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Introduction: The development of fracture gap during intramedullary nailing in tibial fractures is associated with poor fracture fragment contact and increased time to union and complications. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the fracture level in the development of the fracture gap and the effect of the fracture gap on pain, radiologic and functional outcomes, and complication rate. Material and method: A total of 45 patients who underwent reamed intramedullary nailing due to closed transverse or short oblique tibial shaft fractures were divided into the proximal fracture group and the distal fracture group. The correlations between the visual analog scale (VAS) score, modified radiograph union score for tibias (RUST), and postoperative 1-year lower extremity functional scale scores, residual fracture gap, and time to union were evaluated. Results: The mean fracture gap amounts in the immediate postoperative anteroposterior and lateral radiographs were 5.6 ± 1.7 and 6.0 ± 1.7 mm in proximal fractures and 0.3 ± 2.4 mm and 0.4 ± 2.3 mm in distal fractures, respectively (p

The aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of science teachers who are pursuing postgraduate studies on their experiences in preparing a research project and to explore the effects of this experience on the participants. In this context, a qualitative research method was employed using an action research design. Seven science teachers who met the research criteria participated, and the research was conducted for 14 weeks during the fall semester. Semi-structured interviews, peer assessment forms, and project evaluation rubrics were used to collect data. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed using content analysis technique. The results indicated that the participants had insufficient knowledge about preparing a research project before the training, but they achieved a certain level of competency by the end of the training. The participants gained knowledge about the stages of the project, how to write the project, what originality means and its importance, and the criteria of a good project as a result of the training. The teachers gained an important understanding about the importance of originality and planning while preparing the project, and they had the most difficulty in determining the originality of the project. In addition, the participants agreed that teacher competency in preparing and conducting a qualitative research project is very important.

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of in-vivo produced Nisin which is an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) added to adhesive resin on shear bond strength (SBS) and the adhesive remnant index (ARI) of orthodontic brackets. Methods Bacterial AMP was produced by fermentation and the ideal AMP/Bond concentration and antimicrobial efficacy of the mixture were tested. To evaluate the SBS and ARI scores of AMP-added adhesive resins, 80 maxillary premolar teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes were used and randomly assigned into 2 groups (n = 40). Group 1: Control Group (teeth bonded with standard adhesive resin); Group 2: Experimental Group (teeth bonded with AMP-added adhesive resin). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS package program and applying the Mann-Whitney U and Fisher’s exact tests. P

The purpose of this work is to examine the issue of pre-service science teachers' (PSST) Geogebra applications on misconceptions about projectile motion (PM) and the permanence of learning concepts. In this study, quantitative research method was used as scientific research method, and semi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test control group was used as a pattern. The accessible population of this study is PSST who study in a university located in Kayseri, Turkey in the 2019-2020 academic year. Sample of the study included 36 freshman PSST, studying at the university level in Kayseri. 18 of the participants are experimental-group (EG) and 18 of them are control-group (CG). Both groups learned the subject of projectile motion (PM) together in the classroom. In addition to the traditional teaching method, the EG participated eight-week in the Geogebra course based on the conceptual change model and prepared physics simulations with Geogebra. "Conceptual Questions on Projectile Motion" was used as a data collection tool and the data were analyzed by means of statistics (t-test) based on the difference between averages. The results revealed that both the post-test's and permanence test's mean scores of the EG PSST were significantly higher than the mean score of the CG PSST (post-test: t=2.525; p< 0.05) (permanence test: t=5.466; p< 0.05). Furthermore, in this study, many misconceptions about the PM were identified.

