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Background and Purpose Ongoing high mortality due to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) necessitates the investigation of novel treatments to improve the outcome of the affected newborns. The aim was to elucidate the potential therapeutic impact of the nesfatin-1, a peptide with anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects in several inflammatory processes, on NEC-induced newborn rats. Materials and Methods Sprague–Dawley pups were separated from their mothers, fed with a hyperosmolar formula and exposed to hypoxia, while control pups had no intervention. NEC-induced pups received saline or nesfatin-1 (0.2 μg/kg/day) for 3 days, while some nesfatin-1 treated pups were injected with capsaicin (50 μg/g) for the chemical ablation of afferent neurons. On the 4th day, clinical state and macroscopic gut assessments were made. In intestines, immunohistochemical staining of cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor (NF)-κB-p65 (RelA), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), claudin-3 and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) were performed, while gene expressions of COX-2, occludin, claudin-3, NF-κB-p65 (RelA) and VEGF were determined using q-PCR. In fecal samples, relative abundance of bacteria was quantified by q-PCR. Biochemical evaluation of oxidant/antioxidant parameters was performed in both intestinal and cerebral tissues. Results Claudin-3 and ZO-1 immunoreactivity scores were significantly elevated in the nesfatin-1 treated control pups. Nesfatin-1 reduced NEC-induced high macroscopic and clinical scores, inhibited NF-κB-65 pathway and maintained the balance of oxidant/antioxidant systems. NEC increased the abundance of Proteobacteria with a concomitant reduction in Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes, while nesfatin-1 treatment reversed these alterations. Modulatory effects of nesfatin-1 on microbiota and oxidative injury were partially reversed by capsaicin. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that nesfatin-1 abolished NEC-induced reduction in claudin-3. Gene expressions of COX-2, NF-κB, occludin and claudin-3 were elevated in saline-treated NEC pups, while these up-regulated mRNA levels were not further altered in nesfatin-1-treated NEC pups. Conclusion Nesfatin-1 could be regarded as a potential preventive agent for the treatment of NEC.

Urinary tract infections are one of the most common bacterial infections and rapid diagnosis of the infection is essential for appropriate antibiotic therapy. The goal of our study was to identify urinary pathogens directly by MALDI-TOF MS and to perform antibiotic susceptibility tests in order to shorten the period spent for culturing.Urine samples submitted for culture to the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory were enrolled in this study. Urine samples were screened for leukocyte and bacteria amount by flow cytometry. Samples with bacterial load of 106–107/mL were tested directly by MALDI-TOF MS and antibiotic susceptibility tests (AST) were performed.In total, 538 positive urine samples were evaluated in our study. MALDI-TOF MS identified the microorganism directly from the urine sample in 91.8% of these samples and the concordance rate of conventional identification and direct detection was 95.8% for Gram-negatives at the genus and species level. Escherichia coli (n:401) was the most frequently isolated microorganism, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (n:57). AST results were generated for 111 of these urine samples and the concordance was 90% and 87% for E. coli and K. pneumoniae, respectively.Our results showed that screening of urine samples with flow cytometry to detect positive samples and identification of uropathogens directly by MALDI-TOF MS with an accuracy of over 90% can be a suitable method particularly for Gram-negative bacteria in clinical microbiology laboratories.

Objective: To evaluate the application of an automated urine analyzer (AUA) for the diagnosis of bladder cancer (BC) Materials and Methods: A retrospective data analysis of 2365 urine specimens from the department of urology has been performed and matched with those patients, who have undergone cystoscopic evaluation or surgical treatment for different urological pathologies during 2018. After matching, clinical records of the patients has been further evaluated in order to select patients with recent or previous BC diagnosis. To assess the diagnostic efficacy of AUA, patients were divided into five groups according to the patient history of BC and healthy controls. Results: A total of 106 patients are included in this study and the majority (69.8%) of the patients are follow-up patients with previous diagnosis and treatment of non-muscle invasive BC (NMIBC). For patients with low-risk NMIBC (n=27), the sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 75% and 100%. For patients with high-risk NMIBC (n=47), who were previously treated with intravesical BCG, the sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 54.5% and 83.3%. All patients in radical cystectomy group (n=7) with muscle invasive BC had positive urine analyses results for atypical cells. And none of the patients in the control group (n=8) had positive AUA results and cystoscopic evaluation also did not show any bladder mass suspicious for BC. Conclusion: The results of this retrospective pilot study showed acceptable sensitivity and specificity rates of the fluorescence flow cytometry based AUA and the results of the low-risk group are especially valuable regarding its potential use to decide on performing a follow-up cystoscopy or not. A prospective study is currently on progress to validate the findings of the current study.

Background:Antiretroviral treatment (ART) reduces morbidity and mortality caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; however, the emergence of drug-resistant strains poses an important obstacle to treatment success. Using conventional sequencing methods to determine antiretroviral resistance, mutations present in ≥20% of quasispecies can be identified, but drug-resistant minority variants can lead to virologic failure.Objective:We aimed to assess transmitted drug resistance mutations (TDRMs) within minority variants using ultra-deep pyrosequencing (UDPS).Method:Treatment-naive adult patients were included in this observational study. Surveillance TDRMs were classified as ≥20% or at minority variant level (≥2% – Results:Thirty-six patients were analyzed. Any TDRM at ≥20% level was detected in 8.3% of the patients (n=3). This prevalence increased to 30.6% (n=11) with the inclusion of minority variants. All non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and protease inhibitor-related TDRMs were within minority variants. The genotypic sensitivity score of rilpivirine-based regimens was considerably diminished when minority variants were included in the PDRM analysis.Conclusion:UDPS was used for the first time to assess TDRM in a Turkish HIV cohort and uncovered several mutations hidden within minority variants. UDPS may be preferred to detect PDRMs for avoiding virologic failure with rilpivirine-based ART regimens.

High-fat diet (HFD) consumption leads to metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal dysfunction and intestinal dysbiosis. Antibiotics also disrupt the composition of intestinal microbiota. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of a short-term feeding with HFD on oxidative status, enteric microbiota, intestinal motility and the effects of antibiotics and/or melatonin treatments on diet-induced hepato-intestinal dysfunction and inflammation. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were pair-fed with either standard chow or HFD (45 % fat) and were given tap water or melatonin (4 mg/kg per d) or melatonin plus antibiotics (ABX; neomycin, ampicillin, metronidazole; each 1 g/l) in drinking water for 2 weeks. On the 14th day, colonic motility was measured and the next day intestinal transit was assessed using charcoal propagation. Trunk blood, liver and intestine samples were removed for biochemical and histopathological evaluations, and faeces were collected for microbiota analysis. A 2-week HFD feeding increased blood glucose level and perirenal fat weight, induced low-level hepatic and intestinal inflammation, delayed intestinal transit, led to deterioration of epithelial tight junctions and overgrowth of colonic bacteria. Melatonin intake in HFD-fed rats reduced ileal inflammation, colonic motility and perirenal fat accumulation. ABX abolished increases in fat accumulation and blood glucose, reduced ileal oxidative damage, suppressed HFD-induced overgrowth in colonic bacteria, and reversed HFD-induced delay in intestinal transit; however, hepatic neutrophil accumulation, hepatic injury and dysfunction were further enhanced. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that even a short-term HFD ingestion results in hepato-intestinal inflammatory state and alterations in bacterial populations, which may be worsened with antibiotic intake, but alleviated by melatonin.

Although Saccharomyces boulardii is usually a non-pathogenic fungus, in rare occasions it can cause invasive infection in children. We present the case of an 8-year-old patient in pediatric surgical intensive care unit who developed S. cerevisiae fungemia following probiotic treatment containing S. boulardii. Caspofungin was not effective in this case and he was treated with amphotericin B. We want to emphasize that physicians should be careful about probiotic usage in critically ill patients.

SUMMARY Background The goal of this study was to identify inflammatory and infectious markers and their roles in mortality. Methods We enrolled 111 patients on haemodialysis (HD) and collected data at three time points (baseline, 33 and 76 months). Results Rates of Chlamydophila pneumoniae IgG, CRP ≥3 mg/l, ESR >50 mm/hour and fibrinogen >4 g/l were, respectively, 63.1%, 60.4%, 48.6% and 42.3%. Mortality was 21.6% and 43.2% at 33 and 76 months where 58.3% of all deaths were cardiocerebrovascular (CCV) related. Non-survivors were older than survivors. Univariate analysis showed diabetes mellitus (DM) and cerebrovascular accident (CVA) as important for the 33-month all-cause mortality, and CRPlog, fibrinogen, ESR >50 mm/hour, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and DM for the 76-month all-cause mortality. CVA was meaningful for the 33-month CCV mortality, and CVD, DM and ESR >50 mm/hour for the 76-month CCV mortality. Kaplan–Meier revealed poorer survival for patients with ESR >50 mm/hour at 76 months. Cox regression showed CVD, CVA and age as mortality predictors. Conclusion Age, CVD and CVA are predictors for mortality in patients on HD patients, but the presence of C. pneumoniae IgG and inflammation are not.

In this study, an experimental investigation of oblique cutting process is presented for titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V, AISI 4340, and Al 7075. Important process parameters such as shear angle, friction angle, shear stress, and chip flow angle are analyzed. Transformation of the data from the orthogonal cutting test results to oblique cutting process is applied, and the results are compared with actual oblique cutting tests. Effects of hone radius on cutting forces and flank contact length are also investigated. It is observed that the shear angle, friction angle, and shear stress in oblique cutting have the same trend with the ones obtained from the orthogonal cutting tests. The transformed oblique force coefficients from orthogonal tests have about 10% discrepancy in the feed and tangential directions. For the chip flow angle, the predictions based on kinematic and force balance results yield better results than Stabler's chip flow law. Finally, it is shown that the method of oblique transformation applied on the orthogonal cutting data yields more accurate results using the predicted chip flow angles compared to the ones obtained by the Stabler's rule.