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The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG) C161T polymorphism (rs3856806) may be a risk factor for in-stent restenosis (ISR) due to its known associations with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), obesity, and coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aims to investigate the relationship between PPARG-C161T polymorphism and the risk of ISR, considering clinical features.

The purpose of the study is to determine the prevalence of interleukin (IL)-1A (rs1800587), IL-1B (rs1143634) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) (TaqI, rs731236) gene polymorphisms in the Turkish population and their association with Stage III Grade B/C periodontitis. Systemically and periodontally healthy individuals (N = 100) and Stage III Grade B/C periodontitis patients (N=100) based on clinical and radiographic examination were included in this research. Clinical attachment level, probing depth, bleeding on probing, plaque and gingival indices of the subjects were measured. Genotyping of IL-1A (rs1800587), IL-1B (rs1143634) and VDR (rs731236) polymorphisms was conducted by Real Time PCR. Allelic and genotypic distributions of IL-1A (rs1800587) gene polymorphism were not associated with periodontitis (p>0.05). In IL-1B (rs1143634) gene polymorphism, the C allele was detected more frequently in healthy individuals compared with the periodontitis patients (p=0.045). CC genotype and C allele in VDR (rs731236) gene polymorphism was higher in periodontitis patients (p=0.031, p=0.034, respectively). In comparison with Grade B periodontitis patients and healthy subjects, CC genotype and C allele were observed more frequently in the Grade B periodontitis in terms of alleles (C/T) and genotypes for VDR (rs731236) polymorphism (p=0.024, p=0.008, respectively). This study presents that the VDR (rs731236) polymorphism are associated with enhanced susceptibility to Stage III periodontitis in the Turkish population. Furthermore, VDR (rs731236) polymorphism may be used as an identification criteria to discriminate Grade B and Grade C in Stage III periodontitis.

Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase-1 (ERAP1) polymorphic changes cause autoimmunity. To understand the contribution of ERAP1 to the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease, we investigated the relationship between ERAP1 and RA.

Introduction: Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is a disease with recurrent fever, characterized by painful, noninfectious inflammation of the serous membranes. It mostly affects Armenians, Turks, Arabs and Jews. Prolonged inflammation in FMF may lead to atrial fibrosis which can cause the deterioration of atrial conduction time and refractory periods of atrial myocardium.In the present study we aimed to assess atrial conduction time in children with FMF.Methods: The study included 36, children diagnosed with FMF(17 males/19 females, 13 (7-15) years) and 20 control(7 males/13 females, 11 (9-16) years) cases in our Pediatric Outpatient Clinic between October 2015 and October 2016. Tissue Doppler Echocardiography (TDE) measurements of intra-and interatrial electromechanical delay were done. P wave dispersion (Pdisp) was calculated from the 12-lead electrocardiogram.Results: Inter-atrial (Lateral PA– Tricuspid PA) and Intra-left (Lateral PA-Septal PA) atrial electromechanical delay were significantly longer in FMF patients (P lt;0.001,respectively). (PA: the time range between the beginning of the P wave in the surface electrocardiogram and the beginning of the tissue Doppler late diastolic wave A). Also, P-wave dispersion (Pdisp) were significantly higher in FMF patients( p= 0.002).Conclusions: This study shows that atrial electromechanical delay and Pdisp are prolonged in children with FMF. We recommend that atrial conduction time be measured for children diagnosed with FMF.

The aim of this study is to examine the predictor relationships between the satisfaction sport science students obtain from communication with lecturers and their organizational identification. Moreover, the study aims to determine whether there is a difference in both dependent variables in terms of gender, grade, whether they like their educational department, desire to change their department, establishment of out-of-class communication with lecturers, and being in active communication with lecturers in class. In this study, quantitative correlational techniques are used. Our sample comprised 252 (x¯ age = 21.39 ± 2.16) sport science students (127 female; 125 male). The “Student Communication Satisfaction Scale” developed by Goodboy, Martin, and Bolkan (2009) and adapted to Turkish by Akın, Yalnız, and Kazaz (2015) was used as a data collection tool, as was the “Organizational Identification Scale” developed by Mael and Ashforth (1992) and adapted to Turkish by Tak and Aydemir (2004). Parametric data was analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis, simple linear regression analysis, 2 × 2 MANOVA, and two-way ANOVA. Nonparametric data was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H statistical test technique. The results indicate a strong and positively oriented relationship between the communication satisfaction and organizational identification of sport science students. Moreover, it is seen that communication satisfaction is a crucial predictor of organizational identification. According to our data, females’ communication satisfaction and identification levels are much higher than those of males. Students’ like or dislike of the department where they receive an education and the quality and form of communication they have established with lecturers result in significant differences in both dependent variables.

