Internet addiction, fatigue, and sleep problems among adolescent students: a large-scale study

Aim: The aim of the present study was to examine the association between Internet Addiction (IA), fatigue, and sleep problems among university students. Methods: A total of 3,000 Turkish students aged 18 to 25 years were approached and 2,350 students (78.3%) participated in this cross-sectional study from April 2017 to September 2017 in public and private universities in Istanbul. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire including socio-demographic details, lifestyle and dietary habits, Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Fatigue Scale, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]. Descriptive statistics, multivariate and factorial analyses were performed. Results: The overall prevalence of IA among the studied population was 17.7%. There were significant differences between gender, family income, father’s occupation, school performance, frequency and duration of watching television, physical activity, internet use duration, and sleep duration (all p<0.001). Significant differences were also found between participants with IA and those without IA in having headaches, blurred vision, double vision, hurting eyes, hearing problems, and eating fast food frequently (all p<0.001). Using multivariate regression analysis, the duration of internet use, physical and mental symptoms, headache, hurting eyes, tired eyes, hearing problems and ESS scores were significantly associated with (and primary predictors of) IA. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that IA was associated with poor dietary habits, sleep problems, and fatigue symptoms

Determination and health risk assessment of heavy metals in drinking water of Tunceli, Turkey

Tunceli, Turkey is one of the small cities in the Eastern Anatolian Region with substantial natural, cultural and historical heritage that is suitable to be a slow city. Water sources are abundant in the area due to rain and heavy snowfall in the mountains, which seeps into the ground or flows into the rivers. Therefore monitoring and conservation of city’s drinking water quality is one of the main issues in the city. The present study was conducted to investigate several heavy metals and cyanide, arsenic, and selenium concentrations of drinking water samples taken from 100 different locations in the city and towns of Tunceli, Turkey during the years 2011 and 2012. In three locations, high levels of copper was found with a range of 2.1–11.5 mg/L, and high levels of arsenic was detected in five locations with a range of 10.5–78.0 μg/L, exceeding the action levels for copper and arsenic. For health risk assessment, the average daily dose and hazard quotient (HQ) were calculated. The region mean values of HQ were found above 1 for arsenic in the samples collected from Mazgirt, while HQ values were below 1 in the rest of the samples

The elevated soluble ST2 predicts no-reflow phenomenon in st-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Aim: The primary percutaneous procedure resulted in a significant improvement in the prognosis of myocardial infarction. However, no-reflow phenomenon restrains this benefit of the process. There are studies suggesting that soluble suppression of tumorigenicity (sST2) can be valuable in the diagnosis and progression of heart failure and myocardial infarction. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of sST2 on no-reflow phenomenon in ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). Method: This study included 379 patients (258 men; mean age, 60±11 years) who underwent primary percutaneous treatment for STEMI. sST2 levels were measured from blood samples taken at admission. Patients were divided into two groups according to Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction(TIMI) flow grade: group 1 consists of TIMI 0,1,2, accepted as no-reflow, and group 2 consists of TIMI 3, accepted as reflow. Results: No-reflow phenomenon occurred in 60 patients (15.8%). The sST2 level was higher in the no-reflow group (14.2±4.6 vs. 11.3±5.0, p =0.003). Moreover, regression analysis indicated that diabetes mellitus, lower systolic blood pressure, multivessel vascular disease, high plaque burden, and grade 0 initial TIMI flow rate were other independent predictors of the no-reflow phenomenon in our study. Besides, when the patients were divided into high and low sST2 groups according to the cut-off value from the Receiver operating characteristics analysis, being in the high sST2 group was associated with 2.7 times increased odds for no-reflow than being in the low sST2 group. Conclusion: sST2 is one of the independent predictors of the no-reflow phenomenon in STEMI patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention. © 2019 Japan Atherosclerosis Society