The Role of Spatial Ability on Architecture Education

Spatial ability is one of the most important key points for technical professions such as architects and engineers and is directly related with the success in educational and professional business life. In this regard, “Techniques of Architectural Presentation”, a first semester architectural department course at Gebze Technical University, aims to provide these skills through a variety of techniques such as two-dimensional, three-dimensional representations and models. In this study, the contribution of this course on spatial skills were researched considering students' spatial experiences and innate abilities before architectural education. Pre-test and post-test research were applied and analysed with Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 18 software. The pre-test and post-test results have concluded that significant progression was seen between spatial visualisation-spatial perception and spatial orientation tests, while no significant progression was seen between mental rotation and spatial relation- mental rotation tests. The evaluation of the data indicates that the mentioned course is highly effective in the development of spatial skills in total and in the context of spatial visualisation and spatial orientation and the skills can be enhanced by training. Therefore, the syllabus of the course needs to be improved in terms of mental rotation and spatial relation

Prevalence and associated factors of thrombocytopenia among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients at a tertiary care hospital in Izmir, Turkey

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of thrombocytopenia in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients

BRUCELLOSIS: A RETROSPECTIVE EVALUATION OF 523 BRUCELLOSIS CASES FROM WESTERN ANATOLIA, TURKEY

Objective: We investigated epidemiological and clinical features of brucellosis within a period of 16 years in Western Anatolia of Turkey which is a moderately endemic area of the disease. We aimed to clarify our future clinical approach for new cases by observing changes in years

Tüberküloz meninjitte beyin-omirilik sıvısında adenozin deaminaz aktivitesi

überküloz meninjit; tüberkülozun en ağır klinik şeklidir. Mortalite ve sekel oranlarının yüksek olması nedeniyle hastalığın erken tanı ve tedavisi çok önemlidir. Tüberküloz meninjit tanısında hızlı sonuç veren ve duyarlılığı yüksek testlere gereksinim vardır. Bu amaçla, bu çalışmada; tüberküloz meninjitli olguların beyin-omurilik sıvısı (BOS)'nda Adenozin Deaminaz (ADA) aktivitesi ölçümünün tanıya katkısı değerlendirildi. Çalışmaya 20 tüberküloz meninjit öntanılı olgu ve 20 kontrol olgusu alındı. Beyin-omurilik sıvısı ADA aktivitesi bu iki grupta sırasıyla 16.02 + 10.95 U/L ve 2.30 + 1.27 U/L olarak saptandı. Tüberküloz meninjit öntanılı grupta BOS ADA aktivitesi kontrol grubuna göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı derecede yüksek bulundu (p= 0.000). Farklı cut-off değerlerine göre BOS ADA düzeylerinin özgüllüğü ve duyarlılığı hesaplandı. Sonuç olarak; BOS'ta ADA ölçümünün, tüberküloz meninjitin ayırıcı tanısında destekleyici bir test olduğu saptandı.uberculous meningitis is the most severe form of tuberculosis. Because of high morbidity and mortality rates, early diagnosis and treatment are very important. For diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis there is requirement for rapid laboratory tests with high sensitivity. For this purpose, in this study the contribution of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) activity measurement to the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis was evaluated. Twenty suspected tuberculous meningitis cases and 20 control cases were taken into the study. Cerebrospinal fluid ADA measurements were 16.02 + 10.95 U/L and 2.30 + 1.27 U/L in these two groups, respectively. In the suspected tuberculous meningitis group CSF ADA activity was significantly higher than the control group (p= 0.000). Specifity and sensitivity of the CSF ADA levels were calculated for different cut-off values. As conclusion, measurement of CSF ADA activity was found to be helpful in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis

Two Cases of Travel-Related Acute Hepatitis E

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an acute viral hepatitis that is transmitted primarily by the fecal-oral route. The highest incidence of HEV infection is in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central America, and HEV is the second most common cause of sporadic hepatitis in North Africa and the Middle East. In western countries, although sporadic cases are limited to visitors who traveled to areas of the world in which the infection is endemic, cases unassociated with travel are also reported. In this article, we describe acute viral hepatitis E diagnosed in two travelers from a nonendemic region, Australia, in whom the transmission of the infection was related to their travel to an endemic region. The couple, each aged 52 years, admitted to the hospital with the complaint of jaundice. On the physical examination, both patients appeared well, except for subicteric sclerae and skin. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was 2992 U/L and 1849 U/L in the male and female patient, respectively. They had a history of travel to India approximately three months before admission, and no other risk factor was found. HBsAg and anti-HAV IgM, anti-HCV, and anti-HBc IgM and IgG antibodies were negative, while anti-HEV IgM and anti-HEV IgG antibodies were positive in both patients. At the third week, ALT had decreased to 143 U/L and 100 U/L in the male and female patient, respectively, and both were discharged. These cases are presented to highlight the importance of medical history regarding travel in patients with acute viral hepatitis

Prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities in Turkey

Objective: To evaluate retrospectively the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities in patient records obtained from healthcare centers in Turkey. Method: Demographic characteristics and data on cervical cytological abnormalities were evaluated from patients who underwent flap tests in healthcare centers in 2007. Results: Data were collected from 33 healthcare centers totaling 140 334 patients. Overall, the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities was 1.8%; the prevalence of ASCUS, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL, and AGC was 1.07%, 0.07%, 0.3%, 0.17%, and 0.08%, respectively. The prevalence of preinvasive cervical neoplasia was 1.7% and the prevalence of cytologically diagnosed invasive neoplasia was 0.06%. Conclusion: The abnormal cervical cytological prevalence rate in Turkey is lower than in Europe and North America. This might be due to sociocultural differences, lack of population-based screening programs, or a lower HPV prevalence rate in Turkey. (C) 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities in Turkey

Objective: To evaluate retrospectively the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities in patient records obtained from healthcare centers in Turkey. Method: Demographic characteristics and data on cervical cytological abnormalities were evaluated from patients who underwent flap tests in healthcare centers in 2007. Results: Data were collected from 33 healthcare centers totaling 140 334 patients. Overall, the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities was 1.8%; the prevalence of ASCUS, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL, and AGC was 1.07%, 0.07%, 0.3%, 0.17%, and 0.08%, respectively. The prevalence of preinvasive cervical neoplasia was 1.7% and the prevalence of cytologically diagnosed invasive neoplasia was 0.06%. Conclusion: The abnormal cervical cytological prevalence rate in Turkey is lower than in Europe and North America. This might be due to sociocultural differences, lack of population-based screening programs, or a lower HPV prevalence rate in Turkey