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Abstract In a previous study, it has been shown that the population of Th17 lymphocytes was increased in patients with FMF. IL-21 and IL-23 play significant roles in the production and differentiation of Th17 cells. In this study, we aimed to evaluate serum levels of IL-21 and IL-23 in FMF patients both at diagnosis and after treatment, and to compare these levels with those of healthy controls. Twenty-seven newly diagnosed patients with FMF in attack-free periods and twenty-seven healthy volunteers enrolled in the study. The groups were comparable with respect to age and gender. IL-21 and IL-23 levels in serum samples from patients at the time of diagnosis, in remission after treatment, and from the control groups were analysed using the ELISA method. There was no significant difference between the cytokine levels of the patient group at the time of diagnosis and the cytokine levels of the control group (for IL-21, p: 0.28 and for IL-23, p: 0.56). Similarly, there was no significant difference between the patients’ cytokine levels at the time of diagnosis and after treatment (for IL-21, p: 0.99 and for IL-23, p: 0.08). Interleukin levels at the time of diagnosis did not differ among patient groups based on the presence of clinical findings or the M694V genotype. Our results suggest that IL-21 and IL-23 do not play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. However, while interpreting these findings, it should be considered that patients with active episodes were excluded and cytokine levels were not measured in tissue samples.

Abstract Aim This study explores the connection between Behçet’s disease (BD), characterized by persistent oral and genital ulcers alongside iritis, and periodontal disease. It examines the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and nitric oxide (NO) in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and saliva. Methods Forty Behçet’s patients with gingivitis or periodontitis and 47 patients with either gingivitis or periodontitis but without BD were studied. Periodontal status was recorded with standard clinical indexes. GCF and saliva samples were obtained. NO, IL-1β and TNF-α levels were analysed. Current Behçet’s symptoms and medications usage were recorded. Results Mean salivary IL-1β was elevated (p = .045), and mean NO level was decreased in BD patients with gingivitis compared to patients without BD (p = .000). In contrast, mean NO level in crevicular fluid was higher in Behçet’s patients with periodontitis than in patients without BD (p = .009). Furthermore, among Behçet’s patients, those with vascular involvement had lower salivary NO level compared to patients without vascular involvement (p = .000). Conclusions Based on our findings, the elevated levels of IL-1β in the saliva of Behçet’s patients with gingivitis, along with the decreased NO level, indicate an altered inflammatory response in the oral cavity.

Due to their primary and well-known antiresorptive activity, bisphosphonate (BPs) are commonly prescribed as first-line drugs for osteoporosis treatment. Some reports suggest that they may also possess immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, along with potential benefits in preventing structural joint damage in inflammatory rheumatic diseases. However, despite the promising outcomes observed with BP use in treating rheumatic disorders, numerous reports have implicated these drugs as potential contributors to the development of arthritis. In this case report, two female patients aged 71 and 55 years who developed arthritis in the wrist and dactylitis in the finger after zoledronic acid infusion are presented. This study is significant because, to our knowledge, one of our patients is the first to have been diagnosed with dactylitis, and the other case is one of the few cases in the literature presenting oligoarticular involvement of joints after zoledronic acid administration.

This study aimed to verify the quality of the soil according to different stages of forest regeneration. Urban conservation units can be of great importance in land management and in the sustainable development process of cities. Monitoring soil quality in these spaces can help to define strategies in the forest recovery process. A management performance evaluation method and consequent soil quality was applied, using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Soil was collected in the three stages of forest regeneration observed, land with established forests, reforested land, and open land, at three different depths. In the set of 54 analyzed observations, soils with low levels of fertility were verified. However, an area with reforested land showed the best performance in maximizing the selected variables and consequently better soil quality scores. The open lands showed the lowest performance in soil conservation. In this way, the revealed performance scores accompanied the Sum of Exchangeable Bases and Organic Matter values. This quality score can help to define soil management strategies, which may be applicable to a wider audience and wider contexts in environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With age, adolescents increasingly demonstrate the ability to forgo immediate, smaller rewards in favor of larger delayed rewards, indicating reduced delay discounting. Adolescence is also a time of social reorientation, where decisions not only involve weighing immediate against future outcomes, but also consequences for self versus those for others. In this functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study, we examined the neural correlates of immediate and delayed reward choices where the delayed outcomes could benefit self, friends, or unknown others. A total of 196 adolescent twins aged 14–17 completed a social delay discounting task, with fMRI data acquired from 174 participants. Out of these, 156 adolescents had valid fMRI data, and 138 adolescents had observations in every condition. Adolescents more often chose the immediate reward when it was larger, and when the delay was longer. Area-under-the-curve (AUC) comparisons revealed that behavior differed across delay-beneficiaries, with AUC being highest for the self, followed by friends, and lowest for unknown others. This suggests that adolescents are more willing to wait for rewards for self. Neuroimaging analyses showed increased activity in the midline areas medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and precuneus, as well as bilateral temporal parietal junction (TPJ) when considering delayed reward for unknown others and friends compared to self. A whole-brain interaction with choice showed that the bilateral insula and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were more active for delayed choices for unknown others and for immediate choices for friends and self. This underscores that the neuro-cognitive processing of how delays reduce the value of rewards depends on closeness of the beneficiary.

