The Role of Computer-Aided Instruction in Science Courses and the Relevant Misconceptions of Pre-service Teachers

This research aims to investigate the ways in which pre-service physics teachers interact with computers, which, as an indispensable means of today's technology, are of major value in education and training, and to identify any misconceptions said teachers may have about computer-aided instruction. As part of the study, computer-based physics course packages were designed by the researchers and computer-aided assignments were prepared by the pre-service physics teachers. At the end of the study, Physics Achievement Tests were administered to the sample pre-service teachers. The research study group included 50 pre-service physics teachers who were taking classes under the Physics Education Department of Kazım Karabekir Faculty of Education at Atatürk University during the 2015-2016 Fall semester. The research data were analysed using SPSS software packages. The study concluded that the computer-aided science courses were effective, and that pre-service physics teachers had misconceptions about computer-aided instruction. Keywords: computer-aided instruction, science education, pre-service teache

Conifer Cones: An Alternative Raw Material for Industry

The cone is an organ of conifers that contains the reproductive structures. There is growing interest products from natural materials in worldwide. However, the chemical compounds from cones are great interest because of its residue products. A number of studies on conifer cones haveavailable in literature. Majority of these studies are on morphological, chemical and material properties of cones. All these findings have contribute to better utilization of materials from conifer cones as new medicinal plant products. However, it was consistently reported that the chemical constituents of cones changed depend on geographical, seasonal, genotypic and environmental situations. It was reported that conifer cones have similar chemical constituents like wood but in various proportion. They markedly contain rich of phenoloic compounds and some extractives. They primarilly consists cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses as major constituents. They have also some condense tannins, resin acids, stilbenes, flavonoids, etc. Many of researchers have already reported that these extracts, which have various proportions in different species may offer some advantages in terms of utilization from waste materials and may show exceptional medicinal properties. A number of different approaches have applied to find alternative and economical utilization from coniferous cones. It has also used for manufacturing various kinds of composite and paper material as substituent of wood. It has already tried to use for particleboard, fiberboard and plastic composite process aiming to without lowering properties. The results reported in that area is promising. It has been utilized for purifying of waters as bioabsorbent or scavengers for heavy metals from waste streams. It has also found to be useful for producing cellulose with its intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight. However, it has already well explained that some extracts from cones show antioxidant, antifungal, antimicrobial properties and may cure some disorders of humans. The utilization of these constituents from as a forest residue material may offer many possible applications as raw material

Comparison of Test Scores Obtained By Eighth Graders on Illustrated and Abstract Content Questions: A Quantitative

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students are more successful on abstract or illustrated test questions. To this end, the questions on an abstract test were changed into a visual format, and these tests were administered every three days to a total of 240 students at six middle schools located in the Erzurum city center and surrounding districts. After the data obtained from the study were examined, it was concluded that students were more successful in illustrated (visual) tests. Keywords: Illustration, Achievement, Concrete, Abstrac

HOW IS THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN PHYSICS LESSON WITH USING 7E MODEL TEACHING ACTIVITIES

The aim of this research is to reveal the results in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the process for learning environments to be designed in compliance with 7E learning cycle model in physics lesson. "Action research", which is a qualitative research pattern, is employed in this research in accordance with the aim of the research. The research was implemented at a public high school in Turkey. The research continued for twelve weeks. Two-hour class periods were included on a weekly basis. Study group of the implementation consists of 52 students attending to two different classrooms. The ages of students vary between 15 and 16. Triangulation method was employed in collection and evaluation of data in order to increase research reliability. Observation, interview and peer assessment were used in this study for process description. It is revealed from the observations that the majority of students perceived the lessons as more pleasing by virtue of the discussions in physics lesson

A Study on Composite Panels Prepared from Mixture of Mineral Adducts with Calabrian Pine Tree (Pinus brutia) Residues