This experimental study within the scope of Anadolu University Open Education Faculty in Turkey aims to examine the effect of online group discussion techniques. In this context, the online group discussion technique, which is applied by dividing the learners into manageable groups in online learning environments, has been examined within the scope of intrinsic motivation, social presence, and perceived learning variables. Sequential explanatory mixed method design was used to conduct this study. The online group discussion process was applied in the study's experimental group by dividing the learners into manageable groups. In this process, a field expert accompanied each group. In the control group, the discussion process was left to its natural state, and all learners who took the relevant course were included in a single group. Before and after the experimental process, data were collected from 250 learners through the study scales, and then five learners were interviewed. The findings obtained within the study's scope show that the design to be applied in the online group discussion technique used in online learning environments is important in increasing the efficiency to be obtained from the process. In this context, it has been observed that to manage online learning processes effectively, attention should be paid to the fact that the groups must be less than 150 learners to not show mass features. Online group discussions in groups that do not show mass features positively affected the learners' intrinsic motivation, social presence, and perceived learning levels. However, acting in line with the principles of social constructivism theory and the community of inquiry theory in learning processes has increased the discussions' efficiency. Besides, it has been observed that the increase in the social presence and intrinsic motivation of the learners positively affects their perceived learning levels.

Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate the content, reliability, quality and readability of information on Internet websites about early orthodontic treatment. Methods The “early orthodontic treatment” search term was individually entered into four web search engines. The content quality and reliability were reviewed with DISCERN, Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), and Health on the Net code (HONcode) tools using the contents of websites meeting predetermined criteria. The readability of websites was evaluated with Flesch Reading Facilitate Score (FRES) and Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL). Results Eighty-six websites were suitable for inclusion and scoring of the 200 websites. 80.2% of websites belonged to orthodontists, 15.1% to multidisciplinary dental clinics and 4.7% to professional organizations. The mean DISCERN score of all websites (parts 1 and 2) was 27.98/75, ranging between 19 and 67. Professional organization websites had the highest scores for DISCERN criteria. Moreover, 45.3% of websites were compatible with JAMA’s disclosure criterion, 7% with the currency criterion, 5.8% with the authorship criterion and 5.8% with the attribution criterion. Only three websites met all JAMA criteria, and these websites belonged to professional organizations. None of the websites had the HONcode logo. Mean FRES and FKGL were 47.6 and 11.6, respectively. Conclusions The quality of web-based information about early orthodontic treatment is poor, and readability is insufficient. More accurate and higher quality Internet sources are required on the web.

This paper aims to examine the opinions of gifted children, their parents, and science teachers working at the Science and Art Centre (BILSEM) regarding science education for the gifted. The present study participants, which was conducted by utilizing the phenomenology design using one of the qualitative research methods, were ten talented students, seven parents, and two science teachers working at BILSEM. The study's data were collected using semi-structured interviews held with the participants. The collected data were analyzed by adopting the data analysis process proposed by Moustakas (1994) for phenomenological studies. The study revealed that gifted students possess a mental perception of sciences in the form of life, experience, and scientific knowledge. Talented learners want to learn science by employing experiments, projects, excursions, and observations. Based on these findings, it is recommended that gifted students should be provided with an enjoyable science learning environment to make them active, have fun while learning, perform experiments, and develop projects.

Background and aims: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a growing global epidemic in Türkiye and worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of MASLD and steatohepatitis among adults who died of unnatural causes including sudden death and non-burn trauma. Method: We conducted a prospective review of all consecutive adult forensic autopsies for natural (sudden unexpected) and non-natural (Suicidal, homicidal and accidental) suspicious deaths carried out at the Istanbul Council of Forensic Medicine from February to May 2022. Four wedge biopsies were extracted from sagittal sectioned liver specimens. A liver pathologist with 20 years of experience examined each case for steatosis, ballooning, inflammation, and fibrosis. Results: Among 1797 autopsies, 62 met inclusion criteria. Overall, 43.3 % (n = 26) of autopsies showed evidence of steatotic liver disease, with a distribution of steatosis severity as: Grade I (28.3 %), Grade II (6.6 %), and Grade III (8.3 %). All these cases met at least one cardiometabolic criteria and diagnosed with MASLD. Ballooning was observed in 20.0 % of cases (5 cases grades 1 and 7 cases grade 2), and Inflammation was present in 51.7 % (9 cases with grade 0–1, 12 with 1–2, 7 with 2–3, and 3 with 5–6). Notably, 46.1 % (n = 12) of MASLD cases and 20.0 % (n = 12) of all cases were diagnosed with steatohepatitis, with three cases exhibiting delicate perisinusoidal fibrosis and one case showing portal fibrosis. Conclusion: The histopathological findings from this autopsy study confirmed the markedly high prevalence of MASLD and steatohepatitis within the general adult population, highlighting the concerning burden of steatotic liver disease in Türkiye.

