Analysis of the common genetic component of large-vessel vasculitides through a meta- Immunochip strategy

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) are major forms of large-vessel vasculitis (LVV) that share clinical features. To evaluate their genetic similarities, we analysed Immunochip genotyping data from 1,434 LVV patients and 3,814 unaffected controls. Genetic pleiotropy was also estimated. The HLA region harboured the main disease-specific associations. GCA was mostly associated with class II genes (HLA-DRB1/HLA-DQA1) whereas TAK was mostly associated with class I genes (HLA-B/MICA). Both the statistical significance and effect size of the HLA signals were considerably reduced in the cross-disease meta-analysis in comparison with the analysis of GCA and TAK separately. Consequently, no significant genetic correlation between these two diseases was observed when HLA variants were tested. Outside the HLA region, only one polymorphism located nearby the IL12B gene surpassed the study-wide significance threshold in the meta-analysis of the discovery datasets (rs755374, P?=?7.54E-07; ORGCA?=?1.19, ORTAK?=?1.50). This marker was confirmed as novel GCA risk factor using four additional cohorts (PGCA?=?5.52E-04, ORGCA?=?1.16). Taken together, our results provide evidence of strong genetic differences between GCA and TAK in the HLA. Outside this region, common susceptibility factors were suggested, especially within the IL12B locus

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments. </jats:p

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World: A Sample Blended Learning Environment for Educational Technology Training

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments. </jats:p

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments. </jats:p

Scene Segmentation and Labeling using Multi-hypothesis Superpixels

23nd Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference (SIU) -- MAY 16-19, 2015 -- Inonu Univ, Malatya, TURKEYWOS: 000380500900192Superpixels recently gained in importance in image segmentation and classification problems. In scene labeling the image is initially segmented into visually consistent small regions using a superpixel algorithm; then, superpixels are parsed into different classes. Classification performance heavily depends on the properties and parametric settings of the superpixel algorithm in use. In this paper, a method is proposed to improve scene labeling accuracy by fusing at classifier level the results of multiple superpixel segmentations. First, likelihood ratios are determined for superpixel labels using simple, nonparametric SuperParsing algorithm, which requires no training. Then, final scene segmentation and labeling is performed by pixel-level fusion of the likelihood ratios that are computed for alternative superpixel segmentation scenarios. The proposed method is tested on the SIFT Flow dataset consisting of 2,688 images and 33 labels, and is shown to outperform SuperParsing in terms of classification accuracy.Dept Comp Engn & Elect & Elect Engn, Elect & Elect Engn, Bilkent Uni

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments. </jats:p

Current Status of Renal Replacement Therapies in Turkey: Turkish Society of Nephrology Registry 2015 Summary Report

OBJECTIVE: The Turkish Society of Nephrology registry collects data on hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and transplantation on an annual basis. Registry reports are printed every year as a booklet and this is the 26th year of registry reports. The registry is in close collaboration with international registries