DEPRESSION MEASURED BY PHQ-9 IN KOSOVO DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK: AN ONLINE SURVEY

Background: There are reports from countries and in the scientific literature that COVID-19 affect also mental health worldwide. The aim of this study was to understand the level of depression as a result of the COVID-19 situation and possible associations with sociodemographic variables. Subjects and methods: It’s a cross-sectional study. The participants were 155 respondents recruited online in the period 27.04.2020 until 05.06.2020, who completed the Albanian version of PHQ-9. Results: Mean score of depression resulted 10.94 (SD=9.22). 63% of participants agreed that the situation has worsened their psychological state; 35.6% had a mild to severe form of depression and 18.7% had minimal symptoms. 13.4% of participants saw iCBT as helpful, 16.8% a little while 65.8% wanted to try it. Significantly higher depression resulted for females and age group 18 to 24 years. No significant differences by levels of education, marital status, employment, socio-economic status and by expectations regarding iCBT. Gender and perception of worsened psychological state showed predictive abilities for depression. Conclusion: The situation with Covid-19 has increased depression levels especially among females and 18 to 24 years old and thus expectations for e-psychotherapy. Online treatments seem feasible solutions for outbreak times. Studies in future are needed to better scientifically elaborate these findings

Topology optimization of double-curved double-layer grids

A topology optimization procedure for double layer grids which have square-on-square configuration and top and/or bottom layers are curved in one or two directions is presented. The number of nodes is treated as design variables during optimization process; as a result, the number of members varies. The configuration of grid structures is generated using the graph product operations. The coordinates of nodes and the cross sections of members are taken as continuous and discrete design variables, respectively. As an optimizer, a new swarm based optimization algorithm called Artificial Bee Colony algorithm is used. A design example is included to show the applicability of the presented procedure for optimization of double-curved double-layer grids

A Study on Preferred Learning Styles of Turkish EFL Teacher Trainees

Since people have different ways of perception, levels of motivation, and attitudes towards teaching and learning they consistently differ from each other in their preferences of learning and acquiring knowledge. Therefore, the more instructors understand the differences, the better chance they have of understanding and meeting the diverse learning needs of their students. The present study has been conducted to investigate the Turkish ELT students’ learning style preferences in relation to gender and age to see if there is any relationship between achievement and learning style preferences. To perform the aim of the study Wintergerst and DeCapua’s (1999) learning style indicator (LSI) was administered on 249 English trainees. To find the male and female students’ learning style preference differences separately, t-test was utilized. The result indicated that Turkish students are mostly group-oriented learners and learn best through interacting with other students while learning. Gender also varies according to the three orientation areas under investigation. In the current study, no relation between achievement and learning style has been identified

Migralepsy; clinical and electroencephalography findings in children

Aim: Migralepsy is a clinical entity that occasionally represents a diagnostic problem. An apparent history and clinical manifestation of migraine may mask the epileptic attack accompanying migralepsy. The aim of this study is to present our experience with clinical and electroencephalography (EEG) findings and treatment of our patients diagnosed with childhood migralepsy disease.Methods: We documented six patients who were initially followed-up with a diagnosis of migraine, subsequently observed to have epileptic seizures, and then diagnosed with migralepsy.Result: Our patients became asymptomatic by giving good responses to antiepileptic therapy based on clinical and electroencephalography (EEG) findings.Conclusions: This case series shows that EEG recording can be useful in all stages of migraine for long-term, safe monitoring. Identifying patients with possible migralepsy will enable them to receive antiepileptic treatment

Mechanical and Physical Properties of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Reinforced Using Carbon Fibre of Different Lengths

In this study, series of tests have been conducted to indicate the mechanical and physical properties (compressive strength, flexural strength, dry density, thermal conductivity and shrinkage) of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) reinforced with carbon fibres of different lengths. AG2/350 AAC block specimens without carbon fibre were prepared as a control specimen. The mixtures were prepared by replacing 0.5% weight of cement in the AAC with 4 mm, 6 mm, 12 mm length carbon fibres and these mixtures were poured into moulds and subjected to 58 °C for 4 hours to expand until reaching workable hardness. After preliminary curing, the produced AAC specimens were subjected to 180 °C and pressure of 11 bar for 6 hours in a steam cure until required hardness. The mechanical and physical properties of the reference and the fibre reinforced AAC specimens were determined and compared to each other. As a result, the use of 12 mm fibre reinforcement in AAC gave the best performance in comparison to the other fibre reinforcements of different lengths by increasing compressive strength for 10.63%, flexural strength of 31.48% and thermal conductivity up to 4.23% while reducing the shrinkage ratio to 51.47%. Herein for the specimen using 0.5% replacement of the AAC in weight with 12 mm carbon fibre is recommended

Effect of Pterygium Surgery on Tear Osmolarity

Purpose. To investigate changes of dry eye test results in patients who underwent pterygium surgery. Methods. Seventy-four patients who underwent primary pterygium surgery were enrolled in this study. At the baseline, 3-, 12-, and 18-month visits, measurements of tear osmolarity, BUT, and Schirmer test were performed. The patients were divided into 2 groups: Group 1, which consisted of patients in whom pterygium did not recur, and Group 2, which consisted of patients in whom pterygium recurred after surgery. Results. The patients in Group 1 had lower tear osmolarity levels after surgery than those at baseline (all P0.05). Conclusions. Anormal tear film function associated with pterygium. Pterygium excision improved tear osmolarity and tear film function. However, tear osmolarity deteriorated again with the recurrence of pterygium

