Perspective of turkish medicine students on cancer, cancer treatments, palliative care, and oncologists (ares study): A study of the palliative care working committee of the turkish oncology group (TOG)

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death all over the World (Rahib et al. in Cancer Res 74(11):2913–2921, 2014; Silbermann et al. in Ann Oncol 23(Suppl 3):iii15–iii28, 2012). It is crucial to diagnose this disease early by effective screening methods and also it is very important to acknowledge the community on various aspects of this disease such as the treatment methods and palliative care. Not only the oncologists but every medical doctor should be educated well in dealing with cancer patients. Previous studies suggested various opinions on the level of oncology education in medical schools (Pavlidis et al. in Ann Oncol 16(5):840–841, 2005). In this study, the perspectives of medical students on cancer, its treatment, palliative care, and the oncologists were analyzed in relation to their educational status. A multicenter survey analysis was performed on a total of 4224 medical school students that accepted to enter this study in Turkey. After the questions about the demographical characteristics of the students, their perspectives on the definition, diagnosis, screening, and treatment methods of cancer and their way of understanding metastatic disease as well as palliative care were analyzed. The questionnaire includes questions with answers and a scoring system of Likert type 5 (absolutely disagree = 1, completely agree = 5). In the last part of the questionnaire, there were some words to detect what the words “cancer” and “oncologist” meant for the students. The participant students were analyzed in two study groups; “group 1” (n = 1.255) were phases I and II students that had never attended an oncology lesson, and “group 2” (n = 2.969) were phases III to VI students that had attended oncology lessons in the medical school. SPSS v17 was used for the database and statistical analyses. A value of p < 0.05 was noted as statistically significant. Group 1 defined cancer as a contagious disease (p = 0.00025), they believed that early diagnosis was never possible (p = 0.042), all people with a diagnosis of cancer would certainly die (p = 0.044), and chemotherapy was not successful in a metastatic disease (p = 0.003) as compared to group 2. The rate of the students that believed gastric cancer screening was a part of the national screening policy was significantly more in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.00014). Group 2 had a higher anxiety level for themselves or their family members to become a cancer patient. Most of the students in both groups defined medical oncologists as warriors (57% in group 1 and 40% in group 2; p = 0.097), and cancer was reminding them of “death” (54% in group 1 and 48% in group 2; p = 0.102). This study suggested that oncology education was useful for the students’ understanding of cancer and related issues; however, the level of oncology education should be improved in medical schools in Turkey. This would be helpful for medical doctors to cope with many aspects of cancer as a major health care problem in this country. © 2018, American Association for Cancer Education

Brixsino High-Flux Dual X-Ray and THz Radiation Source Based on Energy Recovery Linacs

We present the conceptual design of a compact light source named BriXSinO. BriXSinO was born as demonstrator of the Marix project, but it is also a dual high flux radiation source Inverse Compton Source (ICS) of X-ray and Free-Electron Laser of THz spectral range radiation conceived for medical applications and general applied research. The accelerator is a push-pull CW-SC Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) based on superconducting cavities technology and allows to sustain MW-class beam power with almost just one hundred kW active power dissipation/consumption. ICS line produces 33 keV monochromatic X-Rays via Compton scattering of the electron beam with a laser system in Fabry-Pérot cavity at a repetition rate of 100 MHz. The THz FEL oscillator is based on an undulator imbedded in optical cavity and generates THz wavelengths from 15 to 50 micron

Geomorphological, depositional, and foraminiferal indicators of late Quaternary tectonic uplift in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey

Iskenderun Bay is a major shallow embayment in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, where the African and Anatolian Plates converge. This tectonically active basin was investigated for oceanographic, sedimentological, geochemical, and foraminiferal parameters. On the basis of the data acquired, the distribution of living and fossil foraminifera in 284 grab and 54 gravity core samples was determined, the basin floor bathymetry of the bay constructed, radiocarbon ages of sediments and fossils ascertained, and depositional environments reconstructed. It has been discovered that for the last 13.5 k.y., water masses were stratified and sedimentation was discontinuous within the basin, which is characterized by irregular sea bottom morphology. The sedimentation rate was very slow, varying in time and space from 0 to 0.012 cm yr-1. The foraminiferal distributions were spatially varied and discontinuous and indicate a reversal from deep to shallow marine conditions in the cores. These irregularities were attributed to active tectonics in the bay and a major tectonic uplift of the bay since the late Pleistocene. © 2006 Geological Society of America

Element profiles and Ir concentration of Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary layers at Medetli, Golpazari, northwestern Turkey

Some element concentrations were measured and element profiles were made for the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary layers in Medetli, Golpazari, northwestern Turkey. In Medetli region, gray-colored medium to coarse grained sandstone (layer A) is overlain by yellow-colored fine-grained sandstone with intercalated thin goethite-rich layers (layer B). White colored limestone (layer C) overlies on the layer B. The layer A is latest Cretaceous and layer C is early Paleocene, and in layer B (28-37 cm in thickness) fossils are absent, and is regarded as a K-T transitional layer. In several goethite-rich layers, siderophile elements such as Fe, Cr, Ni, Co, and chalcophile element, such as As, Sb, and Zn, are enriched, and have maximum in succession from layer A to C. The enrichment of these elements are common features in most of K-T boundary sediments of the world. However, Ir concentration is relatively low (0.05-0.10 ppb) in the goethite-rich layers. The analyzed Ir concentration is slightly elevated (0.24 ppb) only in the top part of layer A. Iridium may have been diluted during sedimentation and diagenesis. The actual K-T boundary may be situated between the top of layer A and the bottom of layer B. The section from the top part of layer A to layer B is assumed to have been formed during the K-T and its successive events