The pot, the cup and the jar: Coming together in/for stories

What sort of story can you tell with just a pot, a cup, a coffee pot, a jar, a chopping board, an onion and a knife? Would the stories told among a group of seven PhD candidate women reveal the burden of writing a PhD dissertation relating the process to cooking? We, eight women, came together to run an event for the March 8th , International Women’s Day in 2014 and talked about what we had been experiencing during the period of writing master’s and PhD dissertations through the help of some ordinary life kitchen objects. We called this digital storytelling workshop, “I have food on the stove”, getting our inspiration from a very common phrase used by women during their everyday life conversations in Turkey. This workshop enabled me to think about what kind of roles both kitchen and objects have in our lives and how telling stories help women to deal with hard times

Identification of a three-gene expression signature of poor-prognosis breast carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The clinical course of breast cancer is difficult to predict on the basis of established clinical and pathological prognostic criteria. Given the genetic complexity of breast carcinomas, it is not surprising that correlations with individual genetic abnormalities have also been disappointing. The use of gene expression profiles could result in more accurate and objective prognostication. RESULTS: To this end, we used real-time quantitative RT-PCR assays to quantify the mRNA expression of a large panel (n = 47) of genes previously identified as candidate prognostic molecular markers in a series of 100 ERα-positive breast tumor samples from patients with known long-term follow-up. We identified a three-gene expression signature (BRCA2, DNMT3B and CCNE1) as an independent prognostic marker (P = 0.007 by univariate analysis; P = 0.006 by multivariate analysis). This "poor prognosis" signature was then tested on an independent panel of ERα-positive breast tumors from a well-defined cohort of 104 postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with primary surgery followed by adjuvant tamoxifen alone: although this "poor prognosis" signature was associated with shorter relapse-free survival in univariate analysis (P = 0.029), it did not persist as an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis (P = 0.27). CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the value of gene expression signatures in predicting the outcome of breast cancer

Utjecaj nastavničkog vodstva na postignuća učenika i njihovo zadovoljstvo: metaanaliza studija objavljenih u Turskoj i Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama

The growing emphasis on teacher leadership over the past decades has given rise to studies that investigate the direct and indirect effects on school improvement process and outcomes. This study aims to examine the effect of teacher leadership on student achievement and student satisfaction through a cross-cultural analysis of 22 published studies. The meta-analysis involved a comparison of the effects of teacher leadership on student achievement and student satisfaction in Turkey and the USA. The results indicated that the average effect of teacher leadership on student achievement is modest and positive (ES=.229), while it is strong and positive (ES=.639) on student satisfaction. The comparison between the two countries shows that the average effect of teacher leadership on student satisfaction is much stronger in Turkey than it is in the USA.Na nastavničko se vodstvo posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća stavlja sve veći naglasak, što je rezultiralo velikim brojem studija u kojima se ispituju izravni i neizravni utjecaji nastavničkog vodstva na proces unapređenja škole i ishode učenja. U ovoj se studiji ispituje utjecaj nastavničkog vodstvo na postignuća učenika i njihovo zadovoljstvo međukulturnom analizom 22 objavljene studije. Metaanalizom je obuhvaćena usporedba utjecaja nastavničkog vodstva na postignuća učenika i zadovoljstvo učenika u Turskoj i SAD-u. Rezultati pokazuju da je prosječan utjecaj nastavničkog vodstva na postignuća učenika umjeren i pozitivan (ES=0,229), a da je njegov utjecaj na zadovoljstvo učenika jak i pozitivan (ES=0,639). Usporedba dviju država pokazuje da je prosječan utjecaj nastavničkog vodstva na zadovoljstvo učenika puno veći u Turskoj nego u SAD-u

Force feedback facilitates multisensory integration during robotic tool use

The present study investigated the effects of force feedback in relation to tool use on the multisensory integration of visuo-tactile information. Participants learned to control a robotic tool through a surgical robotic interface. Following tool-use training, participants performed a crossmodal congruency task, by responding to tactile vibrations applied to their hands, while ignoring visual distractors superimposed on the robotic tools. In the first experiment it was found that tool-use training with force feedback facilitates multisensory integration of signals from the tool, as reflected in a stronger crossmodal congruency effect with the force feedback training compared to training without force feedback and to no training. The second experiment extends these findings by showing that training with realistic online force feedback resulted in a stronger crossmodal congruency effect compared to training in which force feedback was delayed. The present study highlights the importance of haptic information for multisensory integration and extends findings from classical tool-use studies to the domain of robotic tools. We argue that such crossmodal congruency effects are an objective measure of robotic tool integration and propose some potential applications in surgical robotics, robotic tools, and human-tool interactio

Traumatic Dental Injuries Occurred in Primary Teeth and their Sequel Effects on the Developmental Permanent Successors: A Controlled Study

Objective: To examine the types of traumatic dental injuries of the primary teeth (TDI-p) and the long-term sequelae on permanent dentition (LSP) comparing with a control group (CG). In addition, a questionnaire that measures parents' knowledge and awareness was used. Material and Methods: The trauma group (TG) consisted of permanent teeth following TDI-p exposed teeth, while the CG consisted of permanent teeth following unexposed teeth with TDI-p of the same patients. In total, 141 teeth were evaluated in 27 patients. Data concerning such as teeth, when TDI-p occurred, types of treatments and types of LSP were collected. Chi-square test was used for intergroup comparison for gender, type of trauma, LSP, age of trauma and parameters in the parental information questionnaire. Significance level was p<0.05. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in the analysis between TG and CG (p<0.001). The prevalence of LSP due to TDI-p was 29.6% and the prevalence of sequelae in CG was 7.4%. The most common LSP was enamel hypoplasia (14.8%). Parents were aware of the importance of TDI-p, and they had insufficient knowledge about its management. Conclusion: TDI-p can be considered a high-risk factor in the development of LSP. Also, the lack of knowledge in parents should be supported by software-based application systems to be developed

Misalignment under different exchange rate regimes: the case of Turkey

The paper examines misalignment of the Turkish lira between 1998 to 2008. Misalignment, specifically overvaluation has been linked to fixed exchange rate regimes. By studying the case of Turkey during this period which covers both a fixed and floating exchange rate regime, we contribute to the literature on the relation between misalignment and exchange rate regimes. We first estimate the equilibrium real exchange rate for Turkey, then compute misalignment and finally test for structural breaks in the misalignment series. Through our tests we find three structural regimes which we call the pre-crisis period, the transition period and the post-crisis period. We find considerable overvaluation in first regime, which is when Turkey had a fixed exchange rate regime. This was not the case for the periods that had floating exchange rates. Thus, we conclude that overvalued currencies that have been linked to financial crises are a more serious concern for fixed exchange rate regimes

The relationships among impulsivity, anxiety sensitivity and nonsuicidal self-injury characteristics in patients with phobias

Background: The relationship between impulsivity and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been revealed in several mental disorders other than phobias. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among impulsivity, anxiety sensitivity, and NSSI characteristics in patients with phobias, and to compare these relationships with healthy controls. Methods: The sample of this study consisted of outpatients (n = 109) who had been diagnosed with social phobia, agoraphobia or simple phobia in addition to healthy individuals (n = 51) serving as the control group. Data collection tools were the socio-demographic form, the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11), the Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury (ISAS), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3). Results: Mean BIS-11 and ASI-3 scores in the social phobia and agoraphobia groups were found to be significantly higher than those in the control group. In addition, a positive correlation was found between ISAS and cognitive anxiety sensitivity scores in the agoraphobia and simple phobia groups. Discussion: The study revealed a positive correlation between cognitive anxiety sensitivity and NSSI in both the agoraphobia and simple phobia groups. The results of this study indicate that anxiety sensitivity may play a regulatory role between impulsivity and NSSI in some sub-groups of phobia