Aims and objectives
To determine the effects of chewing gum, early oral hydration and early mobilisation on the time of first bowel sounds, first passage of flatus and first defecation following ...abdominal gynaecologic surgery.
Background
A major complication of abdominal surgical procedures is paralytic ileus which results in patient discomfort, prolonged length of hospital stay and increased cost of treatment.
Design
Prospective randomised case–control study.
Methods
Women who underwent abdominal gynaecological surgery for benign disorders under general anaesthesia were randomised into eight groups according to different combinations of interventions consisting of chewing gum, early oral hydration and early mobilisation. The effects of these interventions on the time of first bowel sounds, first passage of flatus and first defecation following abdominal gynaecologic surgery were investigated. The data were analysed using chi‐square tests, t‐test for independent samples, Tukey's HSD test, pairwise comparison test, one‐way analysis of variance.
Results
It was found that the time when bowel sounds were heard was shorter, the time first passage of flatus was shorter and first defecation occurred earlier in the 1st group of women who chew gum, were hydrated orally and were mobilised early after surgery than the other groups. It was also determined that these periods were longest in the women who did not receive any intervention and received the routine hospital care when compared with other groups. Duration of hospital stay was shorter in the women who chew gum, were hydrated orally and were mobilised early than the other groups.
Conclusions
Early oral feeding, early mobilisation and chewing gum are effective methods in terms of preventing paralytic ileus following abdominal gynaecological surgery, improving patient comfort and shortening the duration of hospitalisation.
Relevance to clinical practice
Nurses may cause early recovery, improve the patient comfort, prevent paralytic ileus and shorten the duration of hospitalisation after gynaecologic abdominal surgery by recommending gum chewing, early mobilisation and early hydration.
To define the learning needs of patients with gynecological oncology. The study was performed as a descriptive study. A total of 92 patients were participated. Data were collected using Patient ...Learning Needs Scale (PLNS). The Pearson correlation test, independent sample
t
test, and analysis of one-way of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s-B post hoc tests were used for statistical analyses by the SPSS 15.0 software package. The mean age of women’s was 50.37 ± 12.20 years. The women’s diagnoses were cervical (45.7 %), ovarian (27.2 %), and endometrial (19.6 %) cancers. The most frequently stated learning needs topics were coping with pain (47.8 %), daily living activities (46.2 %), and psychological support (44.6 %). The mean PLNS score of women was 212.56 ± 35.83. The mean subscales scores of PLNS were 34.06 ± 7.29 for medicines, 38.34 ± 6.74 for daily living activities, and 24.68 ± 5.41 for community subscales. Women who graduated from elementary school needed more education than the women with higher education (
p
< 0.001). Learning needs level of the women are high and related to increase quality of life, medicine usage, complications of treatment, skin problems, pain management, and supportive care. As a healthcare professional, we should plan and develop educational programs in order to adequately inform patients about their learning needs.
Objective
Hyperinflammation (HI) that develops in week 2 of COVID‐19 contributes to a worse outcome. Because week 2 laboratory findings can be relatively mild, the available criteria for ...classification of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis or macrophage activation syndrome are not helpful.
Methods
Our study included a discovery cohort of patients from Turkey with symptomatic COVID‐19 who were followed up while hospitalized during the initial wave and a replication cohort of hospitalized patients from a later period, all of whom required oxygen support and received glucocorticoids. Diagnosis of HI was made by an expert panel; most patients with COVID‐19–associated HI (HIC) received tocilizumab or anakinra. Clinical and laboratory data from start day of treatment with tocilizumab or anakinra in HIC patients were compared with the data from day 5–6 in patients without HIC. Values maximizing the sensitivity and specificity of each parameter were calculated to determine criteria items.
Results
The discovery cohort included 685 patients, and the replication cohort included 156 patients, with 150 and 61 patients receiving treatment for HI, respectively. Mortality rate in HI patients in the discovery cohort (23.3%) was higher than the rate in patients without HI (3.7%) and the rate in patients in the overall replication cohort (10.3%). The 12‐item criteria that we developed for HIC showed that a score of 35 provided 85.3% sensitivity and 81.7% specificity for identification of HIC. In the replication cohort, the same criteria resulted in 90.0% sensitivity for HIC; however, lower specificity values were observed because of the inclusion of milder cases of HIC responding only to glucocorticoids.
Conclusion
The use of the 12‐item criteria for HIC can better define patients with HIC with reasonable sensitivity and specificity and enables an earlier treatment start.
