The Effects of Extensive Musical Training on Time Perception Regarding Hemispheric Lateralization, Different Time Ranges and Generalization to Different Modalities

Time perception and estimation are very important aspects of human behavior. Whether these are based on a single internal clock or the result of distributed and\ud emergent processes in the brain is still a matter of debate. The present thesis investigated the effects of lateralized presentation of auditory and tactile stimulation\ud to assess whether time estimation is lateralized and affected by stimulus modality. Additionally, performances of both female and male trained musicians were compared to those of non-musicians to evaluate the effects of gender and training in time estimation. In an identical subject design, subjects attended a time duration comparison task for short (100 to 900 milliseconds in 50 milliseconds increments with a standard stimulus of 500 msec) and long ranges (1 to 5 seconds in 250 milliseconds increments with a standard of 3000 msec) in auditory and tactile modalities. Subjects listened to pairs of sounds either monaurally or binaurally and indicated whether the two stimuli were of equal duration. Tactile (vibratory) stimuli\ud were applied on the top of either the right or the left hand. Stimulus pairs were presented in ascending or descending order. The results suggested a gender\ud difference; males were more accurate in time estimation. Gender differences may be due to different corpus callosum sizes between males and females. Findings also suggested that musicians were more accurate except for the short tactile range. Better performance by musicians in both modalities suggests that time estimation in one modality can be generalized to others. Additionally, an analysis of estimation errors compared to the standard durations (percent of error) indicated that overall performance was better in the long range. There was no significant laterality effect except for long range tactile condition. Better overall performances of subjects in estimating the longer standard duration suggest that there may be different timing mechanisms in the brain, such as for long ranges which may include cognitive processes and for short ranges that are more low-level (sensory) and automatic. The\ud present results also provide support for the view that the brain does not have a lateralized internal clock

Effects of ultrasonically activated irrigants with or without surfactant on smear layer removal after post space preparation

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of different NaOCl and EDTA formulations with/without ultrasonic use on smear layer removal and root canal surface characteristics after post space preparation. Study design: After post space preparations, forty-six teeth were subjected to different post space irrigation regimes; G1, 17% EDTA; G2, 17% EDTA+Ultrasonic activation; G3, EDTA-T; G4, EDTA-T+Ultrasonic activation; G5, NaOCl; G6, NaOCl+Ultrasonic activation. Specimens were examined under scanning electron microscope and scored for debris and smear layer removal and dentinal tubule opening and statistically analyzed with Kruskal Wallis and Dunn's test. Significance value was set at p<0.05. Results: EDTA and EDTA-T groups showed significantly better efficiency than the other groups in the each parts of the samples in terms of smear layer removal (p<0.05). In terms of dentinal tubule opening, EDTA, EDTA+Ultrasonic and EDTA-T groups had significantly better efficacy than the other groups in the middle and coronal parts of the samples (p<0.05). Conclusions: Ultrasonic activation did not significantly improve the efficiency of the irrigants

Unemployment And Growth: Okun Coefficients For Turkish Economy

According to common interpretation of Okun Law, the main reason for increase in unemployment rate is deficiency in aggregate demand and low capacity utilization rates. In other words, this Law states a negative relation between unemployment rates and economic growth. However, the observed high unemployment rates with high growth rates in Turkey after 2001 economic crisis seems to contradict with this Law In this context, the Okun coefficient is estimated in this study for both manufacturing industry and aggregate economy The estimation results provide relatively low coefficients. In other words, the output variations are not very sensitive to unemployment changes in Turkish economy. Both the capacity utilization rate and working hours effect output level positively.Wo

The Good Reader of Digital World, Digital Natives: Are They Good Writer Also?

Digital natives have natural skills of using technology. In spite of that skill, their role, as the producer of digital world, is an arguing point of this study. In order to discuss that point, a training course for children, "Programming with Small Basic", was designed. The study group is consisted of nineteen children, aged 11 to 14. Dominant-less dominant quantitative-qualitative sequential mixed research method was used in the study. Collected data were analysed by using descriptive analysis, content analysis and Wilcoxon test (SPSS 21.0). The results show that digital natives are good readers of digital world but they need to be supported to become good writers of that world. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Comparison of recombinant human erythropoietin and darbepoetin alpha in children

Background The aim was to compare the clinical efficacy of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) and darbepoetin alpha (DA) in the treatment of anemia in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Method Thirty-four (13 female, 21 male) CKD patients were enrolled in the study. Mean age was 11.42 +/- 4.05 years. Nine patients were on hemodialysis, 18 were on peritoneal dialysis and seven patients were in CKD stage 4. Results Seventeen patients received rHuEPO and the remaining 17 patients received DA. Hemoglobin (Hb) was not significantly different between the two groups during monthly follow up and at the end of 6 months (P > 0.05), but there was a significant increase within each group at the end of 6 months (P = 0.01 for rHuEPO; P = 0.02 for DA). Hb was not different between the patients on and not on dialysis in both groups at the end of the study (P > 0.05). The efficacy of the s.c. and i.v. routes was similar within each group (P > 0.05). Systolic hypertension was observed in only one patient in the DA group, no other adverse effect was observed in either groups. Conclusion DA is a reasonable alternative to rHuEPO in the treatment of anemia in pediatric CKD patients, due to its clinical efficacy, convenience of use, patient compliance and tolerability

Glomerular and Tubular Functions in Children and Adults with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia

This study aimed at assessing renal functions in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT). Fifty patients and 30 controls were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum levels of electrolytes and albumin were measured by a spectrophotometer. Serum levels of cystatin-C and urinary levels of β2-microglobulin were measured by nephelometric method. Thirty-eight patients were receiving deferasirox and 8 were on deferiprone. Serum electrolytes and albumin levels of the patients were found to be within normal ranges. Urinary β2-microglobulin and serum cystatin-C levels were significantly higher in patients than controls. They did not significantly differ between the subgroup of patients on deferiprone and the control group, whereas they were found to be higher in patients using deferasirox compared to controls. Urinary β2-microglobulin levels significantly increased in patients who were receiving high-dose deferasirox compared to those who were receiving a daily dose of 15-20 mg/kg or controls. Subclinical renal injury may be present in TDT patients