Experimental Investigation of Durability Properties of Polymer Coated Pumice Aggregate Lightweight Concretes.

Pumice aggregates with low density and high porosity are widely used in lightweight concrete. The high water retention ability of pumice aggregates adversely affects the properties of fresh concrete. Additionally, pumice aggregates' inadequate mechanical strength and durability hinder concrete performance.

Exploring the Prognostic Role of Trop-2, CD47, and CD163 Expression Levels on Survival Outcomes in Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

: This study evaluated the prognostic impact of Trop-2, CD47, and CD163 expression on clinical outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and investigated their interactions with tumor progression. : A retrospective cohort of 92 patients with TNBC was analyzed. The expression scores for Trop-2, CD47, and CD163 were categorized as negative/low (0-3 points) or high (4-6 points).

Zipper Pattern: An Investigation into Psychotic Criminal Detection Using EEG Signals.

Electroencephalography (EEG) signal-based machine learning models are among the most cost-effective methods for information retrieval. In this context, we aimed to investigate the cortical activities of psychotic criminal subjects by deploying an explainable feature engineering (XFE) model using an EEG psychotic criminal dataset. In this study, a new EEG psychotic criminal dataset was curated, containing EEG signals from psychotic criminal and control groups.

Surveillance of non-communicable diseases: What matters to users? A qualitative interview study.

Background: Surveillance systems for diseases serve as an early warning system and orientation for decision-makers. As part of the National Diabetes Surveillance at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), existing formats of information transfer were evaluated and an analysis of users' requirements regarding the dissemination of results of surveillance for non-communicable diseases (NCD) was carried out.

Methods: 13 semi-structured guided interviews were conducted with persons from health politics, healthcare, media and science and analysed in a qualitative content analysis (interview survey period: 10/2022 - 01/2023).

Exploring apoptotic pathways in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells: combined effects of napabucasin and doxorubicin.

Background: Neuroblastoma often begins in infancy and one of the most common types of cancer among children is someone. Napabucasin (NP) (BBI608), a natural naphthoquinone emerging as a novel inhibitor of STAT3, has been found to effectively kill cancer stem-like tumor cells. On the other hand, the effect of Napabucasin on SH-SY5Y cells is currently unclear.

Gallic acid showed neuroprotection against endoplasmic reticulum stress in rats.

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the role of gallic acid treatment on spinal cord tissues after spinal cord injury (SCI) and its relationship with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by histochemical, immunohistochemical, and in-silico techniques.

Methods: Thirty female Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups: sham, SCI, and SCI+gallic acid. SCI was induced by dropping a 15-g weight onto the exposed T10-T11 spinal cord segment.

Are Ki-67 and Procalcitonin Expression Levels Useful in Predicting the Biological Behavior of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Liver Transplantation?

: Examinations of procalcitonin (PCT) and Ki-67 expression levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who have undergone liver transplantation (LT) through immunohistochemical analyses of tumor tissue may reveal the biological characteristics of the tumor, thus informing the selection of HCC patients for LT. : Hepatectomy specimens from 86 HCC patients who underwent LT were obtained and analyzed immunohistochemically for the expression of PCT and Ki-67. The percentage and intensity of PCT staining, as well as the percentage of Ki-67 expression, were assessed for each patient.

The Relationship Between ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5 Enzyme Levels in Patients With Degenerative Disc Disease: A Prospective Biochemical Study.

Study Design: Prospective biochemical study of comparison of A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase with Thrombospondin motifs-4 (ADAMTS-4) and A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase with Thrombospondin motifs 5 (ADAMTS5) levels in preoperative and postoperative venous blood, as well as in disc tissue obtained during surgery, in patients undergoing surgery for intervertebral disc disease, with enzyme levels in venous blood from a control group.

Objective: To compare the levels of ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5 between patients with degenerative intervertebral discs and a healthy control group, aiming to identify biomarkers associated with intervertebral disc degeneration.

Literature: Although numerous studies have investigated the relationship between ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5 enzymes and degeneration in experimental rat models and human tissues, no study has correlated their serum levels with intervertebral disc degeneration.

Analysis and characterization of interhypothalamic adhesions in adults: No longer only a pediatric finding.

Background And Purpose: Inter-hypothalamic adhesions (IHAs) are parenchymal tissue bridges traversing the third ventricle, previously reported only in the pediatric population. We aim to understand the prevalence of IHA in the adult population, assess their size and location, and ultimately investigate whether IHA volumes correlate with age.

Materials And Methods: Patients who underwent routine high-resolution 3D T2WI MRI studies of the temporal bone/internal auditory canal at an otolaryngology clinic between 2008 and 2014 were consecutively selected.

Modulation of FOXP3 Gene Expression in OVCAR3 Cells Following Rosmarinic Acid and Doxorubicin Exposure.

Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate in the world. Treatment methods are listed as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, depending on the stage of cancer, but developing resistance to chemotherapy increases the need for alternative agents that act on the same pathways. The effects of rosmarinic acid (RA) and doxorubicin (DX) on the activation of FOXP3, an important tumor suppressor gene, in OVCAR3 cells were examined.

The Comparative Effects of Anakinra and Tocilizumab on Inflammation and Cerebral Vasospasm in an Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Model.

: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a life-threatening cerebrovascular condition that triggers a robust inflammatory response and cerebral vasospasm. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of anakinra, an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, and tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 receptor antagonist, on inflammation and vasospasm in an experimental rat SAH model. : Forty male Sprague Dawley rats (200-250 g) were randomly assigned to five groups: control, SAH, SAH + anakinra (ANA), SAH + tocilizumab (TCZ), and SAH + anakinra + tocilizumab (ANA+TCZ).

Can Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet Volume, and Platelet Distribution Width Be Used as Indicators of Delirium?

