The predictive role of haematological parameters in the diagnosis of osteoarticular brucellosis

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonosis that affects several systems, especially with the osteoarticular involvement. Objectives: This study aims to compare the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), mean platelet volume (MPV) and red blood cell distribution (RDW) in patients with the osteoarticular involvement and those with non-localised brucellosis and evaluate their predictive value for the diagnosis of osteoarticular brucellosis.Methods: We enrolled 140 patients with brucellosis, 70 with the osteoarticular involvement and 70 without any localised involvement. We collected patients’ data retrospectively and compared haematological parameters between both groups. In patients with osteoarticular brucellosis, a correlation of the NLR with the ESR and CRP and correlation of the MLR with the ESR and CRP were assessed. Furthermore, the predictive performance of the ESR, CRP, NLR and MLR on the osteoarticular involvement was evaluated.Results: The NLR, MLR, ESR, CRP, neutrophil and monocyte levels were higher in the patient group than the control group. Conclusion: The NLR, MLR, ESR and CRP are useful parameters to estimate the clinical course of patients with brucellosis, and the NLR and MLR are alternative to inflammatory markers in the osteoarticular involvement.Keywords: Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio, inflammatory marker

President Erdogan’s Discourse on the Kurdish Issue

The article analyzes Turkey's changing regime of ethnicity between 2004 and 2019. Turkey is a multiethnic republic that used assimilation as the key policy in its early days to create the nation-state. The Kurds, as the most populous ethnic minority, had suffered the most. The ethnic anti-minority regime was reflected in the discourse of state officials. The ethnicity regime changed only after the Justice and Development Party came to power. The state authorities acknowledged Kurds as a distinct ethnic minority, admitted the previous human rights violations, and tried to make up for past mistakes. The article reviews the evolution of the ethnicity regime through analysis of its official discourse from initially being anti-minority and through tumultuous changes to the current inclusive one. It focuses on analyzing President Erdogan's public speeches in Diyarbakir. The main finding of the article is that when the state moved away from anti-minority policies towards the Kurds, President's discourse became more inclusive. Previous studies acknowledged the agency of the state as the determining power behind changing the regime of ethnicity. The second significant contribution of this study is that organized minority groups have an independent agency; their actions significantly contributed to changing the regime of ethnicity

Yanlış Analiz Envanterinin Birinci Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Okuma Performanslarının Değerlendirilmesinde Kullanımı

Okuma bireyin tuuml%253Bm yaşam alanlarında kullanılan ouml%253Bnemli bir beceridir. Buuml%253Btuuml%253Bn okuma programları akıcı okumayı ve okuduklarını anlayabilir ouml%253Bğrenciler yetiştirmeye odaklanmaktadır. Bu nedenle okuma ile sorunları olan ouml%253Bğrencilerin tespit ve onların ihtiyaccedil%253Bları doğrultusunda desteklenmesi gerekir. Bu, uygun youml%253Bntemleri seccedil%253Berek ouml%253Bğrencilerin okuma performanslarının suuml%253Brekli ve sistematik gouml%253Bzlemi ile elde edilebilir. Ccedil%253Balışmanın amacı doğrultusunda, ouml%253Bğrencilerin okuma hataları ve bunların olası nedenleri quot%253BRunning Recordsquot%253B adlı bir okuma performans değerlendirme aracı kullanılarak nitel araştırma paradigması kapsamında incelenmiş ve tartışılmıştı

Effects of caffeine on human health

Kafein, tüm dünyada en çok tüketilen psikoaktif maddelerden biridir. Tarihsel olarak çay ve soda kafein içeren en eski içeceklerdir. Son zamanlarda, enerji içecekleri, özel kahve, patates cipsi, sakız ve şekerler gibi kafein içeren gıda üretiminin çeşitliliğinde önemli artışlar olmuştur. Bu nedenle, kafein içeren içeceklerin tüketimi dünyada çapında önemli düzeylere ulaşmıştır. Son yıllarda kafeinin tüketimi, ilaçlarla karşılaştırıldığında daha yüksek oranlara sahiptir. Dünya nüfusunun yaklaşık % 80'i hergün kafein içeren içecekler tüketmektedir. Dünya çapında, kahve (%71) en çok tüketilen kafein içerikli içecek olmasıyla birlikte, alkolsüz içecekler (%16) ve çay (%12) bunu takip etmektedir. Gelişen teknoloji ve yeniliklerle birlikte gıda endüstrisinde kafein tüketimi arasında önemli bir artış vardır. Bu çalışmada kafein tüketiminin, kardiyovasküler sistem, anksiyete, hafıza, uyku, depresyon ve agresyon açısından insan sağılığı üzerindeki etkileri incelenmiştir. Kafeinin içeren içeceklere artan talebin, genel olarak insan sağlığı üzerine olumlu etkileri olduğu düşünülmektedir.Caffeine is one of the most broadly consumed psychoactive material all over the world[1] . Historically, tea and soda are the most oldest beverages including caffeine. Recently, variation of food production, which comprise caffeine, has increased such as energy drinks, specialist coffee, potato chips, gum and candy bar[8] . Therefore, the consumption of caffeine-containing drinks has raised remarkably throughout the world. Indeed, in recent years, the consumption of caffeine is higher than any other drug. Nearly 80% of the world’s population consumes caffeine-contaning products ever day, with tea (12%), soft drink (16%) and coffee (%71) being the most widely consumed[8,9]. There is an significant increase in caffeine consumption throught last century with developing technology and innovative evolution in food industry. Actually, the rising demanding of the caffeine contaning productions has brought along with its likley effects on human health. The present study reviewed the effects of caffeine consumption on human healthy in terms of cardiovascular system, anxiety, memory, sleep, depression and agression

