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Gittikçe artan dünya nüfusunun gıda ihtiyacını karşılayabilmek için araştırmacılar tarımsal verimin artırılmasına yönelik yoğun bir şekilde çalışmaktadırlar. Bu çalışmaların önemli bir kısmını; zirai, katı atık vb. ürünlerin kuruma davranışının modellenmesi oluşturmaktadır. Verimli bir kurutma sayesinde kaliteli ürün ve enerji tasarrufu elde edilmektedir. Bu çalışmada yeni nesil bitki besinlerinden biri olan %25 azot, %5 fosfor ve %5 potasyum karışımının kuruma davranışı modellenmiştir. Kurumanın modellenebilmesi için sadece regresyon değil aynı zamanda makine öğrenme yöntemleri de kullanılmıştır. Makine öğrenme yöntemlerinden yapay sinir ağları ve uzun-kısa süreli bellek yöntemleri kullanılmıştır. Bu yöntemlerin hem kuruma verisini modellemede hem de ileriye yönelik verilerin tahminindeki performansları araştırılmıştır. Kurutma deneylerinden elde edilen nem verisi kullanılmıştır. Veriler eğitim, doğrulama ve test kümelerine ayrılmıştır. Performans değerlendirme kriterleri olarak hata fonksiyonları, korelasyon ve determinasyon katsayıları kullanılmıştır. Sonuç olarak yapay sinir ağı ve uzun-kısa süreli bellek metotlarının hem eğitim hem de test verileri üzerindeki tahmin performanslarının regresyon yöntemlerine göre oldukça iyi olduğu görülmüştür. Yapay sinir ağı tahmin performansının uzun-kısa süreli bellek yönteminden daha başarılı olduğu ve en iyi tahmin performansını verdiği tespit edilmiştir.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Testicular tumor constitutes 1% of male neoplasms. Infertility can be determined in patients with testicular tumors before orchiectomy due to the deterioration of spermatogenesis. The aim of this study was to show the clinical, radiological, and pathological characteristics and spermiogram results of patients with testicular tumor and their relationship with each other. METHODS: The data of patients who underwent orchiectomy due to testicular tumor between 2016 and 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. These data included sociodemographic data of the patients, pretreatment spermiogram characteristics, level of serum tumor markers, characteristics of the ultrasonography, type of orchiectomy, and histopathological examination. RESULTS: This study included 53 male patients, with a mean age of 33.51±12.86 years. The mean levels of all tumor markers were above the reference levels. The mean tumor size was 34.68±23.32 mm. Multiple localizations and microlithiasis were detected in 11.3 and 13.2% of the tumors, respectively. The most common masses were hypoechoic (n=37; 69.8%) and hypervascular (n=47; 81%). Spermiogram and cryopreservation were performed in 29 (54.7%) of 53 patients preoperatively. The mean sperm concentration before orchiectomy was 24.21×106 /mL and group A sperm motility 0.79%, group B sperm motility 39.10%, group C sperm motility 9.83%, and group D sperm motility 22.69% in testicular tumors. CONCLUSION: Spermatogenesis adversely affected before the treatment due to local and systemic effects of testicular cancer. Fertility expectations can be increased in the subsequent years by semen analysis and referral to cryopreservation.

For many years now, harvesting of cassava is difficult because there has not been a well-designed machine to harvest, separate, and convey the crop in a one-time operation. In all the unit operations in cassava production, several machines and types of equipment have been mechanized successfully. However, cassava harvesting and peeling have remained a global challenge to engineers involved in machine design. In light of this, some pieces of literature on the physicomechanical properties of cassava were qualitatively reviewed. The study presents harvesting methods for cassava around the globe, considering its merits and limitations for future development. We found out that cutting shear stress and force increased with increasing cassava tuber age because of an increase in density and starch content. Additionally, the ratio of the peel of cassava tuber ranges from 0.106 to 0.215. The frictional properties of cassava are essential to design and develop machines for post-harvest operations of cassava roots. Whereas, the angle of repose for the unpeeled cassava is required for the design of the hopper and that of the peeled is required for the design of the chute. The manual, semi-manual and fully mechanized harvesting methods require the capacity of about 22-51 man h/ha, 16-45 man h/ha, and 1-4 man h/ha respectively. The fully mechanized method is very efficient, and the field is plowed alongside harvesting which saves time, fuel, and cost of operation. Even though less research is carried out on cassava harvesting mechanization compared to other crops, the current development is a harvesting machine hitched to a tractor with a conveyor unit powered by the PTO system. The knowledge of this review would be a blueprint for engineers in designing cassava mechanical harvesters.

