Pseudobullous Anetodermic Pilomatricoma

Pilomatricoma (PM) is an asymptomatic, slowly growing, benign skin tumour originating from primitive cells of the hair matrix and hair shaft and appears mostly on the head, neck, and the upper extremities. Typical lesion is usually characterized by a solitary, firm, deep-seated dermal or subcutaneous nodule, covered by normal or erythematous skin, and usually varying in size from 0.5 to 3 cm. Bullous appearance can occur on the lesions of bullous PM and anetodermic PM which are located in the rare atypical forms of PM. Here, we present an 11-year-old girl with an anetodermic PM on her right arm that showed thick-walled flaccid bullous formation over it

The Coexistence of Coeliac Disease, Psoriasis and Vitiligo

It has been defined that coeliac disease is associated with most of the autoimmune diseases including psoriasis and vitiligo. Here, a 26-year-old woman who was diagnosed palmoplantar pustular psoriasis and already had coeliac disease and vitiligo is reported. According to our opinions, this is the first report describing the development of these three disorders in one patient, even though vitiligo, psoriasis and coeliac disease are common disorders, and the coexistence of the two of them has been previously reported in the literature. This case has been presented to emphasize the importance of considering and inquiring the possible coeliac disease in chronic and autoimmune dermatoses, although psoriasis and vitiligo may have coincidental associations with coeliac disease

Innovative method for reducing uninformative calls in non-invasive prenatal testing

Non-invasive prenatal testing or NIPT is currently among the top researched topic in obstetric care. While the performance of the current state-of-the-art NIPT solutions achieve high sensitivity and specificity, they still struggle with a considerable number of samples that cannot be concluded with certainty. Such uninformative results are often subject to repeated blood sampling and re-analysis, usually after two weeks, and this period may cause a stress to the future mothers as well as increase the overall cost of the test. We propose a supplementary method to traditional z-scores to reduce the number of such uninformative calls. The method is based on a novel analysis of the length profile of circulating cell free DNA which compares the change in such profiles when random-based and length-based elimination of some fragments is performed. The proposed method is not as accurate as the standard z-score; however, our results suggest that combination of these two independent methods correctly resolves a substantial portion of healthy samples with an uninformative result. Additionally, we discuss how the proposed method can be used to identify maternal aberrations, thus reducing the risk of false positive and false negative calls. Keywords: Next-generation sequencing, Cell-free DNA, Uninformative result, Method, Trisomy, Prenatal testin

Incomplete ovarian tissue removal in female dogs and cats

Incomplete ovariectomy (IO) is the unintentional partial or complete lack of removal of one or both ovaries during an ovariohysterectomy or ovariectomy procedure, and is often referred to as ‘ovarian remnant syndrome’. It usually has a clear clinical presentation, although there are a number of other conditions that may have similar presenting signs. In female cats and dogs these include: non-oestrous mounting behaviour, non-oestrous vulval discharge and, solely in bitches, sexual interest from males and iatrogenic pseudopregnancy. This article considers the causes, presentation, methods of diagnosis and management of IO in bitches and queens

The mediating role of country of origin effect in the effect of consumer ethnocentrism on café preference

This research aims to investigate the mediating role of the country of origin effect (COO) in the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and cafe preference. Consumer ethnocentrism refers to the extent to which consumers exhibit a preference for domestic products over foreign ones. The country of origin effect suggests that consumers’ evaluations and perceptions of a product are influenced by its country of origin. In the context of the cafe industry, this study examines whether consumer ethnocentrism influences Turkish/American cafe preference, and whether this relationship is mediated by the country of origin effect for Turkish consumers who live in Rize. The findings revealed that CE has an effect on both COO and cafe preference. COO has a direct effect on cafe preference and mediation role in the effect of consumer ethnocentrism on cafe preference. The result indicating that the country of origin effect of Turkish consumers has a positive impact on both Turkish and American cafe preferences suggests that Turkish consumers may have a favorable view of both Turkish and American cafes based on their perceived country of origin

Raznolikost plodova i sadnica u populacijama pitomoga kestena (Castanea sativa Mill.) u Turskoj

Sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa Mill., is an important multipurpose tree species in Asia Minor and Europe. The objective of this study was to investigate variation among eight sweet chestnut populations in Turkey by using different morphological characteristics of fruits and seedlings. A total of four fruit characteristics were analysed: fruit length, width and thickness, and fruit shape, i.e. the ratio of fruit length and width. Additionally, 1000 fruit mass and fruit moisture content were determined as well. Measurements of seedling length, root collar diameter and sturdiness quotient were carried out at one-year old seedlings. The highest values of fruit length, width and thickness were found in İzmir population, while the highest values of seedling length, root collar diameter and sturdiness quotient were found in Balıkesir population. The 1000 fruit mass ranged between 3815.1 g and 10516.5 g, and the highest average fruit moisture content was 52.21 %. In general, the fruit size increased from eastern to western populations. Furthermore, the results of statistical analyses showed that there were significant differences between analysed populations for measured morphological characteristics related to both fruit and seedling. Application of cluster analysis revealed grouping of populations according to the eco-geographic principle. However, human influence on the population structure cannot be excluded as well.Pitomi kesten, Castanea sativa Mill., plemenita je vrsta drveća od koje imamo višestruku gospodarsku korist (kvalitetno drvo, jestivi plodovi, med, ogrijev, listinac i dr.). Rasprostranjen je u mediteranskom području, od Kaspijskog jezera do Atlantskog oceana. U Turskoj najveće površine pod kestenovim šumama nalazimo na području sjeverne i zapadne Antolije te u regiji Marmara. U posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća pitomi kesten je ugrožen od raka kestenove kore i negativnih antropogenih utjecaja. S obzirom na to provedena su brojna istraživanja s ciljem očuvanje genofonda ove plemenite vrste drveća.Glavni cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je utvrditi morfološku varijabilnost plodova i jednogodišnjih sadnica pitomoga kestena u Turskoj. Plodovi za morfometrijsku analizu skupljeni su tijekom listopada u osam populacija pitomoga kestena na području istočne, središnje i zapadne Turske (slika 1, tablica 1). Unutar svake populacije sakupljeni su uzorci sa po 15 do 20 stabala. Ukupno su određene po četiri značajke na svakom plodu: dužina, širina i debljina ploda te omjer dužine i širine ploda. Osim toga, određen je i udio vlage u plodovima, kao i masa 1000 zračno suhih plodova. Plodovi su u proljeće posijani na unaprijed pripremljene gredice. Na kraju prvog vegetacijskog razdoblja mjerene su sljedeće značajke: visina sadnice, promjer sadnice pri osnovi i koeficijent čvrstoće. Za utvrđivanje varijabilnosti populacija korištene su deskriptivne i multivarijatne statističke metode. Podaci su obrađeni u programskom paketu SPSS 23.0.Rezultati deskriptivne statističke analize prikazani su na slici 2. Najviše vrijednosti za dužinu, širinu i debljinu ploda utvrđene su u populaciji Izmira, dok su najviše prosječne vrijednosti za visinu sadnice, promjer sadnice pri njenoj osnovi i koeficijent čvrstoće utvrđene u populaciji Balikesira. Masa 1000 zračno suhih plodova kretala se je od 3815,1 g do 10516,5 g, a udio vlage u plodovima od 38.46 % do 52,21 % (tablica 2). Istraživanjem je utvrđen visok stupanj varijabilnosti populacija pitomoga kestena u Turskoj (slika 3). Rezultati provedene analize varijance pokazali su da se populacije međusobno signifikantno razlikuju za sve istraživane značajke. Pearsonovim koeficijentom korelacije utvrđena je statistički značajna korelacija između dužine, širine i debljine ploda, kao i mase 1000 zračno suhih plodova (tablica 3). Osim toga, pozitivna korelacija utvrđena je i između visine sadnice i koeficijenta čvrstoće. Duncanovim testom i hijerarhijskom klasterskom analizom utvrđeno je da se one populacije koje su geografski bliže i ekološki sličnije nalaze u istoj skupini (slika 1 i 4). Također je utvrđeno da se veličina plodova u kestenovim šumama Turske povećava od istoka prema zapadu