The effects of different syringe volume, needle size and sample volume on blood gas analysis in syringes washed with heparin

Introductıon:

We evaluated the effect of different syringe volume, needle size and sample volume on blood gas analysis in syringes washed with heparin.

Materials and methods:

In this multi-step experimental study, percent dilution ratios (PDRs) and final heparin concentrations (FHCs) were calculated by gravimetric method for determining the effect of syringe volume (1, 2, 5 and 10 mL), needle size (20, 21, 22, 25 and 26 G) and sample volume (0.5, 1, 2, 5 and 10 mL). The effect of different PDRs and FHCs on blood gas and electrolyte parameters were determined. The erroneous results from nonstandardized sampling were evaluated according to RiliBAK’s TEa.

Results:

The increase of PDRs and FHCs was associated with the decrease of syringe volume, the increase of needle size and the decrease of sample volume: from 2.0% and 100 IU/mL in 10 mL-syringe to 7.0% and 351 IU/mL in 1 mL-syringe; from 4.9% and 245 IU/mL in 26G to 7.6% and 380 IU/mL in 20 G with combined 1 mL syringe; from 2.0% and 100 IU/mL in full-filled sample to 34% and 1675 IU/mL in 0.5 mL suctioned sample into 10 mL-syringe. There was no statistical difference in pH; but the percent decreasing in pCO₂, K⁺, iCa²⁺, iMg²⁺; the percent increasing in pO₂ and Na⁺ were statistical significance compared to samples full-filled in syringes. The all changes in pH and pO₂ were acceptable; but the changes in pCO₂, Na⁺, K⁺ and iCa²⁺ were unacceptable according to TEa limits except fullfilled-syringes.

Conclusions:

The changes in PDRs and FHCs due nonstandardized sampling in syringe washed with liquid heparin give rise to erroneous test results for pCO₂ and electrolytes.     

Transient heat conduction in an anisotropic medium in cylindrical coordinates

Three dimensional, time dependent heat conduction for an anisotropic medium of a triclinic system is solved for an infinitely long hollow or solid cylinder of finite radius with a restriction ε₂₃ = ε₁₂ε₁₃. Several special cases are obtained from the present solution.     

Learning teacher-research-mentoring: stories from Turkey

The continuing developmental process of learning mentoring, specifically regarding supporting teacher research, has received relatively little attention in fields such as English language teaching, and this qualitative case study addresses the gap. It explores how three teacher-research-mentors, who were experienced classroom practitioners but novices in research-mentoring, grew into their new role while supporting teacher research projects in different English language higher education contexts in Turkey over a one-year period. Vignettes reveal that they became conscious of needing to provide psychological support to sustain teacher-researchers’ motivation from starting their research projects to completing them successfully, presenting findings and writing them up, and that they also developed in other roles, but as subject-specialists sharing knowledge about research to a lesser extent. Outcomes, in terms of the quality of research produced by the teacher-researchers in their contexts, appeared influenced by the different characteristics of their institutions and the degree of external support in the form of mentor-mentoring the teacher-research-mentors could access. Given the increasing interest around the world in teacher research as an empowering form of professional development, there is a growing need for teacher-research-mentors, and these findings, through shedding light on research-mentors’ developmental needs, might be of interest to teacher educators.     

Raising the language awareness of pre‐service English teachers in an EFL context

This study investigates the challenges that non‐native pre‐service English teachers (Haluk, Gaye, Selin, Öznur and Serkan) experience in their target language use when they do their practicum in actual language classrooms. This study found that the common difficulties the student teachers encounter related to certain grammatical structures, explaining unknown words to students, modifying language according to students’ level, and authenticity of the classroom language. During this study, the target language awareness training session was offered by the university supervisor in order to improve the student teachers’ target language use in the classroom. The training sessions included classroom observations, feedback sessions, semi‐structured interviews, retrospective protocols and discussion meetings with the student teachers. The findings indicated that the language awareness training had a positive impact on the target language use of the pre‐service English teachers. Furthermore, this study discusses the curriculum and the requirements of the language teacher education programme in an EFL setting and makes suggestions for the professional development of non‐native pre‐service language teachers.     

Academic Mobbing in Relation to Leadership Practices: A New Perspective on an Old Issue

Abstract

Constant pressures emanating from internal and external environments of the academy have resulted in many changes, one of which is the workplace mobbing, an old issue for the broader field of organization science but a relatively new phenomenon in the academic context. This study investigated the relationship between workplace mobbing and academic leadership and the results indicated that the more positive leadership there is in an institution, the less mobbing behaviors are observed.     

Promoting field trip confidence: teachers providing insights for pre-service education

Pre-service teachers need experiences in practical matters as a part of field trip preparations programmes. For 14 years, a private, non-profit university in Turkey has involved pre-service teachers in field trip planning, implementation and evaluation. A programme assessment was conducted through a case study to examine the long-term effects of pre-service field trip preparation. Through a survey created for the study, teachers shared their field trip activities and reported confidence levels. The survey was administered to 44 alumni of the biology education department with a response rate of 72.7% (N = 32). This study will help researchers learn which programme areas need to be improved and can serve as a model for other institutions interested in evaluating field trip preparation programmes.     

English language teachers becoming more efficacious through research engagement at their Turkish university

While it is generally recognized that teacher research can be a very beneficial form of continuing professional development (CPD), there is still relatively limited research available on the impact this activity has on teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, which are of interest to educational psychologists because, while being open to constant change, these beliefs influence the way in which knowledge is transformed into action. There is also a relative lack of available research into how teachers develop as researchers; the processes whereby they gain practical knowledge and more positive self-efficacy beliefs in planning, conducting, analysing, presenting and writing up research require further exploration. This qualitative multi-case study addresses these issues, exploring the development of three in-service teachers of English on a foundation programme at a Turkish university. Findings reveal that engaging in CPD which directly benefited their learners helped all three teachers develop positive teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and deeper practical knowledge in relation to the specific tasks that concerned them. Furthermore, from a starting point of having low self-efficacy beliefs in conducting practical research, which reflected their lack of prior knowledge in this area, they all became more efficacious as they gained research experience and developed practical knowledge of research. This study highlights the benefits, then, of helping teachers become more efficacious through CPD that engages them as knowledge-generators. Enthusiastic mentoring, autonomy support and the opportunity to present their research more widely all helped the teachers in this Turkish context to develop.     

Curriculum elements of a politically liberal education in a developing democracy

A previous study has justified the idea that a politically liberal conception of formal education can be applied in a developing democracy if such a society has reached a narrow overlapping consensus on its education system or modifies its education system from a minimally coercive perspective. This study further considers the fundamental question of how to determine such an educational account’s curriculum elements. In this sense, this study aims to provide a perspective on determining some core curriculum elements of a politically liberal conception of formal education, while focusing its attention to developing democracies.     

The effect of electronic performance support systems on self-regulated learning skills

Electronic performance support systems (EPSSs) are the software programs commonly used in commercial environments since the early 1990s. These software programs are generally called performance-based systems and focus on the complete job rather than providing individual development. For that reason, the usage of these systems in learning environments has not been sufficiently investigated. In this empirical study, availability of using EPSS software for learning processes was investigated in order to contribute to the literature. An EPSS software was developed for undergraduate students to use in programming language courses and the effects of the software on students' self-regulation based learning skills were investigated. During the treatment process, while the experimental group was supported with EPSS, traditional teaching continued in the control group. The results of the study showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of motivational beliefs; however, there were significant differences in terms of cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies.     

Approach–Method Interaction: The role of teaching method on the effect of context-based approach in physics instruction

The purpose of this study is to explore not only the effect of context-based physics instruction on students’ achievement and motivation in physics, but also how the use of different teaching methods influences it (interaction effect). Therefore, two two-level-independent variables were defined, teaching approach (contextual and non-contextual approaches) and teaching method (traditional and learning cycle methods). Thus, a 2?×?2 factorial design was performed with four treatment groups, including 131 11th-grade students: (1) a traditional method with the non-contextual approach group, (2) a traditional method with the contextual approach group, (3) a learning cycle with the non-contextual approach group, and (4) a learning cycle with the contextual approach group. Prior to and just after the treatments, which took 5 weeks, pre-tests and post-tests on student achievement and motivation were administered. For the analysis of data, multivariate analysis of covariance, simple regressions and follow-up analysis of covariances were performed. Consequently, it was found that the effect of context-based approach on physics achievement is dependent upon the teaching method implemented. That is, the traditional method was observed to increase the effect of the contextual approach while the learning cycle decreased it. Related to the effects on motivation in physics, no evidence was found to claim a significant difference. Based on the findings of this study, further research is suggested for determining which teaching methods are more effective with the context-based approach on students' achievement and motivation in physics.