It has been shown across several languages that verb inflection is difficult for agrammatic aphasic speakers. In particular, Tense inflection is vulnerable. Several theoretical accounts for this have been posed, for example, a pure syntactic one suggesting that the Tense node is unavailable due to its position in the syntactic tree (Friedmann & Grodzinsky, 1997); one suggesting that the interpretable features of the Tense node are underspecified (Burchert, Swoboda-Moll, & De Bleser, 2005; Wenzlaff & Clahsen, 2004, 2005); and a morphosemantic one, arguing that the diacritic Tense features are affected in agrammatism (Faroqi–Shah & Dickey, 2009; Lee, Milman, & Thompson, 2008). However recent findings (Bastiaanse, 2008) and a reanalysis of some oral production studies (e.g. Lee et al., 2008; Nanousi, Masterson, Druks, & Atkinson, 2006) suggest that both Tense and Aspect are impaired and, most importantly, reference to the past is selectively impaired, both through simple verb forms (such as simple past in English) and through periphrastic verb forms (such as the present perfect, ‘has V-ed’, in English). It will be argued that reference to the past is discourse linked and reference to the present and future is not (Zagona, 2003, in press). In-line with Avrutin’s (2000) theory that suggests discourse linking is impaired in Broca’s aphasia, the PAst DIscourse LInking Hypothesis (PADILIH) has been formulated. Three predictions were tested: (1) patients with agrammatic aphasia are selectively impaired in use of grammatical morphology associated with reference to the past, whereas, inflected forms which refer to the present and future are relatively spared; (2) this impairment is language-independent; and (3) this impairment will occur in both production and comprehension. Agrammatic Chinese, English and Turkish speakers were tested with the Test for Assessing Reference of Time (TART; Bastiaanse, Jonkers, & Thompson, unpublished). Results showed that both the English and Turkish agrammatic speakers performed as hypothesized, showing a selective deficit for production of inflected forms referring to the past, despite the typological difference between the languages. The Chinese agrammatic speakers were poor in reference to the past as well, but reference to the present and future also was severely impaired. For comprehension, the results were strikingly similar for the three languages: reference to the past was impaired for all. These results confirmed our hypothesis that reference to the past is discourse linked and, therefore, grammatical morphology used for reference to the past is impaired in agrammatic aphasia, whether this is done through Tense and/or Aspect markers.

Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with chronic low grade inflammation. One of the novel inflammatory markers is hemogram derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Objective We aimed to compare NLR levels of diabetic subjects and healthy controls and to observe possible correlation between NLR and HbA1c. Methods Medical data of type 2 diabetic subjects admitted to out-patient clinics of our institution between April to July in 2017 were obtained from database and retrospectively analyzed. Control group was chosen from healthy subjects who visited our institution for a routine check-up. Anthropometric measures, laboratory data, including, HbA1c, NLR were recorded. Results Median NLR of the type 2 DM group 2.44 (1.9) was significantly elevated when compared to healthy controls (1.5 (0.9), (p<0.001). In addition, a Pearson's correlation test revealed that NLR was strongly correlated with age (r=0.26, p=0.008), fasting plasma glucose (r=0.38, p<0.001), and HbA1c (r=0.49, p<0.001). Conclusion Elevated NLR in otherwise healthy subjects may be indicative of underlying impaired glucose metabolism and moreover, NLR should be used as a marker of diabetic control level in addition to HbA1c in type 2 diabetic subjects.

No abstract

Background. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder that is associated with sub-clinical inflammation. Some hemogram parameters are thought to be novel inflammatory markers. Objectives. We aimed to study novel inflammatory markers derived from hemograms and to compare them to those in healthy subjects. Material and methods. The platelet distribution width (PDW), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) of patients with IBS were gathered from a database and compared to those in a healthy population.Results. The PLR of the IBS group (144 ± 50%) was higher than the PLR of the control group (111 ± 32%; p < 0.001). The PDW of the IBS group (16.3 [1%]) was higher than the PDW of the control group (15.4 [2.4%]; p < 0.001). The NLR of the IBS group (2.2 [1.1%]) was higher than the NLR of the control group (1.8 [0.7%]; p < 0.001). The MLR of the IBS group (0.25 [0.14%]) was higher than the MLR of the control group (0.2 [0.12%]; p < 0.001). Conclusions. We think that PDW, NLR, PLR, and MLR could all serve as diagnostic tools for IBS. Although the diagnosis of IBS is based on history and clinical findings, the simplicity and low cost of these hemogram tests could provide laboratory support in establishing a diagnosis, especially in suspected cases.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE Association between type 2 diabetes mellitus and inflammation is well-established. We aimed to study platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), a novel inflammatory index derived from hemogram, in diabetic patients in comparison to those in healthy volunteers. METHODS Medical data of type 2 diabetics that showed up in general outpatient medical clinics of our institution between February 2017 and August 2017 were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS Median PLR of type 2 diabetic patients was significantly higher than the PLR of healthy controls (p=0.001). Moreover, PLR was significantly and positively correlated with HbA1c (p<0.001, r=0.58), fasting plasma glucose (p<0.001, r=0.49), and c-reactive protein (p=0.003, r=0.30) levels. Type 2 diabetic subjects with proteinuria had significantly higher PLR levels than that of diabetic subjects without proteinuria. CONCLUSION As an inexpensive and easy to use index, PLR may be useful in predicting the development and control levels of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, its correlation with HbA1c needs to be validated by larger prospective studies.

Aim: Despite it has some disadvantages, the most important marker of diabetic control is glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Uric acid to HDL cholesterol ratio (UHR) is a promising marker in metabolic syndrome. We aimed to compare UHR levels of well and poorly controlled type 2 diabetic male subjects, as well as healthy men, and to observe its correlation with other metabolic parameters. Methods: Male patients with T2DM that showed up in outpatient internal medicine clinics of our hospital were enrolled to the study. Diabetic subjects divided into two groups according to the level of HbA1c: well-controlled T2DM group (HbA1c < 7%) and poorly controlled T2DM group (HbA1c 7%). Third group was consisted of healthy subjects without any chronic diseases. UHR levels of the groups were compared. Results: The UHR levels of well and poorly controlled diabetics and control subjects were 12%±5%, 17%±6% and 9%±3%, respectively (p<.001). The UHR was significantly and inversely correlated with GFR and was significantly and positively correlated with waist circumference, body weight, body mass index, serum creatinine, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1c levels. Conclusion: UHR could serve as a promising predictor of diabetic control in men with T2DM, since it has significant association with HbA1c and FPG levels.

No abstract

No abstract