Extracellular polysaccharide producers from Kursunlu (Manisa) thermal spring were identified and a total of nine isolates were selected. One isolate was selected based on its strong mucoid structure and identified as Anoxybacillus flavithermus (AAG61) by MALDI-TOF MS. A. flavithermus AAG-61 had multiple antibiotic resistance to both Sulfamethoxazole, and Ofloxacin. The polysaccharide produced by A. flavithermus AAG-61 was purified and characterized. It was an anionic heteropolysaccharide containing rhamnose, mannose, arabinose, and glucose. The polysaccharide was water-soluble and had a concentration of 3.1 g/L carbohydrate and 0.11 g/L protein. The EPS consisted of 32% carbon, 7% nitrogen, 5% hydrogen, and traces of sulfur (0.6%). The presence of protein and sulfur in the polysaccharide was confirmed by FT-IR. Zeta potential, mobility, and conductivity values were -8.3 (± 0.5) mV, -0.65 (± 0.04) µmcm/Vs, and 1.57 (± 0.08) mS/cm. The crystallinity pattern was also determined by XRD analysis. No effect on the viability of the human fibroblast cell line was observed.

Our society faces a great diversity of opportunities for youth. The 10-year Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) program has the long-term goal to understand which combination of measures best predict societal trajectories, such as school success, mental health, well-being, and developing a sense of belonging in society. Our leading hypothesis is that self-regulation is key to how adolescents successfully navigate the demands of contemporary society. We aim to test these questions using socio-economic, questionnaire (including experience sampling methods), behavioral, brain (fMRI, sMRI, EEG), hormonal, and genetic measures in four large cohorts including adolescents and young adults. Two cohorts are designed as test and replication cohorts to test the developmental trajectory of self-regulation, including adolescents of different socioeconomic status thereby bridging individual, family, and societal perspectives. The third cohort consists of an entire social network to examine how neural and self-regulatory development influences and is influenced by whom adolescents and young adults choose to interact with. The fourth cohort includes youth with early signs of antisocial and delinquent behavior to understand patterns of societal development in individuals at the extreme ends of self-regulation and societal participation, and examines pathways into and out of delinquency. We will complement the newly collected cohorts with data from existing large-scale population-based and case-control cohorts. The study is embedded in a transdisciplinary approach that engages stakeholders throughout the design stage, with a strong focus on citizen science and youth participation in study design, data collection, and interpretation of results, to ensure optimal translation to youth in society.

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its clinical significance in Turkish women with SLE, exploring the association between muscle mass, muscle strength and SLE disease activity.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Gazi University Hospital’s Department of Rheumatology from January to December 2020. It involved 82 patients with SLE, diagnosed according to the 2019 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology criteria, and 69 healthy controls. Sarcopenia was assessed using hand grip dynamometry (hand grip strength (HGS)) and bioelectrical impedance analysis for muscle mass, with sarcopenia defined according to the 2018 European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria and specific cut-offs for the Turkish population. The main outcomes measured were the presence of sarcopenia and probable sarcopenia, HGS values, skeletal muscle mass index and SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K).Results Among the patients with SLE, 51.2% met the criteria for probable sarcopenia and 12.9% were diagnosed with sarcopenia. The mean HGS was significantly lower in the SLE group (21.7±4.9 kg) compared with controls, indicating reduced muscle strength. The prevalence of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies was 82.9%. Multivariate regression analysis identified height and levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies as independent predictors for developing probable sarcopenia. No significant association was found between clinical parameters, including SLEDAI-2K scores, and sarcopenia status.Conclusions Sarcopenia is prevalent among Turkish women with SLE, with a significant proportion showing reduced muscle strength. The study found no direct association between sarcopenia and SLE disease activity or clinical parameters. These findings underscore the importance of including muscle strength assessments in the routine clinical evaluation of patients with SLE to potentially improve management and quality of life.

