Investigation of medical faculty students' views on cadaver and cadaver teaching in anatomy.

PURPOSE: Cadaver education in anatomy is one of the cornerstones of medical school education. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the importance of cadaver education from the students' point of view by examining the effect of cadaver education on learning the anatomy course. In this study, the perspectives of second-term medical students who received or did not receive anatomy education with cadavers, on cadavers and on anatomy education with cadavers were investigated. METHODS: The study was carried out with a total of 116 (66 females and 50 males) second-term medical faculty students. Participants were divided into 2 groups; the first group (n=56) consisted of students who learned anatomy with cadavers, while the second group (n=60) included students who had never seen a cadaver and learned anatomy through atlas and models. RESULTS: As a result, it was determined that the students in both groups thought that there should be cadavers in anatomy education and education with cadavers would accelerate and facilitate the learning process of anatomy. It was also determined that, the students who received anatomy education with cadaver were psychologically affected by the cadaver compared to those who did not, and they thought that the cadaver was less effective in gaining a physician identity (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: When the results of the study are evaluated, it is revealed that the anatomy course is difficult, but the education given on the cadaver significantly facilitates learning and makes it more attractive.

Self-evaluations of tuberculosis patients about their illnesses at Ankara Atatürk Sanatorium Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality and almost one-third of the world is infected with this disease. In Turkey, it remains an important public health concern. In many of the studies, social aspects of TB are underestimated. In this study, self-evaluations of TB inpatients between the ages of 18 and 65 were assessed between July 29 and August 01, 2002 at Ankara Atatürk Sanatorium Training and Research Hospital, which is one of the major reference hospitals for TB in Turkey. This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study in which the participation rate was 88.2%. Mean age of the total 97 participants was 41.3 (SD = 13.6) and 80.4% of patients were male. Patients expressed "unhappiness and stress (23.7%)" to be the major cause of their illness. From the patients' point of view, the three major difficulties incorporated in their lives due to TB were "financial problems (27.9%)", "loneliness (9.3%)", and "hospitalization (9.3%)". Relationships between the patients and their social environments were also assessed in five categories: "closest friend at work, closest friend in life, parents, children, and spouse".

Cardiovascular risk factor levels in a lower middle-class community in Ankara, Turkey.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in a lower middle-class urban community of Turkey. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study in an age- and sex-stratified random community sample with equal sample size per stratum. Direct age-standardization using the standard world population to allow international comparison of findings. Logistic regression modelling to identify risk factors for obesity. SETTING: Gülveren, a residential area in Ankara, total population 23,000 persons. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1672 adults aged 25-64 years and resident in the study community were interviewed, 1272 (76.1%) of those came for physical examination. MAIN RESULTS: The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension according to WHO MONICA criteria was 18.6% (95% confidence interval: 16.1-21.1%) among women and 12.3% (9.7-14.9%) among men; of obesity (body mass index, BMI > or =30 kg/m2) 51.0% (47.6-54.3%) among women and 15.1% (12.0-18.2%) among men; of current smoking 20.1% (17.5-22.6%) among women and 64.8% (61.4-68.2%) among men; of hypercholesterolaemia 20.1% (17.4-22.9%) among women and 13.8% (10.8-16.8%) among men; and of low high density lipoprotein (HDL) 48.4% (44.8-52.1%) among women and 40.6% (36.0-45.2%) among men. In the regression model, age, female sex, non- and ex-smoking were associated with obesity. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of smoking, obesity and low HDL is high in this urban, lower middle-class population, even in comparison with industrialized countries. Unexpectedly, women have less favourable CHD risk profiles than men, except for smoking. Preventive action should be community-wide and address the common risk factors simultaneously to avoid replacement effects such as becoming obese after quitting smoking.

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of 4-carbethoxymethyl-2-[(alpha-haloacyl)amino] thiazoles and 5-nonsubstituted/substituted 2-[(4-carbethoxymethylthiazol-2-yl)imino]-4-thiazolidinones.

4-Carbethoxymethyl-2-[(chloroacetyl/alpha-chloropropionyl/al pha- bromobutyryl/alpha-chloro-(alpha-phenylacetyl)amino]thiazoles (I-IV) were synthesized by reacting 4-carbethoxymethyl-2-aminothiazole with chloroacetyl chloride, alpha-chloropropionyl chloride, alpha-bromobutyryl bromide and alpha-chloro-alpha-phenylacetyl chloride, respectively. Furthermore, I-IV were refluxed with ammonium thiocyanate to give 2-[(4-carbethoxymethylthiazol-2-yl)imino]-4-thiazolidinones (V-VIII). V was refluxed with various aromatic aldehydes to give 5-arylidene-2-[(4-carbethoxymethylthiazol-2-yl)imino]-4-t hiazolidinones (IX-XIV). The structures of synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analyses, hydrolysis, UV, IR, 1H-NMR and EI mass spectral data. The antimicrobial activities of the compounds were assessed by microbroth dilution technique using Mueller-Hinton broth and Mueller-Hinton Agar. In this study, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 4352, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 1539, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri, Proteus mirabilis and Candida albicans ATCC 10231 were used as test microorganisms. Among the tested compounds, XI and XIV showed activity against S. aureus (MIC: 78 micrograms/ml, 1.6 micrograms/ml), whereas compound V had an activity against S. flexneri (MIC: 39 micrograms/ml) and compound I against C. albicans (MIC: 125 (micrograms/ml). Compounds I, IV-XIV were also evaluated for antituberculosis activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using the BACTEC 460 radiometric system and BACTEC 12B medium. Only compounds I and XIV showed 86% and 67% inhibition in the primary screen.

Auditory event-related potentials (P300) in partial and generalized epileptic patients.

We evaluated the P300 components of event-related potentials (ERP) in 64 cryptogenic partial epilepsy (CPE) patients, and 52 idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) patients as well as in their age-matched control groups. The P200, N200 and P300 latencies recorded from Cz were significantly longer in CPE patients compared with those of their control group (P = 0.0371, P = 0.0092 and P = 0.0405, respectively). The P200 and N200 latencies recorded from Fz were significantly longer than in their control group (P = 0.0448 and P = 0.0107) while the prolongation in the P300 latencies was not found to be statistically significant (P = 0.0733). All latencies were longer in IGE patients, and the amplitudes of the N200/P300 components of ERP were lower in both epileptic groups compared with their control groups, but these differences were not significant. The prolongation of the P300 latencies was not correlated with the type or serum level of antiepileptic drug or seizure control. Our findings suggest that the prolongation of the P300 latency of ERP is related to the type of epilepsy.

Modified tendon stripper for obtaining palmaris longus tendon graft.

Tendon graft harvesting is a challenging part of hand surgery. It is not only a time-consuming procedure but also carries the potential complications associated with it. Various alternatives for this procedure are presented in the literature to overcome these difficulties. In this paper, we are presenting a series of cases in which a newly modified tendon stripper was used for tendon graft harvesting.

Somatosensory evoked potentials and EEG findings in siblings of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy patients.

PURPOSE: In order to demonstrate cortical hyperexitability and to determine the efficacy of 'SEP of high amplitude (HASEP) in detecting asymptomatic relatives of JME patients, we evaluated the EEG findings and SEP in asymptomatic siblings of JME patients. METHODS: We analysed the EEG and SEP findings of 37 JME patients and 48 asymptomatic siblings of 27 patients and compared the results with healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Of 13 asymptomatic siblings with EEG abnormalities (27.1%), 5 had 4-6 Hz spike/polyspike and wave paroxysms (10.4%), 5 had slow wave paroxysms (10.4%), and the remaining 3 patients exhibited focal spike and wave activity during hyperventilation (6.25%). No significant difference was found between JME patients, asymptomatic siblings and control groups with respect to N20 latencies. N20/P25 amplitudes were significantly higher in both JME group and asymptomatic siblings than those of control cases. HASEP were observed in 8 out of 37 JME patients (21.6%), 10 out of 48 healthy siblings (20.8%) and none of the control cases. The consanguinity rate was higher in parents of patients who had at least one asymptomatic sibling with EEG and/or SEP abnormalities (68.7%) than in those of patients who had siblings with no EEG and SEP abnormalities (9.9%). We suggest that the high rate of SEP and EEG changes among offspring of consanguineous marriages might reflect the genetic heterogeneity of the disease.