Mini Review: A Note on Nonoscillatory Solutions for Higher Dimensional Time Scale Systems

In this paper, we focus on nonoscillatory solutions of two (2D) and three (3D) dimensional time scale systems and discuss nonexistence of such solutions

Policies and practices of early childhood education and care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from five countries

The COVID-19 pandemic, which affects all areas of life, has also affected children in need of education and care. It is of great importance to develop policies that take into account the best interests of children in this process. In this review article, the policies developed for early childhood education and care during the pandemic period in five countries (Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey), how they are implemented, the problems that arose, and the solutions produced are discussed. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that we need to focus on eliminating the educational inequalities, set policies for the welfare of children on foundations that are more realistic, rebuild teacher training, and improve the welfare of families. Priorizating the best interests of the child in the policies to be developed and building the social ecology on justice will ease overcoming the crises that will be faced

B-mode ultrasound assessment of carotid artery structural features in patients with normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism

Introduction: Normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism is a condition first defined in 2008, characterized by normal serum calcium and high parathormone levels. Although normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism is considered to have a milder clinical picture compared to asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism, recent studies have shown that it may be associated with osteoporosis, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular risk factors. Considering that normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism may pose a cardiovascular risk in the setting of carotid atherosclerosis, we sought to examine the structural features of the carotid artery in patients with normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism compared to a control group. Material and methods: After excluding patients with hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia (other factors contributing to atherosclerosis), 37 (32 females, 5 males) patients with normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism with a mean age of 51.2 ± 8 (min: 32, max: 66) years and 40 controls (31 females, 9 males) with a mean age of 49.3 ± 7.5 (min: 34, max: 64) years with normal serum albumin-corrected calcium and parathyroid hormone levels were included in the study. Structural features of the carotid artery including intima-media thickness (mean and maximum), lumen diameter, and the presence of plaque were assessed using B-mode ultrasound. Results: On ANCOVA analysis corrected for atherosclerotic factors (body mass index, waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, serum cholesterol, lipid, and blood pressure), greater mean intima-media thickness was found in patients with normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism than in controls (0.65 mm vs. 0.59 mm, respectively) (p = 0.023). Maximum carotid intima-media thickness was also greater in patients with normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism compared to controls (0.80 mm vs. 0.75 mm, respectively) (p = 0.044). The study groups did not show a significant difference in lumen diameter and the presence of carotid plaque. In addition, a negative correlation was found between parathormone (PTH) level and lumen diameter. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that as with asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism, normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk by predisposing to atherosclerosis

Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Smoking in Friends and Relatives of Patients in Emergency Room: A New Frontier in the Fight against Tobacco

Background: Emergency rooms (ERs) are usually crowded with friends and relatives (F&Rs) of the patients. This experience may result in changes in smoking behaviors and create opportunities for smoking cessation interventions. The study aims to investigate these changes and offers a new frontier in the fight against smoking.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the ERs of two universities in different cities. A questionnaire consisting of 18 questions was applied to F&Rs of the emergency patients. Statistical analysis was performed using Jamovi program.Findings: A total of 603 respondents were included in the study. Of them, 71.3% were first-degree relatives, 51.7% waited 5 or more times in ER before, and 68.6% spent 0-2 hours in a day around the ER. Upon witnessing patients in the ERs, 53.4% of the F&Rs had the idea of quitting smoking and 42.9% wanted to have smoking cessation therapy during their wait in the hospital. While 76.1% of the participants were not using different brands of cigarettes when offered in normal life, this rate was lower around the ERs (64.6%) (P < 0.001). Participants smoked 0.82 ± 0.34 cigarette per hour in normal life excluding sleeping time; this number raised almost 6 folds during the wait (4.85 ± 2.11) (P < 0.001).Conclusion: F&Rs smoked more during waiting around ERs. However, they also expressed desire to quit smoking and receive smoking cessation intervention during the wait. Providing smoking cessation counseling to F&Rs in the ER may be a valuable intervention

Understanding young children's attitudes towards reading in relation to their digital literacy activities at home

