Examining the Digital Divide in Education during COVID-19 from Teachers’ Perspectives

The outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in unprecedented school closures in education, leading online education to become “the new normal.” Concurrently, emergency online instruction further exacerbated what is known as the digital divide, one of the contributing factors to inequality of educational opportunities. The purpose of our research is to examine in what ways the digital divide influences teachers and students during COVID-19. A better understanding of teachers\u27 perceptions of teaching online and the digital divide can offer more information for effective teaching during the pandemic. In this multi-method study, researchers collected data from 36 teachers through Likert scale questions and open-ended survey questions. The findings indicated that first- and second-level digital divides are the main problems affecting online education during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some students might not benefit from online learning due to the digital divide. Lack of access to technology and the internet, first-level digital divide, affected primarily students from lower SES. Further, even though some students had access to technology and the internet, students\u27 and teachers\u27 information and communication technology (ICT) skills, second-level digital divide, impacted how they use technology and profit from online education. Teachers need support to improve their own ICT skills, as well as their students, to reduce the impact of the digital divide in education

Development and evaluation of an online homework system for high school physics classes

This case study used a design-based research approach to examine the development and evaluation of an online homework system to support learning and problem-solving in a high school physics course. Emergent themes included challenges of building the system, strengths and weaknesses of it, and the benefits to students. While the system largely met desired outcomes and was well received by the students, concerns were raised about the quality and timeliness of some feedback/scaffolding provided by the system. Development of other such systems may help to support students and teachers during the current and post-COVID educational transition

Complications of arteriovenous fistula with polytetraflouroethylen grafts in hemodialysis patients

Purpose: Vessels with high venous flow rate are needed for the application of hemodialysis in patients needing chronic hemodialysis. The increase in the number of chronic hemodialysis patients has led to an increase in the number of vascular surgical operations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of polytetraflouroethylen (PTFE) graft arteriovenous fistula (AVF) applications.Materials and Methods: Files of 596 patients who received hemodialysis treatment at the Nephrology Unit of the Þanlýurfa Mehmet Akif Ýnan State Hospital between September 2009 and 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. PTFE grafts and autogenous AVFs applied in 22 patients were analyzed, and demographic data and PTFE graft associated complications of these patients were evaluated.Results: We found that the graft patency duration (months ± standard deviation) and the patency after graft revision were 16 ± 13 and 83.3%. Complications were detected in 14 patients (63%). One patient developed hematoma in early stages.Conclusions: We conclude that even if PFTE graft AVF applications cause significant complications, the procedure has a high patency rate after graft revision.Key words: Complication, polytetraflouroethylen graft, vascular acces

Human factors in ship dismantling – a safety approach : reality vs best practice

Ship dismantling (SD) is often considered as reverse ship building. For many years, ship dismantling has been neglected by the shipping industry due to lack of rules and understanding, hence severe consequences affecting both nature and human life have occurred. There has been growing concern about the health and environmental impacts of ship dismantling [1]. Therefore the impact of ship dismantling has been severely criticized by governmental and international shipping authorities as well as non-governmental organizations (NGO). As a result the procedure of developing new rules and regulations has been triggered and the safety culture is being questioned in the ship dismantling business. Although most countries that are in the ship dismantling business have almost no regulations related to ship dismantling, the case investigated in this article is Turkey, and the situation in Turkey is very different than the other major ship dismantling countries. The main reason for this difference is of course Turkey’s governmental laws and regulations on environmental protection and safety at work, as well as Turkey’s negotiations with the EU parliament. Current rules and practice on safety in shipping have been discussed in this paper. This article is the combined work of the University of Strathclyde, the Ship Recycling Association of Turkey and Ege Celik Ship Dismantling Yard in Turkey, with the aim to compare a successful business with the available best practice in ship building in the UK

Human Neurobrucellosis with Intracerebral Granuloma Caused by a Marine Mammal Brucella spp.

We present the first report of community-acquired human infections with marine mammal–associated Brucella spp. and describe the identification of these strains in two patients with neurobrucellosis and intracerebral granulomas. The identification of these isolates as marine mammal strains was based on omp2a sequence and amplification of the region flanking bp26

Türkiye’de bulunan yoğun bakımlarda sabun, kağıt havlu ve alkol bazlı el dezenfektanı yeterli mi?: Phokai çalışması sonuçları

Introduction: Hand hygiene is one of the most effective infection control measures to prevent the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI). Water, soap, paper towel and hand disinfectant must be available and adequate in terms of effective hand hygiene. The adequacy of hand hygiene products or keeping water-soap and paper towel is still a problem for many developing countries like Turkey. In this multicenter study, we analyzed the adequacy in number and availability of hand hygiene products.Materials and Methods: This study was performed in all intensive care units (ICUs) of 41 hospitals (27 tertiary-care educational, 10 state and four private hospitals) from 22 cities located in seven geographical regions of Turkey. We analyzed water, soap, paper towel and alcohol-based hand disinfectant adequacy on four different days, two of which were in summer during the vacation time (August, 27th and 31st 2016) and two in autumn (October, 12th and 15th 2016).Results: The total number of ICUs and intensive care beds in 41 participating centers were 214 and 2357, respectively. Overall, there was no soap in 3-11% of sinks and no paper towel in 10-18% of sinks while there was no alcohol-based hand disinfectant in 1-4.7% of hand disinfectant units on the observation days. When we compared the number of sinks with soap and/or paper towel on weekdays vs. weekends, there was no significant difference in summer. However, on autumn weekdays, the number of sinks with soap and paper towel was significantly lower on weekend days (p<0.0001, p<0.0001) while the number of hand disinfectant units with alcohol-based disinfectant was significantly higher (p<0.0001).Conclusion: There should be adequate and accessible hand hygiene materials for effective hand hygiene. In this study, we found that soap and paper towels were inadequate on the observation days in 3-11% and 10-18% of units, respectively. Attention should be paid on soap and paper towel supply at weekends as well

