Investigating Childhood Fears during Preschool Period in terms of Child, Mother and Teacher Opinions

In this study, it is aimed to discover childhood fears of 60-72-month-old children through the opinions of preschool children, preschool teachers and mothers. Study group of the investigation consists of 52 participants; 18 children aged 60-72 months, 16 teachers and 18 mothers with preschool children, in Istanbul. An “Interview Form” which consists of 9 questions, was developed by the researchers. According to the findings, there are not significant differences in fear types among preschool children in different socioeconomic levels. In general, the most common fear types among all children are animals, robbery, natural events and nightmares. According to the mothers in lower and middle socioeconomic levels, children are mostly afraid of the dark and loneliness and to the mothers from upper socioeconomic level, they are afraid of strangers and unfamiliar settings, animals and loneliness. According to the teachers working in lower socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of animals; to the teachers from middle socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of the dark, strangers and unfamiliar settings; and according to the teachers working in high socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of separation, strangers and unfamiliar settings and loneliness

An investigation of visual perception levels of pre-school children in terms of different variables

Pre-school ages, which is the period of rapid development of all developmental areas, is the stage in which children acquire visual perception ability and this ability acquisition process accelerates between the ages of three and seven. Visual perception that accelerates during childhood, is an important factor for academic and motor skills which are essential for school success. In this research, it is aimed to examine visual perception levels of preschool children according to various variables. The research was conducted through the survey model. The study population is consisted of children aged 5-6, who are attending preschools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Kadıköy, Maltepe, Beşiktaş and Sarıyer districts on Anatolian and European sides of Istanbul. The sample of the study consists of 114 children aged between 5-6 years and who study in preschools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in these districts. The "Visual Perception Scale for Preschool Period" and personal information form were used to collect data for the study. Data were analyzed with Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis one-way analysis of variance. According to the results of the findings, while preschool children's visual perception levels do not differ according to the gender, age and duration of education variables; there is a significant difference in favor of high-middle socio-economic level based on the socio-economic level variable. The findings are discussed in the framework of the relevant literature

Volatile constituents of several Seseli species with acetylcholinesterase activity

Apiaceae is a well-known family of plants with characteristic umbels comprising a lot of aromatic plants important from the economic, medical and ecological points of view. Species from the Seseli L. genus are used in traditional medicine since ancient times from their antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and analgesic activities. Plants belonging to the genus Seseli are also a rich source of coumarin compounds of different type, which show the ability to inhibit several important enzymes, e.g. acetylcholinesterase (inhibitors of AChE are used in Alzheimer’s disease treatment).                Extracts containing volatile compounds were prepared from several Seseli representatives (S. elatum subsp. osseum (Crantz) P.W.Ball, S. andronakii Woronow ex Schischk., S. hartvigii Parolly & Nordt, and S. petraeum M. Bieb.). AChE-inhibitory activity of the tested extracts from Seseli species was determined by TLC-bioautography on TLC plates (0.2-mm thickness) covered with silica gel. All TLC plates were developed with the optimized the mobile phase system containing an optimal concentration of 2-naphthyl acetate (30 mg/20 mL).                The GC-MS analysis was carried out on a Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus chromatograph coupled to a QP2010 Ultra mass spectrometric detector using a Phenomenex capillary column ZB-5MS (30 m; diameter of 0.25 mm and thickness of 0.25 µm). The initial column temperature was set to 50 °C, which was held for 3 min, and in the next step, the column was heated to 250 °C at a rate of 8 °C per min (and was then held at that temperature for 2 min). The split ratio after the injection of 1 µL was 1:20 and helium was used as the carrier gas (the flow rate was 1 mL per min). Ionization was performed by electron impact at 70 eV. The identification of compounds was based on a comparison of their mass spectra with those of MassFinder and NIST mass spectral libraries, as well as by retention index (calculated based on a homologous series of n-alkanes) comparison

The Relations Among General Intelligence, Metacognition and Text Learning Performance

The main aim of this study was to investigate the relations among text learning performance, general intelligence and the three components of metacognition; namely metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive control. The participants were 91 fifth graders. The results of the study indicated no significant correlations among metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive control and general intelligence. On the other hand, metacognitive monitoring and general intelligence correlated significantly. The results of the regression analysis showed that metacognitive knowledge did not contribute to students' text-learning performance whereas metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive control, together with general intelligence, were found to be significant predictors in explaining students' text-learning performance

Seseli petraeum M. Bieb. (Apiaceae) Significantly Inhibited Cellular Growth of A549 Lung Cancer Cells through G0/G1 Cell Cycle Arrest.

Seseli L. is an important genus of the Apiaceae family, with a large number of aromatic species. It is used in traditional medicine extensively, but there is quite limited information on their phytochemicals and biological activities. Seseli petraeum M. Bieb. grows in Northern Anatolia, and there are no phytochemical studies on this species. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the extracts of S. petraeum on A549 lung cancer cell proliferation. For this purpose, the antiproliferative effect was determined via MTT assay, and the extracts obtained from the root of S. petraeum showed a significant inhibitory effect on cell proliferation. The hexane extract of the root exhibited potent inhibition on A549 cancer cell growth at the 24th hour with 3.432 mg/mL IC50 value. The results also showed that the hexane extract had displayed cytotoxic effect through an arrest at the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and induced apoptosis as well as DNA damage of A549 cells. Consequently, this study demonstrated the antiproliferative potential of the extracts from S. petraeum, especially hexane extract from the roots. Further studies are required to identify the mechanisms underlying these effects