Measuring the Sympathetic Skin Response on Body and Using as Diagnosis-Purposed for Lung Cancer Patients by Artificial Neural Networks

In this study, the points of Sympathetic skin response that can be measured from different zones on body of healthy and patient subjects are determined. The Sympathetic skin responses on these points are obtained using a measurement device that is called Grass Model 7 Polygraph 1. The database is formed in Cerrahpaşa University, Faculty of Medicine and data is taken from healthy and patient subjects who are volunteer. Some parameters of the subjects which are more effective on SSR such as height, weight, age must be chosen between the specific limits to obtain results more clearly. The symmetric points on human body are chosen for the measurement. After that, the Sympathetic skin response values which are measured from a human body are simulated and tested by using artificial neural network toolbox on Matlab software. The structure of the chosen neural network is a multilayer feedforward neural network. According to simulation results, the application method as diagnosis-purposed of the lung cancer patients is explained by using the differences related to these values on the skin.     

Wolcott–Rallison syndrome due to the same mutation (W522X) in EIF2AK3 in two unrelated families and review of the literature*

Ozbek MN, Senée V, Aydemir S, Kotan LD, Mungan NO, Yuksel B, Julier C, Topaloglu AK. Wolcott–Rallison syndrome due to the same mutation (W522X) in EIF2AK3 in two unrelated families and review of the literature. Wolcott‐Rallison syndrome (WRS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by an early‐infancy‐onset diabetes mellitus associated with a variety of multisystemic clinical manifestations. Here, we present six patients with WRS, carrying the same homozygous mutation (EIF2AK3‐W522X), from two unrelated Turkish families. This is the largest series of patients with the same mutation for this rare syndrome. In this communication we compare clinical features of these six patients with the other 34 patients who have been reported to date, and review the clinical features of WRS. All WRS patients presented first with symptoms of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, with a mean age at onset of 2 months. All patients had skeletal dysplasia or early signs of it, and growth retardation. Many of the patients with WRS have been reported to have developmental delay, mental retardation, and learning difficulties; in contrast, none of our patients showed abnormal development at age up to 30 months. Acute attacks of hepatic failure were reported in 23 cases out of 37 patients; in 15 of those 23 cases an acute attack of renal failure accompanied the liver failure. Exocrine pancreatic deficiency has been reported in only four cases other than our four patients. Central hypothyroidism was observed in six of 28 cases. We propose that central hypothyroidism is not a component of WRS, but rather a reflection of euthyroid sick syndrome. Four of our patients experienced severe neutropenia, compared to only five of the 27 other cases, suggesting that the W522X mutation may be specifically associated with neutropenia. Other than the consistent features of diabetes mellitus and epiphyseal dysplasia, WRS patients are otherwise characterized by extensive phenotypic variability that correlates poorly to genotype.     

Evaluation of individuals’ satisfaction with health care services in Turkey

Objectives

To demonstrate whether features related to the institution and service provider affect individuals’ level of satisfaction regarding the public health care services they receive.

Morphine modulates inducible nitric oxide synthase expression and reduces pulmonary oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea

This study was designed to investigate the possible participation of morphine in pulmonary oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), which is a well-known noxious chemical agent in the lung. Injection of ANTU (15 mg/kg i.p.) produced pulmonary oedema as indicated by an increase in lung weight/body weight ratio and pleural effusion reaching a maximum within 4 h in rat. Administration of morphine prior to ANTU significantly inhibited to pulmonary oedema with a dose-dependent manner. The protective effect of morphine is prevented by peripheral opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone methiodide. ANTU-treated rats were shown positive by inducible nitric oxide synthase immunohistochemical staining. There was no staining in the control group. On the other hand, the degree of staining was markedly reduced in tissue sections by morphine. These results suggest that previous administration of subcutaneous morphine has preventive effect on ANTU-induced pulmonary inflammatory reaction and its effect mediated via peripheral opioid receptors. Application of naloxone with ANTU has no effect on the lung parameters indicating that endogenous opioids do not modulate ANTU-induced damage.     

Meningitis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): review of 10 cases

We evaluated retrospectively, 10 MRSA meningitis cases in our hospital that occurred between January 1999 and June 2004. All were post-neurosurgical and were considered to have hospital-acquired meningitis. Fever, leukocytosis, variable conscious levels were the most common findings. Six patients were treated with regimens including teicoplanin, and four with vancomycin. Mean duration of treatment was 23.5+/-18.8 days (range, 3-60 days). One patient died. In cases of MRSA meningitis, intravenous vancomycin is the mainstay of therapy. However, six of these 10 patients were successfully treated with regimens including teicoplanin, suggesting that this agent may be an alternative to vancomycin in the therapy of these cases.     

1-N-substituted thiocarbamoyl-3-phenyl-5-thienyl-2-pyrazolines: synthesis and evaluation as MAO inhibitors

Twelve new 1-N-substituted thiocarbomoyl-3-phenyl-5-thienyl-2-pyrazoline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated their for antidepressant, anxiogenic and mammalian monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A and Binhibitory activities by in vivo and in vitro tests. MAO was isolated and purified from the mitochondrial pellet of bovine liver homogenates and human platelets. All of the new compounds inhibited the total MAO activity of liver homogenates and the inhibition was found to be time-dependent. Four compounds (3 i-3 l) inhibited MAO-B selectively and irreversibly in a classical non-competitive manner with IC(50) values in the range of 22.00-91.50 microM. The rest of the compounds appeared to be non-selective reversible inhibitors. It was suggested that the p-methoxy group on the phenyl ring in the compounds increased the inhibitory effect and selectivity toward MAO-B. The reversible and unselective inhibition of MAO by the remaining compounds was suggested to be related to their properties of acting ability to act as both as substrate and inhibitor at the same time. However, none of the novel compounds showed antidepressant activity as expected suggesting formation of inactive metabolites. We conclude that the compounds appeared as which functioned as selective MAO-B inhibitors might have promising features as therapeutic properties in the treatment of Parkinson disease. In vivo studies are needed to verify this hypothesis.     

