Serum copper levels in benign and malignant thyroid diseases.

Objective: To examine the changes in serum copper (Cu) levels in benign and malignant thyroid disease in humans.

Background: Thyroid hormones influence the metabolism of trace elements including copper.

Methods: 47 papillary thyroid cancer and 43 benign multinodular goitre patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and 37 healthy control subjects were included into this study.

Morphological, molecular, and mycotoxigenic identification of dominant filamentous fungi from moldy civil cheese.

Moldy Civil is a mold-ripened variety of cheese produced mainly in eastern Turkey. This cheese is produced with Civil cheese and whey curd cheese (Lor). Civil cheese has had a geographical presence since 2009 and is manufactured with skim milk.

Bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy is safe in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer and a synchronous asymptomatic primary tumor.

Objective: Surgical resection of asymptomatic primary colorectal cancer in patients presenting with synchronous unresectable metastatic disease is controversial. Concerns and controversies remain over combining cytotoxic chemotherapy with bevacizumab in this patient population.

Methods: We identified medical records of 99 patients with synchronous metastatic primary colorectal cancer who received chemotherapy with bevacizumab as their initial treatment.

Determination of octanol-air partition coefficients of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) as a function of temperature: application to air-soil exchange.

Octanol-air partition coefficients (K(OA)) for 7 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined as a function of temperature using the GC retention time method. Log K(OA) values at 25 °C ranged over two orders of magnitude, between 8.32 (chlorpyrifos) and 10.

Is the pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio an important prognostic parameter in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma?

Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitor is a standard treatment for mRCC. The NLR, an index of systemic inflammation, is associated with outcome in several cancer types. To study the association of pretreatment NLR with PFS and overall survival (OS) of patients treated with VEGF-targeted therapy.

Prognostic analysis of patients with operable gastric cancer and tolerability to adjuvant radio-chemo-therapy.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the tolerability and toxicity of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and to analyze the prognosis in patients with operable gastric cancer. The retrospective analysis included 723 patients with operable gastric cancer; stage IB-IV (M0), received adjuvant CRT from 8 Medical Centers in Turkey between 2003 and 2010. The patients' age, sex, tumor localization, Lauren classification, grade and stage of the disease, type of dissection, the toxicity and tolerability status and survival rate were analyzed.

Sunitinib- and sorafenib-induced nephrotic syndrome in a patient with gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Objective: To report a case of nephrotic syndrome (NS) induced by both sunitinib and sorafenib therapy.

Case Summary: A 61-year-old woman with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) presented with NS and hypertension following therapy with sunitinib 400 mg/day. Because of grade 3 toxicity, the drug was discontinued.

Prognostic factors for overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma treated with vascular endothelial growth factor-targeting agents.

Objective: Angiogenesis represents a key element in the pathogenesis of malignancy. There are no robust data on prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapy. The present study was conducted to establish a prognostic model for patients using an oxaliplatin-based or irinotecan-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Lymphoproliferative disorders in multiple primary cancers.

Background: Cancer survivors are at increased risk of second cancers. Lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD) are common neoplasms that are primary or subsequent cancers in cases of multiple primary cancer. We here analyzed metachronous or synchronous LPD in multiple primary cancers.

Adjuvant chemoradiation for gastric cancer: multicentric study of the Anatolian Society of Medical Oncology.

Background/aims: The aims of this study were to report the clinical outcomes of adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy after curative resection in 637 patients with gastric cancer.

Methodology: The retrospective analysis included 637 patients with resectable gastric cancer and stage IB-IV (M0) from 8 medical centers between 2003 and 2010. The patients were treated with 5FU-leucovorin and radiotherapy according to Schema for INT-0116.

Kaposi's sarcoma in patients with ulcerative colitis receiving immunosuppressive drugs: report of a case.

Kaposi's sarcoma is an unusual tumor principally affecting the skin of the lower extremities. Although the association between Kaposi's sarcoma and renal transplant has been well documented, there are few Kaposi's sarcoma cases in the literature associated with ulcerative colitis or other inflammatory bowel diseases. This report presents a patient with ulcerative colitis who developed Kaposi's sarcoma following treatment with long-term medium-dose azathioprine and additional corticosteroids.

Experimental and numerical analysis of metal leaching from fly ash-amended highway bases.

A study was conducted to evaluate the leaching potential of unpaved road materials (URM) mixed with lime activated high carbon fly ashes and to evaluate groundwater impacts of barium, boron, copper, and zinc leaching. This objective was met by a combination of batch water leach tests, column leach tests, and computer modeling. The laboratory tests were conducted on soil alone, fly ash alone, and URM-fly ash-lime kiln dust mixtures.

Combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular methods for the determination of lactic microbiota in sucuk.

