The Determinants of COVID-19-Related Stress Among Caregivers of Individuals at High Risk During the Pandemic.

Background: Informal caregivers offer a range of support-physical, emotional, and social-to individuals under their care, thereby exposing themselves to potential mental health risks. During the outbreak of COVID-19, caregivers have emerged as a demographic particularly vulnerable to mental health issues owing to their caregiving roles. The aim of the study is to identify the determinants influencing COVID-19-related stress among caregivers of individuals at elevated risk of coronavirus infection.

The Relationship Between Occupational Functionality and Metacognition in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most common mental disorders with a loss of functionality in many areas of life. The current study aims to reveal the relationship between occupational functionality and metacognition in OCD patients.

Materials And Methods: The cross-sectional study sample consisted of 183 participants diagnosed with OCD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria.

Impact of the first, second and third peak of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety, depression and stress symptoms of healthcare workers.

Background And Objectives: Numerous studies have been conducted on the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, how the mental health of health workers will be affected among the number of peaks during the pandemic has not been evaluated yet. The study aims to investigate the effects of the first, second, and third peaks of COVID-19 on anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms in healthcare workers.

The comparison of anxiety, depression and stress symptoms levels of healthcare workers between the first and second COVID-19 peaks.

Backgrounds: Although the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been investigated, there is no study comparing the effects between the peaks. This study aims to compare the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress of healthcare workers struggling with pandemic between the first and second peaks.

Methods: A total of 2460 healthcare workers, 1051 from the first peak period and 1409 from the second peak period, were included in the study.

The effects of exhaustive swimming and probiotic administration in trained rats: Oxidative balance of selected organs, colon morphology, and contractility.

The duration and intensity of exercise are significant factors in oxidative, morphological, and functional changes of the gastrointestinal tract. This study aimed to investigate the effects of both exhaustive swimming and probiotic VSL#3 on rats that had been previously trained with moderate swimming. The rats were divided into four groups labeled: control (C), probiotic (P), exercise (E), and probiotic-exercise (PE).

Mice with diet-induced obesity demonstrate a relative prothrombotic factor profile and a thicker aorta with reduced ex-vivo function.

: Classical risk factors such as cholesterol and lipoproteins are currently not sufficient to explain all physiopathological processes of obesity-related vascular dysfunction as well as atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis. Therefore, the discovery of potential markers involved in vascular dysfunction in the obese state is still needed. Disturbances in hemostatic factors may be involved in the developmental processes associated with obesity-related cardiovascular disorders.

Characterization of Cell Boundary and Confocal Effects Improves Quantitative FRAP Analysis.

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is an important tool used by cell biologists to study the diffusion and binding kinetics of vesicles, proteins, and other molecules in the cytoplasm, nucleus, or cell membrane. Although many FRAP models have been developed over the past decades, the influence of the complex boundaries of 3D cellular geometries on the recovery curves, in conjunction with regions of interest and optical effects (imaging, photobleaching, photoswitching, and scanning), has not been well studied. Here, we developed a 3D computational model of the FRAP process that incorporates particle diffusion, cell boundary effects, and the optical properties of the scanning confocal microscope, and validated this model using the tip-growing cells of Physcomitrella patens.

Evaluation of proximal and distal motor nerve conduction using the electrical root stimulation technique in the femoral and obturator nerves.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the adaptability of the electrical root stimulation technique by achieving normative data from the obturator and femoral nerves of healthy dogs.

Methods: For this purpose, two stimulations and recordings were performed on both the obturator and femoral nerves in 40 dogs (22 males and 18 females). Electrical root stimulation was applied via monopolar needle electrodes between the sixth to seventh and fifth to sixth lumbar interarcuate spaces to the obturator and femoral nerves, respectively.

Increased serum levels of apoptosis in deficit syndrome schizophrenia patients: a preliminary study.

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating disorder, the etiology of which remains unclear. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death mechanism that might be implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. In this study, we aimed to compare the serum levels of apoptosis among deficit schizophrenia (DS) syndrome patients, nondeficit schizophrenia (NDS) patients, and healthy controls (HCs).

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T is more helpful in detecting peri-operative myocardial injury and apoptosis during coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Aim: To determine whether there is a correlation between cardiac markers and peri-operative myocardial injury (PMI) and apoptosis in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and to compare the efficacy of cardiac markers to detect PMI.

Methods: The study population consisted of 37 patients (24 male, 13 female, mean age 63.4 ± 8.

Effect of standard versus patient-targeted in-patient education on patients' anxiety about self-care after discharge from cardiovascular surgery clinics.

We compared standard and patient-targeted in-patient education in terms of their effect on patients' anxiety. One hundred and ninety-eight patients who were hospitalised for coronary artery bypass surgery were given standard education (group 1) or individualised education (group 2) on the management of their healthcare after discharge. Patients in group 2 were assessed on the patient learning needs scale and were given education according to their individual needs.

