Modeling potential distribution and above-ground biomass of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests in the Inner Anatolian Region, Türkiye.

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) holds a substantial position as a tree species designated for biomass energy within European forests, covering a significant part of Türkiye's forests. We used the machine learning technique, namely, maximum entropy (MaxEnt), to estimate the suitable areas for Scots pine and to investigate its potential future distribution under various climate change scenarios in Inner Anatolian Region, Türkiye. The distribution data of Scots pine was utilized, and a set of 20 variables was chosen from spectral, topographic, and bioclimatic datasets to train the MaxEnt model. A map depicting the potential distribution of Scots pine in the area was generated, and alterations in its spatial distribution under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 climate change scenarios were predicted. The results showed that the most effective factors for the distribution of Scots pine in the region were normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), Red band of the imagery, and Bio19 variables, and the contribution percentages were 45.6%, 18.5%, and 18.1%, respectively. Current conditions have indicated that 81.11% of the region is not suitable for Scots pine. Highly suitable areas for Scots pine constituted 0.88% of the total area in the east and southeast parts of the region. Considering the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, it has been determined that there may be a partial increase in highly suitable areas. The above-ground biomass (AGB) data generated based on potential distribution areas were predicted between 0.04 and 168.76 t ha-1, and the areas with dense biomass over 120 t ha-1 were identified in the west, north, and northeast parts of the region. While actual AGB of Scots pine was 6.92 MT, its potential AGB was estimated 125.93 MT in total area. The difference may well be attributed to the wide potential distribution of Scots pine stands in the area apart from the current forest lands. Nevertheless, this research contributes to the holistic management of forests and provides substantial values for formulating well-suited silvicultural interventions, developing sustainable forest management strategies, and furthering research aimed at estimating biomass reserves.

Effects of fluorescein on corneal endothelial morphology after fundus fluorescein angiography in patients with diabetic macular edema.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of fluorescein dye on corneal endothelial morphology (CEM) after fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS: In this retrospective study, patients were divided into two groups, nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (Group-1, NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (Group-2, PDR). CEM properties including endothelial cell density (ECD), coefficient of variation of cell area (CV), average cell area (AVG), percentage of hexagonal cells (HEX), and central corneal thickness (CCT) were measured before FFA and at week 1 and month 1 after FFA were collected from patients' charts. RESULTS: The study consisted of 48 patient's 48 eyes in Group-1 and 50 patient's 50 eyes in Group-2. In both groups, the mean ECD, CV, AVG, HEX, and CCT measurements at week 1 and month 1 after FFA did not differ statistically from the mean measurements before FFA (p > 0.05). The mean ECD measurements in Group-1 were higher than that in Group-2 and showed statistically significant differences among the groups (p < 0.01 for all). In the Pearson correlation analysis in Group-1, there was no statistically significant relationship between best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and (intraocular pressure) IOP values and ECD, AVG, CV, HEX, and CCT measurements (except central macular thickness [CMT] and HEX) before FFA, at week 1 and month 1 after FFA (p > 0.05). In Group-2 there was no statistically significant relationship between BCVA, IOP, and CMT measurements and ECD, AVG, CV, HEX, and CCT measurements before FFA, at week 1 and month 1 after FFA (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There is no significant change in CEM after FFA in patients with NPDR and PDR with DME.

Elevated serum fibrinogen/albumin ratios in patients with acute central serous chorioretinopathy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the serum fibrinogen/albumin ratios in patients with acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy, and healthy control samples. METHODS: Serum fibrinogen/albumin ratios were assessed in patients with acute (Group-1, 30 eyes) and chronic (Group-2, 30 eyes) central serous chorioretinopathy, and compared with healthy control (Group-3, 30 eyes) samples. RESULTS: Fibrinogen/albumin ratios were significantly higher in Group-1 (104.72 ± 12.34) than in Group-2 (75.83 ± 10.06) and in Group-3 (72 ± 9.54) (p = 0.001). No significant correlation was found between age, CMT, and BCVA with fibrinogen/albumin ratios in the Pearson correlation analysis. In the ROC curve analysis, the most appropriate cut-off value of the fibrinogen/albumin ratio for acute CSCR was ≥87.8 and the optimal cut-off value for the fibrinogen/albumin ratio for chronic CSCR was ≥68.6. CONCLUSION: The fibrinogen/albumin ratio may be useful as an inflammatory biomarker to monitor the systemic inflammatory state during the treatment and follow-up in patients with acute CSCR.

