Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in Patients with Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma and Its Effect on Development of Cholangitis

Objective. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with inoperable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma and establish the incidence of cholangitis development following ERCP. Material and Method. This retrospective study enrolled patients diagnosed with inoperable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent endoscopic drainage (stenting) with ERCP. Patients were evaluated for development of cholangitis and the effectiveness of ERCP. The procedure was considered successful if bilirubin level fell more than 50% within 7 days after ERCP. Results. Post-ERCP cholangitis developed in 40.7% of patients. Cholangitis development was observed among 39.4% of patients with effective ERCP and in 60.6% of patients with ineffective ERCP. Development of cholangitis was significantly more common in the group with ineffective ERCP compared to the effective ERCP group (P=0.001). The average number of ERCP procedures was 2.33 ± 0.89 among patients developing cholangitis and 1.79 ± 0.97 in patients without cholangitis. The number of ERCP procedures was found to be significantly higher among patients developing cholangitis compared to those without cholangitis (P=0.012). Conclusion. ERCP may not provide adequate biliary drainage in some of the patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma and also it is a procedure associated an increased risk of cholangitis

How does disease location affect acute phase reactants in ulcerative colitis?

Background: We aimed to evaluate erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), platelet (PLT) counts and albumin levels according to disease location in ulcerative colitis.Methods: The ESR, CRP, WBC, PLT counts and albumin levels of 206 ulcerative colitis patients with endoscopic activity were retrospectively evaluated. Endoscopic activity had been assessed using Rachmilewitz endoscopic activity index. Patients were grouped according to the extent of disease by Montreal classification, and they were evaluated regarding the location and severity of disease according to the laboratory test results.Results: Among 206 patients, 88 (42.7%) had extensive colitis, 89 (43.2%) of them had left sided colitis and 29 (14%) patients had proctitis. According to the endoscopic activity index, 32.04% of the patients had mild activity, 39.32% moderate activity and 28.64% had severe activity. As the disease extent progressed from the distal to the proximal intestine, CRP, ESR, WBC and PLT counts showed a significant increase while albumin levels showed a significant decrease. In our study, the test that yielded the best results in the assessment of disease activity was CRP, which was found to be high in 80% of patients with extensive colitis, followed by ESR, PLT and WBC counts. As the involved intestine shortened, the rate of patients with abnormal laboratory tests significantly decreasedConclusion: CRP, ESR, WBC, PLT counts and albumin levels are of limited value in determining disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients, especially in those with proctiti

Developing the Scale of Teacher Self-Efficacy in Teaching Process

The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable and valid measurement tool which will reveal teachers’ self-competences in education process. Participants of the study are 300 teachers working at state primary schools in the province of Gaziantep, Results of the exploratory factor analysis administered to the scale in order to determine its construct validity, indicated that it has four sub-dimensions. In accordance with the results of confirmatory factor analysis RMSEA was measured .050 level fit index. The determined levels for GFI is found to be 0.88, whereas for AGFI, 0.85 for NFI, 0.94 for CFI 0.98 and 0.94 for RFI. Also, non normed fit index, (NNFI) has been observed as 0.97. Four dimensions of the scale which was composed of 23 items account for approximately 54% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of internal consistency was counted .86 for the first dimension; .82 for the second dimension, .67 for the third dimension, .70 for the fourth dimension, and .92 for the entire scale. The scale, developed in order to measure teachers’ self-efficacy in the teaching process, proved to be valid and reliable based on the results of the related analyses

An Analysis of the Relationship between Attitudes towards Teaching and Professionalism in Teaching

