AN EVALUATION TOOL IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LESSON: A SAMPLE OF I DIAGRAM

I diagram is an evaluation tool which was enhanced by Philips and German. It is usually used to evaluate activities of science and technology laboratory and students deeply understand experimental researches content scientific process skills by using I diagram. The purpose of this study is to reveal pre-service science teachers' attitude to science and technology laboratory and their opinion about using I diagram in laboratory lessons. In the study mixed method was used. The study was conducted with the participation of 20 preservice science teachers randomly chosen. The data obtained from semi-constructed interview form and a five point likert scale consists of 18 questions. Data were analyzed with using t-test and content analysis. The result of the study is that pre-service science teachers' attitude to science and technology laboratory is positive and their opinion about using I diagram in laboratory lessons is usefu

Dopamine-NMDA interactions and relevance to gamma band synchrony in schizophrenia

An increasing body of behavioral and physiological evidence shows that cortical activity operates optimally within a limited range of dopamine (DA) transmission within a broader inverted-U shaped relationship [1]. However, the exact mechanism through which DA leads to such non-monotonic modulation of network activity needs further investigation. Our recent work suggests that DA's modulation of potassium currents in the fast-spiking interneurons could be a potential mechanism underlying this inverted-U relationship [2]. Here we propose that another potential mechanism could contribute in the form of interactions between DA D1 receptors and NMDA conductance in the cortex. This has been an area of interest for many reasons including its relevance to the etiology of schizophrenia with deficits in both NMDA-mediated glutamate and DA transmission. Studies examining the relationship between DA and NMDA conductance in the cortex revealed that DA D1 receptors enhance NMDA responses [3, 4, 5].\ud \ud In the current study, we incorporated DA's modulation of NMDA conductance at a network level and analyzed whether DA's modulation of NMDA currents could lead to an inverted-U shaped relationship with cortical activity. With this motivation, we simulated a neural network with 200 excitatory and 40 inhibitory quadratic integrate-and-fire neurons coupled with biologically realistic probabilities. In the simulated network, the effects of DA were implemented through varying the NMDA conductances in various combinations of synaptic types including excitatory-excitatory and excitatory-inhibitory. The network synchronization was analyzed through examining gamma band power in the local field potential. Parametrically varying the NMDA conductance revealed an inverted-U shaped relationship, with lower gamma band power at both low and high conductance levels and optimal synchronization occurring at intermediate conductance levels. Our findings reveal that DA's modulation of NMDA currents at the single cell level gives rise to a non-monotonic relationship between cortical gamma band synchrony and DA levels. These results together with those of [2] suggest that DA's modulation of potassium currents as well as NMDA-mediated currents may be complementary or synergistic mechanisms that give rise to the inverted-U shaped pattern in cortical activity across dopamine levels

Effects of the changes between preand post-treatment 18F-FDG PET-CT volumetric parameters on overall survival in pleural mesothelioma

Introduction. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of positron emission tomography in fusion with computed tomography (PET-CT) parameters in predicting survival outcomes for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  Material and methods. This study retrospectively evaluated the data of 250 patients who were followed up after a diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma. The relationship of pre-treatment [maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax1), metabolic tumor volume (MTV1), total lesion glycolysis (TLG1), tumor/background (TBR1), pleural thickness1), post-treatment (SUVmax2, MTV2, TLG2, TBR2, pleural thickness2], and DPET-CT parameters with survival was retrospectively evaluated in 36 patients whose pre- and post-treatment CT scan examinations were complete.  Results. The median age of the patients was 57.5 years, ranging from 35 to 76. Median follow-up time was 16 months, with a range of 7 to 42 months. Median survival was calculated as 18.8 months for all patients. Based on the determined cut-off values, overall survival was determined as 29.9 months in patients with TLG2 ≤ 158 compared to 16 months in patients with TLG2 > 158 (p = 0.009) and as 30.9 months in patients with DTLG ≤ –62.58 compared to 16 months in patients with DTLG > –62.58 (p = 0.001). In addition, median overall survival (OS) was determined as 29.9 months in patients with MTV2 ≤ 63.9 compared to 16 months in patients with MTV2 > 63.9 (p = 0.007) and as 29.9 months in patients with DMTV ≤ –54.03 compared to 16 months in patients with DMTV > –54.03 (p = 0.002). When evaluated with respect to TBR2; median OS was 29.9 months in patients with TBR2 ≤ 1.84 compared to 16 months in patients with TBR2 > 1.84 (p = 0.039).  Conclusions. Our research findings indicate a correlation between OS and volumetric PET-CT measures, specifically TLG and MTV

The relationship between inflammation markers, positron emission tomography/ /computed tomography parameters and disease prognosis in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients

Introduction. Inflammation is known to be related to the development, spread, prognosis, and treatment response in cancer patients. Our study aimed to evaluate the correlation between inflammation indices and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) parameters and investigate their relationship with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients diagnosed with stage-IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).  Material and methods. Demographic, clinicopathological, laboratory, and PET/CT data of 179 patients diagnosed with stage-IV NSCLC who presented to the Oncology Department of Dicle University, Faculty of Medicine between 2010–2020 were retrieved from patient files and the hospital database system.  Results. The median age at diagnosis was 64 (27–87) years. All patients included in the study had NSCLC: 72.6% had adenocarcinoma, 21.2% had squamous cell carcinoma, and 6.1% had other histological types. Of the 78 patients who were subjected to molecular analysis, 26 (33.3%) were EGFR-mutation positive. During the 10-month median follow-up, median first-line PFS was 6 months (95% CI 5.00–6.99), and median OS was 10 months (95% CI 7.8–12.1). The multivariate analysis performed for first-line PFS determined hemoglobin (HR = 1.01; 95% CI 1.003–1.02; p = 0.005) and PET total lesion glycolysis (TLG) (HR = 1.002; 95% CI 1.001–1.003; p = 0.003) values as independent prognostic factors. The multivariate analysis for OS determined positive EGFR mutation status (HR = 0.385; 95% CI 0.213–0.696; p = 0,014) and performance status (HR = 1.88; 95% CI 1.092–3.238; p = 0,008) as independent prognostic factors.  Conclusions. Our study determined the hemoglobin level and PET TLG from PET/CT parameters to be independent prognostic factors for PFS, and performance status and EGFR mutation positivity to be independent prognostic factors for OS