One of the processes used in the production of fertilizers, which has become an important part of agriculture, is the drying process. Determination of proper drying parameters is important both in terms of product quality and production efficiency. Regression methods are used to determine the drying process parameters frequently. In this study, in addition to the regression method, machine learning techniques are also examined such as artificial neural network, long short term memory method. The data obtained from the drying process of a commercial organomineral fertilizer consisting of a mixture of 5% nitrogen and 10% phosphorus at 70˚C, 75˚C, and 80˚C were used for modelling. The simulation results obtained from the models of the methods and the data obtained from the experiments were compared. The predictions and performances of each model were presented. Determination the appropriate drying parameters is It is important for the drying efficiency of the product. In addition, model selection plays an important role in obtaining successful results in drying simulations. As a result, it has been observed that the prediction performance of the model created with the artificial neural network is more successful than the others. While regressions are efficient in modelling existing data, they are not successful in predicting. Moreover, it is not enough to predict the peak and pits in the drying data., Tarımın önemli bir parçası olan gübrenin üretiminde kullanılan işlemlerden biri de kurutma işlemidir. Uygun kurutma parametrelerinin belirlenebilmesi, hem ürün kalitesi hem de üretim verimliliği açısından önemlidir. Kurutma işlem parametrelerinin belirlenmesinde regresyon yöntemleri sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada regresyon yönteminin yanı sıra yapay sinir ağı, uzun kısa süreli bellek gibi makine öğrenme teknikleri de incelenmiştir. Modellemeler için %5 azot, %10 fosfor karışımından oluşan ticari bir organomineral gübrenin 70˚C, 75˚C ve 80˚C sıcaklıklarda kurutulması işleminden elde edilen veriler kullanılmıştır. Modellerden elde edilen sonuçlar ile deneysel sonuçlar kıyaslanmıştır. Her bir modelin tahmin performansları sunulmuştur. Uygun kurutma parametrelerini yakalamak, ürünün kurutma verimi açısından önemlidir. İlave olarak, kurutma simülasyonlarında, başarılı sonuçlar elde edilmesinde, model seçimi önemli rol oynamaktadır. Netice olarak, yapay sinir ağı ile oluşturulan modelin tahmin performansının diğerlerine göre daha başarılı olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Regresyonlar, mevcut verinin modellenmesinde verimli iken, ileriye yönelik tahminlerde başarılı olamamaktadırlar. Ayrıca kurutma verisi içerisindeki tepe ve çukurları tahmin etmede de yetersiz kalmaktadır.

Background: The aim of this study is to compare the LPP [luteal phase estradiol LPP/GnRH antagonists protocol] treatment of patients with poor ovarian response [POR] in terms of the results of in vitro fertilization [IVF] treatment who underwent LPP in the first IVF treatment or in the use of LPP in the second treatment of patients with a different protocol. Materials and methods: 293 cycles recorded in 226 patients with poor ovarian reserve who underwent LPP treatment, microdose flare-up protocols, and antagonist protocols between 2013 and 2019 were included in the study. Of these, 38 patients received LPP treatment in the first cycle and LPP treatment in the second cycle. After the microdose or antagonist protocols were applied in the first cycle, LPP treatment was applied to 29 patients in the second cycle. There were 128 patients who received LPP only once and 31 patients who received microdose flare-up only once, and these patients were included in the study based on LPP and microdose application results in the patient group with low ovarian response. Results: In our second cycle results of LPP application in patients with low ovarian response that resulted in one failed IVF, the clinical pregnancy rate was higher than the patients who received only LPP and patients who received LPP after different protocols [p=0.035]. In unsuccessful IVF patients who had LPP applied in the first cycle, β-hCG positivity per embryo and clinical pregnancy rates were found to be significantly higher in patients who received the LPP application in the second protocol [p=0.000, p=0.001].Conclusion: Repeated LPP may be the first choice protocol for low ovarian reserve patients.

Hyperpolarization is associated with decreased intracellular Na

Full-scale fracture tests on mechanically fastened steel built-up tension members have shown that these members can be resistant to complete member fracture when a single component suddenl...

