Development of Creative Thinking Skills with Aesthetic Creativity Teaching Activities in Social Studies Course

This research is qualitative research that examined the effects of aesthetic creativity practices on students' creative- thinking skills in a Social Studies course. The research was designed according to the case study design of qualitative research methods. The study group was determined by criterion sampling from purposeful sampling types. The study group comprised 12 fourth-grade students and their classroom teacher and were from a middle socioeconomic school in Hatay in the 2017-2018 academic years. In the Social Studies course, aesthetic creativity activities were implemented through performance tasks in a 17-hour period, and students' development in creative thinking skills followed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and structured observation. The interviews were conducted with the students and the classroom teacher. To evaluate students' development, the classroom teacher was interviewed at the end of the process. The students were interviewed at the end of the process, and the data were analyzed through content analysis. The data obtained from the observations were analyzed descriptively through the Creative Thinking Skills Evaluation Rubric (CTSER), structured by the researchers, and comprised creative thinking, imagination, idea production, humor, research, product creation, and problem-solving sub-dimensions. The results revealed that the students showed the most improvement in the dimensions of idea production and humor. In addition, the students demonstrated a distinguishable development in their research, problem-solving, and image dimensions. Although the students developed product building skills, none attained the level of creating unique products. Another result is that the aesthetic creativity teaching practices achieved the objectives in terms of sense-making and affective skills (e.g., providing a pleasant classroom environment, expressing emotions)

The Relationship Between Scientific Process Skills and Science Achievement: A Meta-Analysis Study

One of the main challenges in science education is interpreting existing studies to improve scientific process skills. The main purpose of this study is to bring together the quantitative findings obtained on the relationship between scientific process skills and academic achievement in science education, to highlight the relevant gaps in 5838 samples, and to interpret the overall effect size. The bibliographic research was carried out through the ERIC and ProQuest databases, especially in the Science Education Research category. Two hundred thirty-four articles published between 2005 and 2020 were obtained. Following the application of the inclusion criteria, 18 articles were selected according to the random-effects model, resulting in an average effect size of 0.56. Two moderator variables with a significant correlation between science achievement and scientific process skills were analyzed (Q = 417.082; df = 17; p .05; I2 = 95.22). The percentage of the moderator variables explaining the relationship was interpreted by meta-regression analysis. Educational inferences have shown a requirement for further research at the high school and university levels on the relationship between science method skills and scientific achievement

Our clinical experience in pelvic magnetic resonance imaging with vaginal contrast

Objectives: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important modality for pelvic imaging. Vaginal distension is provided by the use of vaginal contrast in pelvic MRI, and it plays an important role in staging especially cervical and vaginal cancer. The aim of this study is to show whether the use of vaginal contrast material contributes to the diagnosis in pelvic examination. Material and methods: Between October 1, 2016 and December 30, 2020, a total of 57 patients who underwent pelvic magnetic resonance imaging with vaginal contrast in the radiology clinic were included in the study and evaluated retrospectively. Results: Cervical cancer was detected in 38 of the 57 patients included in the study, and when the vaginal pre- and post-contrast staging of the patients was performed, the pre-contrast stage was found to be high in six patients (15%). Eight of 38 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer underwent surgery. When the pathological and radiological staging of the patients who underwent surgery were compared, they were 100% compatible. Conclusions: The use of vaginal contrast material increases the diagnostic value of MRI in various pelvic pathologies, especially in cervical cancer staging

Regulation of faecal biomarkers in Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients treated with oral Mastiha (Pistacia lentiscus) supplement: a double-blind and placebo controlled randomised trial

There is a keen research upon the effects of nutraceuticals on inflammatory bowel disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of mastiha supplement, rich in bioactive nutraceuticals, in active inflammatory bowel disease. This is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Α total of 60 inflammatory bowel disease patients were enrolled and randomly allocated to mastiha (2.8 g/day) or placebo groups for 3 months adjunct to stable medical treatment. Medical and dietary history, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), Harvey-Bradshaw index, partial Mayo score, biochemical indices, faecal, and blood inflammatory markers were assessed. A clinically important difference between groups in IBDQ was defined as primary outcome. Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire score significantly improved in verum compared with baseline (p = 0.004). There was a significant decrease in faecal lysozyme in mastiha patients (p = 0.018) with the mean change being significant (p = 0.021), and significant increases of faecal lactoferrin (p = 0.001) and calprotectin (p = 0.029) in the placebo group. Fibrinogen reduced significantly (p = 0.006) with a significant mean change (p = 0.018), whereas iron increased (p = 0.032) in mastiha arm. Our results show regulation of faecal lysozyme by mastiha supplement adjunctive to pharmacological treatments in active inflammatory bowel disease. An effect secondary to a prebiotic potency is proposed

