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Abstract  The 1998 Ceyhan (Adana, Turkey) earthquake caused major damage to construction on caliche formations. Caliche (a heterogenous secondary calcium carbonate deposit formed in arid and semi-arid regions) is widespread in the Adana area. The paper distinguishes three types of caliche: massive, containing vegetation remains and containing gravel. The porosity, water absorption and unconfined compressive strength of these three groups of caliche were determined. The compressive strengths are low compared to caliches in other areas—an important consideration as Adana is the fourth largest city in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate medial olivocochlear efferent system of babies with hyperbilirubinemia with normal auditory brain stem responses., Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study in a tertiary referral hospital. The study involved 40 hyperbilirubinemic and 44 healthy newborns. Cochlear and auditory activity of participants was evaluated by transient otoacoustic emissions (TOAEs) and brainstem auditory evoked response components (BAER). Medial olivocochlear (MOC) reflex was evoked with contralateral acoustic stimulation and recorded with TOAEs., Results: A comparison of the MOC reflex activity between two groups with Mann Whitney U test revealed that MOC reflex activity were significantly decreased in the hyberbilirubinemic group for both ears (p<.05). This difference was significant for all frequencies in both ears. There was no significant relation between total serum bilirubin level and MOC reflex activity., Conclusion: Hyperbilirubinemic newborns had decreased MOC reflex activity. This may be indicative of future problems in speech discrimination and effective hearing in noisy background. Additional long cohort studies are needed to evaluate the clinical importance of MOC reflex measurements in this group. MOC reflex measurement has the potential to form part of the audiologic evaluation of newborns with hyperbilirubinemia in the future.

Objective: To test the efficacy of probiotic and prebiotic, alone or combined (synbiotic), on the prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants., Study Design: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial was conducted at 5 neonatal intensive care units in Turkey. VLBW infants (n = 400) were assigned to a control group and 3 study groups that were given probiotic (Bifidobacterium lactis), prebiotic (inulin), or synbiotic (Bifidobacterium lactis plus inulin) added to breastmilk or formula for a maximum of 8 weeks before discharge or death. The primary outcome was NEC (Bell stage ≥2)., Results: The rate of NEC was lower in probiotic (2.0%) and synbiotic (4.0%) groups compared with prebiotic (12.0%) and placebo (18.0%) groups (P < .001). The times to reach full enteral feeding were faster (P < .001), the rates of clinical nosocomial sepsis were lower (P = .004), stays in the neonatal intensive care unit were shorter, (P = .002), and mortality rates were lower (P = .003) for infants receiving probiotics, prebiotics, or synbiotic than controls. The use of antenatal steroid (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.9) and postnatal probiotic (alone or in synbiotic) (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2-0.8) decreased the risk of NEC, and maternal antibiotic exposure increased this risk (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.6)., Conclusions: In VLBW infants, probiotic (Bifidobacterium lactis) and synbiotic (Bifidobacterium lactis plus inulin) but not prebiotic (inulin) alone decrease NEC., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To compare the efficacy of two natural surfactants for pulmonary hemorrhage in very low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants., Study Design: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted on 42 infants who were divided into two groups, poractant alfa (n = 21) and beractant (n = 21)., Results: In both the groups, the mean standard deviation (SD) birth-weight and gestational age were similar (p = 0.33 and 0.89, respectively). Although, the mean oxygenation index (OI) increased after pulmonary hemorrhage compared with baseline value and decreased after surfactant in both groups, variations in OI were more prominent in poractant alfa group (before hemorrhage: 11.9, after hemorrhage: 22.7, 1 hour of surfactant: 14.6, 8th hour of surfactant: 7.8, 24th hour of surfactant: 8.5, p = 0.007 vs. before pulmonary hemorrhage:11.1, after pulmonary hemorrhage: 17.9, 1 hour of surfactant: 12.8, 8th hour of surfactant: 12.8, 24th hour of surfactant: 9.7, p = 0.02). There was no significant difference between the groups for OI values at all time points (p > 0.05). The rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and mortality related to pulmonary hemorrhage were similar in both the groups., Conclusion: Both natural surfactants improved oxygenation when administered for pulmonary hemorrhage in VLBW infants. The type of surfactant seems to have no effect on BPD and mortality rates in these patients., (Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.)