Investigation of Obesity-Related HAdV-36 in NAFLD Patients: a Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: HAdV-36 leads to adipocyte proliferation of adipose tissue through E4orf1 gene, leading to the development of obesity and related diseases. We aimed to investigate the presence and any association of HAdV-36 in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients Methods: The patient group was composed of 116 patients; 30 obese patients with NAFLD (BMI > 30 kg/m2), 30 patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM)+NAFLD (BMI > 30 kg/m2), 16 patients with NAFLD (BMI < 30 kg/m2), and operated obese group with NAFLD (BMI > 30 kg/m2). The control group comprised 81 non-obese healthy adults. Liver adipose tissue samples were obtained in 30 operated NAFLD patients. HAdV-36-DNA, HAdV-36 neutralizing antibodies, serum lipid, and adipokine levels were analyzed. RESULTS: HAdV-36 neutralizing antibodies (HAdV-36 Ab-positive) were detected in 10/116 and 2/81 participants in the study and control groups, respectively; the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.005). LDL, total cholesterol but not adipokine levels were found to be significantly higher in HadV-36 Ab-positive patients (p < 0.05). While HAdV-36 was identified as a risk factor with OR = 4.11 in univariate analyses, there was no significant difference in binary logistic regression analysis. HAdV-36-DNA was detected in the adipose tissue samples of two patients. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the presence of HAdV-36 may lead to the development of obesity with the increase in adipose tissue, and diseases such as hyperlipidemia, NAFLD, DM, and metabolic syndrome may develop on the basis of chronic inflammation caused by obesity. Thus, HAdV-36 may be a plausible risk factor for the development of NAFLD.

Prediction of patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy from healthy controls using machine learning from scalp EEG recordings.

Epilepsy detection is essential for patients with epilepsy and their families, as well as for researchers and medical staff. The use of electroencephalogram (EEG) as a tool to support the diagnosis of patients with epilepsy is fundamental. Today, machine learning (ML) techniques are widely applied in neuroscience. The main objective of our study is to differentiate patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy from healthy controls by applying machine learning techniques on interictal electroencephalographic recordings. Our research predicts which patients have idiopathic generalized epilepsy from a scalp EEG study. In addition, this study focuses on using the extreme gradient boosting (XGB) method applied to scalp EEG. XGB is one of the variants of gradient boosting and is a supervised learning algorithm. This type of system is developed to increase performance and processing speed. Through this proposed method, an attempt is made to recognize patterns from scalp EEG recordings that would allow the detection of IGE with high accuracy and differentiate IGE patients from healthy controls, creating an additional tool to support clinicians in their decision-making. Among the ML methods applied, the proposed XGB method achieves a better prediction of the distinct features in EEG signals from patients with IGE. XGB was 6.26% more accurate than the k-Nearest Neighbours method and was more accurate than the support vector machine (10.61%), decision tree (9.71%) and Gaussian Naïve Bayes (11.83%). Besides, the proposed XGB method showed the highest area under the curve (AUC 98%) and balanced accuracy (98.13%) of all methods tested. Application of ML technique in EEG of patients with epilepsy is very recent and is emerging with promising results. In this research work, we showed the usefulness of ML techniques to identify and predict generalized epilepsy from healthy controls in scalp EEG studies. These findings could help develop automated tools that integrate these ML techniques to assist clinicians in differentiating between patients with IGE from healthy controls in daily practice.

The prevalence and clinical characteristics of mitral valve prolapse in a large population-based epidemiologic study: the MELEN study.

OBJECTIVE: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common cardiac valvular abnormality in industrialized countries. Its prevalence has been estimated to be between 2% to 4%. However, some studies found the prevalence of MVP less than 1% which is significantly lower than the prevalence reported in the Framingham Heart Study. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, demographic, clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of MVP in a large population-based epidemiologic study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The final cohort included 2,228 participants. Data were obtained by a validated questionnaire, physical examination of the cardiovascular system, recording of a resting electrocardiogram, transthoracic echocardiographic examination. RESULTS: The echocardiographic prevalence of MVP was 0.36%. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were as follows; 12.5% had hypertension, 37.5% had depression, 12.5% had migraine, 12.5% had diabetes mellitus, 12.5% had diastolic dysfunction, 25% had multi-nodular goiter, 12.5% had diffuse goiter and 25% had hyperthyroidism. During the follow-up of 36 months no major adverse events occurred in patients with MVP during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: This finding suggests that MVP is a benign disorder and the prevalence of MVP is lower than previously studies. There might be a relationship between MVP and goiter, and depression.

