Closing the gap between beliefs and practice: Change of pre-service chemistry teachers' orientations during a PCK-based NOS course

The purpose of this case study was to investigate how pre-service chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations change during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the nature of science (NOS). Moreover, the way that pre-service chemistry teachers translated their change in orientation into both their instructional planning and their PCK was examined. Thirty pre-service chemistry teachers enrolled in a Research in Science Education course participated in the study. Responses to an open-ended instrument, interviews, observations, and documents such as lesson plans and reflection papers were used as qualitative data sources. Through in-depth analysis of explicit PCK and further deductive analysis, we identified the influence of the intervention on participants' orientation and how participants translated their orientation into their planning and PCK. Analysis of data revealed that most of the pre-service teachers' naïve and transitional views about NOS changed into informed ideas after explicit-reflective NOS instruction. Participants revised their science teaching orientations by including more reform-based orientations at the end of the course (i.e., teaching NOS-related orientations). Their plans included at least one NOS aspect as an objective, which indicates that all of the participants designed their lesson plans with more informed views about at least one NOS aspect. In terms of aligning their reform-based orientations with other PCK components, pre-service chemistry teachers were more able to align their orientation with knowledge of instructional strategy and assessment than with knowledge of the learner. Implications for science teacher education and research are discussed. © 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry.108K086This material is based upon work supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey 1001-Scientific and Technological Research Project Support Program under Grant 108K086 entitled Teaching the Nature of Science: Production of a professional development package for teaching scientific argumentation and reasoning based on philosophy and history of science

Magnetic iron oxide and iron oxide@gold nanoparticle anchored nitrogen and sulfur-functionalized reduced graphene oxide electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation

Fuel cells have been attracting more and more attention in recent decades due to high-energy demands, fossil fuel depletions and environmental pollution throughout world. In this study, we report the synthesis of metallic and bimetallic nanoparticles such as spherical iron oxide nanoparticles [(sp)Fe3O4], rod iron oxide nanoparticles [(rd)Fe3O4] and iron@gold nanoparticles (Fe3O4@AuNPs) involving L-cysteine functionalized reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids [(sp)Fe3O4/cys/rGO, (rd)Fe3O4/cys/rGO and Fe3O4@AuNPs/cys/rGO] and their application as an electrocatalyst for methanol electro-oxidation. The nanohybrids have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results have demonstrated that reduced graphene oxide-supported bimetallic nanoparticles enhanced the electrochemical efficiency for methanol electro-oxidation with regard to diffusion efficiency, oxidation potential and forward oxidation peak current. Fe3O4@AuNPs/cys/rGO, in comparison to (sp)Fe3O4/cys/rGO and (rd)Fe3O4/cys/rGO, showed the most efficiency for methanol electro-oxidation. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015

Eligibility of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) modulator therapies: cohort of cystic fibrosis registry of Türkiye

Background. Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) variants are essential for determining eligibility for CFTR modulator drugs (CFTRms). In contrast to Europe and the USA, the treatment eligibility profile of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in T & uuml;rkiye is not known. In this study we aimed to determine the eligibility of CF patients in T & uuml;rkiye for the CFTRms. Methods. The Cystic Fibrosis Registry of T & uuml;rkiye (CFrT) data was used to determine the age of patients in the year 2021 and the genetic variants they were carrying. Age- and CFTR-variant appropriate modulator therapies were determined using the Vertex (R) algorithm. Results. Among a total of 1930 registered patients, CTFR gene analysis was performed on a total of 1841 (95.4%) patients. Mutations were detected in one allele in 10.7% (198 patients), and in both alleles in 79% (1455 patients) of patients. A total of 855 patients (51.7% for whom at least 1 mutation was detected) were eligible for the drugs. The most appropriate drug among genotyped patients was found to be elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor for 486 patients (26.4%), followed by ivacaftor for 327 patients (17.7%) and lumacaftor/ivacaftor for 42 patients (2%). Conclusions. Only half of patients registered in CFrT were eligible for CFTRms, which is a significant difference from the CFTR variant profile seen in USA and Europe. However, access to treatment is hampered for some patients whose genes are not analysed. Further studies in CF populations, where rare mutations are relatively more common, will contribute to the field of CFTR modulator treatments for such rare mutations

The prevalence of childhood psychopathology in Turkey: a cross-sectional multicenter nationwide study (EPICPAT-T)

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of childhood psychopathologies in Turkey. Method: A nation-wide, randomly selected, representative population of 5830 children (6-13 years-old) enrolled as a 2nd,3rd or 4th grade student in 30 cities were evaluated for presence of a psychiatric or mental disorder by a Sociodemographic Form, Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL), and DSM-IV-Based Screening Scale for Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Children and Adolescents scales. Impairment criterion was assessed via a 3 point-Likert scale by the parent and the teacher independently. Results: Overall prevalence of any psychopathology was 37.6% without impairment criterion, and 17.1% with impairment criterion. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by anxiety (19.5% and 16.7% without impairment, 12.4% and 5.3% with impairment, respectively). Lower education level and presence of a physical or psychiatric problem of the parents were independent predictors of any psychopathology of the offspring. Conclusion: This is the largest and most comprehensive epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of psychopathologies in children and adolescents in Turkey. Our results partly higher than, and partly comparable to previous national and international studies. It also contributes to the literature by determining the independent predictors of psychopathologies in this age group