Patterns of active and passive smoking, and associated factors, in the South-east Anatolian Project (SEAP) region in Turkey

BACKGROUND: Smoking is an important health threat in Turkey. This study aimed to determine the frequency of and main factors associated with smoking in persons of 15 years and over, and the frequency of passive smoking in homes in the South-east Anatolian Project (SEAP) Region in Turkey. METHODS: A cross sectional design was employed. The sample waschosen by the State Institute of Statistics using a stratified cluster probability sampling method. 1126 houses representing the SEAP Region were visited. Questionnaires about tobacco smoking and related factors were applied to 2166 women and 1906 men (of 15 years old and above) in their homes. Face-to-face interview methods were employed. Participants were classified as current, ex, and non-smokers. The presence of a regular daily smoker in a house was used as an indication of passive smoking. The chi-square andlogistic regressionanalysis methods were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of smoking, in those of 15 years and over, was 11.8% in women and 49.7% in men. The prevalence of current smokers was higher in urban (34.5 %) than in rural (22.8 %) regions. The mean of total cigarette consumption was 6.5 packs/year in women and 17.9 packs/year in men. There was at least one current smoker in 70.1% of the houses. CONCLUSION: Smoking is a serious problem in the South-eastern Anatolian Region. Male gender, middle age, a high level of education and urban residency were most strongly associated with smoking

Korrelation der Befunde der dynamischen Posturographie mit dem Ursprungsnerven und der Tumorgröße bei Vestibularisschwannom-Patienten

Einleitung: Vestibularisschwannome (VS) entstehen entweder aus dem superioren oder aus dem inferioren Ast des vestibulären Nerven (SVN oder IVN). Ziel der Studie war zu Testen, ob die zunehmende Größe eines SVN- oder IVN-VS, wie sie sich auf dem Magnetresonanztomogramm abbildet, mit den dynamische Posturographie(DP)-Befunden korreliert und ob mit Hilfe der DP-Befunde der Ursprungsnerv des VS präoperativ bestimmt werden könnte.Methoden: Bei dieser retrospektiven Studie wurden die DP-Befunde 75 Patienten mit VS evaluiert. Condition 5 score (C5S), condition 6 score (C6S), vestibular ratio (VR) und mean overall balance score (MOBS) wurden zur Evaluierung des vestibulären Status der VS-Patienten benutzt. Spearman´sche Korrelationskoeffizienten wurden zwischen dem größten Tumordurchmesser und jeder der vier o.g. DP-Parametern für SVN- und IVN-VS jeweils kalkuliert. Der Ursprungsnerv wurde intraoperativ bestimmt. 21 Patienten hatten einen SVN-VS und 54 Patienten hatten einen IVN-VS. Um zu testen, ob es einen möglichen Unterschied zwischen den DP-Befunden der SVN- und der IVN-Patientengruppen gibt, wurde der Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test angewandt.Ergebnisse: VS-Tumorgröße war mit C5S und VR in IVN-Patienten signifikant korreliert (r=-0,358, p=0,008 und r=-0,356, p=0,008 entsprechend) und nicht-signifikant bei SVN-Patienten korreliert. Weder C6S noch MOBS wiesen eine signifikante Korrelation mit dem größten Tumordurchmesser auf. Keine der o.g. vier Parameter wies einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen der SVN- und IVN-Patientengruppe auf.Schlussfolgerungen: In der IVN-Patientengruppe korrelieren C5S und VR der DP mit der Tumorgröße. Keine der vier DP-Parameter ermöglicht die präoperative Bestimmung des Ursprungsnervens des VS

Korrelation der Befunde der dynamischen Posturographie mit dem Ursprungsnerven und der Tumorgröße bei Vestibularisschwannom-Patienten

Einleitung: Vestibularisschwannome (VS) entstehen entweder aus dem superioren oder aus dem inferioren Ast des vestibulären Nerven (SVN oder IVN). Ziel der Studie war zu Testen, ob die zunehmende Größe eines SVN- oder IVN-VS, wie sie sich auf dem Magnetresonanztomogramm abbildet, mit den dynamische Posturographie(DP)-Befunden korreliert und ob mit Hilfe der DP-Befunde der Ursprungsnerv des VS präoperativ bestimmt werden könnte.Methoden: Bei dieser retrospektiven Studie wurden die DP-Befunde 75 Patienten mit VS evaluiert. Condition 5 score (C5S), condition 6 score (C6S), vestibular ratio (VR) und mean overall balance score (MOBS) wurden zur Evaluierung des vestibulären Status der VS-Patienten benutzt. Spearman´sche Korrelationskoeffizienten wurden zwischen dem größten Tumordurchmesser und jeder der vier o.g. DP-Parametern für SVN- und IVN-VS jeweils kalkuliert. Der Ursprungsnerv wurde intraoperativ bestimmt. 21 Patienten hatten einen SVN-VS und 54 Patienten hatten einen IVN-VS. Um zu testen, ob es einen möglichen Unterschied zwischen den DP-Befunden der SVN- und der IVN-Patientengruppen gibt, wurde der Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test angewandt.Ergebnisse: VS-Tumorgröße war mit C5S und VR in IVN-Patienten signifikant korreliert (r=-0,358, p=0,008 und r=-0,356, p=0,008 entsprechend) und nicht-signifikant bei SVN-Patienten korreliert. Weder C6S noch MOBS wiesen eine signifikante Korrelation mit dem größten Tumordurchmesser auf. Keine der o.g. vier Parameter wies einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen der SVN- und IVN-Patientengruppe auf.Schlussfolgerungen: In der IVN-Patientengruppe korrelieren C5S und VR der DP mit der Tumorgröße. Keine der vier DP-Parameter ermöglicht die präoperative Bestimmung des Ursprungsnervens des VS