SummaryThe objective of this study was to compare the rates of clinical pregnancy after the transfer of vitrified and thawed human embryos on days 3, 4 and 5 of embryonic development. In this retrospective study, the results of 148 embryo transfer cycles, using embryos frozen and thawed over the 3-year period between January 2016 and December 2018 at the Gülhane Training and Research Hospital Department of Gynecology and Obsterics Reproductive Medical Center of the University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey were examined. Following embryo transfer – including 29 dissolved embryos frozen on day 3, 80 frozen on day 4, and 39 frozen on day 5 – results were examined in terms of clinical pregnancy rates. In this study, across all three groups, no significant differences were observed in terms of patient age, the number of oocytes collected, infertility reasons, the number of embryos dissolved, transfer day, or the number of embryos transferred. According to the transfer day, the rates of clinical pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy were significantly higher for embryos frozen on day 4 and transferred on day 5. Significantly higher rates of pregnancy and live birth were determined during in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment with the freezing of human embryos on day 4 and the transfer of those embryos on day 5.

Background: Post-fixation of sections is especially required for cryostat sections of fresh frozen tissues. Vimentin is an intermediate filament in both fibrillary and non-fibrillary form, expressed in Muller’s cells and astrocytes of the retina. Our aim was to determine the best post-fixation method for visualising vimentin in archival mouse eyes. Materials and methods: We used an archival mouse eye, slightly pre-fixed with paraformaldehyde and stored at –80°C for 4 years. We tried three fixatives (pa­raformaldehyde [PFA], alcohol/acetic acid [AAA] and methanol) for post-fixation of eye sections. Results: We showed that post-fixation alters the labelling properties of vimentin expressed in the retina. In the sections with no post-fixation, vimentin positivity was observed in and around the nuclei in non-fibrillary form. In PFA post-fixed sections, the vimentin in the retina was not observed as fibrils. Positivity was observed in the nuclei and in perinuclear regions of the cells. In AAA post-fixed sections, positive labelling was observed around the nuclei as fibrils. In methanol post-fixed sections, labelling was observed around the nuclei as fibrils. Conclusions: We conclude that post-fixation with AAA is more convenient for immunofluorescent labelling of vimentin in the retina for slightly PFA pre-fixed and long-term stored retina. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 2: 246–252)

Purpose There is evidence that follicular phase progesterone rise [FPPR] adversely affects fresh in vitro fertilization [IVF] cycles. A single daily dose of cetrorelix has been used to prevent early luteinizing Hormone (LH) surge. We speculated that doubling the daily dose might have a positive effect in patients who have early LH surges despite receiving the single daily dose treatment. However, a double daily dose of cetrorelix seems to cause FPPR in poor ovarian response (POR) patients. Materials and Methods On human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG] injection days, the progesterone levels of POR patients who received a single daily dose of cetrorelix (group 1, n = 59) were compared with progesterone levels of the patients who received a double daily dose of cetrorelix (group 2, n = 75). The two groups had statistically similar demographic data. The patients who had FPPR were detected, and a comparison of progesterone levels, using 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2 [ng/mL] of progesterone as cut-off levels, was made between patients of both groups. Results FPPR patients in group 2 had significantly higher progesterone levels during hCG day, contrary to expectations. When progesterone cut-off levels of 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2 [ng/mL] were used for group 1 patients, 15.3%, 13.6%, and 6.8% of the patients developed FPPR, respectively When the progesterone cut-off levels of 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2 [ng/mL] were used for group 2, the results detected were 45.3%, 30.7%, and 21.3%, respectively. A significant statistical difference in progesterone levels was observed between the groups. Conclusion While the double daily dose of cetrorelix was initially thought to more effectively suppress early LH rise by some authors, we have seen that it increases the FPPR more when compared to a single daily dose regime. We suggest using frozen cycles instead of fresh cycles in order to have better endometrial receptivity in patients who seem to benefit from higher daily doses of cetrorelix.

In current bridge design specifications and evaluation manuals from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO LRFD) (AASHTO, 2018), the detail category for base metal at the toe of transverse stiffener-to-flange fillet welds and transverse stiffener-to-web fillet welds to the direction of the web and hence, the primary stress) is Category C′. In skewed bridges or various other applications, there is sometimes a need to place the stiffener or a connection plate at an angle that is not at 90 degrees to the web. As the plate is rotated away from being 90 degrees to the web, the effective “length” of the stiffener in the longitudinal direction increases. However, AASHTO is currently silent on how to address the possible effects on fatigue performance for other angles in between these two extremes. This report summarizes an FEA study that was conducted in order to investigate and determine the fatigue category for welded attachments that are placed at angles other than 0 or 90 degrees for various stiffener geometries and thicknesses. Recommendations on how to incorporate the results into the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications are included in this report.

