A Journey to Tales Land by Drama

AbstractVarious definitions of tales compromise on some points that they are created by the folk, they are usually told to kids and they are supernatural. They are the best narrators of the language and culture of their times. However, cartoons and technology have replaced the tales narrated by grandparents. This study focuses on protection and survival of Cyprus culture by adapting tales to current circumstances. Besides, the study aims to introduce the adapted Cyprus tales to pre-school kids and to use tales in different ways in instruction process. For this reason, Cyprus tales have been examined and seen that many tales exist in the TRNC but they haven’t been integrated into instruction. The working team comprises 20 volunteer parents, 16 high school students, 44 pre-school students, 20 kindergarten teachers and 1 nurse. During the project, a face to face interview was conducted with 8 kindergarten teachers, 427 people filled in a survey and the participant's verbal and written perceptions were collected about the activities in the project. In accordance with the collected data, many tales were compiled with the participation of the grandparents, families and volunteer nurse and narration studies were conducted by creative drama methods. Besides, with the participation of high school students, puppet stage and puppets were developed in harmony with tale narration techniques. “A journey to tales land”, a history of tales themed activity, was performed. Participation of 360 people to this activity was found significant. Cyprus tales should be adapted in accordance with current circumstances and they should be introduced in terms of the needs of kids by using technology

The Use of Drama in Educational Process through the Legends in Cyprus

AbstractLegends are tools which should be used in order to develop knowledge in the process of the development of education and training,the creation of new ideas,cause and effect relationships in the establishment of widespread use of the enrichment of imagination. In order to attract attention to the living bird species in Cyprus,the dramas event Zümrüd-ü Anka Legend is used as a tool to prepare the application as an example for the activity to create awareness,the main aim of this study. In this study, the activity examples involved have been applied to 17 teachers,who have had drama education.The process and activity evaluation have been developed and written according to the outcome.Besides the thematical study,birds in Cyprus have also been used and created from newspapers. Different drama techniques used in activities have attracted our attention to birds that are tending to become extinct.The importance of these example activities is that it is applied to everybody. It is understood that through drama method,The result of the activity process is that participants fill in the expressions of activity evaluation forms and gain knowledge of the Legend of Zümrüd-ü Anka and the birds in Cyprus

The effects of salt stress on the growth, biochemical parameter and mineral element content of some maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars

Six cultivars of maize (Zea mays L.) (Ada-523, Bora, C-955, PR 3394, Progen-1550 and Trebbia) were  subjected to 0 and 100 mM NaCl and their response to salt stress were determined by growths related to  relative shoot growth weight (RSGR), shoot and root dry weight and stress tolerance index by biochemical  parameters associated with total chlorophyll and proline contents and by mineral element contents such as Na+ and K+ contents and K+\Na+ ratio. Cultivars were grown in greenhouse in perlit supplied with a complete nutrient solution and salt treatment started 14 days after planting. The results indicate that salinity decreased RSGR, shoot and dry weight, stress tolerance index, total chlorophyll and K+ contents and K+\Na+ ratio, but increased proline and Na+ accumulations. Especially, proline accumulation appears to react to salt stress  damage rather than a plant response associated with salt tolerance. Another striking point is that the rates of increase in Na+ content were higher in shoots than in roots. According to the results, salt tolerance index,  Na+ and K+ contents are reliable criteria for preliminary selection in early growth stage of maize.Key words: Maize, salt stress, relative shoot growth rate, total chlorophyll, proline, Na+

Diabetic Neuropathy and Treatment Strategy – New Challenges and Applications

Smart drug delivery systems are very popular drug delivery systems for treatment to common disease such as gene therapy, heart disease, cancer therapy, and neuropathy. Neuropathy is the most common chronic complication of diabetes that is associated with especially loss of peripheral nerve fibers. Hyperglycemia, insulin deficiency and dyslipidemia largely affect the development and progression of diabetic neuropathy. Several metabolic disruptions including altered protein kinase C, elevated polyol pathway activity, oxidative stress, the formation of advanced glycation and lipoxidation end products, and various pro-inflammatory changes directly affect neural tissue and cause neurodegenerative changes in diabetes. The therapeutic interventions of these metabolic pathways have a limited success to relieve the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. This review emphasizes on the pathogenesis of neurovascular changes, presently available therapeutic approaches future directions for the management of diabetic neuropathy and related new drug delivery systems

Sünger altlık uygulamasının sütçü mandalar ve ineklerde beslenme ve dinlenme davranışları üzerine etkileri

This experiment evaluated the effects of rubber laying surface on feeding and lying behavior kinetics of dairy buffaloes and cows. Fifty-four Anatolian dairy buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and 18 Brown Swiss dairy cows were used in the experiment. The animals group-housed in pens with concrete floor before the rubber flooring. The behavior of the animals was recorded 24 hours for 15 days before and after rubber flooring with a video camera system in the barn. Behavior data were expressed as % of observed animal in pen per hour for each species. Lying down behavior was assumed in a resting manner. The average number of buffaloes laying down increased after rubber flooring while there was no effect on resting behavior of the cows. The rubber flooring had no effect on feeding behavior of cows. Unexpectedly, the percent of buffaloes displaying feeding behavior decreased after rubber flooring. Results suggested that water buffalo may have different responses to management and housing strategies compared with the cows. However, further comparative studies with individual animal data and widespread behavioral observations may support a better understanding of behavioral response to modern intensive management strategies in dairy buffaloes.Bu çalışmada, sünger yataklık uygulamasının sütçü mandalar ve süt ineklerinde beslenme ile yatma davranışı üzerine etkileri değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmada 44 baş sütçü Anadolu manda melezi (Bubalus bubalis) ve 18 baş İsviçre Esmeri süt ineği kullanılmıştır. Sünger altlık uygulamasından önce tüm hayvanlar beton zeminde grup halinde serbest biçimde barındırılmıştır. Hayvanların davranışları, sünger uygulamasının 15 gün önce ve sonrasında çiftlikte bulunan kapalı devre kamera sistemi ile 24 saat kaydedilmiştir. Davranış verileri, her bir hayvan türü için her bir padokta % /saat olarak ifade edilmiştir. Tüm yatma davranış şekilleri, dinlenme davranışı olarak kabul edilmiştir. Sünger altlık uygulaması sonrasında; mandalarda yatan hayvan sayısında artış görülürken, ineklerde dinlenme davranışına altlık uygulamasının bir etkisi olmamıştır. Beklenmedik şekilde, altlık uygulamasının ardından beslenme davranışı gösteren ortalama manda sayısında düşüş görülmüştür. Elde edilen veriler, mandaların yönetim stratejileri ve barınma konusundaki değişikliklere ineklerden daha farklı tepkiler verebileceğini göstermiştir. Ancak bireysel hayvan verilerini içeren ve daha geniş çaplı davranış gözlemlerinin olduğu çalışmalar, sütçü mandaların modern entansif yönetim stratejilerine nasıl tepkiler oluşturabileceğinin anlaşılmasına yardımcı olabilir

Immediate recovery of the left atrial and left ventricular diastolic function after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: A transesophageal echocardiography study

Background: Chronic increased afterload due to severe aortic stenosis (AS) results in com­pensatory concentric left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and LV dysfunction. These in turn cause remodeling of the left heart. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effect of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) on left atrial (LA) mechanics and LV diastolic function. Methods: The study consisted of a total of 35 consecutive patients (mean age was 77.7 ± 5.0 years, 25 female) undergoing TAVI. All TAVI procedures have been performed under the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance. Before and 24 h after TAVI, all patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and mitral inflow velocities with pulsed-wave (PW) Doppler including early filling wave (E), late diastolic filling wave (A), and E/A ratio were obtained. LV diastolic function was also explored by pulsed tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Early (E’) and late (A’) diastolic annular velocities, E’/A’ ratio and E/E’ ratio were obtained. In addition, during the procedure before and minutes after the valve implantation, the left atrial appendage-peak antegrade flow velocity (LAA-PAFV) was measured and recorded with TEE. Results: Compared with baseline, the mean mitral E, septal E’ and E’/A’ ratio increased significantly after TAVI. In addition, the LAA-PAFV increased significantly within minutes of TAVI (32.45 ± 10.7 cm/s vs. 47.6 ± 12.6 cm/s, p < 0.001). Conclusions: TAVI improves LV diastolic function and LA performance immediately

Impact of transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with reduced ejection fraction

Background: Aortic stenosis increases with age. According to guidelines, left ventricular systolic dysfunction is an indication for aortic valve replacement, even in asymptomatic patients. There is no clear data on the application of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), which is a method showing continuous improvement in recent years, in patients with reduced ejection fraction (REF) having a poor prognosis for surgical aortic valve replacement. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of TAVI on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and also its efficacy and safety in patients with REF. Methods and results: The study included 104 patients who underwent transfemoral TAVI in our clinic. The patients were divided into two groups: LVEF ≤ 45% (REF group, n = 28) and LVEF > 45% (preserved ejection fraction [PEF] group, n = 76). Follow-up measure­ments were performed at baseline, discharge, 1st, 6th and 12th months. No statistical difference was found between the groups with respect to complications and mortality rates. A statistically significant difference was detected in LVEF after TAVI, either in all patients (53.9 ± 14.6, 57.0 ± 11.4, 59.4 ± 8.4, 60.4 ± 6.8, 63.2 ± 3.9, respectively, at baseline, discharge, 1st, 6th and 12th months, p < 0.001) or in the groups separately. A statistically significant increase in LVEF (p < 0.001) was determined at discharge, 1st, 6th and 12th months, whereas LVEF increased in all follow-ups of the PEF group, however this elevation reached a statistical significance only at the 1st month (p = 0.04). Conclusions: Our study has shown the positive effect of TAVI on LVEF and its effective and safe applicability in patients with REF.

Clinical Study An Evaluation of Effects of Different Mydriatics on Choroidal Thickness by Examining Anterior Chamber Parameters: The Scheimpflug Imaging and Enhanced Depth Imaging-OCT Study

Aim. To assess the effects of mydriatics commonly used in clinical practice on choroidal thickness and anterior chamber change. Methods. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blinded study including a single eye of the participants. The subjects were assigned into 4 groups to receive tropicamide 1%, phenylephrine 2.5%, cyclopentolate 1%, and artificial tears. At the baseline, anterior chamber parameters were assessed using a Pentacam Scheimpflug camera system, and choroidal thickness (CT) was measured using a spectral-domain OCT with Enhanced Depth Imaging (EDI) modality. All measurements were repeated again after drug administration. Results. Increases in pupil diameter, volume, and depth of anterior chamber were found to be significant ( = 0.000, = 0.000, and = 0.000, resp.), while decreases in the choroidal thickness were found to be significant in subjects receiving mydriatics ( < 0.05). Conclusions. The study has shown that while cyclopentolate, tropicamide, and phenylephrine cause a decrease in choroidal thickness, they also lead to an increase in the volume and depth of anterior chamber. However, no correlation was detected between anterior chamber parameters and choroidal changes after drug administration. These findings suggest that the mydriatics may affect the choroidal thickness regardless of anterior chamber parameters. This study was registered with trial registration number 2014/357