PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION: UNDERSTANDING PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS

Parental involvement is one of the most significant factors influencing students’ educational development. The present study explores Turkish parents’ perceptions of involvement in their children’s learning English in relation to their demographic characteristics. The participants of the present research include the parents of the students studying at the 1st to 4th grades of a private primary school in Ankara. This research was designed as a sequential explanatory study in which a 29-item survey was used along with a semi-structured interview. Findings suggest that parents have a positive attitude towards parental involvement and they are generally aware of the academic and psychological aspects of education. Therefore, they have a good relation with the teachers and they get involved in their children’s English language education directly and indirectly. Findings also revealed that demographic characteristics such as gender, age, occupation or level of education, generally, make no significant difference on parents’ perceptions about parental involvement

THE ROLE OF GOAL SETTING IN METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS AS A SELF-REGULATORY BEHAVIOR IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Metacognition, an awareness of one’s own cognitive processes in learning, is a crucial component of self-regulatory behavior that facilitates successful language learning. Therefore, the current study sought to find out the role of different types of goals in participants’ metacognitive awareness. A total of 118 university students enrolled in an English Language Teaching program at a major state university voluntarily participated in the study. Data were gathered using Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and Goals Inventory. Findings of descriptive statistics revealed that 48.3% of the participants had high, 28% had moderate, and 23.7% had low metacognitive awareness. Besides, significant correlation was found between mastery goals and metacognitive awareness, supporting the findings of the previous studies. These results revealed the importance of goal setting in metacognition and can be useful for practitioners to include goal orientation to the curriculum by emphasizing the necessity of learner engagement, agency, and self-regulation for successful language learning process

THE ROLE OF GOAL SETTING IN METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS AS A SELF-REGULATORY BEHAVIOR IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Metacognition, an awareness of one’s own cognitive processes in learning, is a crucial component of self-regulatory behavior that facilitates successful language learning. Therefore, the current study sought to find out the role of different types of goals in participants’ metacognitive awareness. A total of 118 university students enrolled in an English Language Teaching program at a major state university voluntarily participated in the study. Data were gathered using Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and Goals Inventory. Findings of descriptive statistics revealed that 48.3% of the participants had high, 28% had moderate, and 23.7% had low metacognitive awareness. Besides, significant correlation was found between mastery goals and metacognitive awareness, supporting the findings of the previous studies. These results revealed the importance of goal setting in metacognition and can be useful for practitioners to include goal orientation to the curriculum by emphasizing the necessity of learner engagement, agency, and self-regulation for successful language learning process

The effects of different weaning modes on the endocrine stress response

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the stress response on plasma insulin, cortisol, glucose, and urinary vanilmandelic acid during weaning and after extubation, using pressure support (PS), continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and T-piece modes. METHODS: Sixty patients were randomly divided into three groups (n = 20). The PS group received FiO(2 )≤ 0.4, PS ≤ 10 cmH(2)O, and positive end expiratory pressure ≤ 5 cmH(2)O for 2 hours. The CPAP group was given FiO(2 )≤ 0.4 and CPAP 5 ≤ cmH(2)O for 2 hours. The T-piece group (group T) received 4 l/min oxygen via a T-piece for 2 hours. After 1 hour and 2 hours in their respective weaning modes, blood and urine samples were taken for insulin, cortisol, glucose and vanilmandelic acid measurements. Forty-eight hours after extubation, blood and urine samples were again taken. RESULTS: Plasma insulin was greater in group T than in the PS and CPAP groups (P < 0.01 and P < 0.01). The plasma cortisol concentration was greater in group T than in group PS during weaning (P < 0.05) and after extubation (P < 0.05). Blood glucose concentrations were greater in group T than in the other groups (both P < 0.01) both during weaning and post extubation. Urine vanilmandelic acid was greater in group T than in the other groups during weaning and after extubation (both P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Weaning via the T-piece caused a greater stress response than the PS and CPAP modes

A Review of the Studies on Learning Disabilities through Content Analysis

Learning disability is associated with inabilities in reading-writing, mathematical-arithmetic skills, speaking, listening and reasoning and it’s prevalence has increased strikingly among school-aged children especially in recent years. This study aims to determine the current situation and trends in learning disability research through content analysis. Content analysis was used as qualitative research method. Data of the study were obtained from Web of Science by using the keyword “learning disability”. In order to analyze the obtained data, previously determined content analysis criteria were used. These criteria included year of publication, document type, organization, funding agencies, authors, name of the journal, country, language and research area of the researches. Data were analyzed and provided with frequency and percentages and shown with tables and figures. Results were presented in detail with reference to previous literature and recommendations for further research and practices are provided.La discapacidad en el aprendizaje está asociada con la incapacidad para hablar, escuchar, razonar, leer o escribir o con los problemas con las habilidades aritméticas y matemáticas; además, su prevalencia ha aumentado notablemente entre los niños en edad escolar, especialmente en los últimos años. Este estudio tiene como objetivo determinar la situación actual y las tendencias en la investigación sobre la discapacidad en el aprendizaje a través del análisis de contenidos. Se ha utilizado el análisis de contenido como método de investigación cualitativa. Los datos del estudio se obtuvieron de Web of Science utilizando las palabras clave “learning disability”. Para analizar los datos obtenidos se utilizaron criterios de análisis de contenido previamente determinados. Estos criterios incluían el año de publicación, el tipo de documento, la organización, los organismos de financiación, los autores, el nombre de la revista, el país, el idioma y el área de investigación de las investigaciones. Los datos se analizaron y se proporcionaron con frecuencia y porcentajes y se mostraron con tablas y gráficos. Los resultados se presentan en detalle con referencia a la literatura anterior y se proporcionan recomendaciones para investigaciones y prácticas adicionales