Optic coherence tomography (OCT) is a new, contactless and fast neuroimaging method. Previous studies have observed thinning of the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) in many neurodegenerative ...diseases, and researchers have suggested that correlations exist between the thinning of the RNFL and the neurodegeneration detected with other imaging methods or the severity of illness. More recently, OCT has been used in patients with schizophrenia. RNFL thinning has also been detected in these patients. With more sophisticated devices, segmentation of the retina and measurements of the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and internal plexiform layer (IPL) can be performed.
We measured the RNFL thickness and the GCL and IPL volumes in 40 treatment refractory patients with schizophrenia, 41 treatment responsive refractory patients and 41 controls using spectral-OCT, and we evaluated the correlations between the disease severity and OCT measurements.
The global RNFL thickness and GCL and IPL volumes were decreased in the patients with schizophrenia compared with the controls. In addition, the GCL and IPL volumes were lower in the treatment refractory patients with schizophrenia compared to the treatment responsive patients. Using parameters such as the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores, the disease duration and number of hospitalizations, correlations between the GCL and IPL volumes and disease severity were stronger than the correlations between the RNFL and the disease parameters.
Our findings suggest that OCT can be used to detect neurodegeneration in schizophrenia and that the GCL and IPL volumes can also be used to monitor the progression of neurodegeneration.
The aims of this study were to determine bisphenol A (BPA) levels in breast milk and urine specimens of healthy mother and exclusively breastfed infant pairs having no known BPA exposure, and also to ...examine the relationship between BPA levels and possible BPA exposure history. Forty mothers and their 1–2-month-old exclusively breastfeed infant were included in the study. The questionnaires about sociodemographic characteristics and possible BPA exposure history were filled out. Breast milk and urine samples were taken. BPA analyses of these samples were conducted using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. All mother-infant pairs showed detectable BPA concentrations. The geometric means of BPA levels in breast milk, maternal urine, and infant urine were determined as 0.12 μg/L (0.03–0.59), 0.12 μg/L (0.03–0.73), and 0.13 μg/L (0.02–0.44), respectively. Infants whose mothers were consuming yoghurt in plastic containers had relatively higher urinary BPA levels (
p
= 0.00). Mothers consuming hot beverages in plastic glass showed higher breast milk BPA levels (
p
= 0.033). There were no statistical associations between BPA levels and the use of plastic materials and tools (
p
> 0.05).
Conclusion
: The measurable BPA concentrations in all breast milk specimens of healthy mothers may reflect possible exposure from dietary or non-dietary sources. Exclusively, breastfed healthy infants without any known BPA exposure may be exposed to BPA from their mothers through breastfeeding.
What is Known:
•
Fetuses, neonates and infants are exposed to BPA from their mothers through placental transfer and breastfeeding
.
•
Breast milk is considered a continuous low-level exposure to BPA
.
What is New:
•
BPA was detected in 100% of maternal urine, infant urine, and breast milk in healthy mother-infant pairs having no known BPA exposure
.
•
The measurable amount of BPA in breast milk and infant urine may reflect possible BPA exposure of mother-infant pairs
.
The development of strawberry (
Fragaria
×
ananassa
Duchesne ex Rozier) genotypes, which have good taste, size and firmness, is among the most important and prioritized issues of today. We aimed to ...develop new strawberry cultivars having standards of priority issues for strawberry. Eight prominent strawberry genotypes were obtained from the cross of domestic strawberry cultivars (‘Sevgi’, ‘Kaşka’, and ‘Ebru’) with the varieties (‘Rubygem’, ‘Festival’, and ‘Amiga’). Pomological (total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, and firmness) and physical (fruit width, fruit length, and fruit weight) analyses of eight strawberry genotypes and their parents were performed on active harvest months. In addition, ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeat) markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity of eight prominent strawberry hybrids and their parents. The selected superior hybrid strawberry fruit characteristics exceeded the characteristics of local varieties and reached the point where they can compete with commercial varieties in terms of most of the quality parameters. However, it was determined that the genotypes did not reach the targeted point in terms of fruit firmness. While a good positive correlation among fruit size parameters was found, taste of fruit was negatively affected by increasing these. As it is seen in the molecular results (PCoA), domestic and foreign cultivars were separated from each other, and their progenies were generally between them as most of the examined parameters (fruit firmness, acidity, total soluble solid, fruit weight). In addition, PIC value ranged from 0.17 (UBC816) to 0.86 (UBC824).
Background
Immunoglobulin G replacement therapy (IgRT), intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) routes, is pivotal in treatment of primary immunodeficiencies (PID). In recent years, facilitated ...subcutaneous immunoglobulin (fSCIG), a combination of rHuPH20 and 10% IgG has emerged as a delivery method to combine advantages of both IV and SC.
