Applications of social media and web 2.0 for research support in selected African academic institutions

This study examined the use of Social Media/Web 2.0 for research support and it is guided by three objectives namely: a) to ascertain the uses of social media in academic institutions; b) to identify the challenges associated with social media use for research purposes and c) to provide experiences of social media application in selected African academic institutions. The study makes use of literature analysis in combination with personal and professional work experiences on the use of social media from librarians in four different countries. Institutional experiences of the four librarians showed that it is only Rhodes University Library that uses social media in its library, which is as a result of a formal social media strategy. For the other three universities, University of Education, Winneba Library in Ghana, Makerere University Library in Uganda and the University of Nigeria Library, the use of social media is not encouraging. They use it mostly for communication and interaction with colleagues. It was also discovered that there is no social media strategy available in these university libraries. Based on these findings, the study recommended the implementation of a social media strategy, appointment of social media librarians in these libraries, and continuing professional development of librarians to keep abreast with current trends. Web 2.0/Social Media is a new technology offering new options for African academic librarians in their research support rol

İnsan Sermayesı Ile Kayıt Dışı Ekonomısı Arasındakı İlişki, Ekonomik Özgürlüğün Moderatif Etkisi

DergiPark: 491233trakyasobedBu yazıda ekonomik özgürlükvarlığında insan sermayesi ile kayıt dışı ekonomisi arasındaki ilişkininampirik analizi yapılmaktadır. 34 ülke örneklemi için 1999-2013 dönemi yıllıkpanel verileri toplanmıştır. Doğrusal statik ve dinamik panel veri tahmin edicilerininsonuçları, ekonomik özgürlüğün anlamlı olmayan etkisine işaret etmektedir. ARDLçerçevesi, eğitimin sadece uzun vadede kayıt dışı ekonomisi üzerindeki olumsuzetkisinin, daha eğitimli işgücünün kayıt dışı ekonomik faaliyetlerden kaçınmaeğilimine işaret ettiğini göstermektedir. Kısa süreli etki anlamlıbulunmamıştır. İnsan sermayesinin klasik zaman varyantı değişkenleri olduğuiçin bu sonuç beklendiktir, yani herhangi bir değişiklik daha uzun bir zamansüresi gerektirir. Genişletilmiş model, eğitimin uzun vadede önemli bir negatifetkisine işaret etmektedir. Ekonomik özgürlük hem kısa hem de uzun vadedeanlamlı bulunmamıştır. Ancak, moderatör katsayısının, kısa vadede, ekonomiközgürlüğün kayıt dışı ekonomik aktiviteyi azaltma niyetinde daha eğitimliişgücünü desteklediğini gösterecek şekilde anlamlı ve pozitif olduğunuvurgulamak önemlidir. Dolayısıyla, bir politika uygulaması olarak, kayıt dışıekonomisini azaltma eğiliminde olacak insan sermayesi işgücünü arttırmak içinekonomik özgürlüğe katkıda bulunmak gereklidir.The empirical analysis of the relationship between human capital andshadow economy in the presence of economic freedom is conducted in this paper.Annual panel data are collected in the period 1999-2013 for the sample of 34countries. The results of linear static and dynamic panel data estimatorssuggest an impact of economic freedom that is not significant. ARDL frameworksuggests a significant negative impact of human capital on shadow economy onlyin the long-run indicating that more educated workforce tends to avoid informaleconomic activities. Short-runimpact is not found to be significant. This result is expected since humancapital is considered to be a classic time-variant covariate, i.e. any changerequires longer time period. The extended model suggests a significant negativeimpact of human capital only in the long-run. Economic freedom is not found tobe significant in both, short- and the long-run. However, it is important toemphasize that the coefficient with moderator is significant and positive inthe short-run indicating that economic freedom supports more educated workforcein their intention to decrease informal economic activity. Hence, as a policy implication there is a necessity to contribute toeconomic freedom in order to increase the human capital of workforce who willtend to decrease shadow economy

Otistik Ve Zihinsel Engelli Çocuklar İçin Doğal Dil İşleme Tabanlı Bir Yardım Aracı: Bir Başlangıç Çalışması

DergiPark: 245928trakyafbdEngelli çocukların, eğitim ve gelişim olanaklarına mümkün olduğunca kolay ve etkin bir biçimde erişebilmesinin sağlanması, toplum için hem yasal hem de vicdani bir sorumluluktur. Yardımcı teknolojiler, engelli çocukların eğitim faaliyetlerine tam ve yeterli biçimde katılabilmesi için büyük olanaklar sunarlar. Bu makale, otistik ve zihinsel engelli çocukların eğitim ve öğretimine yardımcı olmak için geliştirilen bir yazılım aracını sunmaktadır. Bu araç ile engelli çocukların ifadeler ve onlara karşılık gelen kavramlar arasında resimler aracılığıyla bağlantı kurmalarına yardımcı olmak amaçlanmaktadır. Kullanıcının sistemle olan etkileşiminin doğal dil ifadeleriyle kurulmasını sağlamanın, iletişimi kısıtlanmış anahtar kelimelerle sınırlandırmaktan daha etkin olduğu gerçeğini dikkate alarak aracımızı bir Doğal Dil İşleme (DDİ) modülü ile donattık. Bu modül aracın omurgası olarak görev yapmakta ve doğal dil ifadelerini birleşme tabanlı (unification-based) bir dilbilgisi kullanarak anlamsal çerçeveler şeklinde çözümlemektedir. Giriş ifadeleri, ilgili resimlerle anlamsal çerçeveler aracılığıyla eşleştirilmektedir. Bu anlamsal çerçeveler, resimleri biçimsel bakımdan değil, içerikleri açısından temsil ettiği için, sistem esnek bir şekilde çalışabilmektedir.It is both a legal and conscientious responsibility of the society to enable children with disabilities to have access to and receive education and training as easily and effectively as possible. Assistive technology offers great opportunities for disabled students to participate in educational activities fully and adequately. This paper presents a software tool developed to assist the education and training of autistic and mentally retarded children. The tool is intended to help the disabled child establish the bridge between expressions and the concepts they refer to via relevant images. Taking into consideration the fact that enabling the user to interact with the system using natural language expressions will be much more effective compared to a system constraining the communication to a limited set of isolated keywords, the tool has been equipped with a Natural Language Processing (NLP) module. This module functions as the backbone of the tool. It analyzes natural language expressions into semantic frames using a unification-based grammar. Input expressions are mapped onto relevant images via the mediation of semantic frames. As these semantics frames represent the content of images, rather than their formal aspects, the system is able to operate on a flexible basis

Factors militating against utilization of information resources for research by scientists in agricultural research institutes in Nigeria

This paper was designed to investigate factors militating against utilization of information resources for research by scientists in Agricultural Research Institutes in Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was used for the research. The population of the study was 1002 from which 200 was sampled using certified proportionate sampling technique where 20% of the respondents from each research institute was elected for the actual study. The questionnaire and observation were instruments used for collecting required data. Data gathered was organised according to research questions. The findings of the study showed that majority of the agricultural scientists rated the use of internet services/materials/documents and conference proceedings, among others, respectively between average and very high extent for their research. On the other hand, majority of the scientists rated utilization of encyclopaedias and memos, among others respectively, between low and very low extent for their research purposes. The findings also revealed that lack of enough qualified and experienced librarians to provide, process, and make available library information resources and services, inadequate funding of the libraries and lack of adequate information resources were militating factors against utilization of information resources for research among others. The study recommended that the Federal Government should improve funding to all Agricultural Research Institutes with a directive that 20% of such allocations be used for the development of research libraries, among others

Uykuda saç koparma: Bir pediyatrik olgu

Kişinin kendi kılını karşı konulamaz bir şekilde çekip koparması olarak tanımlanan trikotilomani, DSM-IV-TR'da Başka Türlü Adlandırılamayan Dürtü Kontrol Bozuklukları başlığı altında sınıflandırılmaktadır. Bu davranış, artmış öfke ve kaygı gibi duygular nedeni ile ortaya çıkan gerilimi ortadan kaldırmak için yapılmaktadır. Olgumuz, tüm gece boyunca uyurken saçını koparma ve altını ıslatma bulguları gösteren 11 yaşında erkek çocuğuydu. Ayırıcı tanı için olgumuza tüm gece süresince uyku sırasında polisomnografi uygulanarak, epileptik deşarjların ayırt edilmesi amaçlandı. Sonuçlar normal sınırlarda bulundu. Trikotilomani ön tanısı tartışıldı. Trikotilomaninin parasomni tanısı adı altında değerlendirilmesinin daha uygun olacağı sonucuna varıldı.Trichotillomania, defined as an irresistible urge to pull and pluck one's own hair, is categorized as an impulse control disorder not otherwise specified in DSM-IV-TR. This behavior is performed in response to a number of emotions such as increasing temper or anxiety and gives resultant tension relief. Our case is an 11-year-old boy who showed signs of pulling his hair overnight and bedwetting when he was sleeping. Polysomnography was performed on him overnight during sleep to differentiate epileptic discharge, for a differential diagnosis. The results were within normal limits. The initial diagnosis of trichotillomania was discussed and we concluded that it would be more appropriate to evaluate the case under the diagnosis of parasomnia

