Abstract Aim This study was conducted to determine the effects of music therapy on non‐stress test results and anxiety levels in high‐risk pregnant women. Methods This randomized controlled study was ...conducted in pregnant women who were hospitalized in the High‐Risk Pregnancy Service of Meram Medical Faculty Hospital, Konya, Turkey, between April 1 and July 31, 2021. In the intervention group ( n = 58), a 20‐min music therapy with ney sounds was performed, while in the control group ( n = 58), routine care practices were applied. Hüseyni maqam of ney was selected, a melodic mode used by Turks for music therapy. Data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form, the Non‐Stress Test Evaluation Form, and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results After music therapy, the intervention group experienced increased mean acceleration ( p = 0.010) and foetal movement rates ( p < 0.001) while no such difference was observed in the control group. The state anxiety levels of pregnant women differed significantly between the intervention and control groups ( p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that music therapy reduced state anxiety levels in pregnant women by a factor of 4.6 ( p < 0.001). Conclusion Based on the findings, music therapy was found to enhance acceleration and foetal heart rate in high‐risk pregnant women while reducing state anxiety levels.
Summary statement What is already known about this topic? Music therapy is a non‐invasive easy application that is frequently used in the treatment of psychological disorders. What this paper adds? Music therapy reduces the state anxiety levels of high‐risk pregnant women. Music therapy can lead to increase in the number of accelerations in high‐risk pregnant women. Music therapy can lead to increase in the number of foetal movements in high‐risk pregnant women. The implications of this paper: Nurses and other healthcare professionals may routinely apply music therapy during the non‐stress test procedure in high‐risk pregnancy services.
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•Red lentil extrudates microstructure was characterized using X-ray microtomography.•Number of separated cells, mean cell size and wall thickness were extracted.•Microstructure ...depends on the extrusion conditions, and affects texture.•Higher nitrogen injection pressure resulted in higher number of separated cells.•Hardness is negatively correlated with the mean cell size and wall thickness heterogeneity.
Red lentils have a great potential to be used as healthy ingredients in puffed snacks due to their excellent nutritional qualities. However, these types of ingredients with relatively higher protein and fiber content when compared to ingredients that are typically used for the manufacture of puffed foods (e.g., refined cereal flours/starches) result in inferior textural quality. Extrusion processing parameters such as screw speed, moisture content and injection pressure of a blowing agent can be manipulated to optimize the microstructure of an extrudate, and as a consequence the texture of the final puffed product. In this study, X-Ray microtomography imaging is used to characterize and quantify the detailed microstructure of red lentil extrudates. The results indicate that an increase in the injected pressure of the physical blowing agent could be correlated with a decrease in mean cell size and wall thickness, as well as an increase in the number of cells. Evidence of wall rupture with an increased screw speed is also visible, and that effect can be counterbalanced by a higher moisture content during processing. A large variation of the cell wall thickness inside an extrudate (which can induce a weaker cellular structure) as well as a larger cell size and higher amount of wall rupture, significantly reduce the hardness of extrudates. This novel effort to quantitatively characterize the microstructure of red lentil extrudates using X-Ray microtomography establishes that an optimal product texture could, in principle, be achieved by manipulating extrusion parameters to achieve the perfect snack texture.
Understanding the global carbon (C) cycle is critical to accurately model feedbacks between climate and soil. Thus, many climate change studies focused on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes. ...Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is one of the most stable fractions of soil organic matter (SOM). Accurate maps based on measured PyC contents are required to facilitate future soil management decisions and soil-climate feedback modelling. However, consistent measurements that cover large areas are rare. Therefore, this study aimed to map the PyC content and stock of the Iberian Peninsula, which covers contrasting climatic zones and has long-term data on wildfire occurrence. A partial least square (PLS) regression using the mid-infrared spectra (1800–400 cm−1) was applied to a dataset composed of 2961 soil samples from the Iberian component of the LUCAS 2009 database. The values of PyC for LUCAS points were modelled to obtain a map of topsoil PyC by a random forest (RF) approach using 36 auxiliary variables. The results were validated through comparison with documented historical wildfire activity and anthropogenic energy production. A strong relationship was found between these sources and the distribution of PyC. Our study estimates that the accumulated PyC in Iberian Peninsula soils comprises between 3.09 and 20.39% of total organic carbon (TOC) in the topsoil. Forests have higher PyC contents than grasslands, followed by agricultural soils. The incidence of recurrent wildfires also has a notable influence on PyC contents. This study shows the potential of estimating PyC with a single, rapid, low cost, chemometric method using new or archived soil spectra, and has the ability to improve soil-climate feedback modelling. It also offers a possible tool for measuring, reporting and verifying soil C stocks, which is likely to be important moving forward if soils are used as sinks for C sequestration.
