Examining pre-service teachers’ beliefs on democracy and democratic education

AbstractIn this study, the initial aim is to identify prospective teachers’ beliefs on ‘what democracy is’ as a phenomenon they experience in Turkish society. Secondly, it is aimed to define how these pre-service teachers describe the features of democratic education at a school environment. To this end, the participants declared written data on their beliefs concerning the definition of democracy and the description of democratic education at schools. According to the findings, the future teachers identify that there exists ‘the problem of democracy’ in Turkey, and democratic schooling requires the participation of both students and teachers in the decision-making process, which has not yet to be substantiated in schools

Defamiliarization through modality of discourse: Waiting for Godot

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1954) is a parody of the world following World War II. The play exemplifies the spirit of the age by using defamiliarization as a textual strategy by means of which the characters utilize epistemic modals leading their conversational exchanges to never-ending voidness and uncertainty. Therefore, this study analyses discoursal features of Waiting for Godot by focusing on modality as the primary means for a void and indecisive attitude that is created through defamiliarization. The study further exemplifies how Beckett’s use of defamiliarization foregrounds epistemic modality to create a discourse unique in his authorial path.En attendant Godot (1954), de Samuel Beckett, es una parodia del mundo posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La obra ejemplifica el espíritu de la época al utilizar la desfamiliarización como estrategia textual mediante la cual los personajes se valen de modales epistémicos que conducen sus intercambios conversacionales a un vacío e incertidumbre interminables. Por lo tanto, este estudio analiza las características discursivas de En attendant Godot centrándose en la modalidad como medio principal para una actitud vacía e indecisa que se crea a través de la desfamiliarización. El estudio ejemplifica, además, cómo el uso de Beckett de la desfamiliarización pone en primer plano la modalidad epistémica para crear un discurso único en su trayectoria autoral.En attendant Godot (1954) de Samuel Beckett est une parodie du monde de l'après-guerre. La pièce illustre l'esprit du temps en utilisant la défamiliarisation comme une stratégie textuelle par laquelle les personnages utilisent des manières épistémiques qui conduisent leurs échanges conversationnels vers un vide et une incertitude sans fin. Par conséquent, cette étude analyse les caractéristiques discursives de En attendant Godot en se concentrant sur la modalité comme moyen principal pour une attitude vide et indécise qui est créée par la défamiliarisation. L'étude montre également comment l'utilisation de la défamiliarisation par Beckett met en avant la modalité épistémique pour créer un discours unique dans sa trajectoire d'auteur

Hazırlık Okulu Öğrencilerinin Bakış Açısıyla Yeterli Bir İngiliz Dili Öğretmeni

In this study, Turkish EFL students’ conceptualization of an effective English language teacher is studied. A survey formerly developed by Yu-Hsin (1999) was adapted and administered to 100 foreign language learners studying at two state universities’ English language preparatory schools. Also, participants’ written responses were collected to understand the qualities attributed to the effective teacher. Results show that an effective teacher is a friendly, young, enthusiastic, creative, and humorous person whose gender is not important. Also, students expect the teacher to be a native speaker of Turkish, but fluent in English, someone who likes to play educational games, and who teaches grammar effectively by using real life situations to explain language items. Also, students claim that an effective English language teacher has correct pronunciation.Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’deki hazırlık okullarında İngilizce öğrenim görmekte olan üniversite düzeyindeki öğrencilerin, yeterli bir öğretmeni nasıl tanımladıklarını ortaya koymaktır. Çalışmada, daha önce Yu-Hsin (1999) tarafından hazırlanmış olan ve araştırmacılar tarafından uyarlanmış bulunan anket, iki devlet üniversitesinde öğrenim gören 100 öğrenciye uygulanmış ve ayrıca öğrencilerden yazılı olarak da etkili bir İngilizce öğretmeninde olan özellikler hakkındaki görüşleri alınmıştır. Sonuçlar, etkili bir öğretmenin arkadaşça bir yaklaşıma sahip, genç, istekli, yaratıcı ve esprili olması gerektiğini gösterirken, cinsiyetin önemli olmadığını gösterir niteliktedir. Ayrıca, öğretmenin Türkçeyi anadili olarak konuşan ama hedef dilde yetkin, eğitimsel oyunları oynayan, dilbilgisini etkin bir şekilde öğreten ve öğretirken gerçek yaşam durumlarını kullanan ve düzgün sesletime sahip bireyler olması beklenmektedir

Evaluation of a Passive Model to Mimic Dynamic Head/Neck Movements

The aim of the present study is to model the dynamic of the head/neck complex to understand muscle stabilization strategies. The boundary conditions of the model are based on previous in vivo experiments on 20 volunteers seated on an accelerated sled in frontal direction (Sandoz et al. 2016). Some of these volunteers performed EOS Xray images in order to personnalize geometrical parameters. EOS imaging system is a low dose X-rays acquisition system allowing to perform bi-planar acquisition of the subject’s cervical spine. From these X-rays, the 3D personalized geometry of each volunteer’s head neck complex can be built

Determining the origin of synchronous multifocal bladder cancer by exome sequencing

Background: Synchronous multifocal tumours are commonly observed in urothelial carcinomas of the bladder. The origin of these physically independent tumours has been proposed to occur by either intraluminal migration (clonal) or spontaneous transformation of multiple cells by carcinogens (field effect). It is unclear which model is correct, with several studies supporting both hypotheses. A potential cause of this uncertainty may be the small number of genetic mutations previously used to quantify the relationship between these tumours. Methods: To better understand the genetic lineage of these tumours we conducted exome sequencing of synchronous multifocal pTa urothelial bladder cancers at a high depth, using multiple samples from three patients. Results: Phylogenetic analysis of high confidence single nucleotide variants (SNV) demonstrated that the sequenced multifocal bladder cancers arose from a clonal origin in all three patients (bootstrap value 100 %). Interestingly, in two patients the most common type of tumour-associated SNVs were cytosine mutations of TpC*dinucleotides (Fisher's exact test p < 10-41), likely caused by APOBEC-mediated deamination. Incorporating these results into our clonal model, we found that TpC*type mutations occurred 2-5× more often among SNVs on the ancestral branches than in the more recent private branches (p < 10-4) suggesting that TpC*mutations largely occurred early in the development of the tumour. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that synchronous multifocal bladder cancers frequently arise from a clonal origin. Our data also suggests that APOBEC-mediated mutations occur early in the development of the tumour and may be a driver of tumourigenesis in non-muscle invasive urothelial bladder cancer. © 2015 Acar et al

Selective targeting of human TET1 by cyclic peptide inhibitors: Insights from biochemical profiling

Ten-Eleven Translocation (TET) enzymes are Fe(II)/2OG-dependent oxygenases that play important roles in epigenetic regulation, but selective inhibition of the TETs is an unmet challenge. We describe the profiling of previously identified TET1-binding macrocyclic peptides. TiP1 is established as a potent TET1 inhibitor (IC50 = 0.26 \ub5M) with excellent selectivity over other TETs and 2OG oxygenases. TiP1 alanine scanning reveals the critical roles of Trp10 and Glu11 residues for inhibition of TET isoenzymes. The results highlight the utility of the RaPID method to identify potent enzyme inhibitors with selectivity over closely related paralogues. The structure–activity relationship data generated herein may find utility in the development of chemical probes for the TETs

Focused Screening Identifies Different Sensitivities of Human TET Oxygenases to the Oncometabolite 2-Hydroxyglutarate

Ten-eleven translocation enzymes (TETs) are Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate (2OG) oxygenases that catalyze the sequential oxidation of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine, and 5-carboxylcytosine in eukaryotic DNA. Despite their roles in epigenetic regulation, there is a lack of reported TET inhibitors. The extent to which 2OG oxygenase inhibitors, including clinically used inhibitors and oncometabolites, modulate DNA modifications via TETs has been unclear. Here, we report studies on human TET1–3 inhibition by a set of 2OG oxygenase-focused inhibitors, employing both enzyme-based and cellular assays. Most inhibitors manifested similar potencies for TET1–3 and caused increases in cellular 5hmC levels. (R)-2-Hydroxyglutarate, an oncometabolite elevated in isocitrate dehydrogenase mutant cancer cells, showed different degrees of inhibition, with TET1 being less potently inhibited than TET3 and TET2, potentially reflecting the proposed role of TET2 mutations in tumorigenesis. The results highlight the tractability of TETs as drug targets and provide starting points for selective inhibitor design

Geological evolution of a tectonic and climatic transition zone: the Beyşehir-Suğla basin, lake district of Turkey

