Evaluation of medical examination of forensic medicine specialists during / after detention within the scope of Istanbul Protocol

Introduction: The Istanbul Protocol is a document prepared by many scientists from different countries and accepted by the United Nations thematising the medical reporting of torture. Normally, forensic specialists are responsible for medical examinations of torture victims, but this study looks at forensic specialists who were themselves subject to torture and mistreatment. It aims to analyze and evaluate, especially with regard to the Istanbul Protocol, the medical examinations performed on them while they were in detention. Material/method: This study includes experts in forensic science who were detained during and after the state of emergency that was declared in 2016 in Turkey. Participants were asked questions regarding the examination steps specified in the Istanbul protocol. The Google Forms system (Google Inc., CA/USA) was used for the surveys, sent to the participants via text message. Results: Twenty-two forensic scientists who were detained during and after the state of emergency in Turkey participated in this study. 45.5% of the participants were not asked for identification before their medical examination in detention. 36.4% of the participants stated that police were present in the examination mom. Only 13.6% of participants found the privacy conditions during the examination appropriate. 90.9% stated that the time allocated for the examination was insufficient. The medical examinations lasted from 10 s to 10 min. Most participants were examined in less than 5 min. When asked if they were abused, 22.7% stated that they were not tortured, and 77.3% stated that they were subjected to torture or mistreatment practices, such as beatings, inappropriate use of handcuffs, being forced to wait or being rushed unnecessarily, being abandoned in isolating or hostile environments. In addition, the questions required to assess the psychological indications of torture and maltreatment were never asked in 40.9% of the cases. Discussion and conclusion: Although torture is prohibited by international and humanitarian law, it has not completely disappeared. Medical personnel play an important role in torture assesment and prevention. The testimony of the forensic experts, who were fired and detained, revealed that the medical examinations during and after the State of Emergency in Turkey did not comply with the Istanbul Protocol and ethical rules. Medical examinations not carried out in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol lead to the denial of many rights and health problems. A worldwide awareness and sensitivity is needed to solve this problem

Öz-bilinç Ölçeği’nin Türkçe Formunun Yapı Geçerliği ve Güvenirliği

Bu araştırmanın amacı Öz-bilinç Ölçeği’ni (Mittal & Balasubramanian, 1987) Türkçeye uyarlamak ve ölçeğin psikometrik özelliklerini incelemektir. Araştırma Sakarya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi’nde öğrenim gören 740 üniversite öğrencisi üzerinde yürütülmüştür. Çalışmada öncelikle ölçeğin dilsel eşdeğerliği incelenmiş ve yüksek düzeyde eşdeğerliğe sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Daha sonra açımlayıcı faktör analizi, doğrulayıcı faktör analizi, iç tutarlılık ve test-tekrar test güvenirlikleri, madde toplam korelasyonu ve t testi kullanılarak üst % 27 ile alt % 27 grupların madde ortalamaları arasındaki farkların anlamlılığı incelenmiştir. Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışmalarından elde edilen bulgular ölçeğin orijinal formunda olduğu gibi 5 alt ölçekten oluştuğunu ve yüksek düzeyde güvenirlik katsayılarına sahip olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Sonuç olarak, Öz-bilinç Ölçeği’nin Türkçe formunun eğitim ve psikoloji alanında kullanılabilecek geçerli ve güvenilir bir araç olduğu saptanmıştır

Myocardial blush grade: T evaluate myocardial viability in patients with cute myocardial lnfarction

Myocardial blush grade (MBG) is used to assess myocardial perfusion in the infarcted myocardium. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the analysis of myocardial blush grade after resolution of the acute phase of myocardial infarction is useful for assessing myocardial viability. The present study is consisted of 64 patients (55 men, mean age 55 11 years) who had acute myocardial infarction and nonoccluded stenosis (>50%) in an infarct-related artery. All the patients had thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI)-3 flow in the infarct-related artery on coronary angiograms. Myocardial viability was determined by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) within the same week after coronary angiograms. MBG 0 in 5 (8%) patients, grade 1 in 10 (16%) patients, grade 2 in 23 (36%) patients, and grade 3 in 26 (40%) patients were present. Fifty-four (84%) of 64 patients showed myocardial viability by SPECT. Myocardial viability was demonstrated in 1 1 of 15 patients (74%) with MBG 011 and 43 of 49 patients (88%) with MBG 2/3. There was a weak relation between MBG and myocardial viability by correlation analysis (r = 0.28, p = 0.025). If MBG 0 and 1 are regarded as a sign of nonviable myocardium, and if MBG 2 and 3 are regarded as a sign of viable myocardium, the sensitivity of MBG for the prediction of myocardial viability was 79%, specificity was 40%, positive predictive value was 88%, and negative predictive value was 27%. MBG has a weak correlation with myocardial viability. Although sensitivity is fairly good, specificity is very low. We concluded that the diagnostic value of MBG is limited to detect myocardial viability in the infarcted region

Effects of Smoking on Very-Long Term Mortality after First ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background: The smoking paradox has been a matter of debate for acute myocardial infarction patients for more than two decades. Although there is huge evidence claiming that is no real paradox, publications supporting better outcomes in post-MI smokers are still being released