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•Soil PyC estimation by partial least square regression and random forest model on MIR spectra•Forests accumulate more PyC than grasslands and agricultural soils.•Notable influence of wildfires on topsoil PyC in the Iberian Peninsula•Strong relationship between wildfire records, fossil fuel plants and PyC distribution
Results of measurements of radon around of the Black Sea are shown. Radon stations in zones of active faults were placed. Simultaneous hourly measurements of soil radon in 2005 were carried out in ...the Sivrice Fault Zone that is a segment of East Anatolian Fault System, in the town of Tbilisi (Georgia) and in the South Russia. In 2008 simultaneously hourly measurements of soil radon were carried out in the Western Caucasus (Russia) and in the Mytilene Island (Greece). In 2013 radon in underground waters simultaneously in midday was measuring in Crete (Greece), in the Pamukkale geothermal region (Southwest Turkey) and in the Western Caucasus. Measurements of radon concentration in the points located around of the Black Sea have shown identical regularities in changes of the data. Influence of meteorological, tidal and solar factors on changes of water radon concentrations and soil radon concentrations was observed in all researches points. But this influence was insignificant. Seismological application of observed results also was considered. Various mathematical methods of definition of anomaly in the radon data during earthquakes were considered. During researches in the Black Sea region basically earthquakes with M from 2.0 up to 5.0 and in a depth about 10 km were occurred. For these earthquakes method of daily subtraction of the data of the next and previous day was used. This method has allowed solving a problem with a choice of average value. Probability up to 0.69 (number of earthquakes with radon anomalies/total number of earthquakes) of detection of radon anomalies before earthquakes was achieved applying this method. Changes of radon maps before regional earthquakes were also observed. The frequency analysis of variations of the radon data on the basis of the Wavelet analysis was carried out. Occurrence of the short periods (about 2 days) was observed during regional earthquakes.
•Simultaneous measurement of radon around of the Black sea was made.•Changes caused by meteorological and cosmic factors were investigated.•Observably data for seismological application were used.
COPD exacerbations requiring hospitalization increase morbidity and mortality. Although most COPD exacerbations are neutrophilic, approximately 10%-25% of exacerbations are eosinophilic.
We aimed to ...evaluate mortality and outcomes of eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic COPD exacerbations and identify new biomarkers that predict survival.
A retrospective observational cohort study was carried out in a tertiary teaching hospital from January 1, 2014 to November 1, 2014. All COPD patients hospitalized with exacerbations were enrolled in the study at their initial hospitalization and followed-up for 6 months after discharge. Electronic data were collected from the hospital database. Subjects' characteristics, hemogram parameters, CRP levels, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-mean platelet volume ratio on admission and discharge, length of hospital stay (days), readmissions, and mortality were recorded. Patients were grouped according to peripheral blood eosinophil (PBE) levels: Group 1, >2% PBE, eosinophilic; Group 2, non-eosinophilic ≤2%. Patient survival after hospital discharge was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
A total of 1,704 patients hospitalized with COPD exacerbation were included. Approximately 20% were classified as eosinophilic. Six-month mortality was similar in eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic groups (14.2% and 15.2%, respectively); however, the hospital stay length and readmission rate were longer and higher in the non-eosinophilic group (P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively). CRP and NLR were significantly higher in the non-eosinophilic group (both P<0.01). The platelet-to-mean platelet volume ratio was not different between the two groups. Cox regression analysis showed that survival was negatively influenced by elevated CRP (P<0.035) and NLR (P<0.001) in the non-eosinophilic group.
Non-eosinophilic patients with COPD exacerbations with high CRP and NLR values had worse outcomes than eosinophilic patients. PBE and NLR can be helpful markers to guide treatment decisions.
Complete blood count parameters provide novel inflammatory markers, namely neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR). We aimed to assess any differences in these ...novel inflammatory markers according to exacerbation severity in patients with COPD in both eosinophilic and neutrophilic endotypes.
This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary education hospital. Previously diagnosed COPD patients admitted to the hospital with acute COPD exacerbation (AECOPD) were enrolled into the study. Patients were grouped according to COPD endotype, eosinophilic (peripheral blood eosinophil rate ≥2%) and neutrophilic (peripheral blood eosinophil rate <2%), and further subdivided according to place of admission (outpatient clinic, ward, or intensive care unit ICU) as an indicator of disease severity. Complete blood count, biochemistry, C-reactive protein (CRP), NLR, PLR, and platelet to mean platelet volume values were recorded from an electronic hospital database system and compared among all groups.
