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Discrete Geodesic Distribution-Based Graph Kernel for 3D Point Clouds
No full textIn the structural analysis of discrete geometric data, graph kernels have a great track record of performance. Using graph kernel functions provides two significant advantages. First, a graph kernel is capable of preserving the graph's topological structures by describing graph properties in a high-dimensional space. Second, graph kernels allow the application of machine learning methods to vector data that are rapidly evolving into graphs. In this paper, the unique kernel function for similarity determination procedures of point cloud data structures, which are crucial for several applications, is formulated. This function is determined by the proximity of the geodesic route distributions in graphs reflecting the discrete geometry underlying the point cloud. This research demonstrates the efficiency of this unique kernel for similarity measures and the categorization of point clouds
The role of environmental literacy, psychological distance of climate change, and collectivism on generation Z's collaborative consumption tendency
No full textParallel with increasing concerns about climate change and the emergence of sharing platforms, collaboration in consumption has become prominent, especially among Generation Z consumers. Drawing upon the self-determination and construal-level theories, the present study proposes a pioneering moderated-mediation model that delineates Generation Z consumers' collaborative consumption tendency. Data were collected among 455 respondents in an emerging economy (i.e., Turkey) via a non-probabilistic purposive sampling technique. Furthermore, a covariance-based structural equation modeling was utilized to test the proposed causal relationships between environmental literacy, collaborative consumption tendency, the psychological distance of climate change, and collectivism. The study findings highlighted that environmental literacy affects collaborative consumption tendency, while the strength of the relationship is augmented for respondents who were self-reportedly collectivists. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the psychological distance of climate change mediates the relationship between environmental literacy and collaborative consumption tendency, while the magnitude of the mediation effect is amplified in collectivist participants. Based on the empirical findings, the present study extends self-determination and construal-level theory while offering strategic directions and insights for sharing platform industry
Comparison of Conservative Treatment and Surgery Treatment for Acute Scaphoid Fracture: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
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NiFe2O4/polyhydroxymethyl methacrylate and Fe3O4/polyhydroxymethyl methacrylate magnetic nanogels for lipase immobilization
No full textIn this study, the optimization and characterization of NiFe2O4/Polyhydroxymethyl methacrylate (NF-pHEMA) and Fe3O4/Polyhydroxymethyl methacrylate (M-pHEMA) magnetic nanogel structures were carried out and the usability of these magnetic nanogels for the immobilization of lipase enzyme was investigated. Fe3O4/pHEMA (M-pHEMA) nanogel and NiFe2O4/pHEMA (NF-pHEMA) nanogel structures were produced by the photochemical method. The characterization of these materials was performed by FTIR, SEM, AFM analysis. Then, the lipase enzyme was immobilized on magnetic nanogels by adsorption and after that cross-linking method under optimum conditions. For the characterization of lipase immobilized magnetic nanogels; optimum temperature, thermal stability, optimum pH, pH stability, reusability and kinetic parameters were investigated and nature and immobilized lipase were compared. It was observed that there was a significant improvement in the thermal and pH stability of the immobilized enzyme compared to the free enzyme. Lipase-immobilized M-pHEMA lost 50% of its activity after 15 uses and after 16 uses of lipase-immobilized NF-pHEMA. The results show that immobilization to the synthesized magnetic nanogels provides an improvement in the properties of the lipase enzyme. It is thought that the synthesized magnetic nanogels can be an alternative for different applications, especially drug delivery systems
Evolving Lightweight Intrusion Detection Systems for RPL-Based Internet of Things
No full textWith the integration of efficient computation and communication technologies into sensory devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) applications have increased tremendously in recent decades. While these applications provide numerous benefits to our daily lives, they also pose a great potential risk in terms of security. One of the reasons for this is that devices in IoT-based networks are highly resource constrained and interconnected over lossy links that can be exposed by attackers. The Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Network (RPL) is the standard routing protocol for such lossy networks. Despite the efficient routing built by RPL, this protocol is susceptible to insider attacks. Therefore, researchers have been working on developing effective intrusion detection systems for RPL-based IoT. However, most of these studies consume excessive resources (e.g., energy, memory, communication, etc.) and do not consider the constrained characteristics of the network. Hence, they might not be suitable for some devices/networks. Therefore, in this study, we aim to develop an intrusion detection system (IDS) that is both effective and efficient in terms of the cost consumed by intrusion detection (ID) nodes. For this multiple-objective problem, we investigate the use of evolutionary computation-based algorithms and show the performance of evolved intrusion detection algorithms against various RPL-specific attacks
The effects of PKI-402 on breast tumor models' radiosensitivity via dual inhibition of PI3K/mTOR
No full textPurposePI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway activation causes relapse and resistance after radiotherapy in breast cancer (BC). We aimed to radiosensitize BC cell lines to irradiation (IR) by PKI-402, a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor.MethodsWe performed cytotoxicity, clonogenicity, hanging drop, apoptosis and double-strand break detection, and phosphorylation of 16 essential proteins involved in the PI3K/mTOR pathway.ResultsOur findings showed that PKI-402 has cytotoxic efficiency in all cell lines. Clonogenic assay results showed that PKI-402 plus IR inhibited the colony formation ability of MCF-7 and breast cancer stem cell lines. Results showed that PKI-402 plus IR causes more apoptotic cell death than IR alone in the MCF-7 cells but did not cause significant changes in the MDA-MB-231. & gamma;-H2AX levels were increased in MDA-MB-231 in PKI-402 plus IR groups, whereas we did not observe any apoptotic and & gamma;-H2AX induction in BCSCs and MCF-10A cells in all treatment groups. Some pivotal phosphorylated proteins of the PI3K/AKT pathway decreased, several proteins increased and others did not change.ConclusionIn conclusion, if the combined use of PKI-402 with radiation is supported by in vivo studies, it can contribute to the treatment options and the course of the disease
Conversion of specific lncRNAs to biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate samples of patients with advanced stage non-small-cell lung cancer
No full textLung cancer (LC) is one of the most prevalent cancers with the highest fatality rate worldwide. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are being considered potential new molecular targets for early diagnosis, follow-up, and individual treatment decisions in LC. Therefore, this study evaluated whether lncRNA expression levels obtained from exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples play a role in the occurrence of metastasis in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma (LA). Methods: A total of 40 patients with advanced primary LA and 20 healthy controls participated in the study. EBC samples were collected from patients (during diagnosis and follow-up) and healthy individuals for molecular analysis. Liquid biopsy samples were also randomly obtained from 10 patients with LA and 10 healthy people. The expression of lncRNA genes, such as MALAT1, HOTAIR, PVT1, NEAT1, ANRIL, and SPRY4-IT1 was analyzed using cfRNA extracted from all clinical samples. Results: In the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with LA, lncRNA HOTAIR (5-fold), PVT1 (7.9-fold), and NEAT1 (12.8-fold), PVT1 (6.8-fold), MALAT1 (8.4-fold) expression levels were significantly higher than those in healthy controls, respectively. Additionally, the distinct lncRNA expression profiles identified in EBC samples imply that decreased ANRIL-NEAT1 and increased ANRIL gene expression levels can be used as biomarkers to predict the development of bone and lung metastases, respectively. Conclusion: EBC is an innovative, easily reproducible approach for predicting the development of metastases, molecular diagnosis, and follow-up of LC. EBC has shown potential in elucidating the molecular structure of LC, monitoring changes, and discovering novel biomarkers
Farmers’ perspectives on challenges and opportunities of agrivoltaics in Turkiye: An institutional perspective
No full textAgrivoltaics is a technology aiming to combine renewable energy generation and agricultural production and, as such, has great potential to address land use conflicts. Understanding how farmers perceive the opportunities and barriers to Agrivoltaics implementation is fundamental for stakeholder participation and social acceptance. However, the research on social acceptance of Agrivoltaics technologies has primarily focused on the United States and Europe. These studies have shown that identifying factors underlying stakeholders' perceptions and the surrounding legal framework at an early stage is important for the successful and socially responsible adoption of the technology. In this first study on Turkish farmers' perspectives on Agrivoltaics, we use in-depth semi-structured interviews to explore pioneer farmers' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges in Agrivoltaics. This is also the first study investigating farmers' perspectives with an explicit focus on how they relate to the institutional setting of