Persistent left superior vena cava: Two case reports and a review from nephrologists’ perspective

Thoracic venous anomalies without congenital heart anomalies are present in minority of the population, but they are frequent enough to be encountered while placing hemodialysis catheters through the jugular or subclavian veins. Persistent left superior vena cava is the most commonly seen anomaly and it is rarely noticed before the observation of an unusual course of hemodialysis catheter or guidewire on chest X‐ray. We present two patients with previously unspotted persistent left superior vena cava and uncomplicated hemodialysis catheter insertions through the internal jugular veins with good catheter functions. Review of the relevant literature from a nephrologists’ perspective with technical aspects is provided.     

Iodine content of cooked and processed fish in Turkey

This study evaluates the effects of different cooking (grilling, frying and steaming) and processing (smoking, salting, marinating and drying) methods on iodine contents of valuable marine and freshwater fish species commonly consumed in Turkey. The highest mean iodine content of cooked fish was determined to be 3.760 mg kg^?1, 2.788 mg kg^?1, 5.831 mg kg^?1 and 6.161 mg kg^?1 in grilled anchovy, horse mackerel, Atlantic Bonito and whiting, 0.914 mg kg^?1, 1.452 mg kg^?1, 3.106 mg kg^?1 in steamed bluefish, red mullet. The highest mean iodine content of processed fish was determined to be 2.149 mg kg^?1 in smoked mackerel, 0.701 mg kg^?1 in salted Bonito, 1.128 mg kg^?1 in dried horse mackerel and 7.283 mg kg^?1 in marinated anchovy. This iodine values are also above the Upper Tolerable Nutrient Level of 100–150 μg day^?1 iodine.     

The effect of exfoliation and plasma application on the properties of continuous graphene oxide fiber

This study has been performed on continuous graphene oxide fiber produced by different production parameters which has very large potential application areas such as electronic/smart textiles, sensors, energy. In this study, three different graphene oxide dispersion preparation methods; namely, Modified Hummers, Modified Hummers on exfoliated graphite and Modified Hummers with plasma application; have been used to prepare coagulated continuous graphene oxide fibers. The effect of production parameters on properties of continuous graphene oxide fibers have been measured by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-Ray Photoelectron Microscopy (XPS), tensile tester, electrical conductivity device. It was observed that exfoliation process results with decrease of fiber Tex count, fiber surface roughness, oxygen functional groups and an increase of breaking strength and electrical conductivity, while plasma application results to an increase of surface roughness of fiber, oxygen functional groups and decrease of breaking strength of fiber.     

The effects of tumbling and sodium tripolyphosphate on the proteins of döner

This study was designed to investigate the influence of tumbling and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) with marination on the protein structure of raw and cooked döner, a traditional Middle East product consumed widely in many areas of the world. Proximate composition (%moisture, %protein, %fat, %ash, and pH value), salt soluble protein (SSP) and total α-amino grup amount were determined. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was used to investigate alterations in the sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins. Utilization of STPP increased the moisture content and ash contents, and pH value of raw döner (p < 0.05). Only tumbling and STPP had a significant two-way interaction for moisture content, SSP and total α-amino group amounts of cooked döner (p < 0.05). None of the treatments significantly affected the fraction of sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins. In addition, cooking caused proteolysis of these proteins.     

Invitro digestion and absorption efficiency of homogenised milk lipids

The effects of homogenisation, heat treatment and their order on in vitro gastric/pancreatic digestions, and in vitro absorption of milk lipids, expressed as free fatty acids, were investigated. Milk, cream or mixture of homogenised/heat‐treated cream and skim milk were subjected to gastric digestion at pH 2 or 6, followed by pancreatic digestion and cell absorption by CaCo‐2 cells. Heat treatment after or prior to homogenisation affected in vitro digestion efficiencies of milk lipids. The presence of milk proteins led to reductions in the levels of gastric/pancreatic digestion of homogenised milk lipids. Absorption of FFA was not affected by gastric digestion pH.     

融合的蜂窝网络/无线局域网中资源管理的性能分析

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) with high data bit rates can be used with cellular network to achieve higher level of Quality of Service (QoS) by sharing their total resources efficiently. The integration between cellular and WLAN networks should be ensured considering different channel allocation strategies of both networks and efficient resource management techniques should be developed. In this paper, we propose a new call admission scheme to use the coupled resource effectively. The proposed scheme, by taking the different resource sharing strategies for two access networks, limits the new, horizontal and vertical handoff voice and data call arrivals with respect to their call level QoS requirements. Numerical results show that the proposed integrated cellular/WLAN network model uses the resources more effectively and achieves all upper bound QoS requirements for voice and data users as compared with the non integrated network model.     

Is there any interaction of resistin and adiponectin levels with protein‐energy wasting among patients with chronic kidney disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of adipocytokines including adiponectin, leptin, resistin, neuropeptide Y and ghrelin in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on appearance of protein‐energy wasting (PEW). One hundred fifty patients with mean age of 45.4 ± 15.9 years, without active infections or chronic inflammatory conditions were recruited into the study. Study groups were control group (consisting of 30 healthy volunteers with normal kidney functions), hemodialysis group, predialysis group, peritoneal dialysis group and kidney transplant group. Fasting morning serum leptin, ghrelin, acylated ghrelin, neuropeptide Y, adiponectin, resistin levels of all of the groups were measured. Anthropometric and nutritional assessments of all patients were obtained. Diagnosis of PEW was made according to definition recommended by the International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism. Presence of PEW in hemodialysis (23.3%) and peritoneal dialysis (26.7%) groups were significantly higher than those of predialysis (3.3%), and transplantation (0%) groups. Adiponectin and resistin levels in predialysis, peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis patients were significantly higher than control group (p: 0.0001). This study had given significant positive correlations between presence of PEW and serum resistin (r: 0.267, p: 0.001), and serum adiponectin levels (r: 0.349, p: 0.0001). There were no relationship between presence of PEW and ghrelin, acylated‐ghrelin, neuropeptide Y, and leptin levels of the groups. CKD patients except transplant patients had higher adiponectin and resistin levels than control group. PEW was found to be linearly correlated with resistin and adiponectin. High serum resistin and adiponectin levels might have a role in development of PEW among dialysis patients.     

Effect of pH on chlorophyll degradation and colour loss in blanched green peas

Effect of pH on the chlorophyll degradation and visual green colour loss in blanched green peas were studied at 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C in buffered solutions of pH 5.5, 6.5 and 7.5. The degradation of chlorophylls a and b followed a first-order reaction and the temperature-dependence of these reactions was modelled by the Arrhenius equation. The activation energies ranged from 4.80 ± 0.91 to 14.0 ± 0.71 kcal mol⁻¹ for chlorophyll a and from 6.84 ± 0.29 to 11.0 ± 1.06 for chlorophyll b with varying pH values. The visual green colour degradation, as represented by the change of the −a (greenness), the ratio −a/b and hue (h) values measured by tristimulus colorimeter, also followed a first-order reaction. Activation energies for −a values ranged from 8.13 ± 0.71 to 12.0 ± 1.07 kcal mol⁻¹, and for −a/b values ranged from 8.77 ± 1.34 to 12.0 ± 1.07 kcal mol⁻¹ with varying pH values at 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C.     

Activated carbon supported silicotungstic acid catalysts for ethyl‐tert‐butyl ether synthesis

Vapor phase ethyl‐tert‐butyl ether (ETBE) production was conducted in the presence of Cesium salts of silicotungstic acid (Cs‐STA), activated carbon supported silicotungstic acid (AC‐STA), and activated carbon supported Cesium salts of silicotungstic acid (AC‐Cs‐STA) catalysts. Isobutene (IB) conversion to ETBE at 373 K were determined as 0.16 and 0.2 for STA and AC‐STA catalysts on constant space time basis. This increase of activity is one of the highlights of this study considering that STA loading in AC‐STA catalysts had been adjusted to 40%. IB conversion to ETBE obtained at 373 K in the presence of AC‐STA catalyst was found to be close to equilibrium. Stability of the synthesized catalysts were tested by applying a washing procedure with ethanol. Repeated ETBE synthesis with thoroughly washed samples indicated quite stable and active catalyts. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011     

Microarray Analysis of Autoimmune Diseases by Machine Learning Procedures

Microarray-based global gene expression profiling, with the use of sophisticated statistical algorithms is providing new insights into the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. We have applied a novel statistical technique for gene selection based on machine learning approaches to analyze microarray expression data gathered from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS), two autoimmune diseases of unknown genetic origin that share many common features. The methodology included a combination of three data discretization policies, a consensus gene selection method, and a multivariate correlation measurement. A set of 150 genes was found to discriminate SLE and PAPS patients from healthy individuals. Statistical validations demonstrate the relevance of this gene set from an univariate and multivariate perspective. Moreover, functional characterization of these genes identified an interferon-regulated gene signature, consistent with previous reports. It also revealed the existence of other regulatory pathways, including those regulated by PTEN, TNF, and BCL-2, which are altered in SLE and PAPS. Remarkably, a significant number of these genes carry E2F binding motifs in their promoters, projecting a role for E2F in the regulation of autoimmunity.