The Effects of Baicalin on Myoglobinuric Acute Renal Failure in Rats

Background: Myoglobinuric acute kidney injury is a uremic syndrome that develops due to damage of skeletal muscle. Free radicals and nitric oxide play an important role in the pathogenesis of myoglobinuric acute kidney injury. Baicalin has multiple bioactivities, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and is a potent free radical scavenger. Aims: To investigate the nephroprotective mechanism of baicalin on myoglobinuric acute kidney injury. Study Design: Animal experimentation. Methods: In our study, male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups. Control (n=8), Baicalin (n=8), myoglobinuric acute kidney injury (n=10) and myoglobinuric acute kidney injury + baicalin (n=10). The rats were deprived of water for 24 hours before receiving intramuscular injection. The control and baicalin groups were injected intramuscularly with saline (8 ml/kg), and the myoglobinuric acute kidney injury and myoglobinuric acute kidney injury + baicalin groups were given 50% glycerol 8 ml/kg. One hour later, the control and myoglobinuric acute kidney injury groups received saline intraperitoneally, and the baicalin and myoglobinuric acute kidney injury + baicalin groups were given 200 mg/kg baicalin. Twenty-four hours after the glycerol injection, urine and blood samples were taken, and the kidneys of the rats were harvested under intraperitoneally injections of anaesthesia. Results: We found that the levels of creatinine, urea, nitric oxide, alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase in serum samples, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase concentrations in renal tissue were increased in the myoglobinuric acute kidney injury group compared with the control group (p<0.05). The nitric oxide and glutathione levels in the kidney were significantly decreased in the myoglobinuric acute kidney injury + baicalin group compared with the myoglobinuric acute kidney injury group (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between any other parameters. Conclusion: Our results did not show any protective effect of baicalin on myoglobinuric acute kidney injury, possibly because the different effective factors in the pathogenesis of experimental myoglobinuric acute kidney injury used in this experiment deviate from other experimental models. Moreover, detailed studies are needed to clarify the effects of baicalin in different doses and treatment durations in glycerol-induced acute kidney injury mode

The Evaluation of Patients With Multiple Level Spinal Fractures Admitted to a Single Institution: a Retrospective Study

DergiPark: 421248tmsjAims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the data of the patients who are diagnosed with multiple level spinal fracturesand to find out the most common level of fractures. Furthermore, this data will be examined regarding patients’age, gender, fracture type, cause of the injury, and type of the treatment in order to get a baseline data to improvefuture outcomes.Methods: The data of 42 patients who were diagnosed with multiple spinal fractures in Trakya University Facultyof Medicine Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology in between 2012 and 2017 was analyzed retrospectively.In order to understand the incidence of multiple spinal fractures in both genders, type of the treatment and cause ofthe injury, descriptive analysis as arithmetic mean ± standard deviation, number and percentages, median (mini¬-mum-maximum) were used.Results: There were 42 patients including 32 (76.2%) men and 10 (23.8%) women with a mean age of 41 years.The most common level of injury was T12 (17.5%). The incidence of T11-L1 fractures is 62.1%. 20 (47.6%) of thefractures were caused by motor vehicle accidents. 26 patients were treated surgically and 13 patients had conservativetreatment.Conclusion: Multiple level spinal fracture is a very important clinical problem. It is seen mostly in men andmiddle-aged population. Thoracolumbar transition (T11-L2) is the most affected region due to the biomechanicsof vertebral column. The most common causes of the multiple spinal fractures are motor vehicle accidents and falls.Management of multiple level spinal fractures are based on surgical or conservative treatment modalities. Choosingthe correct treatment option for a patient with multiple level spinal fractures depends on several factor

Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy Without Facial Symptoms

DergiPark: 378994tmsjIntroduction: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a progressive muscular dystrophy which starts with shoulder and face muscles involvement and rarely spreads to pelvic muscles. It has autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, serum CK levels are normal or mildly high, and EMG is myopathic. Case report:We present the 43 year old male patient with pain, numbness and weakness in cervical area and both arms for 1 year. His mother has similar symptoms as well. His cervical spinal nerve EMG results were found normal. Results:EMG results were found normal. Our patient had the defect of closing eyelids or pressing them based on faced muscles involvement just like regular FSHD cases. Because of the atrophy of lower face muscles, lips seemed to be fuller. On the other hand, there was a no whistling or blowing defects related to orbicularis oris muscle and face involvement. We presented this study as this muscle disease represents itself with weakness and numbness in muscle is seen rarely in literature and our patient did not have one of its components (facial)

Bilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Comorbid to Depression

DergiPark: 1020975tmsjAims: We aim to present a patient who was suffering from treatment-resistant depression along with psychotic features and comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder and was treated by bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. Case Report: A 58-year-old female patient was transferred to the University Hospital Münster with the diagnosis of treatment-refractory depression with psychotic features and post-traumatic stress disorder. The patient was non-responsive to unilateral electroconvulsive therapy and multiple antidepressant agents during several inpatient treatments. After initiating bilateral electroconvulsive therapy, the patient’s symptoms improved significantly. Conclusion: After ruling out conventional treatment algorithms for psychotic depression comorbid to post-traumatic stress disorder, physicians can consider bilateral electroconvulsive therapy to treat complicated cases

Functional Aerophagia in a Pediatric Patient with Abdominal Distension

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