agricultural land use policy, which we explore by extensive desk research and interviews with the agricultural bureaucracy. The pioneer farmers exhibit an overall positive attitude towards Agrivoltaics by identifying and valuing the synergistic potential of Agrivoltaics systems. In particular, they are perceptive about how they may use Agrivoltaics to solve local problems, including those exacerbated by input dependency and climate change, beyond an abstract opportunity dimension. Despite this solid motivational drive for Agrivoltaics, however, pioneer farmers' concerns about potential bureaucratic hassle as well as shortcomings in the current legislation indicate a weak institutional setting undermining viability of Agrivoltaics implementation. Agricultural bureaucracy's distrust of potential investors and users seem to reflect a serious concern for ‘pseudo-agriculture,’ caused by both low procedural capacity and lack of institutional coordination (among regulatory institutions in Energy and Agriculture). This mistrust, in return, explains farmers' negative experiences, such as red tape in receiving licenses and permits for non-dual renewable energy applications (for agricultural purposes) under current legislative framework, contributing also to their doubts about sustained government support for future dual-use applications. Understanding this institutional setting can support policy makers' decisions on how to align renewable energy investments with agricultural need and purposes
Coronaphobia among healthcare professionals and its associations with sleep quality, physical activity, and fatigue in Turkey
No full textBackgroundHealthcare professionals are at high risk of developing physical and mental health outcomes due to the coronavirus.PurposeThe study aimed to investigate coronaphobia levels in healthcare professionals and explore the relationship between other related factors in Turkey.MethodsThis cross-sectional descriptive study included 422 participants. Sociodemographic characteristics such as age and gender; and features about working details of the participants including the history of Covid-19 were recorded. The Covid-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S), The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Jenkins Sleep Scale (JSS), and International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF) were used to measure outcomes.ResultsIt was found that the total mean score obtained from the C19P-S of the doctors, physiotherapists, nurse-midwives, and other health professionals in the study were 46.31 +/- 14.64, 50.55 +/- 15.69, 54.82 +/- 19.82, and 54.38 +/- 17.81, respectively. A comparison of the C19P-S results showed that there is a significant difference between health professionals (p < 0.05). Doctors' physical activity levels were statistically related to their coronaphobia levels. Similarly, the coronaphobia levels of physiotherapists, nurses, and midwives were found to have a statistically significant relationship with their fatigue levels.ConclusionIt was found that healthcare professionals in Turkey have moderate coronaphobia levels and it affected some quality of life parameters such as sleep quality, fatigue severity, and physical activity status
The impact of microscopic extrathyroidal extension on the clinical outcome of classic subtype papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a multicenter study
No full textObjectives: Despite the presumed overdiagnosis of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) which has resulted in a new trend toward less-extensive surgery and a preference for active surveillance, the impact of microscopic extrathyroidal extension (mETE) on the clinical outcomes of PTMC is still controversial. This study assessed the impact of mETE on the clinical outcomes of patients with classic subtype PTMC. Methods: The data of consecutive patients who underwent thyroidectomy and were histopathologically diagnosed as classic subtype PTMC were analyzed. Cox’s proportional hazards model was used to assess the impact of contributing variables on persistent/recurrent disease. Disease-free survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: This study included 1013 patients (84% females), with a mean follow-up period of 62.5 ± 35.3 months. Patients with mETE had a significantly higher rate of locoregional persistent/recurrent disease than patients without mETE (9.8% vs 2.1%, p < 0.001). The disease-free survival rate was significantly lower in patients with mETE than in those without (90.2% vs 97%, Log-Rank p < 0.001). Furthermore, mETE and neck lymph node involvement were independent predictors of persistent/recurrent disease in multivariate analysis (HR: 2.43, 95% CI:1.02–5.81, p = 0.043; HR: 4.38, 95% CI: 1.7–11.2, p = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: In patients with the classic subtype of PTMC, mETE is an independent predictor of persistent/recurrent disease and is associated with a lower DFS rate. However, neck lymph node involvement is the strongest predictor of persistent/recurrent disease. Therefore, PTMCs with mETE and neck lymph node involvement are at a higher risk of persistent/recurrent disease than individuals lacking both characteristics