Changes in the superior longitudinal fasciculus and anterior thalamic radiation in the left brain are associated with developmental dyscalculia

Developmental dyscalculia is a neurodevelopmental disorder specific to arithmetic learning even with normal intelligence and age-appropriate education. Difficulties often persist from childhood through adulthood lowering the individual’s quality of life. However, the neural correlates of developmental dyscalculia are poorly understood. This study aimed to identify brain structural connectivity alterations in developmental dyscalculia. All participants were recruited from a large scale, non-referred population sample in a longitudinal design. We studied 10 children with developmental dyscalculia (11.3 ± 0.7 years) and 16 typically developing peers (11.2 ± 0.6 years) using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. We assessed white matter microstructure with tract-based spatial statistics in regions-of-interest tracts that had previously been related to math ability in children. Then we used global probabilistic tractography for the first time to measure and compare tract length between developmental dyscalculia and typically developing groups. The high angular resolution diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and crossing-fiber probabilistic tractography allowed us to evaluate the length of the pathways compared to previous studies. The major findings of our study were reduced white matter coherence and shorter tract length of the left superior longitudinal/arcuate fasciculus and left anterior thalamic radiation in the developmental dyscalculia group. Furthermore, the lower white matter coherence and shorter pathways tended to be associated with the lower math performance. These results from the regional analyses indicate that learning, memory and language-related pathways in the left hemisphere might be related to developmental dyscalculia in children

Erzurum ili gustavioid akarları (Acari, Oribatida, Gustavioidea)

TARAMATRDİZİNGustavioid mites inhabiting in Erzurum province were evaluated based on samplescollected between the years 1998 and 2001. As a result of the assessment, 3species and 2 subspecies belonging to the families Liacaridae Sellnick, 1928and Peloppiidae Balogh, 1943 were determined. Of these, Adoristes (Adoristes)ovatus ovatus (C.L. Koch, 1839), Liacarus (Dorycranosus) splendens (Coggi,1898) and Ceratoppia quadridentata (Haller, 1882) are new records for the Turkishfauna; Xenillus (Xenillus) tegeocranus (Hermann, 1804) and Liacarus (Liacarus)brevilamellatus brevilamellatus Mihel?i?, 1955 have already been determined inTurkey.The extraction of mites from materials collected from the investigation was madeby using a Berlese-Tullgren funnel extractor. Mites were killed, fixed and stored in75% ethanol. The light and scanning electron microscope were used to examinemites. Specimens were studied in lactic acid, mounted in temporary cavity slidesfor the duration of study in a light microscope.As a result, electron microscope photos of all determined taxa were taken. Theirmorphological features were reviewed on the basis of our samples. Furthermore,the identification keys to the families and genera were arranged.Erzurum ilinde yaşayan gustavioid akarlar, 1998-2001 yılları arasında toplanan örneklere dayanarakdeğerlendirilmiştir. Yapılan değerlendirme sonucunda,Liacaridae Sellnick, 1928 ve Peloppiidae Balogh, 1943familyalarına ait toplam 3 tür ve 2 alttür belirlenmiştir.Bunlardan Adoristes (Adoristes) ovatus ovatus (C.L. Koch,1839), Liacarus (Dorycranosus) splendens (Coggi, 1898) veCeratoppia quadridentata (Haller, 1882) Türkiye faunasıiçin yeni kayıt olarak, Xenillus (Xenillus) tegeocranus(Hermann, 1804) ve Liacarus (Liacarus) brevilamellatusbrevilamellatus Mihel?i?, 1955 ise daha önce Türkiye’denbilinen taksonlar olarak tespit edilmiştir.Araştırma bölgesinden toplanan materyalden akarlarınayıklanması Berlese-Tullgren huni düzeneği kullanılarakyapılmıştır. Ayıklanan akarlar %75’lik etil alkoldeöldürülerek tespit edilmiş ve depolanmıştır. Akarlarınincelenmesinde ışık ve tarama elektron mikroskoplarıkullanılmıştır. Örneklerin ışık mikroskobu incelemesiçukur lamda geçici olarak hazırlanmış laktik asitlipreparatlarda yapılmıştır.Sonuç olarak; belirlenen taksonların tarama elektronmikroskobunda fotoğrafları çekilmiş, örnekler üzerindenmorfolojik özellikleri gözden geçirilerek taksonomiksorunları tartışılmıştır. Ayrıca familya ve cins düzeyindeteşhis anahtarları düzenlenmiştir

A Green Approach for the Preparation of Nanostructured Zinc Oxide: Characterization and Promising Antibacterial Behaviour

In the present study, nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) films have been successfully synthesized using fruit extract of Viburnum opulus L. (VO) on glass slides by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) procedure. The impact of VO concentrations on the structural, morphological, optical, electrical, and antibacterial attributes of ZnO films has been investigated in detail. The samples’ XRD patterns present a hexagonal crystal structure with a preferential orientation along the (002) plane. The crystallite size values of ZnO samples were found to be in the ranges from 14.88 to 9.23 nm. The supplementation of VO to the synthesis solution remarkably affected the surface morphological features of the ZnO films. The optical results demonstrated that band gap energy values of the ZnO films at room temperature were decreased from 3.20 to 3.07 eV as a function of VO content in the bath solution. The films’ electrical properties were determined by impedance analysis in the frequency range of 20 H