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An exploratory analysis of 75 follicular lymphoma patients treated with obinutuzumab or rituximab induction therapy (IT) for 4 weeks in the phase II GAUSS study aimed to determine whether positron emission tomography (PET) results could predict progression-free survival (PFS) and tumor response. The proportion of patients with a PFS event (progression or death) was higher in those who were PET-positive after IT (assessed using Deauville five-point scale criteria; 35/52, 67%) than PET-negative (5/20, 25%); the hazard ratio for progression or death was 0.25 (95%CI: 0.01–0.64;p = 0.0018). A significant association was also found when PET results were assessed using International Harmonization Project and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria. Change between baseline and end of IT in values of standardized uptake value and other PET parameters were associated with PFS and response. Validation of these results in prospective studies of larger cohorts is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

There is still debate on how platelet transfusions should be used to prevent severe bleeding. The aim of our study is to assess the clinical efficacy of thromboelastometry in reducing number of prophylactic platelet transfusions in patients with hematological malignancies. One hundred hematological malignancy patients were included in the study. Six units random donor platelets (RDPs) was given to the first group, three units RDPs was given to the second group, one unit single donor platelets (SDPs) was given to the third group, and 1/2 unit SDPs was given to the fourth group. Before and 15 minutes after transfusion, rotation thromboelastometry (ROTEM) was performed (Pentapharm GmbH, Munich, Germany). ROTEM ® parameters did not show any statistical difference between ‘low dose’ and ‘high dose’ random or single donor platelet transfusions. Therefore, low dose platelet transfusion can be considered because of its reduced adverse transfusion reactions and economic burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Aims We aimed to investigate whether older age leads to limitations in the starting dose of imatinib in daily treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, and to determine the compliance of elderly patients with tyrosine kinase inhibitors ( TKI) therapy. Methods Data including the clinical characteristics, therapeutic outcomes and compliance with TKI therapy of elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia aged >65 years were collected from 13 institutions in Turkey, retrospectively. Results A total of 69 patients (27 [39%] men, 42 [61%] women) were evaluated retrospectively. The median age of the patients was 71 years (range 66-85 years). Of the patients, 66 (96%) were in the chronic phase and three (4.3%) were in the accelerated phase when diagnosed. A total of 63 (91.3%) patients were receiving imatinib as the first-line therapy. The initial dose of imatinib was 400 mg/day in 59 patients (93.6%). Imatinib treatment induced 57 (90.5%) complete hematological responses at 3 months, 29 (46%) complete cytogenetic responses at 6 months and 49 (77.7%) major molecular responses at 12 months. As a result, nilotinib and dasatinib were used in 14 patients as second-line therapy. Second-line TKI induced nine complete hematological responses (64.3%) at 3 months, four complete cytogenetic responses (28.6%) at 12 months and seven major molecular responses (50%) at 18 months. A total of 56 of the patients (81.2%) are still alive. The median overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 35 months (range 1-95 months) and 17 months (range 0.8-95 months), respectively. Conclusion Elderly patients should receive TKI according to the same guidelines that apply to younger patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; 15: 729-735. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

A simple, sensitive, facile and low cost methodology, combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), was employed to evaluate the selective separation and preconcentration of Pd(II) ions in environmental samples by using a triazole derivative as an organic coprecipitating agent without a carrier element. The developed method was systematically investigated in different set of experimental parameters that influence the quantitative recovery of Pd(II) ions. The accuracy of the method was tested by analyzing certified reference material and spike tests. The developed coprecipitation procedure has been applied to road dust, anodic slime, industrial electronic waste materials and water samples to determine their Pd(II) levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between epicardial fat tissue (EFT) volume and left ventricular diastolic function. Materials and methods: A total of 63 patients (29 male, 34 female, mean age 57.8 ± 10.9 years) were enrolled in the study. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and 2D transthoracic echocardiography were performed in 29 patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and 34 patients with normal diastolic function. EFT volume and coronary calcium score were measured by MDCT. Results: Mean EFT volume was 137.2 ± 56.2 cm for the whole study group. Mean EFT was 114.1 ± 46.6 cm in patients with normal left ventricular diastolic function and 164.4 ± 54.9 cm in those with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction ( p = 0.0002). Diastolic dysfunction had no significant correlation with diabetes, hypertension, and coronary calcium scoring ( p > 0.05). Also in our patient group EFT volume had no significant correlation with coronary calcium score ( r = 0.148, p = 0.248). Conclusion: Patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction had significantly increased EFT volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

INTRODUCTION: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. Successful pre-emptive therapy in transplant patients depends on the availability of reliable diagnostic tests for CMV infections. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate CMV DNA viral load, incidence of CMV disease and CMV seropositivity, risk factors and correlation between CMV DNA positivity and clinical course in HSCT patients. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-five patients who underwent peripheral blood stem cell or bone marrow transplantation between June 2003 and April 2010 were included. A real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used for CMV monitoring. RESULTS: Recipient median age was 42.5 years. CMV seropositivity was 95.6%. CMV DNA positivity determined by RT-PCR was 24.9% among the entire patient group. CMV DNA positivity with RT-PCR was found to be significantly higher in allogeneic transplant recipients than autologous transplant recipients (46.7% vs 14.0%; P < 0.0001). Gender, age, conditioning regimen, stem cell source, underlying disease and recipient and donor seropositivity (alone or paired) were not significant risk factors for CMV DNAemia. We did not observe any CMV end-organ disease. CONCLUSION: CMV DNAemia was significantly higher in allogeneic transplant recipients than in autologous transplant patients. End-organ disease could be prevented with appropriate pre-emptive therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Leptin is a protein hormone which plays a critical role in the regulation of both body-weight through reducing food intake and stimulating energy expenditure. Several polymorphisms in leptin gene ( LEP), which encodes for leptin, have been described. However, its association with obesity is still controversial. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate whether LEP c.-2548 G>A polymorphism was associated with serum leptin levels, lipid parameters, and body mass index in Turkish obese patients. Forty-seven obese patients and 48 healthy individuals were included in the study. Blood samples were collected for DNA extraction. LEP c.-2548 G>A polymorphism were detected using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. Serum leptin levels and lipid parameters were measured by ELISA and enzyme colorimetric assay techniques, respectively. GA or AA genotypes and A allele carrier frequencies of the c.-2548 G>A polymorphism in the LEP were higher in obese (38.3, 34.0 and 72.3 %) when compared with controls (14.6, 12.5, and 27.1 %; p = 0.011, 0.016, and 0.002, respectively). On the other hand, AA or AG genotypes were also related to increased serum leptin levels ( p < 0.001) and body mass index ( p < 0.0001). All these consequences showed that LEP -2548 AA or AG genotypes are important predictors for increased levels of leptin and BMI in Turkish obese patients and it may be a useful marker for obesity risk in our population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Syntheses of 1,2,4-triazol-3-ones, 4a, 4b, and 5 were performed starting from ester ethoxycarbonylhydrazones ( 1a, 1b) that were reported earlier. The treatment of triazole derivatives, 4a, 4b, and 5 with several sulfonyl halides produced the corresponding sulfonamides, 6- 10. Syntheses of carbo(thio)amides, 15, 17, and 18 were carried out by the treatment of (substituted)phenyliso(thio)cyanates with hydrazides 13, 14 which were obtained starting from 4a and 5 by two steps. Cyclization of compounds 15 and 17 in basic media resulted in the conversion of carbo(thio)amide side chain to 5-oxo- or 5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole ring. Cyclocondensation of 17 with ethyl chloroacetate and 4-nitrophenacylbromide gave 1,3-thiazolidin, 20 and 1,3-thiazol 21, derivatives, respectively. Newly synthesized compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activities, and some of them displayed activity against the test microorganisms. Then the highest activity was observed for compounds 6 and 7 carrying cyclic sulfonamide function beside 1,2,4-triazole nucleus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper illustrates the use of mixture of experts (ME) network structure to guide model selection for diagnosis of two subtypes of adult hydrocephalus (normal-pressure hydrocephalus–NPH and aqueductal stenosis–AS). The ME is a modular neural network architecture for supervised learning. Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm was used for training the ME so that the learning process is decoupled in a manner that fits well with the modular structure. To improve classification accuracy, the outputs of expert networks were combined by a gating network simultaneously trained in order to stochastically select the expert that is performing the best at solving the problem. The classifiers were trained on the defining features of NPH and AS (velocity and flux). Three types of records (normal, NPH and AS) were classified with the accuracy of 95.83% by the ME network structure. The ME network structure achieved accuracy rates which were higher than that of the stand-alone neural network models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...