This research aims to identify teachers’ views about the relationship between teachers’ professionalism and their attitudes towards the profession. The study follows a quantitative research design and is descriptive in its relational model. Research data was collected through occupational professionalism and teaching profession attitude scales. In the data analysis process, frequency (f), percentage (%), and arithmetic average () were first calculated in order to reveal teachers’ attitudes towards their profession and professionalism. In addition, a Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching profession and their occupational professionalism. The analyses revealed a medium, significant and positive relationship between teachers' attitudes towards the teaching profession and levels of occupational professionalism. The regression analysis was conducted so as to identify how teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching profession predict their level of occupational professionalism, shown by the effect of teachers’ professional attitude scores (F (1.257) = 37.08, p = .000) on their occupational professionalism scores. The research findings also show that professional attitude scores predict 13% of total variance related to occupational professionalism. This most likely suggests that teachers’ professional attitude is a remarkable predictor of their occupational professionalism.Este estudio busca identificar las percepciones de los docentes en cuanto a la relación entre el profesionalismo de los docentes y sus actitudes hacia la profesión. El estudio es de diseño cuantitativo y descriptivo en su modelo relacional. Los datos se recabaron mediante escalas de profesionalismo laboral y actitud hacia la profesión docente. El proceso de análisis de datos consistió en calcular primero la frecuencia (f), el porcentaje (%) y la media aritmética () para conocer las actitudes de los docentes hacia su profesión y su profesionalismo. Por otra parte, se empleó un análisis de correlación de Pearson junto con un análisis de regresión para determinar la relación entre las actitudes de los docentes hacia la profesión docente y su profesionalismo laboral. Los análisis mostraron una relación media, significativa y positiva entre las actitudes de los docentes hacia la profesión docente y niveles de profesionalismo laboral. El análisis de regresión se llevó a cabo para identificar cómo las actitudes de los docentes hacia la profesión docente predicen su nivel de profesionalismo laboral, lo cual se refleja en el efecto de las puntuaciones de la actitud profesional (F (1.257) = 37.08, p = .000) sobre las de profesionalismo laboral. Los resultados de la investigación también muestran que las puntuaciones de actitud profesional de los docentes explican el 13% de la varianza total en relación con el profesionalismo laboral. Lo anterior indica muy probablemente que la actitud profesional de los docentes es un excelente predictor de su profesionalismo laboral

Humour-based Learning: From the Lens of Adolescents

Along with its psychological, physical and social benefits, humour has proved undeniably useful in educational contexts especially for the last sixty years. In order to close the research gap in Turkey, the current study scrutinized secondary school students’ views on the educational use of humour. Accordingly, 525 students attending state secondary schools were administered the Educational Humour Scale (EHS) in order to see whether they significantly differ in their related views regarding gender and types of schools they were attending. Their responses were qualitatively analysed through Nvivo 9, and codes, sub-codes and themes were formed based on the analysis results. An approximate consensus has been reached on the idea that use of humour is profoundly beneficial in education. The statistical findings have revealed that the students do not significantly differ in their views on the use of humour in education with respect to gender and types of schools they attend (p>.05). The study ends with a few practical implications on the findings and suggestions for further research. Junto con sus beneficios psicológicos, físicos y sociales, el humor ha demostrado ser útil en contextos educativos, especialmente durante los últimos sesenta años. Con el fin de cerrar la brecha de investigación en Turquía, el estudio actual analizó las opiniones de los estudiantes de secundaria sobre el uso educativo del humor. En consecuencia, a 525 estudiantes que asistieron a escuelas secundarias estatales se les administró la Escala de Humor Educativo (EHS) para ver si difieren significativamente en sus puntos de vista relacionados con el género y los tipos de escuelas a las que asisten. Sus respuestas se analizaron cualitativamente a través de Nvivo 9, y se formaron códigos, subcódigos y temas en función de los resultados del análisis. Se llegó a un consenso aproximado sobre la idea de que el uso del humor es profundamente beneficioso para la educación. Los resultados estadísticos han revelado que los estudiantes no difieren significativamente en sus puntos de vista sobre el uso del humor en la educación con respecto al género y los tipos de escuelas a las que asisten (p> .05). El estudio finaliza con algunas implicaciones prácticas sobre los hallazgos y sugerencias para futuras investigacione

Anaerobic digestion of cattle manure, corn silage and sugar beet pulp mixtures after thermal pretreatment and kinetic modeling study

WOS: 000504834400007In this study, biogas production was investigated from cattle manure (CM), corn silage (CS) and sugar beet pulp (SBP) mixtures under mesophilic conditions. In anaerobic digestion (AD), CM, CS and SBP were mixed in different ratios and the optimum mixture ratio was determined as 2:1:1, w/w/w respectively. In this mixture, biogas production was 180.5 mL/g TS. After the optimum mixing ratios of CM, CS and SBP were determined, thermal pretreatments were applied to this mixture ratio. Thermal pretreatments were performed at 100, 120, 150 and 180 degrees C with 10, 20, 30, 60 and 120 min for each temperature. Considering biogas production after thermal pretreatment, the best thermal pretreatment time was determined as 60 min for all pretreatment temperatures. The highest biogas yield was 362.1 mL/g TS in the reactor which is pretreated at 180 degrees C for 60 min. After thermal pretreatment at 180 degrees C for 60 min, the SCOD value in the reactor increased by 124.6% compared to the control. This reactor produced 100.6% higher biogas production compared to the control. In addition, the solubilization of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in this reactor was 38.2%, 32.9% and 23.2%, respectively. Cumulative biogas production (CBP) fitted to modified Gompertz and modified Bertalanffy models.Sivas Cumhuriyet University Scientific Research Projects Unit (CUBAP) [M-665]This research was supported by the Sivas Cumhuriyet University Scientific Research Projects Unit (CUBAP) under grant no M-665. The authors wish to thank this institution for their support