The traditional practices used by couples with fertility problems, affecting factors, expected benefits, and learning paths: The Turkey Sample.

OBJECTIVE: Studies related to traditional practices and benefits have been usually performed among women. The literature regarding the traditional practices used by men in Turkey and around the world and their expected benefits is more limited. The aim of this study was to examine the traditional practices used by couples with fertility problems, affecting factors, expected benefits, and learning paths. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The descriptive study was performed between May and July 2017 in Izmir, Turkey. In total, 151 women with infertility were included. The data related to the use of this practice by men were obtained from women partners. "Personal information form" and "traditional practices evaluation form" were used to obtain the data. RESULTS: In total, 35.8% of the women and 25.8% of the men used traditional practices. The 24.4% of women and 52.1% of men used other practices such as figs, onion cures, and hacamat, whereas 18.2% of women and 14.9% of men used various herbs. The benefits they expected from traditional practices were facilitating conception, ensuring follicle development in women, increasing sperm count, and quality and facilitating conception in men. Overall, 37.0% of women learned of these practices from their friends, 30.7% of men learned from their partners, 20.4% of women and 20.6% of men learned from the internet. CONCLUSION: The couples in this study widely used traditional practices to solve fertility problems and learned from their friends and partners.

The relationship between fatigue and breastfeeding self-efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Postpartum fatigue appears in the early weeks and after childbirth has a clear impact on maternal functioning and breastfeeding. AIM: This study aimed to examine the relationship between fatigue and breastfeeding self-efficacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted at three family health centers (FHCs) in Izmir, Turkey, between June 2013 and March 2014. We used the Self-Description Form for Mothers, the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (BSES-SF), and the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) to collect data from 184 breastfeeding women during the postpartum period. RESULTS: At week 1 postpartum, 98.9% of the mothers in this study experienced fatigue; of those, 12.6% had minor fatigue, 48.3% had moderate fatigue, 36.8% had excessive fatigue, and 0.7% had the highest level of fatigue. At week 8 postpartum, 46.7% of the mothers experienced fatigue, 50.0% of whom experienced fatigue on a minor level, 16.2% on a moderate level, and 2.5% on an excessive level. The present study found that 55.4% and 1.1% of the mothers had BSES-SF mean scores below 50 at weeks 1 and 8 postpartum, respectively. The mean BSES-SF score was 51.21 ± 6.95 (min-max = 19.00-70.00) at week 1 postpartum, which increased to 64.54 ± 9.65 (min-max = 15.00-70.00) at week 8 postpartum. The statistical results indicated that there were no significant relationships between the BSES-SF and the BFI at week 1 postpartum (r = 0.007, P > 0.05) and week 8 postpartum (r = 0.111, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, the mothers' fatigue during the postpartum period was not associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy. Many of the variables identified may be considered modifiable and amenable to interventions. Targeted interventions should be directed toward improved breastfeeding outcomes among Turkish women.

MOVING LEAST SQUARES SPECTRA SCRUTINIZE CHRONOMICS IN AND AROUND US.

As an extension of the chronobiological serial section, gliding spectra illustrate the changing time structure (chronome) of physiological, physical and/or other variables in a given frequency range. For this purpose, least squares spectra are computed over a specified interval (much shorter than the observation span) that is progressively displaced by a given increment throughout the entire record. Results can be displayed either as 3D charts or as surface charts, displaying the estimated amplitudes, percentage rhythms or ordering P-values at each trial period for each interval. The procedure is illustrated for the record of Wolf numbers as a gauge of solar activity and for the number of marriages and divorces in Japan during the past century. Major components in these time series show deviations in period length and relative prominence over time. Particularly in the case of non-stationary time series, gliding spectra offer themselves as useful tools to examine changes in time structure beyond a specific spectral component.

CIRCANNUAL VARIATION IN HUMAN DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE DURING CONSECUTIVE SOLAR CYCLES.

Putative circadecadal modulations of a circannual variation in diastolic blood pressure are explored in a still accumulating 35 year record of self-measurements by a clinically healthy man. Analyses of monthly means by gliding spectra, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and cosinor were carried out after removing data collected during travel across time zones or during illness. An about yearly change in diastolic blood pressure may or may not be detected with statistical significance by cosinor or ANOVA, apparently as a function of solar cycle number and/or stage. It appears to be, however, 1 year synchronized in the entire span analysed as a whole. A given variable such as diastolic blood pressure may be characterized by multifrequency rhythms that may intermodulate, so that findings in different stages of cycles with the lowest (e.g., circadecadal) frequency mapped may determine different outcomes in cycles with higher frequencies, such as circannuals.