BACKGROUND: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), an autosomal recessive, autoinflammatory disease that is common in Arabs, Jews, Armenians and Turks, is caused by mutations in the MEFV gene, which encodes a protein called pyrin. The disease is characterised by recurrent fever, peritonitis, pleuritis, abdominal pain and arthralgia. OBJECTIVE: Determine the distributions of MEFV mutations and their relationship with clinical manifestations. DESIGN: Retrospective, descriptive. SETTING: Turkish community. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study included patients with complaints related to FMF who were admitted to the research hospital of Cumhuriyet University between 2005 and 2017. FMF was diagnosed by physical examination using the Tel-Hashomer criteria. MEFV mutations were detected by reverse hybridization strip assay and pyrosequencing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The prevalence of specific MEFV gene mutations in a large cohort of Middle Anatolia. SAMPLE SIZE: 10 033 patients admitted, 1223 with confirmed mutations. RESULTS: Of 1684 patients diagnosed by Tel-Hashomer criteria, mutation screening confirmed that 1223 patients (72.6%) had FMF. Male/female ratio of the FMF patients was 1.3:1. One or more FMF mutations were found in 4497 patients (44.8%). 3262 had heterozygous or carrier mutations, 821 had compound heterozygous mutation, 381 had homozygous mutations, and 21 had triple mutations. Sixty-six percent had a family history of the disease and 13.7% of the patients had parental consanguinity. Main symptoms found in the patients were abdominal pain (85.2%), fever (84%), chest pain (30.2%), arthralgia (28.6%), rash or erysipelas-like erythema (8.2%). The most common mutation in this population was M694V (39%) of 5753 alleles. CONCLUSION: M694V was the most frequent mutation in our population (Middle Anatolia, Turkey) and cause severe forms of the disease. Patients with E148Q, V726A and R761H mutations may have milder FMF symptoms. There was a high rate of carriers in our study group. LIMITATIONS: Amyloidosis, an important complication of the disease, needs to be analyzed. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.

Blau syndrome is an autosomal dominant rare disease caused by mutations in NOD2 gene. Less than 200 patients published with Blau Syndrome Worldwide. We reported a 41-year old female Turkish patient diagnosed as Blau syndrome. Granulomatous dermatitis and severe headache, as well as recurrent chest and pelvic pain have been present since she was 8 years old. Arthritis started when she was teenage, hypertension diagnosed when she was 20 and other symptoms also occurred during the lifetime (severe preeclampsia, ischemic stroke, recurrent hemiparesis, recurrent-transient-vision-loss and renal-artery-stenosis). Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and 12 genes sequenced in Autoinflammatory panel on IonTorrent-S5-NGS platform with Parseq-VariFind™AIPassay. NGS analysis showed 107 variants in in the index case, mainly benign with no strong association with Blau syndrome. Additionally, we identified one very rare missense mutation in NOD2 gene (c2803G>A, p.Val935Met) and in silico assessment of the mutation indicated possible pathogenic significance and strong association with Blau syndrome. In addition, we analyzed family members of the index case and identified the same mutation in NOD2 gene. The segregation analysis shows the presence of the same mutant allele in NOD2 gene in the index case affected sister, as well as in her son with arthralgia, while in her non affecter brother we didn’t detect the Val935Met mutation in NOD2 gene. Blau Syndrome is known as a very rare disease, mainly caused by mutations in NOD2 gene. Missense mutation diagnosed in our case could be responsible for the phenotype of the index case. Our results indicate the importance of NGS testing and its major role in the detection of rare mutations that may responsible for the onset of autoinflammatory disorders.

Introduction: The non-invasive prenataldiagnosis of the fetus RhD genotype in RhD incompatibility has a crucial rolein the prevention of increased anti-D immunoglobulin therapy for haemolyticdiseases in pregnant women carrying RhD negative fetus. It was aimed to detectfetal RhD genotyping by using maternal circulating cell-free DNA in the currentstudy.Methods: Maternal blood samples werecollected in different trimester of pregnancies (12-40 weeks) in 12 D-negativemothers. Cell-free fetal DNA was extracted from 2 ml of maternal plasma by anconventional DNA isolation technique (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and real-timePCR was performed for genotyping target RhD exons 7 and 10 and GLO genes.Postnatal serological evaluations were performed and the results wereconfirmed.Results: 6 cases (50 %)were determined D positive and 6 cases (50 %) were determined D negative. Allresults were also confirmed after birth serologically.Conclusions: In conclusion,the current results showed us the non-invasive target RhD genotyping from cellfree fetal DNA from maternal plasma samples have a diagnostic accuracy in RhDincompatibility pregnancies.