Investigation and evaluation of the impacts of the proposals related with the Golden Horn Cultural Valley Project on Galata area

Bu çalışma; “Kültür Vadisi” olarak tanımlanmış olan Haliç ve çevresinin temizlenerek, tarihi ve doğal değerleri ile birlikte yeniden kültürel ve sosyal yaşama kazandırılması için önerilen yeni projelerin Galata bölgesi üzerine etkileri; yaya ve mekân arasındaki ilişkiyi yürünebilirlik endekslerine dayanarak inceleyen bir araştırmanın bulgularından yola çıkarak araştırılmaktadır. Böylece, oldukça merkezi bir konuma sahip olmasına rağmen şehrin diğer kısımlarından kopuk kalmış olan Galata ve yakın çevresinin yaya hareketlilik dokuları incelenerek, sözü edilmiş olan bu yeni kentsel tasarım proje önerilerinden Galataport ve Perşembe Pazarı projelerinin, Galata’nın yaya hareketlilik dokuları üzerine olası yansımaları değerlendirilmiştir. Galata’da yaya hareketlilik dokularının gözlemlenmesi ve tespitini gerektiren uygulamalar çalışma kapsamında geliştirilmiştir. Yürünebilirlik oranları ile ilgili karşılaştırmalar yapılabilmesi ve hareketlilik dokusunu etkileyen çevresel faktörlerin tespit edilmesi amacıyla belirlenen değişkenler; güvenlik, görsel kalite, çekicilik ve konfor, arazi kullanımı, eğim ve erişilebilirlik olarak beş ana başlık altında ele alınmıştır. Erişilebilirlik değerinin belirlenmesinde İngiltere University  College London bünyesindeki Space Syntax Laboratuarı tarafından geliştirilen bir şehirsel tasarım modeli olan Space Syntax (Mekânsal Dizin) yönteminden yararlanılmıştır. Gözlemlenen yaya hareketlilik dokusu bağımlı değişken olarak ele alınarak, belirlenen beş bağımsız değişkenle çoklu regresyon yapılmıştır. Çoklu regresyon modelinin sonuçları, Galata’da yaya hareketlilik oranlarını etkileyen faktörleri %60 oranında açıklamaktadır. Modele göre, yaya hareketlerinde; “güvenlik”, ”erişilebilirlik” ve ”arazi kullanımları” değişkenleri belirleyici etkenlerdir. Çalışma, ileriki aşamalarda, uygulama modeli sonucunda yaya hareketlerini etkilediği tespit edilen değişkenlerin, hareketlilik dokularını ne oranda ve hangi şekilde etkilediğinin araştırılması için alt başlıklarda incelenmesinin önemini ortaya koymaktadır.  Anahtar Kelimeler: Yaya hareketleri, kentsel tasarım, Space Syntax (Mekânsal Dizin), yürünebilirlik.Even though pedestrian movement is one of the critical issues in urban design, a determinate method for evaluation of attractiveness of an area for walkability has not been established yet. This paper presents the findings of a comprehensive study on walkability developed on a historical centre of Istanbul, named Galata that has become segregated in recent years. Although Galata has been a significant region due to its location in the commercial core of Istanbul as well as its architectural, cultural and religious history, the area has been losing its value rapidly. Despite its lively neighborhood that has been developing, Galata remains disjointed and rigidly separated from its surroundings and in the process of deterioration. The study has researched the possible effects of the environmental variables on the levels of activity in urban spaces. The aim is to shed light on key variables that affect the attractiveness of an area for pedestrian movement, which in turn can help to develop an objective methodology to evaluate walkability. This study made use of earlier research that measured the pedestrian attractiveness of spaces, including Space Syntax. Space Syntax specializes in the analysis and design of urban environments and, in particular, the design of pedestrian linkages and public spaces. It makes direct observations of pedestrian and vehicular activity and uses purpose-designed computer programs to forecast the effects of new developments on such patterns. The method is being used in many European countries and gives consistent results. Within the context of the study, the existing pedestrian movement patterns in Galata have been observed and a range of variables have been determined to analyze the relationships. Pedestrian movement levels have been recorded separately for men, women, elderly, teenagers and children. The variables have been evaluated under five headings: 1. Slope of the area, 2. Land use pattern, 3. Visual quality and comfort, 4. Safety and 5. Accessibility (Space Syntax analyses) The data recorded in this study have been analyzed with a multiple regression analysis, in which pedestrian movement levels are considered as the dependent variable. The multi-regression analyses have been carried out for different categories of users (male, female, elderly, teenagers and children) and for both weekday and weekend activity levels separately. The model that explains the pedestrian movement levels with the highest accuracy has been generated with the total pedestrian levels of weekend. This model accounts for 60 % of the variation in pedestrian movement. According to the findings of the model, pedestrian movement levels are explained with three out of five variables: safety, accessibility (Space Syntax integration values) and land use pattern. Golden Horn that lies between Beyoğlu and the Historical Peninsula is being planned as a cultural valley with its 16km long coast. The “Cultural Valley” project is dealing with the refinement of the coasts and surroundings of Golden Horn and regaining its vitality with its historical and natural values. In this study, the possible effects of these proposals on Galata area have been analyzed through Space Syntax and walkability models. The outcomes of the analyses served to the purpose of evaluating two proposed development projects; Persembe Pazarı and Galataport, which seem to have a far reaching influence in future development of the area. The projects are evaluated under the headings land use, safety & security and accessibility. The results of the evaluation have shown that both the two proposals are likely to have a multiplier effect on pedestrian movement, which is crucial for the vitality of the area. The method and the findings of this study constitute an analytical model that could shed fresh light for future research on walkability as well as for evaluating proposals to regenerate historical city centers that have lost their vitality. The research enables to determine possible problems that may cause socio-economic inactivity such as decrease in accessibility among facilities and by this way contributes not only to practice but also to scientific research. The study suggests the importance of investigating the defined variables in subheadings in order to understand the degree and the aspect of their effects on movement patterns. Keywords: Pedestrian Movement, urban design, Space Syntax, walkability.&nbsp