Effectiveness of ranitidine bismuth citrate and proton pump inhibitor based triple therapies of Helicobacter pylori in Turkey

Background : Helicobacter pylori infection is the main cause of gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcer disease, MALT lymphoma, and adenocarcinoma of the stomach. The reported prevalence of H. pylori in the adult population in Turkey is 67.6%–81.3%. A national meta-analysis showed that the average H. pylori eradication rate with proton pump inhibitor-based triple regimens in Turkey had decreased from 84% in 1997 to 55.3% in 2004, suggesting a need to evaluate alternative regimens. Materials and methods : The study was a prospective, single-center trial with a parallel group design. After the selection procedure, consecutive out-patients were assigned to one of six study groups using random sampling numbers. All patients received amoxicillin 1,000 mg b.i.d. and clarithromycin 500 mg b.i.d. along with ranitidine bismuth citrate 400 mg b.i.d., or omeprazole 20 mg b.i.d., or lansoprazole 30 mg b.i.d., or rabeprazole 20 mg b.i.d., or pantoprazole 40 mg b.i.d., or esomeprazole 40 mg b.i.d. for 14 days. Results : When we look at the eradication rates of the treatment groups, only two groups (ranitidine bismuth citrate and rabeprazole groups) had eradication rates greater than 80%, both at intention to treat and per protocol analyses. The other four groups (omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole, and esomeprazole groups) showed statistically significant lower eradication rates both at intention to treat (between 57.6 and 66.7%) and per protocol (between 60.3 and 72.1%) analyses when compared with ranitidine bismuth citrate and rabeprazole groups (p<.05). Conclusion : Ranitidine bismuth citrate and/or rabeprazole based triple therapies must be preferred for the first-line treatment of H. pylori infection

Effect of carvedilol on silent anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity assessed by strain imaging: A prospective randomized controlled study with six-month follow-up

Background: The use of antracycline (ANT) in breast cancer has been associated with adverse cardiac events. Two-dimensional (2D) strain imaging (SI) can provide a more sensitive measure of altered left ventricular (LV) systolic function. We aimed to evaluate the preventive effect of carvedilol administration assessed by SI in a patient with breast cancer treated with ANT.Methods: Patients receiving ANT were randomly assigned to the carvedilol- or placebo-receiving group. Each received an echocardiographic examination with conventional 2D echocardiography, pulsed tissue Doppler, and 2D SI prior to and 6 months post ANT treatment.Results: During the 6-month follow-up period there were no patient deaths or interrupted chemotherapy treatments due to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. Both left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and fractional shortening (FS) were within normal limits for all patients before and after ANT therapy. EF, FS and LV dimensions were measured using M-mode echocardiography and found to be similar in both groups before and after ANT therapy. The mean EF, FS, and LV echocardiograph baseline and control dimensions were similar in both groups after 6 months. Though baseline SI parameters were similar between the groups, there was a significant decrease in LV basal septal and basal lateral peak systolic strain in the control group compared to the carvedilol group.Conclusions: These results indicate that carvedilol has a protective effect against the cardiotoxicity induced by ANT.

Clinical usefulness of epicardial adipose tissue in patients with high-intermediate pre-test probability for coronary artery disease

Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is thought to be associated with the extension and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD), and echocardiographic measurement of EAT thickness is considered to be a possible cardiovascular risk indica­tor. The European Society of Cardiology Task Force recommends further non-invasive testing in patients with an intermediate pre-test probability (PTP) for the diagnosis of CAD. Aim: We sought to evaluate the clinical usefulness of performing EAT measurements in patients with a high-intermediate PTP. Methods: Patients referred to an outpatient clinic with stable chest pain symptoms, with PTP for CAD between 66% and 85%, were included in the study. Echocardiographic measurement of the EAT was identified as the echo-free space between the outer wall of the myocardium and the visceral layer of the pericardium. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed in all patients. The diagnosis of CAD was based on the presence of reversible perfusion defects on SPECT. Results: A total of 126 patients (76 men, 60.3%) with a mean age of 65.3 ± 9.1 years were recruited. The EAT thickness was 7.3 ± 0.7 mm in patients with positive SPECT and 6.2 ± 0.6 mm in patients with negative SPECT (p &lt; 0.001). Multivariable analysis revealed higher rates of positive SPECT in patients with higher EAT (odds ratio [OR] 9.80; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.72–25.79; p &lt; 0.001), and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the greatest specificity was obtained when the cut-off value of EAT thickness was 6.75 mm (sensitivity 76%; specificity 74%). Conclusions: In patients with high-intermediate PTP, EAT is a useful measurement that may assist in risk stratification

Measurement of the W gamma Production Cross Section in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=13 TeV and Constraints on Effective Field Theory Coefficients

A fiducial cross section for W gamma production in proton-proton collisions is measured at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 137 fb(-1) of data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC. The W -> e nu and mu nu decay modes are used in a maximum-likelihood fit to the lepton-photon invariant mass distribution to extract the combined cross section. The measured cross section is compared with theoretical expectations at next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics. In addition, 95% confidence level intervals are reported for anomalous triple-gauge couplings within the framework of effective field theory.Peer reviewe