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Abstract Immunoglobulin‐G4 (IgG4)‐related disease is essentially a fibro‐inflammatory disease that can affect any organ simultaneously or at different times. The disease usually presents with organ growth that mimics a tumour and can affect the lacrimal glands, major salivary glands, pancreas, bile ducts, retroperitoneal area, lungs, kidneys, aorta, meninges and thyroid gland. The immunopathogenesis behind this new disease has not yet been elucidated. Histopathological distinguishing features of the disease include dense lymphoplasmocytic infiltrates dominated by IgG4 positive plasma cells, storiform fibrosis and obliterative phlebitis. The likelihood of developing with immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4‐RD) is a recently identified rare systemic fibroinflammatory disease with an estimated incidence of less than 1 in 100,000 people worldwide. We present our case, which was diagnosed with IGG4‐related vasculitis by lung fine needle aspiration biopsy, which is very rare in the literature.

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is a mission-oriented and strategy-focused performance management tool for educational institutions. The study reviews the literature on the implementation of the BSC by different educational institutions as a strategic performance management. After a comprehensive review of the literature, we analyzed the documents based on the publication trends during the years, authors’ affiliations by countries, sources from which the documents have been published, most frequently used keywords in the documents, and the highest cited documents in the Scopus database. A bibliometric mapping analysis was used to construct and visualize the bibliometric networks. We found that 267 documents that were published in the sources are indexed by Scopus. Finally, gaps in the relevant literature are identified, leading to several directions for future research.

This study investigates the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and potential tendencies to manipulate the earnings of telecommunication companies. We assumed a negative relationship between ESG scores and earnings management since the companies with higher ESG are more responsible and expected to prevent manipulation. We used ESG scores from Refinitiv as sustainability measures and discretionary accruals as the indicator of earnings management. We constructed models assuming a bilateral relationship between ESG and earnings. The results reveal that companies with higher environmental scores have higher dispersion from normal accruals; this may result for two reasons in our anticipation: they may record more accruals depending on environmental regulations and may use environmental scores to make up their earnings. Social and governance scores have a negative impact on discretionary accruals, which are insignificant. Hence companies with higher social responsiveness and strong governance produce reliable financial information.

This paper examines the effects of oil and natural gas prices on the oil and gas sectors of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) over the period over from 20013 to 2022. Unlike previous studies, it employs a time-varying capital asset pricing model based on the estimation of state-space mode. In brief, the findings highlight significant changes in the asset-pricing model parameters across all countries, indicating the limitations of using time-invariant estimates. Specifically, Brazil shows the highest volatility in oil price risk, followed by Russia, both being oil-exporting countries, while market beta values remain relatively stable. Time-varying estimates further suggest that natural gas parameters are relatively lower and less significant than those of oil prices. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict's energy crisis adversely affects the performance of oil and gas sectoral stock returns. This war has had a negative and significant impact on China's oil-gas stock return.

This study aims to examine the potential differences between teacher evaluations and artificial intelligence (AI) tool-based assessment systems in university examinations. The research has evaluated a wide spectrum of exams including numerical and verbal course exams, exams with different assessment styles (project, test exam, traditional exam), and both theoretical and practical course exams. These exams were selected using a criterion sampling method and were analyzed using Bland-Altman Analysis and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) analyses to assess how AI and teacher evaluations performed across a broad range. The research findings indicate that while there is a high level of proficiency between the total exam scores assessed by artificial intelligence and teacher evaluations; medium consistency was found in the evaluation of visually based exams, low consistency in video exams, high consistency in test exams, and low consistency in traditional exams. This research is crucial as it helps to identify specific areas where artificial intelligence can either complement or needs improvement in educational assessment, guiding the development of more accurate and fair evaluation tools.

Gifted individuals are more advanced than their peers in cognitive, affective, psychomotor, or creative areas. This study aimed to find an answer to how gifted students' immediate emotional states change by means of music containing different emotions. The sample of the study consisted of 122 students studying at Adana BILSEM. Their moods were measured after listening to different pieces of music. The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the emotions that the students felt with different music, they felt more positive emotions, and the girls felt the emotion much more than the boys. The results of this study can be used to better understand gifted students and to develop musical activities to help them manage their emotions.

Purpose Laparoscopic cholecystectomy causes moderate to severe pain despite its minimally invasive nature. This study was performed to compare the efficacy of the bilateral erector spinae plane block (ESPB) and the subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (STAPB) under ultrasound guidance. Methods 64 patients were included in this prospective, randomized study. The patients were allocated into two groups as those receiving ESPB (n = 32) and those receiving STAPB (n = 32). Pain scores at rest and during movement, fentanyl requirement, postoperative walking time, and duration of hospital stay were compared. The complications which related to block were also recorded. Results In the ESPB group, the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores at rest were lower at hour 0 [at the time of post-anesthetic care unit (PACU) admission] and postoperative hours 2, 4, 6, and 12 (p

