Enhancing metacognitive awareness of undergraduates through using an e-educational video environment

Video portfolios provide students with opportunities of self-monitoring, evaluating and reflecting on their own performance, and receiving feedback from others such as their peers and teachers. However, the literature was lacking an investigation of the extent to which video portfolios might contribute to developing students' metacognitive awareness level in foreign language learning. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the potential effects of using an e-educational video portfolio environment supported with Kinect technology on enhancing students' metacognitive awareness level in foreign language learning. In order to achieve this goal, a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental study was conducted at a state university located in Central Turkey. In total, eighty-five students took part in the study. The students had been divided into two sections at the beginning of the academic year. There were 42 students in Section 1, 43 students in Section 2. For the purposes of the study, the sections were randomly identified as the control and experimental group. The same curriculum was taught to both groups by the same instructor; however, the experimental group followed a video portfolio-integrated course supported with Kinect technology in face-to-face learning environment for 7 weeks in the second half of the semester whilst the control group continued the usual methods. The data was gathered by means of a Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), which is a five-point likert scale, and three focus group interviews. The results showed that using an e-educational video portfolio environment enhanced students' metacognitive awareness level and supported foreign language learning process effectively. © 2019 Elsevier LtdTürkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu, TÜBITAK: 115K489This research was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey , under project number 115K489

Effect of Co-Existing Ions on Salinity Gradient Power Generation by Reverse Electrodialysis Using Different Ion Exchange Membrane Pairs

This study investigates the influence of co-existing ions on the salinity gradient power generation performance of the reverse electrodialysis (RED) using three different commercial ion exchange membrane pairs. The feed solutions, including the mixture of two different salts, were prepared with 90 wt.% of NaCl and 10 wt.% of LiCl, KCl, CaCl2, MgCl2 or Na2SO4 by keeping the salt ratio between high concentrate solution and low concentrate solution constant as 1:30 (g/g) at various flow velocities (50, 125 and 200 mL/min). It was observed that the divalent ions exhibited a negative impact on the performance of the RED system due to their high valence and low ionic mobility depending on their high hydrated radius and low diffusion coefficients compared to those of the monovalent ions. On the other hand, the effect of the monovalent ions differed according to the properties of ion exchange membranes used in the RED stack. When the power generation performances of ion exchange membrane pairs employed in the RED stack were compared, it was considered that Neosepta AMX and CMX membranes provided the highest power density due to their low membrane thicknesses, low electrical resistances, and relatively high ion exchange capacities compared to other two commercial ion exchange membrane pairs. © 2022 by the authors.Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK: 117M023This research was funded by TUBİTAK, grant number 117M023

Effect of Operational Parameters on Recovery of Lithium from Brine with Bipolar Membrane Electrodialysis

In this research, the effect of operational parameters on removal and recovery of lithium simultaneously from brine by electrodialysis (ED) method with bipolar ion-exchange membranes (BM) having 10 membrane triplets of cation exchange membranes (CEMs), anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and bipolar membranes (BMs) was investigated. The Mega EDR-Z-Full-V4 model BMED system was employed to produce lithium hydroxide from brine containing lithium ions. Four different concentrations of LiCl solutions were used in the sample compartments 34, 68, 170, and 340 mg Li+/L. Also, the effects of concentrations of acid (HCl) and base (NaOH) solutions (0.003 M and 0.05 M) in the acid and base compartments in addition to the electrical potentials (20 and 25 V) were investigated. A NaOH solution with 0.1 M concentration was used as the electrode solution for all tests run. As a result of the study operated with 0.05 M HCl and 0.05 M NaOH solutions at 20 V, the lithium removal percentages were obtained as 98.6, 99.2, 99.7, and 99.6% while the lithium recoveries were 75.5, 54.5, 55.4, 51.2% at four different concentrations of LiCl as 34, 68, 170, 340 mg Li+/L, respectively. When the lithium concentration of the sample solution increased, the lithium removal remained constant. But the lithium recovery decreased and the lithium concentration in the base recovery compartment increased. The mass transfer coefficient of lithium was high when the electrical potential applied is high but it decreased with an increase in lithium concentration. © 2022 FIMTEC ; MPRL. All rights reserved.This study was financially supported by Aliye Üster Foundation. We are also thankful to TÜBİTAK (Project No. 117M023) for the MSc scholarship to T.Z. Kaya and E. Çermikli. E. Altıok would like to thank the Turkish Higher Education Council (YÖK 100-2000 scholarship) for her Ph.D. scholarship. Y.A.Jarma thanks the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) for his Ph.D. scholarship.YÖK 100-2000; Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK: 117M02

Further Development of Polyepichlorohydrin Based Anion Exchange Membranes for Reverse Electrodialysis by Tuning Cast Solution Properties

Recently, there have been several studies done regarding anion exchange membranes (AEMs) based on polyepichlorohydrin (PECH), an attractive polymer enabling safe membrane fabrication due to its inherent chloromethyl groups. However, there are still undiscovered properties of these membranes emerging from different compositions of cast solutions. Thus, it is vital to explore new membrane properties for sustainable energy generation by reverse electrodialysis (RED). In this study, the cast solution composition was easily tuned by varying the ratio of active polymer (i.e., blend ratio) and quaternary agent (i.e., excess diamine ratio) in the range of 1.07–2.00, and 1.00–4.00, respectively. The membrane synthesized with excess diamine ratio of 4.00 and blend ratio of 1.07 provided the best results in terms of ion exchange capacity, 3.47 mmol/g, with satisfactory conductive properties (area resistance: 2.4 ?·cm2, electrical conductivity: 6.44 mS/cm) and high hydrophilicity. RED tests were performed by AEMs coupled with the commercially available Neosepta CMX cation exchange membrane (CEMs). © 2022 by the authors.This study was supported by EIG Concert-Japan (Project No. TÜBİTAK 118M804). M. Eti, acknowledges the scholarships given by TÜBİTAK and the Erasmus Training programme for visiting Cantabria University, Spain, for 2 months. We acknowledge Mitsubishi Chemical, Japan, especially Ando Kiyoto, for sending us the PAN sample and Osaka Soda Co., Japan for the PECH polymer. We are grateful for ASTOM Co., Japan, for providing us with the NEOSEPTA CMX membranes for our studies and Kazuharu Yoshizuka, at the University of Kitakyushu, for his kind help on this matter. One of the authors, Aydın Cihanoğlu, would like to thank the financial support of TÜBİTAK through the National Postdoc project (Project No. 118C549).Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK: 118C549, 118M80

Case Report of a Man With Sertoli Cell Only, Transverse Testicular Ectopia, and External Auditory Canal Atresia

Transverse testicular ectopia (TTE) is an uncommon congenital anomaly, reported mostly as pediatric case reports. Herewith we report a 43-year old man presenting with sertoli cell only, Transverse testicular ectopia and external auditory canal atresia

Oil-Based materials and products

Oils and fats, particularly plant based, are important raw materials for the chemical industry worldwide. Plant oil and their oleochemicals have major advantages over mineral oils in that they are renewable and readily available all around the world, often as a result of by-products from other industrial activities. Also, they are generally biodegradable, nonflammable and cause fewer medical problems and allergies to the end users. A large number of studies reported that the physicochemical nature like solubilizing and dispersing ability of the oil and fats has the hairand skin-care effects, which have been proved to be efficient emollients in skin-care product formulations, but are also used for other applications, such as agrochemicals. In this chapter, we will systematically introduce the use and development of oils and fats as emollients in cosmetic products and as alternative solvents, dispersion media, spray auxiliaries, emulsifiers, stabilizers and additives in the agrochemicals