A path analysis study of school culture and teachers' organisational commitment

In this study, the direct and indirect relations between school culture and the organisational commitment of primary school teachers were analyzed. the subjects of the research consisted of primary school teachers who worked at a district in istanbul in the academic year 2007-2008. the sampling group was defined by the cluster sampling method. in total 200 teachers participated. two scales were used to collect data, the organisational commitment scale (ocs) and the school culture scale (scs). linear regression and path analysis were used to explain the influence of school culture on organisational commitment, and lisrel 7 was used as a structural equation model. the findings indicated that although there was a positive correlation between school culture and organisational commitment, the direct effect of school culture on organisational commitment was not meaningful

Rapid progression of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

We describe the case of a 39-year-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected man with angiographically documented rapid progression of coronary artery disease. Over a time course of only 2 months, he developed high-grade stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The risk of myocardial infarction is increased in patients with HIV infection receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, the absolute risk is small and the marked overall benefits of antiretroviral therapy are evident. Patients receiving HIV protease inhibitors should be screened for hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hypertension. They may be candidates for lipid-lowering therapies depending on their long-term prognosis and individual risk of cardiovascular disease. Care is need because of possible drug interactions between lipid-lowering drugs and antiretroviral therapy. Invasive treatment of acute myocardial infarction does not differ from that in patients not infected with HIV. The rate of progression of coronary artery disease and the restenosis rate, however, are often unexpectedly high in these patient

Cardiac arrest in a soccer player: a unique case of anomalous coronary origin detected by 16-row multislice computed tomography coronary angiography

Anomalous origin of the coronary arteries may be present in otherwise normal subjects without clinical significance, but can also be the cause of myocardial ischemia and sudden death in both adults and teenagers. In particular, the origin of the left main coronary artery or left anterior descending artery from the right sinus of Valsalva or right coronary artery may result in compression of the vessel during or immediately after exercise. We present a unique case of coronary anomaly with four separate coronary ostia originating from the right coronary sinus in a soccer player with sudden cardiac arrest. Multislice contrast-enhanced computed tomography has emerged as a valid noninvasive method for the diagnosis of coronary artery anomal

The Infant Curiosity Questionnaire: the first measure of General Infant Curiosity

There are numerous theoretical frameworks attempting to define and explain curiosity, such as the knowledge gap theory (Loewenstein, 1994), the interest-deprivation theory (Litman & Jimerson, 2004), as well as the early, influential specifications of Berlyne (e.g. epistemic vs. perceptual curiosity and specific vs. diverse exploration, 1960). However, the concept remains elusive with open questions especially regarding its emergence and mechanisms in infancy. While there are several self-report measures for adult and some for child curiosity relating to the aforementioned theories, there has not been any measure developed yet for infants. Here, we present a newly developed caregiver-report questionnaire measuring infants’ general curiosity across a target age range of 5 to 24 months. Rather than constraining behavioral expressions of curiosity to a specific theoretical framework, we instead adopt a broad definition of infant curiosity as a keen desire or tendency to actively explore one’s immediate surroundings. We developed 36 items reflecting various behaviors and developing skills with which infants can actively explore and interact with their environment from birth onwards. Caregivers are asked to evaluate how well each item reflects their child’s typical behavior on a Likert-scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) with an option of ‘not applicable (NA)’ for behaviours the child does not display (perhaps because they are too young). An item applicable for younger infants is for instance “When my child encounters an object, they are likely to put it in their mouth for further inspection (e.g., to see what it feels or tastes like).” Other items referring to skills such as interacting socially (e.g., “When reading a picture book together, my child directs me (e.g., by pointing) towards what they want to know more about.”) may only become applicable later on. The survey was piloted on N = 22 participants of a constrained age group (Mage = 11.53, 41% female). The measure showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .85). Each item created variance but had, as expected, a positively skewed response load. Furthermore, an item directly asking caregivers about how curious they perceived their child to be, significantly correlated with the child’s mean curiosity score (R = 0.44, p = 0.043) suggesting predictive construct validity. Preliminary results are promising in that the measure captures individual differences in infants’ general curiosity while keeping the number of items and response time low. Small adjustments have been made and data collection from a wider population across the full age-range with a target sample size of N = 360 is currently ongoing. Reliability analyses as well as structural equation modelling has been preregistered on aspredicted.org. This new measure will help us understand infant curiosity, its development, expression, and potential stability from a very early age. It may also inform experimental studies by explaining additional variance of active engagement

