Does endoscopic balloon dilatation improve intranasal drug delivery to the olfactory cleft? A pre-clinical cadaver feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Although systemic steroids have been shown to improve olfactory function, topical steroids have not demonstrated the same efficacy. This could a result of limited drug delivery to the narrow, superiorly placed olfactory cleft. This study aimed to examine the penetration of intranasal drugs to the olfactory cleft following endonasal balloon dilatation. METHODS: Balloon dilatation was performed in 12 thawed, fresh-frozen cadaver specimens. In the Mygind position, nasal drops mixed with blue food dye were administered into the nostril before and after the dilatation procedure. Endoscopic videos were recorded to assess dye staining of the olfactory cleft and osteo-meatal complex using a 4-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Prior to balloon dilatation, the mean penetration of nasal drops into the olfactory cleft was 1.34, which improved significantly (p < 0.05) to 2.66 following the procedure. There was no change in dye penetration into the osteo-meatal complex after balloon dilatation. CONCLUSION: The results of this exploratory study suggest that balloon dilatation may improve the delivery of nasal drops to the olfactory cleft area. The clinical applicability and impact on olfactory function will require further assessment.

Initial assessment of hearing loss using a mobile application for audiological evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare an Apple iOS mobile operating system application for audiological evaluation with conventional audiometry, and to determine its accuracy and reliability in the initial evaluation of hearing loss. METHODS: The study comprised 32 patients (16 females) diagnosed with hearing loss. The patients were first evaluated with conventional audiometry and the degree of hearing loss was recorded. Then they underwent a smartphone-based hearing test and the data were compared using Cohen's kappa analysis. RESULTS: Patients' mean age was 53.59 ± 18.01 years (range, 19-85 years). The mobile phone audiometry results for 39 of the 64 ears were fully compatible with the conventional audiometry results. There was a statistically significant concordant relationship between the two sets of audiometry results (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ear Trumpet version 1.0.2 is a compact and simple mobile application on the Apple iPhone 5 that can measure hearing loss with reliable results.

The burnout in nursing academicians in Turkey.

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of burnout in nursing academicians in Turkey and to investigate the variables which are strongly correlated with the burnout nursing education settings in Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of the nursing academicians working in the schools of nursing at the different universities in Turkey. Although the total number of nursing academicians in Turkey was 179, the subjects who agreed to participate in the research was 135. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure burnout, after having been statistically tested for its validity and reliability in nursing education settings in Turkey. The multiple regression analysis was carried out in order to determine the main variables correlated with burnout, namely "the predictors" of each of the three components (emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), personal accomplishment (PA)) of burnout. The results indicated that the most significant predictor of EE was work-setting satisfaction, of DP was job pressure, and of PA was job satisfaction in nursing education settings in Turkey. Finally, these findings were compared with of those previous studies in the field.

Nursing academicians' attitudes towards work life and their personality traits.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between attitudes of nursing academicians towards job and organization and their personality traits. The research included 287 nursing academicians who worked in 14 School of Nurses in the Universities of Turkey. A descriptive information form, Job and Organization Related Attitude Scale and Temperament and Character Inventory were used as data collection tools. It has been determined that attitudes of nursing academicians towards job and organization and their personality traits depended upon socio-economic status, working year, academic title, the temperament feature of novelty seeking and persistence, and the character feature of self-directedness and cooperativeness.

Adolescents' strengths and difficulties: approach to attachment styles.

This research is a descriptive field study conducted in order to investigate the relationship between adolescent difficulties and the attachment style. The study aims to investigate the relationship between adolescent attachment style and strength and difficulties in Turkey. Children attachment style and difficulties pattern in the group of adolescents aged 11-16 years old were compared with each other. Several different questionnaires, including The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, The Relationship Scale Questionnaire were applied to 384 (mean age 12.10 +/- 1.4 years) adolescents. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, anova, t-test, Kruskall Wallis and effect sizes. The adolescent secure attachment style was associated with increased levels of prosocial behaviour, decreased levels of emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, conduct problems, total difficulties scores. The adolescent fearful attachment style was associated with increased levels of emotional symptoms, and total difficulties scores. The adolescent dismissing attachment style was significantly associated with higher levels of emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, total difficulties scores and lower levels of prosocial behaviour. Adolescent strengths and difficulties are associated with their attachment style. Insecure attachment styles of dismissing and fearful were associated with increased mental symptom reporting. It is suggested that further studies may illuminate the clinical value of the attachment disorder and quantify parental contribution to psychopathology. Giving the therapeutic, structured mental support programme to adolescents that have attachment problems could be beneficial in improving mental status of these individuals.

Validity and reliability study of the Turkish psychiatric nurses of job motivation scale.

This methodological study was planned to explore the validity and reliability of the evaluation scale for measuring the job motivation of nurses who work in psychiatric clinics. The sample was composed of 378 nurses who work in all psychiatric units or psychiatric hospitals located in Turkey's four large cities - Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Manisa. For testing reliability of 'job motivation scale', the internal consistency tests were executed with split scale analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and item-total score correlation. For construct validity, factor analysis was used. For the first part of scale, Cronbach's alpha was determined to be 0.79. For the second part, Cronbach's alpha was 0.72. Factor analysis was performed in an attempt to establish validity and underlying associations between items in the scale. The first analysis produced nine eigenvalues (>1) and nine factors were extracted. The scree test indicated that a two-factor model would be suitable. The factor structure of the tool for measuring the job motivation of nurses who work in psychiatric clinics was parallel with motivation concepts. Validity and reliability levels of the scale for measuring the job motivation of nurses who work in psychiatric clinics were found to be sufficient in the Turkish population.

Relationships among ecologically important dimensions of plant trait variation in seven neotropical forests.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: When ecologically important plant traits are correlated they may be said to constitute an ecological 'strategy' dimension. Through identifying these dimensions and understanding their inter-relationships we gain insight into why particular trait combinations are favoured over others and into the implications of trait differences among species. Here we investigated relationships among several traits, and thus the strategy dimensions they represented, across 2134 woody species from seven Neotropical forests. METHODS: Six traits were studied: specific leaf area (SLA), the average size of leaves, seed and fruit, typical maximum plant height, and wood density (WD). Trait relationships were quantified across species at each individual forest as well as across the dataset as a whole. 'Phylogenetic' analyses were used to test for correlations among evolutionary trait-divergences and to ascertain whether interspecific relationships were biased by strong taxonomic patterning in the traits. KEY RESULTS: The interspecific and phylogenetic analyses yielded congruent results. Seed and fruit size were expected, and confirmed, to be tightly related. As expected, plant height was correlated with each of seed and fruit size, albeit weakly. Weak support was found for an expected positive relationship between leaf and fruit size. The prediction that SLA and WD would be negatively correlated was not supported. Otherwise the traits were predicted to be largely unrelated, being representatives of putatively independent strategy dimensions. This was indeed the case, although WD was consistently, negatively related to leaf size. CONCLUSIONS: The dimensions represented by SLA, seed/fruit size and leaf size were essentially independent and thus conveyed largely independent information about plant strategies. To a lesser extent the same was true for plant height and WD. Our tentative explanation for negative WD-leaf size relationships, now also known from other habitats, is that the traits are indirectly linked via plant hydraulics.