The heat transfer coefficient values of 0.250 W/mK and l: 0.261 W/mK were found for Type 1 boards (bark based experimental boards of XBI and YBV)and l: 0.321 W/mK and l: 0.311 W/mK were found for Type 2 boards (cone based experimental boards of XCV and YCII), respectively. But all these are lower than standard value of 0.065 W/mK. However, visual evaluation show that all samples have low flame spreading properties which did not reach the threshold limit of 150 mm under a single flame combustion test. All Type 1 boards show lower mass loss (w, %) than control sample (B0: 11.97%), regardless of mineral additive type and proportions. The lowest mass loss of 6.36% was obtained with sample of YBIV. It is noticeable that olivine-cone (YC) and olivine-bark (YB) based panels usually show lower mass loss than dolomite-cone and dolomite-bark based panels at similar experimental conditions. The surface burning tests clearly indicate that the both mineral additions have lowering effects on burning feature of boards. This is probably olivine and dolomite could be absorbing heat and release water. Hence the burning area might become colder during evaporation of water with increasing charring and improve insulation of materials. The heat insulation levels of boards have found to be closely related with mineral content. But olivine seems to more effective for improving insulation properties for Type 1 boards. It is also found that both type panels (Type 1 and 2) which prepared from various proportions of dolomite and olivine as additives (10-50%) were show higher resistance against thermal degradation than control panels which prepared only (100%) from lignocellulosic material (cone and bark)

Ozone Therapy and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment in Lung Injury in Septic Rats

Various therapeutic protocols were used for the management of sepsis including hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. It has been shown that ozone therapy (OT) reduced inflammation in several entities and exhibits some similarity with HBO in regard to mechanisms of action. We designed a study to evaluate the efficacy of OT in an experimental rat model of sepsis to compare with HBO. Male Wistar rats were divided into sham, sepsis+cefepime, sepsis+cefepime+HBO, and sepsis+cefepime+OT groups. Sepsis was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of Escherichia coli; HBO was administered twice daily; OT was set as intraperitoneal injections once a day. The treatments were continued for 5 days after the induction of sepsis. At the end of experiment, the lung tissues and blood samples were harvested for biochemical and histological analysis. Myeloperoxidase activities and oxidative stress parameters, and serum proinflammatory cytokine levels, IL-1β and TNF-α, were found to be ameliorated by the adjuvant use of HBO and OT in the lung tissue when compared with the antibiotherapy only group. Histologic evaluation of the lung tissue samples confirmed the biochemical outcome. Our data presented that both HBO and OT reduced inflammation and injury in the septic rats' lungs; a greater benefit was obtained for OT. The current study demonstrated that the administration of OT as well as HBO as adjuvant therapy may support antibiotherapy in protecting the lung against septic injury. HBO and OT reduced tissue oxidative stress, regulated the systemic inflammatory response, and abated cellular infiltration to the lung demonstrated by findings of MPO activity and histopathologic examination. These findings indicated that OT tended to be more effective than HBO, in particular regarding serum IL-1β, lung GSH-Px and histologic outcome

Electrophysiological evaluation of phrenic nerve injury during cardiac surgery – a prospective, controlled, clinical study

BACKGROUND: According to some reports, left hemidiaphragmatic paralysis due to phrenic nerve injury may occur following cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to document the effects on phrenic nerve injury of whole body hypothermia, use of ice-slush around the heart and mammary artery harvesting. METHODS: Electrophysiology of phrenic nerves was studied bilaterally in 78 subjects before and three weeks after cardiac or peripheral vascular surgery. In 49 patients, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and heart valve replacement with moderate hypothermic (mean 28°C) cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were performed. In the other 29, CABG with beating heart was performed, or, in several cases, peripheral vascular surgery with normothermia. RESULTS: In all patients, measurements of bilateral phrenic nerve function were within normal limits before surgery. Three weeks after surgery, left phrenic nerve function was absent in five patients in the CPB and hypothermia group (3 in CABG and 2 in valve replacement). No phrenic nerve dysfunction was observed after surgery in the CABG with beating heart (no CPB) or the peripheral vascular groups. Except in the five patients with left phrenic nerve paralysis, mean phrenic nerve conduction latency time (ms) and amplitude (mV) did not differ statistically before and after surgery in either group (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that CPB with hypothermia and local ice-slush application around the heart play a role in phrenic nerve injury following cardiac surgery. Furthermore, phrenic nerve injury during cardiac surgery occurred in 10.2 % of our patients (CABG with CPB plus valve surgery)

A Prospective Study of Etiology of Childhood Acute Bacterial Meningitis, Turkey

Vaccines to prevent bacterial meningitis in this region must provide reliable protection against serogroup W-135

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation