Examining Some Values in the Social Studies Programme Applied in Turkey in Terms of Their Relations

AbstractA qualified and an effective citizen is the one who is aware of his values and reflects his virtues into his own life. The course which aims to educate a citizen with these qualities in our country is Social Studies. Social Studies education enables person to have a concept of merit and creates an application area for it. In this sense, it is aimed for the students in primary and secondary education to reveal a value perspective and to create a value comparison. For this purpose values planned to be developed in the social studies programme for 5th-8th grades such as honesty, justice, helpfulness, solidarity have been selected. Singular cross-hatching model has been used in this study among general cross-hatching models. The value association test, which was designed to achieve the goal about the topic, has been applied to 121 5th graders and 148 8th graders, that is to say totally to 269 students. Findings have been analysed in terms of frequency and percentage. Values higher than 30,20,15 and 10 cut- points have been associated with one another via mind maps.At the end of the study, mind maps of the students related with values have been drawn. When findings were examined it has been understood that students are mistaken about cooperation and charity values as well as honesty and justice. Besides, when the replies given to solidarity and helpfulness are examined, it is seen that the common value is helpfulness; similarly, when those of honesty and justice are examined, it is seen that the common values are helpfulness and honesty

Structural damages observed in buildings after the January 24, 2020 Elazığ-Sivrice earthquake in Türkiye

Türkiye is located in the most active earthquake zones with the shortest return period. Consequently, it has exposed several destructive earthquakes that caused significant casualties and extensive structural damage during recent decades. Elazığ-Sivrice earthquake was one of them. The earthquake had a magnitude of Mw 6.8. It occurred in the Sivrice district of Elazığ province in eastern Türkiye on 24 January 2020. Many buildings were collapsed or severely damaged. A total of 41 people died and at least 1607 people were injured. This study aims to present the different types of structural damage observed immediately after the earthquake. Many structural insufficiencies and errors such as non-seismic reinforcement detailing, non-conforming earthquake-resistant construction techniques, poor quality of concrete and poor workmanship are the main reasons for the extensive damage observed in many past earthquakes in Türkiye. In addition, geotechnical inspections also indicated that soil settlement might be prevented by building basement floors in the areas that were observed. The results of the study have shown that not enough lessons have been learned from previous earthquakes. Because of this, structural engineers must closely follow structures while they are built, and well-trained staff must be employed during the construction process

The fructan syndrome: Evolutionary aspects and common themes among plants and microbes

Fructans are multifunctional fructose-based water soluble carbohydrates found in all biological kingdoms but not in animals. Most research has focused on plant and microbial fructans and has received a growing interest because of their practical applications. Nevertheless, the origin of fructan production, the so-called "fructan syndrome," is still unknown. Why fructans only occur in a limited number of plant and microbial species remains unclear. In this review, we provide an overview of plant and microbial fructan research with a focus on fructans as an adaptation to the environment and their role in (a)biotic stress tolerance. The taxonomical and biogeographical distribution of fructans in both kingdoms is discussed and linked (where possible) to environmental factors. Overall, the fructan syndrome may be related to water scarcity and differences in physicochemical properties, for instance, water retaining characteristics, at least partially explain why different fructan types with different branching levels are found in different species. Although a close correlation between environmental stresses and fructan production is quite clear in plants, this link seems to be missing in microbes. We hypothesize that this can be at least partially explained by differential evolutionary timeframes for plants and microbes, combined with potential redundancy effects.status: publishe

Discovery of fructans in Archaea

Fructans are fructose-based oligo- and polysaccharides derived from sucrose that occur in a plethora of Eubacteria and plants. While fructan-producing (fructanogenic) Eubacteria are abundant in hypersaline environments, fructan production by Archaea has never been reported before. Exopolysaccharides accumulated by various Archaea from the Halobacteria class (belonging to the genera of Halomicrobium, Haloferax and Natronococcus) originating from different locations on Earth were structurally characterized as either levans or inulins with varying branching degrees (10%-16%). Thus, we show for the first time in the literature that fructans are produced in all three domains of life, including Archaea. This proof of concept will not only provide insight into Archaeal glycans and evolution but it may also open new frontiers for innovative strategies to overcome the ever-increasing threat of excessive salinization.status: publishe

Fructans of the Salty World

Saline and hypersaline environments make up the largest ecosystem on earth and the organisms living in such water-restricted environments have developed unique ways to cope with high salinity. As such these organisms not only carry significant industrial potential in a world where freshwater supplies are rapidly diminishing, but they also shed light upon the origins and extremes of life. One largely overlooked and potentially important feature of many salt-loving organisms is their ability to produce fructans, fructose polymers widely found in various mesophilic Eubacteria and plants, with potential functions as storage carbohydrates, aiding stress tolerance, and acting as virulence factors or signaling molecules. Intriguingly, within the whole archaeal domain of life, Archaea possessing putative fructan biosynthetic enzymes were found to belong to the extremely halophilic class of Halobacteria only, indicating a strong, yet unexplored link between the fructan syndrome and salinity. In fact, this link may indeed lead to novel strategies in fighting the global salinization problem. Hence this review explores the unknown world of fructanogenic salt-loving organisms, where water scarcity is the main stress factor for life. Within this scope, prokaryotes and plants of the saline world are discussed in detail, with special emphasis on their salt adaptation mechanisms, the potential roles of fructans and fructosyltransferase enzymes in adaptation and survival as well as future aspects for all fructanogenic salt-loving domains of life.status: Published onlin