IntroductionThis study was conducted to evaluate the eating habits of medical students at Kocaeli University in northwest Turkey in terms of their ability to apply their academic knowledge regarding healthy lifestyles to their own lives using the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED).MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire including demographic information and the KIDMED index was administered to 354 medical school students (206 first-year and 148 third-year students). The students’ sex, body mass index, KIDMED score, place of residence, smoking habit, media screen time, and regular exercising variables were evaluated.ResultsThe KIDMED score was −2 to 8 (3.8 ± 1.9) among all students, −1 to 8 (3.9 ± 2.0) among first-year students, and −1 to 8 (3.6 ± 1.9) among third-year students. In total, 59.1% of females and 40.9% of males among first-year students showed moderate adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and female students showed better adherence to the Mediterranean diet than males among third-year students.ConclusionMedical students at Kocaeli University in Turkey showed inadequate application of their academic knowledge about healthy living to their own lives.

Studies show that erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with obesity, and it has been shown that the possibility of developing sexual dysfunction in obese men is 30% higher compared to those with normal weight. Obesity is measured using various methods, for example waist circumference (WC) measurement or body mass index (BMI), but recently, visceral adiposity index (VAI) has also been utilised to better assess obesity and metabolic syndrome. In our study, the potential link between VAI and ED was investigated. The data of 176 patients who presented to the urology outpatient clinic with erection complaints were retrospectively screened. A control group was also established with 122 men without complaints of erectile dysfunction. The erectile functions of all participants were determined using the International Erectile Function Index‐5 (IIEF‐5) scoring. In addition, their serum fasting blood glucose, total testosterone (TT), triglyceride (TG), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels were measured. The physical examination comprised the measurement of WC, height and weight, and BMI. The mean age of the participants was 58.7 ± 8.4 for the ED group and 57.1 ± 7.5 for the control group. The mean VAI was statistically significantly higher in the ED group (5.32 ± 2.77) compared to the control group (4.11 ± 1.93) (p < 0.001). Since VAI contains both physical and metabolic parameters, our findings suggest that it discloses the effects of WC, BMI, HDL and TG more clearly. VAI is considered useful for the assessment of the effect of obesity on ED patients.

Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is one of the causative viral agents of the bovine respiratory disease complex. This study was conducted to determine the seropositivity and risk factors associated with BRSV infection and to evaluate the phylogenetic relatedness of the BRSVs in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, serum samples ( n = 557) and nasal swabs ( n = 21) were collected from cattle herds ( n = 43) between February 2018 and March 2019. A commercial indirect-ELISA kit was used for the detection of antibodies in the sera samples. Reverse-transcriptase PCR was used to detect viral RNA in nasal swabs. Nasal samples were also examined for the detection of bovine parainfluenza-3, bovine viral diarrhoea virus, and bovine herpesvirus 1 by molecular detection methods. Genetic characterization of the local BRSV field isolates was conducted by sequencing attachment glycoprotein (G) gene segment. Epidemiological data on potential risk factors were collected from each sampled herd during blood collection. All herds had at least one seropositive animal. After adjustment for assay sensitivity and specificity, the overall true seropositivity was 58.48% (95% CI: 53.32–63.47). BRSV RNA was detected in 2 of the 21 nasal swabs, whereas other infectious agents were not detected in the investigated samples. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the field isolates of BRSV obtained in this study belonged to subgroup III, but they were located on separate branch from previously characterised Turkish subgroup III isolates. BRSV field strains from this study displayed 3 new amino acid substitutions (P89S, D115G, and S165L) in the G protein chains compared to other main reference BRSV isolates, demonstrating that BRSV is still evolving. Generalised estimating equation model showed that there were positive associations between BRSV infection, age (OR = 2.36, p = 0.001), herd size (OR = 10.32, p < 0.001), herd type (OR = 8.97, p < 0.001), a past history of respiratory disease (OR = 4.06, p < 0.001). The results of this study revealed that BRSV infection is common among cattle herds in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. The obtained epidemiological and genetic data on BRSV infection from this study could be beneficial for designing effective biosecurity practices and vaccination strategies.

No abstract

In the Cox proportional hazards regression model, which is the most commonly used model in survival analysis, the effects of independent variables on survival may not be constant over time and proportionality cannot be achieved, especially when long-term follow-up is required. When this occurs, it would be better to use alternative methods that are more powerful for the evaluation of various effective independent variables, such as milestone survival analysis, restricted mean survival time analysis (RMST), area under the survival curve (AUSC) method, parametric accelerated failure time (AFT), machine learning, nomograms, and offset variable in logistic regression. The aim was to discuss the pros and cons of these methods, especially with respect to long-term follow-up survival studies.