Preoperative Pulmonary Evaluation and Evaluation of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Geriatric Patients Undergoing Spinal Surgery

Background: The number of elderly (geriatric) population is increasing day by day and it becomes important in geriatric diseases and surgeries. It is predicted that approximately half of the population over the age of 65 will require surgical intervention during their lifetime in western societies in the following years. For this reason, he wanted to show that postoperative morbidity and mortality can be reduced with a careful preoperative pulmonary evaluation in this patient group, which we now encounter more frequently in pulmonology practice. Objective: We aimed to examine the preoperative pulmonary risk assessment and the type of operation performed in geriatric patients who underwent spinal surgery, and its effect on postoperative complications and mortality in relation to the geriatric age group of the patient in the light of the literature. Methods: Preoperative and postoperative consultations of 341 geriatric spinal surgery patients were retrospectively reviewed. Geriatric age group, gender, existing diseases, preoperative pulmonary risk class, type and duration of surgery, type of anesthesia (all patients were operated under general anesthesia), peroperative and postoperative complications were recorded. Results: The mean age was 75.28 ± 6.091 (65 93). . When the patients with chronic disease in the preoperative period and died in the post operative period were evaluated, a statistically significant difference was observed in the elderly group in terms of mortality rates in the presence of malignancy alone, COPD or CHF disease compared to other age groups. Postoperative respiratory complications were observed in 35 (10.3%) patients. Respectively, 13 (3.81%) patients had pneumonia, 12 (3.51%) patients had atelectasis, 7 (2.05%) patients had embolism, and 3 (0.87%) patients had respiratory failure. There was a statistically significant increase in mortality rate in postoperative complications and death rates in direct proportion to age. Conclusions: These complications can be minimized by better pulmonary preoperative risk assessment.Keywords: Spinal surgery in geriatric patients, Preoperative pulmonary evaluation, Postoperative pulmonary risk 'DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/78-0

MAGiC: A multimodal framework for analysing gaze in dyadic communication

The analysis of dynamic scenes has been a challenging domain in eye tracking research. This study presents a framework, named MAGiC, for analyzing gaze contact and gaze aversion in face-to-face communication. MAGiC provides an environment that is able to detect and track the conversation partner’s face automatically, overlay gaze data on top of the face video, and incorporate speech by means of speech-act annotation. Specifically, MAGiC integrates eye tracking data for gaze, audio data for speech segmentation, and video data for face tracking. MAGiC is an open source framework and its usage is demonstrated via publicly available video content and wiki pages. We explored the capabilities of MAGiC through a pilot study and showed that it facilitates the analysis of dynamic gaze data by reducing the annotation effort and the time spent for manual analysis of video data

Transnational Open and Distance Learning: A Framework for Turkey as an Importer Country

Abstract Transnational higher education has been an increasingly important phenomeno

Opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement for higher education: the European perspective

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement is the latest “big thing” in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). MOOCs offer both opportunities and threats that are extensively discussed in the literature, including the potential of opening up education for all at a global scale. On the other hand, MOOCs challenge traditional pedagogy and raise important questions about the future of campus-based education. However, in discussing these opportunities and threats the majority of the literature tends to focus on the origin of the MOOC movement in the United States (US). The specific context of Europe with its diversity of languages, cultural environments, educational policies, and regulatory frameworks differs substantially from the US context. Accordingly, this article offers a European perspective on MOOCs in order to better understand major differences in threats and opportunities across countries and continents, including the use and reuse of MOOCs for regional or global use, via European or non-European platforms. In the context of the EU funded HOME project (Higher education Online: MOOCs the European way), a research initiative was undertaken to identify opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement for European higher education institutions. Three sources of data were gathered and analysed. Opportunities and threats were categorized into two levels. The macro level comprises issues related to the higher education system, European context, historical period, and institutional concerns. The micro level covers aspects related to faculty, teachers, and courses, thus to the operational level. The main opportunities discovered were: the ECTS as a robust system for formal recognition of accomplishments in MOOCs; the trend for institutional collaboration, stimulated by EU-funded programs; and the many innovative and alternative pedagogical models used in MOOCs published in Europe. The main threats mentioned were: implementation problems of the ECTS, difficulties in bridging non/informal and formal education; and too much regulation, hindering experimentation and innovation