The impact of metabolic syndrome on carotid intima media thickness.

OBJECTIVES: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities involving several cardiovascular risk factors. Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) is an important early screening tool to assess subclinical manifestation of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. We aimed to investigate the impact of MetS on CIMT in a large scaled community based study. METHODS: The study was conducted on 2102 participants. Carotid intima media thickness was measured in all of the participants. The study sample was divided into 4 groups; Group 1 subjects with a body mass index (BMI) < 25.0 kg/m2 [n = 499 (MetS- = 488, MetS+ = 11)], Group 2 BMI between 25.0 and 29.9 kg/m2 [n = 693 (MetS- = 559, MetS+ = 134)], Group 3 BMI between ≥ 30 kg/m2 and 39.9 kg/m2 [n = 822 (MetS- = 375, MetS+ = 477)], and Group 4 BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2 [n = 88 (MetS- = 27, MetS+ = 61)]. RESULTS: Carotid intima media thickness was higher in the individuals with MetS compared to their normal counterparts. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis showed that CIMT values in Group 1 (0.55±0.18 vs 0.82±0.70; p < 0.001), Group 2 (0.59±0.20 vs 0.68±0.18; p < 0.001) and Group 3 (0.61±0.15 vs 0.65±0.18; p < 0.001) were significantly higher in subjects with MetS compared to their normal counterparts, whereas the values were similar in Group 4 (0.62±0.13 vs 0.65±0.17; p = 0.363). CONCLUSIONS: Carotid intima media thickness of overweight, obese and normal weight individuals without MetS were lower than their counterparts with MetS. MetS had no impact on CIMT in morbid obese individuals possibly due to established insulin resistance earlier than MetS.

Elucidation of the naproxen sodium adsorption onto activated carbon prepared from waste apricot: kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic characterization.

In this study, activated carbon (WA11Zn5) was prepared from waste apricot, which is waste in apricot plants in Malatya, by chemical activation with ZnCl(2). BET surface area of activated carbon is determined as 1060 m(2)/g. The ability of WA11Zn5, to remove naproxen sodium from effluent solutions by adsorption has been studied. Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of naproxen sodium on activated carbon were measured experimentally. Results were analyzed by the Langmiur, Freundlich equation using linearized correlation coefficient at 298 K. The characteristic parameters for each isotherm have been determined. Langmiur equation is found to best represent the equilibrium data for naproxen sodium-WA11Zn5 systems. The monolayer adsorption capacity of WA11Zn5 for naproxen sodium was found to be 106.38 mg/g at 298 K. The process was favorable and spontaneous. The kinetics of adsorption of naproxen sodium have been discussed using three kinetic models, i.e., the pseudo first-order model, the pseudo second-order model, the intraparticle diffusion model. Kinetic parameters and correlation coefficients were determined. It was shown that the pseudo second-order kinetic equation could describe the adsorption kinetics for naproxen sodium onto WA11Zn5. The thermodynamic parameters, such as DeltaG degrees , DeltaS degrees and DeltaH degrees, were calculated. The thermodynamics of naproxen sodium-WA11Zn5 system indicates endothermic process.

Investigation kinetics mechanisms of adsorption malachite green onto activated carbon.

