Öğretmen kalitesi ve çalışma koşullarının TIMSS 2019 matematik başarısındaki rolü

This correlative study examined the role of teacher qualities and working conditions in 4th and 8th-grade Turkish students’ mathematics achievement in TIMSS 2019. Teacher qualifications were defined based on the teacher questionnaire used in TIMSS 2019 and were discussed in three categories: personal characteristics, teacher qualifications, and teacher practices. Data were analyzed using multilevel regression analysis. According to the results, working conditions explained most of the variance in the achievement scores (49% in the 4th-grade and 40% in the 8th-grade), while teachers’ characteristics explained the least variance (19% in the 4th-grade and 11% in the 8th-grade). Teacher qualifications explained about one-third of the between-schools variance (35% in the 4th-grade and 26% in the 8th-grade). Teacher practices explained the one-fifth of the between-schools variance (23% in the 4th-grade and 27% in the 8th-grade). Some variables had a high correlation with TIMSS achievement in 4th and 8th-grade, such as teachers’ age, experience, teaching limited by students not ready for instruction, and parental pressure on teachers. Other significant predictors were having a major in education and mathematics, bringing interesting materials to class, using long-term assessment projects, having too many administrative tasks, and the number of students in the class.İlişkisel desende tasarlanan bu araştırmada öğretmen kalitesinin ve çalışma koşullarının, 4. ve 8. sınıf Türk öğrencilerinin TIMSS 2019 matematik başarısındaki rolü incelenmiştir. Öğretmen kalitesi, TIMSS 2019'da kullanılan öğretmen anketine dayalı olarak tanımlanmıştır ve üç kategoride ele alınmıştır: kişisel özellikler, öğretmen nitelikleri ve öğretmen uygulamaları. Araştırma verisi çok düzeyli regresyon kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmanın sonuçlarına göre başarıdaki varyansı en fazla çalışma koşulları (4. sınıfta %49 ve 8. sınıfta %40) ve en az öğretmenlerin kişisel özellikleri açıklamaktadır (4. Sınıfta %19 ve 8. sınıfta %11). Okullar arası varyansın üçte birini öğretmen nitelikleri (4. sınıfta %35 ve 8. sınıfta %26) ve beşte birini öğretmen uygulamaları (4. sınıfta %23 ve 8. sınıfta %27) açıklamaktadır. Öğretmenlerin yaşı, deneyimi, öğretimi sınırlandıran öğrenciden kaynaklı sorunlar ve velilerden çok fazla baskı hissetme gibi bazı değişkenler 4. ve 8. sınıftaki TIMSS başarısı ile yüksek korelasyon göstermiştir. Başarıyı yordayan diğer bazı önemli değişkenler ise şunlardır: Eğitim ve matematik alanlarında uzmanlaşma, sınıfa ilginç materyaller getirme, değerlendirmede uzun süreli projeler kullanma, çok fazla idari göreve sahip olma ve sınıftaki öğrenci sayısı

Fenofibrate Treatment Enhances Antioxidant Status and Attenuates Endothelial Dysfunction in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Diabetic endothelial dysfunction is accompanied by increased oxidative stress and upregulated proinflammatory and inflammatory mediators in the vasculature. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-α) results in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This study was designed to investigate the effect of fenofibrate, a PPAR-α activator, on the endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and inflammation in streptozotocin diabetic rats. Diabetic rats received fenofibrate (150 mg kg−1 day−1) for 4 weeks. Fenofibrate treatment restored the impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation and increased basal nitric oxide availability in diabetic aorta, enhanced erythrocyte/liver superoxide dismutase and catalase levels, ameliorated the abnormal serum/aortic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and prevented the increased aortic myeloperoxidase without a significant change in serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It did not affect the decreased total homocysteine level and the increased tumor necrosis factor-α level in the serum of diabetic rats. Fenofibrate-induced prevention of the endothelial function seems to be related to its potential antioxidant and antiinflammatory activity

Antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities of Mentha x piperita L. essential oil in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Among 33 types of listed cancers worldwide, lung cancer with 2.2 million cases (12.2% of total cancer cases) ranks second next only to breast cancer. Globally, Turkey, with overall rate of 40.0 (41,264 cases), ranks 5th among top 10 countries in lung cancer. Currently used therapeutic agents and approaches have considerable side effects, and hence, there is a need for alternative agents for effective management of lung cancer. In this study, we explored the in vitro cytotoxic, antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities of Mentha x piperita L. (peppermint) essential oil in human non-small cell lung cancer (A549) cells. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay, morphological changes were determined by confocal microscopy and apoptosis promoting action was determined by flow cytometry technique. Peppermint essential oil found to effectively decrease the viability of non-small cell lung cancer cells and IC50 value was detected at low concentrations (2.12%) for 24 h. In addition, peppermint essential oil was found to alter the morphology of A549 cells, leading to changes that could describe programmed cell death. Apoptosis was the triggered cell death by Mentha x piperita essential oil. Results reveal that Mentha x piperita essential oil has antiproliferative and anticarcinogenic properties which could be attributed to the bioactive phytochemical contents and has the potential to be used as an anticancer agent and chemotherapeutic drug.

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

Antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities of Mentha x piperita L. essential oil in non-small cell lung cancer cells

753-758Among 33 types of listed cancers worldwide, lung cancer with 2.2 million cases (12.2% of total cancer cases) ranks second next only to breast cancer. Globally, Turkey, with overall rate of 40.0 (41,264 cases), ranks 5th among the top 10 countries in lung cancer. Currently used therapeutic agents and approaches have considerable side effects, and hence, there is a need for alternative agents for effective management of lung cancer. In this study, we explored the in vitro cytotoxic, antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities of Mentha x piperita L. (peppermint) essential oil in human non-small cell lung cancer (A549) cells. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay, morphological changes were determined by confocal microscopy and apoptosis promoting action was determined by flow cytometry technique. Peppermint essential oil found to effectively decrease the viability of non-small cell lung cancer cells and IC50 value was detected at low concentrations (2.12%) for 24 h. In addition, peppermint essential oil was found to alter the morphology of A549 cells, leading to changes that could describe programmed cell death. Apoptosis was the triggered cell death by Mentha x piperita essential oil. Results reveal that Mentha x piperita essential oil has antiproliferative and anticarcinogenic properties which could be attributed to the bioactive phytochemical contents and has the potential to be used as an anticancer agent and chemotherapeutic drug

Sternal metastasis from uterine leiomyosarcoma

Uterus leiomyosarkomları zayıf metastaz eğilimi olan nadir yumuşak doku tümörleridir. En sık, akciğerler, karaciğer ve beyine metastaz yaparlar. Bu olgu sunumunda sternuma metastaz yapan nüks uterus leiomyosarkomunun manyetik rezonans görüntüleme bulguları sunulmakatadır.Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare soft tissue neoplasm having a tendency to the distant metastasis, most commonly to the lung, liver and brain. In this case, magnetic resonance imaging findings of recurrent uterine leiomyosarcoma metastasing to the sternum, which is unusual metastatic site for uterine leiomyosarcoma, are presented

Long-Term Oral Nutrition Supplementation Improves Outcomes in Malnourished Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease on Hemodialysis

