ObjectivesThe purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association between the red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Canadian Neurological Scale (CNS), and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores in patients who had acute ischemic stroke.MethodsThis prospective observational cohort study included 88 patients who have had acute ischemic stroke and a control group of 40 patients who were evaluated in the Emergency Department for disorders other than acute ischemic stroke. All subjects had RDW determined, and stroke patients had scoring with the GCS, CNS, and NIHSS scores. The GCS, CNS, and NIHSS scores of the patients were rated as mild, moderate, or severe and compared with RDW.ResultsStroke patients had significantly higher median RDW than control subjects. The median RDW values were significantly elevated in patients who had more severe rather than milder strokes rated with all three scoring systems (GCS, CNS, and NIHSS). The median RDW values were significantly elevated for patients who had moderate rather than mild strokes rated by GCS and CNS and for patients who had severe rather than mild strokes rated by NIHSS. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.760 (95% confidence interval, 0.676–0.844). Separation of stroke patients and control groups was optimal with RDW 14% (sensitivity, 71.6%; specificity, 67.5%; accuracy, 70.3%).ConclusionIn stroke patients who have symptoms <24 hours, the RDW may be useful in predicting the severity and functional outcomes of the stroke.

No abstract

A D-dimer level <0·35 μg/ml may exclude the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. At a D-dimer cutoff 0·5 μg/ml and D-dimer/fibrinogen ratio cutoff 1·0, the D-dimer/fibrinogen ratio may have better specificity than D-dimer level in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, but the D-dimer/fibrinogen ratio may lack sufficient specificity in screening.

In the present study, low temperature-dependent physiological changes were investigated through photosynthetic activity and some endogenous mechanisms in two winter oilseed rape cultivars (Brassica napus L. ssp. oleifera cvv. Eurol and Hansen) on the basis of leaf age. Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements demonstrated that low temperature caused decreased photosynthetic activity in both cultivars. However, photosynthetic apparatus in the young leaves of Hansen is more tolerant to low temperature as demonstrated by lower F0 (minimum fluorescence yield) and 1–qp (excitation pressure of photosystem II), higher Fm (maximum fluorescence yield), Fv/Fm and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) compared with Eurol. In addition, young leaves of Hansen represented marked increase in some antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR)) during cold exposure. In the young leaves of Eurol, however, APX and GR activity was decreased by low temperature, indicating lower efficiency of ascorbate-glutathione cycle. Lower antioxidant activity in the young leaves of Eurol may be responsible for increased malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2 and membrane damage and decreased chlorophyll content as a result of oxidative damage during cold exposure. In the cold-stressed mature leaves, both cultivars represented similar antioxidant capacities and photosynthetic efficiency. As a consequence, coordinated increase in SOD, APX and GR activities, increased capacity to keep quinone A (QA) in an oxidised state (as indicated by lower 1–qp) and accumulation of soluble sugar and proline could be mainly attributed to higher level of tolerance of the young leaves of Hansen to low temperature when compared with Eurol.

The effect of pre-treatment with 200 mM NaCl on the response of four barley cultivars (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. to UV-B radiation was investigated. Salt stress as well as UV-B irradiation led to a decrease of the total chlorophyll (chl) content in all cultivars, except in Kalaycı-97. While carotenoids are almost not affected by NaCl treatment, UV-B irradiation caused an increase by 5-20% of carotenoid content of all cultivars. UV-B induced damages of photosynthetic apparatus were estimated by the rate of photosynthetic electron transport measured by chl fluorescence and the rate of oxygen evolution, the latter being more affected. Pre-treatment with NaCl alleviated harmful effect of UV-B irradiation on F v /F m and ETR, but not on oxygen evolution. UV-B-induced and UV-B-absorbing compounds with absorption at 300 and 438 nm increased as a result of UV-B treatment. The level of stress marker proline increased considerably as a result of NaCl treatment, while UV-B irradiation resulted in a pronounced increase of the level of H 2 O 2 . MDA enhanced in the seedlings subjected to salt and UV-B stress. Established cross-acclimation to UV-B as a result of salt treatment could be due to the increased free proline and the level of UV-B absorbing compounds in barley seedlings subjected to NaCl.

The aim of this study is to investigate the routine blood parameters of COVID-19 patients at the time of admission to the emergency department and their relationship with the severity of the disease and prognosis. A total of 500 patients, who were diagnosed with severe COVID-19 and hospitalized in the intensive care unit between 01.04.2020 and 01.02.2021 in the emergency department of a pandemic hospital, were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of the patients were obtained from the hospital registry system. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were calculated using neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet counts. These patients were divided into two groups: survivors and deceased. All parameters obtained from routine blood analysis were statistically compared between these two groups. While 280 out of 500 patients survived, 220 died. Of all patients, the mean age was 67 years and 51.8% were males. There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, length of hospital stay, need for mechanical ventilation, white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, platelet counts, CRP, ferritin, procalcitonin values, NLR, MLR, and PLR ( p < 0.001 for all). While NLR alone and MLR + NEU and NLR + PLR + MLR combinations had the highest AUC values (0.930, 0.947, and 0.939, respectively), MLR and PLR alone showed the lowest AUC values (0.875 and 0.797, respectively). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPVs), and negative predictive values (NPVs) in the prediction of death according to the cutoff values of the parameters have been determined. A significant correlation was determined between age, NLR, MLR, and PLR and duration of hospital stay ( p < 0.001 for all). Routine blood parameters and NLR, MLR, and PLR can assist emergency physicians to identify the severity and early prognosis of COVID-19 patients.

Utilization of the hamstring tendon in reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has become common in recent years. In MRI studies regeneration potential in harvested tendon has been observed. In the present study, 20 legs from ten sheep, which underwent 10 cm segment resection of tendon of musculus extensor digitalis lateralis (MEDL) were used. The sheep were killed 6 months after the operation and regenerated tendons were examined macroscopically and histologically. Dissection was performed in the tendon resection area and specimens were reharvested for histological examination. Regeneration of the tendon with normal anatomical topographies was found in all legs. Regeneration occurred on both sides of the resected tendon simultaneously. Regeneration was muscle-like in the proximal side but it was tendon-like in the distal side. The developed tendon was fused to the joint capsule and to the fascia at the joint line in all specimens. This study indicates that tendon has a potential for regeneration.

SUMMARYIn this study, we have analyzed superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities, biomass accumulation and chlorophyll-a content in the Arthrospira platensis-M2 strain grown at different concentrations of zinc (Zn), tin (Sn) and mercury (Hg). We found that there is a close relationship between chlorophyll-a content and biomass accumulation in A. platensis-M2 strain as a result of Zn, Sn and Hg exposures. Sn was found to be the most toxic heavy metal among others because of the continious inhibition of both biomass and chlorophyll-a accumulation at 500 and 1000 μg mL −1 concentrations after the third day of the study, while they represented continuous increases at each Zn and Hg concentration over 7 days. Lower concentrations of Zn and Sn stimulate SOD and GR activities remarkably, probably due to oxidative stress caused by heavy metal toxicity. APX activity was significantly lowered by higher concentrations of the three metals used in this study. Our results suggest that higher heavy metal concentrations inhibited SOD, APX and GR activities but biomass and chlorophylla accumulation endured in a time-dependent manner, possibly due to some different defence mechanisms, which remain to be investigated.