Management of endocrine surgical disorders during COVID-19 pandemic: expert opinion for non-surgical options

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented conditions for overall health care systems by restricting resources for non-COVID-19 patients. As the burden of the disease escalates, routine elective surgeries are being cancelled. The aim of this paper was to provide a guideline for management of endocrine surgical disorders during a pandemic. Methods We used Delphi method with a nine-scale Likert scale on two rounds of voting involving 64 experienced eminent surgeons and endocrinologists who had the necessary experience to provide insight on endocrine disorder management. All voting was done by email using a standard questionnaire. Results Overall, 37 recommendations were voted on. In two rounds, all recommendations reached an agreement and were either endorsed or rejected. Endorsed statements include dietary change in primary hyperparathyroidism, Cinacalcet treatment in secondary hyperparathyroidism, alpha-blocker administration for pheochromocytoma, methimazole +/- beta-blocker combination for Graves' disease, and follow-up for fine-needle aspiration results of thyroid nodules indicated as Bethesda 3-4 cytological results and papillary microcarcinoma. Conclusion This survey summarizes expert opinion for the management of endocrine surgical conditions during unprecedented times when access to surgical treatment is severely disrupted. The statements are not applicable in circumstances in which surgical treatment is possible

An Exploratory Analysis of TED Talks in English and Lithuanian, Portuguese and Turkish Translations

CC BY 4.0This paper contributes to the question of how discourse relations are realised in TED talks. Drawing on an annotated, multilingual discourse corpus of TED talk transcripts, we examine discourse relations in English and Lithuanian, Portuguese and Turkish translations by concentrating on three aspects: the degree of explicitness in discourse relations, the extent to which explicit and implicit relations are encoded inter- or intra-sententially, and whether top-level discourse relation senses employed in English differ in the target languages. The study shows that while the target languages differ from English in the first two dimensions, they do not display considerable differences in the third dimension. The paper thus reveals variations in the realisation of discourse relations in translated transcripts of a spoken genre in three languages and offers some methodological insights for dealing with the issues surrounding discourse relations

Comparison of Self-reported and Measured Height, Weight and BMI in Turkish University Students

Accuracy and validity of self-reported height and weight, and body image satisfaction have not been yet evaluated particularly in young adult population in Turkey. The aim of the study was to establish the differences between self-reported and measured height and weight, and body mass index (BMI). The study was conducted on 617 university students (304 males and 313 females) aged 17–30 years from Ankara and Sivas, Turkey. Height and weight were measured and obtained by a questionnaire. From both measured and self-reported values for accuracy absolute differences were calculated. BMI was calculated from both self-reported and m

Evaluation of the Prevalence of Obesity and Malnutrition in Preschool Children: The Case of Ankara

Human growth and development are dynamic processes that are shaped by both environmental and genetic factors. In early childhood exposure to negative environmental conditions and monitoring nutritional status are important for general public health. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and obesity in preschool children (36-72 month). It was also aimed to demonstrate the correlation between these variables and socioeconomic statuses. This cross-sectional study was conducted with324 preschool children (163 boys and 161 girls) in a sample representing in Ankara. Height and weight results were recorded according to the International Biological Programme standard protocols, and the values of Body Mass Index and z-score were calculated. Children's nutritional status was determined according to cut off points offered by the World Health Organization. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be 11.11% and 3.40%, respectively. The effects of socioeconomic status on malnutrition and obesity are also included in our study

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and transforming growth factor alpha in rat testis during chronic renal failure

Introduction. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to influence testis function. Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α) is expressed in the postnatal testis, and has been demonstrated to stimulate testis development. Systemic diseases such as chronic renal failure (CRF) interfere with hypothalamic-pituitary-go­nadal axis, which may cause defective steroidogenesis and gonadal functions. The aim of this study was to inve­stigate the expression and localization of VEGF and TGF-α in testicular tissues of experimental CRF model. Material and methods. Experimental CRF was induced in rats by the resection of more than 85% of renal mass. The expression of VEGF and TGF-α in testicular tissues were assessed by immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections of control, CRF-nondialysed and CRF-dialysed rats. Results. The microscopic evaluation of the testicular structure showed that CRF did not affect testicular histology. Immunohistochemical evaluation showed that VEGF was expressed in the cytoplasm of primary and secondary spermatocyte series as well as the early spermatids. Staining intensity was lower in sperma­tocytes going through the first meiotic division. TGF-α was expressed in the nuclei of spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes with stronger staining intensity in spermatogonia. The intensity of VEGF staining was similar in control and experimental animals, however, TGF-α expression was lower in the CRF group.Conclusions. The continuous expression of VEGF in spermatocytes and spermatids suggests that the applied model of CRF does not directly disrupt morphology of seminiferous epithelium, thus also spermiogenesis. However, difference between control rats and CRF group in TGF-α immunopositivity, which was localised in spermatogonial mitosis step, may suggest the interference of CRF with early stages of spermatogenesis.

