Investigation of nasal colonization of health care workers by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with using new generation real-time PCR assay: Discussing of risks

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a nasal infectious pathogen which is becoming of significant importance year by year. Mortality, morbidity and treatment costs of MRSA infectionshave all increased. The most effective preventative tool is rapid confirmation of MRSA existence, followed by efficient execution of the required infection control measures. This study was performedwith the aim of evaluating MRSA colonization in health care staff from intensive care units (internal and surgical intensive care units) (ICUs) and how certain risk factors affect their colonization status. The study was conducted prospectively using samples obtained from nasal swabs of health-care staffs working in different missions in the intensive care unit of Gaziantep University Training Hospital in southeast of Turkey. The nasal swab samples were processed using a real-time PCR method platformcalled GeneXpert (Cepheid). Our PCR screen revealed the presence of MRSA in 14 of 98 health-care staffs. Of these 14 health-care staffs carrying nasal MRSA, 10 were male, 8 were assistant health-care personnel and 11 have been working for over one year in the intensive care unit. Our data showed that male gender and an employment during of more than one year served as significant risk factors for nasal MRSA colonization

3-He(p,pp)d and 3-He(p,pp)d* Reactions at 136 MeV

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant PHY 76-84033 and Indiana Universit

An evaluation of three DoE-guided meta-heuristic-based solution methods for a three-echelon sustainable distribution network

This article evaluates the efficiency of three meta-heuristic optimiser (viz. MOGA-II, MOPSO and NSGA-II)-based solution methods for designing a sustainable three-echelon distribution network. The distribution network employs a bi-objective location-routing model. Due to the mathematically NP-hard nature of the model a multi-disciplinary optimisation commercial platform, modeFRONTIER®, is adopted to utilise the solution methods. The proposed Design of Experiment (DoE)-guided solution methods are of two phased that solve the NP-hard model to attain minimal total costs and total CO2 emission from transportation. Convergence of the optimisers are tested and compared. Ranking of the realistic results are examined using Pareto frontiers and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution approach, followed by determination of the optimal transportation routes. A case of an Irish dairy processing industry’s three-echelon logistics network is considered to validate the solution methods. The results obtained through the proposed methods provide information on open/closed distribution centres (DCs), vehicle routing patterns connecting plants to DCs, open DCs to retailers and retailers to retailers, and number of trucks required in each route to transport the products. It is found that the DoE-guided NSGA-II optimiser based solution is more efficient when compared with the DoE-guided MOGA-II and MOPSO optimiser based solution methods in solving the bi-objective NP-hard three-echelon sustainable model. This efficient solution method enable managers to structure the physical distribution network on the demand side of a logistics network, minimising total cost and total CO2 emission from transportation while satisfying all operational constraints

Balancing of mixed-model two-sided assembly lines with underground workstations: A mathematical model and ant colony optimization algorithm

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordMixed-model assembly lines allow the production of different product variants in mass quantities on the same assembly line. In studies addressing mixed-model assembly with two-sided lines, assembly line stations are classified as left-side or right-side stations depending on the operation side to which they are allocated. However, underground stations are also utilized in industry to perform tasks that need to be done underneath the product being assembled on the line. This paper introduces and mathematically formulates a mixed-model, two-sided assembly line balancing problem considering underground stations. The precedence relationships between tasks being performed in the three types of stations are defined and considered in the model. A numerical example is solved in GAMS (with CPLEX solver) and the detailed balancing solution is provided. A new ant colony optimization algorithm, in which the parameters are optimized using response surface methodology, is also developed to solve real-world problems. A total of 78 test problems are derived from the literature and their lower bounds are calculated to test the performance of the ACO algorithm. ACO finds optimum solutions for the majority of small and medium-sized test problems. In comparing the ACO results to the lower bounds for the large-sized problems, ACO finds near optimum solutions in majority of the test cases

Bütünleşik fen teknoloji mühendislik matematik (stem) eğitimi: ilkokul ve ortaokullar için yansımaları

Teknoloji ve mühendislik bulunduğumuz yüzyılda ülkelerin gelişmesinde ve kalkınmasında önemli bir yere sahip olmakla beraber, sürdürülebilir ekonomik kalkınmanın lokomotifleri olarak görülmektedir. Bundan dolayıdır ki, matematik ve fen eğitimini bu iki alanla birlikte bütünleşik olarak öğretme ve öğrenmeyi esas alan bütünleşik fen teknoloji mühendislik matematik eğitimi (STEM) son 20 yıl içerisinde eğitimde yeni bir yaklaşım hareketi olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. STEM eğitimi, bu dört alandan ikisi veya daha fazlasının herhangi bir STEM konusunun bütünleşik olarak öğretilmesini ve öğrenilmesini esas alan bir öğretim yaklaşımıdır. Bütünleşik yaklaşım mühendislik temelli fen öğretimi olabileceği gibi teknoloji projesi tabanlı matematik eğitimide olabilir. Bu yaklaşımda öğretim; araştırma, problem ve proje tabanlı, özgün ve problem çözme becerilerinin kullanıldığı öğrenci merkezli bir ortamda gerçekleşir. Bütünleşik STEM eğitiminde amaç öğrenci başarısını artırmak, matematik ve fen alanlarını gerçek dünya tecrübeleriyle öğretmek ve STEM alanlarına ilgi duyan ve bu alanlarda uzmanlaşmayı hedefleyen öğrenci sayısını artırmaktır. Bu yaklaşım ilk ve ortaokul seviyesinden lisans eğitimine kadar olan öğrenme süreçlerinin tamamında gerçekleştirilebilir olmakla beraber uygulama kolaylığı açısından ilk ve ortaokul en uygun seviye olduğu saptanmıştır. Ancak bütünleşik STEM eğitiminin gerçekleşebilmesinde öğretmenlerin bu yeni yaklaşıma karşı algıları ve yeterlilikleri, okul şartları ve dersin geleneksel öğretilme metodu en önemli faktörler olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, alanyazın incelemesine dayalı olarak bütünleşik STEM eğitiminin ilk ve ortaokul araştırmalarındaki değişkenleri ve araştırma sonuçlarını tespit etmektir. Ayrıca, bu yaklaşımın farklı ülkelerde var olan ilk ve ortaokul uygulamalarından örnekler inceleyerek ülkemizde konu ile ilgili gerçekleştirilecek çalışmalara ışık tutmaktır