Of the 10,592 patients included in the study, 7,864 were admitted as outpatients, 2,233 to the wards, and 495 to ICU. Neutrophilic COPD patients (n=6,536, 62%) had increased inflammatory markers compared with eosinophilic COPD patients (n=4,056, 38%); median NLR was 5.11 vs 2.62 (
<0.001), PLR was 175.66 vs 130.00 (
<0.001), and CRP was 11.6 vs 7.7 (
<0.001). All values increased relative to admission to the outpatient clinic, ward, or ICU: median NLR was 3.20, 6.33, and 5.94, respectively, median PLR was 140.43, 208.46, and 207.39, respectively, and median CRP was 6.4, 15.0, and 22.8, respectively. The median NLR values of patients in outpatients/ward/ICU increased in neutrophilic and eosinophilic endotypes: 4.21/7.57/8.60 (
<0.001) and 2.50/3.43/3.42 (
=0.81), respectively. CRP showed a similar increased pattern according to severity of AECOPD endotypes.
In COPD exacerbation, the inflammatory markers show different increases in each COPD endotypes. These findings may be crucial for defining exacerbation endotypes, the severity of exacerbation, and treatment response during follow-up in COPD patients.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of exposure to biomass smoke vs cigarette smoke on serum inflammatory markers and pulmonary function parameters in patients with chronic respiratory ...failure (CRF).
A total of 106 patients with CRF divided into age and gender-matched groups of cigarette-smoke exposure (n=55, mean SD age: 71.0 12.0 years, 92.7% were females) and biomass smoke exposure (n=51, mean SD age: 73.0 11.0 years, 94.1% were females) were included in this retrospective study. Data on patient demographics (age and gender), inflammatory markers, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein, platelet/mean platelet volume ratio, arterial blood gas analysis, and pulmonary function test findings, including forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV
), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV
/FVC were obtained from medical records.
Carbon dioxide partial pressure levels were significantly higher in the biomass smoke exposure than in the cigarette smoke exposure group (mean SD 51.0 8.0 vs 47.0 8.0 mmHg,
=0.026, respectively). Spirometry revealed similarly low levels for FEV
(%) (38.0 16.0 vs 40.0 12.0%) and FVC (%) (45.0 19.0 vs 39.0 19.0%) in cigarette-smoke and biomass smoke exposure groups, whereas biomass smoke exposure was associated with significantly higher FEV
/FVC (75.0 14.0 vs 58.0 12.0%,
=0.001), lower FVC (mL) (mean SD 744.0 410.0 vs 1,063.0 592.0 mL,
=0.035) and lower percentage of patients with FEV
/FVC <70% (36.8% vs 82.0%,
<0.001) than cigarette smoke exposure.
Our findings indicate similarly increased inflammatory markers and abnormally low pulmonary function test findings in both biomass smoke exposure and cigarette smoke exposure groups, emphasizing the adverse effects of biomass smoke exposure on lungs to be as significant as cigarette smoke exposure. Association of biomass smoke exposure with higher likelihood of FEV
/FVC ratio of >70% and more prominent loss of vital capacity than cigarette smoke exposure seems to indicate the likelihood of at least 18 years of biomass exposure to be sufficiently high to be responsible for both obstructive and restrictive pulmonary diseases.
The aim of this study is to select new landfill sites in Antalya, Turkey which is the fifth biggest city according to the population, approximately 1.2 million. It is the first rank according to the ...population growth rate in Turkey. The city of Antalya is the touristic places and its climate is Mediterranean climate. Therefore, choosing landfill site is very crucial and it affects the future of the city. Existing landfill site will not be sufficient in near future. The study was implemented in the Aksu, Dosemealti, Kepez, Konyaalti, and Muratpasa districts in Antalya. The study area has almost 1980 km-square. Twelve parameters which are geology, fault lines, landslides, river, lake, elevation, slope, aspect, population, rain, road network, and temperature data were determined. These parameters were assessed using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the weights of criteria layers were computed. Then, the computed weights were checked by the consistency index and consistency ratio which were found as 0.12 and 8.5%, respectively. The consistency index for 12 parameters should be lower than 1.48 and the consistency ratio should be less than 10%. This means that the constructed AHP matrix is suitable for analysis. Finally, the most suitable areas for landfill were computed according to the weights achieved from AHP matrix. The results were obtained in a range between 0.39 and 0.90. When the obtained results were compared with the existing landfill site called Kizilli area, the AHP score was found as 0.62. Therefore, new landfill area(s) should be selected from the determined results.
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