Effects of lead on Na(+)-K(+) ATPase and Ca(+2) ATPase activities and lipid peroxidation in blood of workers

Lead is considered one of the major environmental toxicants that causes hematological, neurological, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. In this study, the authors examined the relationship between lead and lipid peroxidation, lead and Na(+)-K(+) ATPase activity, and lead and Ca(+2) ATPase activity in blood of workers. The working group consisted of 30 male workers occupationally exposed to lead at least for 10 years. The control group consisted of 20 healthy male individuals not involved with job-related lead exposures. Blood lead content of the control group and the working group were 10.0 +/- 1.8 microg/dl and 317.3 +/- 47.6 microg/dl, respectively. Malondialdehyde (MDA) value of the working group (0.57 +/- 0.30 nmol MDA/ml) was significantly greater than MDA value of the control goup (0.17 +/- 0.02 nmol MDA/ml). In the working group, both Na(+)-K(+) ATPase activity (105.0 +/- 47.0 nmol Pi. mg protein(-1) x h(-1)) and Ca(+2) ATPase activity (58.0 +/- 40.0 nmol Pi. mg protein(-1) x h(-1)) were lower compared with the corresponding values of Na(+)-K(+) ATPase activity (247.0 +/- 41.0 nmol Pi. mg protein(-1) x h(-1)) and Ca(+2) ATPase activity (230.0 +/- 41.0 nmol Pi. mg protein(-1) x h(-1)) of normal controls. The results show that lead exposure causes inhibition of Na(+)-K(+) ATPase and Ca(+2) ATPase activities and also results in increased lipid peroxidation.     

The effect of preventive use of alanyl-glutamine on diaphragm muscle function in cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis model

BACKGROUND: Low muscle glutamine levels during sepsis are associated with reduced protein synthesis and elevated protein breakdown, in particular myofibrillar protein breakdown. Thus, in a cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis model in the rat, we hypothesized that glutamine pretreatment would protect the diaphragm muscle function. METHODS: Eighty-four male Wistar rats weighing between 180 g and 200 g received standard amino acid solution 1.2 g kg(-1) per day intraperitoneally (IP) or standard amino acid solution 1.2 g kg(-1) per day plus alanyl-glutamine (GLN) 0.25 g kg(-1) per day (IP) during the first 6 days of the experiment. On the seventh day, CLP or sham procedures were applied. The sham and CLP groups were equally divided into 3 subgroups according to the termination of the experiment, which took place at either the 24th hour, 48th hour, or 72nd hour. After the compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) were recorded from the diaphragms of the rats at these selected times, they were decapitated under ketamine/xylazine anesthesia, and diaphragms were harvested for biochemical and histopathological examination. RESULTS: The mean area and amplitude of CMAP were significantly larger in sham+GLN groups when compared with CLP and CLP+GLN groups at all times (p < .05). Diaphragm Ca+2 -ATPase levels were found to be significantly decreased in CLP group at all times compared to sham groups (p < .05). Diaphragm reduced glutathione levels were significantly higher in sham+GLN groups when compared with CLP and CLP+GLN groups at all times (p < .05). In histopathologic assessment, moderate neutrophil infiltration, which was observed in CLP48, was significantly reduced with alanyl-glutamine supplementation in CLP+GLN48 group (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that glutamine pretreatment did not improve diaphragm muscle function, but prevented the biochemical and histopathological changes in diaphragmatic muscle in CLP-induced sepsis. However, further studies are needed to clarify whether a higher dose of glutamine supplementation might protect the diaphragmatic muscle functions.     

Effect of brimonidine tartrate 0.15% on scotopic pupil size and upper eyelid position: controlled trial

BackgroundTo evaluate the effect of brimonidine tartrate 0.15% ophthalmic solution on pupil size under scotopic condition and upper eyelid position.MethodsThis study comprised 72 eyes of 36 healthy subjects. A single drop of brimonidine tartrate 0.15% ophthalmic solution was instilled in the right eye and artificial tear was instilled in the left eye. Pupil size was measured using an infra-red pupillometer under scotopic condition before and at 30 min, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h after instillation. Measurement of margin reflex distance 1 (MRD1) was performed using a millimetre ruler before and after at 10 min after instillation.ResultsThe mean age of the subjects was 32.19 ± 11.43 years (range 10–52 years), 17 were female and 19 were male. Before brimonidine instillation, the mean pupil size was 6.09 ± 1.03 mm in the brimonidine eyes and 6.06 ± 1.04 mm in the control eyes. There was a significant decrease in mean pupil size at 30 min (4.45 ± 1.04), 2 h (4.49 ± 1.06), 4 h (4.59 ± 1.06), 6 h (4.89 ± 1.06) and 8 h (5.38 ± 1.02) after instillation compared to before in brimonidine eyes (p < 0.001 for all). There was a significant miosis continued for at least 6 h (5.95 ± 1.03) in control eyes (p < 0.001). There was no significant change in MRD1, before and after instillation both in brimonidine and control eyes.ConclusionsBrimonidine tartrate 0.15% had a significant miosis under scotopic condition for at least 8 h after instillation and had a significant miosis on the untreated eye for at least 6 h.Subject terms: Outcomes research, Eye manifestations