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Patients with chronic kidney disease, chronic heart failure and hypertension have an increased risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related death. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAS) blockers are commonly prescribed to decrease morbidity and mortality in these conditions. Following the pre-clinical demonstration of COVID-19 viral entry into cells via angiotensin-converting enzyme-2, the use of RAS blockers was questioned in infected individuals. Theodorakopoulou et al. extensively review the pathophysiology behind that hypothesis and observational or clinical trials on RAS blockers and COVID-19. Despite being a scientific hot spot of an ongoing debate, discontinuation of RAS blockers is not associated with improved clinical outcomes in COVID-19 and may have potential harmful effects, including exacerbation of the underlying disease. NA

Covid-19 Pandemic and Vaccine The online event titled “Covid-19 Pandemic and Vaccine” and organized together with Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) and Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate was held on 15.06.2021 between 14.00 and 15.15. The event started with the presentation of IGU FHS Deputy Dean Dr. A. Yüksel Barut and was moderated under his direction and it was participated by the Head of IGU SBF Child Development Department, Public Health Specialist Dr. Nurten Elkin and Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate Public Health Services Vaccine Programs Unit Specialist Dr. Önder Yel participated as the speakers. Meeting Director Dr. A. Yüksel BARUT opened the meeting by emphasizing the provision, which is in Article 72 of the Public Health Law, “If one of the diseases mentioned in Article 57 occurs or is suspected, the following measures are applied: (2) Administering serum or vaccine to patients or those exposed to the disease.” He explained the importance that individuals should use the opportunity to be vaccinated to get over the global epidemic. After reading the resumes of the speakers, he gave floor to Dr. Nurten ELKİN and Dr. Önder YEL. Dr. Nurten ELKİN stated that preventive health services are important in the protection and development of public health and that other individuals with whom they are in contact or live with should also be healthy, especially in the control of infectious diseases by defining the concepts of health, disease and public health. In the next section, she explained the concepts of contagious disease, epidemic and pandemic, and talked about the harm of communicable diseases to society and the importance of vaccines. Dr. Önder YEL started his presentation by explaining how the Covid-19 pandemic started. He emphasized the importance of vaccines in the control of this pandemic. Explaining the types of vaccines, he stated that vaccines are safe biological products, therefore vaccines coming from abroad are analyzed, their safety evaluated and approved by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of the Ministry of Health. Dr. Önder Yel talked about the cold chain and vaccine tracking system, which are important for all vaccines. Dr. BARUT ended the meeting by thanking to IGU Faculty of Health Sciences and Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate for the contributions to the meeting, speakers, participants, contributors, for the event that shared the truth and took place in the academic environment. Deanery of Faculty of Health Sciences

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social sciences was evaluated. Evaluating the issue, Asst. Prof. Viktoriia Demydova says, “Changes in housework, child care, elderly care and quarantine have increased the mental health needs of female faculty members and reduced the time allocated for academic studies.” When the applications made to Istanbul Gelisim University Journal of Social Sciences between the years 2021-2022 on the effects of COVID-19 on the activities of researchers are examined, it can be observed that the Covid-19 pandemic period had a remarkable effect.

Corticosteroid therapy has been used for many years and is still controversial in use. In the Coronovirus disease2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, it is very important to find reliable treatment information for clinicians andpatients. Low dose corticosteroids are also used in patients with septic shock, relative adrenal insufficiency andacute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There is not enough evidence for its use in COVID-19. However,low dose use is recommended in the case of ARDS and septic shock in COVID-19 patients. Caution should beexercised until further evidence emerges surrounding the use of corticosteroids in COVID-19 patients.

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INTRODUCTION: Current studies suggest that tears and conjunctival secretions may be an important transmission route in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study aims to evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in tears and conjunctival secretion of patients with COVID-19. METHODOLOGY: A prospective interventional case series study was performed, and 32 patients with COVID-19 were selected at the Pamukkale University Hospital from 15 to 22 May 2020. The tear and conjunctival samples were collected by a conjunctival swab. Each specimen was sent to the laboratory for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses. To avoid cross-infection, gloves and personal protective equipment were changed after collecting each sample. RESULTS: 32 patients (18 male, 14 female) with Covid-19 were included in this cross-sectional study. The average age of the patients was 52.81 ± 16.76 years. By the time of the first collection of conjunctival-tear samples, the mean time of the onset of complaints was 6.84 ± 6.81 (1-35) days. Tear-conjunctival samples from 5 patients (16%) without conjunctivitis yielded positive PCR results, 3 of whom had positive and 2 negative nasopharyngeal PCR results. CONCLUSIONS: Five of 32 patients (16 %) without conjunctivitis or any eye symptoms had viral RNA in their tear-conjunctival samples. The possibility of transmission via tears and conjunctival secretions should be recognized even in the absence of conjunctivitis or other ocular manifestations.

The clinical course of viral infections in patients under immunosuppression can be atypical and/or fatal if not diagnosed and treated appropriately. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may also have an atypical presentation. Contrary to the general opinion, transplant patients may be asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic, which could be a risk factor for underdiagnosis and the dissemination of this viral disease. This study presents the clinical features of 2 oligosymptomatic kidney transplant patients diagnosed with COVID-19. We suggest that new screening algorithms for COVID-19 should be reconsidered for the transplant patient population. NA

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES AT OUR FACULTY  Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Head of Computer Engineering department, Asst. Prof. Dr. Hakan Aydın, Ali Çetinkaya from IGU Technology and Transfer Office, and Computer Engineering Research Assistant Mehmet Ali Barışkan with which they worked together, The article titled "Evaluation of Energy Systems Security in the Scope of Cyber Security", was published in the journal "Security Sciences".  Istanbul Gelişim University, Computer Engineering Department, Asst. Prof. Dr. Elham Pashaei's article "Gene selection using hybrid dragonfly black hole algorithm: A case study on RNA-seq COVID-19 data" has been published in the journal "Analytical Biochemistry". For more detailed information about Istanbul Gelisim University, Computer engineering scientific studies, you can visit: www.gelisim.edu.tr.