In this study, the culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular methods were used for the identification of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in sucuk a Turkish fermented dry sausage. On the one hand, the PCR-DGGE method targetting the V1 and V3 regions of 16S DNA was applied to DNA that was directly extracted from sucuk samples. On the other hand, rep-PCR fingerprinting was performed for the primary differentiation and grouping of the isolates, and the results were confirmed by sequencing of the 16S rDNA and 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region.

Postoperative changes related to intraoperative blood transfusions.

Objective: Wound infection, flap necrosis rates and peripheral complete blood cell count changes related to intraoperative whole-blood transfusions were investigated.

Background: Evidence is growing that whole-blood cell transfusions are immunosuppressive and predispose patients to postoperative infections.

Methods: 102 female breast carcinoma patients with hemoglobin levels = 10 g/dl before modified radical mastectomy and < 10 g/dl intraoperatively but with no signs of oxygen debt were included.

Dielectrophoresis in microfluidics technology.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is the movement of a particle in a non-uniform electric field due to the interaction of the particle's dipole and spatial gradient of the electric field. DEP is a subtle solution to manipulate particles and cells at microscale due to its favorable scaling for the reduced size of the system. DEP has been utilized for many applications in microfluidic systems.

Knowledge of medical hospital emergency physicians about the first-aid management of traumatic tooth avulsion.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of emergency medical physicians employed in hospital emergency rooms as to their potential role in the treatment for traumatic teeth avulsion injuries (TTAI).

Methods: A 15-item questionnaire was distributed to the emergency rooms of one university and 10 public hospitals. The questionnaire gathered data on the respondents' professional profiles and self-assessed perceived knowledge and actual knowledge of the emergency management of TTAIs.

Sister Mary Joseph's nodule as a rare sign of lymphoma.

Sister Mary Joseph's periumbilical metastatic nodule is an ominous harbinger of an internal malignancy usually originating from gastrointestinal or genital system primary cancers. At the time of diagnosis, they are inoperable and therefore deemed incurable, suggesting an invariably dismal prognosis. Periumbilical neoplastic deposits from primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are extremely rare.

A case with unexplained bleeding from multiple sites: munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MBP) is an extreme form of child abuse where children were unnecessarily treated or investigated for medical conditions that were falsified by their caregivers. Here the authors report a 16-year-old female with the complaints of bleeding from multiple and unusual sites, including hemoptysis, hematuria, bloody tears, and bloody nipple discharge, all of which are only witnessed by her mother. Extensive investigation revealed no organic etiologies for bleeding.

A previously unreported malignancy of the thyroid.

Ameloblastic fibrosarcoma or ameloblastic sarcoma is an extremely rare odontogenic neoplasm. We report a case of an ameloblastic fibrosarcoma arising from thyroid gland in a 44 year-old woman. Following total thyroidectomy, a histopathologic, immunohistologic, and genotypic examination revealed ameloblastic fibrosarcoma.

Spontaneous pyogenic spinal epidural abscess.

Aim: Spontaneous pyogenic spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare condition but might be devastating and fatal. Traditional treatment is surgical decompression and antibiotics. A retrospective study was designed to assess the eff ect of clinical findings and treatment methods on the outcome.

Antioxidant, Antimicrobial Activity and Total Phenolic Content within the Aerial Parts of Artemisia absinthum, Artemisia santonicum and Saponaria officinalis.

Three native Turkish medicinal and aromatic plants (Artemisia absinthum, Artemisia santonicum and Saponaria officinalis) were investigated to analyze their antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and antimicrobial activity. Their total antioxidant activity was determined by using a β-carotene bleaching assay and their antimicrobial activity was determined by utilizing an agar disc diffusion assay. Methanol extracts of the three species analyzed showed high antioxidant activity and among them Artemisia absinthum possessed the highest quantity (71.

Generalized lymphadenopathy: unusual presentation of prostate adenocarcinoma.

Generalized lymphadenopathy is a rare manifestation of metastatic prostate cancer. Here, we report the case of a 59-year-old male patient with supraclavicular, mediastinal, hilar, and retroperitoneal and inguinal lymphadenopathy, which suggested the diagnosis of lymphoma. There were no urinary symptoms.

Ischemic colitis after capecitabine plus cisplatin treatment in advanced gastric cancer.

Systemic chemotherapy can be complicated by colonic toxicity, which usually determines the onset of pseudomembranous colitis and, rarely, of ischemic colitis in patients with cancer. This report describes the case of a 45-year-old man with advanced gastric cancer who developed severe ischemic colitis after chemotherapy with cisplatin and capecitabine. The patient developed symptoms of gastrointestinal toxicity with abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea.