A low level of plasma IL-15 is associated with sarcopenia in outpatient older people. Further longitudinal and prospective studies are needed to evaluate changes in IL-15 over time together with muscle mass and strength or therapeutic potential of IL-15.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of a pandemic with high mortality. In the present study, the effects of the lipase/lymphocyte ratio on mortality were investigated in cases diagnosed with Covid-19 and acute pancreatitis. METHODS: A total of 21 patients who were diagnosed with Covid-19 and acute pancreatitis, 34 patients who were not diagnosed with COVID-19 but diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, and 55 healthy control groups were divided into 3 groups and included in the study retrospectively. The patients who had positive RT-PCR (real-time polymerized chain reaction) test results were included in the study. Complete blood count and biochemical values of the patients were compared with those of the control group. RESULTS: When the data of the cases diagnosed with COVID-19 and acute pancreatitis were examined retrospectively, the amylase, lipase, lipase/lymphocyte ratio, and D-dimer levels were found to be signifi cantly higher than in the control group (p < 0.01). In the ROC analysis, the amylase, lipase, and lipase/lymphocyte ratio had a high AUC (area under the curve) value (0.993 / 0.949 / 0.978, respectively). CONCLUSION: The lipase/lymphocyte ratio can be used in cases diagnosed with Covid-19 and acute pancreatitis to predict mortality (Tab.

Predonation Hb measurements must be performed with accurate, precise, and practical methods. Although the noninvasive POCT method was practical and painless, it had lower levels of specificity and sensitivity, and more false deferral and pass rates than the invasive POCT method. The POCT methods agreeable to the venous method as the reference might be suitable for Hb screening especially for centers of excessive numbers of blood donation.

Serum suPAR and IL-6 levels proved to be high in the HG group. It is likely that suPAR could play a role in the etiopathogenesis of hyperemesis gravidarum.

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Si3N4 ceramics show excellent characteristics of mechanical and chemical resistance in combination with good biocompatibility, antibacterial property and radiolucency. Therefore, they are intensively studied as structural materials in skeletal implant applications. Despite their attractive properties, there are limited data in the field about in vitro studies of cellular growth on ceramic implant materials. In this study, the growth of bone cells was investigated on porous silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramic implant by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Partial sintering was performed at 1700 °C with limited amount of sintering additive for the production of porous Si3N4 scaffolds. All samples were then sterilized by using ethylene oxide followed by culturing MG-63 osteosarcoma cells on the substrates for in vitro assays. At 20 and 36 h, EIS was performed and results demonstrated that magnitude of the impedance as a result of the changes in the culture medium increased after incubation with osteosarcoma cells. The changes are attributed to the cellular uptake of charged molecules from the medium. Si3N4 samples appear to show large impedance magnitude changes, especially between 100 and 1 Hz. Impedance changes were also correlated with WST-1 measurements (36 h) and DAPI results.

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