Background: Rearrangements that occur mainly through the non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) during maternal meiosis in short arms of chromosome 8 is relatively associated with various clinical spectrum. Aim: The objective of this study was to report cytogenetics and molecular characterization of a mental and motor retarded boy with short arm of chromosome 8 rearrangements [invdupdel(8p)] in this current case report. Subjects and methods: We report an 11-year-old boy with scoliosis, intellectual disability, mental-motor retardation and characteristic facial features. Agenesis of corpus callosum was detected with brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) analysis. Derivative chromosome 8 structure was identified after conventional cytogenetics – karyotype analysis, Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) and Microarray-based Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) techniques. Genotype-phenotype correlation in the current proband case will be discussed. Results: Case was diagnosed as 46, XY, der (8), del (8) (p23.1) invdup (8) (p11.1-p23.1) by using advanced comparable techniques. Subtelomeric MLPA analysis showed deletion of FBXO25 gene which is located at 8p23.3 locus and FISH with subtelomeric probes for 8p shows also only deleted region. The microarray-CGH profilling showed 7,9 mb deletion for 8p23.1 and 31 mb duplication for 8p11.1 locuses. Conclusion: Results from the current case emphasized that the cases with clinical manifestations of such disorders extremely need to be examined by combined comparable genetics techniques such as; karyotyping, FISH, MLPA and chromosomal microarray for the accurate phenotype – genotype correlation. Keywords: Chromosomal rearrangement, Corpus callosum, İnvdupdel(8p), Array-CGH, MLPA

Introduction: Thepresent study aimed to evaluate macular and choroidal thicknesses in childrenwith MEFV gene mutations.Methods: Thirty-five childrenwith MEFV gene mutations and 40 healthy controls were included in the study.MEFV gene profiles for the current cohort were genotyped by Pyrosequencing anddirect Sanger sequencing techniques. The thicknesses of the macular and choroidof each subject’s right eye were measured using spectral-domain optic coherencetomography.Results: Meanarteriolar and venular diameters were 95.75±11.98 µm and 127.61±10.44 µm inchildren with the MEFV gene mutations and 110.19±11.10 µm and 138.54±10.04 µmin control group respectively. Children with the MEFV gene mutations were foundto have a significantly less mean arteriolar diameter (p lt;0.001), meanvenular diameter (p lt;0.001), less macular thickness (p=0.016), and lesschoroidal thickness (p=0.014) compared to healthy controls.Conclusion: Children with theMEFV gene mutations had narrowing of the retinalarterioles, retinal venules, and macular and choroidal thinning. Future studiesshould aim to investigate endothelial dysfunction in children with FamilialMediterranean Fever by non-invasive and effective methods.

Warfarin is the most widely prescribed anticoagulant in the world. Patients who need more than 15 mg per day should be considered warfarin-resistant. Nearly 30 genes have been reported in association with warfarin pharmacogenetics but genetic polymorphisms in the genes encoding CYP2C9 and VKORC1 have been shown to act as the most important determinants of drug dosage requirements. The major enzyme responsible for the metabolism of S-warfarin, the more potent of warfarin’s two stereoisomers, is CYP2C9. Warfarin inhibits vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR). A 30-year-old woman was referred to our clinic for pulmonary embolism. She was treated with low molecular weight heparin. The warfarin dose was titrated up to 15 mg daily but after one week, the INR (international normalized ratio) was still subtherapeutic level at 1.8. In this paper, we discuss underlying genetic polymorphisms about warfarin resistance.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence shows that an elevated pulse pressure (PP) may lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene on the PP after a first anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: Overall 116 patients with a first anterior AMI were included in this cross-sectional study. DNA was isolated from peripheral leukocytes. The ID status was determined by polymerase chain reaction by a laboratory staff member who was unaware of the clinical details. Based on the polymorphism of the ACE gene, they were classified into 3 groups: Deletion/Deletion (DD) genotype (Group 1, n=45), Insertion/Deletion (ID) genotype (Group 2, n=58), Insertion/Insertion (II) genotype (Group 3, n=13). Blood pressure measurements were performed in all patients within 10 minutes admitted to coronary care unit. The PP was calculated by subtraction of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) from systolic blood pressure (SBP). Echocardiographic examinations were performed using the parasternal longitudinal axis and apical 4-chamber windows in accordance with the recommendations of the American Echocardiography Committee. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square analyses were used to compare differences among subjects with different genotypes. RESULTS: There were no significant differences among clinical parameters of patients. Pulse pressure was significantly higher in patients who have ACE DD and ID genotypes than in patients who have ACE II genotype (47+/- 16, 47+/- 14 and 39+/- 12, F=3.4, p<0.05). But SBP, DBP and heart rate were not significantly different among ACE DD, ACE ID and ACE II genotypes. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that, ACE Gene I/D polymorphism D allele may affect PP in patients with a first anterior AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the free fatty acids differences in plasma between hyperemesis gravidarum(HG) and healthy pregnant in first trimester pregnancy.

