Investigating the Factors Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Undergraduate Students’ Interests in Coursework

Today the world is suffering from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic illness, and people all around the world stay at home due to its rapid spread. People including students gather information and government instructions through TVs, social media and others around them. Since the classes were canceled in many countries, the novel coronavirus affects students’ interest in coursework. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of TV news, social media and communication with people on interest in coursework, and mediating roles of fear of contamination, depression, and anxiety on these effects. A path analysis was carried out with the data collected from 773 college students. The results showed that interest in coursework was most strongly affected by communication with people. This was due to its direct and indirect effects. Social media and TV News did not directly affect interest in coursework, but indirectly affected. The study also found that among the three mediator variables, the mediator roles of anxiety was bigger than the others. Understanding the findings of this research has become very important to us, especially at a time when face-to-face lessons have been canceled all over the world and transitioned to online education. Specific recommendations for practitioners and limitations for future research were also provided in the study

Assessment of the requisites of microbiology based infectious disease training under the pressure of consultation needs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Training of infectious disease (ID) specialists is structured on classical clinical microbiology training in Turkey and ID specialists work as clinical microbiologists at the same time. Hence, this study aimed to determine the clinical skills and knowledge required by clinical microbiologists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out between June 1, 2010 and September 15, 2010 in 32 ID departments in Turkey. Only patients hospitalized and followed up in the ID departments between January-June 2010 who required consultation with other disciplines were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 605 patients undergoing 1343 consultations were included, with pulmonology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, dermatology, haematology, and endocrinology being the most frequent consultation specialties. The consultation patterns were quite similar and were not affected by either the nature of infections or the critical clinical status of ID patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of our study show that certain internal medicine subdisciplines such as pulmonology, neurology and dermatology appear to be the principal clinical requisites in the training of ID specialists, rather than internal medicine as a whole.</p

Acute inferior myocardial infarction in a patient with a prosthetic aortic valve and high international normalized ratio

ST elevation acute myocardial infarction in patients with a mechanical prosthetic valve is rare and usually due to inadequate anticoagulation. We present a case of acute inferior myocardial infarction in a patient with a prosthetic aortic valve and high international normalized ratio, which has not been reported previously

Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri (KAE): Türkçeye Uyarlama, Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

Koronavirüs (COVID-19) pandemisinin kontrol edilmesi ve pandemiyle ilişkili psikolojik sorunların önlenmesi açısından, pandemiye karşı gösterilen psikolojik tepkileri anlamak önemlidir. Bu araştırma pandemi sürecinde gözlenen psikolojik tepkilerden biri olan anksiyeteye odaklanmıştır. Araştırmanın amacı, Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri’ni (Wheaton, Ward, Sanders, Reel ve van Meter, 2020) Türkçeye uyarlamak ve ölçeğin geçerliğini ve güvenirliğini test etmektir. Araştırmaya yaşları 18 ile 32 arasında değişen, 335 kadın, 93 erkek olmak üzere toplam 428 lisans öğrencisi katılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde Mplus ve R istatistik paket programları kullanılmıştır. Türkçe ölçek formunun yapı geçerliği doğrulayıcı faktör analizi aracılığıyla test edilmiştir. Ayrıca, Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri ile Depresyon, Anksiyete ve Stres Ölçeği arasındaki ilişkiler korelasyon analiziyle incelenmiştir. Güvenirlik çalışmaları kapsamında Cronbach alfa iç tutarlılık katsayısı hesaplanmıştır. Doğrulayıcı faktör analizi sonucunda, Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri’nin dokuz maddeden oluşan tek faktörlü yapısının yeterli uyum değerlerine sahip olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bir diğer deyişle, ölçeğin tek faktörlü yapısı koronavirüsle ilgili anksiyeteyi değerlendirme açısından iyi yapısal özelliklere sahiptir. Madde faktör yük değerleri .56 ile .81 arasında değişmiştir. Cronbach alfa iç tutarlılık katsayısı .84 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Alt ve üst %27’lik grupların ölçekten aldıkları puanlar arasındaki farkın istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olduğu saptanmıştır. Ayrıca, Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri ile depresyon, anksiyete ve stres arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı düzeyde pozitif yönde ilişkiler olduğu belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak, araştırmada Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri’nin 7’li Likert tipine dayanan dokuz maddelik Türkçe versiyonunun üniversite öğrencilerinin koronavirüsle ilgili yaşadığı anksiyeteyi değerlendirmede kullanılabilecek geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçme aracı olduğuna ilişkin kanıtlar elde edilmiştir. Bu araştırmada, Koronavirüs Anksiyete Envanteri pandemi sürecinde üniversite öğrencilerinin anksiyete düzeyini belirlemek amacıyla kullanılmıştır. Gelecek çalışmaların, envanteri farklı yaş gruplarında ve cinsiyete göre daha dengeli bir katılımcı grubunda kullanması faydalı olabilir.WOS:00069219780001

Electrorheological properties of kaolinite, polyindole, and polyindole/kaolinite composite suspensions

In this study, polyindole (PIN) and polyindole/kaolinite (PIN/KAO) composite were synthesized by free radical polymerization using FeCl3 as an initiator. Average particle sizes (d(50)) of PIN and PIN/KAO composite were determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) as 7.2 and 6.2 mu m, respectively. The samples were characterized by FTIR, elemental analysis, DSC/TGA and SEM measurements. Suspensions of KAO, PIN, and PIN/KAO composite were prepared in silicone oil (SO) and the sedimentation stabilities were determined. Electrorheological (ER) properties of these suspensions were studied as a function of dispersed phase concentration, shear rate, shear stress, and temperature; and yield stresses and excess shear stresses determined. Further, dielectric properties of KAO, PIN, and PIN/KAO composite were investigated. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 3484-3493, 2007

Effect of vitamin D deficiency and supplementation on myocardial deformation parameters and epicardial fat thickness in patients free of cardiovascular risk

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with impaired myocardial deformation parameters and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Increased epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is also associated with increased risk of CVD. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of vitamin D deficiency and supplementation on myocardial deformation parameters and EFT. The study population consisted of 50 patients with vitamin D deficiency who were free of cardiovascular risk (mean age: 42.6 +/- A 8.9 years, 37 female). Patients were treated with oral administration of vitamin D3. Myocardial deformation parameters and EFT were evaluated before and after treatment of those patients. Vitamin D levels significantly increased after treatment (30.5 +/- A 10.5 vs. 9.9 +/- A 5.3 nmol/l, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between conventional echocardiographic parameters before and after treatment. Baseline EFT was significantly higher than post-treatment measurements (35.2 +/- A 8.0 vs. 27.5 +/- A 5.6 mm, p < 0.001). Post-treatment myocardial deformation parameters were also significantly higher than baseline measurements. Baseline vitamin D levels correlated with baseline EFT and left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS). Post-treatment vitamin D levels also correlated with post-treatment EFT, body mass index, and LV-GLS. Baseline vitamin D level was an independent predictor of baseline LV-GLS (p = 0.002). Patients with impaired LV-GLS had significantly lower vitamin D levels than patients with normal LV-GLS (6.6 +/- A 3.8 vs. 11.0 +/- A 5.3 nmol/l, p = 0.005). Baseline vitamin D level was also an independent predictor of baseline impaired LV-GLS (p = 0.010). Vitamin D supplementation has beneficial effects on myocardial deformation parameters and EFT. Moreover, baseline vitamin D levels are a predictor of impaired LV-GLS