Central-west Turkey is a transition zone both tectonically and climatically between the quite different central and western regions of Anatolia. Central Anatolia represents the seismically quiet part of the otherwise highly active Turkey. On the other hand, this region has some of the lowest precipitation and highest evaporation ratios of Turkey. Conversely, west Anatolia is one of the most rapidly extending regions of the world and seismically very active. The climate is very different from the central part of Turkey and more humid. The zone between these two regions is also known geologically as the Isparta Angle. This reverse-V-shaped fold and thrust belt has several lake basins today, which have archived the geological and geomorphological history of this tectonic and climatic transition zone. The Beyşehir-Suğla basin is located on the eastern part of this zone. This NW–SE trending basin includes the largest natural freshwater lake of the Mediterranean region: Lake Beyşehir. Lakes Beyşehir and Suğla are located in this tectonic depression that discharge into an incised river gorge opening to the Konya closed basin. In order to shed light on the development of the Beyşehir-Suğla basin, our study was mainly conducted within the Neogene and Quaternary units of the region. Our structural results indicate that the depression was probably formed by a transtensional regime in the middle Miocene, which is controlled by extensional tectonics since the early Quaternary. Also, the current depression has mainly embodied the structures that are the products of these tectonic phases. According to our sedimentary data and palaeoecological interpretation of available palaeontological data, the Beyşehir-Suğla basin was developed initially under a humid and warm climate in the middle Miocene; then since the late Miocene-Pliocene it was controlled by a relatively more arid and, at times, humid climate more like the central Anatolian basins. Although the Beyşehir-Suğla basin is hydrologically connected to the Konya closed basin in central Anatolia, it was protected from arid climatic conditions for over millions of years as evidenced by the lack of evaporites in the studied basin and surrounding basins located in the interior part of the Isparta Angle. While the regional climate seems to have changed consistently with the geomorphic response to large-scale tectonics (i.e. orographic barrier development), the Beyşehir-Suğla basin seems to be protected from hydrological closure by the existence of karstic features in the surrounding carbonate basement rocks

GOPred: GO Molecular Function Prediction by Combined Classifiers

Functional protein annotation is an important matter for in vivo and in silico biology. Several computational methods have been proposed that make use of a wide range of features such as motifs, domains, homology, structure and physicochemical properties. There is no single method that performs best in all functional classification problems because information obtained using any of these features depends on the function to be assigned to the protein. In this study, we portray a novel approach that combines different methods to better represent protein function. First, we formulated the function annotation problem as a classification problem defined on 300 different Gene Ontology (GO) terms from molecular function aspect. We presented a method to form positive and negative training examples while taking into account the directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure and evidence codes of GO. We applied three different methods and their combinations. Results show that combining different methods improves prediction accuracy in most cases. The proposed method, GOPred, is available as an online computational annotation tool (http://kinaz.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/gopred)

Reconciling the stratigraphy and depositional history of the Lycian orogen-top basins, SW Anatolia

Terrestrial fossil records from the SW Anatolian basins are crucial both for regional correlations and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. By reassessing biostratigraphic constraints and incorporating new fossil data, we calibrated and reconstructed the late Neogene and Quaternary palaeoenvironments within a regional palaeogeographical framework. The culmination of the Taurides in SW Anatolia was followed by a regional crustal extension from the late Tortonian onwards that created a broad array of NE-trending orogen-top basins with synchronic associations of alluvial fan, fluvial and lacustrine deposits. The terrestrial basins are superimposed on the upper Burdigalian marine units with a c. 7 myr of hiatus that corresponds to a shift from regional shortening to extension. The initial infill of these basins is documented by a transition from marginal alluvial fans and axial fluvial systems into central shallow-perennial lakes coinciding with a climatic shift from warm/humid to arid conditions. The basal alluvial fan deposits abound in fossil macro-mammals of an early Turolian (MN11–12; late Tortonian) age. The Pliocene epoch in the region was punctuated by subhumid/humid conditions resulting in a rise of local base levels and expansion of lakes as evidenced by marsh-swamp deposits containing diverse fossil mammal assemblages indicating late Ruscinian (late MN15; late Zanclean) age. A second pulse of extension, accompanied by regional climatic changes, prompted subsequent deepening of the lakes as manifested by thick and laterally extensive carbonate successions. These lakes, which prevailed c. 1 myr, later shrank due to renewed progradation of alluvial fans and eventually filled up and dried out, reflected by marsh-swamp deposits at the top of a complete lacustrine succession that contains diverse micro-mammal assemblages indicating a latest Villanyian (MN17; Gelasian) age. A third pulse of tectonic reorganisation and associated extension dissected the basins into their present-day configuration from the early Pleistocene onwards under warm/humid climatic conditions. The new age data provide means to correlate deposits across various basins in the region that help to place the basin development into a regional tectonic framework, which can be attributed to the consequence of the well-articulated regional phenomena of slab-tear/detachment-induced uplift followed by crustal extension and basin formation (late Tortonian), the outward extension of the Aegean arc (early Pliocene) and eventually accompanied by westward extrusion of the Anatolian Plate (early Pleistocene)