The effect of digital literacy practices upon young children's learning is a contentious and growing area for research and debate. Nowadays, children encounter many different types of texts through their everyday engagement with digital technologies. The study reported here investigated the relationships between 6 and 7-year-old children's home digital literacy practices, parental views about the use of technology and children's attitudes towards reading as perceived by the children and their parents. A total of 105 children and their parents, from two primary schools in Istanbul participated in this study. Parents completed a questionnaire about their views on the use of technology, their children's digital literacy experiences and their perceptions of their children's reading attitudes, while the children engaged in individual interviews. The results from this study indicate that children's attitudes towards reading are significantly related to both the frequency of their engagement in digital literacy activities in their homes and their parents' perception of their child's attitudes to reading. The findings suggest that parents can support children's enjoyment in reading by engaging in both digital and non-digital print experiences with their children. [Author abstract

Understanding young children\u27s attitudes towards reading in relation to their digital literacy activities at home

The effect of digital literacy practices upon young children's learning is a contentious and growing area for research and debate. Nowadays, children encounter many different types of texts through their everyday engagement with digital technologies. The study reported here investigated the relationships between 6 and 7-year-old children's home digital literacy practices, parental views about the use of technology and children's attitudes towards reading as perceived by the children and their parents. A total of 105 children and their parents, from two primary schools in Istanbul participated in this study. Parents completed a questionnaire about their views on the use of technology, their children's digital literacy experiences and their perceptions of their children's reading attitudes, while the children engaged in individual interviews. The results from this study indicate that children's attitudes towards reading are significantly related to both the frequency of their engagement in digital literacy activities in their homes and their parents' perception of their child's attitudes to reading. The findings suggest that parents can support children's enjoyment in reading by engaging in both digital and non-digital print experiences with their children. [Author abstract

Mother-child interactions during shared reading with digital and print books

This study explored the quality of interactions in mother-child shared reading with a print book and with an electronic book on an i-Pad. The study involved a Turkish mother and her 5-year-old son who were observed at home when reading the printed book Ay'ı kim çaldı? (Who stole the moon?) and its exact digital match. The shared book reading interactions were analysed in terms of (a) the amount of talk with the different book formats and (b) the content of the mother-child talk including the focus of the talk, expansion of ideas and behavioural-related talk. The results revealed that print book reading engaged the child in higher-level thinking compared to digital book reading. There was greater frequency of non-immediate talk in the print book reading compared to the digital book reading. Also, results suggested that the digital book encouraged more behaviour-related talk related to negotiating the book sharing routine

What do they do digitally? Identifying the home digital literacy practices of young children in Turkey

Young children develop understandings about literacy from birth through experiences of print in their home environments. Today, written text is often present in children's homes in both print and digital forms. What kind of technologies are young children accessing at home and for what purposes? This paper discusses research findings from questionnaires completed by parents about the home digital literacy practices of 105 Turkish children aged 5-7 years and the nature of parental support for digital technology use at home. Parent interviews with five families further identified the technologies used, the children's repertoire of digital literacy practices and issues confronting parents about children's use of technology. The study revealed that children were actively engaged in multimodal practices through the use of digital technologies in play and learning in their homes. The main implications of this study are that it is important that educators be aware of children's existing digital home literacy practices as a foundation for further literacy learning and that parents may need support in understanding how technology use can contribute to children's literacy learning. Further research is warranted in this area

The Effect of Aromatherapy with Lavender Oil on the Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Fibromyalgia

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lavender oil, which has been used in complementary medicine as an aromatherapeutic, on the health-related quality of life in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia and to determine the main volatile compounds of lavender oil with healing effects. Forty-two patients aged 18 years and over who were diagnosed with fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology 2010 diagnostic criteria and used lavender oil as an aromatherapeutic by applying it on the wrist or via inhalation for four weeks were included in this study. The Short-Form (SF)-36 Quality of Life Scale was administered to the patients at baseline and after four weeks of lavender oil treatment to determine whether there was any change in their quality of life. The averages and correlation levels between the scores were calculated with the paired-sample t-test taking p < 0.05 as the statistical significance limit. In addition, the chromatographic analysis of lavender oil was performed with the combined headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methods. When the quality of life scores were evaluated at baseline and after four weeks of lavender oil treatment, improvements were detected in all the subscales of SF-36 at the end of the study. It was found that all the subscale scores, except for general health, were statistically significantly higher compared to the baseline scores (p < 0.05). The major volatile compounds detected in lavender oil were linalool (29.33%) and linalyl acetate (27.69%). The remaining main compounds were terpinolene, cis-ocimene, eucalyptol, and lavandulol in the order of frequency, which is consistent with the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the effect of lavender oil aromatherapy on patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and our results support that lavender oil aromatherapy significantly improves the quality of life in these patients. However, further comprehensive studies are needed to confirm our findings