The prognostic significance of preoperatively assessed AST/ALT (De Ritis) ratio on survival in patients underwent radical cystectomy.

Purposes: We aimed to evaluate prognostic significance of preoperatively assessed aspartate aminotransaminase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (De Ritis) ratio on survival in bladder cancer (BC) patients underwent radical cystectomy (RC).

Methods: We, respectively, analysed clinical and pathological data of 153 patients who underwent RC for BC between February 2006 and December 2016 at a tertiary level hospital. The potential prognostic value of De Ritis ratio was assessed by using ROC curve analysis.

Evaluation of the Ki-67 Proliferation Index and Urocortin Expression in Women with Ovarian Endometriomas.

Objective: The reasons why endometriosis is more aggressive and invasive in some patients are unknown. Despite the importance of population-based clinically defined risk factors in the prediction of recurrence, biochemical markers obtained from the patient are more valuable for prediction on an individual basis. Therefore, the discovery of significant potential biomarkers could be useful to clinicians for shedding light on the pathogenesis of endometriosis and in the monitoring recurrence.

Counselling pregnant women at the crossroads of Europe and Asia: effect of Teratology Information Service in Turkey.

Background Previous studies from western countries demonstrated the effectiveness of Teratology Information Service (TIS) counselling in reducing the teratogenic risk perception of pregnant women. Objective To assess whether TIS counselling would be effective in reducing the teratogenic risk perception of the Turkish pregnant women. Setting A TIS (Terafar) operating in a university hospital in Turkey.

Effects of Apigenin on Experimental Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in the Rat Ovary.

Background: Apigenin is a plant-derived compound belonging to the flavone class, which possess antioxidant, free-radical-scavenging and anti-inflammatory properties.

Aims: To address the effects of apigenin on serum anti-mullerian hormone levels, tissue oxidative stress parameters and histopathological changes in ovarian ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Study Design: Animal experiment.

Affective temperament profile in ankylosing spondylitis patients using TEMPS-A.

[Purpose] This study aimed to compare the most common dominant affective temperaments in Ankylosing Spondylitis patients and investigate the relationship between the dominant affective temperaments and pain levels, disease activity, quality of life, current depression, and anxiety level in Ankylosing Spondylitis patients. [Subjects and Methods] Fifty-one patients diagnosed with axial spondiloartropathy and forty-two age- and gender-matched control subjects were included in this study. Disease duration, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum C-reactive protein, pain by the Visual Analog Scale, disease activity by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, functional status by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index; psychological status by the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory and overall health assessment by the Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Scale were assessed in patients.

Is Change in Hemoglobin Level a Predictive Biomarker of Tyrosine Kinase Efficacy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma? A Turkish Oncology Group Study.

Background: There are insufficient predictive markers for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: A total of 308 metastatic RCC patients were analyzed retrospectively.

Results: The increased hemoglobin (Hb) group had significantly higher progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) compared with the decreased Hb group at 11.

Quantifying growing versus non-growing ovarian follicles in the mouse.

Background: A standard histomorphometric approach has been used for nearly 40 years that identifies atretic (e.g., dying) follicles by counting the number of pyknotic granulosa cells (GC) in the largest follicle cross-section.

The association of plasma oxidative status and inflammation with the development of atrial fibrillation in patients presenting with ST elevation myocardial infarction.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia following ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Oxidative stress and inflammation may cause structural and electrical remodeling in the atria making these critical processes in the pathology of AF. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association between total oxidative status (TOS), total antioxidative capacity (TAC) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in the development of AF in patients presenting with STEMI.

Impact of Motorized Articulating Laparoscopic Devices with Three-Dimension Visualizing System: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To compare the efficacy between motorized articulating instruments (AI) and rigid conventional laparoscopic instruments (CI) in chancing visualizing systems, respectively two-dimension (2D) and three-dimension (3D).

Methods: Sixty physicians were divided into three groups according to their previous experience as medical students (Group 1), residents (Group 2), and expert surgeons (Group 3). Four experimental sets were created, respectively CI-2D visualizing system (CI-2D), CI-3D visualizing system (CI-3D), AI-2D visualizing system (AI-2D), and AI-3D visualizing system (AI-3D) platforms.