Validity and Reliability of Turkish version of the Schizophrenia Hope Scale

This study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Schizophrenia Hope Scale (SHS). This methodological study was carried out with 214 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia who were followed up in the psychiatry outpatient clinics of a university hospital between August 2021 and August 2022. Data were collected using an Information Form and the Schizophrenia Hope Scale (SHS). Language and content validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, item-total correlation, Cronbach alpha coefficient, and test-retest reliability methods were used in the validity and reliability analysis of the scale. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, no item was excluded from the scale and it was determined that the scale has nine items and a single-factor structure. The single-factor structure of the scale was confirmed with the confirmatory factor analysis. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.901 and the factor loads ranged between 0.70 and 1.0. The test-retest correlation coefficient was r=0.959. The Turkish version of the scale was found to be valid and reliable. SCH is important since it represents the subjective meaning of hope from schizophrenic patients’ perspective and allows an easier measurement of the level of hope in this population. Mental health professionals can use SHS to determine or increase the level of hope of schizophrenia patients in their studies

Peer relations linking overweight and obesity, and mediator factors among Turkish adolescents

Depending on the individual’s body height and frame structure and body weight, obesity is considered both as a socially accepted norm in a society and as exceeding the accepted upper limits. The present study aimed to determine the associations between overweight and obesity, peer relationships, and nutritional and physical activity behaviour among Turkish adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Ankara, and the sample consisted of 402 adolescents (171 boys and 231 girls) aged between 12 and 17 years. A physical examination was conducted to collect anthropometric measurements (height, weight, BMI, and body fat using bio-impedance analysis), and detailed information was collected on adolescents’ behaviour (Peer Relationship Scale with four sub-scales of commitment, trust and identification, self-disclosure, and loyalty), diet (24h recall dietary questionnaire), physical activity, self-reported weight, parental attitudes, and socio-economic circumstances. BMI was evaluated using IOTF cut-off points, and simple mediation analyses were performed using ordinary least squares path analysis by the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results showed that according to the weight status by BMI using IOTF cut-offs, thinness was more prominent in girls (9.5%), overweight was higher in girls (19%), while obesity was higher in boys (8.8%). Total body fat percentage was found to be higher in girls in all weight groups (p < 0.001). The Peer Relationship Scale and, commitment, self-disclosure, and loyalty sub-scales were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001); girls tend to have higher scores except for the loyalty sub- scale. According to the results, self-reported and actual weight differences were found to be significant in both sexes (p < 0.001), and among IOTF weight groups overweight girls tended to report their weight approximately 2 kg lower than their actual weight and obese girls more than 5 kg lower. In conclusion, the mediation analysis showed that fat percentage, self-reported weight difference, and BMI were significant predictors of Peer Relationship Score where fat percentage partially mediated the relationship between the Peer Relationship Scale and BMI, and full mediation effect of self-reported weight difference was also significant. The relation of the high level of fat accumulation and overweight/obesity with Peer Relationship Scores and its sub-domains should be carefully monitored

Türkçe Birleşik isimlerin işlenişinde biçimbirimsel hazırlama.