In this study, the optimization of a low-speed wing with functional constraints is discussed. The aerodynamic analysis tool developed by the coupling of the numerical nonlinear lifting-line method to Xfoil is used to obtain lift and drag coefficients of the baseline wing. The outcomes are compared with the results of the solver based on the nonlinear lifting-line theory implemented into XLFR5 and the transition shear stress transport model implemented into ANSYS-Fluent. The agreement between the results at the low and moderate angle of attack values is observed. The sequential quadratic programming algorithm of the MATLAB optimization toolbox is used for the solution of the constrained optimization problems. Three different optimization problems are solved. In the first problem, the maximization of CL3/2/CD is the objective function, while level flight condition at maximum CL3/2/CD is defined as a constraint. The functional constraints related to the wing weight, the wing planform area, and the root bending moment are added to the first optimization problem, and the second optimization problem is constructed. The third optimization problem is obtained by adding the level flight condition and the available power constraints at the maximum speed and the level flight condition at the minimum speed of the baseline unmanned air vehicle to the second problem. It is demonstrated that defining the root bending moment, the wing area, and the available power constraints in the aerodynamic optimization problems leads to more realistic wing planform and airfoil shapes.

We study the existence and nonexistence of nonoscillatory solutions of a two-dimensional systemof first-order dynamic equations on time scales. Our approach is based on the Knaster and Schauder fixed point theorems and some certain integral conditions. Examples are given to illustrate some of our main results.

In Recent studies underline the fact that adolescents are, at many times, likely to experience serious communication problems with their families and close environments. So, the aim of this study is to determine positive impact of sport-related games, which are performed as extracurricular activities, on high school students’ communication skills. In the study, pre, & post-tests was utilized with the control group’s experimental patterns. Two participant groups were made up of totally 30 high school students, 15 of whom would be in the experimental group and the rest of whom were in the control group. The former group was given sport- related 20 applications for 10 weeks during which the latter group would not deal with any extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, before and after the applications, data was collected by means of “The Communication Skills Scale” which was developed by Korkut (1996) and then analysed through “two-way ANCOVA” test techniques. Results clarify that the considerable gap in scores of the students’ pre, & post-tests perception concerning their communication skills are clearly attributed to sport-related games and it was also established that scores of the students in the experimental group were meaningfully higher than ones in the control group. However, perception of communication skills in the both groups was not significantly different by sex of the students. Moreover, the common effect of sex and participation on sport- related games was not found statistically meaningful in terms of communication skills. Consequently, it could be said that sport-related games impact positively communication skills.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Psoriasis is a common autoimmune-mediated chronic, inflammatory skin disease. Although, the molecular mechanism is not completely understood, psoriasis is caused by genetic and non-genetic parameters. The current study aimed (1) to define genotype and allele frequency of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS Glu298Asp) gene polymorphism in hypertensive and/or non-hypertensive psoriatic patients (2) to investigate the possible relationship between the eNOS Glu298Asp polymorphism and the risk of hypertension among psoriatic patients in the Turkish population. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: This cross-sectional, case-control study was performed between March 2010 and November 2012 at the University hospital in Çanakkale, Turkey PATIENTS AND METHODS: Gene profiles of 75 psoriatic patients (21 hypertensive and 54 normotensive patients) and 55 healthy (normotensive and non-psoriatic) volunteers were compared. Peripheral blood-EDTA samples were used for total genomic DNA isolation and genotyping. Target eNOS gene was genotyped for patients and control groups by real-time PCR melting-curve analysis system (LightCycler 2.0, Roche, Germany, and results were compared statistically. RESULTS: An increased T allele frequency in eNOS Glu298Asp single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was determined in psoriatic patients when compared with normotensive non-psoriatic healthy volunteers (OR 2.3, CI 1.14–3.99), (P=.017). The T allele frequency was also found to be increased in hypertensive psoriatic patients when compared with healthy volunteers (4.83-fold increased, 95% CI 1.62–14.43 ([P=.003]) and normotensive psoriatic patients (3.03-fold increased, 95% CI 1.03–8.94 [P=.041]), respectively. CONCLUSION: The current preliminary results suggested that there was a correlation between eNOS Glu298Asp polymorphism and hypertension among psoriatic patients in the Turkish population. The T allele frequency of eNOS Glu298Asp SNP was different in hypertensive psoriatic patients, and the difference was statistically significant when compared with the normotensive psoriatic patients and healthy controls. These results need to be confirmed by large-scale studies.

