation in laparoscopic hysterectomy and myomectomy, mainly due to the risk of peritoneal dissemination of undiagnosed uterine sarcomas. Unfortunately, there is no valid pre-operative diagnostic method that can differentiate sarcomas from myomas, and the currently available scientific literature regarding morcellation is insufficient. As the Turkish Society of Minimally Invasive Gynecological Oncology, we present our consensus opinion and suggestions for the preoperative evaluation and morcellation of fibroids, in line with the recent literature.

Objective: To elucidate the survival consequences of the prognostic factors for endometrial cancer., Material and Methods: This was a retrospective study of 276 patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer who admitted for staging surgery. The extent of the surgery was determined by clinical staging and preoperative evaluation. The pathology specimens were reassessed by a gynecopathologist. Independent risk factors were revealed for the progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) utilizing Kaplan-Meier and "Cox" proportional analysis., Results: The median follow up of the patients was 50 months. Of the 29 patients who died, 15 (5.43%) died because of endometrial cancer. Multivariate analysis revealed that independent risk factors for OS and PFS were stage (p=0.002, 0.002, respectively) and grade 3 (G3) histology (p=0.013, 0.015, respectively). Positive peritoneal cytology was an independent risk factor for OS (p=0.024), but not for PFS (p=0.050). Stage (p=0.005) was found to be the only independent risk factor for DSS. Patients with G1 and G2 histology had a similar and more favorable prognosis than patients with G3 histology., Conclusion: Advanced stage, high-grade tumor and the presence of positive peritoneal cytology were ascertained as independent prognostic factors for endometrial cancer. A binary histological grading system could be simpler and as effective as the current three grade system because grade 1 and 2 patients showed similar prognosis.

Background: Pregnancy is a period presenting with many physiological adaptation mechanisms. One of the structures in which these mechanisms are observed is ocular tissues. The cornea, lacrimal and meibomian glands, and chorioretinal complex are all among the structures affected by changes during pregnancy. In this study we aimed to evaluate the macular and optic disc vessel density (VD) changes by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) imaging in pregnancy., Methods: A total of 248 eyes from 124 pregnant women and 80 eyes from 40 healthy control women were involved. Vessel densities of macula were evaluated for superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) in whole macula, foveal, parafoveal and perifoveal region. Peripapillary and whole optic disc VDs were also evaluated. Vessel densities of macula and optic disc were compared between control individuals and pregnant women. Vessel densities in different trimesters were also evaluated., Results: Modest but significant differences in VDs of whole macula of SCP and DCP were observed in pregnancy group. Additionally, perifoveal and parafoveal region of SCP, whole disc and radial peripapillary capillary VD were significantly higher in pregnancy group. There was no correlation between VD ratios of macula and optic disc and pregnancy weeks and trimesters., Conclusions: This is the first study focusing on the OCTA parameters in pregnant individuals. These findings suggest that physiological changes during pregnancy are not limited to the cornea, eyelids and the choroid but also to the retinal and optic disc vasculature.

Objective: To compare the perioperative outcomes of patients with uterine cancer, who were operated using advanced or conventional bipolar instruments., Materials and Methods: Patients with clinically early-stage endometrial cancer were randomized to advanced (LigaSure) or conventional (Robi forceps) bipolar groups. Surgeries were performed by laparoscopy. Hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy were done in all cases. Primary endpoint of the study was to compare operation time for 2 groups. Other perioperative outcomes were also compared. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier number of the study was NCT02822820., Results: Sixty-eight cases with endometrial cancer were randomized to 2 groups and each group included 34 subjects. Mean age and body mass index of all cases were 56.8 ± 10.4 years and 31.1 ± 5.3 kg/m 2 , respectively. Mean operation time was found significantly shorter in advanced bipolar group (134.2 ± 29.7 minutes versus 163.5 ± 27.7 minutes, P < .001). The other variables investigated such as intraoperative blood loss, duration of hospital stay, and postoperative pain scores did not show statistically significant difference between the groups., Conclusion: Operation time was shorter in advanced bipolar group, however, advanced and conventional bipolar energy instruments were comparable for other perioperative outcomes in laparoscopic endometrial cancer surgery.

Background: Uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) is a relatively rare and very aggressive tumor. The predictors of survival for patients with UCS have not been determined clearly yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible predictors of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with UCS., Methods and Materials: All patients with UCS who were treated surgically at a university-based Gynecology Oncology Clinic between January 2008 and December 2014 were recruited into this retrospective cohort study. Data regarding clinical, pathologic and treatment information were obtained retrospectively from hospital records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate DFS and OS, and Cox regression analysis was performed to define the effects of risk factors on survival., Results: A total of 88 UCS patients with a median age of 64.5 years were included in the study. Forty-seven (53.4%) patients were diagnosed with stage III disease and seven (7.9%) with stage IV disease. The median follow-up time was 16 months. Among all patients, 60 (68.1%) underwent lymphadenectomy. Optimal cytoreductive surgery was achieved in 67 (76.1%) patients. Stepwise variable selection Cox regression analysis showed that lymph node metastasis was associated with poor DFS (hazard ratio 6.524; 95% CI 2.625-16.211; P < 0.001) and OS (hazard ratio 6.993; 95% CI 2.631-18.587; P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis in both early and advanced-stage diseases revealed no significant impact of risk factors on survival., Conclusions: Lymph node metastasis is the most significant prognostic factor associated with poor DFS and OS in UCS patients.

Purpose: To determine the clinical and pathological risk factors for lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with endometrial cancer and to create a nomogram to predict LNM in patients without surgical staging., Methods: All patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma who were treated surgically at a university based gynecologic oncology clinic between January 2011 and December 2014 were recruited. Women with endometrial adenocarcinoma who were surgically staged including lymphadenectomy were included in the study. Data regarding clinical and pathological risk factors were recorded. The histopathologic slides from the staging surgeries were re-evaluated microscopically by a gynecologic pathologist for all parameters along with lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI)., Results: A total of 279 patients with endometrial cancer were analyzed. Among those, 31 (11.1%) had lymph node metastasis. According to the univariate analyses, elevated CA 125 (>35 U/mL), LVSI, myometrial invasion ≥50%, grade 3 disease, non-endometrioid type, and cervical stromal involvement were significantly associated with LNM. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that LVSI, non-endometrioid type, elevated CA 125, and cervical stromal involvement increased the risk of LNM. However, myometrial invasion and grade did not significantly affect the risk of LNM. A nomogram to predict LNM was constructed using these factors (concordance index 0.92)., Conclusions: LVSI is the most important predictor for LNM. The present nomogram can be useful to decide if adjuvant therapy is required for patients who undergo simple hysterectomy for a benign etiology and incidentally diagnosed with endometrial cancer by pathological evaluation.