High torsional rigidity and attractive aesthetics in construction of twin-tub girder bridges make them preferable for the design of curved bridges. However, according to the concepts associated with the term “Fracture Critical (FC)” that are in place today, all two-girder bridges are classified as having FC members (FCMs) due to their perceived lack of load path redundancy. For a steel bridge with FCMs, the fracture of any of the FCMs is assumed to result in complete catastrophic failure or significant loss of serviceability; hence, every two years twin-tub girder bridges undergo very expensive hands-on field inspections. This report presents a simplified approach to ensure newly designed twin-tub girder bridges will meet all the requirements defined in the 2018 AASHTO Guide Specifications without performing in-depth FEA. AASHTO-ready proposed specifications are included in Appendix A. It is anticipated that these provisions could be incorporated into the AASHTO LRFD BDS as a new article 6.6.3 Special Provisions for Twin Tub Girder Bridges.

With the advent of IVF technology, the terms normal and abnormal oocytes have been defined and one type of abnormal oocyte is the “giant oocyte”. Giant oocytes are defined to have a 30% larger diameter and twice the volume of normal oocytes[1,2]. Giant oocyte is a rarery observed phenomenon among humans and embryos may develop from these oocytes [2,3].The first hypothesis for the mechanism of their formation is cytoplasmic fusion of two oogonia and the second one is the lack of cytokinesis during mitotic divisions in an oogonium [4]. Fertilization and progression of a giant oocyte is suspected to be the cause of digynic triploidy, which is defined as triploidy with two maternal and one paternal complements [5]. In this case report, we present two giant oocytes, each shown to have two meiotic spindles via visualization by polarization microscope. Because giant oocytes can develop into embryos that are morphologically normal, but genetically abnormal, an embryologist has to be aware of this phenomenon. For this reason, the scientific aim of this report is to present the polarization microscopic properties of giant oocytes and increase the awareness of such oocytes among embryologists.

Dirican, Enver/0000-0001-6230-1229; Gode, Funda/0000-0002-9371-6942; Dirican, Enver/0000-0001-6230-1229 WOS: 000411999200002 PubMed: 29949336 Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle outcomes, serum and follicular fluid (FF) levels of leptin and ghrelin. Material and methods: Forty-four women who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles (ICSI) were enrolled in the study. On the third day (D3) of the menstrual cycle, venous blood samples were drawn for serum measurements of leptin and ghrelin. The follicular fluid (FF) and the corresponding oocyte were obtained from a single dominant preovulatory follicle at the time of oocyte pick-up. The FF and D3 serum leptin and ghrelin concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between pregnancy rate and serum, follicular fluid levels of leptin and ghrelin were analyzed. Results: Of the 44 cases included, nineteen achieved clinical pregnancy (43.18%). Follicular fluid ghrelin levels were significantly lower in the pregnant group than non-pregnant group (p < 0.05) With respect to FF leptin, there was no statistically significant differences between the pregnant and non-pregnant women (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in D3 serum ghrelin between pregnant and non-pregnant groups (p > 0.05). However, D3 serum leptin levels were significantly lower in pregnant women than non-pregnant women (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Lower ghrelin levels in the follicular fluid were associated with higher pregnancy rates. Also, D3 serum leptin levels were inversely correlated with clinical pregnancy rates. These findings support the potential role of these molecules on IVF outcomes.

The purpose of this research was to describe the behavior of mechanically fastened built-up girders in a partially failed condition. This was achieved by testing large-scale riveted and high-strength bolted built-up specimens to determine their fracture resilience at low temperatures and their fatigue capacity after a single component was failed. Additionally, a finite element parametric study was performed to understand the behavior of built-up girders and to better describe the load distribution that occurs locally in the region adjacent to a failed component.

The aim of this study was to identify the optimal time interval for in-vitro fertilisation that would increase treatment success after failure of the first attempt. This retrospective study evaluated 454 consecutive cycles of 227 infertile women who had two consecutive attempts within a 6-month period at an IVF centre. Data were collected on duration of stimulation, consumption of gonadotropin, numbers of retrieved oocytes, mature oocytes, fertilised eggs, good quality embryos on day 3/5 following oocyte retrieval and clinical and ongoing pregnancy. There were significant increases in clinical pregnancy rates at 2-, 3- and 4-month intervals. The maximum increase was after two menstrual cycles (p = 0.001). The highest rate of ongoing pregnancy was in women that had the second attempt after the next menstrual cycle following failure of IVF (27.2%). After IVF failure, initiating the next attempt within 2-4 months increases the clinical pregnancy rates.