Introduction: Chromosomal indels are relatively common cytogenetic abnormalities. Nonetheless, clinical outcomes depend on the location, size and genes in deletion or duplication regions. The zona pellucida is an extracellular matrix that surrounds the oocyte and early embryo. It is composed primarily of three or four glycoproteins with various functions during fertilization and preimplantation development. The protein encoded by ZP3(Zona pellucida3) gene is a structural component of the zona pellucida and functions in primary binding and induction of the sperm acrosome reaction. UPK3B(Uroplakin 3B), a minor component of the apical plaques of mammalian urothelium that binds and dimerizes with uroplakin-1b(UPK1B), one of the major conserved urothelium membrane proteins. We herein report two cases presenting with the deletions encompassing POMZP3, UPK3B, ZP3, POM121 and POM121C genes. Case1: 25-year-old female presented to our clinic with recurrent pregnancy loss. After clinical and cytogenetic evaluation, which all of them do not feature, she was diagnosed as the deletion of POMZP3 and UPK3B genes with the array-CGH platform. (Agilent SurePrintG3 HumanCGH 60K) Case2: Ten-week embrio of 34-year-old female, infertile for ten years before and this is her first pregnancy after IVF, revealed the deletion of POM121,POM121C and ZP3 genes with the same array-CGH platform. Conclusion: We have evaluated the deletion of two consecutive genes -UPK3B and ZP3- in the genome by array-CGH analysis. Early abortion or infertility due to triploidic, tetraploidic embryos or uniparental disomy, resulting in a change in the structure of the zona pellucida with the mutations of ZP3 gene, may occur. Also mutations of UPK3B gene may cause abortion or infertility due to endometrial origin with defective function of the urothelium membrane proteins. ICSI could be a good choice for ZP3 deficient infertile woman and if PGS choosen without ICSI, uniparental disomia should be excluded.

Background and Objectives: Because subclinical thyroid dysfunction may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, we evaluated the atherosclerosis tendency in subclinical hypothyroid (SCH) patients. Patients and Methods: Fifty-three subclinical hypothyroid patients (serum thyrotropin [TSH] concentrations >4.12 mU/L) were compared with a control group of 50 euthyroid subjects whose age, sex and body mass indices were similar to the patient group. We tested whether serum TSH concentrations were correlated with plasma total homocysteine concentration (tHcy), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG). Results: There was a significant statistical difference between the patient and control groups for normal free T4 (1.02±0.17 vs. 0.86±0.13, P< .001), TSH (1.64±1.02 vs. 6.62±2.61, P< .001), TC (185±39 vs. 206±42, P=.01),TG (103±54 vs. 132±85, P=.04), LDL-C (114±33 vs. 127±36, P=.04), and TC/HDL-C (3.81±106 vs. 4.19±1.02,P=.04), respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups for HDL-C, VLDL- C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and tHcy. Serum TSH was significantly correlated with plasma tHcy (r=0.55; P=.001), TC (r=0.52; P=.001), LDL-C (r=0.49; P=.001), TC/HDL-C (r=0.38; P=.002) and LDL-C/HDL-C (r=0.36; P=.004) across all participants. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the atherogenicity of SCH is not mediated by hyperhomocysteinemia. Associated hyperlipidemia may explain the observed increased risk of coronary artery disease in patients with SCH.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate oxidative stress and thiol/disulfide status with a novel automated homeostasis assay in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)., Methods: Thirty-five patients with advanced NSCLC, who had been newly diagnosed and previously untreated, and 35 healthy subjects were chosen for the study. We measured plasma total thiol (-SH+-S-S-), native thiol (thiol) (-SH), and disulfide (-S-S-) levels in the patients with NSCLC and the healthy subjects. The thiol/disulfide (-SH/-S-S-) ratio was also calculated., Results: Statistically significant differences between the patient group and the control group were detected for the thiol/disulfide parameters. The mean native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels were significantly lower in the group with advanced stage NSCLC. The cut-off value was 313 and 13.8 for native thiol and disulfide, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) was significantly shorter in patients with low native thiol and disulfide levels according to the cut-off value (respectively, P = 0.001; P = 0.006). Native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels were correlated with Karnofsky performance status (KPS), OS, and age. Additionally, hierarchical regression analyses showed gender, KPS, lung metastases, and plasma native thiol levels were the determinants of OS in the final model., Conclusion: These results suggest that in advanced stage NSCLC, the native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels decrease, while the native thiol/disulfide ratio does not change. Low levels of thiol/disulfide parameters are related to tumor aggressiveness and may predict a poor outcome for patients with NSCLC.

