Search

The study aimed to explore the protective effect of mask use against respiratory tract viral agents during the pandemic. The study included patients with a COVID-19 negative test who were hospitalized in the pulmonary disease clinic with the diagnoses of asthma attack, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation, and pneumonia in two periods: during mandatory mask use (October 2021 – May 2022) and after the mask mandate was lifted (October 2022 – May 2023). Combined nose and throat swab samples taken from the patients were evaluated for viral agents by using the PCR test method. Viral agents isolated from the patients in the two periods were compared based on hospitalization diagnoses and periods. The study enrolled 1,335 patients, 483 female and 852 male. It was found that viral agents significantly increased during the period without a mask mandate compared to the period when the mask mandate was in effect (41.6% vs. 23.4%) (p < 0.001). During the period without mask mandate, influenza A, H1N1, and RSV/AB viruses significantly increased (p = 0.019, p = 0.003, p < 0.001, respectively). Our results indicated that mask use during the pandemic is protective against the transmission of respiratory tract viruses. Thus, it can be concluded that mask use is important not only in the coronavirus pandemic but also especially in influenza and RSV epidemics.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of interdisciplinary activities organised online within the scope of an eTwinning project carried out with gifted students on the students' technology awareness and computational thinking (CT). However the research was not funded by eTwinning. The study was carried out through web-based tools for a period of 3 months in the year 2020. These Web 2.0 tools were: Canva, Zoom, Google Classroom, Jamboard, Tinkercad, Telegram, Facebook, Kahoot!, Instagram, StoryJumper, Padlet, etc. The research was designed with an explanatory design which is one of the mixed models. While in the quantitative aspect of the study, a quasi-experimental design with pretest posttest control group was carried out, a case study was carried out in the qualitative aspect of the study. The participants were 50 gifted students continuing their education at Science and Art Centres affiliated to the National Education Ministry in 6 different provinces of Turkey. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used together in the study. A technology awareness and computational thinking scale was chosen as the quantitative data collection tool, while mind maps were used as the qualitative data collection tool. As a result of the research, a significant increase in the participants' technology awareness and computational thinking was determined in favour of the posttest, while this increase was verified through the mind-mapping technique applied to the students. At the end of the study, the findings were discussed, and recommendations were made for future studies. In addition, a great limitation of this research was the effectiveness of activities that had to be carried out entirely remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the distance education, in which the teacher's control was weak, the skills intended to be fostered in students remained at a lower level.

Aim: In cases where standardized maximum uptake (SUVmax) values in positron emission tomography (PET-CT) were not sufficient to differentiate mediastinal lymphadenopathy and masses from malignant or benign, the contribution of Hounsfield unit (HU) values in thorax computed tomography to the diagnosis was evaluated. Material Method: The study was conducted by evaluating the data of 182 patients between 2019 and 2023. HU values on non-contrast thorax computed tomography and PET-CT SUVmax values of biopsied masses and lymph nodes were compared with histopathological diagnoses. Results: Patients, 58 females (31.9%) and 124 males (68.1%), who underwent EBUS were included in the study. Biopsies were taken from 233 stations (199 lymph nodes, 34 masses) from 182 patients. A total of 135 of the biopsies taken from 233 stations were histopathologically malignant and 98 were benign. While PET-CT SUVmax values of cases with benign histopathology were 4.5 ± 3.5, it was 7.6 ± 4.2 in patients with malignant pathology (p< 0.05). The HU value on non-contrast thorax tomography in patients with benign histopathology was 43.1 ± 15.7, and in patients with malignant histopathology it was 40.5 ± 13.7 (p> 0.05). When HU was compared according to lung cancer type, it was found to be significantly higher in non-small cell lung cancer (p=0.035). A weak (r=0.182) positive and significant relationship (p< 0.01) was found between PET-CT values and HU values in thorax computed tomography. Conclusion: While positron emission tomography maintains its importance in the differentiation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy and masses from malignant to non-malignant, it was concluded that HU values in computed tomography are not sufficient to distinguish malignant/non-malignant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Determination of clinical features and antibiotic susceptibility of microorganisms rarely grown in lower respiratory tract (LRT) cultures of patients hospitalized in respiratory intensive care unit Material and Method: Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases and risk factors, APHACHE-II scores, culture results and antibiotic resistance patterns, mortality status of 42 patients in whom rare microorganisms were detected as infectious agents in the LRT samples who were followed up and treated as inpatients in the respiratory intensive care unit between January 2019 and April 2023 were evaluated retrospectively. Results: 42 patients, 30 males and 12 females, whose rare microorganisms were detected as the infectious agent in LRT samples, were included in the study. The average age was 73.7±10.9 years. The most common comorbidities in the patients were hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart failure. The most common rare pathogenic microorganisms were burkholderia cepaci (n=8), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n=6), proteus mirabilis (n=5), and entobacter aerogenes (n=5). The most common risk factors were urinary catheterization and the usage of antibiotics before the growth of rare pathogenic microorganisms. While 22 of the patients survived during their stay in intensive care, 20 of them died. The day when the first reproduction was detected in LRT samples (p=0.012) and APHACHE-II scores in the surviving group were significantly lower than those in the surviving group (p=0.012). Conclusion: We think that the determination of antibiotic resistance patterns against microorganisms that rarely reproduce in intensive care units, such as microorganisms that reproduce frequently, will contribute to the use of antibiotics in our country and in our intensive care units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This research article aims to measure the effects of group therapy on institutionalized elderly in terms of reducing depression and improving psychosocial functioning. Methods: Thirty elderly nursing home residents were recruited, and 16 of them elected to receive group treatment for depression and 14 declined treatment. The Multidimensional Observation Scale for Elderly Subjects and the Geriatric Depression Scale were given to both groups when group work began and again when it ended. Results: Clients who received group treatment experienced reductions in depression and their psychosocial functioning improved. Conclusion: Group work intervention was followed by reductions in the depression levels and improvements in their psychosocial functions among institutionalized elderly clients.

