Examining Factors Facilitating Career-Changing Teachers’ Adaptation to Change and the Challenges They Encounter

The present case study was designed to examine factors that facilitate the adaptation process of science teachers who were appointed or transferred to state schools, the challenges they encountered, and how they coped with these challenges. It was carried out with the participation of six science teachers (three males, three females) working at state middle schools in Turkey. The data were gathered through interviews with the teachers and analyzed through content analysis using the NVivo program. The research results reveal that the prominent factors that facilitate teachers’ adaptation to school environments are their professional love, interest in students, effective communication, self-confidence, and empathy. It is also revealed that they encounter challenges with regard to teaching processes and teaching programs (e.g., incompetence in using instructional methods and techniques within the framework of the constructivist approach), the legislation/regulations by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE; e.g., extensive paperwork), school environment (e.g., physical inadequacies of the school), and discipline (e.g., establishing and maintaining classroom management). Finally, the findings indicate that teachers endeavor to overcome these challenges through cooperation with school administrators, colleagues, guidance counselors, and close relatives, and by accessing the needed information on the Internet (e.g., downloading annual and weekly plans)

The effect of psychological violence on preschool teachers’ perceptions of their performance

The phenomenon of psychological violence (mobbing) explained within the context of psychological aggression, is gaining attention due to increased focus on industrialisation and work life. The study aimed to examine the effects of mobbing experienced by teachers on the way they perceive their performance. The research sample consisted of 698 teachers (647 female/51 male) working in public preschools. The Mobbing Scale developed by Yaman (2009), and the Teachers’ Perception of Performance Scale developed by Özözen Danacı (2009) were used as data collection tools. In data analysis, the correlations of teachers’ psychological violence levels to their self-performance assessment and managing skills were determined. The findings suggest that there is a significant negative relationship between psychological violence and work performance. Based on the findings obtained in this study, the aim was to establish an educational environment without any psychological violence to provide an improved service. Keywords: classroom; performance; preschool; primary education; psychological violence (mobbing); teache

The Finite Spectrum of Sturm-Liouville Operator With δ-Interactions

The goal of this paper is to study the finite spectrum of Sturm-Liouville operator with δ- interactions. Such an equation gives us a Sturm-Liouville boundary value problem which has n transmission conditions. We show that for any positive numbers mj (j = 0; 1; :::; n) that are related to number of partition of the intervals between two successive interaction points, we can construct a Sturm-Liouville equations with δ-interactions, which have exactly d eigenvalues. Where d is the sum of mj’s

The discrepancies between assessments of physicians in microfilm examination for tuberculosis screening

Objectives: Microfilm (MF) are used in community based screening for tuberculosis (TB) in Turkey. This study aimed differences in evaluation between various physicians.Materials and Methods: In the Mardin Prison, 253 microfilms(MFs) were obtained during periodic TB screening in January 2006. A chest disease specialist doctor, a radiologyspecialist doctor and a general practitioner doctor assessed the MFs separately. The results were classified as i) Normal, ii) Active TB disease findings, iii) and Sequel TB disease findings.Results: A total of 13 MFs were not taken into considerationbecause of technically unsatisfactory radiographs. The end results were as follows; three physicians had agreed about diagnosis in 159 MFs (66.2%). In 81 MFs (33.8%) at least one physician had a different opinion about microfilm. The general practitioner reported 19 MFs (8%) as active TB disease findings and the radiology specialistdoctor reported 22 MFs (9%) as active TB disease. However, the chest diseases specialist doctor reported 26 MFs (11%) as having active TB disease findings. No significant difference was found in active TB diagnosis between three physicians (p>0.05). The frequency of sequelTB diagnosis was higher in Chest disease specialist compared with other physicians (p<0.05).Conclusion: Although MF is a fast screening method, considerable disagreement was found in evaluating abnormalfindings among reporting physicians. As TB is a disease with various radiologic appearances, usage of microbiological diagnostic modalities should be added to subjective radiographic methods

Is household contact screening enough in tuberculosis patients? A Village screening results

Objectives: Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) disease occurs with droplet infection and contact time and intensity are important factors in contagion. In this report, the results of a village TB screening were presented, due to a non-compliant patient that abandoned regular TB treatment. Materials and methods: In ‘Diyarbakir No.1 Tuberculosis Dispensary, TB treatment was started in a 18 year-old male patient with the diagnosis of ‘new sputum smear positive lung tuberculosis’. However, this patient lost to follow-up of therapy in the second month. After three months, the patient was found again and then anti-TB drugs were began for the diagnosis of ‘treatment after interruption smear positive lung tuberculosis’. Therefore directly observed TB treatment was given to this patient and therapy resulted in complete cure.Results: Patient was an inhabitant of a village bound to Diyarbakir city and 810 people lived there, thus a microfilm screening was performed in this village. Microfilms of 485 persons were taken and tuberculin skin test (TST) was performed to 225 people in this investigation. Sputum smear was obtained from 15 people. Four additional people diagnosed as pulmonary TB so these people received antituberculosis therapy. Eighteen people took prophylactic isoniazid therapy due to positive TST reactivity. Four patients with TB were close relatives of the index patient. In this village, tuberculosis prevalence was 617 per thousand in 2006. Conclusion: In low-socioeconomic people, TB patient should be looked for not only with passive methods, but also with active methods. Furthermore, TB scanning should be carried not only in index patient’s household contacts, but also in persons having close relationships with him because of social life

