Learning styles and learning approaches: How closely are they associated with each other and do they change during medical education?

WOS: 000430070400003Objectives: This study aims to determine medical students' learning styles and approaches and to evaluate the relationship between them, as well as observe whether any changes occur in these during the course of their education. Methods and Materials: This research was carried out on students who were enrolled in 2008-2009 and was conducted in their first, second and fourth years. The study group consisted of students who had fully completed the scales of measurement used for this research in all years. Learning styles and approaches were determined for each period. Results: An increase in the convergent and divergent styles and a decrease in the assimilator style, determined over the years were not statistically significant. The decline in the deep learning approach scores was important. Evaluating the relationship between the learning styles and approaches, we found that the deep learning approach scores with the divergent style were lower in the first two years; however, no relationship was observed in the fourth year. Conclusions: The learning style follow-up study indicates a trend among students who will try to understand the whole by giving importance to details, to focus on problem solving, and to move away from traditional learning. The decrease in deep learning approaches may be linked to the nature of assignments and testing systems

Call centers and noise-induced hearing loss

Noise is defined as unwelcome sound. It has been estimated that 16% of adult hearing loss in the world is due to noise exposure at the workplace. This report offers a case that diagnosed with hearing loss of whom working as a call center operator at home. Home agent operators should be explored

In situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles on modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers by grafting for obtaining versatile antimicrobial materials

GUN GOK, Zehra/0000-0001-6426-0395WOS:000590515900001Because of having high mechanical properties and cheapness of PET textiles, functionalization of them for new properties is an active research area. In the present work, methacrylic acid (MAA)-grafted PET fibers (PET-g-MAA) were obtained by grafting of MAA monomers to PET surface for an antimicrobial material synthesis. The morphologies of the obtained graft copolymers were examined with a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the chemical modification after grafting was determined with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Subsequently, silver ions were adsorbed onto the PET-g-MAA fibers surface and the adsorbed ions to the surface were reduced to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by UVC light. The morphology of fiber surfaces modified with MAA and coated with AgNPs was examined by SEM studies, and it was observed that AgNPs were disturbed along the fibers. The presence of silver on the surface was also confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and energy dispersion X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF). The crystalline structure of the original PET fiber, PET-g-MAA fiber and PET-g-MAA fiber modified with AgNPs was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The thermal properties of the obtained fibers were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The immobilization of AgNPs on the grafted fibers leads to a change on the patterns of TGA curves. The most significant change is the less weight reduction in the temperature range of 200-300 degrees C. Disk diffusion test was performed using Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25,922) bacteria in order to investigate the antibacterial ability of the obtained fibers, and it was found that the fibers coated with AgNPs had antibacterial effect on both bacterial species. The cytotoxicity of the groups with the best antibacterial properties was determined by MTT test, and the synthesized material did not have cytotoxic effects on L929 fibroblast cells. The material obtained has the potential to be used in antimicrobial applications.Krkkale UniversityThe project was financially supported by Krkkale University with the project number 2019/010. The authors were thankful to Krkkale University for their supporting

National Multi-Center Observational Retrospective Study to Understand Treatment Patterns and Outcomes for Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients in Turkey: Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology Study, STONE Trial

This study investigated treatment patterns and outcomes in patients with inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with radiotherapy (RT) in Turkey. We included 492 patients with stage III NSCLC in this multi-center retrospective study. Pa-tient demographics, clinical characteristics, and clinical treatment patterns from the time of the initial diagnosis to disease progression were recorded. Additionally, the prognostic factors predicting overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. For the initial treatment, 429 patients (89.2%) received chemotherapy and RT, whereas 53 patients (10.8%) were treated only with RT. The first disease progression occurred in 288 patients (58.4%) at 9.3 months (median) after the initial treatment, and 64.6% re-ceived treatment after first progression. The second disease progression occurred in 30 patients, and 20 patients (66.7%) received treatment. Median OS and PFS were 27.0 months and 13.4 months, respectively. Age (p< 0.001), stage (p= 0.04), poor performance score (PS) (p= 0.03) and RT doses (p= 0.002) were independent predictors for OS and PFS in our multivariate analysis. Additional significant predictors for OS in the multivariate analysis were gender (p= 0.004), treatment period (0.02), and irradiation technique (p= 0.02). Disease progression occurred in nearly 58% of the patients, and one-third of these patients remained untreated during the disease progression. These findings indicate a need for additional treatment options in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC with high-risk features, namely older age, stage IIIB disease, poor PS, and lower RT doses.AstraZeneca TurkeyAstraZeneca Turkey provided the funding for the study

Employment status changes of workers after referral to an occupational disease clinic

Objective: Occupational diseases (OD) are among the most significant issues of work life, with economic, medical, social, and ethical aspects. The majority of studies concerning OD focus on the causes or medical outcomes of OD. There are a limited number of studies investigating the social and economic impacts of being diagnosed with an OD. One of the important social aspects of OD is the employability of workers after an OD diagnosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the changes in employment status after the OD diagnosis process. Methods: This is a cross sectional study. There were 204 eligible cases, and 198 (97%) completed the study. The study data were obtained from patient files, including OD Committee reports and questionnaires applied via telephone interview. Results: Among the 198 applicants, 170 (85.9%) were male and 146 (73.7%) were diagnosed with an OD. Of these workers, 106 (53.5%) had quit their current jobs. Of those workers, 89 out of 106 were in the OD group, and 17 were in the non-OD group. Diagnosis with OD (OR: 3.1 CI: 1.4-6.8) and non-union membership (OR : 11.1 CI: 5.2-23.5) increased the likelihood of quitting the job after an OD diagnosis. Conclusion: The short-term prognosis of OD was relatively poor. OD diagnosis or even referral to an outpatient clinic may cause quitting the job. Policies should account for the risk of unemployment after an OD diagnosis, and OD surveillance systems should obtain data on the employment status of workers following diagnosis. (C) Article author(s)