INVESTIGATING THE SPATIAL REASONING SKILLS OF STUDENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF MATHEMATICAL THINKING PROFILES

The aim of this study was to examine whether there is a relationship between the spatial reasoning skills and mathematical thinking profiles of elementary school students. The quantitative method of descriptive survey model was used in the study. The sample of the study comprised 103 fourth grade elementary school students in Turkey. The Mathematical Process Test and Spatial Reasoning Test, which are valid and reliable, were used as data collection tools. According to the answers given by the students to the Mathematical Process test, it was decided based on the upper and lower limits of each group determined beforehand that the students had a thinking profile. Scores were also collected from the Spatial Reasoning Test. MANOVA test was performed to examine whether the spatial reasoning skills differed from the mathematical thinking profiles of the students. The results revealed that students with a visual thinking profile were more successful in both the Mathematical Process Test and the Spatial Reasoning Test.  Article visualizations

Checkerboard Julia Sets for Rational Maps

In this paper, we consider the family of rational maps \F(z) = z^n + \frac{\la}{z^d}, where $n \geq 2$, $d\geq 1$, and\la \in \bbC. We consider the case where \la lies in the main cardioid of one of the $n-1$ principal Mandelbrot sets in these families. We show that the Julia sets of these maps are always homeomorphic. However, two such maps \F and $F_\mu$ are conjugate on these Julia sets only if the parameters at the centers of the given cardioids satisfy \mu = \nu^{j(d+1)}\la or \mu = \nu^{j(d+1)}\bar{\la} where j \in \bbZ and $\nu$ is an $n-1^{\rm st}$ root of unity. We define a dynamical invariant, which we call the minimal rotation number. It determines which of these maps are are conjugate on their Julia sets, and we obtain an exact count of the number of distinct conjugacy classes of maps drawn from these main cardioids.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures; Changes since March 19 version: added nine figures, fixed one proof, added a section on a group actio

Clinical and Demographic Characteristics and Two-Year Efficacy and Safety Data of 508 Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Fingolimod Treatment

Introduction: Fingolimod is the first oral immunomodulatory treatment used as secondary care therapy in the treatment of multiple sclerosis for the last 10 years. The objective of our study is to reveal the experiences of the first generic fingolimod active ingredient treatment in different centers across Turkey. Method: The first generic fingolimod efficacy and safety data of patients followed-up in 29 different clinical multiple sclerosis units in Turkey were analyzed retrospectively. Data regarding efficacy and safety of the patients were transferred to the data system both before the treatment and on the 6th, 12th and 24th month following the treatment. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 20.00. P value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 508 multiple sclerosis patients, 331 of whom were women, were included in the study. Upon comparing the Expanded Disability Status values before and after the treatment, a significant decrease was observed, especially at month 6 and thereafter. Since bradycardia occurred in 11 of the patients (2.3%), the first dose had to be longer than 6 hours. During the observation of the first dose, no issues that could prevent the use of the drug occured. Side effects were seen in 49 (10.3%) patients during the course of fingolimod treatment. Respectively, the most frequent side effects were bradycardia, hypotension, headache, dizziness and tachycardia. Conclusion: The observed results regarding efficacy and safety were similar to clinical trial data in the literature and real life data in terms of the first equivalent with fingolimod active ingredient. © 2023, Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society. All rights reserved.Thanks to SANOVEL for funding the publication process

Factor IX gene mutations in turkish haemophiliacs

Hemofili B hastalığının nedeni, kanın temel fonksiyonları arasında bulunan koagülasyon mekanizmasında etkin olan faktör IX’un konjenital eksikliği veya disfonksiyonel olmasıdır. Faktör IX’u kodlayan gen, X kromozomunun q27.1 bandında lokalize olup, 34 kilobaz (kb) uzunluğunda ve 8 ekzon ile 7 introndan oluşmaktadır. Hem genotipik hem de fenotipik olarak oldukça heterojen bir yapıda olan hemofili B hastalığının şiddeti, gendeki mutasyonun lokalizasyonu ve yapısıyla yakından ilgilidir. Bu çalışmadaki temel amaç, yüksek heterojenite gösteren faktör IX geninde, hızlı, efektif ve kesin sonuç veren otomatik kapiller jel elektroforezi ile DNA baz dizileme yöntemini kullanarak, kesin moleküler tanıya gidilmesi, yöntemin avantajlarının belirlenmesi ve Türk popülasyonundaki mutasyon profilinin ortaya çıkartılmasına yönelik çalışmalara ışık tutmasıdır. Yapılan çalışmada, klinik olarak tanısı konmuş 13 hemofili B hastasında, otomatik kapiller jel elektroforezi yöntemi ile DNA dizi analizi yapılarak mutasyonlar taranmış ve 2’si yeni olmak üzere 11 farklı mutasyon tanımlanmıştır. Tespit edilen mutasyonlar en çok ( %33 ) 8. ekzon bölgesinde gözlenmiştir. Ayrıca, faktör IX geninin CpG’den zengin bölgelerinde mutasyonların daha çok ( %36 ) oldu- ğu görülmüş ve missens mutasyonların faktör IX geninde hastalığa en fazla ( %46 ) neden olan mutasyon tipi oldu- ğu, literatürle de uyum gösteren bir şekilde ortaya konmuştur. Sonuç olarak, kapiller DNA dizi analizi yönteminin, faktör IX geni mutasyonlarının tanımlanmasında hızlı ve etkili bir yaklaşım olduğunu ve bu çalışmanın sonuçlarının, Türk popülasyonunun faktör IX geni mutasyon profilinin belirlenmesi ile ilgili başka çalışmalara da ışık tutacağını düşünmekteyiz.Hemophilia B is an X linked coagulopathy due to deficiency of clotting factor IX. The gene for factor IX is situated on the long arm of the X chromosome at band Xq27.1, and spans 34kb. It consists of eight exons and seven introns. The clinical and molecular basis of hemophilia B is heterogeneous and the clinical severity is related to the location and type of genetic mutation. The main purpose of this study was to perform molecular diagnosis of hemophilia B disease by DNA sequence analyses of the promoter, poly A and coding regions of the factor IX gene. To evaluate the efficiency of this technique in the diagnosis of factor IX gene mutations and light up further studies that aim to obtain mutation profile of the factor IX gene spesific to Turkish population. By this aim, blood samples from thirteen clinically diagnosed hemophilia B patients were analysed by the automatic capiller gel electrophoresis technique. At least one mutation was identified in the patients, except one case with mild hemophilia B. Of 11 identified molecular abnormalities, two were new mutations according to “Hemophilia B mutation bank” data of the recognised mutations. The most frequently seen mutations (33%) were localised at the exon 8 of the factor IX gene. The frequency of mutations was higher in the CpG rich regions of the gene and missense mutations was regarded as the most common type of mutations causing severe hemophilia B and this conclusion was in accordance with the literature. In conclusion, we suggested that capiller DNA sequencing is a fast and efficient approach to identify mutations in the factor IX gene and the results of this study will light up further studies in obtaining the factor IX gene mutation profile of the Turkish population