Browsing by Publisher "Hindawi Limited"
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Item Comparison of motor activity and sleep in patients with complex partial seizures on levetiracetam treatment and a group of healthy subjects(Hindawi Limited, 2007) Yilmaz H.Purpose: Levetiracetam-treated patients commonly report daytime drowsiness, fatique, asthenia and decreasing of motor activity. However the origin of these reported side effects are still debated, we aimed to clarify effect of levetiracetam on sleep. Therefore this prospective study was conducted to evaluate the effects of levetiracetam on motor activity, amount and continuity of sleep and napping. Methods: Various tests were performed on twenty two patients treated with levetiracetam (10 monotherapy, 12 add-on therapy) at least three days before the initiation of treatment, and consecutively for five to eight days at the third week of treatment. These tests included sleep logs, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Modified Maintenance of Wakefulness Test and actimetric measurements. In order to evaluate the sleep behavior of these patients the following sleep parameters were estimated: bedtime, wake-up time, sleep-onset time, sleep-offset time, sleep latency, total sleep time, wake time after sleep onset, fragmentation index, total activity score, nap episodes, total nap duration and sleep efficiency. Twenty members of staff from our hospital (Doctor, nurse, secretary, civil servant etc.) were evaluated as control subjects in the study. Results: After three-week treatment with levetiracetam (in particular with add-on therapy), Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores, napping episodes and total nap durations increased and sleep latencies decreased. While durations of Modified Maintenance of Wakefulness Test and total activity scores decreased. However the total sleep time and the sleep efficiency did not show any difference from the pre-treatment values. Conclusions: Our results suggest that levetiracetam leads to drowsiness by decreasing the daily motor activity and increasing the naps; however this agent does not have any major effects on total sleep time and sleep efficiency during night. Actimetric analyses give information about continuity of sleep and sleep/wake states however does not give satisfactory information about architecture of sleep. In order to determine the effects of levetiracetam on the sleep architecture we need similiar protocol studies by full night polysomnography. © 2007 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.Item Gingival crevicular fluid calprotectin, osteocalcin and cross-linked N-terminal telopeptid levels in health and different periodontal diseases(Hindawi Limited, 2011) Becerik S.; Afacan B.; Öztürk V.O.; Atmaca H.; Emingil G.Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) calprotectin, osteocalcin and cross-linked N-terminal telopeptide (NTx) levels in health along with different periodontal diseases. Material and methods: Twenty chronic periodontitis (CP), 20 generalized aggressive periodontitis (G-AgP), 20 gingivitis and 20 healthy subjects were included. Probing depth, clinical attachment level, plaque index and papillary bleeding index was recorded. GCF calprotectin, osteocalcin and NTx levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: CP, G-AgP and gingivitis groups had higher GCF calprotectin total amount compared to healthy subjects (p< 0.008). CP and G-AgP groups had similar, but higher levels compared to gingivitis groups (p< 0.008). CP and G-AgP groups had lower GCF osteocalcin total amount compared to gingivitis and healthy groups (p< 0.008). CP group had higher GCF NTx but lower osteocalcin total amount and osteocalcin/NTx ratio than the G-AgP group (p< 0.008). Conclusions: Our results suggest that elevated GCF calprotectin levels play a role as a reliable inflammatory marker in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. Fluctuating GCF levels of osteocalcin and NTx might point out to the abnormal bone turnover in periodontitis. Our data document for the first time the role of NTx in the pathogenesis of different periodontal diseases. © 2011 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.Item Clarithromycin-induced long QT syndrome: A case report(Hindawi Limited, 2012) Cetin M.; Yilidrimer M.; Özen S.; Tanrverdi S.; Coskun S.Long QT syndrome develops for a number of reasons. The number of non-antiarrhythmic drugs reported to induce QT interval prolongation with or without torsade de pointes continues to increase. Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic being increasingly used for the treatment of atypical pneumonia. In this paper, we describe a patient who developed long QT prolongation syndrome after receiving clarithromycin for the treatment of atypical pneumonia. © Copyright 2012 Mecnun Cetin et al.Item The effects of the melatonin treatment on the oxidative stress and apoptosis in diabetic eye and brain(Hindawi Limited, 2012) Gürpinar T.; Ekerbiçer N.; Uysal N.; Barut T.; Tarakçi F.; Tuglu M.I.Oxidative stress plays an important role in the development of complications in diabetes mellitus. Antioxidant therapy has been thought to decrease oxidative stress. The objective of the present study was to explore the effects of melatonin (MLT) on oxidative stress in diabetic rat eye and brain tissue by using immunohistochemical methods. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin, (STZ,55mg/kg/i.p) in adult rats. MLT was given 10mg/kg/i.p once a day for 2 weeks beginning from the sixth week. Six weeks later, rats were divided into three groups: control (CR), STZ-induced diabetic (STZ), and STZ-induced diabetic group received melatonin (STZ+MLT). Although no significant difference was observed with respect to antioxidant status, NOS activity tended to be higher in the untreated diabetic rats than in the treated rats. It was observed that MLT treatment improved the histopathological changes including apoptosis and oxidative stress in brain and eye in diabetic rat. Copyright © 2012 Tuba Grpnar et al.Item Serum homocysteine, vitamin B12, folic acid levels and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphism in vitiligo(Hindawi Limited, 2012) Yasar A.; Gunduz K.; Onur E.; Calkan M.The aim of this study was to determine serum vitamin B12, folic acid and homocysteine (Hcy) levels as well as MTHFR (C677, A1298C) gene polymorphisms in patients with vitiligo, and to compare the results with healthy controls. Forty patients with vitiligo and 40 age and sex matched healthy subjects were studied. Serum vitamin B12 and folate levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Plasma Hcy levels and MTHFR polymorphisms were determined by chemiluminescence and real time PCR methods, respectively. Mean serum vitamin B12 and Hcy levels were not significantly different while folic acid levels were significantly lower in the control group. There was no significant relationship between disease activity and vitamin B12, folic acid and homocystein levels. No significant difference in C677T gene polymorphism was detected. Heterozygote A1298C gene polymorphism in the patient group was statistically higher than the control group. There was no significant relationship between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and vitamin B12, folic acid and homocysteine levels. In conclusion, vitamin B12, folate and Hcy levels are not altered in vitiligo and MTHFR gene mutations (C677T and A1298C) do not seem to create susceptibility for vitiligo. © 2012 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.Item Variational Iteration Method for Volterra Functional Integrodifferential Equations with Vanishing Linear Delays(Hindawi Limited, 2014) Konuralp A.; Sorkun H.H.Application process of variational iteration method is presented in order to solve the Volterra functional integrodifferential equations which have multi terms and vanishing delays where the delay function θ(t) vanishes inside the integral limits such that θ(t)=qt for 0Item Immunogenicity of RSV F DNA Vaccine in BALB/c Mice(Hindawi Limited, 2016) Eroglu E.; Singh A.; Bawage S.; Tiwari P.M.; Vig K.; Pillai S.R.; Dennis V.A.; Singh S.R.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes severe acute lower respiratory tract disease leading to numerous hospitalizations and deaths among the infant and elderly populations worldwide. There is no vaccine or a less effective drug available against RSV infections. Natural RSV infection stimulates the Th1 immune response and activates the production of neutralizing antibodies, while earlier vaccine trials that used UV-inactivated RSV exacerbated the disease due to the activation of the allergic Th2 response. With a focus on Th1 immunity, we developed a DNA vaccine containing the native RSV fusion (RSV F) protein and studied its immune response in BALB/c mice. High levels of RSV specific antibodies were induced during subsequent immunizations. The serum antibodies were able to neutralize RSV in vitro. The RSV inhibition by sera was also shown by immunofluorescence analyses. Antibody response of the RSV F DNA vaccine showed a strong Th1 response. Also, sera from RSV F immunized and RSV infected mice reduced the RSV infection by 50% and 80%, respectively. Our data evidently showed that the RSV F DNA vaccine activated the Th1 biased immune response and led to the production of neutralizing antibodies, which is the desired immune response required for protection from RSV infections. © 2016 Erdal Eroglu et al.Item Review on the Eyedrop Self-Instillation Techniques and Factors Affecting These Techniques in Glaucoma Patients(Hindawi Limited, 2016) Kayikcioglu O.; Bilgin S.; Uyar M.Objective. This study aims to evaluate eyedrop self-installation techniques and factors affecting these techniques in glaucoma patients. Methods. Researchers directly observed eyedrop instillation procedures of 66 glaucoma patients. Contact with periocular tissues and instillation onto ocular surface or conjunctival fornices were considered. Correlations of instillation patterns with patient characteristics including age, gender, intraocular pressure, cup-to-disc ratio, visual field loss, and total intake of glaucoma medication and handgrip strength score were searched. Results. The average handgrip strength in the instillation without periocular contact group was 66.4 ± 19.7 kg, while the average handgrip strength score was 55.9 ± 20.9 kg in the instillation with contact