Effects of pulsed electromagnetic field and swimming exercise on rats with experimental sciatic nerve injury.

[Purpose] The current study aimed to reveal the therapeutic effects of a pulsed electromagnetic field and swimming exercises on rats with experimental sciatic nerve injury, which was induced with crush-type neuropathy model damage, using electrophysiological methods. [Subjects] In the current study, the sample consisted of 28 adult male Wistar albino rats. [Methods] The rats were randomized into four groups (n=7).

Distinct temperament and character profiles in first onset vitiligo but not in alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) and vitiligo (V) are diseases that are correlated with psychiatric disorders before, during and after diagnosis. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is a well-established approach for investigating personality traits in various psychosomatic diseases. The aim of this study is to compare and investigate the differences in the TCI between patients with first onset AA, patients with V and healthy controls (HC).

Is there a new finding added to the fibromyalgia syndrome?

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine depression and anxiety related arrhytmia risk in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

Methods: Fifty-nine patients with the diagnosis of FMS and 20 control participants were included in the study. Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Visual Pain Scale (VPS) surveys were applied to determine the severity of the disease.

Protective effects of citicoline on TNBS-induced experimental colitis in rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of citicoline on the development of colitis and antioxidant parameters in rats subjected to tribenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. Twenty four Wistar Albino female rats were divided into four subgroups (n=6) (control, colitis control, colitis + 50 mg/kg citicoline, colitis + 250 mg/kg citicoline). Colitis was induced using an enema of TNBS and ethanol; following which citicoline was administrated for 3 days and effects of citicoline was subsequently evaluated.

Electrical stimulation of lumbar spinal nerve roots in dogs.

The aim of this study was to test the applicability of electrical stimulation of lumbar spinal nerve roots and obtain normative electrical root stimulation (ERS) data for L7 nerve root and sciatic nerve in dogs. For that purpose ERS and sciatic nerve stimulations were performed consecutively, in totally 40 healthy dogs. ERS was applied in the L7/S1 intervertebral space via monopolar needle electrodes.

Possible association between vitamin D deficiency and restless legs syndrome.

Background And Aim: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a distressing sleep disorder that occurs worldwide. Although there have been recent developments in understanding the pathophysiology of RLS, the exact mechanism of the disease has not been well elucidated. An increased prevalence of neurologic and psychiatric diseases involving dopaminergic dysfunction in vitamin D-deficient patients led us to hypothesize that vitamin D deficiency might result in dopaminergic dysfunction and consequently, the development of RLS (in which dopaminergic dysfunction plays a pivotal role).

Increased serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in the first episode but not in subsequent episodes in male patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Many studies have investigated the relationship between blood levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate ester (DHEA-S), cortisol, progesterone, and testosterone and the onset, prognosis, symptom severity, and treatment response of schizophrenia. In the present study, we assessed potential differences in blood levels of neurosteroids between drug-naïve first-episode patients with schizophrenia (FES), and drug-free patients with schizophrenia who were not in the first episode but were in a phase of acute exacerbation (DFP).

Materials And Methods: The present study included 32 male FES, 28 male DFP, and 24 male healthy controls (HC).

The short-term protective effects of lycopene on renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

Objective: Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury may occur due to nephron-sparing surgery in patients with a solitary kidney or restricted renal parenchymas. Prophylactic agents do not always achieve their intended effects and may exhibit side effects. The present study was designed to investigate the possible protective effects of lycopene against hypoxia-induced renal damage.

Neuroprotective effect of ebselen against intracerebroventricular streptozotocin-induced neuronal apoptosis and oxidative stress in rats.

The goal of this study was to examine the neuroprotective effect of ebselen against intracerebroventricular streptozotocin (ICV-STZ)-induced oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis in rat brain. A total of 30 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 animals each: control, ICV-STZ, and ICV-STZ treated with ebselen. The ICV-STZ group rats were injected bilaterally with ICV-STZ (3 mg/kg) on days 1 and 3, and ebselen (10 mg/kg/day) was administered for 14 days starting from 1st day of ICV-STZ injection to day 14.

Neuroprotective effect of quercetin against oxidative damage and neuronal apoptosis caused by cadmium in hippocampus.

The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate cadmium (Cd)-induced neurotoxicity in hippocampal tissues and beneficial effect of quercetin (QE) against neuronal damage. A total of 30 male rats were divided into 3 groups: control, Cd-treated, and Cd + QE-treated groups. After the treatment, the animals were killed and hippocampal tissues were removed for biochemical and histopathological investigation.

Reduced serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity in patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine but not quetiapine.

Background: Second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are currently the most prescribed drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia. Despite their advantages, which include greater improvement in negative symptoms, cognitive function, prevention of deterioration, quality of life, and fewer extrapyramidal symptoms, the concern regarding metabolic abnormalities which might cause cardiovascular diseases during treatment with SGAs have been rising. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an enzyme mostly located on high-density lipoprotein particles, and has been shown to protect or inhibit lipoprotein oxidation.