Evaluation of turkish pharmaceutical track and trace system (ITS): perspective of community pharmacists

Abstract Turkish Pharmaceutical Track & Trace System (ITS) is implemented as a system in which drug movements are tracked in order to ensure drug safety. The system is integrated among drug stores, pharmacies and reimbursement institutions. As the pharmacies are the primary users, their evaluations regarding the system are considered important. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the pharmacies'- a shareholder of ITS in Turkey- satisfaction level for ITS and problems and suggestions encountered in the system. The most expressed contribution of ITS to the pharmacists' work was the ease of medicine tracking and control with 27.1%. The average satisfaction level of pharmacists about ITS was found to be 2.9±1.2. In the research, the most expressed of the regarding the areas of ITS that need to be developed is 'work without interruption' with 37.1%. ITS application has provided advantages for pharmacies in many aspects that facilitate operations. However, continuous development of technology, increasing information resources and diversity, changing expectations, and utilization levels of the users require the constant improvement of the performance of the system.

Evaluating different spatial interpolation methods and modeling techniques for estimating spatial forest site index in pure beech forests: a case study from Turkey.

Spatial interpolation methods are widely used to estimate some ecological and environmental parameters that are difficult to measure. One of these parameters is forest site index, which is a demonstration of forest productivity. The aim of this study was to estimate forest site index in a beech forest ecosystem in Turkey. In this context, soil characteristics, stand parameters, and topographic features were measured in 70 temporary sample plots of beech forest stands. Forest site index of beech forest stands was predicted using different modeling techniques such as multiple regression analysis (MLR), multilayer perceptron (MLP), radial basis function (RBF), multiple regression kriging (MLRK), multilayer perceptron kriging (MLPK), and radial basis function kriging (RBFK). The results showed that the RBFK (R2 = 0.98) and MLRK (R2 = 0.96) outperformed the others to predict forest site index in the study area. The greatest improvement occurred when krigged residual used with MLR, which increase from 0.23 to 0.96. Thus, MLRK method significantly improved the prediction accuracy for site index. The models combined with krigged residuals were more successful than those used without krigged residuals. The results of this study suggest that the combined methods may help obtaining improved site index maps for forest management.

Evaluation of Transition to Electronic Prescriptions in Turkey: Perspective of Family Physicians.

BACKGROUND: One of the most important steps of the health transformation program involves the application of electronic prescriptions (e-prescriptions) in health services. Information technologies are highly important in generating e-prescriptions, which can be described as a document produced by authorized personnel electronically, containing written information and instructions regarding a patient's medication and its usage. E-prescribing has become increasingly applied in recent years as a contributing application to prescribers and patients. The aim of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction of family physicians providing primary care in Turkey regarding the application of e-prescriptions, and reveal the related positive effects and problems encountered in the first months of implementation of e-prescribing. METHODS: A questionnaire with eight questions was sent to e-mails of all family physicians working in Turkey in May 2013. A total of 1564 family physicians filled in the questionnaire form and sent it back by e-mail. The responses to openended questions were evaluated by content analysis. RESULTS: It was observed that the most frequently indicated advantages of the application of e-prescriptions were speeding up the prescription process and saving time (36.6%). The most commonly reported problems regarding the application of e-prescriptions were found to be system-induced problems (26.5%) and internet problems (19.9%). In addition, the mean score of satisfaction of the family physicians who did not report problems with the application of e-prescriptions was higher than that of those who reported having problems with it. In the study, 77.8% of the family physicians were satisfied with the application of e-prescriptions. CONCLUSION: Although some problems were reported regarding the application of e-prescriptions in the first months of the application, family physicians participated in the study were found to be satisfied with the application of e-prescriptions, and identified positive effects on their work and processes.

Analysing land cover changes for understanding of forest dynamics using temporal forest management plans.

This study analyses forest dynamics and land use/land cover change over a 43-year period using spatial-stand-type maps of temporal forest management plans of Karaisali Forest Enterprise in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Stand parameters (tree species, crown closures and developmental stages) of the dynamics and changes caused by natural or artificial intervention were introduced and mapped in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and subjected to fragmentation analysis using FRAGSTATS. The Karaisali Forest Enterprise was first planned in 1969 and then the study area was planned under the Mediterranean Forest Use project in 1991 and five-term forest management plans were made. In this study, we analysed only four periods (excluding 1982 revision plans): 1969, 1991, 2002 and 2012. Between 1969 and 2012, overall changes included a net increase of 3,026 ha in forested areas. Cumulative forest improvement accounted for 2.12% and the annual rate of total forest improvement averaged 0.08%. In addition, productive forest areas increased from 36,174 to 70,205 ha between 1969 and 2012. This translates into an average annual productive forest improvement rate of 1.54%. At the same time, fully covered forest areas with crown closure of "3" (>70%) increased about 21,321 ha, and young forest areas in developmental stage of "a" (diameter at breast height (dbh) < 8 cm) increased from 716 to 13,305 ha over the 43-year study period. Overall changes show that productive and fully covered forest areas have increased egregiously with a focus on regenerated and young developmental stages. A spatial analysis of metrics over the 43-year study period indicated a more fragmented landscape resulting in a susceptible forest to harsh disturbances.