Background/Aims. Since the assessments of the morphology of oocytes, zygotes and/or embryos are of crucial importance to select the best candidate for pregnancy, many morphological evaluation tools have been proposed. Although embryo scoring, particularly cleavage and blastocyst stages, is more convincing due to successful results, zygote scoring still have a bias as different outcomes. In the current study, we designed a prospective study to test the reliability of zygote scoring by focusing on zygote evaluation techniques and its relation with embryo development and embryo selection for transfer.Methods. A total of 1215 mature oocytes from 139 couples were evaluated for the study.Results. There is no correlation between published zygote scoring technique and embryo development.Conclusions. We conclude that the inconsistency of data obtained from zygote scoring might be caused by the static nature of pronuclear stage embryos and thus pronuclear scoring seems to be unreliable evaluation technique for embr...

Palmar plates are being used as a source of graft in radial or ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, pulley reconstruction, and volar plate arthroplasty. The purpose of this study is to determine morphometric and major histological differences of palmar plates in metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints among fingers, and supply sufficient data which would be useful in reconstruction procedures. Ninety-six MCP and 96 PIP palmar plates of 12 well-preserved formalin-fixed cadavers were measured focusing on their length, width, central thickness, and lateral thickness and statistically analyzed using ANOVA. Randomized three male and three female cadavers' specimens were examined histologically after staining with Masson's trichrome. For central thickness of the PIP joint level, there was significant difference among fingers, caused by the middle and little fingers. For lateral thickness of the PIP joint level, there was significant difference which was originated from little fingers. MCP palmar plates were significantly thicker than PIP joint levels for most of the fingers. There were thicker and denser collagen bands in MCP than PIP palmar plates. The relation of size-related parameters was not close with the thickness parameters. The predicted sizes and thicknesses of palmar plates vary according to fingers. The data collected for each finger in this study should be used as a guide in reconstructive procedures that use palmar plates as source of graft.

Aim. To compare pregnancy outcomes between three sperm retrieval techniques – electroejaculation, testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and prostatic massage – in spinal cord-injured men.Method. Forty-four patients who became paraplegic due to spinal cord injuries by land mines and bullets, and who underwent infertility treatment during 1998–2005, were included. Eight men were treated with rectal probe electroejaculation, 26 with TESE and ten with prostatic massage. The pregnancy rate and live birth rate resulting from the embryo transfers of all cycles were calculated.Results. Eight singleton pregnancies were achieved, two in the electroejaculation group, four in the TESE group and two in the prostatic massage group. Live birth rate was not significantly different between the three groups.Conclusion. Our results show that the different sperm retrieval techniques used to obtain semen in spinal cord-injured men resulted in similar pregnancy outcomes.

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of articaine hydrochloride (AH) on the healing of surgical wounds and to compare healing with that of lidocaine.Forty rats were used in this study. The rats were randomly separated into 4 groups. Three groups were given 2% lidocaine, 4% AH, or injectable saline, and the fourth was a control group. Skin specimens underwent the breaking strength test (BST) and histologic examination at 1 week after the surgical procedure. The skin specimens of the rats were subjected to a pulling force of 10 mm/min across the incision line. The strength value at the moment of breaking in the tissue was expressed in Newtons. Histologic examination was performed as well, and wound healing was graded.Both the histologic grade and BST values in the lidocaine and AH groups were significantly lower than those of the control and saline groups (P.01). Similarly, the histologic and BST values of the AH and lidocaine groups were statistically significant (P.05, P.001). Some necrotic regions were observed at the incision region in 2 samples from the AH group.The results of the study showed that AH is as safe a local anesthetic agent as lidocaine from the standpoint of wound response.

Syndecan-1 (CD138), an important transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan is expressed in distinct stages of cell differentiation. Although its expression in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells is well known: its function or presence in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) cells is still largely unknown. The expression of syndecan-1 was studied in bone marrow biopsies of three patients with AML using electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. Positive expression of syndecan-1 was found in AML cells. These results suggest that syndecan-1 expression is not only a characteristic phenotypic marker for ALL, but is also expressed in AML cells.