Background: There is no consensus on the type, time of initiation, or duration of use of enteral nutrition in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to compare the effects of a renal-specific oral nutrition supplement (RS-ONS) and a standard recommended nutrition regime on biochemical and nutrition markers in malnourished patients with CKD on hemodialysis. Methods: Sixty-two malnourished patients with CKD, divided into experimental (RS-ONS; n = 32; mean [SD] age, 62.0 [11.3] years; 55.2% female) and control (CON; n = 30; mean [SD] age, 57.2 [12.3] years; 31% female) groups, were evaluated for anthropometric, biochemical, and inflammatory parameters. Results: Mean (SD) serum albumin levels were significantly increased in the RS-ONS group from 3.5 (0.3) g/dL at baseline to 3.7 (0.2) g/dL at 6 months (P = .028). Significantly fewer patients had serum albumin levels of <3.5 g/dL after month 6. Dry weight of patients significantly increased in the RS-ONS but decreased in the CON groups (P < .001 for each). Percent change from baseline revealed negative results for bioelectrical impedance analysis (P < .001) in the CON group. Malnutrition inflammation score at 6 months (P = .006) and erythropoietin (EPO) dose requirements were higher in the CON group (P = .012). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that consuming RS-ONS improves serum albumin and anthropometric measures, as well as reduces EPO dose, in patients with CKD

New-Onset Diabetes and Glucose Regulation Are Significant Determinants of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Renal Transplant Recipients

Background. New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is associated with decreased graft survival and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for development of NODAT and its' relationship with arterial stiffness and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in kidney transplant recipients. Methods. 159 kidney transplant recipients were selected from our transplantation center who underwent renal transplantation between years 2007 and 2010. Results. Among 159 patients, 57 (32.2%) patients were with NODAT who were significantly older than patients without diabetes (P: 0.0001). Patients with NODAT had significantly higher pulse wave velocity (PWv) (P: 0.033) and left ventricular mass index LVMI (P: 0.001) compared to patients without NODAT. Further analysis was done according to LVMI as follows: LVMI > 130 g/m(2) (n: 57) and LVMI 130 g/m(2). Linear regression analysis revealed that HbA1c was the major determinant of LVMI (P: 0.026, beta: 0.361). Conclusions. HbA1c is the major determinant of LVMI, so strict control of serum glucose levels is essential for preventing cardiovascular disease in patients with NODAT

Iloprost as an acute kidney injury-triggering agent in severely atherosclerotic patients

Background: Iloprost, a stable prostacyclin analog, is used as a rescue therapy for severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD). It has systemic vasodilatory and anti-aggregant effects, with severe vasodilatation potentially causing organ ischaemia when severe atherosclerosis is the underlying cause. In this study, we retrospectively analysed renal outcomes after iloprost infusion therapy in 86 patients. Methods: Eighty-six patients with PAD who received iloprost infusion therapy were retrospectively analysed. Clinical and biochemical parameters were recorded before (initial, Cr1), during (third day, Cr2), and after (14th day following the termination of infusion therapy, Cr3) treatment. Acute kidney injury (AKI) was defined according to KDIGO guidelines as a >= 0.3 mg/dl (26.52 mu mol/l) increase in creatinine levels from baseline within 48 hours. Results: Cr2 (1.46 +/- 0.1 mg/dl) (129.06 +/- 8.84 mu mol/l) and Cr3 (1.53 +/- 0.12 mg/dl) (135.25 +/- 10.61 mu mol/l) creatinine levels were significantly higher compared to the initial value (1.15 +/- 0.6 mg/dl) (101.66 +/- 53.04 mu mol/l). AKI was observed in 36 patients (41.86%) on the third day of iloprost infusion. Logistic regression analysis revealed smoking and not using acetylsalicylic acid as primary predictors (p = 0.02 and p = 0.008, respectively) of AKI during iloprost treatment. On the third infusion day, patients' urinary output significantly increased (1813.30 +/- 1123.46 vs 1545.17 +/- 873.00 cm(3)) and diastolic blood pressure significantly decreased (70.07 +/- 15.50 vs 74.14 +/- 9.42 mmHg) from their initial values. Conclusion: While iloprost treatment is effective in patients with PAD who are not suitable for surgery, severe systemic vasodilatation can cause renal ischaemia, resulting in non-oliguric AKI. Smoking, no acetylsalicylic acid use, and lower diastolic blood pressure are the clinical risk factors for AKI during iloprost treatment