The Psoriatic Arthritis Registry of Turkey: results of a multicentre registry on 1081 patients.

Objective: The aim was to assess the characteristics of PsA, find out how well the disease is controlled in real life, demonstrate the treatments and identify the unmet needs.

Methods: The PsA registry of Turkey is a multicentre Web-based registry established in 2014 and including 32 rheumatology centres. Detailed data regarding demographics for skin and joint disease, disease activity assessments and treatment choices were collected.

Prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To determine whether an up-to-date systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies would support the previously suggested associations regarding prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use and the risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children.

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Reprotox databases were searched; observational studies with an exposed and unexposed group were included.

Results: The meta-analysis of case-control studies demonstrated a significantly increased risk of ASD in the children whose mothers were prenatally exposed to SSRIs during different exposure time windows (except third trimester).

Cutaneous silent period evoked in human first dorsal interosseous muscle motor units by laser stimulation.

Painful stimulation of the hand results in an inhibitory response in the hand muscles known as the cutaneous silent period (CSP). In this study, we employed probability- and frequency-based analysis methods to examine the CSP induced by laser stimuli. Subjects were asked to contract their first dorsal interosseous muscle so that selected motor units discharged at a rate of about 8Hz.

Comparison of survival with somatostatin analog and chemotherapy and prognostic factors for treatment in 165 advanced neuroendocrine tumor patients with Ki-67 20% or less.

The objectives of this study were to compare progression-free survival (PFS) with somatostatin analog (SSA) versus chemotherapy (CTx) in first-line therapy and to determine the patient group in which these treatments were more effective in neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) with a Ki-67 index of 20% or less. Patients who received SSA or CTx and had unresectable locally advanced and metastatic NETs with a Ki-67 index of 20% or less were retrospectively selected from 13 centers in the Turkish database between 2000 and 2015. One hundred and sixty-five patients were enrolled.

Internet addiction, sleep and health-related life quality among obese individuals: a comparison study of the growing problems in adolescent health.

Background: The rapid rise in the global prevalence of obesity suggests that environmental factors may be responsible. The increased use of technology is associated with increased rates of obesity due to declines in physical activity and significant sedentary life style. Internet addiction is also a growing health issue associated with diminished physical activity and poor sleep quality as well as various health problems.

Vaccination recommendations for adult patients with rheumatic diseases.

Infectious diseases in any age group can be successfully prevented through immunization. Protection provided through immunization in childhood decreases over the years. Immunization in adulthood is important because of the growing elderly population, chronic diseases, and globalization.

Investigation of Strongyloides stercoralis Seroprevalence in Individuals Who Grow Vegetables and Gather Mushroom in Muğla Province in Turkey.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the incidence of Strongyloides stercoralis in individuals who live in rural areas in the towns near Mugla and have contact with humid soil and gather saffron milk cap mushroom in autumn, and to obtain epidemiological data in our region.

Methods: A total of 281 volunteers were included; 192 of them were the individuals who only gather mushroom, only work in the garden, or gather mushroom as well as work in the garden, while 89 had no contact with the soil. Totally, 281 sera were tested for the presence of S.

Risk factors for malignancy in systemic sclerosis patients.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease with multisystem involvement. An increased incidence of cancer in SSc patients compared with the general population has been reported in several reports. Our aims in this study were to determine the most common malignancies and to investigate the possible risk factors for the development of malignancy in patients with SSc.

Granulosa cell and oocyte mitochondrial abnormalities in a mouse model of fragile X primary ovarian insufficiency.

Study Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the mitochondria of granulosa cells (GC) and/or oocytes might be abnormal in a mouse model of fragile X premutation (FXPM).

Study Finding: Mice heterozygous and homozygous for the FXPM have increased death (atresia) of large ovarian follicles, fewer corpora lutea with a gene dosage effect manifesting in decreased litter size(s). Furthermore, granulosa cells (GC) and oocytes of FXPM mice have decreased mitochondrial content, structurally abnormal mitochondria, and reduced expression of critical mitochondrial genes.

Diminished ovarian reserve: is it a neglected cause in the assessment of recurrent miscarriage? A cohort study.

Objective: To study whether diminished ovarian reserve is associated with recurrent miscarriage.

Design: Cross-sectional clinical study.

Setting: Tertiary-care center.