Impact of a 6-wk olive oil supplementation in healthy adults on urinary proteomic biomarkers of coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (types 1 and 2): a randomized, parallel, controlled, double-blind study

Background: Olive oil (OO) consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease prevention because of both its oleic acid and phenolic contents. The capacity of OO phenolics to protect against low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation is the basis for a health claim by the European Food Safety Authority. Proteomic biomarkers enable an early, presymptomatic diagnosis of disease, which makes them important and effective, but understudied, tools for primary prevention. Objective: We evaluated the impact of supplementation with OO, either low or high in phenolics, on urinary proteomic biomarkers of coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and diabetes. Design: Self-reported healthy participants (n = 69) were randomly allocated (stratified block random assignment) according to age and body mass index to supplementation with a daily 20-mL dose of OO either low or high in phenolics (18 compared with 286 mg caffeic acid equivalents per kg, respectively) for 6 wk. Urinary proteomic biomarkers were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 wk alongside blood lipids, the antioxidant capacity, and glycation markers. Results: The consumption of both OOs improved the proteomic CAD score at endpoint compared with baseline (mean improvement: –0.3 for low-phenolic OO and −0.2 for high-phenolic OO; P < 0.01) but not CKD or diabetes proteomic biomarkers. However, there was no difference between groups for changes in proteomic biomarkers or any secondary outcomes including plasma triacylglycerols, oxidized LDL, and LDL cholesterol. Conclusion: In comparison with low-phenolic OO, supplementation for 6 wk with high-phenolic OO does not lead to an improvement in cardiovascular health markers in a healthy cohort. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN93136746

Clinical efficacy and satisfaction of a digital wheeze detector in a multicentre randomised controlled trial: the WheezeScan study.

INTRODUCTION: Wheezing is common in preschool children and its clinical assessment often challenging for caretakers. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a novel digital wheeze detector (WheezeScan™) on disease control in a home care setting. METHODS: A multicentre randomised open-label controlled trial was conducted in Berlin, Istanbul and London. Participants aged 4-84 months with a doctor's diagnosis of recurrent wheezing in the past 12 months were included. While the control group followed usual care, the intervention group received the WheezeScan™ for at-home use for 120 days. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their child's respiratory symptoms, disease-related and parental quality of life, and caretaker self-efficacy at baseline (T0), 90 days (T1) and 4 months (T2). RESULTS: A total of 167 children, with a mean±sd age of 3.2±1.6 years, were enrolled in the study (intervention group n=87; control group n=80). There was no statistically significant difference in wheeze control assessed by TRACK (mean difference 3.8, 95% CI -2.3-9.9; p=0.2) at T1 between treatment groups (primary outcome). Children's and parental quality of life and parental self-efficacy were comparable between both groups at T1. The evaluation of device usability and perception showed that parents found it useful. CONCLUSION: In the current study population, the wheeze detector did not show significant impact on the home management of preschool wheezing. Hence, further research is needed to better understand how the perception and usage behaviour may influence the clinical impact of a digital support

Case Report Adventitious Bursitis Overlying an Osteochondroma of the Humerus Facing the Thoracic Wall

One of the complications of osteochondromas is the development of a bursa over the cartilaginous cap. We report a 15-year-old boy with a rapidly expanded adventitious bursitis overlying an osteochondroma of the humerus facing the thoracic wall, a location not previously reported for such bursa formation. Magnetic resonance imaging readily showed adventitious bursitis overlying the osteochondroma, thereby dispelling concerns for malignant transformation