Are Turkish pharmaceutical pricing strategies an access barrier to oncology medicines for Türkiye?

Cancer diagnosis is increasing day by day all over the world. Deaths due to cancer are among the most common causes of death. Access to cancer drugs is a priority of health policies.

Interaction of endocannabinoid system and cyclooxygenase metabolites with fatty acid amide hydrolase and cyclooxygenase enzyme activities on contractile responses in rat vas deferens tissue.

The endocannabinoid system and prostaglandins are important modulators in the genitourinary system. This study aimed to investigate the possible interactions between the endocannabinoid system and the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway on rat vas deferens. For this purpose, the concentration responses of the endocannabinoid anandamide, prostaglandin F analog latanoprost, and prostaglandin E analog misoprostol on the electrical field stimulation (EFS)-induced contractile responses were obtained.

Profile of psychotropic agents used in autism spectrum disorder according to comorbidities in Turkey: A 4-year evaluation.

It is known that the use of psychotropic pharmaceuticals is common in comorbidities seen in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have very limited knowledge about which psychotropic drugs are prescribed when comorbidities are diagnosed in patients with ASD. It is aimed to determine the profile of psychotropic agents in patients diagnosed with ASD associated with comorbidities between the ages of 0-24 in Turkey over 4 years.

Learning Multi-Modal Nonlinear Embeddings: Performance Bounds and an Algorithm.

While many approaches exist in the literature to learn low-dimensional representations for data collections in multiple modalities, the generalizability of multi-modal nonlinear embeddings to previously unseen data is a rather overlooked subject. In this work, we first present a theoretical analysis of learning multi-modal nonlinear embeddings in a supervised setting. Our performance bounds indicate that for successful generalization in multi-modal classification and retrieval problems, the regularity of the interpolation functions extending the embedding to the whole data space is as important as the between-class separation and cross-modal alignment criteria.

Cost Evaluation of Inhaler Therapies Used in Respiratory Diseases: 1998--2015 Period in Turkey.

Background: With the rise in life expectancy, the burden of chronic diseases, including obstructive pulmonary diseases, has increased throughout the world.

Objectives: To evaluate the sales trends of inhaler pharmaceuticals.

Methods: The changes in box sales and sales amounts (in Turkish lira) of inhaler pharmaceuticals during the period 1998 to 2015 were examined and sales were projected for the next 3 years.

Introduction and Utilization of High Priced HCV Medicines across Europe; Implications for the Future.

Background: Infection with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a widespread transmittable disease with a diagnosed prevalence of 2.0%. Fortunately, it is now curable in most patients.

Geometry-Aware Neighborhood Search for Learning Local Models for Image Superresolution.

Local learning of sparse image models has proved to be very effective to solve inverse problems in many computer vision applications. To learn such models, the data samples are often clustered using the K-means algorithm with the Euclidean distance as a dissimilarity metric. However, the Euclidean distance may not always be a good dissimilarity measure for comparing data samples lying on a manifold.

Out-of-Sample Generalizations for Supervised Manifold Learning for Classification.

Supervised manifold learning methods for data classification map high-dimensional data samples to a lower dimensional domain in a structure-preserving way while increasing the separation between different classes. Most manifold learning methods compute the embedding only of the initially available data; however, the generalization of the embedding to novel points, i.e.

Are new models needed to optimize the utilization of new medicines to sustain healthcare systems?

Medicines have made an appreciable contribution to improving health. However, even high-income countries are struggling to fund new premium-priced medicines. This will grow necessitating the development of new models to optimize their use.

ADHD Medication Trends in Turkey: 2009-2013.

Objective: To investigate the change of ADHD medication prescriptions in Turkey between 2009 and 2013.

Method: Consumption data of ADHD medications, immediate release (IR) methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin), OROS MPH (Concerta), and atomoxetine (Strattera) were obtained from IMS Health database for the November 2008 to October 2013 period. Defined daily dose (DDD) of each drug was calculated according to WHO definitions and time-series analysis was conducted.

Learning smooth pattern transformation manifolds.

Manifold models provide low-dimensional representations that are useful for processing and analyzing data in a transformation-invariant way. In this paper, we study the problem of learning smooth pattern transformation manifolds from image sets that represent observations of geometrically transformed signals. To construct a manifold, we build a representative pattern whose transformations accurately fit various input images.

Discretization of parametrizable signal manifolds.

Transformation-invariant analysis of signals often requires the computation of the distance from a test pattern to a transformation manifold. In particular, the estimation of the distances between a transformed query signal and several transformation manifolds representing different classes provides essential information for the classification of the signal. In many applications, the computation of the exact distance to the manifold is costly, whereas an efficient practical solution is the approximation of the manifold distance with the aid of a manifold grid.

Influence of genetic polymorphisms, smoking, gender and age on CYP1A2 activity in a Turkish population.

Aims: To study the variation in CYP1A2 activity in relation to smoking, gender, age and CYP1A2 polymorphisms.

Materials & Methods: CYP1A2 activity was determined by plasma paraxanthine:caffeine ratio (17X:137X) 4 h after the intake of a standardized cup of coffee in 146 Turkish healthy volunteers. Seven CYP1A2 polymorphisms (-3860G>A, -3113G>A, -2467del/T, -739T>G, -729C>T, -163C>A and 5347T>C) were analyzed.