group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p = 0.039). No statistically significant correlation was found between handgrip strength and the mean number of glaucoma medications, c/d, intraocular pressure (p > 0.05). Also there was no significant relation between mean handgrip strength score and the severity of the visual field defect (p = 0.191). Conclusion. Patients especially with severe glaucomatous damage should be adequately instructed about the proper techniques for self-instillation of eyedrops and motivated to use a proper technique. Also, it is possible to suggest that patients with a higher handgrip strength, indicating the well-being of general health, may be doing better in properly instilling glaucoma eyedrops. © 2016 Ozcan Kayikcioglu et al.Item Prediction of Skid Resistance Value of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Tiling Materials(Hindawi Limited, 2017) Yildizel S.A.; Tuskan Y.; Kaplan G.This research focuses on the use of adaptive artificial neural network system for evaluating the skid resistance value (British Pendulum Number; BPN) of the glass fiber-reinforced tiling materials. During the creation of the neural model, four main factors were considered: fiber, calcium carbonate content, sand blasting, and polishing properties of the specimens. The model was trained, tested, and compared with the on-site test results. As per the comparison of the outcomes of the study, the analysis and on-site test results showed that there is a great potential for the prediction of BPN of glass fiber-reinforced tiling materials by using developed neural system. © 2017 Sadik Alper Yildizel et al.Item Comparison of Turkey's Geographical Regions in terms of Stand-Alone PV System Design and Cost Parameters(Hindawi Limited, 2017) Onat N.Stand-alone photovoltaic (SAPV) systems are widely used in rural areas where there is no national grid or as a precaution against power outages. In this study, technical and economic analysis of a SAPV system was carried out using meteorological data for 75 province centers in seven geographical regions of Turkey. Obtained results for each province center were separated by geographical area. The averages of the centers for each region are taken as output. A calculation algorithm based on MsExcel has been established for these operations. The analyses made with the developed algorithm are repeated for five different scenarios that they cover periods of time when a constant strong load is active for all seasons (winter, spring, summer, and autumn) and all year round. The developed algorithm calculates the life-cycle cost, the unit energy cost, the electrical capacity utilization rate, the amount of generated/excess energy per month, the initial investment/replacement, and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs of each element. As a result, geographical regions of Turkey are compared in terms of these outputs graphically. Further investigations may include the sale of excess energy generated, small-scale PV system cost factors parallel to the grid, and the effects of government incentives. © 2017 Nevzat Onat.Item Estimation of Container Traffic at Seaports by Using Several Soft Computing Methods: A Case of Turkish Seaports(Hindawi Limited, 2017) Gökkuş Ü.; Yildirim M.S.; Aydin M.M.Container traffic forecasting is important for the operations and the design steps of a seaport facility. In this study, performances of the novel soft computing models were compared for the container traffic forecasting of principal Turkish seaports (Istanbul, Izmir, and Mersin seaports) with excessive container traffic. Four forecasting models were implemented based on Artificial Neural Network with Artificial Bee Colony and Levenberg-Marquardt Algorithms (ANN-ABC and ANN-LM), Multiple Nonlinear Regression with Genetic Algorithm (MNR-GA), and Least Square Support Vector Machine (LSSVM). Forecasts were carried out by using the past records of the gross domestic product, exports, and population of the Turkey as indicators of socioeconomic and demographic status. Performances of the forecasting models were evaluated with several performance metrics. Considering the testing period, the LSSVM, ANN-ABC, and ANN-LM models performed better than the MNR-GA model considering overall fitting and prediction performances of the extreme values in the testing data. The LSSVM model was found to be more reliable compared to the ANN models. Forecasting part of the study suggested that container traffic of the seaports will be increased up to 60%, 67%, and 95% at the 2023 for the Izmir, Mersin, and Istanbul seaports considering official growth scenarios of Turkey. © 2017 Ümit Gökkuş et al.Item The Optimization of Calcareous Fly Ash-Added Cement Containing Grinding Aids and Strength-Improving Additives(Hindawi Limited, 2018) Kaplan G.; Yildizel S.A.; Memiş S.; Öztürk A.U.This is an experimental study which explores the physical, mechanical, and economic factors involved in the production of type CEM II A-B/W cement. In this context, 4 cement additives were used in two different dosages (200 and 800 g/t). Class C fly ash was used for composite cement production at ratios of 5%, 20%, and 35%. It was shown that Blaine fineness increases with the increasing fly ash content. The use of fly