Engelli bireylerde motor beceri

Engelli bireylerde motor beceri üzerine yapılmış çalışmalar incelendiğinde sistematik bir derlemeye rastlanmamıştır. Bu çalışma, engelli bireylerde motor becerinin etkisi ve önemini konusu üzerine yayınlanmış bilimsel çalışmaların sistematik derlemesidir. Bu çalışma, sistematik derleme, PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis) bildirgesine uyarak ortaya konmuştur. Bedensel, Görme, Zihinsel ve İşitme Engelliler gruplarının dışında kalan engel grupları çalışmaya dahil edilmemiştir. PubMed veri tabanında ‘(motor skill) AND (disabled)” anahtar kelimeleri ile yapılan aramada “Ücretsiz tam metin” sınırlaması yapıldığında sayı 2100’e düşmüş “Randomize-Kontrollü çalışma” ve “Deneysel Araştırma” “Review” sınırlamaları eklendikten sonra yapılan aramada toplam 256 sonuç elde edilmiştir. İnsan üzerinde yapılan çalışmalar ve yaş kriteri de dahil edildiğinde sayı 110’a düştü. Bunlardan 90 tane bilimsel çalışma konu dışı olması sebebiyle dışarıda bırakıldı. Geri kalan 10 yayın çalışmaya dahil edilmiştir. Çalışma sonuçlarına bakıldığında; engelli bireylerde gelişim sürecinin ilk üç yılında motor gelişimin bilişsel gelişim ile ilişki içinde olduğu görülmektedir. Spora katılan ve katılmayan engelli ilkokul çocuklarında motor performans ölçümü sonucunda ve spora katılan çocukların, katılmayan çocuklara kıyasla daha iyi motor performansı gösterdikleri görülmektedir. Engelli bireylerde motor beceri gelişiminin erken tanısının konulması ve motor becerilerde geriliği tespit edilen engelli bireylerde erken eğitim ve egzersiz müdahalelerinin önemli olduğu literatür taraması sonucunda önerilebilir

Comparison of two systemic steroid regimens for the treatment of COPD exacerbations

WOS: 000333999800008PubMed ID: 23518215Rationale: Systemic steroids shorten recovery time, improve lung function and hypoxemia in COPD exacerbations. Although several studies have shown that both parenteral and oral steroids are effective and GOLD guideline recommends use of oral steroids at a dose of 30-40 mg/day, very little data exists as to whether any route of admininstration (parenteral vs oral) or any dose is more effective and/or safer. Methods: This was a randomized, parallel-group study aiming to compare the effectiveness and safety of orally administered lower dose of steroids with parenteral administration of higher doses. Thus, a total of 40 patients were included; one group (Group 1, n = 20) received methylprednisolone (MP) as recommended by the GOLD guideline (PO 32 mg/day for seven days) and the other (Group 2, n = 20) was given IV MP at 1 mg/kg/day for four days and 0.5 mg/kg/day for three days. Results: The two groups were similar with regards to age (69.0 +/- 10.5 vs 67.1 +/- 8.4 years), duration of COPD (11.8 +/- 8.3 vs 9.7 +/- 7.7 years), FEV1 (41.3 +/- 17.3 vs 34.0 +/- 12.0%), PaO2 levels (55.5 +/- 9.9 vs 59.1 +/- 11.0 mmHg) and dyspnea scores (9.4 +/- 1.1 vs 10.0 +/- 1.0). Worsening hypercapnic respiratory failure developed in two patients from Group 1 on days 1 and 2, these were intubated and thus excluded from the study. At day 7, both groups showed significant improvements in FEV1 levels (50.8 +/- 19.4 and 43.8 +/- 21.4%, respectively) (Table 2), PaO2 levels (66.5 +/- 12.5 and 65.3 +/- 10.6 mmHg, respectively) (Table 3) and dyspnea scores (3,5 +/- 2,8 and 4.2 +/- 2.8) (Fig. 1). The length of hospital stay was similar for the two groups (11.0 +/- 3.9 vs 12.7 +/- 6.4). Regarding adverse events, four patients in Group 1 vs 11 patients in group 2 developed hyperglycemia. Besides, three patients in group 2 had worsening of previously controlled hypertension. All events were treated and controlled with administration of proper medications. All patients were followed up for three months. Eight patients in group 1 and 15 patients in group 2 had unplanned visits to their physicians or to the emergency rooms for recurring exacerbations. Four patients in group 1 and five patients in group 2 were readmitted to hospital for recurrence (p = NS). During the follow-up two patients from group I died. Conclusion: These data show that oral administration of MP at a dose 32 mg/day for seven days significantly improves lung function, symptom scores and oxygenation in patients admitted to the hospital for COPD exacerbation and is as effective as and possibly safer than parenteral admininistration of higher doses. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved