Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Yabancı Dilde Yazılmış Metinleri Anlama Becerilerinin Sınanmasında Özet Yazma Tekniğinin Kullanılması

The use of multiple choice questions in testing students' reading comprehension of foreign language texts has become a widespread practice. However, not only does this technique ignore and/or override most of the reading skills that we train our students in but it also establishes in them the habit o f reading not for total comprehension but only enough to answer the questions in the test. The validity of any test will be achieved only to the degree that it tests our students' ability in the manner it has been taught in the classroom, not to mention that it will reflect on what is taught and how it is taught in the classroom (backwash effect). Considering the fact that reading ability consists of certain strategies and sub-skills which interact with each other, we need to use a testing technique which can capture the complexity of the process. As an example of such a technique, summarization was used with university students following their reading of two texts - expository and narrative - and results from this technique were correlated with scores gained from a multiple choice test constructed for the same two texts. Based on the results of the study, we conclude that summarization can be a reliable way of testing reading comprehension, and to use this technique more effectively it is suggested that students receive prior training in summarization.Yabancı dilde okuma-anlama becerisinin sınanmasında kullanılan çoktan seçmeli tekniğinin kullanımı fazlasıyla yaygınlaşmasına karşın, bu teknik okuma-anlama sürecinde öğrencide geliştirilmesi amaçlanan becerilerin birçoğunu ölçmenıekle birlikte, öğrenciyi okuduğunu tümüyle anlamaya değil de soruyu cevaplamaya yönelten bir okuma alışkanlığını yerleştiriyor. Kullandığımız test tekniğinin geçerliliği öğrenciye kazandırmak istediğimiz becerileri ölçmesi oranında sağlanacaktır ve ayın zamanda bu teknik öğretim programlarının içeriğini belirlemede etkili olacaktır. Okuma-anlama becerisinin birçok strateji ve alt becerilerin karşılıklı iletişiminden oluşması nedeniyle, bunu sınavlara yansıtabilecek bir sınama tekniği olarak özet çıkarma üniversite öğrencileri üzerinde iki ayrı türde "öykü ve düzyazı" okuma parçası kullanılarak denendi ve sonuçlar aynı okuma parçaları için geliştirilmiş çoktan seçmeli sınav sonuçları ile karşılaştırıldı. Toplanan verilerden elde edilen sonuçlar özet yazmanın okuma-anlamayı ölçmeye yönelik kullanılabilirliğine ve bu tekniğin daha verimli kullanılabilmesi için öğrencilerin bu yönde eğitilmelerinin gerekliliğine dikkat çekmektedir

Influence of lycopene and cysteamine on sperm and oxidative stress parameters during liquid storage of ram semen at 5 °C

Ejaculates were collected from six Merino rams with the aid of an artificial vagina twice a week. The ejaculates containing spermatozoa with >80% forward progressive motility and concentrations higher than 2 × 109 spermatozoa/ml were pooled. The present study included two experiments. In experiment 1, each pooled ejaculate was divided into four equal aliquots and diluted (37 °C) with the Tris based extender, containing 0 (control), 0.5, 1 and 2 mM lycopene, at a final concentration of approximately 400 × 106 sperms/ml (single step dilution), In experiment 2, cysteamine at concentrations of 0 (control), 0.5, 1 and 2 mM, was used as an additive in the extender, and the procedure explained above was applied for the division of aliquots and the dilution of semen. Diluted semen samples were kept in glass tubes and cooled from 37° to 5 °C in a cold cabinet, and maintained at 5 °C. Sperm and oxidative stress parameters were evaluated after 0, 24, 48 and 72 h of storage at 5 °C. The extender supplemented with 0.5 mM lycopene resulted in higher mitochondrial activity rate (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control group at 72 h of storage. Lycopene at 0.5 mM dose led to higher sperm motility rate (p < 0.05) when compared to 2 mM lycopene group at 72 h of liquid storage. As regards oxidative stress parameters, only 2 mM lycopene increased total glutathione levels (p < 0.05) at 0 h of storage. The extender supplemented with 1 mM cysteamine gave higher motility (p < 0.05) at 48 h compared to control. As regards oxidative stress parameters, 1 and 2 mM cysteamine at 48 h and 1 mM cysteamine at 72 h increased total glutathione levels (p < 0.05) compared to control groups. Cysteamine at 1 and 2 mM doses decreased lipid peroxidation (p < 0.05) at 0 h of liquid storage compared to control. Our data suggest that lycopene at 0.5 and 2 mM and cysteamine at 1 and 2 mM doses can be added to Tris based extender for improving the ram sperm motility, viability, mitochondrial activity and oxidative stress parameters during the liquid storage. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Gemcitabine pharmacogenomics: Deoxycytidine kinase and cytidylate kinase gene resequencing and functional genomics

Gemcitabine and other cytidine antimetabolites require metabolic activation by phosphorylation. Deoxycytidine kinase (DCK) and cytidine monophosphate kinase (CMPK) catalyze these reactions. We have applied a genotype-to-phenotype strategy to study DCK and CMPK pharmacogenomics. Specifically, we resequenced DCK and CMPK using 240 DNA samples, 60 each from African-American, Caucasian-American, Han Chinese-American, and Mexican-American subjects. We observed 28 DCK polymorphisms and 28 polymorphisms in CMPK, 33 of which were novel. Expression in COS-1 cells showed that variant allozyme enzyme activities ranged from 32 to 105% of the wild type (WT) for DCK and from 78 to 112% of WT for CMPK-with no significant differences in apparent Km values for either enzyme except for a DCK Val24/Ser122 double variant allozyme. Relative levels of DCK and CMPK immunoreactive protein in the COS-1 cells paralleled relative levels of enzyme activity and were significantly correlated for DCK (R(p) = 0.89, P = 0.0004) but not for CMPK (R(p) = 0.82, P = 0.095). The results of an analysis of DCK and CMPK structural models were compatible with the observed functional consequences of sequence alterations in variant allozymes. We also confirmed that the CMPK protein expressed in COS-1 cells and in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate was 196 rather than 228 amino acids in length. In summary, we determined common sequence variations in DCK and CMPK and systematically evaluated their functional implications. These gene sequence differences may contribute to variations in the metabolic activation of gemcitabine and other cytidine antimetabolites

Gemcitabine pharmacogenomics: Deoxycytidine kinase and cytidylate kinase gene resequencing and functional genomics

Gemcitabine and other cytidine antimetabolites require metabolic activation by phosphorylation. Deoxycytidine kinase (DCK) and cytidine monophosphate kinase (CMPK) catalyze these reactions. We have applied a genotype-to-phenotype strategy to study DCK and CMPK pharmacogenomics. Specifically, we resequenced DCK and CMPK using 240 DNA samples, 60 each from African-American, Caucasian-American, Han Chinese-American, and Mexican-American subjects. We observed 28 DCK polymorphisms and 28 polymorphisms in CMPK, 33 of which were novel. Expression in COS-1 cells showed that variant allozyme enzyme activities ranged from 32 to 105% of the wild type (WT) for DCK and from 78 to 112% of WT for CMPK-with no significant differences in apparent Km values for either enzyme except for a DCK Val24/Ser122 double variant allozyme. Relative levels of DCK and CMPK immunoreactive protein in the COS-1 cells paralleled relative levels of enzyme activity and were significantly correlated for DCK (R(p) = 0.89, P = 0.0004) but not for CMPK (R(p) = 0.82, P = 0.095). The results of an analysis of DCK and CMPK structural models were compatible with the observed functional consequences of sequence alterations in variant allozymes. We also confirmed that the CMPK protein expressed in COS-1 cells and in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate was 196 rather than 228 amino acids in length. In summary, we determined common sequence variations in DCK and CMPK and systematically evaluated their functional implications. These gene sequence differences may contribute to variations in the metabolic activation of gemcitabine and other cytidine antimetabolites

Special issue “The next Marmara earthquake: disaster mitigation, recovery, and early warning”

Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma City Times newspaper. Caption: "Larking Lamb, left, and Sheriff Bob Turner inspect bottles removed from the stack at right. Sheriff Bob Turner currently is in possession of the largest single cache of whisky to be found in Oklahoma. He conservatively estimates the lot in the terms of several hundred cases. And he's going to hang on to it, no matter how many tongues swivel and dry up as the trickle of booze from surrounding wet states is mopped up by Joe Cannon and his "Cannon-ball" enforcement drive. Cannon was chosen by Gov. Edmondson as the man most likely to succeed in an all-out drive to purge Oklahoma the last drop of intoxicating beverages.