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WOS: 000429520500004, Arvicola amphibius (Linnaeus, 1758) is a semiaquatic rodent living in and around wetland habitats covered by rich vegetation. It has a broad distribution in the Palearctic and three subspecies live in Turkey. In order to identify the geographical distribution of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b diversity in A. amphibius populations in Turkey, the restriction fragment length polymorphism method was applied. The digestion patterns of four restriction enzymes (Alu I, Rsa I, Sau3A I and EcoR V) in 100 samples of A. amphibius from 20 localities in Turkey brought out four mtDNA lineages [Thrace (THR), central Anatolia (CA), southern Anatolia (SA) and eastern Anatolia (EA)], each having high genetic diversity. In contrast to the three lineages in THR, CA and SA, respectively, corresponding to the known subspecies A. a. cernjavskii, A. a. persicus and A. a. hintoni, separate populations constituting the fourth A. amphibius lineage in EA were determined. The results proved that the variable topography and geomorphological conglomeration process of Anatolia lead to an allopatric differentiation and had a large impact on the appearance and shaping of intraspecific genetic variations in water voles. Moreover, the existing high genetic variability in Turkish water vole populations propounds the importance of Anatolia as a potential refuge in the Pleistocene., Coordinatorship of the Scientific Research Projects of Ankara University [12B4240010]; Coordinatorship of Scientific Research Projects of Artvin Coruh University [2015.F10.02.05], We would like to thank Dr. Tolga KANKILIC and Dr. Kubilay TOYRAN for their help during the field work, Dr. Basar KARACA for his help conducting the experimental protocols in the laboratory, Dr. Munir UCAK for preparing the map and Dr. Sarp KAYA for constructing the phylogenetic tree. This research was partially supported by the Coordinatorship of the Scientific Research Projects of Ankara University (No. 12B4240010) and Coordinatorship of Scientific Research Projects of Artvin Coruh University (No. 2015.F10.02.05).

Objective To develop a new composite disease activity score for gout and provide its first validation. Methods Disease activity has been defined as the ongoing presence of urate deposits that lead to acute arthritis and joint damage. Every measure for each Outcome Measures in Rheumatology core domain was considered. A 3-step approach (factor analysis, linear discriminant analysis, and linear regression) was applied to derive the Gout Activity Score (GAS). Decision to change treatment or 6-month flare count were used as the surrogate criteria of high disease activity. Baseline and 12-month followup data of 446 patients included in the Kick-Off of the Italian Network for Gout cohort were used. Construct- and criterion-related validity were tested. External validation on an independent sample is reported. Results Factor analysis identified 5 factors: patient-reported outcomes, joint examination, flares, tophi, and serum uric acid (sUA). Discriminant function analysis resulted in a correct classification of 79%. Linear regression analysis identified a first candidate GAS including 12-month flare count, sUA, visual analog scale (VAS) of pain, VAS global activity assessment, swollen and tender joint counts, and a cumulative measure of tophi. Alternative scores were also developed. The developed GAS demonstrated a good correlation with functional disability (criterion validity) and discrimination between patient- and physician-reported measures of active disease (construct validity). The results were reproduced in the external sample. Conclusion This study developed and validated a composite measure of disease activity in gout. Further testing is required to confirm its generalizability, responsiveness, and usefulness in assisting with clinical decisions.

Background: The antibody-based targeted pharmacodelivery of cytokines by means of immunocytokines has the potential to enhance therapeutic activity at the site of disease while sparing healthy tissues. Dekavil (F8IL10) is a fully human immunocytokine composed of the vascular targeting antibody F8 (specific[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], 45. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie (DGRh), 31. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Orthopädische Rheumatologie (DGORh), 27. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie (GKJR)

Background: Females with primary infertility are subjected to various investigations. Most of them are subjected for stimulation of ovulation. Before subjecting them for stimulation, case selection is important. Knowledge about the basic problems involved in infertility is very important. The male factor should be ruled out. Whatever the reason may be, the females bare the sole responsibility. In infertile couples, oxidative stress (OS) in the females involved where male factor is the cause is estimated. Because the mental stress they face in the society may increase the levels of oxidative stress in them. Aim: Serum level of oxidative stress marker Malondialdehyde (MDA) was done in females in infertile couples where the male factor plays the causative factor. Estimated levels were compared with the MDA levels of fertile females. Materials and methods: 17 infertile couples who were attending fertility clinic at Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital were selected. In them, the male factor was the reason for infertility. These 17 females were included in the study where the female factors were normal and age, height and weight matched 25 females were included as controls. Results: MDA levels were high (2.8 ± 0.08) in females where other fertility factors were normal compared with fertile females (0.91 ± 0.13). Conclusion: In apparently healthy females where male factor is the etiology, failure to conceive by Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) may be due to much reason. Increased levels of MDA may be one of the reasons. This may produce difficulty in conception by Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Optical parameter assignment via Transfer Functions (TF) is the sole interactive part in medical visualization via volume rendering. Being an interactive element of the rendering pipeline, TF specification has very important effects on the quality of volume-rendered medical images. However, TF specification should be supported by informative search spaces, interactive data exploration tools and intuitive user interfaces. Due to the trade-off between user control and TF domain complexity, integrating different features into the TF without losing user interaction is a challenging task since both are needed to fulfill the expectations of a physician. By addressing this problem, we introduce a semi-automatic method for initial generation of TFs. The proposed method extends the concept of recently introduced Volume Histogram Stack (VHS), which is a new domain constructed by aligning the histograms of the image slices of a CT and/or MR series. In this study, the VHS concept is extended by allowing the user to define an alignment axis using orthogonal multi planar reconstructions via simple, yet effective, interaction mechanisms. The construction of VHS according to the slices generated specifically for user defined search space allows the more informative integration of local intensity distribution, and better spatial positioning of the organ of interest into the TF. For testing, the proposed strategy is applied to kidney visualization from CT and MRI series. The performance of extended VHS domain is evaluated via intensity based TF design. Volumetric histogram based manual TF specifications are quantitatively compared to VHS based manual tweaking of original slices, and to extended-VHS based automatic TF design. The results show both quantitatively and qualitatively enhanced rendering quality for kidney visualization.