Text summarization is the task of generating a short and concise summary of a source text. In an abstractive text summarization, the generated summaries may potentially contain new phrases that do not appear in the source text. Dialogue summarization is a special case of text summarization in which the source text is a dialogue between two or more people. Dialogue summarization can be a crucial step especially when the source dialogues are complex and long such as call center conversations. Large language models (LLMs) show remarkable performance in natural language generation tasks and thus they can be a suitable modeling approach for abstractive text summarization. Although LLMs are extensively studied for common languages, there are only a few studies for underrepresented languages such as Turkish. In this paper, we make a comprehensive evaluation of LLMs for Turkish abstractive dialogue summarization. For this purpose, we translated 3 datasets in English to Turkish. Additionally, we make use of a test set that contains real call center dialogues originally collected in Turkish. In the experiments, we observe that fine-tuning LLMs to the dialogue summarization task significantly improves the performance. We obtain 21% overall absolute improvement with the fine-tuning over a baseline Turkish LLM. The performance is improved in all 4 test cases. Additionally, we observe that the length of the summaries plays a crucial role in the performance.

Environmental contamination with Bacillus anthracis spores poses clear threats to livestock that play key roles in the economies of pastoral communities. Regular monitoring of contaminated sites is particularly important in anthrax-endemic parts of the world, such as Kars province in eastern Türkiye, where the Veterinary Microbiology Department of Kafkas University has conducted an anthrax surveillance programme for over 30 years. We reviewed the microbiological results of 232 soil samples collected during 2009–2023, from sites known to be contaminated with B. anthracis spores following burial or butchering of infected animal carcasses. Twenty-five contaminated sites in 16 villages were studied. Samples were taken from a total of 61 different positions within these sites and viable spores were detected in 136 (58.6%) of the samples examined. Of the 96 samples from which spores were not recovered, subsequent samples from the same positions proved positive on 21 occasions. Using a standardised sampling plan, it was discovered that samples taken 1–2 m on a downward slope from the centre-point of contamination had higher (p < 0.001) spore concentrations than those taken from other positions. Although spore concentrations at some sampling positions varied over time, the overall values remained stable. This finding contrasts with observations in other parts of the world where spore concentrations tend to decline with time and may reflect regional differences in soil composition that permit more prolonged spore persistence. Concentrations of >100 spores/g soil were found in 10 (66.7%) of the 15 samples taken 10–13 years following a contamination event. These results demonstrate the longevity of viable anthrax spores in the soil of agricultural environments following decomposition of infected animal carcasses, and therefore the need for prolonged bacteriological monitoring of contaminated sites. Furthermore, they underline the importance of appropriate decontamination, as burial on its own does not eliminate all spores.