Target audience; Our study, which included 10 special education teachers and 10 students with mild mental disabilities, was conducted in out-of-school learning environments with activities based on nature experience. Teachers selected from different provinces and students selected from different schools constituted the participants. Our project, supported by Tübitak as project number 222B080, was completed between 12-16 June 2023, under the Nizip District Directorate of National Education. Purpose of the study; to assimilate activities based on nature experience with an interdisciplinary approach in out-of-school learning environments. The study consists of 16 activities in the disciplines of Astronomy, Science, English, Math, Music, Robotics, Art, Sports, History, Turkish Language and Creative Drama. Project implementation was completed in 5 days. The method of the study was chosen as a pretest-post experimental design. Qualitative measurement tools were used in the project. Pre and post-test results were compared and interpreted. After the project, there was an increase in the environmental awareness of the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines 144 horoscope forecasts in the Turkish girls' magazine HeyGirl over the period 2019–20 using critical discourse analysis. It argues that although astrology is seemingly playful and harmless, it works as the "institutionalization of superstition" by encouraging girls to judge, evaluate and classify themselves through their experience by using the idea of a "perfect" future. This study therefore seeks to understand what kinds of tactics and strategies are used by horoscope forecasts in order to work like an ideologically disciplinary instrument. Analysis of the macrostructure of the horoscope forecasts identified four principal linguistic and textual tactics used by HeyGirl's horoscopes: detect (or invent) a situation; transform the situation into a problem; offer a solution for the invented problem; make a promise. Each horoscope forecast was examined by separating its content into these four tactics. These separations open up the envisaged inter-relations between situation, problem, solution and promise. These envisaged inter-relations are used to show how astrology transforms ideology and discourses into "knowledge," which comes from the future in order to produce, good, docile girls in the Turkish context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Comparing high-flow oxygen (HFO) and non-invasive ventilation (NIV) treatment methods applied to patients hospitalized in the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) service outside the intensive care unit. Materials and Methods: Demographic characteristics, duration of hospitalization and application times, acute phase reactants, ROX index, comorbid conditions, radiological scores and results were evaluated retrospectively in patients treated with HFO (n=26) and NIV (n=23) who were hospitalized in the COVID service outside the intensive care unit of the state hospital between November 2020 and June 2021. Results: A total of 49 patients, 27 males and 22 females, were included in the study. The mean age was 55.6±14.6 years. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (n=27), diabetes (n=15). Patients in the HFO group were hospitalized for 16.6±9.4 days, HFO was applied for 6±4.6 days. Patients in the NIV group were hospitalized for 9.4±6.4 days, NIV was applied for 5.8±4.2 days. The saturation of the patients who were administered HFO (84.1±4.6) were found to be lower than those who received NIV (88.7±2). It was determined that 18.37% of 49 patients e.g. 5 of whom were treated with HFO and 4 of them were those who received NIV treatment. The ROX index was found to be significantly lower in the death group (n=9) compared to the survivors (n=40). In radiological imaging, there was no significant difference in the severity of pneumonia in patients treated with HFO and NIV. Lactate dehydrogenase and C-reactive protein from acute phase reactants at the time of hospitalization were significantly higher in the group who ex. Conclusion: It was determined that HFO or NIV was not different in terms of mortality in thr nonintensive care COVID service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to know what scientific knowledge is and what processes it goes through and how this knowledge will be used by scientists in future researches. While there are studies in the literature examining the effects of the history of science practices on the nature of science, no scale has been found for secondary school students on the history of science. The development of the scale and the realization of its validity and reliability stages were studied with a total of 228 secondary school students studying in Nizip district of Gaziantep province in the 2020-2021 academic year. Students were determined by random sampling method. From the validity and reliability studies, a scale consisting of 21 items and three factors named as "Interest in the History of Science", "Awareness in the History of Science" and "The Contribution of the History of Science to Learning" emerged. The levels of the Instructional Value of the History of Science Scale from Students' Perspectives, which was created with 21 expression items, were scaled with a five-point Likert scale, by making validity and reliability analyzes. The final version of the scale is presented in the appendices.EFA and CFA results were examined in construct validity studies, and the KMO (Sampling Adequacy Measure) value was found to be .92. In calculating the reliability of the scale, the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient value was found to be 0.909. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Cografya Fakültesi Dergisi DTCF Dergisi is the property of Ankara Universitesi Dil ve Tarih-Cografya Fakultesi (DTCF Dergisi) 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.)

Copyright of Mersin University School of Medicine Lokman Hekim Journal of History of Medicine & Folk Medicine is the property of Mersin University School of Medicine 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.)

Copyright of Aydin Dental Journal is the property of Aydin Dental Journal 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.)