Institutional Measures for Supporting OER in Higher Education: An International Case-Based Study

Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education cannot be put into practice without considering institutional contexts, which differ not only globally but also within the same country. Each institutional context provides educators with opportunities or limitations where Open Educational Practices (OEP) and OER for teaching and learning are involved. As part of a broader research project, and as a follow-up to national perspectives, an international comparison was conducted, based on institutional cases of nine different higher education systems (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey). Aspects regarding the availability of infrastructure and institutional policies for OER, as well as the existence of measures directed at OER quality assurance and at the promotion of the development and use of OER were covered. The resulting theoretical contribution sheds light on an international comparative view of OER and points towards country-specific trends, as well as differences among institutions. These aspects could provide an impetus for the development of institutional guidelines and measures. In line with international literature on the topic, recommendations are derived to promote/ enhance the use of OER in teaching and learning in higher education at the institutional level.This article is part of the meso level report of work package 11 of the project “Digital educational architectures: Open learning resources in distributed learning infrastructures – EduArc” funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant #16DHB2129)

Zinc supplementation induces apoptosis and enhances antitumor efficacy of docetaxel in non-small-cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Exposure to exogenous zinc results in increased apoptosis, growth inhibition, and altered oxidative stress in cancer cells. Previous studies also suggested that zinc sensitizes some cancer cells to cytotoxic agents depending on the p53 status. Therefore, zinc supplementation may show anticancer efficacy solely and may increase docetaxel-induced cytotoxicity in non-small-cell lung cancer cells. METHODS: Here, we report the effects of several concentrations of zinc combined with docetaxel on p53-wild-type (A549) and p53-null (H1299) cells. We evaluated cellular viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression as well as oxidative stress parameters, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde levels. RESULTS: Zinc reduced the viability of A549 cells and increased the apoptotic response in both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Zinc also amplified the docetaxel effects and reduced its inhibitory concentration 50 (IC(50)) values. The superoxide dismutase levels increased in all treatment groups; however, glutathione peroxidase was slightly increased in the combination treatments. Zinc also caused malondialdehyde elevations at 50 μM and 100 μM. CONCLUSION: Zinc has anticancer efficacy against non-small-cell lung cancer cells in the presence of functionally active p53 and enhances docetaxel efficacy in both p53-wild-type and p53-deficient cancer cells

Burden and Depressive Symptoms Associated with Adult-Child Caregiving for Individuals with Heart Failure

Background. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate adult-child caregiver burden in heart failure (HF) patients. Secondary purpose of the study was to identify the possible influencing factors for caregiver burden and depressive symptoms in a young adult-child caregiver group. Methods. A total of 138 adult-child caregivers and 138 patients with HF participated in this study. Caregivers' burden, depressive symptoms, and anxiety levels were assessed by using Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS), Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, respectively. Results. The mean ZCBS scores of the female caregivers were significantly higher than male caregivers. Approximately one-third of the adult-child caregivers had at least mild depressive symptoms. Caregivers with higher depressive symptoms had higher levels of caregiver burden. There were positive correlations between caregiving time, severity of depressive symptoms, and perceived caregiver burden. There was a negative correlation between education level of caregivers and perceived caregiver burden. Age, socioeconomic level, and marital status of patients were affecting factors for depressive symptoms in caregivers. Among caregiver characteristics, gender, marital status, and ZCBS scores seem to influence the depression in caregivers. Conclusions. The study findings suggest significant levels of burden and depressive symptoms even in adult-child caregivers of HF patients

A Comparative Study of National Infrastructures for Digital (Open) Educational Resources in Higher Education

This paper reports on the first stage of an international comparative study for the project “Digital educational architectures: Open learning resources in distributed learning infrastructures–EduArc”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This study reviews the situation of digital educational resources (or (O)ER) framed within the digital transformation of ten different Higher Education (HE) systems (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United States). Following a comparative case study approach, we investigated issues related to the existence of policies, quality assurance mechanisms and measures for the promotion of change in supporting infrastructure development for (O)ER at the national level in HE in the different countries. The results of this mainly documentary research highlight differences and similarities, which are largely due to variations in these countries’ political structure organisation. The discussion and conclusion point at the importance of understanding each country’s context and culture, in order to understand the differences between them, as well as the challenges they face