Natural disasters occur with increasing frequency every year in our country and around the world. The largest forest fires, in recorded history, occurred in Türkiye in 2021, and the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, called the disaster of the century, occurred in 2023. Between these dates, our country has struggled with disasters such as avalanches and floods, as well as earthquakes and fires. Due to their unexpected nature and devastating impact on individuals' lives, natural disasters can also have shocking effects on individuals' mental health. Undoubtedly, many people have been affected by these disasters. However, children are a risky group among those affected by natural disasters because their coping skills are limited and they have not yet achieved their independence. In addition, it is known that traumatic experiences in the first years of life negatively affect the individual's development. Therefore, it is thought that the psychological support provided to children after a natural disaster is important. In this sense, play therapy appears as one of the effective intervention methods in the psychological support service provided after natural disasters. The aim of this study was to enable mental health professionals working with children exposed to disaster to understand possible psychopathologies and to create a framework for the role of play therapy in intervening.

We perceive the world in a continuum but remember our past as discrete episodic events. Dominant models of event segmentation suggest that prediction errors or contextual changes are the driving factors that parse continuous experiences into segmented events. These models propose working memory to hold a critical role in event segmentation, yet the particular functioning of working memory that underlies segmented episodic memories remains unclear. Here, we first review the literature regarding the factors that result in the segmentation of episodic memories. Next, we discuss the role of working memory under two possible models regarding how it represents information within each event and suggest experimental predictions. Clarifying the contributions of working memory to event segmentation is important to improve our understanding of the structure of episodic memories.

Discusses legal and psychological issues affecting newly married couples and their children by former marriages. Topics include discipline, premarital contracts, legal rights, personal relationships, and complications posed for the new marriage by settlements agreed to in the divorce. (DB)

Homeobox proteins play critical roles in controlling processes such as morphogenesis and organogenesis in many organisms. Some of these proteins are known to aff ect the formation, development and regeneration of the liver. In this context, the present study was aimed at demonstrating the localization and expression intensity of some homeobox proteins in the bovine fetal liver during the diff erent stages of gestation, determining whether or not these proteins are found in the structural components of the liver, and identifying their potential physiological roles. Th e study material comprised of 27 clinically healthy bovine fetuses, which were obtained from slaughterhouses and belonged to diff erent stages of gestation. Th e fetuses were grouped according to their crown-rump length (CRL) measurements. Liver samples were taken from each study group and subjected to routine histological processing, followed by immunohistochemical staining. Th e staining results showed that, throughout gestation, the expression intensities of the homeobox proteins HOXA10, HOXA11, HOXB6, TLX1, Dlx-5 and HLX were stronger in the hepatocytes, compared to the hepatic artery, vena interlobularis and bile ducts. However, the expression intensity of HLX was determined to have significantly decreased during the second and third trimesters of gestation, compared to the first trimester. In conclusion, the expression of the investigated homeobox proteins at diff ering and similar levels in the hepatocytes, hepatic artery, vena interlobularis and bile ducts of the bovine fetal liver during gestation could be interpreted as an important indicator of these proteins being involved in the development and physiological activity of the fetal liver.

Bu çalışmada Isparta’nın farklı yerlerinde bulunan kooperatifçilikle elde edilmiş müstakil ve toplu konut şeklindeki konut alanlarının olduğu Anadolu Mahallesi, Modern Evler Mahallesi, Mehmet Tönge Mahallesi ve Davraz Mahallesinde morfolojik analizler yapılmıştır. Çalışmada yöntem olarak Topçu ve Southworth (2014)’un kentlerin bütüncül tasarımı ve konut alanlarının tasarımları için varsaydıkları erişilebilirlik, yoğunluk ve yaşanabilirlik endeksi parametreleri kullanılmış ve bunlara ek olarak Görünürlük Grafı Analizleri yapılmıştır. Seçilen alanlar kooperatif alanı ve mahalle ölçeği olmak üzere iki ayrı şekilde analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen sayısal veriler erişilebilirlik/dizimsel, anlaşılabilirlik, erişilebilirlik/görsel, yoğunluk, yaşanabilirlik parametreleri ile 5’li skalada değerlendirilmiştir. Analizlerin sonucunda kooperatif alanlarının, seçilen mahallelerin kentsel alanlarına etkisi üzerinde durulmuştur.

Aggressive behaviors negatively impact peer relations starting from an early age. However, not all aggressive acts have the same underlying motivations. Reactive aggression arises as a response to an antecedent behavior of someone else, whereas proactive aggression is initiated by the aggressor and is instrumental. In this study, we aim to understand the relation between reactive and proactive aggression and peer acceptance in preschoolers. Parents of 110 children aged between 3 and 6 years old rated their children’s manifestation of reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors. To assess the children’s peer acceptance score within their class, they completed a paired comparisons task. The outcomes confirmed that reactive aggression in particular is negatively related to peer acceptance at the preschool age. Our results provide insights for the needs and directions of future research and interventions.

Abstract Background Pre-treatment evaluation for sarcopenia is recommended in cancer patients. New screening tests that are less time-consuming and can identify patients who will potentially benefit from geriatric assessment are being developed; the G8 geriatric screening test is one such example. We aimed to investigate whether the G8 screening test can detect probable sarcopenia and is valid and reliable compared to a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in Turkish older adults with solid cancers. Methods We included solid cancer patients referred to a single center. Probable sarcopenia and abnormal CGA were defined as low handgrip strength. Cut-offs for handgrip strength in the Turkish population have been previously determined to be 32 kg for males and 22 kg for females and impairment in at least one of the CGA tests, respectively. The CGA tests comprised KATZ Basic Activities of Daily Living Scale Lawton–Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, Mini-Mental-State Examination Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale-15, and Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short Form. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses evaluated the test’s predictive ability. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliabilities were assessed. Results The median age of the 76 patients included was 72 (65–91) years. There was a moderate correlation between handgrip strength and the G8 test total score. The sensitivity and specificity of the G8 test to detect probable sarcopenia alone (cut off score = 12.5) were 50 and 92%, respectively (AUC: 0.747; p

Objective: To investigate the effect of a novel mineral containing toothpaste in comparison to a fluoride toothpaste in children with white spot lesions. Method: The clinical study was conducted from 2016 to 2018 at Marmara University Department of Pediatric Dentistry Clinic after approval from the ethics review committee of Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey, and comprised children of either gender aged 4-5 years having white spot lesions. They were randomly allocated into two groups. The FT ( Fluoridated Toothpaste ) group was given a 500ppm fluoridated toothpaste, while the Mineral Containing Toothpaste (MCT) group was given toothpaste containing calcium glycerophosphate, magnesium chloride, and 12% xylitol. The white spot lesions were examined using Laser Fluorescence (LF) at baseline and after a month of usage. The two readings were compared. Stimulated saliva was collected for measuring the salivary potential of hydrogen, buffering capacity, and streptococcus mutans. Data was analysed using SPSS 19. Results: Of the 26 children, 10(38%) were girls and 16(62%) were boys. The overall mean age was 4.77+/-0.54 years. There were 13(50%) subjects in each of the two groups. Of the 381 measurements done, 198(52%) were in the MCT group and 183(48%) in the FT group. LF scores decreased in both the groups (p=0.001). The remineralising potential was not significantly different (p=0.866), while salivary buffering capacity and potential of hydrogen increased in both the groups but the change was not significant (p>0.05). The number of children positive for streptococcus mutans decreased in both the groups (p>0.05). ---Continue

Nursing students are role model related to health franchise play an important in oral health care and promotion. This study aim is assessment the caries and oral and dental health behaviors of nurse students who be able expected take upon the responsibility of oral health in future. This was descriptive observational study with cross‑sectional approach, conducted at a state university in Mediterranean, Turkey. The study population was formed from 34 nursing students who voluntary select to course of oral and dental health nursing. Firstly, data were collected by socio-demographic form and then all students had been examined by dentist researcher. It was determined that 76.5% of the nursing students included in the study had at least one tooth decay, 70.6% needed treatment, and 67.6% had debris. It was determined that there was a relationship between gender, floss use, mouthwash, regular brushing teeth twice a day before the age of 6, smoking, and D, F, M, DMFS, DMFT indices in those who were breastfed for >=6 months. Increasing the awareness level of students will have a positive impact on the health of the patients they will care for.

As the industry made progress, human labor force gained importance as an element of work life. The science of ergonomics came into being in order to take necessary precautions by determining the convenience of human motions with anatomy and risks and possible dangers during work. Through the methods of risk assessment, risks and possible dangers are determined to create a healthy environment for workers. Through REBA and RULA risk assessment methods, worker motions and postures are studied to determine convenience by calculating risk scores related to worker motions. The aim of REBA and RULA risk assessment methods is to study whether or not the worker is functioning in accordance with his/her skills and to prevent labor accidents and occupational diseases with the help of the data obtained. In this study, REBA and RULA risk scores are tried to be calculated by studying the motions of apparel workshop employees working in the fabric cutting, quality, packaging, ironing and stain removal sections. According to the analysis obtained, REBA score for the fabric cutting employee is 6, RULA score for the sewing machine operator is 4, REBA score for the quality control employee is 4, REBA score for the stain removal employee is 3, REBA score for the ironing employee is 6 and REBA score for the packaging employee is 5. According to the scores obtained through the use of REBA and RULA risk assessment method, the motions and postures of employees are determined to be at dangerous levels. Among the primary precautions needed to be taken to prevent the risks can be having the employee work at different tasks within certain intervals, monitoring the health, providing occupational health and safety educational programs