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Raman spectroscopy is broadly used in both industrial and academic communities, including nanotechnology, biology, materials engineering, physics, pharmaceutical industry and environment protection monitoring. Most of these devices are worth thousands of dollars and usually require a PhD-level assistant to operate them, hence they are usually not available for college and undergraduate students. The present paper describes an affordable, easy-to-use, Raman spectrometer that can be built with commercially available electronics and optics and 3D printing. A Crossed Czerny Turner spectrometer optical configuration has been built with a linear CCD module driven by a Nucleo F401RE and Raspberry Pi. Raman spectra of Rhodamine B liquid was obtained. We propose that this system could make it easier for universities to build and use an affordable, effective, easy-to-use, Raman spectrometer for educational purposes. Introducing this technology to students with an affordable, easy-to-use, device as early as possible would help universities and colleges to draw attention to studying science. Further research into the development of affordable and effective Raman spectrometers has the potential to pave the way for broadening the application of this technology in more innovative ways in the daily lives of future residents of smart cities.

Objectives: Psoriasis vulgaris is one of the most common skin disorders. Patients with psoriasis carry an excessive risk of coronary artery disease. Visceral adipose tissue around the heart affects the heart and coronaries by secreting proatherogenic mediators. It can be evaluated easily by measurement of epicardial fat thickness (EFT). The aim of this study was to investigate EFT in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Study design: One hundred and fifteen adult patients (62 male; mean age 33.6+-6.0 years) with psoriasis vulgaris (Group 1) and 60 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals (28 male; mean age, 32.5+-8.3 years) (Group 2) were included in this study. EFT was obtained by transthoracic echocardiography. Disease-specific characteristics of the patients were recorded. Serum glucose, lipid profile and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured. Results: EFT and hs-CRP were significantly higher in Group 1 than in Group 2 (5.7+-1.2 vs. 4.1+-1.0 mm, p

Background Cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis has been associated with poor prognosis. We evaluated myocardial contractility quantitatively in a cohort of pulmonary sarcoidosis (PS) patients with and without cardiac involvement. We also studied markers of fibrosis (tenascin-C [Tn-C] and galectin-3 [Gl-3]) as diagnostic tools for PS and cardiac sarcoidosis (CS). Methods Forty ambulatory patients with PS of grades 1-2 and 26 healthy subjects were prospectively enrolled. All patients with PS underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to explore the presence of CS. The study population was divided into three groups: controls (n = 26), non-CS patients (n = 34), and CS patients (n = 6). Speckle-tracking strain echocardiography (STE) was performed on all patients, and Gl-3 and Tn-C values were measured in all patients and controls. Results PS patients had higher levels of Gl-3 and Tn-C than did controls, and the STE parameters of PS patients, including global longitudinal strain (GLS) and global circumferential strain (GCS), were lower than those of controls (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). GLS values were lower in CS patients than in the other groups (p = 0.05). Conclusions PS patients demonstrate reduced cardiac contractility, independent of CMR-proven structural cardiac lesions, while patients with structural lesions have a more pronounced drop in strain parameters. Tn-C and Gl-3 are promising markers for the diagnosis of PS, but they are not specific for cardiac involvement., Author(s): Seref Kul[sup.1] , Hatice Kutbay Ozcelik[sup.2] , Huseyin Uyarel[sup.1] , Gultekin Karakus[sup.3] , Tolga Sinan Guvenc[sup.4] , Murat Yalcinsoy[sup.5] , Emin Asoglu[sup.1] , Ahu Sarbay Kemik[sup.6] , Abdurrahman Tasal[sup.1] [...]

Ortner's syndrome results in hoarseness caused by compression of the left laryngeal recurrent as a result of cardiovascular pathology. A wide range of cardiovascular such as valvular heart disease, thoracic aortic aneurysm and congenital heart disease may result in Ortner's syndrome. We present a case of Ortner's syndrome caused by a large diameter (120 mm) aneurysm, previously unreported in the literature. A male patient aged 71 years was admitted to our clinic for exertional dyspnea, asthenia and hoarseness. In the indirect laryngoscopic examination, left vocal cord paralysis of the patient was observed and his chest X-ray revealed a mass with a diameter of 120 mm that filled the left upper zone. A dissected aortic aneurysm 120 mm in diameter in arcus level at thorax was seen in CT imaging. Surgical treatment was suggested; however, the patient refused treatment and died at the 4th month of the follow up period.

Background: Staphylococcus spp. are the most frequently isolated microorganisms in mastitis cases of small ruminants. The virulence factors of Staphylococcus spp. are critical in the treatment. Therefore, preventive medicine and mastitis control programs, especially herd vaccinations are of great importance in the prevention of mastitis. However, it is not always easy to obtain these vaccines under field conditions. This study, it was aimed to compare the effects of different commercial Staphylococcus spp. vaccines licensed for bovines and species-specific mastitis vaccines on mastitis rates and somatic cell count (SCC) on Saanen goats on field conditions. Materials, Methods & Results: The animal material consisted of 115 (230 udder halves) nulliparous Saanen goats. Goats were randomly grouped as bovine vaccine 1 (BV1, n = 58), bovine vaccine 2 (BV2, n = 58), small ruminant vaccine (SRV, n = 56), and control (n = 56). Vaccines were administered to goats in 2 doses according to the label regimen. First milk samples were collected between 0-5 days in milk (DIM) for microbiological analysis and 25-35 DIM for SCC. The other milk samples were collected at 25-35 (1st month) DIM, 60-65 (2nd month) DIM, 85-95 (3rd month) DIM, 115-125 (4th month) DIM, 145-155 (5th month) DIM for microbiological analysis and SCC. Non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) and Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequently isolated microorganism. It was found that the total mastitis rate decreased in vaccine groups compared to the control group. A significant difference was found only in the BV2 and SRV groups. The significant difference in S. aureus infection was found only in the SRV group. Mastitis vaccines used in this study decreased the NAS mastitis rate, but no significant difference was observed. It was found that the clinical mastitis incidence decreased in all vaccine groups compared to the control group, and a significant difference was found between the BV2 and SRV groups compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Somatic cell count was lower in the SRV and BV2 groups compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Discussion: In this study, compatible with the previous reports NAS and S. aureus were the most frequently isolated microorganism. The diversity of virulence factors of Staphylococcus spp. also plays an important role in its high incidence. In some countries, mastitis vaccines used in cows are also administered to small ruminants for reducing infection rates. Similarly, in this study, it was found that the mastitis rate decreased in all vaccine groups compared to the control group. A significant difference was found only in the BV2 and SRV groups. It is thought that the reason for the statistical difference may be due to the biofilm antigen in the BV2 and SRV. In addition, J5 strain in the BV2 is estimated to be effective in reducing the prevalence of gram-negative mastitis. It was observed that the infection rates decreased in the vaccine groups, especially due to S. aureus and NAS. Spontaneous treatment rates were very close to each other between the groups. The reason for the high rate of spontaneous treatment in this study can be explained by the fact that the animals were young and in their 1st lactation. SCC was lower in all vaccine groups compared to the control group. This situation is associated with the decrease in infection rates related to the use of vaccines. It was observed that SCC was lower in the vaccine groups. In addition, SCC was found to be lower in this study compared to similar studies. However, it is evident that the use of species-specific vaccines in the SRV group significantly reduced the rates of total S. aureus mastitis, subclinical NAS mastitis, and new infections by NAS compared to other vaccines. Furthermore, the species-specific vaccine significantly increased the rate of spontaneous treatment for S. aureus mastitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]