The colonization rate of Candida spp. reaches up to 80% in patients who reside in intensive care units (ICUs) more than a week, and the mean rate of development of invasive disease is 10% in colonized patients. Since invasive candidiasis (IC) in ICU patients presents with septic shock and high mortality rate, rapid diagnosis and treatment are crucial. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between invasive infection and the determination of Candida colonization index (CI) and Candida score (CS) in patients admitted to ICU who are at high risk for IC and likely to benefit from early antifungal therapy. A total of 80 patients (34 female, 46 male; age range: 12-92 years, mean age: 69.57 ± 16.30) who were in ICU over seven days or longer of Anesthesia Department of Kayseri Education and Research Hospital between April, 2014 and July, 2015 were included in the study. None of the patients were neutropenic. After admission, throat, nose, skin (axillary region), urine, rectal swab and blood cultures have been collected weekly beginning from day zero. Isolation and identification of Candida strains were performed by using conventional mycological methods. CI was calculated as the ratio of the number of culture-positive distinct body sites (except blood culture) to the total number of body sites cultured. CI> 0.2 was considered as fungal colonization, while CI≥ 0.5 as intensive colonization. CS value was calculated according to the components including total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (plus 0.908 points), surgery (plus 0.907 points), colonization in multiple areas (plus 1.112) and severe sepsis (plus 2.038 points), and cut-off value for CS was accepted as >2.5. In our study, overall 1009 cultures (mean: 13 cultures per patient) were taken from 80 patients, and yeast growth was detected in 365 (36.2%) of them. Accordingly, among 68 (85%) of 80 patients included, in at least one sample, yeast growth was determined. No yeast growth was observed in the blood cultures. Of 365 yeast-positive cultures, C.albicans was isolated from 184 (50.4%), C.glabrata from 66 (18%), C.parapsilosis from 42 (11.5%), C.tropicalis from 12 (3.3%), C.kefyr from three (0.8%), and C.krusei from one (0.3%) samples, whereas six (1.6%) samples yielded other yeasts (3 Saprochaete capitata, 3 Trichosporon spp.) and 51 (13.9%) samples yielded multiple yeast growth. The highest colonization rates were detected in rectal swabs (27.4%), urine (23.3%) and throat (22.5%) samples. CI value was found as >0.2 in 65% (52/80), and ≥0.5 in 25% (20/80) of the patients, whereas CS value was >2.5 in only 2.5% (2/80) of the patients. In the statistical evaluation, significant correlations were found between fungal colonization (CI> 0.2) and gender (p=0.032) and length of stay in ICU (p=0.004), and between intensive colonization (CI≥ 0.5) and gender (p=0.008) and age (p=0.012). However, the correlation between Candida colonization and the presence of underlying diseases, APACHE II score, Glasgow coma scale, invasive procedures, use of extended-spectrum antibi...

Pseudophoxinus mehmeti, new cyprinid species from the Alanköy basin in south-western Turkey, is distinguished from all species of Pseudophoxinus in adjacent regions by the combination of the following characters: body slender, its length 1.3-1.5 times its depth; caudal peduncle length 1.6-2.0 times its depth; mouth almost superior, with the tip of the mouth-cleft approximately level with the middle of the pupil; snout with a pointed tip, its length markedly greater than eye diameter; lateral line not complete, with 30-50 perforated scales and 48-60+2 scale rows in lateral series; 11½-13½ scale rows between lateral line and dorsal-fin origin, 3½-5½ scale rows between lateral line and anal-fin origin; dorsal-fin with 6½-7½ branched rays; anal-fin with 6½-7½ branched rays; a distinct black epidermal stripe from eye to caudal-fin base in preserved individuals.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) and T1 (GSTT1) gene polymorphisms contributed to development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM

Objective: To assign tendency to thrombosis in patients with preeclampsia and inherited thrombophilia using thromboelastography (TEG), and therefore to evaluate possible relationship between thrombophilia and preeclampsia. Materials and Methods: Kinetics of clot formation was assessed with TEG analyzer in 49 patients with severe preeclampsia, 54 cases with previous diagnosis of inherited thrombophilia, and 31 controls. Results: 'r', 'k', TMA, coagulation index (CI) parameters were found statistically discrete between patients with inherited thrombophilia and controls. The difference between preeclampsia and control groups was not statistically significant. The difference in α angle was statistically significant between thrombophilics and preeclamptics (p = 0.01), and between thrombophilics and controls (p = 0.004). CI was found statistically lower in thrombophilia group than control group (p = 0.006). Particularly, clot lysis time (CLT) was measured to shorten in preeclampsia when compared with controls and patients with thrombophilia (p = 0.032, p = 0.028, respectively). Conclusions: Not only the inherited thrombophilia group but also preeclampsia group demonstrated elongated clot initiation patterns when compared to the controls. Moreover, apart from the patients with inherited thrombophilia, preeclamptics exposed shorter CLT values indicating a possible increment in clot turn over, which eventually results in increased depletion of coagulation substrates, and thus, increased frequencies of oxidative cycle injury.

Background: It is theorized that adipokines play a critical role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, particularly with their pro-inflammatory and inflammatory features. Aim: To investigate serum leptin levels in pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia and severe preeclampsia. Materials and Methods: Maternal serum leptin levels were analyzed by solid phase enzyme amplified sensitivity immunoassay (EASIA) method in 23 patients with mild preeclampsia, 29 patients with severe preeclampsia, and 28 healthy pregnant controls. Results: Mean serum leptin levels did not differ statistically between patients with mild preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and the controls (10.77 ng/ml, 13.40 ng/ml, and 8.43 ng/ml, respectively). Also, there was no relationship between serum leptin levels and the gestational ages of the participants. Discussion: Serum leptin levels are not associated with preeclampsia. Leptin measurements are not affected with the gestational age. The role of leptin in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia should be evaluated cautiously.