Postoperative delirium is a frequent complication in children undergoing general anesthesia. It has been suggested that inflammation and oxidative stress contribute to the pathophysiology of delirium. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between inflammatory markers and delirium.

Isolation of Plasma Extracellular Vesicles for High-Depth Analysis of Proteomic Biomarkers in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients.

: Prostate cancer treatment has been revolutionized by targeted therapies, including PARP inhibitors, checkpoint immunotherapies, and PSMA-targeted radiotherapies. Despite such advancements, accurate patient stratification remains a challenge, with current methods relying on genomic markers, tissue staining, and imaging. Extracellular vesicle (EV)-derived proteins offer a novel non-invasive alternative for biomarker discovery, holding promise for improving treatment precision.

Enhancing diabetic rat peripheral nerve conduction velocity parameters through the potent effects of MitoTEMPO.

The efficacy of MitoTEMPO, a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant, in altering nerve fiber conduction properties within the sciatic nerve of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, a model for diabetic neuropathy characterized by myelinated fiber atrophy and nodal abnormalities. Utilizing the STZ-induced diabetic rat model, we assessed the impact of MitoTEMPO on nerve function through compound action potential (CAP) analysis and histological evaluation. Key indicators such as maximum depolarization (MD), CAP area, and conduction velocity distribution (CVD) were measured to gauge MitoTEMPO's neuroprotective effects, alongside physical parameters like weight and blood glucose levels.

Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Breast Ultrasound: A Comparative Analysis of Decision Support Among Radiologists With Various Levels of Expertise.

Objective: To investigate integrating an artificial intelligence (AI) system into diagnostic breast ultrasound (US) for improved performance.

Materials And Methods: Seventy suspicious breast mass lesions (53 malignant and 17 benign) from seventy women who underwent diagnostic breast US complemented with shear wave elastography, US-guided core needle biopsy and verified histopathology were enrolled. Two radiologists, one with 15 years of experience and the other with one year of experience, evaluated the images for breast imaging-reporting and data system (BI-RADS) scoring.

Differentiating multiple sclerosis with predominant spinal cord and optic nerve involvement from other autoimmune demyelinating diseases using B cell immunophenotyping and gene expression profiling.

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) may present with predominant involvement of the spinal cord and optic nerve (MS/w-SCON) and mimic other autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disorders (AIDD) such as neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), and relapsing inflammatory optic neuritis (RION). Thus, biomarkers are required for effective differential diagnosis of AIDD.

Methods: Patients with MS/w-SCON (n = 20), MS without involvement of SCON (MS/wo-SCON) (n = 22), NMOSD (n = 16), RION (n = 15) and healthy individuals (n = 21) were included.

Comparison of clinical results between transpulmonary thermodilution monitoring and conventional methods in cardiac surgery: An observational study.

The Pulse Index Contour Continuous Cardiac Output (PICCO) module provides advanced and continuous monitoring of cardiac output through the use of arterial pulse contour analysis and transpulmonary thermodilution. The objective of this study was to compare the early postoperative outcomes of patients who were monitored using the conventional method and the pulse contour analysis method. A prospective observational study was conducted involving 45 patients who underwent cardiac surgery between 2020 and 2022.

Reliability and validity of the community balance and mobility scale in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Aims: This study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CB&M) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).

Methods: A total of 65 PwMS (Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤ 5.5) were included in the study.

Identifiability investigation of within-host models of acute virus infection.

Uncertainty in parameter estimates from fitting within-host models to empirical data limits the model's ability to uncover mechanisms of infection, disease progression, and to guide pharmaceutical interventions. Understanding the effect of model structure and data availability on model predictions is important for informing model development and experimental design. To address sources of uncertainty in parameter estimation, we used four mathematical models of influenza A infection with increased degrees of biological realism.

Automated Detection of Gastrointestinal Diseases Using Resnet50*-Based Explainable Deep Feature Engineering Model with Endoscopy Images.

This work aims to develop a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) named ResNet50* to detect various gastrointestinal diseases using a new ResNet50*-based deep feature engineering model with endoscopy images. The novelty of this work is the development of ResNet50*, a new variant of the ResNet model, featuring convolution-based residual blocks and a pooling-based attention mechanism similar to PoolFormer. Using ResNet50*, a gastrointestinal image dataset was trained, and an explainable deep feature engineering (DFE) model was developed.

Cardioish: Lead-Based Feature Extraction for ECG Signals.

Electrocardiography (ECG) signals are commonly used to detect cardiac disorders, with 12-lead ECGs being the standard method for acquiring these signals. The primary objective of this research is to propose a new feature engineering model that achieves both high classification accuracy and explainable results using ECG signals. To this end, a symbolic language, named Cardioish, has been introduced.

Minimum and Maximum Pattern-Based Self-Organized Feature Engineering: Fibromyalgia Detection Using Electrocardiogram Signals.

Background: The primary objective of this research is to propose a new, simple, and effective feature extraction function and to investigate its classification ability using electrocardiogram (ECG) signals.

Methods: In this research, we present a new and simple feature extraction function named the minimum and maximum pattern (MinMaxPat). In the proposed MinMaxPat, the signal is divided into overlapping blocks with a length of 16, and the indexes of the minimum and maximum values are identified.

ChMinMaxPat: Investigations on Violence and Stress Detection Using EEG Signals.

Background And Objectives: Electroencephalography (EEG) signals, often termed the letters of the brain, are one of the most cost-effective methods for gathering valuable information about brain activity. This study presents a new explainable feature engineering (XFE) model designed to classify EEG data for violence detection. The primary objective is to assess the classification capability of the proposed XFE model, which uses a next-generation feature extractor, and to obtain interpretable findings for EEG-based violence and stress detection.