A new class of Poisson Ridge-type estimator.

The Poisson Regression Model (PRM) is one of the benchmark models when analyzing the count data. The Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) is used to estimate the model parameters in PRMs. However, the MLE may suffer from various drawbacks that arise due to the existence of multicollinearity problems. Many estimators have been proposed as alternatives to each other to alleviate the multicollinearity problem in PRM, such as Poisson Ridge Estimator (PRE), Poisson Liu Estimator (PLE), Poisson Liu-type Estimator (PLTE), and Improvement Liu-Type Estimator (ILTE). In this study, we define a new general class of estimators which is based on the PRE as an alternative to other existing biased estimators in the PRMs. The superiority of the proposed biased estimator over the other existing biased estimators is given under the asymptotic matrix mean square error sense. Furthermore, two separate Monte Carlo simulation studies are implemented to compare the performances of the proposed biased estimators. Finally, the performances of all considered biased estimators are shown in real data.

Intensive voice treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT®LOUD]) for individuals with Wilson's disease and adult cerebral palsy: two case reports.

Objective: In this case report, we aimed to examine the effects of an intensive voice treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT®LOUD]) for Wilson's disease (WD), and adult cerebral palsy (CP), and dysarthria.Method: The participants received LSVT®LOUD four times a week for 4 weeks. Acoustic, perceptual (GRBAS) analyses were performed and data from the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) were obtained before and after treatment.Results: Besides the Harmonics-to Noise Ratio (HNR) value (dB) of the participant with WD, for both participants' fundamental frequencies (Hz), jitter (%), and shimmer (%) values showed significant differences (p < .05) after therapy. Both participants showed significant improvements (p < .05) in the duration (s) and the sound pressure level (dB, SPL) of sustained vowel phonation (/a/), in SPL (dB) of pitch range (high and low /a/) and reading and conversation (p < .01). There was a positive improvement in the high-frequency values (Hz) of both participants but not in the low-frequency values (Hz) in the participant with WD. Perceptual analysis with GRBAS judgements of sustained vowel (/a/) and paragraph reading of two participants also showed improvement. After therapy, perceived loudness of the participants' voice increased.Conclusions: The findings provide some preliminary observations that the individuals with WD and the adult individuals with CP can respond positively to intensive speech treatment such as LSVT®LOUD. Further studies are needed to investigate speech treatments specific to WD and adult CP.

Acoustic Voice Analysis of Young Turkish Speakers.

OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: One of the objective assessments of voice is acoustic analysis, particularly, the parameters fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR). Because the normative data for healthy native Turkish male and female speakers are lacking in the literature, this study aimed to obtain F0, perturbation parameters, and NHR in three sustained vowels (/Λ/, /i/, and /u/) among young Turkish speaking adults. METHODS: The native Turkish speakers with normal voice aged between 18 and 32 years were included in the study (44 women, 39 men). Voice samples were recorded using Computerized Speech Lab, and data were analyzed with the statistics software SPSS Statistics 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: The F0 values of vowels /Λ/, /i/, and /u/ were greater for women (239.78 Hz, 251.97 Hz, and 250.29 Hz, respectively) than for men (127.11 Hz, 137.23 Hz, and 134.15 Hz, respectively). All shimmer values for all vowels and jitter values for /Λ/ and /u/ were found significantly low in men; however, no difference was found for jitter values of /i/ between genders. There is no effect of gender on NHR. Only in women, NHR of high vowels was found to be lower than that of vowel /Λ/. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant difference for F0 values between the genders as expected. Comparisons of perturbation values were significantly different for some pairs of vowels. There was no significant difference between NHR values between the genders. These findings can be compared with Turkish speakers who have different voice disorders for the further studies.

The effect of trapidil and bevacizumab on tracheal anastomotic wound healing.

BACKGROUND: Although bevacizumab has deleterious effects on the healing of colonic anastomoses, trapidil improves wound healing of colonic and tracheal anastomoses. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the effects of bevacizumab and trapidil on wound healing after tracheal transection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 35 rats divided in 5 groups: bevacizumab (Group I, n = 7), trapidil (Group II, n = 7), trapidil + bevacizumab (Group III, n = 7), controls (Group IV, n = 7), and sham (Group V, n = 7). Anastomotic healing was assessed by measurement of bursting pressure and inflammation score at the anastomotic region on the seventh day. RESULTS: The bursting pressures of Group II, Group III, and Group V were significantly higher than controls (P = 0.001, P = 0.033, and P = 0.035, respectively). Fibrosis was significantly high in the sham group when compared with the other four groups (P = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Although bevacizumab seems to impair anastomotic healing, trapidil can be suggested to improve tracheal anastomoses.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 decreased after chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate the alteration in serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels after chemotherapy and the association between the changes in serum levels of MMP-9 and response to chemotherapy in patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-eight consecutive patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and 24 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The patients were treated with cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy. After two cycles, the response was evaluated. Before and after two cycles of chemotherapy, serum samples were collected from the patients. RESULTS: Prechemotherapy MMP-9 (ng/ml) levels were significantly higher in patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer than in controls (7.2 ± 2.8 vs 4.5 ± 2.1, P <0.001). Prechemotherapy MMP-9 levels were elevated compared to postchemotherapy levels as well (7.2 ± 2.8 vs 5.2 ± 3.3, P = 0.005). Prechemotherapy MMP-9 levels were significantly higher than postchemotherapy MMP-9 levels in patients with partial response (7 patients) (8.2 ± 1.8 and 3.2 ± 2.3, respectively; P = 0.018), but the pre- and postchemotherapy MMP-9 levels were no different in patients with stable disease or progressive disease (21 patients) (7 ± 3.1 and 5.9 ± 3.3, respectively; P = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: The difference between pre- and postchemotherapy MMP-9 levels in responders was more prominent than that in nonresponders. Whether the decline in serum MMP-9 levels might be used as a marker of response to chemotherapy should be investigated in larger studies.

Risk factors and recurrence patterns in 203 patients with hemoptysis.

Management of hemoptysis requires prompt diagnosis and patient stabilization especially in massive hemoptysis as a potentially life-threatening condition. This retrospective study was designed to determine the etiologic distribution of hemoptysis, the role of the fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) as a diagnostic tool, and to clarify potential risk factors for massive hemoptysis and recurrences. A total of 203 patients (181 male, 22 female) with hemoptysis admitted to our hospital were evaluated retrospectively. Tuberculosis was the leading cause of hemoptysis (n = 89; 43.8%) followed by lung cancer (21.7%) and chronic bronchitis (n = 11; 5.5%). FOB plays an essential role for localization of bleeding and diagnosis, although no bronchoscopic abnormality was found in our 31 patients (15.3%). Twenty-nine of the patients (14.3%) had recurrent hemoptysis and hemoptysis lasting longer than five days was found as a risk factor for recurrences (p = 0.02). Having lung cancer was an independent negative risk factor for recurrent hemoptysis using multivariate analysis (n = 44; p = 0.034). Twenty two of the patients (10.8%) had severe hemoptysis and managed medically. In our study, tuberculosis, lung cancer and heavy cigarette smoking were revealed as independent predictors of massive hemoptysis (p = 0.016, 0.001, 0.041 respectively). Hemoptysis is a common respiratory symptom that always requires investigation by using FOB and radiography in order to determine exact site of bleeding and etiology. Hemoptysis continuing more than five days and lung cancer diagnosis may indicate recurrent bleeding and need more attention.