Analysis of the influence of mobbing and violence acts on the safety of workers

The aim of this study is to identify the factors responsible for the safety and violence problems faced by doctors and healthcare workers at private and state institutions. This study, which is a practical research, was conducted with the subjects selected from Istanbul, Diyarbakir, Urfa, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Trabzon, Samsun, Tekirdað and Van within the borders of Turkey. A total of 1792 healthcare workers participated in this study. The study lasted for almost 11 months. All of the participants were chosen randomly. Following the reliability analysis, the Cronbach alpha coefficient was found to be 0.821. In this study, the hypothesis tests were applied, and reliability analysis, frequency tables, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test and one-way variance analysis were used as part of the analysis. It has been detected in the study that the participating healthcare workers have concerns over occupational safety and legal rights and that the current laws do not protect them, and that they experience traumatic problems due to the violence perpetrated by the patients and patient relatives who do not respect their profession and professional responsibilities accordingly

An Integrated Decision-Making Framework for Mitigating the Impact of Urban Heat Islands on Energy Consumption and Thermal Comfort of Residential Buildings

Urban heat island (UHI) is a zone that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural zones as a result of human activities and rapid and dense urbanization. Excessive air temperature due to the UHI phenomenon affects the energy performance of buildings and human health and contributes to global warming. Knowing that most of the building energy is consumed by residential buildings, therefore, developing a framework to mitigate the impact of the UHI on residential building energy performance is vital. This study develops an integrated framework that combines hybrid micro-climate and building energy performance simulations and multi-criteria decision-making techniques. As a case study, an urban area is analyzed under the Urban GreenUP project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme. Four different strategies to mitigate the UHI effect, including the current situation, changing the low-albedo materials with high-albedo ones, nature-based solutions, and changing building façade materials, are investigated with a micro-climatic simulation tool. Then, the output of the strategies, which is potential air temperature, is used in a dynamic building energy simulation software to obtain energy consumption and thermal comfort data of the residential buildings in the case area. Finally, a multi-criteria decision-making model, using real-life criteria, such as total energy consumption, thermal comfort, capital cost, lifetime and installation flexibility, is used to make a decision for decreasing the UHI effect on residential energy performance of buildings. The results showed that applying NBSs, such as green roofs and changing existing trees with high leaf area density ones, have the highest ranking among all mitigation strategies. The output of this study may help urban planners, architects, and engineers in the decision-making processes during the design phase of urban planning

Investigation of the Orthopedic Problems that Affect Productivity at Establishments

WOS: 000368640600010This study is an applied research that examines the impact of orthopaedic problems that the employees and personnel working at manufacturing establishments on labour productivity and performance. This applied research was carried out with the personnel working at manufacturing establishments in Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir and Ankara. 5-point Likert scale and a questionnaire were employed in the study with the aim of identifying the demographic features of the participants. This questionnaire was given to the personnel in person or sent via e-mail. Simple Random Scale was used in the study. No identity information of the participants was disclosed. The study lasted for almost 14 months. Within this period, (N=982) individuals participated in the study. At the end of the study, it was stated that work place conditions of the participants were unhealthy, unsafe, and physically uncomfortable and ergonomically insufficient. Besides, the study showed that labour productivity and performance of the personnel who experience physical, orthopaedic and traumatological problems is decreased

Evaluation of a novel oxiconazole nitrate formulation: The thermosensitive gel

Superficial fungal infections caused by Candida species are common skin diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a new formulation containing oxiconazole nitrate, which is an azole group derivative for antifungal treatment, as a thermosensitive gel since there has been no literature study until now.MIC value of the novel thermosensitive formulation against three Candida species was calculated and time-dependent antifungal activity analysis was performed. Viscosity, transition temperature Tsol-gel (°C) and gelation time of the thermosensitive gel formulation were also determined in the viscometer. The measurements performed on the tensilometer device were analyzed for adhesion hardness and elongation percentages of the formulation. In the FT-IR spectrometer, the spectrum of solution and gel state was compared between 650 and 4000 cm−1 and it was found that there is no difference between them.It was found that the temperature is reversible on the formulation and did not cause any disruption of its components. Characterization parameters of the thermosensitive gel formulation containing oxiconazole nitrate and time-dependent activity against Candida species was observed to be the same as those of the solution containing only oxiconazole nitrate. MIC, MFC and time-dependent antifungal analysis did not show any particular difference between formulation and oxiconazole nitrate itself. Thermosensitive gel formulation containing oxiconazole nitrate was found to be effective on superficial fungal infections. We believe it is also appropriate for in vivo usage, but it is necessary to perform animal and human research. It is also needed to evaluate the formulation against other etiologic agents of superficial fungal infections. Keywords: Oxiconazole nitrate, Thermosensitive gels, Poloxamer 407, Candida, Antifungal activit

Regional Clinical and Biochemical Differences among Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Background: Environmental habitat may play a role in clinical disparities of primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) patients. Aims: To compare preoperative clinical symptoms and associated conditions and surgical findings in patients with pHPT, living in different geographical regions from the Black Sea, Mediterranean and Anatolia regions. Study Design: Retrospective, clinical-based multi-centric study of 694 patients with pHPT. Methods: Patients from 23 centers and 8 different geographical regions were included. Data related to baseline demographics, clinical, pathologic and treatment characteristics of 8 regions were collected and included age, gender, residential data, symptoms, history of fracture, existence of brown tumor, serum total Ca and p levels, serum parathormone (PTH) levels, serum 25-OH vitamin D levels, bone mineral density, size of the resected abnormal parathyroid gland(s), histology, as well as the presence of ectopia, presence of dual adenoma, and multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN)- or familial-related disease. Results: The median age was 54. Asymptomatic patient rate was 25%. The median PTH level was 232 pg/mL and serum total Ca was 11.4 mg/dL. Eighty-seven percent of patients had an adenoma and 90% of these had a single adenoma. Hyperplasia was detected in 79 patients and cancer in 9 patients. The median adenoma size was 16 mm. Significant parameters differing between regions were preoperative symptoms, serum Ca and p levels, and adenoma size. All patients from South-East Anatolia were symptomatic, while the lowest p values were reported from East Anatolia and the largest adenoma size, as well as highest Ca levels, were from Bulgaria. Conclusion: Habitat conditions vary between geographical regions. This affects the clinicopathological features of patients with pHP

Randomized Trial Comparing Resection of Primary Tumor with No Surgery in Stage IV Breast Cancer at Presentation: Protocol MF07-01

The MF07-01 trial is a multicenter, phase III, randomized, controlled study comparing locoregional treatment (LRT) followed by systemic therapy (ST) with ST alone for treatment-na < ve stage IV breast cancer (BC) patients