The aim of this case series was to describe our experience with random-start controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (RS-COH) with the use of letrozole for fertility preservation. GnRH antagonist and letrozole cycles were started in three patients with a diagnosis of cancer and had a limited time window for fertility preservation for COH before initiating cancer therapy. Cycles were started in the late follicular or luteal phase, and the duration of COH ranged between 7-8 days. A total of 4-14 oocytes were retrieved, the peak E2 levels were 252-354 pg/ml and the saved time for start of the cancer treatment were 16-26 days for each patient. In conclusion, RS-COH with letrozole cycle is a reasonable option for fertility preservation in cancer patients for whom the treatment window may be narrow. Also, the use of a letrozole for COH may decrease the potential risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

SummaryThe aim of this study was to determine the morphological characteristics of the older reproductive aged women's oocytes and to reveal the influence of these characteristics on intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes. The oocytes of women older than 35 years of age were evaluated retrospectively. Non-invasive polarization microscopy (PolScope) examinations of mature oocytes were performed by measurement of meiotic spindles’ length, area and retardance and zona pellucida thickness and retardance. Fertilization and conception competence and the correlation with the birefringent structures were assessed. Two hundred and thirteen mature oocytes from 54 women were evaluated with a PolScope. Length of the meiotic spindle was shown to be related to fertilization success of women with advanced maternal age. In conclusion, the PolScope is a useful device used to identify the oocyte quality. Quantitative measurements of meiotic spindle parameters may be valuable for the selection of high-quality oocytes that have the potential for embryo development in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory of women older than 35 years of age who are mostly poor responders.

To examine immunohistochemically the distribution of cell-cycle regulators p53 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), which are in close cooperation with each other in first trimester and term human placentas.Human first trimester placental tissue was obtained by curettage from legal abortions obtained for social reasons, and human term placental tissue was obtained. Neither the interrupted pregnancy nor the obstetrical history showed any abnormalities. A total of 12 tissue samples were analyzed: n = 6 (6-12 weeks), n = 6 (38-40 weeks). Tissues were evaluated by immunohistochemical study.In the first trimester p53 expression was at a normal level, and p53 immunolabeling was present in syncytiotrophoblast and extravillous trophoblast cells found in the cell column. Very few villous stroma cells were p53 positive. PCNA was present intensely in the cytotrophoblast and in extravillous trophoblast found in the cell column. In term placentas p53 immunolabeling was very low and was expressed in only a limited number of syncytiotrophoblast cells. PCNA was at a normal level in villous and extravillous tissue. PCNA was decreased when compared with the first trimester and was present in syncytiotrophoblast and cytotrophoblast cells. A small number of endothelial cells and villous stromal cells were positive.We think that the immunohistochemical distribution of PCNA and p53 are strongly coordinated with each other in villous and extravillous cells in human placenta. This finding may be useful in the explanation of placental pathologies.

Background: Cisplatin, an effective antineoplastic agent, damages normal cells in a manner related to chemotherapy. Acetyl L-carnitine protects cells against mitochondrial and nuclear damage induced by chemotherapy. Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the protective effects of acetyl L-carnitine on cisplatin-induced gonadotoxicity in testicular structures. Study Design: Animal experiment. Methods: Twenty-four male Wistar albino rats were divided into four Groups (n=6): Group 1 (control) was administered saline; Group 2 was administered acetyl L-carnitine; Group 3 was administered cisplatin; and Group 4 was pre-treated with acetyl L-carnitine before cisplatin administration. After 72hr of treatment with cisplatin, the rats were sacrificed, and the testicular tissues were removed. Morphometric, histomorphologic and immunohistochemical analyses were conducted. Results: At the end of the experiment, Group 3 was characterised by statistically significant weight loss, a degenerative appearance of the seminiferous tubules in the peripheral region, separation of spermatogenic cell series from the tubular wall, cellular debris in the lumen and central interstitial oedema. Sperm morphology appeared to be abnormal. Tubular diameter and wall thickness decreased, and the number of TUNEL- and active caspase-positive cells increased compared with the other Groups. The histological findings in Group 4 were better than those in Group 3. Conclusion: It was concluded that the prophylactic use of acetyl L-carnitine protects against cisplatin-induced testicular tissue damage. Turkish Başlık: Sıçanlarda Sisplatin ile Oluşturulan Testis Gonadotoksisitesi üzerinde Asetil L-Karnitin'in Koruyucu Etkisi Anahtar Kelimeler: Asetil L-karnitin, sisplatin, gonadotoksisite, testis Arka Plan: Etkili bir antineoplastik ajan olan cisplatin, kemoterapiyle ilişkili bir şekilde normal hücrelerde hasara neden olur. Asetil L-karnitin, kemoterapiyle indüklenmiş mitokondriyal ve nükleer hasara karşı hücreleri korur. Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, testiküler yapılarda sisplatin ile oluşturulan gonadotoksisite üzerine asetil L-karnitinin koruyucu etkilerini incelemektir. Çalışma Tasarımı: Hayvan çalışması Yöntemler: Wistar Albino cinsi 24 adet erkek sıçan 4 gruba ayrıldı (n=6): grup 1 (kontrol) salin uygulandı; grup 2 asetil L-karnitin uygulandı; grup 3 sisplatin uygulandı ve grup 4 sisplatin uygulamasından önce asetil L-karnitin pretedavisi uygulandı. Sisplatin uygulamasından 72 saat sonra sıçanlar sakrifiye edilerek testis dokuları çıkarıldı. Morfometrik, histomorfolojik ve immünohistokimyasal analizler yapıldı. Bulgular: Deney sonunda grup 3'te istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir kilo kaybı, seminifer tübülün periferinde dejeneratif görünüm, tübül duvarından spermatogenik hücre serilerinin ayrıldığı, lümende hücresel debrislerin olduğu ve merkezi intersitisyel ödemin varlığı gözlendi. Sperm morfolojilerinde bozukluklar gözlendi. Diğer gruplarla karşılaştırıldığında tübül çap ve duvar kalınlığında azalma, TUNEL- ve aktif kaspaz-pozitif hücrelerin sayısında artış olduğu gözlendi. Grup 4'e ait histolojik bulgular ise grup 3'e göre daha iyiydi. Sonuç: Sisplatin ile indüklenmiş testiküler doku hasarına karşı asetil L-karnitinin profilaktik kullanımının koruyucu olduğu sonucuna varıldı.

To present our in vitro fertilization outcomes after implementation of the Turkish government policy limiting the number of transferred embryos to one, in women under the age of 35, and two, in women over age 35; and to demonstrate the feasibility of this policy.We retrospectively reviewed the records of 423 patients who underwent ovarian stimulation, oocyte pick-up, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and embryo transfer due to primary or secondary infertility over a 22-month time interval. Clinical pregnancy was defined as a fetal heartbeat in the seventh gestational week. Embryo transfers were carried out on day 3 or 5. Descriptive statistics are given as the number of subjects and percentages.A total of 353 embryo transfers were performed: 261 (73.9%) were single-embryo transfer (244 (69.1%) elective and 17 (4.8%) non-elective) and 92 (26.1%) were double-embryo transfer. Of the 244 elective single-embryo transfers, 6.6% (n=16) were performed using frozen-thawed embryos. The average patient age was 29.6±4.5 years in the single-embryo group and 36.5±2.4 years in the double-embryo group. The cumulative pregnancy rates per oocyte pick-up were similar in both groups: 41% (n=107) in the single-embryo group and 43.4% (n=40) in the double-embryo group (p=0.678). The cumulative live birth rate of the single-embryo group (32.1%) was not statistically different from the double-embryo group (35.8%) (p=0.518). The twin pregnancy rate after single-embro transfer was significantly lower than with double-embryo transfer (2.8% (n=3) vs. 32.5% (n=13); p0.001) and 62.5% of the twin pregnancies occurred in women 35 years or older who underwent double-embryo transfer. No significant difference in the spontaneous abortion rates was recorded between the single- and double-embryo transfer groups (16 (6.1%) vs. 6 (6.5%); p=0.894).Single-embryo transfer results in a pregnancy rate comparable to double-embryo transfer, with a significantly reduced multiple pregnancy rate. Double-embryo transfer in patients over age 35 should be reconsidered because of the resulting high rate of multiple pregnancy.

This study aims to determine whether a low dose of the gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist, cetrorelix, prevents a premature luteinizing hormone (LH) surge and affects in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes compared to the standard dose of 0.25 mg/day. In this study, 45 IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection patients were stimulated with recombinant follicle stimulation hormone from day 2 of the cycle. Cetrorelix was injected daily from day 6 of gonadotropin administration. Twenty-two patients received cetrorelix at a dose of 0.25 mg/day, whereas 23 participants received half dose. The mean consumption of gonadotropins was significantly higher in patients receiving 0.25 mg/day of cetrorelix (2,213 vs. 1,350 U; p = 0.046). The clinical pregnancy rates were similar in both groups (31.8 vs. 47.8 %; p = 0.273). Premature LH surge was detected in 9.1 % of the patients receiving cetrorelix 0.25 mg/day and in 13 % of the patients receiving cetrorelix 0.125 mg/day (p > 0.05). The difference between two groups was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Our results suggest that there is no difference between a cetrorelix dose of 0.125 or 0.25 mg/day in preventing premature LH rise during ovarian stimulation for IVF.