Patterns of active and passive smoking, and associated factors, in the South-east Anatolian Project (SEAP) region in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Smoking is an important health threat in Turkey. This study aimed to determine the frequency of and main factors associated with smoking in persons of 15 years and over, and the frequency of passive smoking in homes in the South-east Anatolian Project (SEAP) Region in Turkey. METHODS: A cross sectional design was employed. The sample was chosen by the State Institute of Statistics using a stratified cluster probability sampling method. 1126 houses representing the SEAP Region were visited. Questionnaires about tobacco smoking and related factors were applied to 2166 women and 1906 men (of 15 years old and above) in their homes. Face-to-face interview methods were employed. Participants were classified as current, ex, and non-smokers. The presence of a regular daily smoker in a house was used as an indication of passive smoking. The chi-square and logistic regression analysis methods were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of smoking, in those of 15 years and over, was 11.8% in women and 49.7% in men. The prevalence of current smokers was higher in urban (34.5%) than in rural (22.8%) regions. The mean of total cigarette consumption was 6.5 packs/year in women and 17.9 packs/year in men. There was at least one current smoker in 70.1% of the houses. CONCLUSION: Smoking is a serious problem in the South-eastern Anatolian Region. Male gender, middle age, a high level of education and urban residency were most strongly associated with smoking

Vaccination coverage in the South-East Anatolian Project (SEAP) region and factors influencing low coverage

Objectives: To determine the vaccination coverage of children living in the South-east Anatolian Project (SEAP) region; whether the vaccination coverage was similar to formal reports, other studies and other countries; and which factors influence vaccination, in order to indicate how vaccination coverage can be improved. Study design: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in nine provinces of the SEAP region in order to determine public health problems and their causes. Methods: A population-based sample of 1150 houses was selected from rural and urban areas of the SEAP region and visited by the researchers. Questionnaires were applied in 2001 and 2002. Results: In the SEAP region, only 30% of children had received a complete set of vaccines. The vaccination coverage was 76.7% for Bacille Calmette-Guérin; 62.0% for the third doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, pertussis and polio vaccine; 62.7% for measles; 44% for the third dose of hepatitis B vaccine in children aged 12-23 months; and 13.3% for the second dose of tetanus toxoid in women who gave birth in the last 5 years. In logistic regression analysis, residence type, number of siblings, birth interval, follow-up visits of midwives, and maternal level of education were found to influence whether children were completely vaccinated. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that vaccination coverage is not acceptable in the SEAP region. Efforts must focus on family planning services, education of women, follow-up visits and strengthening health facilities, especially in rural regions, to improve vaccination. © 2005 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Neuronal Plasticity and Temporal Adaptivity: GasNet Robot Control Networks

Designing controllers for autonomous robots is not an exact science, and there are few guiding principles on what properties of control systems are useful for what kinds of task. In this article we analyze the functional operation of robot controllers developed using evolutionary computation methods, to elucidate the strengths and weaknesses of the underlying control system class. By comparing and contrasting robot controllers based on two different classes of artificial neural network, the GasNet and NoGas networks, we show that the increased evolvability of the GasNet class on a visual shape discrimination task is due to the temporally adaptive nature of the GasNet, where neuronal plasticity mediated through the concentration of virtual neuromodulatory "gases" occurs over a wide range of time courses. We argue that the availability of mechanisms operating over a wide range of potential time courses is a crucial property for controllers used to generate adaptive behavior over time, and that the design process should easily be able to adapt those time courses to the natural time scales in the environment

(SEAP) region of Turkey

Objective To determine attitudes towards family size and last pregnancies in order to improve family planning services in the Southeast Anatolian Project (SEAP) region.Methods A questionnaire survey in the nine SEAP regional provinces was carried out under the auspices of the 'SEAP Public Health Project' from 2001 to 2002. The participants comprised 1756 women and 661 men from 1126 households.Results For men and women aged 15 years and over the median ideal number of children was three. The rate of unintended last pregnancies (43.1%) in the present study was very high compared to the national average of 18.8%. Some 30.1% of the last pregnancies were unwanted by either partner.Conclusions The number of pregnancies and children in this region is approximately twice as high as the ideal number. Families in the region are having more children than they want. Basic education must be given to women, particularly non-Turkish speakers, to improve their knowledge and use of family planning. Family planning education for men in rural areas also needs special attention