Background/AimsStudies concerning red cell distribution width (RDW) for use in the assessment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity are limited. We investigated whether RDW is a marker of active disease in patients with IBD.MethodsIn total, 61 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 56 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) were enrolled in the study group, and 44 age- and-sex-matched healthy volunteers were included as the control group. A CD activity index >150 in patients with CD indicated active disease. Patients with moderate and severe disease based on the Truelove-Witts criteria were considered to have active UC. In addition to RDW, serum C-reactive protein levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rates, and platelet counts were measured.ResultsTwenty-nine (51.7%) patients with CD and 35 (57.4%) patients with UC had active disease. The RDW was significantly higher in patients with CD and UC than in controls (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). A subgroup analysis indicated that for a RDW cut-off of 14%, the sensitivity for detecting active CD was 79%, and the specicity was 93% (area under curve [AUC], 0.935; p<0.001). RDW was the most sensitive and specific marker for active CD. However, it was not valid for UC, as the ESR at a cutoff of 15.5 mm/hr showed a sensitivity of 83% and a specicity of 76% (AUC, 0.817; p<0.001), whereas the RDW at a cutoff of 14% showed 17% sensitivity and 84% specicity for detecting active UC.ConclusionsRDW was elevated in IBD in comparison with healthy controls and increased markedly in active disease. RDW may be a sensitive and specific marker for determining active CD, whereas ESR is an important marker of active UC.

Serum AMH levels of reproductive-age women with CD were significantly lower compared to the controls. CDAI and AMH are inversely correlated.

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The aim of this study is to determine the seventh-graders' levels of mathematical reasoning and to reveal their performance. The present study was carried out with 167 seventh-grade students studying at randomly selected three middle schools that served low and middle socioeconomic areas in a city of Turkey. "Mathematical Reasoning Test (MRT)" was developed and used as data collection tool. In analyzing the data, participants' scores of the test was computed and which mathematical reasoning level they were in was determined. Sample responses of the some students regarding any question (Q7) in the test were presented directly and discussed. As a result of the analysis, it was found that about half of the students (45.5%) had medium and 27.5% of them had low level of mathematical reasoning. When the results are evaluated, it is probable to say that most of the students' mathematical reasoning is at medium or low level in general. On the other hand, it is remarkable that rather than the familiar classical problems, students need to be enabled to deal with the problems that they can do reasoning and thus their mathematical reasoning could be improved.

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