Meiotic spindle analysis with a non-invasive technique, the PolScope, is used to protect the meiotic spindle from damage during microinjection. To evaluate the predictive feature of PolScope, we have designed a retrospective study to analyse the correlation between the meiotic spindle visualisation with regard to spindle location and outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), including patient age, previous cycles, the number of the collected oocytes, fertilisation rates (FR), pronuclear scoring (PNS) and embryo scoring of the days from two to five. All of the data belonging to 1496 oocytes from 190 patients were statistically analysed. We found that the oocytes having PolScope visualised spindle have higher FR, and also observed that when the spindle located at 0°-30° according to the first polar body, gave the highest FR. PNS gave higher scores in the spindle visualised group, but spindle angle did not affect PNS outcomes. Although a correlation was found between spindle visualisation and developed embryo qualities, particularly at day 2 and 3, spindle angles did not affect embryo quality. We conclude that PolScope microscopy has an efficiency to estimate FR, and cleavage stage embryo development.

Amac: Bu calismanin amaci, in vivo olarak hemostatik bir ajanin (FastAct) prilokain hidroklorid ile beraber veya onsuz, yara ve doku iyilesmesini kolaylastirdigi hipotezinin test edilmesidir. Yara iyilesmesi kanama ve hemostaz ile baslayan kompleks bir prosedurdur. Sigir protein faktorleri II, VII, IX ve X’u ihtiva eden FastAct pihti olusumunda faktor II, V, VIII ve XIII’u aktive etmesi icin katalizor olarak kullanilir. Gerecler ve Yontemler: Calisma 21 erkek Wistar rat uzerinde gerceklestirildi. Tum hayvanlarin sirtinda 4 cm’lik kutanoz insizyonlar yapildi. Yedi hayvanda yara kenarlari arasina sadece FastAct uygulanirken, diger yedisinde FastAct prilokain ile birlikte uygulandi. Yara dudaklari rezorbe olan sutur materyali ile kapatildi. Bulgular: Ornekler yedinci gun elde edildi. Histolojik inceleme oncesinde orneklere germe ve cekme testleri uygulandi. FastAct grubunda epitelizasyon ve yara iyilesmesinin diger gruba gore daha iyi oldugu tespit edildi. Germe ve cekme testlerinde FastAct grubu sonuclarinin daha iyi oldugu gozlendi. Sonuc: FastAct’in hemostazisi sagladigi, dogal surecler yardimiyla yara iyilesmesini kolaylastirdigi sonucuna ulasilmistir.

Objective To determine the approval levels of infertile Turkish women concerning gamete donation and gestational surrogacy. Design Opinion survey. Setting Assisted reproductive treatment center at Gulhane Military Medical Academy. Patient(s) 368 women who had applied for infertility treatment. Intervention(s) The patients were asked to answer a questionnaire that included questions about the patient's sociodemographic status, previous medical history with infertility treatment, and opinions on gamete donation and gestational surrogacy. Main Outcome Measure(s) Opinions of patients concerning gamete donation and gestational surrogacy. Result(s) Our data in this first study on infertile Turkish women show that some patients approve of gamete donation (23.3% for accepting oocytes and 3.4% for accepting sperm) and gestational surrogacy (15.1%). Conclusion(s) Donation and surrogacy are alternate treatments for the serious condition called infertility. As there are patients who would like to use these treatments, each of these patients should have the right to try any of them.

Syndecan-1 (CD138), an important transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan is expressed in distinct stages of cell differentiation. Although its expression in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells is well known: its function or presence in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) cells is still largely unknown. The expression of syndecan-1 was studied in bone marrow biopsies of three patients with AML using electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. Positive expression of syndecan-1 was found in AML cells. These results suggest that syndecan-1 expression is not only a characteristic phenotypic marker for ALL, but is also expressed in AML cells.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the fertilization and progression capabilities of MI oocytes that were submitted to ICSI after visualization of meiotic spindle using Polscope. A total of 358 oocytes were analyzed. 266 of these MI oocytes had a visible meiotic spindle and 92 had no spindle. 76 of 358 oocytes were degenerated or abnormally fertilized (1PN, multiple PNs or parthenogenesis) and were excluded from statistical analysis. Fertilization rates of the MI oocytes with or without a meiotic spindle was 46.8% and 27.4% respectively and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.006). Grade I embryo formation rate of MI oocytes with or without a meiotic spindle was 23.2% and 23.5% respectively and the difference was not significant. MI oocytes with visible meiotic spindle yield moderate fertilization expectation, but this feature does not seem to be adequate to obtain high rate of high quality embryos. Thus, it may be beneficial to delay ICSI until MI oocytes reach MII stage.