A multiple case study of the personal values of counselor trainees from a psychological flexibility perspective: a sample from Turkey

Many different approaches have been used in psychology to determine values and investigate valuing behavior. However, understanding the individual significance of the values is crucial to predict the actions that produce them. A significant number of studies exist in counseling education that focuses on the diverse issues of counselor trainees. These include, but are not limited to, self-efficacy levels, emotional awareness, attachment styles, and supervision experiences in counseling education. During the literature review conducted for this study, it was discovered that there was no investigation of counselor trainees' values from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) perspective. Using ACT as the overarching framework, the current qualitative study aimed to examine counselor trainees' values from a psychological flexibility perspective. During the data collection process, all counselor trainees (N = 62) were initially asked to fill both an Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II) that measured their psychological flexibility level and a Valuing Questionnaire (VQ) that measured their valuing levels. Participants were then split into two groups, based on their AAQ and VQ scores regarding either high or low psychological flexibility or values awareness. As a result of the analysis, 18 (15 female, three male) senior counseling students took part in the study, with the data being collected via focus groups and individual interviews. As a result of the study, four main themes were identified following detailed content analysis: (1) perception of values, (2) committed action vs. experiential avoidance moves, (3) present movement awareness and perspective skills, and (4) cognitive defusion and fusion experience. Implications were discussed in light of the relevant literature

Could soluble L1 cell adhesion molecule (sL1CAM) in serum be a new biomarker for endometrial cancer?

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the place of serum soluble L1 cell adhesion molecule (sL1CAM) level in the diagnosis of endometrial cancer and its relationship with clinicopathological features. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with 146 patients who underwent endometrial biopsy and whose pathology results were reported as benign endometrial changes (n = 30), endometrial hyperplasia (n = 32) or endometrial cancer (n = 84). The sL1CAM level between the groups was compared. The relationship between clinicopathological features and serum sL1CAM was evaluated in patients with endometrial cancer. Results: The mean serum sL1CAM level in patients with endometrial cancer was significantly higher than in patients without cancer. The sL1CAM value was statistically significantly higher in the group with endometrial cancer, than the group with endometrial hyperplasia (p < 0.001) and the group with benign endometrial changes (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of sL1CAM between the group of patients with endometrial hyperplasia and the group of patients with benign endometrial changes (p = 0.954). sL1CAM value in type 2 endometrial cancer was statistically significantly higher than Type1 (p = 0.019). High sL1CAM level in patients with type 1 cancer was associated with poor clinicopathological features. However, no correlation was observed between clinicopathological features and serum sL1CAM level in type 2 endometrial cancers. Conclusions: Serum sL1CAM may be an important marker for evaluating the diagnosis and prognosis of endometrial cancer in the future. There may be a relationship between increased serum sL1CAM level in type 1 endometrial cancers and poor clinicopathological features

Memory deficits and frontal lobe syndrome associated with bilateral globus pallidus lesions in a patient with synthetic cannabinoid use

Major strategic functions of the basal ganglia are thought to involve the fine tuning and modulation of the activity of the most parts of the frontal cortex, control of the skeleto-motor and oculo-motor movements, and modulation of the limbic system and associative functions. In this case report, a patient with a 10-year history of synthetic cannabinoid use and bilateral symmetrical hyperintense lesions of the globus pallidus in T2 weighed images following head trauma is described in conjunction clinical signs of global amnesia, behavioral changes consistent with frontal lobe syndrome, and reduced affect display, without any movement disorders. To the best of our knowledge, this patients represents the first case who had bilateral globus pallidus lesions due to synthetic cannabinoid use together with frontal lobe syndrome-like clinical signs without movement disorder. This case report points out to the fact that synthetic cannabinoid use may lead to development of bilateral globus pallidus lesions, which may be associated with amnesia without movement disorder, suggesting that this clinical picture may have resulted from the interruption of pathways between the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia

The Michelangelo effect. Art improves the performance in a virtual reality task developed for upper limb neurorehabilitation