Background: Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism is associated with high renin-angiotensin system causing myocardial fibrosis and ventricular repolarization abnormality. Based on these findings, this study was designed to determine the association between ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and QT dispersion after acute myocardial infarction (MI)., Objective and Methods: The study included 108 patients with acute MI. Blood samples were obtained from all the patients for genomic DNA analysis. ECGs were recorded at baseline and at the end of a 6-month follow up. The OT dispersion was manually calculated., Results: The mean age of the patients was 57.5 ±9.9 years (ranging from 36 to 70). The patients with DD genotype showed longer QT dispersion than patients with II or DI genotype at the baseline, while at the end of the six-month follow up the patients with DI genotype showed longer QT dispersion than patients with DD or II genotypes. However, the magnitude of the QT dispersion prolongation was higher in patients carrying the ACE D allele than patients who were not carrying it, at baseline and at the end of six-month follow up (52.5 ±2.6 msn vs. 47.5±2.1 msn at baseline, 57±3.2 msn vs. 53±2.6 msn in months, P: 0.428 and P: 0.613, respectively)., Conclusion: Carriers of the D allele of ACE gene I/D polymorphism may be associated with QT dispersion prolongation in patients with MI.An interaction of QT dispersion and ACE gene polymorphism may be associated with an elevation of serum type I-C terminal pro-collagen concentration, possibly leading to myocardial fibrosis, and increased action potential duration.

Background: This study sought to determine whether trazodone used in hypnotic doses, compared to the hypnotic agent zopiclone, had any specific positive effect on sexual function in non-depressive post-menopausal women with insomnia., Subjects and Methods: Fifty (50) subjects participated in the study. Insomnia and sexual performance were evaluated before and after 4 weeks of hypnotic treatment., Results: At week four, both treatments improved sleep quality to a similar degree. Sexual function also improved significantly with both treatments, with no significant difference between the groups., Conclusions: In post-menopausal women, sexual problems and sleep problems may be related and solving sleep problems may help sexual functioning, independently of depression.

Purpose: Although several surface treatments have been recently investigated both under in vitro and in vivo conditions, controversy still exists regarding the selection of the most appropriate zirconia surface pre-treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of alumina (Al) and aluminium nitride (AlN) coating on the shear bond strength of adhesive resin cement to zirconia core., Materials and Methods: Fifty zirconia core discs were divided into 5 groups; air particle abrasion with 50 µm aluminum oxide particles (Al2O3), polishing + Al coating, polishing + AlN coating, air particle abrasion with 50 µm Al2O3 + Al coating and air particle abrasion with 50 µm Al2O3 + AlN coating. Composite resin discs were cemented to each of specimens. Shear bond strength (MPa) was measured using a universal testing machine. The effects of the surface preparations on each specimen were examined with scanning electron microscope (SEM). Data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA (α=.05)., Results: The highest bond strengths were obtained by air abrasion with 50 µm Al2O3, the lowest bond strengths were obtained in polishing + Al coating group (P<.05)., Conclusion: Al and AlN coatings using the reactive magnetron sputtering technique were found to be ineffective to increase the bond strength of adhesive resin cement to zirconia core.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare benign neoplasm. It is a challenging disease because the symptoms and radiologic findings are diverse and nonspecific. Although pulmonary IMT is the most common form, pleural origin is an extremely rare clinical entity. Nuchal fibroma (NF) is another rare benign neoplasm. We report herein a case of pleural IMT with concomitant NF in a 15-year-old girl. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report suggesting an association between IMT and NF, and our case had the largest reported intrathoracic IMT. Moreover, we found a possible association between IMT and increased CA-125 levels., (Copyright © 2013 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Predicting type-1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) protease cleavage site in protein molecules and determining its specificity is an important task which has attracted considerable attention in the research community. Achievements in this area are expected to result in effective drug design (especially for HIV-1 protease inhibitors) against this life-threatening virus. However, some drawbacks (like the shortage of the available training data and the high dimensionality of the feature space) turn this task into a difficult classification problem. Thus, various machine learning techniques, and specifically several classification methods have been proposed in order to increase the accuracy of the classification model. In addition, for several classification problems, which are characterized by having few samples and many features, selecting the most relevant features is a major factor for increasing classification accuracy., Results: We propose for HIV-1 data a consistency-based feature selection approach in conjunction with recursive feature elimination of support vector machines (SVMs). We used various classifiers for evaluating the results obtained from the feature selection process. We further demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed method by comparing it with a state-of-the-art feature selection method applied on HIV-1 data, and we evaluated the reported results based on attributes which have been selected from different combinations., Conclusion: Applying feature selection on training data before realizing the classification task seems to be a reasonable data-mining process when working with types of data similar to HIV-1. On HIV-1 data, some feature selection or extraction operations in conjunction with different classifiers have been tested and noteworthy outcomes have been reported. These facts motivate for the work presented in this paper., Software Availability: The software is available at http://ozyer.etu.edu.tr/c-fs-svm.rar. The software can be downloaded at esnag.etu.edu.tr/software/hiv&#95;cleavage&#95;site&#95;prediction.rar; you will find a readme file which explains how to set the software in order to work.