Objectives: Fractal analysis is a numerical method that indicates the structural patterns and complexity of the trabecular bone on radiographs. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the trabecular bone structure in systemically healthy patients and diabetes mellitus patients with periodontitis using fractal analysis. Method and materials: The study included 125 mandibular first molars of nonsmoker patients. The subjects were divided into five subgroups: diabetes mellitus patients with mild-moderate periodontitis, diabetes mellitus patients with advanced periodontitis, systemically healthy individuals with mild-moderate periodontitis, systemically healthy individuals with advanced periodontitis, and systemically healthy individuals with gingivitis (control group). Clinical periodontal parameters (pocket depth, bleeding on probing, clinical attachment loss, and bone loss) were recorded. Two specific sites located in the mesial-distal regions (n = 250) of the mandibular first molars were identified using periapical radiographs captured with a parallel technique. Fractal analysis values were calculated using the box-counting method. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation analysis were used forstatistical evaluation. Results: The highest fractal analysis values were observed in systemically healthy with gingivitis patients (mesial fractal analysis: 1.86 ± 0.01; distal fractal analysis: 1.85 ±0.01). Patients with periodontitis (mesial fractal analysis: 1.78 ±0.02; distal fractal analysis: 1.79 ± 0.01) exhibited lower fractal analysis values compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in mesial and distal fractal analysis values between all periodontitis groups. No correlation was found between age, sex, clinical attachment loss, bone loss, and fractal analysis (P>.05). Conclusions: Although fractal analysis values were lower in the periodontitis groups compared to the control group, fractal analysis did not demonstrate any periodontitis-associated changes of bone tra-beculationin diabetes at any stage of periodontitis. Furthermore, there was no significant association between fractal analysis values and age, sex, clinical attachment, and bone loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. We aimed to examine the thiol-disulfide (SS) balance, a recognized marker of oxidative stress, in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Methods. The study comprised 98 female participants (61 newly diagnosed patients and 37 patients under treatment) with FMS, along with 82 apparently healthy female volunteers. In both groups, assessments were conducted using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Short Form-36 (SF-36), Tender Point Count, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Native thiol (NT) and total thiol (TT) levels were measured, SS levels and SS/NT ratio were calculated. Results. FMS patients demonstrated significantly lower NT levels, higher SS levels, and an elevated SS/NT ratio compared to the control group (p< 0.05 for all groups). In FMS patients, a statistically significant correlation was found between SS level and the SS/NT ratio, as well as the number of tender points (r=-0.24, p=0.02; r=-0.21, p=0.04), SF-36 pain subscales (r=0.22, p=0.032; r=0.21, p=0.04), and BAI scores (r=-0.22, p=0.01; r=-0.23 p=0.03). In the subgroup analysis, all health assessment scales were observed to exhibit statistically significant differences between the under-treatment group and newly-diagnosed group when compared to the control group (p< 0.05 for all groups). The FIQ, VAS, FSS, and BAI scores were found to be significantly lower in the under-treatment group as compared to the newly-diagnosed group (p< 0.05 for all groups). In the newly-diagnosed group, NT was significantly lower and the SS/NT ratio was significantly higher than those in the control group (p< 0.05). In the under-treatment group, SS levels and SS/NT ratio were significantly higher as compared to the control group (p< 0.05). In the multivariate regression analysis, which incorporated age, health assessment scales, patient subgroups, tender points, and duration of symptoms to predict the SS/NT ratio, variabes such as being in the under-treatment group, tender points, and BAI score were identified as significant predictors (p< 0.05). Conclusions. The thiol-SS balance was observed to shift in the oxidative direction, and oxidative stress was higher in the FMS group. The absence of a significant difference between the under-treatment group and the newly-diagnosed group in terms of thiol-SS balance parameters suggests a shift to oxidative stress in patients, independent of the treatment status.

Previous studies have described many scales for measuring self-regulation; however, no scale has been developed specifically for self-paced open and distance learning environments. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a scale for determining the self-regulated learning skills of distance learners in selfpaced open and distance learning courses. Participants of this study were 1279 distance learners who were part of self-paced distance learning courses in a public open and distance teaching university in Turkey. The items of the scale were prepared based on the literature review, expert opinions, and learner questionnaires. The items of the scale were reduced from 62 to 30 after expert opinions and validity and reliability analyses. For the validity of the scale, the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. The total variance was found to be 58.204%. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient calculated for the reliability of the scale was found to be 0.937. Five factors composed of goal setting, help seeking, self study strategies, managing physical environment, and effort regulation emerged in the 30-item scale. Thus, it was concluded that the scale has a high validity and reliability. This scale is intended to help teachers and instructional designers in developing strategies that will enable learners to either enhance their existing self-regulated learning skills or help them to acquire new skills in self-paced open and distance learning environments.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness and treatment approaches of general dentists about temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Methods: A cross-sectional 21-item questionnaire study was performed and was sent to general practitioner dentists in Turkey. The demographics, length of professional experience, and their level of knowledge about TMD management were evaluated. Results: Eighty general practitioner dentists responded to the questionnaire. In the first part of the questionnaire, a statistically significant difference was found for the statement ‘One of the symptoms of TMD is headache.’ between the responses of dentists with more than 5 years of professional experience and those with less than 5 years of professional experience (p=0.012). No statistically significant difference was found in the responses to the other questions about TMD in other part of the questionnaire (p>0.05). Conclusion: The knowledge and awareness about the diagnosis and treatment of TMD is low among general practitioner dentists. Informative seminars or courses should be organized to increase the knowledge of TMD among general practitioner dentists.

