Introduction: Hepatitis B infection is a serious global public health problem. The aim of the study was to assess the seroprevalance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), as well as the risk factors associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics of the University Hospital in Antioch, Turkey. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between May 2016 and December 2016. The Chi-squared was utilized to estimate the statistical significance of the association between socio-demographic variables and HBsAg status. The results were generated as proportions odds ratio (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (Cl) and calculated by using both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The seroprevalence of HBsAg was found to be 2.1%. A significant association was observed between age and HBsAg seropositivity (p = 0.027). History of blood transfusion (AOR = 9.51, 95% CI = 1.92-46.80, p = 0.006), history of hepatitis (AOR = 11.13, 95% CI = 2.02-61.28, p = 0.006), tattooing (AOR = 13.64, 95% CI = 2.52-73.76, p = 0.002) and a history of household/close contact (AOR = 11.10, 95% CI = 1.56-78.65, p = 0.016) were significantly associated with the risk of HBV infection. Conclusions: Data regarding the seroprevalence of HBsAg and risk factors associated with HBV infection in pregnant women plays a crucial role in evaluating the effectiveness of the public health protection policies and the strategies to control the disease.

Knowing the typical length of hospital stay of COVID-19 patients and which factors affecting the stay time is important for hospital management. 3184 COVID-19 patients from the Tokat State Hospital collected from were examined on arrival to the hospital and were either treated as inpatients, or as outpatients. By using simple, conditional and cause-specific Cox proportional-hazard regressions for competing risk, we examined factors impacting hospital stay time, both overall and by taking into account patient’s age or survival status and contribution from a factor to the rate of event of mortality, and to the event of discharge. Surviving ICU patients have longer hospital stay time than non-surviving ICU patients, which is longer than non-ICU patients. Older age is correlated with a longer hospital stay. Increased C-reactive protein (CRP), decreased hemoglobin (HGB) and calcium levels are associated with longer hospital stay, independent from the contribution from surviving status. Almost all factors we collected contribute to a faster/slower mortality or discharge rate. We also observed that glucose is more important than HbA1C or diabetes status in its influence on hospital stay time. This information could be used for a better hospital bed management.

Background/Objectives: Gallstone disease, a prevalent and costly digestive system disorder, is influenced by multifactorial risk factors, some of which may predispose to malignancy. This study aims to evaluate the association between gallstone disease and malignancy using advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms. Methods: A dataset comprising approximately 1000 patients was analyzed, employing six ML methods: random forests (RFs), support vector machines (SVMs), multi-layer perceptron (MLP), MLP with PyTorch 2.3.1 (MLP_PT), naive Bayes (NB), and Tabular Prior-data Fitted Network (TabPFN). Comparative performance was assessed using Pearson correlation, sensitivity, specificity, Kappa, receiver operating characteristic (ROC), area under curve (AUC), and accuracy metrics. Results: Our results revealed that age, body mass index (BMI), and history of HRT were the most significant predictors of malignancy. Among the ML models, TabPFN emerged as the most effective, achieving superior performance across multiple evaluation criteria. Conclusions: This study highlights the potential of leveraging cutting-edge ML methodologies to uncover complex relationships in clinical datasets, offering a novel perspective on gallstone-related malignancy. By identifying critical risk factors and demonstrating the efficacy of TabPFN, this research provides actionable insights for predictive modeling and personalized patient management in clinical practice.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a scale of menstruation myths.Methods: The current research was conducted using a methodologic approach with a sample of 330 women who met the inclusion criteria. The scope, structural validity, and internal consistency of the scale were tested.Results: As a result of the analyses, it was determined that the scale consisted of 18 items and three factors that explain approximately 57% of the total variance. The Cronbach α value of the scale was 0.86 in the first factor, 0.82 in the second factor, 0.83 in the third factor, and 0.91 in total.Conclusion: The Menstruation Myths Scale was found to be a valid and reliable measuring tool for reproductive‐aged women in Turkish society. It is recommended that the scale be tested with women of different ages, populations, and countries. Additionally, it is believed that the scale can be used to determine myths about menstruation among men.

Aim: The decision of admitting COVID-19 patients as inpatients is mostlydetermined by chest X-ray based diagnosis of pneumonia severity. However, prognosis of inpatients may diverge into two groups, onegroup of inpatients did not survive while another group did. Material and Method: More than 100 COVID-19 outpatients are collected from Tokat, Turkey in three categories: outpatients, surviving inpatients, and deceased inpatients. Their blood test profiles are analyzed and compared bydimension reduction techniques and classic statistical tests. Results: We observe that surviving inpatients share a common blood test profilewith the outpatients, whereas non-surviving inpatients aredistinctively different. The non-surviving inpatients areon average older. Among patients older than certain age, non-survivinginpatients have higher neutrophil level, lower lymphocyte level(thus higher neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio), lower calcium level,higher C-reactive-protein, sodium, whole blood cell level, andlower hemoglobin level, than the surviving patients (whether these are inpatients or outpatients). Conclusion: Surviving status is more important than in- and out-patient statusin a patient’s cluster membership based on blood test profile. This result suggests a plan to use both X-ray diagnosis and blood testresults as a criterion to admit COVID-19 inpatients.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a minimally invasive technique (pit excision with a punch biopsy needle) using a 1470 nm diode laser in the treatment of pilonidal sinus disease. Methods: A prospective study conducted included 187 patients who underwent laser treatment for pilonidal sinus. Patients were divided into two groups based on the severity of the disease: Group 1 (simple group) included patients who had no prior abscess formation and had one or two sinus openings, while Group 2 (complicated group) comprised patients with a history of abscess drainage and more two extensive sinus openings. The surgical procedure was performed under local anesthesia. The sinus openings were excised using a punch biopsy needle and subsequently closed with a diode laser probe. Patients were followed up at regular intervals during the postoperative period. Results: The findings revealed that the operative time (12.22 ± 1.72 min), postoperative pain scores and wound-healing duration were significantly lower in the simple group compared to the complicated group (p < 0.001). The recurrence rates were 3.7% in the simple group and 14.1% in the complicated group. The return-to-work time was 1.06 ± 0.32 days in the simple group and 1.32 ± 0.90 days in the complicated group. Conclusions: In conclusion, the combination of punch biopsy and diode laser is considered a safe and effective method, particularly for simple pilonidal sinus cases, due to its low complication rates, short recovery time, and early return-to-work advantages. However, more advanced treatment approaches are required for complicated cases.