Ten‐day high‐dose proton pump inhibitor triple therapy versus sequential therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication

Background and AimEradication rates of Helicobacter pylori following standard triple therapy are declining worldwide, but high‐dose proton pump inhibitor‐based triple therapy (HD‐PPI‐TT) and sequential therapy (ST) have demonstrated higher cure rates. We aimed to compare the efficacy and tolerability of HD‐PPI‐TT and ST in H. pylori‐associated functional dyspepsia (FD).MethodsOne hundred and twenty H. pylori‐associated functional dyspepsia patients were randomized to receive 10‐day HD‐PPI‐TT (60 mg lansoprazole/500 mg clarithromycin/1 g amoxicillin, each administered twice daily for 10 days) or 10‐day ST (30 mg lansoprazole/1 g amoxicillin, each administered twice daily for 5 days followed by 30 mg lansoprazole/500 mg clarithromycin/400 mg metronidazole, each administered twice daily for 5 days). H. pylori status was determined in post‐treatment week 4 by 14C‐urea breath test. Eradication and antibiotic resistance rates, dyspeptic symptoms, drug compliance, and adverse effects were compared.ResultsIntention‐to‐treat eradication rates were similar in the ST and HD‐PPI‐TT groups (85% vs. 80%; P = 0.47). However, the eradication rate was significantly higher following ST compared with HD‐PPI‐TT in per protocol analysis (94.4% vs. 81.4%; P = 0.035). ST achieved higher cure rates than HD‐PPI‐TT in clarithromycin‐resistant H. pylori strains (100% vs. 33.3%; P = 0.02). Treatment compliance was similar in the HD‐PPI‐TT and ST groups, although nausea and dizziness were more common in the ST group.ConclusionsSequential therapy achieved better H. pylori eradication than HD‐PPI‐TT in patients with FD. However, the eradication rate for ST fell from 94.4% in per protocol to 85% in intention‐to‐treat analysis. Adverse effects might result in poorer compliance and compromise actual ST efficacy (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01888237).Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146477/1/jgh14292_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146477/2/jgh14292.pd

Aesthetics and aesthetic creativity in social studies

WOS: 000476657700010This study's aim is to investigate the primary school teachers' views on the applications of aesthetic and aesthetic creativity in social studies class. It was designed as a phenomenological study as one of the qualitative research methods. The participants of the study consisted of 8 primary school teachers working in schools with different socio-economic substructure in Adana and Hatay in the 2017-2018 academic year. The data were collected through semi-structured interview form, and analysed following content analysis method. The findings of the study revealed that teachers conceptualize the concept of aesthetic in different ways; they consider that aesthetic creativity is as important as scientific creativity; that aesthetic education contributes to mental and emotional development of the students; that social studies class is effective in gaining creativity; and accordingly, they have included aesthetic education in their courses. The findings of the study revealed that teachers conceptualize the concept of aesthetic in different ways; that they consider that aesthetic creativity is as important as scientific creativity; they believe aesthetic education contributes to mental and emotional development of the students; that they think social studies class is effective in gaining creativity; and, therefore, they include aesthetic education in various ways in their courses

Utility of c-erbB-2 expression in tissue and sera of ovarian cancer patients

In this study expression of the c-erbB-2 gene in tumors and healthy tissue of patients with ovarian cancer was investigated. Serum c-erbB-2 protein levels were also determined. Elevated serum values were observed in 45% of patients. c-erbB-2 protein levels in the armors were significantly higher than in healthy tissue. Overexpression of the protein was observed in 60% of patients. However no association was found between the clinical variables and tumor c-erbB-2 expression. This is the first study in the literature investigating the c-erbB-2 oncoprotein levels in the normal and tumor tissue. We conclude that the role of the c-erbB-2 gene in ovarian cancer warrants further studies