ash at ratios of 5% and 20% was not found to have any unfavorable effects on the compressive strength at the early days. It is found that the use of additive for improving the early-age strength is preferable when fly ash is used. It is possible to produce Class 52.5 N cement using additives to improve early strength and 20% fly ash. Loss in strength was observed in cement mortars produced using glycol-based grinding aid. Increasing the dosage of chemical additive also led to loss in strength due to nonhomogeneous distribution of hydration products. As a result, grinding fly ash with clinker and the use of cement chemicals contribute to the cement sector in terms of sustainability. It is possible to produce cements with improved mechanical properties especially with the use of 20% fly ash. © 2018 Gökhan Kaplan et al.Item Biomedical Text Categorization Based on Ensemble Pruning and Optimized Topic Modelling(Hindawi Limited, 2018) Onan A.Text mining is an important research direction, which involves several fields, such as information retrieval, information extraction, and text categorization. In this paper, we propose an efficient multiple classifier approach to text categorization based on swarm-optimized topic modelling. The Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) can overcome the high dimensionality problem of vector space model, but identifying appropriate parameter values is critical to performance of LDA. Swarm-optimized approach estimates the parameters of LDA, including the number of topics and all the other parameters involved in LDA. The hybrid ensemble pruning approach based on combined diversity measures and clustering aims to obtain a multiple classifier system with high predictive performance and better diversity. In this scheme, four different diversity measures (namely, disagreement measure, Q-statistics, the correlation coefficient, and the double fault measure) among classifiers of the ensemble are combined. Based on the combined diversity matrix, a swarm intelligence based clustering algorithm is employed to partition the classifiers into a number of disjoint groups and one classifier (with the highest predictive performance) from each cluster is selected to build the final multiple classifier system. The experimental results based on five biomedical text benchmarks have been conducted. In the swarm-optimized LDA, different metaheuristic algorithms (such as genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, firefly algorithm, cuckoo search algorithm, and bat algorithm) are considered. In the ensemble pruning, five metaheuristic clustering algorithms are evaluated. The experimental results on biomedical text benchmarks indicate that swarm-optimized LDA yields better predictive performance compared to the conventional LDA. In addition, the proposed multiple classifier system outperforms the conventional classification algorithms, ensemble learning, and ensemble pruning methods. © 2018 Aytuǧ Onan.Item Evaluation of Offshore Wind Turbine Tower Dynamics with Numerical Analysis(Hindawi Limited, 2018) Dagli B.Y.; Tuskan Y.; Gökkuş Ü.A dynamic behaviour of a cylindirical wind tower with variable cross section is investigated under environmental and earthquake forces. The ground acceleration term is represented by a simple cosine function to investigate both normal and parallel components of the earthquake motions located near ground surface. The function of earthquake force is simplified to apply Rayleigh's energy method. Wind forces acting on above the water level and wave forces acting on below this level are utilized in computations considering earthquake effect for entire structure. The wind force is divided into two groups: the force acting on the tower and the forces acting on the rotor nacelle assembly (RNA). The drag and the inertial wave forces are calculated with water particle velocities and accelerations due to linear wave theory. The resulting hydrodynamic wave force on the tower in an unsteady viscous flow is determined using the Morison equation. The displacement function of the physical system in which dynamic analysis is performed by Rayleigh's energy method is obtained by the single degree of freedom (SDOF) model. The equation of motion is solved by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The two-way FSI (fluid-structure interaction) technique was used to determine the accuracy of the numerical analysis. The results of computational fluid dynamics and structural mechanics are coupled in FSI analysis by using ANSYS software. Time-varying lateral displacements and the first natural frequency values which are obtained from Rayleigh's energy method and FSI technique are compared. The results are presented by graphs. It is observed from these graphs that the Rayleigh model can be an alternative way at the prelimanary stage of the structural analysis with acceptable accuracy. © 2018 Begum Yurdanur Dagli et al.Item The evaluation of the relationship between STREM-1, VEGF-B, and VEGF gene expression levels with disease activity of Behçet’s patients(Hindawi Limited, 2018) Harmanci K.; Akan O.Y.; Pirildar T.; Ortan P.; Ulman C.Background. There is no specific marker that shows the disease activity in Behçet’s disease. Aim. In this study, we aimed to investigate VEGF-B and VEGF gene expressions and sTREM-1 levels in association with the activation of Behçet’s disease. Study Design. Case-control study. Methods. Clinical features of patients who applied in the rheumatology clinic and were diagnosed with BD according to the international working group’s criteria were investigated. 