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PURPOSE: In this study, we aimed to describe the real-life practice outcomes of pertuzumab-trastuzumab-taxane (PTT) combination in visceral organ metastatic, trastuzumab-naive breast cancer (BC) patients. METHODS: This study was conducted by Turkish Oncology Group and included 317 patients' data from 36 centers. RESULTS: Median age was 51 (22-82). Median PFS was 28.5 months, while median OS was 40.3 months. Patients with brain metastases (n: 13, 4.1%) had worse PFS (16.8 m vs. 28.5 m; p = 0.002) and OS (26.7 m vs. 40.3 m; p = 0.009). Patients older than 65 years of age (n: 42, 13.2%) had significantly lower OS results (19.8 m vs. 40.3 m; p = 0.01). Two hundred sixty-eight patients (86.7%) received docetaxel while 37 patients (11.7%) received paclitaxel. PFS and OS were similar between taxane groups. In eight patients (2.5%), 5-40% ejection fraction decrement from baseline was detected without any clinical sign of heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: Our RLP trial included only visceral metastatic, trastuzumab-naïve BC patients including cases with brain involvement who received PTT combination in the first-line treatment. Regardless of negative prognostic characteristics, our results are in parallel with pivotal trial. Further strategies for brain metastasis should be developed to improve outcomes despite encouraging results with PTT treatment. Taxane selection can be personalized and endocrine maintenance may further improve outcomes after taxanes were discontinued. To our knowledge, this is the largest scale real-life clinical practice study of pertuzumab-trastuzumab-taxane therapy to date.

[No abstract available]

In this work the prostaglandin - like activity was investigated in extract of Halopteris fllicina (Kütz.). The methods used for examination of prostaglandin activity of the algal extract were; ADP, adrenaline and collagen induced aggregation in human platelet rich plasma. The results showed that H. filicina extract, depending on this concentration, inhibited the secondary waves of platelet aggregation induced by ADP and adrenaline and also aggregation waves induced by collagen. Thus it was demonstrated that the algal extract inhibited the secretion of the platelets and mild inhibitory effect was seen on the primary waves. These data showed the indication of PGE1- like activity in H. .filicina. This paper is the repeated article on the prostaglandin activity of red algae Halopitis fllicina which was the second report in the literature on prostaglandin activity of algae when published in Acta Pharma Turc. (Güven et al., 1984).

In this report, hemorrhagic bowel syndrome (HBS) was defined pathologically for the first time in Turkey in a Holstein dairy cow. It was reported that a 4-year-old cow died suddenly with symptoms of loss of appetite, decreased milk yield, dehydration, and abdominal bloating in a dairy farm. Grossly, serosa of jejunum was observed with dark red color and its lumen was completely filled with blood clots. Some parts of jejunum lumen were narrowed due to submucosal and intramural bleeding. Microscopically, necro-hemorrhagic enteritis, and eosinophilic granulocyte and mononuclear cell infiltrations with extensive submucosal hemorrhages were observed. In addition, Gram-positive, rod-shaped and endospore-forming bacteria were seen intensively around of bleeding areas in the lamina propria. The death was concluded to be associated with HBS by macroscopic and microscopic findings, characteristic for the syndrome and in accordance with the literature evaluating this case. HBS causes significant losses in dairy cattle in many countries of the world. This report aimed to point out the importance of the topic, which is the first case report of HBS in Turkey, where dairy cow enterprises are growing rapidly.

Objectives: This study aims to identify the frequency of clinical risk factors associated with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Patients and methods: In this cross-sectional, observational, multi center study, a total of 730 postmenopausal women were assessed for risk factors associated with osteoporosis. The assessment included a standardized questionnaire which recorded the following clinical risk factors: family and personal histories of fractures, prolonged immobilization, sun exposure, lifelong sedentary lifestyle, smoking history, low calcium intake in childhood and adulthood, excessive caffeine intake, high sodium intake, inadequate protein intake, number of pregnancies, age at menopause, the presence of premature menopause, primary and secondary amenorrhea, medical conditions, and chronic use of prescription drugs. Results: The most frequent clinical risk factors for osteoporosis were inadequate sun exposure (53.3%), current sedentary lifestyle (52.9%), low calcium intake in adulthood (45.1%) and childhood (41.9%), and sedentary lifestyle in adolescence (27.9%). A total of 707 patients (96.5%) described more than one risk factor, while 74.3% of the patients reported one clinical risk factor at least for secondary osteoporosis. Conclusion: Adequate sun exposure and proper intake of dietary calcium beginning in childhood combined with lifelong daily physical activity may play a role in preventing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. In addition, physicians should be aware of the high probability of secondary osteoporosis in this patient group. © 2013 Turkish League Against Rheumatism. All rights reserved.

2013 21st Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference, SIU 2013 -- 24 April 2013 through 26 April 2013 -- Haspolat -- 98109, In this study, in order to reduce the end-to-end bit error rate (BER) at the destination, two different antenna selection models based on signal to noise ratio (SNR) have been proposed. Relay node contains multiple antennas and BPSK modulation is used. In these models under consideration, different optimal decision rule is determined theoretically. To generate each threshold decision rule, either instantaneous and average SNR or both together in S›D, S›R and R›D links are used. Proposed antenna selection algorithm with the optimal threshold value can reduce significantly the end-to-end BER according to the simple relaying technique. © 2013 IEEE.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to find out the possible effects of DNA hypomethylation on N'-ethyl-N'-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenity. Methods: Rats were injected with 300mg/kg body weight-body weight ENU (i.p.)for 45 weeks in order to induce tumour development and the control group received no treatment. Tissues from the ENU treated experimental group and epithelial tissues from non-treated control groups were processed for light microscopy and genomic DNA methyl pattern analysis. The genomic DNA from control and rhabdomyosarcomal tissues were isolated and digested with methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes, R.Msp1 and R.Hpall, to determine the methylation pattern differences in the enzyme cognate CCGG sequences. Results: Extensive tumour development was found in a wide range of tissues in the high dose ENU treated experimental group. Some of these tumours were determined histopathologically and immunohistochemically as subcutaneous rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS). In the normal genome the enzyme cognate CCGG sequence was methylated, but in the rhabdomyosarcoma genome, the target sequence was demethylated with high frequency at the cytosine residue of the CCGG sequences. Genomic DNA from rhabdomyosarcomal tissues showed high fragmentation sizes of R.Msp1 digestion when compared to R.Hpall digestion and controls. While control group DNA fragmentation condensed at approximately 21226 - 546 bps size for R.Msp1 digestion, at 21226 - 1000 bps for R.Hpall, the experimental group DNA fragmentation was condensed at

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the ones with osteoporosis (OP) in elderly patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints and to evaluate the distribution of region of pain and the medications used for the musculoskeletal disease(s) in these patients. Materials and Methods: 1141 elderly patients who were consecutively admitted to the outpatient clinics in nine different provinces were screened for the diagnosis of OP. Age, gender, complaints, diagnosis and current medications related to musculoskeletal system disorder(s) were recorded. Results: 382 elderly (341 female, 41 male) with a mean age of 71.9±5.3 years had the diagnosis of OP. Low (54.5%) and upper back (39.6%) pain were the most common complaints in both sexes. These were followed by knee, hip, cervical and shoulder pain, respectively. Osteoarthritis (36%), lumbar (21%) and cervical spondylosis/stenosis (10%) were the most common musculoskeletal diseases accompanying OP. The mean number of drugs used was 3.0±1.2. The most commonly prescribed anti-osteoporotic agents were bisphosphonates (59%). For the musculoskeletal pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (systemic and/or topical) were used in 46.6% and paracetamol in 24.6% of patients. Conclusion: It is crucial to perform a thorough physical examination to reveal the underlying cause of back pain in elderly osteoporotic patients. Besides, in order to minimize polypharmacy, it should be kept in mind that non-pharmacological approaches can be used for the management of musculoskeletal diseases. © Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Published by Galenos Publishing.

Objective: In this study, we have aimed to investigate the potential role of autologous bone marrow cell injection and muscular electrical stimulation as a separate and concomitant application on bone healing in experimental rabbit ulnar segmental bone defect model. Material and Methods: Forty New-Zealand rabbits, all over three months of age and weighing between 2500 and 3500 grams were divided into four groups. Four groups of rabbits were the control group (I), electrical stimulation group (II), bone marrow cells injection group (III) and bone marrow cells injection with electrical stimulation group (IV). Bone defect healing was evaluated radiologically according to the modified Lane and Sandhu scoring system and at the end of the sixth week, rabbits were sacrificed and their forearms were sampled for histopathological investigation. Results: When one-to-one comparison between all groups was performed, defect healing was found to be better in Groups II, III, and IV compared to Group I based on the radiological and histopathological parameters evaluated. This evaluation revealed that the healing was better in groups treated with bone marrow cell injection with or without electrical stimulation as well as in group treated with electrical stimulation compared to the control group with no treatment. Conclusion: Autologous bone marrow cells with or without electrical stimulation, would be used in healing of segmental bone defect with an adequate efficacy. Future stem cell studies combined with electrical current are required to demonstrate and to confirm that electrical current enhances in vivo cellular differentiation. © 2010 by Türkiye Klinikleri.

Basic Clinical Research Systems: Parallel Group Studies and Cross-Over Group Studies Basic clinical research methods are summarized in this paper.Bu yazıda temel klinik araştırma yöntemleri özetlenmiştir

Publication in the conference proceedings of EUSIPCO, Florence, Italy, 2006