The vision of an art masterpiece is associated with brain arousal by neural processes occurring quite spontaneously in the viewer. This aesthetic experience may even elicit a response in the motor areas of the observers. In the neurorehabilitation of patients with stroke, art observation has been used for reducing psychological disorders, and creative art therapy for enhancing physical functions and cognitive abilities. Here, we developed a virtual reality task which allows patients, by moving their hand on a virtual canvas, to have the illusion of painting some art masterpieces, such as The Creation of Adam of Michelangelo or The birth of Venus of Botticelli. Twenty healthy subjects (experiment 1) and four patients with stroke (experiment 2) performed this task and a control one in which they simply colored the virtual canvas. Results from User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire and the NASA Task Load Index highlighted an appropriate level of usability. Moreover, despite the motor task was the same for art and control stimuli, the art condition was performed by healthy subjects with shorter trajectories (p = 0.001) and with a lower perception of physical demand (p = 0.049). In experiment 2, only the patients treated with artistic stimuli showed a reduction in the erroneous movements performed orthogonally to the canvas (p < 0.05). This finding reminds the so-called Mozart effect that improves the performance of subjects when they listen to classic music. Thus, we called this improvement in the performance when interacting with an artistic stimulus as Michelangelo effect

Geographical Features and Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Erzincan, Turkey

Background: We aimed to determine the geographical features and seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Erzincan, Turkey, which has a high tick population due to its geographical position and climatic conditions. Methods: From January to December 2014, 368 people living in Erzincan, northeastern Turkey were enrolled. B. burgdorferi IgG antibodies were investigated in the collected serum samples using the ELISA method in 2015. Positive and borderline results were confirmed using the Western Blot (WB) method.  Results: Borrelia burgdorferi IgG positivity was found to be 4.1% by ELISA and 2.17% by WB. Of the seropositive people according to WB, 25% resided in areas within 2000m of rivers, 50% in areas with a slope of 0–5°, and 62.5% in areas with an altitude of lower than 1500 meters. Conclusion: The seroprevalence of Lyme borreliosis was high in Erzincan, particularly among people engaged in animal husbandry in rural areas. In addition, the seroprevalence of Borrelia varied according to geographical features, increasing in areas with a lower slope and altitude

USING SOME POME FRUIT TREES IN LANDSCAPE DESIGNS

Landscape; when viewed from a point of view, natural and cultural beings that are able to enter into the frame of view are brought together to form a fountain. The materials that make up the live decor of the areas consist of especially the large trees of the plant kingdom, shrubs, undergrowths, ivies, single annual, biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, that is, roots consist of onion, lumpy or rhizomaceous herbaceous plants, grass plants and water plants which can be kept on the ground continuously. Among these, wild and cultured forms of soft-seeded fruits constitute an important place. In this study, the functional and visual use of wild plants such as wild pear, pear, apple, quince and their wild forms in different landscape designs have been investigated. In plantation studies, plants can be used in esthetic, functional or both ways to be more effective. It can also be growth for economic reasons. Economically cultivated species are particularly high economic values. However, they are often used for esthetic purposes outside of commercial assets, such as in other fruit trees. For this reason, the most common uses are to take advantage of both fruit and to benefit from the visual effect of flowers and fruit

Cytocompatibility of Novel Algae-PLA Membranes For Guided Bone Regeneration At The Level of Types I, III And V Collagen Expression

Statement of the problem: In recent years, the development of innovative and increasingly optimized barrier membranes has focused on marine algae, which as a biopolymer can form a membrane composite together with polylactic acid, thus a combination could show numerous advantages such as antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral as well as antiallergic properties. Furthermore, algae can be produced in an ecologically sustainable way and offer an alternative for patients who refuse treatment with bovine or porcine derived membranes due to ethical or religious reasons.Objective: In this study, four different algal membranes were evaluated for their cytocompatibility with cultured human fibroblasts and osteoblasts.Materials & Methods: Mem-Lok® (Collagen Matrix, New Jersey, USA) as a resorbable collagen membrane and ArgonautTM (Botiss Biomaterials, Zossen, Germany) as a native pericardium GBR/GTR membrane served as reference membranes (RMs). As the negative control cells incubated with normal culture medium only were used. In addition to the cell viability and proliferation assays water soluble tetrazolium (WST), MTT and BrdU, a real time semiquantitative real time PCR (RT-PCR) was developed to investigate in vitro cytocompatibility at the level of types I, III and V collagen expression. A sandblasted- large grid-acid ached titanium surface (Dentcon® Dental Implant Systems, Ankara, Turkey) served as a positive inactive control group for osteoblastic cytocompatibility.Results: For human osteoblasts, the algal membranes showed very good proliferation levels in WST-1, MTT as well as BrdU, indicating cytocompatibility. Examination of the expression behavior of type I, type III, and type V collagen genes showed no evaluable results. However, the RT-PCR should be repeated with the incorporated optimizations to be able to make a statement regarding the success of bone, skin, and connective tissue regeneration after a possible application of the membrane in maxillofacial injury treatment.Conclusion: The investigated collagen types are essential for a proper healing of defects in both soft and bone tissue, as they have fundamental functions such as stability and structural integrity of the tissues