Method
In an observational prospective cohort, we investigated patient experience with fSCIG in PID patients from 5 PID centers for up to 12 months. We assessed the efficacy and safety of this treatment with patient/caregiver- and physician-reported indicators. Additionally, we analyzed patient treatment satisfaction (TSQM-9) and quality of life (QoL).
Results
We enrolled 29 patients (22 pediatric and 7 adults; 14 females and 15 males; (median: 15, min–max: 2–40.9 years) who initiated fSCIG as IgRT-naive (n = 1), switched from conventional rapid-push 10% SCIG (n = 6) or IVIG (n = 22). Among the participants, 19 (65%) exhibited antibody deficiencies, 8 (27%) combined immunodeficiencies, and 2 (7%) immune dysregulations. Remarkably, targeted trough immunoglobulin G levels were achieved under all previous IgRTs as well as fSCIG. No severe systemic adverse drug reactions were documented, despite prevalent local (%86.45) and mild systemic (%26.45) adverse reactions were noted with fSCIG. Due to mild systemic symptoms, 2 patients switched from fSCIG to 10% SCIG. The patient satisfaction survey revealed a notable increase at 2-4th (p = 0.102); 5-8th (p = 0.006) and 9-12th (p < 0.001) months compared to the baseline. No significant trends were observed in QoL surveys.
Conclusion
fSCIG demonstrates admissable tolerability and efficacy in managing PIDs in addition to notable increase of patients’ drug satisfaction with IgRT. The identified benefits support the continuation of this therapy despite the local reactions.
Purpose
This study investigates the prognostic value of
68
Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT using PET-derived quantitative in multiple myeloma (MM) patients with suspected recurrence in comparison to
18
F-FDG ...PET/CT and clinical data.
Methods
Twenty-four MM patients with suspicion for relapse who underwent
68
Ga-Pentixafor and
18
F-FDG PET/CT were retrospectively evaluated. Total bone marrow glycolysis for
18
F-FDG (TBM
FDG
) and total bone marrow uptake for
68
Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT (TBM
CXCR4
) were calculated using whole-body metabolic tumor burden obtained by dedicated software (MIM 7.0.6). The patients were followed for 19–24 months, and the association of PET-derived quantitative data with overall survival (OS) was analyzed.
Results
68
Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT was positive in 17 patients, of which 13 were also positive on
18
F-FDG PET/CT, whereas 7 patients were negative on both scans. The positive rate of
68
Ga-Pentixafor and
18
F-FDG PET/CT on a patient-based approach was 70.8% and 54.1%, respectively.
68
Ga-Pentixafor positivity was significantly associated with OS (
p
= 0.009), and
18
F-FDG positivity was at the margin of statistical significance (
p
= 0.056). TBM
CXCR4
and TBM
FDG
were negatively correlated with OS (
r
= −0.457,
p
= 0.025 and
r
= −0.617,
p
= 0.001, respectively). The OS was negatively correlated with beta-2-microglobulin levels (
r
= −0.511,
p
= 0.01) and CRAB score (
r
= −0.592,
p
= 0.002) as an indicator of the end-organ disease, which confirmed these results. Serum beta-2-microglobulin levels and CRAB score were also correlated with TBM
CXCR4
(
r
= 0.442,
p
= 0.039 and
r
= 0.573,
p
= 0.003, respectively) and TBM
FDG
(
r
= 0.543,
p
= 0.009 and
r
= -0.424,
p
= 0.003, respectively).
Conclusion
68
Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT positivity is a negative prognostic factor in the survival outcome of MM patients. Complementary
68
Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT has the potential to overcome
18
F-FDG PET/CT limitations and helps a more precise risk stratification.
The myrtle (
Myrtus communis
) plant naturally grows in the temperate Mediterranean and subtropical regions and is used for various purposes; thus, it is among the promising species of horticultural ...crops. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the performance of different propagation systems, including rooting, solid media propagation, rooting, and with the Plantform bioreactor system, in achieving healthy and rapid growth of four myrtle genotypes with diverse genetic origins and well-regional adaptation. The selection of myrtle genotypes with distinct genetic backgrounds and proven adaptability to specific regions allowed for a comprehensive assessment of the propagation systems under investigation. Present findings proved that the Plantform system, the new-generation tissue culture system, was quite successful in micropropagation and rooting myrtle genotypes. We succeeded
in vitro
micropropagation and rooting of diverse wild myrtle genotypes, enabling year-round propagation without reliance on specific seasons or environmental conditions. The process involved initiating cultures from explants and multiplying them through shoot proliferation in a controlled environment. This contributes to sustainable plant propagation, preserving and utilizing genetic resources for conservation and agriculture.