Multifactorial modeling of impairment of evoked gamma range oscillations in schizophrenia

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Despite a significant increase in efforts to identify biomarkers and endophenotypic measures of psychiatric illnesses, only a very limited amount of computational models of these markers and measures has been implemented so far. Moreover, existing computational models dealing with biomarkers typically only examine one possible mechanism in isolation, disregarding the possibility that other combinations of model parameters might produce the same network behavior (what has been termed “multifactoriality”). In this study we describe a step toward a computational instantiation of an endophenotypic finding for schizophrenia, namely the impairment of evoked auditory gamma and beta oscillations in schizophrenia. We explore the multifactorial nature of this impairment using an established model of primary auditory cortex, by performing an extensive search of the parameter space. We find that single network parameters contain only little information about whether the network will show impaired gamma entrainment and that different regions in the parameter space yield similar network level oscillation abnormalities. These regions in the parameter space, however, show strong differences in the underlying network dynamics. To sum up, we present a first step toward an in silico instantiation of an important biomarker of schizophrenia, which has great potential for the identification and study of disease mechanisms and for understanding of existing treatments and development of novel ones.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Analysis of gifted students' scientific literacy who benefit from scientific acitivities in science and art centres

Yüksek Lisans Tezi.YÖK Tez No:311801Bu araştırmanın amacı, Bilim Sanat Merkezlerinde yetenek alanları belli olan üstün yetenekli öğrencilerin fen ve teknoloji dersine ilişkin bilim okuryazarlıklarının analiz edilmesidir. Çalışmada Bilim Sanat Merkezlerine devam eden üstün yetenekli öğrencilerin yetenek alanlarına (fen bilimleri, matematik ve sosyal bilimler), zenginleştirme stratejisinden faydalanma düzeyine, mentörlük stratejisinden faydalanıp faydalanmama durumlarına göre bilim okuryazarlık seviyeleri arasında anlamlı farklılık olup olmadığı araştırılmıştır. Ayrıca Bilim Sanat Merkezine devam eden üstün yetenekli öğrencilerin bilim okuryazarlık seviyeleri ile sadece örgün öğretime devam eden normal öğrencilerin bilim okuryazarlık seviyeleri karşılaştırılmıştır.Araştırmanın örneklemini Afyon Aydın Doğan Bilim Sanat Merkezi, Bayburt Bilim Sanat Merkezi, Elazığ Bilim Sanat Merkezi ve Konya Bilim Sanat Merkezlerine devam eden yetenek alanları belli olan 77 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Öğrencilerin bilim okuryazarlık seviyelerini belirlemek amacıyla Keskin(2008)'in geliştirmiş olduğu bilim okuryazarlık ölçeği kullanılmış, ayrıca zenginleştirme ve mentörlük stratejisinden faydalanma durumlarını belirlemek amacıyla da araştırmacı tarafından ZEMES ölçeği geliştirilmiştir. Verilerin analizinde bilim okuryazarlık seviyesinin ve zenginleştirme-mentörlük stratejisinin düzeyinin tespiti için aritmetik ortalama, yetenek alanları, zenginleştirme-mentörlük stratejileri ile ilişkisini ortaya koymak için standart sapma, t testi ve varyans analizi kullanılmıştır.Araştırmanın bulgularına bakıldığında; yetenek alanlarına göre bilim okuryazarlık seviyeleri farklılaşmamakta, zenginleştirme stratejisinden faydalanma düzeyine göre bilim okuryazarlık seviyesi farklılaşmakta, mentörlük stratejisinden faydalanıp faydalanmamaya göre bilim okuryazarlık seviyesi farklılaşmamaktadır. Ayrıca üstün yetenekli öğrencilerin bilim okuryazarlık seviyesi, örgün eğime devam eden öğrencilerden daha yüksek bulunmuştur.The purpose of this study is to analysis gifted students? scientific literacy continue to Science and Art Centers and whose study field of talent is certain. In the study it was searched that ıf there is a significance difference according to study field of talent (talent in science, maths and social sciences), taking enrichment activities and whether having a mentor. At the same time it was searched that ıf there is a significance difference between level of gifted students? scientific literacy continue to Science and Art Centres and level of gifted students? scientific literacy continue to only formal education not Science and Art Centres.Seventy seven subjects of the study are gifted students whose study field of talent is certain selected from Afyon Aydın Doğan, Bayburt, Elazığ and Konya Science and Art Centres. For purpose of determine level of students? scientific literacy Scientific Literacy Scale enhanced by Keskin (2008) was used and at the same time to determine level of enrichment and mentoring strategies, ZEMES scale was enhanced by the researcher. In analysing data; determining level of scientific literacy and enrichment-mentoring strategies aritmetic means were used, correlation analysis, t test and standart deviation were used to determine the relationship between level of scientific literacy and study area of talent, enrichment-mentoring strategies.This research shows that according to area of talent and whether having a mentor, there is no significance difference among level of gifted students? scientific literacy; there is a significance difference among level of gifted students? scientific literacy according to level of enrichment activities. At the same time level of gifted students? scientific literacy is higher than level of students? continue to formal educatio