30 healthy volunteers and 30 patients in the active period according to the EBDCAF scoring were studied. VEGF-B and VEGF gene expressions and sTREM-1 levels were studied in the serum samples of the patients and the control subjects. Results. The VEGF-B expressions and sTREM-1 levels were higher in the BD than those in the healthy group, but this difference did not reach statistical significance. VEGF gene expression was statistically significant (p = 0 008). Behçet’s disease patients with oral aphthae, genital ulcer, eye, joint, vascular, skin, and neurological involvement were analyzed separately as subgroups. We find that VEGF gene expression level of Behçet’s disease patients with joint involvement (arthritis/arthralgia) and also VEGF-B and VEGF gene expression of Behçet’s disease with vascular involvement (DVT/thrombophlebitis) were significantly higher (p = 0 035, p = 0 021). Each subgroup was analyzed with the control group. We determined that VEGF gene expression in all subgroups was significantly higher than that in the control group. At the same time, VEGF-B levels of patients with genital ulcer and vascular involvement (DVT/thrombophlebitis) were significantly higher than those in the control group. Conclusion. VEGF-B and VEGF gene expressions can be activity indicators for BD. In addition, this study shows that new treatment options should be explored for Behçet’s disease patients with joint and vascular involvement. In the following years, new treatment methods are needed to investigate for revealing the role of the etiopathogenesis of BD and the activation and prognosis of VEGF by examining this study and providing much more participation. In our study group, the sTREM-1 levels were high but the results did not reach statistical significance. More studies are needed with larger groups in order the highlight the exact role of STREM-1 in Behçet’s disease. Copyright © 2018 Kadir Harmanci et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution LicenseItem Allergic rhinitis and its relationship with IL-10, IL-17, TGF-β, IFN-γ, IL 22, and IL-35(Hindawi Limited, 2018) Degirmenci P.B.; Aksun S.; Altin Z.; Bilgir F.; Arslan I.B.; Colak H.; Ural B.; Kahraman D.S.; Diniz G.; Ozdemir B.; Kırmaz C.Background. We aimed in our study to research the role of new cytokines such as IL-35, IL-22, and IL-17 that may form a target for novel treatment approaches. Methods. IL-10, IL-17, TGF-β, IFN-γ, IL-22, and IL-35 serum levels of allergic rhinitis (AR) patients were measured using ELISA method. Allergic sensitization was demonstrated by the skin prick test. Patients only with olive tree sensitivity were evaluated for seasonal AR (SAR). Patients only with mite sensitivity were included in the study for perennial AR (PAR). AR clinic severity was demonstrated by the nasal symptom scores (NSS). Results. In total, 65 AR patients (patient group), having 31 PAR and 34 SAR patients, and 31 healthy individuals (control group) participated in the study. Cytokine levels between the patient group and the control group were compared; IL-17 (p = 0 038), IL-22 (p = 0 001), and TGF-β (p = 0 031) were detected as high in the patient group, and IFN-γ (p < 0 001) was detected as low in the patient group. When correlation analysis was made between age, gender, prick test result, NSS, AR duration, and cytokine levels in the patient group, a negative correlation was detected only between IFN-γ (p = 0 032/r = −0 266) level and NSS. Conclusions. Accompanied by the literature information, these results made us think that T cell subgroups and cytokines have an important role in AR immunopathogenesis. It is thought that future studies to be conducted relating to this subject will form new targets in treatment. Copyright © 2018 P. Bayrak Degirmenci et al.Item Seismic failure pattern prediction in a historical masonry minaret under different earthquakes(Hindawi Limited, 2019) Nohutcu H.Historical structures are the values that are of great importance to that country, showing the roots of a country, and must be passed on from generation to generation. This study attempts to make a contribution to this goal. Seismic damage pattern estimation in a historical brick masonry minaret under different ground motion levels is investigated by using updated finite element models based on ambient vibration data in this study. Imaret Mosque which was built in 1481 AD is selected for an application. Surveying measurement and material tests were conducted to obtain a 3D solid model and mechanical properties of the components of the minaret. Firstly, the initial 3D finite element model of the minaret was analyzed and numerical dynamic characteristics of the minaret were obtained. Then, ambient vibration tests as well as operational modal analysis were implemented in order to obtain the experimental dynamic characteristics of the minaret. The initial finite element model of the minaret was updated by using the experimental dynamic results. Lastly, linear and nonlinear time-history analyses of the updated finite element model of the minaret were carried out using the acceleration records of two different level earthquakes that occurred in Turkey, in Afyon-Dinar (1995) and Çay-Sultandaǧi (2002). A concrete damage plasticity model is considered in the nonlinear analyses. The conducted analyses indicate that the compressive and tension stress results of the linear analyses are not as realistic as the nonlinear analysis results. According to the nonlinear analysis, the Çay-Sultandaǧi earthquake would inflict limited damage on the minaret, whereas the Dinar earthquake would damage some parts of the elements in the transition segment of the minaret. © 2019 Halil Nohutcu.Item EBOC: Ensemble-Based Ordinal Classification in Transportation(Hindawi Limited, 2019) Yildirim P.; Birant U.K.; Birant D.; Moghaddam M.H.Y.Learning the latent patterns of historical data in an efficient way to model the behaviour of a system is a major need for making right decisions. For this purpose, machine learning solution has already begun its promising marks in transportation as well as in many areas such as marketing, finance, education, and health. However, many classification algorithms in the literature assume that the target attribute values in the datasets are unordered, so they lose inherent order between the class values. To overcome the problem, this study proposes a novel ensemble-based ordinal classification (EBOC) approach which suggests bagging and boosting (AdaBoost algorithm) methods as a solution for ordinal classification problem in transportation sector. This article also compares the proposed EBOC approach with ordinal class classifier and traditional tree-based classification algorithms (i.e., C4.5 decision tree, RandomTree, and REPTree) in terms of accuracy. The results indicate that the proposed EBOC approach achieves better classification performance than the conventional solutions. © 2019 Pelin Yildirim et al.Item Feasible Sanitary Sewer Network Generation Using Graph Theory(Hindawi Limited, 2019) Turan M.E.; Bacak-Turan G.; Cetin T.; Aslan E.A graph theory-based methodology is proposed for the sewer system optimization problem in this study. Sewer system optimization includes two subproblems: layout optimization and hydraulic design optimization, which can be solved independently or solved simultaneously. No matter which method is chosen for the solution of the optimization problem, a feasible layout that satisfies the restrictions of the sewer system must be obtained in any step of the solution. There are two different layout options encountered: the layouts containing all sewer links and the layouts not containing all sewer links. The method proposed in this study generates a feasible sewer layout that contains all sewer links and satisfies all restrictions of a sanitary sewer system by using graph theory without any additional strategies unlike other studies. The method is applied to two different case studies. The results of the case studies have shown that graph theory is well applicable to sewer system optimization and the methodology proposed based on it is capable of generating a feasible layout. This study is expected to stimulate the use of graph theory on similar studies. © 2019 Mustafa Erkan Turan et al.Item Capacity Evaluation of Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 Using Multicriteria Decision-Making Techniques(Hindawi Limited, 2020) Sayan M.; Sarigul Yildirim F.; Sanlidag T.; Uzun B.; Uzun Ozsahin D.; Ozsahin I.In December 2019, cases of pneumonia were detected in Wuhan, China, which were caused by the highly contagious coronavirus. This study is aimed at comparing the confusion regarding the selection of effective diagnostic methods to make a mutual comparison among existing SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests and at determining the most effective one. Based on available published evidence and clinical practice, diagnostic tests of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were evaluated by multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, namely, fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (fuzzy PROMETHEE) and fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (fuzzy TOPSIS). Computerized tomography of chest (chest CT), the detection of viral nucleic acid by polymerase chain reaction, cell culture, CoV-19 antigen detection, CoV-19 antibody IgM, CoV-19 antibody IgG, and chest X-ray were evaluated by linguistic fuzzy scale to compare among the diagnostic tests. This scale consists of selected parameters that possessed different weights which were determined by the experts' opinions of the field. The results of our study with both proposed MCDM methods indicated that the most effective diagnosis method of COVID-19 was chest CT. It is interesting to note that the methods that are consistently used in the diagnosis of viral diseases were ranked in second place for the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, each country should use appropriate diagnostic solutions according to its own resources. Our findings also show which diagnostic systems can be used in combination. © 2020 Murat Sayan et al.