Reservoir and hydrogeochemical characterizations of geothermal fields in Salihli, Turkey

Geothermal and hydrochemical characteristics of thermal waters in the Salihli geothermal area are described in this study. This geothermal area is geographically divided into five main groups; Kurşunlu, Caferbey, Greenhouse, üfürük and Sart geothermal fields. In the study area, the outlet temperatures of the thermal waters are between 30 and 90°C, their discharges are between 2 and 80l/s in springs and the depths of wells vary between 200 and 1189m. Hydrochemical analysis results suggest four different water types of Na-HCO 3, Ca-Mg-HCO 3, Ca-Na-HCO 3 and Ca-Mg-SO 4 in Kurşunlu, Caferbey-Greenhouse, Sart, and üfürük, respectively. Cold waters are mainly dominated by the HCO 3 and SO 4 anions and Na, Ca, and Mg cations.Results of environmental isotope and chemical analysis show that the thermal waters are of meteoric origin and the major hydrogeochemical processes show that the thermal waters may be mixing of their end members and/or water-rock interaction at high temperature conditions. The mixed thermal waters are replenished by rainwater and/or groundwater at various depths. EC-tritium and EC-chloride plots indicated shallow and deep circulating groundwater types in the study area. Assessment of the various empirical chemical geothermometers and geochemical modelling suggests that the aquifer temperature in the study area is about 160. °C.The thermal waters are mostly supersaturated with respect to carbonate minerals (calcite, aragonite, and dolomite) at all temperatures. These are likely to cause scaling problems during production and utilization of thermal water. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

General characteristics and prognostic factors of pneumonia cases developed during pandemic (H1N1) influenza-a virus infection in Turkey

Objective: Unlike seasonal influenza, seen in previous years, the strain identified in the 2009 influenza-A pandemic involved high mortality. In this study, prognostic factors and general characteristics of pneumonia cases developed in Turkey during the H1N1 pandemic between October 2009 and January 2010 were analyzed. Study Design: Multicenter retrospective study. Material and Methods: This multicentric retrospective study was conducted between August and October 2010 and patients' data were collected by means of standard forms. Results: The study included 264 pneumonia cases, collected from 14 different centers. Mean age was 47.5±18.6 years. Nineteen patients (7.2%) were pregnant or had a new birth and comorbid diseases were detected in 52.3% of all patients. On admission, 35 (13.8%) cases had altered mental status. Overall, 32.6% were treated in intensive care units (ICU) and invasive/non-invasive mechanical ventilation was performed in 29.7%. The mean duration of ICU stay was 2.9±6.2 and total hospital stay was 12.0±9.4 days. Mortality rate was 16.8% (43-cases). The length of ICU treatment, total hospital stay, and mortality were significantly higher in H1N1-confirmed patients. Mortality was significantly higher in patients with dyspnea, cyanosis, and those who had altered mental status on admission. Patients who died had significantly higher rate of peripheral blood neutrophils, lower platelet counts, higher BUN, and lower SaO2 levels. Conclusion: This study showed that pneumonia developed during H1N1 pandemic in our country had resulted in a high mortality. Mortality was especially high among patients with cyanosis, altered mental state and those with lower SaO2. © Trakya University Faculty of Medicine

Raman spectroscopy of optical phonons as a probe of GaN epitaxial layer structural quality

We report on Raman scattering measurements of all Raman-active phonons in wurtzite and zinc blende structure GaN epilayers grown on GaAs (001), GaAs (111)A, and GaAs (111)B oriented substrates by means of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Raman spectra are taken from these epilayers at room temperature and 77 K in backscattering geometry. The measured values of the phonon frequencies are in agreement with other studies and with lattice dynamic calculations of phonon modes in GaN zinc blende and wurtzite structures. We show that crystal quality is much better in samples grown on GaAs (111) substrates than in samples grown on GaAs (001) substrates. The observation of disorder-activated modes gives information about sample quality. Comparison of the spectra from different thickness epilayers shows that the GaN is more highly disordered close to the substrate, particularly for the (001) substrates

Sağlık Çalışanlarında Mobbing: Kamu Ve Özel Sağlık Kurum Çalışanlarının Karşılaştırmalı Türkiye Örneği,

Günümüzün ve çalışma hayatının en önemli sorunlarının başında mobbing gelmektedir. Çalışma hayatı içerisinde sıklıkla karşılaşılan mobbing kavramı; başta performans, verimlilik, stres, cinsel taciz, ruhsal ve psikolojik baskı ve yıldırma ve tükenmişlik gibi birçok açıdan ele alınmaktadır. Bu araştırmanın amacı sağlık sektöründe maruz kalınan yıldırma davranışlarının bazı değişkenler açısından irdelenmesi, devlet ve özel hastanelerde görev yapan sağlık personelinin mobbing’e maruz kalma oranının karşılaştırmalı olarak tespit edilmesidir. Yapılan bu araştırma, kamu hastaneleri ile özel hastanelerde çalışan personele yönelik saha uygulamalı bir çalışmadır. Araştırmanın evrenini İstanbul, İzmir, Bursa, Tekirdağ, Sakarya ve Ankara illerinde bulunan sağlık kurum çalışanları oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmanın örneklemini özel (430 kişi) ve kamu (430 kişi) sağlık kurumu çalışanları oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada 5’li likert ölçekli 45 maddeden oluşan soru ile 12 demografik sorudan oluşan anket kullanılmıştır. Kullanılan anket daha önce “Leymann tarafından geliştirilen (LIPT) ölçeği doğrultusunda çalışmaya uyarlanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda elde edilen veriler SPSS 20.0 paket programında analiz edilmiştir. Analiz kapsamında, güvenilirlik analizi, frekans tabloları, betimleyici istatistikler, bağımsız örneklem t testi, ki kare analizi, Pearson korelasyon analizi, tek yönlü varyans analizi ve Tukey testinden faydalanılmıştır. Güvenirlilik analizi sonucunda Cronbach alpha katsayısı 0.972 olarak bulunmuştur. Bu sayı çalışmanın oldukça güvenilir olduğunu göstermektedir. Karşılaştırma ve araştırma sonucunda özel sağlık kurumlarında çalışan personelin daha fazla mobbing’e uğradığı görülmüştür. Kadın çalışanların erkek çalışanlara oranla daha fazla mobbing gördüğü saptanmıştır. 29 yaşından küçük çalışanların ve lise mezunu çalışanların daha çok mobbing’e maruz kaldığı belirlenmiştir

Modified Ciaglia and Griggs percutaneous tracheostomy techniques: A retrospective analysis

Objective: Many techniques of percutaneous tracheostomy have been described in the literature. The two most popular techniques are Griggs and Modified-Ciaglia percutaneous tracheostomies. In this study we report our experience with percutaneous tracheostomy based on Griggs and Modified-Ciaglia techniques, as well as comparison of these techniques regarding their complication rates. Method: Retrospective evaluation of 158 patients' data undergone elective percutaneous tracheotomy in intensive care unit of our institution between 2007 and 2010 was made. Results: Totally 158 percutaneous tracheostomies were performed, where Modified-Ciaglia technique was used in 114 (72.2%) of them and Griggs technique in the rest. The procedure duration was significantly shorter with Griggs than with Modified-Ciaglia technique, (p=0.04). No significant difference was detected between the groups regarding complication development, (p=0.42). Conclusion: Both Modified-Ciaglia and Griggs percutaneous tracheostomy techniques are good alternatives for surgical tracheotomy, with comparable and acceptable complication rates. Duration of percutaneous tracheostomy procedure is shorter with Griggs technique