Value of a new inflammatory parameter in malignant pleural mesothelioma prognosis

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) generallyassociated with asbestos exposure is a tumor withpoor prognosis. Modified Glasgow Prognostic Score(GPS) which may be a prognostic parameter in patientswith MPM is a designed based score including increasedC-reactive protein (CRP) levels and decreased albumin.In this study we aimed to investigate the effect of GPSscore on the prognosis of MPM and the role of other potentialfactors.Methods: In this retrospective planned study 140 histologicaldiagnosed MPM patients were included.Results: Mean age of 140 MPM patients were 52.92years (83 male and 57 female). A total of 91 patients hadenvironmental asbestos exposure and exposure timewas the 31 years. Symptoms of the patients started approximately4.8 months before the application. The mostfrequently seen symptoms were in 125 patients dyspnea,in 94 patients chest pain and in 22 patients weight loss.GPS score of the patients were as follows; 64 patientstwo, 14 patients one, 22 patients zero. Of the patients,112 died and 28 were alive. Mean survival time was 14months. Patients with GPS score 2 lived for 10 months,GPS score 1 lived for 15 and GPS score 0 lived for 18months. This difference was statistically significant. Furthermore,the male sex and age older than 65 years werefound as poor prognostic parameters on the survival.Conclusion: A simple and inexpensive parameter able tobe used to estimate the prognosis of MPM patients couldnot be developed .GPS score increases in inflammatoryconditions. GPS is a simple and inexpensive parameterthat can be used for detecting the severity of patients withMPM.Key words: Modified Glasgow Prognostic Score, MalignantPleural Mesothelioma, Prognosi

The importance of mean platelet volume in early mortality of pulmonary embolism

Objective: In this study whether mean platelet volume(MPV) is associated with early period hospital mortalityor not in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) was investigated.Methods: Data of patients that hospitalized in chest diseasesclinic with the diagnosis of PE between the years2009-2012 were screened retrospectively from digital archivesystem. The demographic data, symptoms, treatmentoutcomes and MPV values in complete blood countof patients were recorded.Results: The mean age was 57.93 ± 18.52 years (16-91).The number of patients is 143 and 91 women (63.9%),52 men (36.4%), respectively. MPV values were availablefor 137 of 143 patients. 129 of patients were discharged,and 8 had died in the early period of hospitalization. Themean MPV value was 7.85 ± 1.40 fL in patients who experiencedand 9.08 ± 1.61 fL in died respectively. The differencewas statistically significant (p = 0.01).Conclusion: The results of this study suggests that increasedMPV value may be used as a marker for earlyhospital mortality in patients with PE. J Clin Exp Invest2013; 4 (3): 298-301Key words: Mean platelet volume, mortality, pulmonary embolis

Evaluation of 86 Patients Whom Death While Being Followed up with Pre-Diagnosis of Covid-19

The Coronavirus-19 pandemic continues at full speed, and the number of patients who die from Covıd-19 is increasing. It was aimed to evaluate the demographic information and laboratory findings of 86 patients who died while being followed up in our hospital with a pre-diagnosis of Covıd-19. Identifying these characteristics of deceased patients will be essential to guide clinicians in identifying critically ill patients. Data on demographic information, comorbidities, time from hospitalization to death, molecular test results, thorax CT findings, biochemical findings, culture, antibiotic susceptibility, and the given treatments of the cases were collected from the electronic system Kastamonu Training and Research Hospital. While the RT-PCR test of 21 of the cases was positive, in 9 of the cases, control PCR tests were negative after a while. The CT results of 18 of the 21 initially RT-PCR positive cases were compatible with Covid-19, and the CT result of 3 could not be reached. When the blood test results of the cases were examined, neutrophil increase, white blood cell increase, lymphocyte reduction, and inflammatory markers increase were determined. A total of 43 bacterial growths were found in 21 cases. It has been observed that deaths in patients who were followed up with the pre-diagnosis of Covıd-19 generally occur in older people, males, and those with underlying diseases. It was thought that the cause of death could be underlying diseases, pathologies caused by inflammation, and secondary bacterial infections in addition to viral infection. Clinicians should be more careful about elderly patients, patients with secondary bacterial infections, or patients with neutrophilia, lymphopenia

Change in atrial activation patterns during narrow complex tachycardia: What is the mechanism?

A change in the coronary sinus (CS) activation pattern from an eccentric to a concentric pattern during the ablation of an orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia might falsely suggest the presence of a second (septal) accessory pathway (AP) during tachycardia or the successful ablation of the left lateral AP under ventricular pacing despite persistent and unaffected AP conduction. Complete or partial intra-atrial block should be suspected when an abrupt change in the atrial activation sequence is noted during catheter ablation at the posterolateral and lateral aspects of the mitral annulus. The correct anatomical position of the CS catheter plays a vital role in the differential diagnosis of this situation