Role of cytological characteristics of benign thyroid nodules on effectiveness of their treatment with levothyroxine

Introduction: Levothyroxine (LT4) therapy has been used for the treatment of euthyroid nodular goiter, but there are controversial results about its usefulness. We aimed to evaluate the possible role of benign nodules’ cytological characteristics in response to LT4 therapy. Material and methods: In total, 93 patients with 128 nodules were included in the study; 74 of the nodules were treated with LT4 (group 1), and 54 of them had no medication (group 2). The subgroups consisted of adenomatous nodules, colloid nodules and cystic nodules. Results: In group 1, mean thyroid volume and mean nodule volume were reduced significantly (p = 0.002 and p = 0.022, respectively) with low-normal level thyrotropin (TSH) suppression (between 0.3 mIU/ml and 1.0 mIU/ml), while there were no significant changes in group 2. When we evaluated changes of the initial and last nodule volumes in cytological subgroups, only colloid nodules in group 1 had significant reduction (p = 0.040) and the others had no significant changes. By omitting the colloid nodules, when the other nodules were revaluated, there were no significant changes in either group. Conclusions: On the basis of these results, obtained from a large sample of Anatolian patients, it is possible that LT4 therapy leads to significant reductions of both thyroid volume and nodule size in colloid nodules, but not in other kinds of benign nodules

How high is the inter-observer reproducibility in the LIRADS reporting system?

Purpose: To investigate the reproducibility of LIRADS v2014 and contribute to its widespread use in clinical practice. Material and methods: This retrospective, single-centre study was conducted between January 2010 and October 2015. A total of 132 patients who had dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computed tomography (CT) images in the Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) with liver nodule were included in the study, 37 of whom had histopathology results. Five radiologists who participated in the study, interpreted liver nodules independently on different PACS stations according to the LIRADS reporting system and its main parameters. Results: We determined that level of inter-observer agreement in the LR-1, LR-5, and LR-5V categories was higher than in the LR-2, LR-3, and LR-4 categories (κ = 0.522, 0.442, and 0.600 in the LR-1, LR-5, and LR-5V categories, respectively; κ = 0.082, 0.298, and 0.143 in the LR-2, LR-3, and LR-4 categories, respectively). The parameter that we observed to have the highest level of inter-observer agreement was venous thrombus (κ = 0.600). Conclusions: Our study showed that LIRADS achieves an acceptable inter-observer reproducibility in terms of clinical practice although it is insufficient at intermediate risk levels. We think that the prevalence of its use will be further increased with training related to the subject and the assignment of numerical values that express the probability of malignancy for each category and including the ancillary features in the algorithm according to clearer rules

Serum YKL-40 levels as a novel marker of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome

WOS: 000321700800013PubMed: 23661157Purpose To evaluate serum levels of YKL-40 in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) in comparison with those of age-and sex-matched healthy subjects. Methods Forty patients with PEX (PEX group) and 40 age- and sex-matched control subjects (control group) were enrolled in the study. An enzyme immunoassay method using the commercially available test MicroVue YKL-40 was used to measure serum YKL-40 concentration. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures, serum levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides were also examined. Results the mean age was 54.4 +/- 7.6 (ranging 41-65) years in each group. the mean serum YKL-40 level of the PEX group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.001). in addition, the mean serum HsCRP, total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides levels were significantly higher, and mean serum HDL level was significantly lower in the PEX group than in the control group (all P<0.001, excluding both P = 0.002 for triglycerides and HDL levels). Further, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in the PEX group than in the control group (P-1 = 0.001 and P-2 = 0.01, respectively). Conclusion We have shown a relationship between PEX and elevated serum levels of YKL-40. We imply that a better understanding of the role of YKL-40 in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis is necessary to develop new therapies for preventing or treating PEX. Further studies are warranted to clarify the clinical relevance of these findings

Effect of Potassium Aluminum Sulfate Application on the Viability of Fibroblasts on a CAD-CAM Feldspathic Ceramic before and after Thermocycling.

Potassium aluminum sulfate (alum) is a known adjuvant, which has been used as a mordant in textile industry for color fixation. This material has potential to be incorporated into dentistry for color stability, yet its toxicity first needs to be evaluated. The present study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic potential of potassium aluminum sulfate (alum) on fibroblasts when applied onto feldspathic ceramic before and after thermocycling. Forty-eight feldspathic ceramic specimens were divided into four groups (FC: no alum application or thermocycling; FCT: thermocycling without alum application; FA: alum application without thermocycling; FAT: alum application and thermocycling) (n = 12). Cell viability was assessed by using a tetrazolium salt 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphnyltetrazolium bromide assay at 24 and 72 h, and cell cultures without any ceramic specimens served as control (C). One sample from each material group was further analyzed with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Cell viability at different time intervals within each group was analyzed with Friedman tests, while Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the test groups within each time interval. Pairwise comparisons were further resolved by using Wilcoxon tests (a = 0.05). C had lower (p = 0.01) and FA had higher (p = 0.019) cell viability after 72 h. After 24 h, the highest cell viability was observed in C (p ≤ 0.036). After 72 h, the differences between C and FA, C and FAT, FC and FA, and FCT and FAT were nonsignificant (p &gt; 0.05). Cell viability was not affected by alum application or thermocycling at any time interval (p ≥ 0.631). EDX analysis showed an increase in potassium concentration in FA and FAT when compared with FC and FCT. Regardless of the time interval, alum application onto feldspathic ceramic and thermocycling did not influence the cell viability