In the present study, a comprehensive investigation was accomplished on shot peening of AISI 316 L steel with a wide range of Almen intensity and surface coverage. Various experiments were performed ...to characterize the microstructure and mechanical properties of the peened specimens. For the modeling of the process, artificial neural network was used and the obtained experimental results were employed as data-set to develop the network. Modeling results have remarkable agreement with the experiments and then parametric analysis were applied based on the predicted values of the model.
Graphic Abstract
The goal of this study was to manage the treatment modalities of ectopic pregnancy.
This retrospective study included 1,103 women diagnosed and treated for ectopic pregnancy at Kanuni Sultan Suleyman ...Training and Research Hospital between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020. Serial beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-Hcg) measurements and transvaginal ultrasound (TV USG) findings were used to establish the diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy. They were divided into four groups: expectant treatment, single-dose methotrexate, multidose methotrexate, and surgical treatment. All data analyses were performed using SPSS version 24.0. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the cut-off for change in beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) levels between the first and fourth day.
There were significant differences between groups in terms of gestational age and β-hCG changes (p < 0.001). In patients receiving expectant treatment, the decrease in β-hCG values on the fourth day was 35.19%, while patients receiving single-dose methotrexate treatment showed a decrease of 24%. The most common risk factor for ectopic pregnancy was the absence of risk factors. Comparison of the surgical treatment group with the other groups revealed significant differences in terms of the presence of free fluid in the abdomen, the average diameter of the ectopic pregnancy mass, and the presence of fetal cardiac activity. A single dose of methotrexate was effective in patients with β-hCG levels lower than 1,227.5 mIU/ml, with a 68.5% sensitivity and 69.1% specificity.
An increase in gestational age also leads to an increase in β-hCG values and the diameter of the ectopic focus. As the diagnosis period progresses, the need for surgical intervention increases.
•Organic food consumption in emerging markets is growing faster than Western markets.•We explore the perceptual profiles of those who buy for health or for the environment.•Those buying for their ...health are pragmatists concerned about performance and utility.•Those buying to help the environment are social and concerned about appearances.•Also indicated is an inverse relationship between attitude and intention to buy.
A broad literature indicates two primary motives for consumers using organic food, a concern for health and a concern for the environment. Surprisingly, there is far less research examining the relationship between motivation and its principle antecedent, consumer perceptions of organic food. The purpose of this research is to explore the relative perceptual profiles of organic food consumers who buy out of concern for their health and for the environment, respectively. Organic food consumption in emerging markets is currently growing faster than it is in Western markets. We survey a set of urban Indian millennial organic food users as representative of organic food users in emerging markets generally, and as drivers of a burgeoning organic food market in India, which has a huge millennial population, to determine their relative perceptions of organic food in a multi-attributed manner, according to their primary reasons for buying and consuming it.
These results confirm the primacy of health and environmental motives among urban Indian millennial organic food users, and show that those who buy organic food primarily for their health are pragmatic types mostly concerned about performance and utility, whereas, those who buy primarily to help the environment are social individuals mostly concerned about their appearance to others. Interestingly, results also indicate an inverse relationship between consumers’ attitude toward organic food and their intention to buy it, suggesting that those consumers who use organic food for health reasons have a greater affinity for organic food, but those consumers who use it for environmental reasons are less price sensitive and more prone to actually buying it. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
We evaluated the efficacy of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device in treating menorrhagia using a pictorial blood assessment chart.
We retrospectively examined 822 patients treated with a ...levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device for abnormal uterine bleeding between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020, at a Turkish tertiary hospital. A pictorial blood assessment chart was used to determine each patient's blood loss amount, which involves the use of an objective scoring system to determine the amount of bleeding in towels, pads, or tampons. Descriptive statistical values were presented as mean and standard deviation, and paired sample t-tests were used for within-group comparisons of normally distributed parameters. Moreover, in the part of the descriptive statistical analysis, the mean and median values for the non-normally distributed tests were not close to each other, indicating that the data obtained and analyzed in this study had a non-normal distribution.
Of 822 patients, 751 (91.4%) exhibited a significant reduction in menstrual bleeding after device insertion. Moreover, a significant decrease was observed in the pictorial blood assessment chart scores 6 months postoperatively (p < 0.05).
This study revealed that the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device is an easy-to-insert, safe, and effective treatment option for abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). Furthermore, the pictorial blood assessment chart is a simple and reliable tool for evaluating menstrual blood loss in women before and after the insertion of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine devices.
To investigate the role of diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) in the diagnosis of urinary bladder (UB) tumours by means of measuring apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values.
A total of 83 people aged ...between 18 and 86 years were included in the study: 63 patients with UB pathology (46 malignant, 17 benign) constituted the case group; 20 individuals without any UB pathology constituted the control group. DWI was applied to all individuals. The ADC values were measured based on the tissue of the UB mass entities and normal UB wall in the control group.
