Akdeniz University

About: Akdeniz University is a education organization based out in Antalya, Antalya, Turkey. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 5413 authors who have published 11215 publications receiving 180900 citations. The organization is also known as: Akdeniz Üniversitesi.

Rosuvastatin and cardiovascular events in patients undergoing hemodialysis

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Statins reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients at high cardiovascular risk. However, a benefit of statins in such patients who are undergoing hemodialysis has not bee ...

Planck 2013 results. I. Overview of products and scientific results

Abstract: The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched 14 May 2009 and has been scanning the microwave and submillimetre sky continuously since 12 August 2009. In March 2013, ESA and the Planck Collaboration released the initial cosmology products based on the first 15.5 months of Planck data, along with a set of scientific and technical papers and a web-based explanatory supplement. This paper gives an overview of the mission and its performance, the processing, analysis, and characteristics of the data, the scientific results, and the science data products and papers in the release. The science products include maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and diffuse extragalactic foregrounds, a catalogue of compact Galactic and extragalactic sources, and a list of sources detected through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. The likelihood code used to assess cosmological models against the Planck data and a lensing likelihood are described. Scientific results include robust support for the standard six-parameter ΛCDM model of cosmology and improved measurements of its parameters, including a highly significant deviation from scale invariance of the primordial power spectrum. The Planck values for these parameters and others derived from them are significantly different from those previously determined. Several large-scale anomalies in the temperature distribution of the CMB, first detected by WMAP, are confirmed with higher confidence. Planck sets new limits on the number and mass of neutrinos, and has measured gravitational lensing of CMB anisotropies at greater than 25σ. Planck finds no evidence for non-Gaussianity in the CMB. Planck’s results agree well with results from the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations. Planck finds a lower Hubble constant than found in some more local measures. Some tension is also present between the amplitude of matter fluctuations (σ8) derived from CMB data and that derived from Sunyaev-Zeldovich data. The Planck and WMAP power spectra are offset from each other by an average level of about 2% around the first acoustic peak. Analysis of Planck polarization data is not yet mature, therefore polarization results are not released, although the robust detection of E-mode polarization around CMB hot and cold spots is shown graphically.

Blood rheology and hemodynamics.

Abstract: Blood is a two-phase suspension of formed elements (i.e., red blood cells [RBCs], white blood cells [WBCs], platelets) suspended in an aqueous solution of organic molecules, proteins, and salts called plasma. The apparent viscosity of blood depends on the existing shear forces (i.e., blood behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid) and is determined by hematocrit, plasma viscosity, RBC aggregation, and the mechanical properties of RBCs. RBCs are highly deformable, and this physical property significantly contributes to aiding blood flow both under bulk flow conditions and in the microcirculation. The tendency of RBCs to undergo reversible aggregation is an important determinant of apparent viscosity because the size of RBC aggregates is inversely proportional to the magnitude of shear forces; the aggregates are dispersed with increasing shear forces, then reform under low-flow or static conditions. RBC aggregation also affects the in vivo fluidity of blood, especially in the low-shear regions of the circulatory system. Blood rheology has been reported to be altered in various physiopathological processes: (1) Alterations of hematocrit significantly contribute to hemorheological variations in diseases and in certain extreme physiological conditions; (2) RBC deformability is sensitive to local and general homeostasis, with RBC deformability affected by alterations of the properties and associations of membrane skeletal proteins, the ratio of RBC membrane surface area to cell volume, cell morphology, and cytoplasmic viscosity. Such alterations may result from genetic disorders or may be induced by such factors as abnormal local tissue metabolism, oxidant stress, and activated leukocytes; and (3) RBC aggregation is mainly determined by plasma protein composition and surface properties of RBCs, with increased plasma concentrations of acute phase reactants in inflammatory disorders a common cause of increased RBC aggregation. In addition, RBC aggregation tendency can be modified by alterations of RBC surface properties because of RBC in vivo aging, oxygen-free radicals, or proteolytic enzymes. Impairment of blood fluidity may significantly affect tissue perfusion and result in functional deteriorations, especially if disease processes also disturb vascular properties.

The surface of articular cartilage contains a progenitor cell population.

Abstract: It is becoming increasingly apparent that articular cartilage growth is achieved by apposition from the articular surface. For such a mechanism to occur, a population of stem/progenitor cells must reside within the articular cartilage to provide transit amplifying progeny for growth. Here, we report on the isolation of an articular cartilage progenitor cell from the surface zone of articular cartilage using differential adhesion to fibronectin. This population of cells exhibits high affinity for fibronectin, possesses a high colony-forming efficiency and expresses the cell fate selector gene Notch 1. Inhibition of Notch signalling abolishes colony forming ability whilst activated Notch rescues this inhibition. The progenitor population also exhibits phenotypic plasticity in its differentiation pathway in an embryonic chick tracking system, such that chondroprogenitors can engraft into a variety of connective tissue types including bone, tendon and perimysium. The identification of a chondrocyte subpopulation with progenitor-like characteristics will allow for advances in our understanding of both cartilage growth and maintenance as well as provide novel solutions to articular cartilage repair.