Maternal Psychological Problems Associated with Neonatal Intensive Care Admission

Background. Mothers of infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are believed to have heightened distress. The purpose of this paper was to determine depression and anxiety symptoms and attachment style in NICU mothers. Methods. The NICU group consisted of mothers whose infants were admitted to the NICU and the control group consisted of mothers of healthy term infants. The psychosocial assessments were done at the first month. Results. The mean Edinburgh Postpartum Depression (EPDS) score of NICU mothers was significantly higher than that of the control group mothers (9.6 ± 5.6 versus 7.3 ± 4.9, P = .005). NICU mothers who had high EPDS (≥13) scores had significantly higher anxiety scores and insecure attachment style in comparison to the subgroup of NICU mothers who had low EPDS scores. Conclusion. Mothers of NICU babies had higher EPDS scores. Mothers who had higher EPDS scores had higher anxiety scores as well. These NICU mothers should receive appropriate counseling during the hospitalization of their babies

Maternal Thyroid Dysfunction and Neonatal Thyroid Problems

Aim. To investigate obstetric features of pregnant women with thyroid disorders and thyroid function tests of their newborn infants. Methods. Women with hypothyroidism and having anti-thyroglobulin (ATG) and anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies were assigned as group I, women with hypothyroidism who did not have autoantibodies were assigned as group II, and women without thyroid problems were assigned as group III. Results. Pregnant women with autoimmune hypothyroidism (group I) had more preterm delivery and their babies needed more frequent neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission. In group I, one infant was diagnosed with compensated hypothyroidism and one infant had transient hyperthyrotropinemia. Five infants (23.8%) in group II had thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels >20 mIU/mL. Only two of them had TSH level >7 mIU/L at the 3rd postnatal week, and all had normal free T4 (FT4). Median maternal TSH level of these five infants with TSH >20 mIU/mL was 6.6 mIU/mL. In group III, six infants (6.5%) had TSH levels above >20 mIU/mL at the 1st postnatal week. Conclusion. Infants of mothers with thyroid problems are more likely to have elevated TSH and higher recall rate on neonatal thyroid screening. Women with thyroid disorders and their newborn infants should be followed closely for both obstetrical problems and for thyroid dysfunction

The outsourcing in ship management: Turkish ship owners' attitudes to third party ship management companies

Dış kaynak kullanımı yönetimsel bir karar olup neredeyse her sektörde yaygın hale gelmeye başlamıştır. Küreselleşmenin, rekabetin ve çok hızlı değişen çevre koşullarının etkisiyle dış kaynak kullanımına olan talep artmış bu durum denizcilik sektörünü de etkisi altına almıştır. Armatörler için en önemli ve en kapsamlı konu olan gemi yönetimi kavramı çeşitli yönetim türleri ve buna bağlı olan pek çok çeşit alt hizmetten oluşmaktadır. Bu kadar kapsamlı ve zaman zaman karmaşıklaşan bir kavram olan gemi yönetiminin çeşitli nedenlerle bu alanda uzmanlaşmış kişilere devredilmesi giderek kaçınılmaz olmaktadır. Çok hızlı değişen piyasa koşulları, yasal düzenlemeler ve diğer çevresel faktörler; her geçen gün gemi sahiplerini bu alanda uzman olan işletmelerden hizmet almaya zorlamaktadır. Üçüncü taraf gemi yönetim işletmeleri olarak adlandırılan bu tür uzman işletmelerden gemi yönetim hizmeti alma özellikle Avrupa ve Amerika?da son derece yaygın olarak kullanılırken, bu sektör Türkiye?de henüz o kadar yaygın kullanılır hale gelememiştir. Bu çalışmada, bunun nedenleri araştırılarak Türk armatörlerinin üçüncü taraf gemi yönetim işletmelerine yönelik bakış açıları incelenmek istenmiş ve Türk armatörlerine bir anket uygulaması yapılmıştır. As a managerial decision, the outsourcing has become prevalent in almost every sector. With the effects of the globalisation, competition and rapidly changing environmental conditions, the demand for outsourcing has increased and this situation also has taken hold of the maritime sector. The ship management concept, which is the most important and comprehensive subject for the ship owners, consists of different management types and a wide range of sub services connected to it. It?s getting more inevitable to assign the ship management, an outstanding concept covering a huge scope of principles and sometimes getting more and more complicating, to the professional managers for a variety of reasons. Therefore, rapidly changing market conditions, legal regulations and other environmental factors force ship owners to get service from the professionals. While taking services from certain specialist businesses called third party ship mangement companies, has become highly prevalent especially in Europe and America, such practice has not yet widely preferred in Turkey. In this study, the reasons of this situation were searched. The attitudes and/or perceptions of Turkish ship owners towards third party ship management companies were analyzed and a questionnaire was conducted through Turkish ship owners