Background: A large variety of familiar and non-familiar lung carcinomas (LC) are caused by long term exposure to chemical carcinogens that are present in tobacco smoke. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of 5 thrombophilic germ-line mutations in patients with lung carcinomas., Materials and Methods: A total of 52 LC patients and 212 healthy controls from same population were analyzed for FV Leiden, factor V H1299R (R2), PAI-1, MTHFR C677T, MTHFR A1298C, ACE I/D, and Apo E genes and compared., Results: Overall, heterozygous and/or homozygous point mutations in FV Leiden Apo E2, PAI-1 and MTHFR C677T genes were associated with LC in the current cohort. There was no meaningful association between LC and ACE I/D gene markers., Conclusions: The current results showed that LC is related to combined thrombophilic gene mutations and individuals with homozygosity of 4G in PAI-1 and MTHFR C677T genes and heterozygosity of FV Leiden, Apo E4 genes have a germ-line risk for LC tumorigenesis.

In the current study we aimed to show the common YMDD motif mutations in viral polymerase gene in chronic hepatitis B patients during lamivudine and adefovir therapy. Forty-one serum samples obtained from chronic hepatitis B patients (24 male, 17 female; age range: 34-68 years) were included in the study. HBV-DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of the patients using an extraction kit (Invisorb, Instant Spin DNA/ RNA Virus Mini Kit, Germany). A line probe assay and direct sequencing analyses (INNO-LIPA HBV DR v2; INNOGENETICS N.V, Ghent, Belgium) were applied to determine target mutations of the viral polymerase gene in positive HBV-DNA samples. A total of 41 mutations located in 21 different codons were detected in the current results. In 17 (41.5%) patients various point mutations were detected leading to lamivudin, adefovir and/ or combined drug resistance. Wild polymerase gene profiles were detected in 24 (58.5%) HBV positive patients of the current cohort. Eight of the 17 samples (19.5%) having rtM204V/I/A missense transition and/or transversion point mutations and resistance to lamivudin. Six of the the mutated samples (14.6%) having rtL180M missense transversion mutation and resistance to combined adefovir and lamivudin. Three of the mutated samples (7.5%) having rtG215H by the double base substituation and resistance to adefovir. Three of the mutated samples (7.5%) having codon rtL181W due to the missense transversion point mutations and showed resistance to combined adefovir and lamivudin. Unreported novel point mutations were detected in the different codons of polymerase gene region in the current HBV positive cohort fromTurkish population. The current results provide evidence that rtL180M and rtM204V/I/A mutations of HBV-DNA may be associated with a poor antiviral response and HBV chronicity during conventional therapy in Turkish patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the BRAF V600E mutation incidence and histopathologic prognostic risk factors for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) on the Turkish population. The contribution of BRAF V600E mutation in both tumor and tumor-surrounding nontumoral tissues of 108 patients with PTC was assessed using mutant allele-specific amplification-polymerase chain reaction. The BRAF V600E mutation was found in 52.8% of the tumor tissues, and 7.4% of the tumor-surrounding nontumoral tissues. The BRAF V600E mutation was significantly higher in the tumor tissues of the classic variant of PTC (CVPTC) cases than the follicular variant of PTC cases (p=0.001). The presence of the BRAF V600E mutation was more frequent in women, but this gender difference was not statistically significant. BRAF V600E mutation was more frequent in patients with either one of adenomatous hyperplasia or diffuse hyperplasia in tumor-surrounding nontumoral tissues (p=0.012). There was no significant difference in the BRAF V600E mutation distribution among tumor-surrounding nontumoral tissues of the two PTC variants, but it was more frequent in the CVPTC. Recent data suggest that BRAF V600E is an important marker, especially, for CVPTC. We propose that patients who had subtotal thyroid resection might have an increased risk of recurrence at the residual thyroid tissue if they have BRAF V600E mutation in their tumor-surrounding nontumoral tissues.

