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Primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most successful procedures for end‐stage knee osteoarthritis. To determine the effect of preoperative knee joint function on postoperative quality of life in patients undergoing primary TKA. This descriptive cross‐sectional study was conducted with a total of 208 patients in the orthopedics and traumatology clinic. Data were gathered with a personal information form, the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), and the EQ‐5D‐5L Quality Of Life Scale in the preoperative period, at postoperative 6th week, and at postoperative 3rd month. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis, and simple linear regression analysis. The mean age of the patients was 65.65 ± 7.01 years. Most patients (86.1%) were women, and 51.4% underwent left TKA. OKS scores indicated poor knee function preoperatively and gradually increased at postoperative 6th week and 3rd month. Preoperative OKS was a significant predictor of postoperative knee joint function and quality of life. This study shows that preoperative knee joint function significantly affects postoperative knee joint function and quality of life. These results demonstrate the importance of the surgery timing and suggest that performing surgery earlier in functional decline may be associated with a better outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Konuralp Medical Journal / Konuralp Tip Dergisi is the property of Duzce University Medical School and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to climate change, population increase, and the urban heat island effect (UHI), the demand for cooling energy, especially in urban areas, has increased and will further increase in the future. Technologies such as radiative cooling offer a sustainable and energy-free solution by using the wavelength ranges of the atmosphere that are transparent to electromagnetic radiation, the so-called atmospheric window (8–13 µm), to emit thermal radiation into the colder (3 K) outer space. Previous publications in the field of textile building cooling have focused on specific fiber structures and textile substrate materials as well as complex multi-layer constructions, which restrict the use for highly scaled outdoor applications. This paper describes the development of a novel substrate-independent coating with spectrally selective radiative properties. By adapting the coating parameters and combining low-emitting and solar-reflective particles, along with a matrix material emitting strongly in the mid-infrared range (MIR), substrate-independent cooling below ambient temperature is achieved. Moreover, the coating is designed to be easily applicable, with a low thickness, to ensure high flexibility and scalability, making it suitable for various applications such as membrane architecture, textile roofs, or tent construction. The results show a median daytime temperature reduction (7 a.m.–7 p.m.) of 2 °C below ambient temperature on a hot summer day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the theoretical and experimental cooling performance of textile materials utilizing radiative cooling technology. By applying Kirchhoff's law, the emissivity of surfaces is determined, revealing that materials with high transmission values can achieve comparable cooling performance to those with high reflection values. Notably, materials exhibiting moderate reflectance and transmittance in the solar range tend to absorb minimal solar radiation, thus offering high theoretical cooling performance. However, practical applications like building envelopes or clothing present challenges due to the impact of background radiation on overall cooling capacity. Despite their intrinsic cooling properties, a significant portion of solar radiation is transmitted, complicating matters as the background can significantly affect overall cooling performance. This study provides a solution that accounts for the influence of background materials. Based on spectral data, various background materials and their impact on different semi-transparent comparison materials can be considered, and cooling performance can be simulated. This enables the simulation of cooling performance for various application scenarios and facilitates comparisons between transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque textile materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toys make a considerable clutter in homes over time unless managed responsibly. Given the ease of buying anything these days, especially toys, due to the rise of online shopping (Richards et al., 2020), toy piles can grow quickly. Current literature on the sustainability of toys is based on physical touch points, such as material, design, assembly, or transport, and suggested methods to enhance sustainability performance up to the "before‐use" phase. Our study focuses on how consumers address the issue of sustainability in toys, from the moment they intend to buy a toy to the time they terminate the toys' use, with a focus on green purchase behavior. We used data from a survey to depict 220 Turkish caregivers' perceptions of sustainability with snowball sampling to build an analytic hierarchy process system. The aim was to understand caregivers' approaches to toy sustainability factors in general and to interpret their motivations for green purchase activity. Among the eight sustainability criteria explicitly set for toys, child development‐related factors dominated durability, while price was found to be ineffective. This study of six best‐selling toys for 3–6‐year‐olds on a shopping site revealed that long‐term use is crucial for sustainability in toys. We observed that digital platforms are insufficient to convey the sustainability features of products, and thus propose a concept that evaluates the sustainability performance of toys and advises the consumer about the sustainability potential of the toys on the sales site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Konuralp Medical Journal / Konuralp Tip Dergisi is the property of Duzce University Medical School and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic performance between chest computed tomography (CT) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in outpatients with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients and Methods: Between March and June 2020, a total of 812 patients with clinically suspected COVID-19 who underwent both chest CT and initial-single RT-PCR on admission to outpatient units were retrospectively enrolled. CT severity-score (CT-SS) was calculated and data were matched with PCR results. Results: Of 812 patients, 54% (439/812) had positive RT-PCR results, and 47% (425/812) had a positive chest CT scan. With RT-PCR results as reference, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy of chest CT in defining COVID-19 infection were 60%, (95% CI 56-65%, 265/439 patients), 57% (95% CI 52-62%, 213/373), 59% (95% CI 55-62%, 478/812), respectively. Three hundred eighty-seven (47%) patients had no CT findings, 380/812 (46.8%) had mild, 45/812 (5.5%) had moderate, and no patients in the severe group Conclusion: Chest CT did not show high sensitivity for the diagnosis of COVID-19 for outpatients. We suggest RT-PCR should be the primary diagnostic tool. Chest CT might be considered if there is a strong clinical suspicion with repeatedly negative RT-PCR test results, ensuring infection prevention and control measures can be preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three different institutions combined their expertise in a joint R&D project to demonstrate the suitability of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for thickness measurements of acrylate-based coatings on polyester fabric. First, we spectroscopically analyzed the materials involved using a high-precision terahertz spectrometer and determined optical properties such as the refractive index and loss coefficient. Raster scans were then performed across the sample, and terahertz images were created to identify material boundaries and thickness inhomogeneities. Finally, we applied a fast scanning terahertz time-domain spectrometer based on electronically controlled optical sampling and a customized reflection head for online thickness measurements in a coating line. The textile moved at a speed of 0.5 m/min, while the measurement system records terahertz pulses at a rate of 1600 traces/s. Coating thicknesses of between 63 µm and 99 µm were calculated in a post-processing step. To classify these non-contact and non-destructive measurements, these thicknesses were compared with the results of standard methods. Online and offline (62-83 µm) terahertz and SEM (66-75 µm) measurements delivered the best agreement for average coating thickness. In contrast, mechanical testing methods gave either too low or too high values for layer thickness, which were not comparable. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and imaging technology enable the first non-destructive quality control of acrylate-based textile coatings immediately following coating in the production line. Measurable variables are coating thicknesses and the detection of defects such as air inclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural fibers do not have a long life in soil; therefore, they cannot replace synthetic textiles in many applications. However, in order to solve ever-increasing global environmental problems due to microplastics, more and more natural polymers must be used, creating a need for research into the sustainable life extension of natural fibers. Lignin is, along with cellulose, a main component of wood, and is produced in large quantities as waste during paper production. With appropriate processing, lignin can be exploited/used as a textile auxiliary to combine the strength-enhancing properties of textiles made from natural fibers with the protective properties of a lignin coating. However, there is not yet sufficient research on how to integrate lignin into textile applications. For this purpose, in this study, we have investigated whether thermoplastic lignin can be processed as a surface protective coating. We tested lignin as a yarn coating to extend the service life of cellulosic textiles. Cotton yarns have been coated with lignin in variations of coating mass, characterized and investigated by means of soil burial tests. As the soil burial tests conducted in climate chamber and outdoor field environments showed, the lifespan of textiles made from natural fibers can be significantly extended with a lignin coating. Long-term resilience has been demonstrated in standard burial tests. In the outdoor tests, the lignin coating was still fully intact, even after about 160 days of burial. The textile materials coated in this way enable sustainable applications, especially for geotextiles. They have an adjustable, sufficiently long service life; however, they are still biodegradable, and can therefore replace some applications, such as vegetating trench/brook slopes, with synthetic materials. Lignin-coated textiles have the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint, reduce not only the dependence on petroleum-based products but also the amount of microplastics entering the environment. Further research can be conducted to improve lignin compounding in terms of other interesting properties for specific textile applications. Process optimization could increase the protective effect and further extend the life of useful textiles in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects an inquiry into the agency in Istanbul maker ecologies by employing phenomenological research through the perspective of Actor-Network Theory. The originally generated onto-phenomenological approach in this article attributes agency to the competencies and the interpretation. Socioeconomic effects that emerged as an outcome of the agency in maker-thing assemblages are reflected as a part of this inquiry. Agency in local maker practices is exposed to show how they are different from the global maker movement through the criticism of it in the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design-driven scenarios can play a critical role in enhancing social and environmental well-being and creating sustainable solutions for better living conditions and sustainable futures. With this starting point, this study aims to use traditional knowledge as a source for sustainable development and a sustainable way of living by examining, empowering, and promoting local and traditional values through social innovation approach and design expertise. The main motivation of the study is to construct an intended link between traditional knowledge and a sustainable future for societies. The research was conducted by examining a multi-cultural local district in Turkey and its traditional and sustainable habits and proposing development ideas based on the social innovation literature and authors' design expertise. The proposed ideas involve different approaches such as an ecosystem that promotes co-creation, women's employment, symbiotic production processes, and digital marketing platforms for local products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the health behavior and health needs of medical and health sciences students in order to identify areas that need intervention. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 770 first-year university students. The data were collected with a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Eating Attitudes Test. Body mass index was calculated. Results: Although, only 12.7% of the students were overweight or obese, 25.6% of the students perceived themselves to be overweight or obese. The students said that in the last week, 20.9% had breakfast 1 or 3 times, 5.7% ate no fruits at all, and 11.6% ate no vegetables at all. 48.1% of the students did not engage in any physical activity, and 83.2% spent more than 2 hours inactively in front of a screen. It was observed that 22.3% were current smokers. A propensity for eating behaviors disorder was found in 9.0%. Drinking energy-boosting sports drinks 1-6 times in the last week (β: 3.286), smoking (β: 1.875) and eating few vegetable dishes in the last week (β: 0.484) were identified as factors that could be associated with a "tendency for eating behavior disorder." CONCLUSION: We can conclude that nutritional issues, negative body weight perception, use of tobacco, and sedentary lifestyle are the main intervention and counselling areas for our study group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance evaluation is a process in which the productivity of employees or institutions is measured according to certain pre-determined standards. Being competitive in national and international markets and increasing productivity have gained importance under the current market conditions and in the process of globalization. The most significant source for organizations to provide a sustainable competitive advantage is human resources. Therefore, providing a positive workplace atmosphere to employees in the organizations is of great importance. This study tests the roles of organizational climate and ethical climate, which gradually gain significance in new organizational structures that emerge with social, economic and technological changes under the market conditions of the 21st century, on the individual performance of employees. For this purpose, data were obtained by using the survey method on the white-collar employees of organizations functioning in three diverse areas of the private sector in Istanbul. It was determined that while organizational climate has a low influence on the individual performance of employees, the ethical climate has an important role on the individual performance of employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New product development (NPD) plays a significant role in maintaining competitive advantage and increasing market share. NPD is highly dependent on the existing knowledge of individuals within the company, which is shared and used to create new knowledge. Employees' tacit knowledge is another significant source of know-how for companies. Craft knowledge – a form of tacit knowledge that includes material and hand-making knowledge – is transferable to industries through collaborative works. Since the management and design literatures on this subject do not meet on common ground, there is a lack of literature on this transfer. With this aim, we examined the transfer of craft knowledge to NPD in three industries: leather, glass, and furniture industries. Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with six companies. Interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis. Craft knowledge is transferred to industries during the idea generation and prototyping stages of NPD through problem-solving and suggesting materials and manufacturing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of the dynamic contact angle is of significant interest for the characterization of the wettability of technical fibers and textiles in diverse fields of science and technology. There exist traditional methods for dynamic contact angle measurements of flat surfaces and of fibers with a uniform cross‐sectional shape along the fiber. So far, however, no method has been reported which is suitable for structured fibers, particularly for spindle‐knotted structured fibers of varying cross‐sections. This article describes a new method for measuring the dynamic contact angle for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) spindle‐knotted structured fibers. The method is an outcome of integrating the results obtained from experiments (applying force tensiometry) and a proposed theoretical model describing such fibers. The reliability and conformity of the results are shown by comparing the measured dynamic contacts angle of PDMS as spindle‐knot and as a flat surface. This method may pave the road for better wettability analysis of various structured fibers. It also allows to measure the local receding and advancing contact angles for macroscopic/microscopic structured fibers (especially when they are not accessible as flat surfaces) against the various test liquids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A shift to the use of more eco‐friendly products and production methods is not sufficient to reverse the negative impacts of the Anthropocene period. Irrational overconsumption and production patterns should be abolished and redesigned to remain within the Earth's carrying capacity. Over‐consumption in Turkey is a part of the problem. At the juncture of Europe and Asia, Turkey has a wide variety of consumer behaviors, ranging from conservative habits to shopping sprees, especially with the rapid transition to an open economy in developing cities with contemporized lifestyles. On the one hand, consumption and material culture have quickly diffused among the younger population, who have an important share in the demographic structure and who adopt new information technologies and follow global trends. On the other hand, sharing and collaboration are core elements of the established culture. With that notion in mind, Karsiyaka municipality and the alternative education cooperation BBOM Izmir organized a swap event. The aim of the research, was to discover the views of participants on sustainability and swapping as an alternative collaborative consumption method. The results of the interviews and observations from the swap event revealed the traces of personal and cultural values on the participants' perspectives on sustainability concept and swapping. The results also showed correlations and differences with the literature. The perceptions and expectations of local consumers about swap and the concept of sustainability are mismatched with what we profoundly need for our goal of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 spread rapidly all over the world. Social distancing has been one of the measures taken to prevent the disease from spreading, meaning employees and students have been forced to work remotely using communication tools. Within the design field, professionals and students working remotely were limited to using communication tools developed during the design process, finding ways to use these facilities in accordance with their practice routines in the physical environment. In this article, the tools used to conduct collaborative design processes remotely during the pandemic were examined through a questionnaire study. Even though designers have had to work digitally to maintain workflow during this period, positive experiences were observed when using the special tools. However, the transfer of tacit knowledge was restricted in design projects due to limited spatial communication. While many designers discovered they could already use the available tailored tools, many improvements were suggested through needs that were previously unknown becoming explicit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many hospitals across Australia and New Zealand have implemented acute care surgery (ACS) models over the past decade, often with improved outcomes such as reductions in wait time to surgery, complications and length of stay. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients who underwent non‐elective appendicectomy and cholecystectomy and compare these with the results observed shortly after the implementation of an ACS model at our institution 10 years earlier. Methods: A retrospective review of contemporary patients who underwent non‐elective appendicectomy and cholecystectomy compared with historical data was performed. Primary outcomes were wait time to surgery, surgical complications and length of stay. Results: In the contemporary cohort, 263 patients underwent non‐elective appendicectomy over a 1‐year period compared with 226 patients in the historical cohort. The median wait time to surgery had increased (17.7 versus 9.6 h, P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in a composite end‐point of complications and readmissions (8.0% versus 9.3%, P = 0.61). The length of stay was unchanged. There was greater use of preoperative imaging and reduced overnight operating. For non‐elective cholecystectomies, 132 patients underwent this procedure in the contemporary cohort over a 2‐year period compared with 115 patients in the historical cohort. There were no significant differences in wait time to surgery (2 versus 1 day, P = 0.13) or complications (9.8% versus 8.7%, P = 0.75). The length of stay was unchanged. Conclusion: The majority of improvements seen shortly following the implementation of an ACS model have been sustained after 10 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The identification of the health needs of university students and staff may be the first step in improving public health approaches. The aim of this study was to investigate the most needed health care services by the university students and employees. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 864 representative individuals on Marmara University Göztepe Campus, Istanbul, Turkey. All participants were given a questionnaire including questions about the sociodemographic characteristics and health status, healthy lifestyle behaviours and health needs. Results: The mean age of the participants was 24±7.9 years. The number of participants who had periodic health maintenance/ check-up was 11.4%. Smoking and alcohol use prevalence was similar for students and employees (30.9% and 30.2%). Depression screening was found to be positive in 67.4% of the participants (58.7% of the employees, 69.7% of the students).The most commonly requested information was on healthy nutrition (42.4%), followed by screening for diseases (32.3%), emergency situations/first aid (31.2%), exercise counselling (28.6%) and prevention of chronic diseases (27.8%). Conclusion: Our findings show that the most needed health care services are psychological counselling, periodic health controls, health promotion counselling and first aid training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is about developing novel ideas for packaging and branding of locally bottled tomatoes, which is a traditional food preparation craft of women in western Turkey. In this region preparing fresh tomato preserve for private consumption is an annual and seasonal practice made in summer as a preparation for winter. One of the towns famous for this craft is Salihli where approximately 155,000 people live. Located in the western Aegean region of Turkey, Mediterranean climate prevails in Salihli making it an agriculture town. A group of women in Salihli requested our assistance as product designers to prepare their products for selling in contemporary markets. The participants of our research had entrepreneurial motivation. Adopting a bottom-up approach, we explored how new design ideas emerged in a group when working with professional designers in two workshops. The research emphasizes co-creation and learning self-innovation as a sociocultural practice defined as situated learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of the literature on design for democracy in the 20th and early 21st century. Seeking democracy while designing has been shaped by various political and sociological developments such as the internet, globalization and mass immigration. As a response to these radical changes in daily life, some designers developed low cost products for disadvantaged people as in 100 USD laptop project by Behar, while some designers focused on locality and sought local solutions for local problems as in EMUDE (Emerging Users Demands for Sustainable Solutions) of Politecnico di Milano. In other words, among many approaches, some approaches aim to serve the disadvantaged via traditional production while some are critical of the necessity of making more and more products. In this review, emerging sociological, political and technological phenomena will historically map simultaneously emerging design reactions in the 20th and early 21st century by discussing examples from Papanek to Pro-Am Revolution and their relationships with 'world issues' in a historical continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We designed a kind of smart bioinspired fiber with multi-gradient and multi-scale spindle knots by combining polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and graphene oxide (GO). Multilayered graphene structures can produce obvious wettability change after laser etching due to increased roughness. We demonstrate that the cooperation between curvature and the controllable wettability play an important role in water gathering, which regulate effectively the motion of tiny water droplets. In addition, due to the effective cooperation of multi-gradient and multi-scale hydrophilic spindle knots, the length of the three-phase contact line (TCL) can be longer, which makes a great contribution to the improvement of collecting efficiency and water-hanging ability. This study offers a novel insight into the design of smart materials that may control the transport of tiny drops reversibly in directions, which could potentially be extended to the realms of in microfluidics, fog harvesting filtration and condensers designs, and further increase water collection efficiency and hanging ability.