The mean ADC value in the UB carcinoma group was significantly lower than that in the control group: 1.0684 ± 0.26 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1) and 2.010 ± 0.11 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1), respectively (p<0.01). There was a significant difference among the mean ADC values of different grades of malignant tumours, corresponding to 0.9185 ± 0.20 mm(2) s(-1) and 1.281 ± 0.18 mm(2) s(-1) in high-grade and low-grade malignant UB carcinomas, respectively (p<0.01). The ADC value in the carcinoma group was significantly lower than that in the benign lesion group: 1.0684 ± 0.26 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1) and 1.803 ± 0.19 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1), respectively (p<0.01). All 46 malignant lesions displayed a restriction in diffusion; 4 of the 17 benign lesions displayed a mild restriction in diffusion. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of DWI in the diagnosis of malignant UB lesions was 100%, 76.5% and 93.65%, respectively.
DWI can be beneficial in the differentiation of benign and malignant UB lesions, as well as of high-grade and low-grade UB carcinomas, using quantitative ADC measurements.
The quality of landslide susceptibility maps is often assessed using a part of learning data that represents geographical and land use characteristics over a quasi-fixed time. However, when validated ...with multi-temporal landslide inventories, more realistic insights on the susceptibility maps can be obtained. In addition, extreme events may trigger landslides in regions which are not considered as landslide-prone. The February 6, 2023, Kahramanmaras Earthquakes (Mw 7.7 and Mw 7.6), also known as the disaster of the century, triggered numerous landslides. Amanos Mountains located in southern Türkiye were also within the earthquake-affected area and had a very small amount of inventory recorded in official databases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the random forest method for producing landslide susceptibility maps. The official inventory of General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA) was used for map production. The resulting susceptibility map was assessed using the co-seismic landslide inventory produced in the study. The model’s performance evaluated using a part of the learning data yielded high accuracy expressed with area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), precision, and recall values and F1 score using (AUC = 97%, recall = 97%, precision = 96%, F1 = 98%). However, multi-temporal evaluation with co-seismic landslides showed that 80% of the landslide pixels with moderate, high, and very high susceptibility levels could be predicted with the model. The results suggest that special attention should be given to features underrepresented in the inventory, such as low altitudes and types of lithology.
The aim of this study is to investigate the potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of thymoquinone (TQ) to improve acute bacterial prostatitis (ABP) induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
A ...total of 42 male Wistar albino rats were divided into 7 groups as follows: control, ABP (24, 48, and 72 h), and TQ-ABP (24, 48, and 72 h). The prostate tissue samples were assayed for prostate tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels, and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities. Sections were examined for characteristic histological changes, and a histological scoring system was used.
When the ABP groups given TQ (24, 48, and 72 h) were compared to the ABP groups not given TQ, the levels of MDA and NO and the GPX activity were found to be significantly lower in the groups given TQ. Concerning SOD values, the TQ-ABP-72 group was lower in comparison with the ABP-72 and control groups, but statistically higher than the TQ-ABP-48 group (p < 0.05). Concerning CAT activity, only the TQ-ABP-72 and ABP-72 groups had a significant difference with the control group. TQ improved prostate histology significantly only in the TQ-ABP-24 group compared to the ABP-24 group (p < 0.001).
Our study demonstrated for the first time that ABP induced by P. aeruginosa had an oxidative effect on prostate tissue and could regress following TQ administration as shown with the biochemical and histological findings.
Recurrent glial tumors treated with bevacizumab often develop diffusion restriction. In this study, we investigated the diffusion restriction pattern after bevacizumab treatment along with the ...relationship between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of regions with diffusion restriction and survival period as there are conflicting results on this relationship.
We retrospectively identified 24 patients treated with bevacizumab for recurrent glial tumor who had low ADC values after the onset of the treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were analyzed for the presence of restricted diffusion, time to onset, location, duration of restriction, and persistence of restriction after cessation of bevacizumab treatment. A retrospective study was performed to investigate the relationship between ADC values obtained at first post-bevacizumab scan and survival periods.
Diffusion restriction appeared 2 to 6 months after the onset of bevacizumab therapy and persisted up to 24 months while on bevacizumab. The restricted diffusion persisted up to 6 months after cessation of bevacizumab. Our results showed that there is a negative correlation between ADC values and progression free survival as well as overall survival. Patients having diffusion restriction areas with lower ADC values after the initiation of bevacizumab treatment, are found to have increased overall and progression free survival (p<0.05).
In patients with recurrent glial tumor treated with bevacizumab, diffusion restriction can be observed and the ADC values obtained from these areas at first post-bevacizumab MRI scan correlate with progression free and overall survival with the worst survival seen in patients with higher ADC values which therefore can be considered as an imaging marker that can predict the prognosis.
We examine gender differences in learning style revealed by attitudinal response to participation in serious business games. Two hundred twenty undergraduate business students played The Marketing ...Game! and completed exit surveys soliciting their attitudes toward the game experience, as well as an inventory revealing learning styles. Results extend empirical support for previously developed female and male learner profiles to learning game participants. Results also indicate games to be a rather different experience across genders, though a positive learning experience for both. Pedagogical implications are discussed.
•Female and male serious business game participants prefer to learn differently.•Female participants are accepting, feeling, receptive graspers of experience, and collaborative.•Male participants are logical, analytical, present-oriented graspers of experience, and competitive.•We find no gender differences on the transforming experience dimension of Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory.•Though games are shown to be a rather different experience for females and males, it is a positive learning experience for both.
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