Compounding, constructing new words out of previously known words by means of simple concatenation mostly, can be counted as one of the major word production mechanisms in the majority of languages. Their importance in the history of human languages warrants a detailed study with respect to the language faculty and related cognitive aspects. In the last decade, compound production as well as comprehension have become highly debated and investigated areas of research. Morphological priming is one frequently employed paradigm for the investigation of compounding. Whether morphologically complex words undergo a decomposition-composition process, respectively, during comprehension and production or whether they are all listed in full form in the lexicon is one key question hitherto addressed in several studies related to English, German, Dutch and Chinese nominal compound words. The present study is concerned with compound production in Turkish. Various types of Turkish compounds were investigated ((i) bare JCs (‗akbalık‘, ‗dace‘), (ii) indefinite (‗dil balığı‘, ‗flounder‘) and (iii) definite (‗gölün balığı‘, ‗fish of the lake‘) izafet constructions) in a morphological priming paradigm by means of a picture naming task. In the general implementation of this task, subjects name black-white line drawings of simple objects in a limited and pre-specified time-interval while at the same time, they have to ignore distractor words which are presented visually(or auditorily). The locus of interest in this paradigm is the evaluation of possible linguistic effects of the distractor word presentation on picture naming performance. In this study, distractor words were Turkish nominal compounds and picture names(e.g., ‗balık‘, ‗fish‘) were morphologically related (depicted either first or second part of the compound) or completely unrelated to these distractor words. Results of the experiment revealed equal amounts of morphological priming effect in all compound types investigated, that is, morphologically related compounds led to shorter naming latencies compared to unrelated distractors, a result which is in line with the decompositional view of compound processing. Furthermore, significant animacy effect found on naming latencies irrespective of the compound type, underlines another possible essential factor in compound processing. Finally, distractor-wise analysis revealed marginally significant reaction time advantages for the head part of the compound as compared to the modifier part, a finding which suggests a possible special role for the head constituent during lexical access.M.S. - Master of Scienc

Research on the important quality characteristics of turf mixtures grown on different soils

Bursa şartlarında kurulan 3 yıllık bu tarla çalışmasında, farklı toprak ortamlarında yetiştirilen çim karışımlarının önemli kalite özellikleri incelenmiştir. Araştırmada toprak, kum ve torf ile oluşturulan dokuz toprak karışımı ile ingiliz çimi (Lolium perenne L), çayır salkımotu (Poa pratensis L), kamışsı yumak (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), adi kırmızı yumak {Festuca rubra var. commmutata), köksaplı kırmız» yumak (Festuca rubra var. rubra) ve narin tavusotu (Agrostis tenuis Sibth.) türlerinden altı çim karışımı kullanılmıştır. Çim karışımlarının sürme hızı ve kaplama, kolay tesis olma, bitki boyu, fide ağırlığı, yaprak eni, yaprak rengi, kardeş sayısı, dip kaplama, silindir geçirilen parsellerde dip kaplama, basılmaya dayanıklılık, kompaktlık, regenerasyon kabiliyeti, yeşil ot verimi, kıştan çıkış ve uzun ömürlülük gibi farklı çim kalite özellikleri incelenmiştir. Yapılan araştırmalar sonunda, toprak ve çim karışımlarında incelenen hemen tüm özellikler arasında istatistiki olarak önemli farklılıklar bulunmuştur. İncelenen kalite kriterleri yönünden % 100 toprak veya toprak içeren karışımlar, % 100 kum veya kum oranı çok yüksek karışımlardan daha iyi sonuçlar vermiştir. Bunun yanında kamışsı yumak, İngiliz çimi ve çayır salkımotu karışımları diğer türlerin karışımlarından daha başarılı olmuştur.Important quality characteristics of turf mixtures grown on different soil mixtures were evaluated in this 3-year field study conducted at Bursa conditions. Nine different soil mixtures consisted of soil, sand and peat and six turf mixtures of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L), tall fescue {Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), chewings fescue (Festuca rubra var. commmutata), creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra var. rubra) ve colonial bentgrass (Agrostis tenuis Sibth.) were used in this study. Emergence and coverage, establishment rate, plant height, seedling weight, leaf width, plant color, tiller number, basal cover, basal cover of rolled plots, wear tolerance, compactness, regeneration ability, clipping weight, winter hardiness and long liveliness were assessed in turf mixtures. There were statistically significant differences in almost all characteristics investigated among soil mixtures and turfgrass mixtures. Pure soil or the mixtures with high percentage soil demonstrated better results than pure sand or soil mixtures with high content sand in turf quality characteristics. Moreover, mixtures of tall fescue, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass were more succesfull than those of other species