The aim was to investigate the prevalence of VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genotypes in patients requiring anticoagulant therapy in two different region's populations of Turkey. The recent cohort included 292 patients that needed anticoagulant therapy, and who had a history of deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary artery thromboembolism. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood samples and the StripAssay reverse hybridization or Real Time PCR technique was used for genotype analysis. Genotypes for CYP2C9 were detected as follows: 165 (56.5 %) for CYP2C9*1/*1, 67 (23.0 %) for CYP2C9*1/*2, 25 (8.6 %) for CYP2C9*1/*3, 9 (3.0 %) for CYP2C9*2/*2, 21 (7.2 %) for CYP2C9*2/*3, 5(1.7 %) for CYP2C9*3/*3 for CYP2C9 and the allele frequencies were: 0.723 for allele*1, 0.182 for allele*2 and 0.095 for allele*3 respectively. Genotypes for VKORC1 were detected as follows: 64 (21.9 %) for GG, 220 (75.4 %) for GA and 8 (2.7 %) for AA alleles. The G allele frequency was detected as 0.596, and the A allele frequency was 0.404. The VKORC1 1639 G>A and CYP2C9 mutation prevalence and allele frequency of the current results from two different populations (Sivas and Canakkale) showed similarly very variable profiles when compared to the other results from the Turkish population.

The design of a diving regulator's mouthpiece increases the risk of a temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in scuba divers. The total weight of a diving regulator is reflected directly on the temporomandibular joint, causing articular and periarticular disorders. In the current study, the prevalence of TMD in scuba divers triggered during diving certification training is investigated. We also aimed to determine the factors that lead to TMD during diving training and clarify the observation that there is an increased incidence of TMD in inexperienced divers. The study was held between 2006 and 2011. Ninety-seven divers were referred with the complaint of pain around temporomandibular area. The divers were classified according to their diving experience. Symptoms and signs of TMD were graded. Fourteen divers were diagnosed with TMD. Temporomandibular disorder was seen more frequently in inexperienced divers than in experienced divers (P = 0.0434). The most prevalent symptom was an increased effort for mouthpiece gripping. Temporomandibular joint tenderness and trigger point activation were the mostly seen physical signs. Thirteen divers had an improvement with therapy. The increased effort for stabilizing the mouthpiece is a recognized factor in TMD development. Attention must be paid to an association of scuba diving with TMDs, especially in inexperienced divers having a scuba certification training.

Background/purpose: The purpose of our study was to define the factors related to recurrence of labial fusion., Methods: The data of 110 patients diagnosed with labial fusion were gathered. The data collected and queried included age and body weight of the patient, season of presentation/occurrence, frequency of diaper change, frequency of diaper dermatitis, products used for hygiene, duration of breast milk feeding, infections, presence of allergy, thickness of the adhesion, mother's use of oral contraceptive drugs before pregnancy, mother's use of alcohol/drugs/cigarettes or presence of disease during pregnancy, the number of recurrences, treatment method, presence of labial fusion among maternal sisters or any relatives, and blood estrogen levels., Results: Eighty-one patients (73.6%) with labial fusion were admitted for the first time, whereas 29 patients (26.4%) had been treated previously at least once. The adhesion was denser in patients with recurrence. There was no correlation between recurrence of labial fusion and age-based body weight percentile, frequency of diaper change, frequency of diaper dermatitis, hygiene products used, presence of infection, presence of allergy, mother's use of oral contraceptive drugs before pregnancy, or presence of any pathology in other family members., Conclusions: The products used for hygiene, frequency of diaper dermatitis, duration of breast milk feeding, presence of infection, and prenatal factors showed no correlation with the recurrence of labial fusion., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hypermethylated genomic DNA is a common feature in tumoral tissues, although the prevalence of this modification remains poorly understood. We aimed to determine the frequency of five tumor suppressor (TS) genes in prostate cancer and the correlation between promoter hypermethylation of these genes and low and high grade of prostate carcinomas. A total of 30 prostate tumor specimens were investigated for promoter methylation status of TS hypermethylated in cancer 1 (HIC1), death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1), secreted frizzled-related protein 2 (SFRP2), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (p16), and O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) genes by using bisulfite modifying method. A high frequency of promoter hypermethylation was found in HIC1 (70.9%), SFRP2 (58.3%), and DAPK1 (33.3%) genes in tumor samples that were examined. The current data show high frequency of hypermethylation changes in HIC1, SFRP2, and DAPK1 genes in prostate carcinomas of high Gleason Score (GS).