Science Curriculum Requirements: Science Process Skills in Textbook Activities

Science textbooks play an important role in making scientific knowledge and applications available to learners. In most countries, science curriculum expects to cultivate scientifically literate individuals who are able to use science process skills. Critical analysis of textbooks is therefore crucial to determine whether they can facilitate this outcome. The purpose of this study is to find out to what extent science process skills are included in the activities of elementary and middle school science textbooks in Turkey. A total of 304 activities in six science textbooks were analyzed. A content analysis was employed to determine the frequency and percentage of science process skills in the activities. The results indicate that observing, collecting information and data, recording data, and interpreting and drawing conclusions receive the most emphasis in the activities at all grade levels. Measuring, estimating, predicting, processing and model creating, determining variables, knowing and using experimental materials and tools, and designing experiments are either the least frequently found science process skills or are included in none of the activities. This suggests textbooks focus more on basic science process skills rather than on high-level, causal, and experimental skills

Aptamer-Nanoparticle Bioconjugates for Drug Delivery

Drug delivery systems traditionally relied on passive diffusion mechanisms for targeting and releasing of therapeutically active molecules. The major problems associated with traditional delivery are poor specificity and dose-limited toxicity. Nanoparticles have found applicability in the development of novel drug delivery systems by easily overcoming toxicity problem. However, specificity of delivery has remained as a challenge. Developments in the methods of reaching to targeted tissue have lead to new and improved drug delivery platforms. Recently, active targeting has been incorporated by cell specific ligands such as antibodies, lectins, growth factor receptors. More recently, aptamers gained popularity in construction of novel actively targeted drug delivery systems (Ozalp et al., 2011). Considerable proportions of aptamer-based delivery systems have been incorporated to a variety of nanomaterials in order to improve their specific targeting properties (Chen et al., 2011; Zhou et al., 2011)

Trisomy 18 With Multiple Congenital Anomalies: A Rare Case Report

The most common congenital anomalies, autosomal aneuploidies are linked to a variety of metabolic diseases, hormone imbalances, neurotransmitter abnormalities, and intellectual difficulties. Chromosomal segregation mistakes that occur during cell division are what cause trisomies. A number of studies have revealed that numerous disrupted cellular processes are linked to uncontrolled gene expression brought on by the triplication of chromosomes 13 and 18. Furthermore, the occurrence of embryonic abnormalities may be linked to a disrupted oxidative stress condition. These chromosomal aberrations generate many congenital abnormalities such as heart defects, gastrointestinal defects, tracheoesophageal abnormalities, endocrine disorders, vision, and hearing disorders, and limb and nervous system anomalies. However, there are many theories and mechanisms regarding this issue. In this study, we aimed to present a case with multiple congenital anomalies born from a 38-year-old mother

Kentin ortasında bir zümrüt alanı:Yıldız Parkı

Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 41-Beşiktaşİstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı (TR10/14/YEN/0033) İstanbul Development Agency (TR10/14/YEN/0033

İlk kez bir müze tek başına değil, çevresiyle değerlendiriliyor:Eski İstanbul geri geliyor

Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya Adı: İstanbul Genel Dokümanlarıİstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı (TR10/14/YEN/0033) İstanbul Development Agency (TR10/14/YEN/0033

Monumental Castanea sativa Mill. Individuals on the Slopes of Genya Mountain, Artvin, Turkey

Aged trees are considered as a valuable source of information on the past ecological conditions and social life where they are found, and their documentation and preservation are vital for the continuity of benefits they provide. Nineteen Castanea sativa Mill. individuals on abandoned agricultural plots near Artvin city center (Turkey) were measured for diameter at breast height (DBH), circumference at breast height (CBH) and height. DBH and CBH ranged between 72 cm and 186 cm, and between 231 cm and 615 cm, respectively. The highest tree is 22.20 m tall and the shortest is 13.65 m. Estimated ages of the trees ranged from 135 to 342 years. With their size and age, these trees can be designated as monumental trees. Protection of these trees will help in conserving C. sativa genetic resources and in passing the information they hold in their annual rings to future generations

Ventricular Assist Devices

Heart failure is a common and debilitating disease with about 40 million affected worldwide. While there has been some improvement in the optimal medical therapy over the last two decades there is a worldwide stagnation in the number of heart transplantations which is only available to a very few selected patients. The emergence and progress in mechanical circulatory support strategies over the same period has provided a real hope for those patients who have otherwise similar life expectancy to terminal cancer patients. Devices like the IABP have been around for longer but it was the advent of extracorporeal pulsatile and especially the so-called second and third generation ventricular assist devices that provided a real progress in the surgical treatment of heart failure. Devices like the HeartMate II and the HeartWare MVAD found widespread application as intracorporeal continues-flow left ventricular assist devices. Initially the licences were for bridge to transplantation but more and more patients are now receiving these devices as destination therapy. There are certain specific complications like device thrombosis, bleeding and driveline infection that are related to these devices and are the focus of current research and development so that over the next decade or so that we can anticipate that newer devices may provide a direct alternative to transplantation with the advantage of its availability off the shelf. The ensuing increased usage of these devices will possibly reduce the cost to more affordable rates for the health care providing institutions worldwide which will make them available to millions of patients who have otherwise a very bleak outcome