الملخص: أهداف البحث: هدفت الدراسة الحالية إلى تحديد مستوى السعادة لدى أطباء الأسنان ومعرفة مدى ارتباطها بالرفاهية العاطفية والرضا عن الحياة. طرق البحث: تم إجراء استبانة بين أطباء الأسنان في تركيا باستخدام 25 سؤالا. تضمنت الاستبانة أسئلة حول العمر والجنس ومكان العمل وسنوات الخبرة ومقياس الرضا عن الحياة المكون من 5 عناصر. النتائج: أكمل المسح 486 طبيب أسنان. لقد وجدنا أن أماكن عمل أطباء الأسنان وألقابهم المهنية كانت مرتبطة بدرجة الرضا عن حياتهم. أفاد معظم أطباء الأسنان (373 طبيبا؛ 76.25٪) أنهم يشعرون بالضغط في بيئة عملهم، وكانت المؤسسة التي عملوا فيها مرتبطة بدرجة كبيرة بدرجة الضغط. فيما يتعلق بما إذا كانوا سيوصون بمهنتهم للآخرين، فإن المؤسسة والمسمى الوظيفي والخبرة العملية كانت عوامل مهمة. ارتبطت مؤسسات وألقاب أطباء الأسنان بشكل كبير بالرضا عن الحياة. الاستنتاجات: تشير النتائج إلى أن أطباء الأسنان في تركيا لديهم مستوى منخفض من الرضا عن الحياة مقارنة بأطباء الأسنان في البلدان الأخرى، كما تختلف العوامل المرتبطة بالرضا عن الحياة. Abstract: Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the levels of happiness among dentists and to investigate their associations with emotional well-being and satisfaction with life. Methods: Dentists in Turkey were surveyed with 25 questions on age, gender, place of work, and years of experience, and a five-item life satisfaction scale. Results: A total of 486 dentists completed the survey. Dentists' workplaces and professional titles were associated with their life satisfaction scores. Most dentists (n = 373; 76.25%) reported feeling pressured in their work environment, and the institution where they worked was significantly associated with the degree of pressure (p

Environmental contamination with Bacillus anthracis spores poses uncertain threats to human health. We undertook a study to determine whether inhabitants of the anthrax-endemic region of Kars in eastern Türkiye could develop immune responses to anthrax toxins without recognised clinical infection. We measured anti-PA and anti-LF IgG antibody concentrations by ELISA in serum from 279 volunteers, 105 of whom had previously diagnosed anthrax infection (100 cutaneous, 5 gastrointestinal). Of the 174 without history of infection, 72 had prior contact with anthrax-contaminated material. Individuals were classified according to demographic parameters, daily working environment, and residence type. All villages in this study had recorded previous animal or human anthrax cases. Stepwise regression analyses showed that prior clinical infection correlated strongly with concentrations at the upper end of the ranges observed for both antibodies. For anti-PA, being a butcher and duration of continuous exposure risk correlated with high concentrations, while being a veterinarian or shepherd, time since infection, and town residence correlated with low concentrations. For anti-LF, village residence correlated with high concentrations, while infection limited to fingers or thumbs correlated with low concentrations. Linear discriminant analysis identified antibody concentration profiles associated with known prior infection. Profiles least typical of prior infection were observed in urban dwellers with known previous infection and in veterinarians without history of infection. Four individuals without history of infection (two butchers, two rural dwellers) had profiles suggesting unrecognised prior infection. Healthy humans therefore appear able to tolerate low-level exposure to environmental B. anthracis spores without ill effect, but it remains to be determined whether this exposure is protective. These findings have implications for authorities tasked with reducing the risk posed to human health by spore-contaminated materials and environments.