Lignite was used to prepare activated carbon (T3K618) by chemical activation with KOH. Pore properties of the activated carbon such as BET surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution, and pore diameter were characterized by t-plot based on N2 adsorption isotherm. BET surface area of activated carbon is determined as 1000 m2/g. Adsorption capacity of malachite green (MG) onto T3K618 activated carbon was investigated in a batch system by considering the effects of various parameters like initial concentration (100, 150 and 200 mg/L) and temperature (25, 40 and 50 degrees C). The adsorption process was relatively fast and equilibrium was reached after about 20 min for 100, 150 mg/L at all adsorption temperature. Equilibrium time for 200 mg/L was determined as 20 min and 40 min at 298, 313 and 323 K, respectively. Simple mass and kinetic models were applied to the experimental data to examine the mechanisms of adsorption and potential rate controlling steps such as external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion. Pseudo second-order model was found to explain the kinetics of MG adsorption most effectively. It was found that both mass transfer and pore diffusion are important in determining the adsorption rates. The intraparticle diffusion rate constant, external mass transfer coefficient, film and pore diffusion coefficient at various temperatures were evaluated. The activation energy (Ea) was determined as 48.56, 63.16, 67.93 kJ/mol for 100, 150, 200 mg/L, respectively. The Langmiur and Freundlich isotherm were used to describe the adsorption equilibrium studies at different temperatures. Langmiur isotherm shows better fit than Freundlich isotherm in the temperature range studied. The thermodynamic parameters, such as DeltaG degrees, DeltaS and DeltaH degrees were calculated. The thermodynamics of dyes-T3K618 system indicates endothermic process.

Textural development of sugar beet bagasse activated with ZnCl2.

In this study, activated carbons were prepared from sugar beet bagasse, which is side product and waste in sugar plants, by chemical activation with ZnCl2. Influence of activation temperature was investigated on to pore structure. ZnCl2/sugar beet bagasse ratio (impregnation ratio) was selected as 1:1. The impregnated sample was raised to the activation temperature under N(2) (100ml/min) atmosphere with 10 degrees C/min heating rate and hold at this temperature for 1h. The activation temperature was varied over the temperature range of 400-900 degrees C. BET surface area values were determined in the range of 832-1697 m(2)/g. Under the experimental conditions, 500 degrees C was found to be the optimal condition for producing high surface area carbons with ZnCl2 activation. Sugar beet bagasse was suitable for preparation of activated carbon with essentially microporous structure. Activated carbon ash content was found in the range of 1.2-2.7 (%w/w d.b.). Activated carbon samples and raw material were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, DTA and TGA.

Adsorption kinetics of malachite green onto activated carbon prepared from Tunçbilek lignite.

Adsorbent (T3K618) has been prepared from Tunçbilek lignite by chemical activation with KOH. Pore properties of the activated carbon such as BET surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution, and pore diameter were characterized by t-plot based on N2 adsorption isotherm. The N2 adsorption isotherm of malachite green on T3K618 is type I. The BET surface area of the adsorbent which was primarily contributed by micropores was determined 1000 m2/g. T3K618 was used to adsorb malachite green (MG) from an aqueous solution in a batch reactor. The effects of initial dye concentration, agitation time, initial pH and adsorption temperature have been studied. It was also found that the adsorption isotherm followed both Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models. However, the Freundlich gave a better fit to all adsorption isotherms than the Dubinin-Radushkevich. The kinetics of adsorption of MG has been tested using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models. Results show that the adsorption of MG from aqueous solution onto micropores T3K618 proceeds according to the pseudo-second-order model. The intraparticle diffusion of MG molecules within the carbon particles was identified to be the rate-limiting step. The adsorption of the MG was endothermic (DeltaH degrees = 6.55-62.37 kJ/mol) and was accompanied by an increase in entropy (DeltaS degrees = 74-223 J/mol K) and a decrease in mean value of Gibbs energy (DeltaG degrees = -6.48 to -10.32 kJ/mol) in the temperature range of 20-50 degrees C.

Adsorptions of high concentration malachite green by two activated carbons having different porous structures.

The adsorption of malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution by two different adsorbents (CZn5, PETNa8) were studied. Adsorbents were prepared from pine sawdust and polyethyleneterephatalate (PET) by chemical activation with ZnCl(2) and NaOH, respectively. The adsorption was carried out in a batch system as a function of dye concentration, pH and contact time. Both adsorbents were found to be very effective in removing the dye at high concentration with adsorption percentage in the order of CZn5 > PETNa8. The pH of dye solution in the range of 6-10, was found favorable for the removal of malachite green by using the two adsorbents at high concentrations. Equilibrium times were 120 and 90 min for CZN5 and PETNa8, respectively. Kinetics of removal MG was studied using Lagergren equation and diffusion phenomena was analyzed using Weber and Morris intraparticle diffusion plots. It was also showed that the adsorption isotherm followed Langmuir model.