Determination of snow water equivalent (SWE) according to elevation and its importance for water resources in semi-humid region of Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the altitudinal distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) in the north-east facing aspect of the basin of the Fabrika River in Artvin. Study sites were selected at four different altitudes, where a total of thirty snow samples were collected from each study site from the depth steps of 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm. As a result, the snow sample collected on February 21, 2008 at 1250 m altitude and from 5–10 cm depth was found to produce the highest SWE value while the snow sample collected on February 15, 2008 at 200 m altitude and from 0– 5 cm depth was found to produce the lowest SWE value. A strong relationship was detected between the SWE of the snow sample collected from 0–5 cm depth and the altitude of the sampling site. This relationship was formulated as: [R2= 0.94, SWE = 0.1328* (Altitude 0.687)], while this relationship was formulated as: R2= 0.928, SWE = 0.15 * (Altitude 0.6750)], in depth of 5–10 cm

Markdown or Everyday Low Price? The Role of Behavioral Motives

We study a seller’s optimal pricing and inventory strategies when behavioral (nonpecuniary) motives affect consumers’ purchase decisions. In particular, the seller chooses between two pricing strategies, markdown or everyday low price, and determines the optimal prices and inventory level. Two salient behavioral motives that impact consumers’ purchase decisions and the seller’s optimal strategies are anticipated regret and misperception of product availability. Regret arises when a consumer initially chooses to wait but encounters stockout later, or when the consumer buys the product at the high price but realizes that the product is still available at the markdown price. In addition, consumers often perceive the product’s future availability to be different than its actual availability. We determine and quantify that both regret and availability misperception have significant operational and profit implications for the seller. For example, ignoring these behavioral factors can result in up to 10% profit losses. We contrast the roles of consumers’ strategic (pecuniary) motives with their behavioral (nonpecuniary) motives in affecting purchase, pricing, and inventory decisions. The presence of the behavioral motives reinstates the profitability of markdown over everyday low price, in sharp contrast to prior studies of only strategic motives that suggest the contrary. We characterize how and why strategic versus behavioral motives affect decisions in distinctive manners. In doing so, this paper also introduces and determines the behavioral benefits of pricing in leveraging consumers’ behavioral regularities. We advocate that tactics that may intensify consumers’ misperception of availability, such as disclosing low inventory levels, can have a far-reaching impact on improving the seller’s profit

Artvin il merkezinin heyelan duyarlılık haritalarının üretilmesi

Heyelanlar, tüm Dünya’da olduğu gibi Türkiye’de de can ve mal kayıplarına neden olan doğal afetlerin başında gelmektedir. Ülkemizde son 50 yılda meydana gelen doğal afetler incelendiğinde, heyelanların %45’lik oranla en sık gerçekleşen doğal afet olduğunu görmekteyiz. Heyelan afeti için yapılan değerlendirmede tüm illerimizin heyelandan belirli derecelerde etkilendiği görülmektedir. Heyelanların sebep olduğu sosyal ve ekonomik kayıplar etkili bir planlama ve yönetimle azaltılabilmektedir. Bunun için, yerleşim alanlarının seçimi, alt yapı çalışmaları ve diğer mühendislik yapılarının inşasında jeolojik ve jeoteknik amaçlı arazi ve laboratuvar çalışmaları yapılarak, değişik bilgileri içeren haritalar hazırlanmaktadır. Bu çerçevede hazırlanan jeolojik tabanlı en önemli haritalardan birisi de duyarlılık haritalarıdır. Duyarlılık haritaları, geçmişte meydana gelen heyelan, sel, deprem ve volkan patlaması gibi doğal afetlerin gelecekteki oluşumlarının tahmin edilmesine olanak sağlayan bilgileri içerir. Bu noktadan hareketle, heyelan duyarlılık haritalarının temel amacı, heyelanlar açısından riskli ve tehlikeli alanları tespit ederek heyelanların etkilerini azaltmaktır. Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri (CBS) ile heyelan duyarlılık haritalarının üretilmesinde çeşitli metotlar kullanılmaktadır. Literatürde yaygın olarak kullanıldığı tespit edilen metotlar; frekans oranı metodu, lojistik regresyon ve bayes olasılık modelidir. Bu projede de, basit ve anlaşılır bir olasılık modeline sahip olmaları, doğru sonuçlar sağlamaları ve uygulamalarının kolay olmaları nedeniyle adı geçen üç metot kullanılarak, Artvin il merkezinin heyelan duyarlılık haritaları üretilmiştir. Duyarlılık analizlerinde; yükseklik, eğim, bakı, eğrilik, litoloji, arazi örtüsü, topoğrafik nemlilik indeksi, toprak derinliği, yola ve akarsuya yakınlık parametreleri dikkate alınmıştır. Üretilen haritaların güvenilirliğini test etmek için duyarlılık haritaları kontrol veri seti ile karşılaştırılmış ve bayes olasılık modeline göre üretilen duyarlılık haritasının diğerlerine göre daha doğru sonuç verdiği tespit edilmiştir