A Research on Mathematical Thinking Skills: Mathematical Thinking Skills of Athletes in Individual and Team Sports

The aim of this research is to examine the mathematical thinking skills of licensed athletes engaged in individual and team sports. The research is designed as a survey model. The sample of the research is composed of 59 female and 170 male licensed athletes (n = 229) and (aged 14 to 52) licensed who do the sports of shooting, billiards, archery, tennis, basketball, football, volleyball in various clubs in Turkey. The "Mathematical Thinking Scale" developed by Ersoy (2012) has been employed in the research. Individual sports athletes are more likely to have higher mathematical thinking scores than team athletes. In sports types; those who play billiards and archery have higher scores of mathematical thinking skills compared to other sports types. According to the type of sports the lowest scores of thinking skills were obtained by basketball players. These differences are valid for higher-level thinking tendencies, reasoning, mathematical thinking skills and problem-solving skills, which are sub-dimensions of the mathematical thinking scale

A note on "The Economic Lot Sizing Problem with Inventory Bounds"

In a recent paper, Liu (2008) considers the lot-sizing problem with lower and upper bounds on the inventory levels. He proposes an O(n^2) algorithm for the general problem, and an O(n) algorithm for the special case with non-speculative motives. We show that neither of the algorithms provides an optimal solution in general. Furthermore, we propose a fix for the former algorithm that maintains the O(n^2) complexity

Udar przysadki po operacji serca u chorego z podklinicznym gruczolakiem przysadki: opis przypadku i przegląd piśmiennictwa

Abstract Pituitary adenoma infarction associated with cardiac surgery occurs rarely but it is a serious, life-threatening acute clinical event. Several mechanisms have been proposed but no direct cause has been clearly identified. We report a case of pituitary apoplexy occurring in a 74-year-old patient 6 hours after cardiac surgery. The patient presented with confusion, unilateral ptosis and ophthalmoplegia. Neurological examination revealed right oculomotor nerve palsy and decreased level of consciousness. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a hemorrhagic and necrotic pituitary macroadenoma. After prompt endocrinological replacement therapy with hydrocortisone and levothyroxine, the confusion of the patient resolved. Removal of a non-functional macroadenoma with large necrotic areas resulted in full recovery. The physician should be aware of pituitary adenoma infarction after open cardiac surgery and should remember that it can be fatal or cause permanent neurological or endocrine damage without proper treatment. Surgical and endocrine treatment can be life-saving procedures.Streszczenie Zawał w obrębie gruczolaka przysadki związany z operacją serca występuje rzadko, ale jest stanem zagrożenia życia. Wskazywano na kilka mechanizmów wystąpienia tego powikłania, ale dotąd nie określono jednoznacznej przyczyny. Przedstawiono przypadek udaru przysadki, który wystąpił u 74-letniego mężczyzny po 6 godz. od operacji serca. U chorego zaobserwowano zmącenie, jednostronne opadnięcie powieki i zaburzenia gałkoruchowe. W badaniu neurologicznym stwierdzono porażenie prawego nerwu okoruchowego i zaburzenia przytomności. W badaniu za pomocą rezonansu magnetycznego uwidoczniono gruczolaka przysadki ze zmianami krwotocznymi i martwiczymi. Zaburzenia świadomości ustąpiły po niezwłocznym leczeniu hydrokortyzonem i lewotyroksyną. Usunięcie nieczynnego wydzielniczo gruczolaka z dużymi obszarami martwicy spowodowało powrót do zdrowia. Należy pamiętać o zawale w obrębie gruczolaka przysadki jako powikłaniu operacji na otwartym sercu. Nieleczona, choroba ta może doprowadzić do zgonu lub trwałych następstw neurologicznych bądx endokrynologicznych. Leczenie chirurgiczne i endokrynologiczne może być w tej sytuacji działaniem ratującym życie

Effect of mirabegron on overactive bladder symptoms in patients with myasthenia gravis disease

Aim: Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic, bothersome disease that decreases the quality of life and can be treated with antimuscarinic or β(3)-adrenergic agonist drugs, such as mirabegron. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease, in which neurotransmission is blocked by antibodies. Mirabegron is recommended as the first-line medical treatment for OAB compared with antimuscarinic drugs, which have several severe side effects. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of mirabegron in patients with MG and OAB. Methods: A total of 57 MG patients with OAB were included in this study. The participants received 50 mg mirabegron once daily and were followed up for 4 weeks. Subsequently, patients were evaluated using the International Consultation on Incontinence-Short Form and the "Overactive Bladder Symptom Score" (OABSS) and tasked to complete a 3-day micturition diary. Results: According to the 4-week follow-up results, the decrease in the OABSS scores following mirabegron administration was statistically significant (p<0.001). In addition, the frequency of daily micturition, nocturia, and need for a daily pad decreased dramatically (p=0.001, p=0.002, and p<0.001, respectively). In contrast, the average voiding volume increased significantly (p=0.001). Conclusions: Although they induce several side effects, antimuscarinic drugs are commonly used for OAB treatment. However, only a few autoimmune response-inducing drugs, with minimal side effects, are favored in MG comorbidity treatments. Thus, mirabegron is a promising candidate drug for the treatment of this type of comorbidity

Is the Journey more Important than the Destination? EU Accession and Corporate Governance and Performance of Banks

This article examines how accession to and subsequent membership of the EU has influenced the dissemination of corporate governance characteristics and the financial performance of the banking industry. Using a hand-collected, cross-national dataset from EU member and candidate states the analysis indicates the candidacy period is associated with the better financial performance of banks than the latter period of EU membership. EU membership also has a significant negative influence on adopting some corporate governance arrangements. We infer this result is consistent with instrumental rationality explanations of Europeanization. While the process of accession has brought benefits, these are not always reinforced by subsequent EU membership

Urgent Abdominal Re-Explorations

BACKGROUND: Treatment of a number of complications that occur after abdominal surgeries may require that Urgent Abdominal Re-explorations (UARs), the life-saving and obligatory operations, are performed. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the reasons for performing UARs, outcomes of relaparotomies (RLs) and factors that affect mortality. METHODS: Demographic characteristics; initial diagnoses; information from and complications of the first surgery received; durations and outcomes of UAR(s) performed in patients who received early RLs because of complicated abdominal surgeries in our clinic between 01.01.2000 and 31.12.2004 were investigated retrospectively. Statistical analyses were done using the chi-square and Fisher exact tests. RESULTS: Early UAR was performed in 81 out of 4410 cases (1.8%). Average patient age was 50.46 (13–81) years with a male-to-female ratio of 60/21. Fifty one (62.96%) patients had infection, 41 (50.61%) of them had an accompanying serious disease, 24 (29.62%) of them had various tumors and 57 (70.37%) patients were operated under emergency conditions during first operation. Causes of urgent abdominal re-explorations were as follows: leakage from intestinal repair site or from anostomosis (n:34; 41.97%); hemorrhage (n:15; 18.51%); intestinal perforation (n:8; 9.87%); intraabdominal infection or abscess (n:8; 9.87%); progressive intestinal necrosis (n:7; 8.64%); stomal complications (n:5; 6.17%); and postoperative ileus (n:4; 4.93%). Two or more UARs were performed in 18 (22.22%) cases, and overall mortality was 34.97% (n:30). Interval between the first laparotomy and UAR averaged as 6.95 (1–20) days, and average hospitalization period was 27.1 (3–78) days. Mortality rate was found to be higher among the patients who received multiple UARs. The most common (55.5%) cause of mortality was sepsis/multiple organ failure (MOF). The rates for common mortality and sepsis/MOF-dependent mortality that occured following UAR were significantly higher in patients who received GIS surgery than in those who received other types of surgeries (p:0.000 and 0.010, respectively). CONCLUSION: UARs that are performed following complicated abdominal surgeries have high mortality rates. In particular, UARs have higher mortality rates following GIS surgeries or when infectious complications occur. The possibility of efficiently lowering these high rates depends on the success of the first operations that the patient had received

The Effect of Apocynin on Motor and Cognitive Functions in Experimental Alzheimer’s disease.

Scope: We investigated the potential beneficial effect of Apocynin (APO) on motor and cognitive functions in experimental Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Materials and Methods: Experimental AD was induced in rats by intraventricular streptozotocin (STZ) injection. Sham group received artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Both groups were randomly divided into two subgroups. One of the subgroups received intraperitoneal APO for while the other had normal saline (NS). The animals were evaluated with rotarod, accelerod and Water-Maze tests before and after the treatment. Additionally, biochemical markers of oxidative stress such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were analyzed from brain specimens. Standard histological evaluation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to evaluate the neural damage. Results: The difference between STZ+NS in comparison with CSF+NS, CSF+APO and STZ+APO were statistically significant on 30 and 40 rpm on rotarod test. GSH levels, accelerod and Water-Maze test results were not statistically significant between subgroups. However, MDA differences between STZ+NS in comparison with CSF+NS, CSF+APO and STZ+APO were statistically significant. Hemotoxilene eozine staining and TEM results showed apocynins protective effect. Conclusion: These results indicate that APO can provide neuro-protective effect for motor but not for cognitive performance in experimental AD.   Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Streptozotocin, Apocynin, Rotarod test, Accelerod test, Water-Maze test</p