BESLENME KÜLTÜRÜNDEKİ FARKLILIKLARIN BAYAN TÜKETİCİLERİN GIDA ÜRÜNLERİ SATIN ALMA DAVRANIŞLARI ÜZERİNDEKİ ETKİLERİ

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to analyze the women who live in the central districts within Mersin whether have different nourishment culture and have different behaviours to purchase foodstuffs or not. For this aim, a field survey has been conducted as a pilot study on women. The hypothesis of this study were tested with the help of t-test by using the data obtained from the survey. At the end of the research it has been concluded that, there are important differences among the groups on the cooking traditional meals, the frequency of cooking traditional meals and cooking the traditional meals of Mersin.Bu araştırma, Mersin'in merkez ilçelerinde yaşayan ve farklı beslenme kültürüne sahip olan bayanların gıda ürünleri satın alma davranışlarının da farklı olup-olmadığını incelemek amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiş, 800 bayan ile yüz-yüze görüşme yöntemi kullanılarak anketler yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın hipotezleri, Bağımsız iki grup t-testi yardımı ile test edilmiştir. Gruplar arasında geleneksel yemekleri pişirme, geleneksel yemekleri pişirme sıklığı değişkenleri açılarından önemli farklılıklar bulunmaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra, bayan tüketicilerin gıda ürünleri alışverişi yaptıkları mekanlar ve en çok satın aldıkları gıda maddeleri açısından da gruplar arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklar saptanmıştır

Susceptibility patterns and cross resistances of antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a teaching hospital of Turkey

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the third most common pathogen responsible for nosocomial infections and the prevalence of multiple resistant isolates has been increasing. Ninety-nine clinical isolates were studied in order to assess the current levels of susceptibility and cross-resistances of widely used antipseudomonal antibiotics against P. aeruginosa and to determine some resistance mechanisms by phenotypic methods. METHODS: MICs of isolates for nine antipseudomonal antibiotics were determined by the E test method. RESULTS: Thirty-six percent of isolates were resistant to more than one group of antibiotics. The rates of susceptible isolates were ciprofloxacin 75%, amikacin 73%, ceftazidime 65%, meropenem 63%, imipenem 63%, piperacillin/tazobactam 60%, cefoperazone/sulbactam 59%, cefepime 54% and tobramycin 44%. The majority of carbapenem resistant isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and amikacin. CONCLUSION: Ciprofloxacin seems to be the most active agent against P. aeruginosa followed by amikacin in our unit. The usefulness of combinations of these antibiotics and β-lactams should be tested in treating multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa