Background and Objectives During the pandemic, all healthcare workers have tried to cope with mental challenges. This study evaluated the healthcare workers' levels of burn-out, hopelessness, fear of COVID-19 and perceived social support, the relation between these factors, and other possible related components. Methods Four hundred and fifty-one HCW (healthcare workers) all across Turkey were included in the study. Participants were given sociodemographic information form, Maslach Burn-out Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. This was a cross-sectional study via various online platforms. Results The participants who were on duty in the COVID-19 clinic, complaining about the low salary or not having enough time for themselves or their own family, had significantly higher scores on three subscales of burn-out scale, and hopelessness scale. Working at governmental hospitals, working at departments containing a high risk of COVID-19 infection, and having a history of COVID-19 infection were found to be significantly associated with emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and hopelessness. Feeling control of your profession and getting social support from others were the two factors that tackle burnout in HCW. Family support is the only support that tackles all 3 subscales of burn-out and hopelessness. Conclusion The findings emphasized that to tackle the burn-out and hopelessness of HCWs, it is important for HCW to receive financial compensation for their hard work, to work under improved conditions, and to receive adequate social support.

Background. Electronic media have become an important element in the lives of modern children. Devices like televisions, smartphones and tablets are widely used by some parents in order to manage hyperactive, stubborn and impulsive children who need high-intensity stimuli. Consequently, a child`s temperament and parental attitudes affect the duration and frequency of 3-7-year-old children`s screen (television-smartphone-internet) use. Based on this information, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the relation between screen media exposure, the child`s temperament and parental attitudes in 3-7-year-old children. Methods. The participants of this study were 210 children of 3 to 7 years of age. Rothbart`s Child Behavior List was used to assess temperament; the Parenting Attitude Research Instrument was used to determine the parental attitudes. Screen media exposure assessment questionnaire, which included questions about the age the child started using the TV, smartphone and/or internet, and the duration of their daily usage, were filled in with the children`s parents. Results. It was found that the increase in activity level, approach and discomfort was negatively correlated to the age the child started watching television, while shyness was positively related to the same phenomenon. The scores of the discomfort temperament subscale had a direct relation to the duration of watching television. Background television is negatively related to attention, inhibitory control, and perceptual sensitivity. Dependency, marital conflict and strictness and authoritarianism parameters were found to be positively related to the duration of playing with a smartphone. Also, in this study we found that negative temperament characteristics adversely affected screen media exposure and poor parenting styles worsen this relationship. Conclusions. Both temperament and parenting styles affect screen media exposure. In addition, it was understood that parenting styles also affect the relation between temperament and screen exposure. Parental information programs on this subject can eliminate the lack of information related to early screen media exposure in preschool children.

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Background: The Broadman Area 17 (V1) has a good representation of retinotopic map. Similarity between visual input and the representation of it in V1 would be affected from both an intrinsic noise and the saccadic eye movements. GABA’s role in increasing signal to noise ratio is known but, how GABAergic activity helps to control noise, based on input and saccades, has not been modelled. Methods: A computational model of V1 was designed by using the MATLAB 2021a platform, and different six images, each containing a circle, triangle, and square, were used to test the model. The developed V1 was constituted of six different orientation columns (OCs). Each OC contains GABAergic and glutamatergic connections. Thus, OCs were activated not only based on afferent image inputs but also on the interaction among fired columns via the sum of glutamate and GABAergic neuron weights. V1 representation states for twelve, twenty and thirty saccades were summed and visualized. Finally, the original and representational forms of the image were compared. In the model, GABA activity levels have been tuned and the results of each level analysed. Results: It has been shown that level of GABA activity in the orientation columns during saccades is a critical factor for an ideal image representation. Decreased levels of GABA activity can be associated with inadequacy of noise elimination which could impair correct contour perception. Conclusion: Orientation columns can be conceptualized as microprocessors of V1. In this region, images are represented with high similarity. This similarity seems to need efficient GABAergic activity.

Genç erişkinlik dönemi, kişilerin ruhsal sorunları açısından oldukça hassas olduğu, yaşadıkları sorunları paylaşmaya, öneri almaya ve akran desteğine ihtiyaç duyduğu; aynı zamanda damgalanma korkusu ile sosyal ve psikiyatrik destek almaktan kaçındıkları bir dönemdir. Sanal dünyada iletişim kurmanın kolay olması ve internet özellikli mobil cihazların yaygınlaşması gençlerin psikososyal destek ihtiyacının çevrim içi destek grupları aracılığıyla karşılamasına olanak sağlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada, 18-30 yaş genç erişkinlerin çevrim içi gruplardaki etkileşimleri ve bu sırada onlar için kaygı yaratan psikososyal faktörleri incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, psikiyatri polikliniğine kaygı şikayeti ile başvuran 50 genç erişkin, kaygı yaşantılarını anonim olarak konuşmak üzere “YEVEZE” isimli uygulamaya davet edilmiştir. Uygulama üzerinden ortalama 90 dakika süren, “kaygı” temalı toplam 15 çevrim içi oturum yürütülmüştür. 42 kişinin dahil olduğu gruplardan elde edilen yazılı verilerin analizinde tematik analiz kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar, genç erişkinlerde kaygı yaratan etkenlerin değersizlik ve yetersizlik hissi ana çatısı altında toplandığını göstermiştir. Bu ana temanın altında (i) ebeveynlerden kaynaklanan etkenler, (ii) sosyal ilişkilerde güçlük ve (iii) mükemmeliyetçi hedefler/gelecek kaygısı alt temalarının bulunduğu fark edilmiştir. Çalışmanın nitel tasarımı, kaygı bozukluğu yaşayan gençleri daha geniş bir bakış açısıyla incelemeye olanak sağlamıştır. Sonuçlar tanı ve önleyici müdahaleler açısından önem taşımaktadır.