This study examines parent-school collaboration in primary schools. School administrators, teachers, and parents are the stakeholders of the school, together with the students. Coordinated and harmonious work by all stakeholders increases the success of the school. The family plays an important role in raising a child, and the importance of collaboration between school and family is increasing day by day. Therefore, we expect parents to collaborate with teachers and school administrators in this process. The sample consists of 336 primary school parents randomly selected from 4 schools in Edirne, Turkey. We used the "parent-school collaboration scale" to collect research data. The scale contains 30 items and 5 subscales. ANOVA (Analysis of variance) was used in the analysis of the data, and in cases where the difference between population means was significant, LSD (the least significant difference) test statistical techniques were used to determine the source of the difference. Interdimensional relationships were determined by the Pearson correlation coefficient technique. There is a recursive relationship between the parents' collaborative attitude and their communication with the school. If the level of communication between parents and other stakeholders in the school increases, the attitude towards collaboration with the school will also be more positive. According to the research findings, the importance of parents sharing information about their children is emerging.

This study aims to develop a scale to measure the design thinking process and to evaluate the reliability and validity of this scale. It fills this gap by introducing a 36-item scale specifically designed to measure design thinking abilities across the five key stages of the design thinking process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test, to provide an accurate assessment of individual abilities across these stages. Aligned with the well-established design thinking process, the scale comprises five sub-dimensions, each focused on a specific stage. It employs a 5-point Likert-type response format, ensuring nuanced feedback. Rigorous psychometric evaluations confirmed the scale's trustworthiness. Internal consistency within each sub-dimension was exceptional, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients exceeding 0.80 across all stages. Remarkably, the overall scale achieved an outstanding 0.95 Cronbach's alpha, signifying unparalleled cohesiveness and reliability. Validity was further established through rigorous statistical analyses. Exploratory component analysis (EFA) accounted for 60% of the variance, confirming the structure and demonstrating strong item-to-factor loadings (ranging from 0.31 to 0.74). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided additional validation, with all fit indices exceeding established benchmarks, solidifying the scale's accuracy and applicability. Beyond these impressive psychometric qualities, the study offers several key advantages. The concise 36-item format ensures efficient administration and analysis, while the five distinct sub-dimensions allow for targeted evaluation of specific strengths and weaknesses within each stage. This detailed feedback holds immense value for researchers, educators, and professionals seeking to cultivate design thinking capabilities in diverse settings. By providing a validated and reliable tool for design thinking assessment, this study empowers a comprehensive understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses across the five critical stages. This, in turn, enables targeted interventions and fosters the development of effective design-thinking skills in various contexts.

The purpose of the study is to examine pre-service elementary teachers' noticing of students' mathematical thinking of division through animations and depictions. For this purpose, the data was collected from preservice teachers' written explanations of important moments identified when watching a video clip, as well as pre-service teachers' animations and depictions of classroom scenarios. Findings indicated that what the pre-service teachers noticed in the video clip was more general, as they attended to the whole class environment, students' behaviours and learning in total, and teacher pedagogy. The pre-service teachers, however, were more focused on particular students' mathematical thinking in their animations and depictions. Furthermore, between animations and depictions, the pre-service elementary teachers included the most details about students and teachers in the latter one. Therefore, this study concludes that while both preparing animations and depictions have a positive effect on the pre-service elementary teachers' noticing levels, preparing depictions better facilitates their attention to students' thinking about mathematics.

This study aims to determine the needs, expectations, problems and experiences of international students in the process of distance education. To this end, phenomenology design was used, and university students representing different departments and countries were selected through a purposive sampling method. A total of 11 international students participated in the study. An interview form was used for data collection. According to the findings, it was found that the participants did not experience any problems during the registration and admission process and could get enough support from the institution during the orientation and services process. The most common problem in the academic process is the language used by the lecturer. Also, the students mostly preferred the department they studied in line with their choices. Thanks to the repetition of the courses in distance education, they could overcome the language and communication barriers they experienced during the face-to-face education process. It was also determined that the students' social relations with their peers and lecturers were positive, and they did not experience any adaptation problems. Finally, participants' statements on financial challenges focused on the difficulties in both finding scholarships and supporting themselves.

The financial health hypothesis argues that the valuation multiple of book value of equity (earnings) increases (decreases) as financial health decreases. By considering the liquidity dimension of financial health, we analyze an accrual-based liquidity ratio (current ratio) and a cash-based liquidity ratio (OCF ratio) from the perspective of this hypothesis. Using the median values of these ratios, we divide the sample consisting of listed firms on Borsa Istanbul during 2009–2018 into two and document the ensuing outcomes. Valuation multiples of book value of equity and earnings are reported as being statistically indifferent between low-liquid and high-liquid subgroups obtained for the median current ratio. However, the valuation multiple of book value of equity (earnings) significantly increases (decreases) for the low-liquid subgroup below the median OCF ratio. As the latter is consistent with the financial health hypothesis, this study reveals that the OCF ratio is a more convenient and reliable measure of liquidity than the current ratio.

Background: Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4), a member of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) family, transports, and regulates the activity of IGFs. The pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) has proteolytic activity towards IGFBP-4, and both proteins have been associated with a variety of cancers, including lung cancer. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the use of IGFBP-4 and PAPP-A as potential biomarkers for lung cancer. Methods: Eighty-three volunteers, including 60 patients with lung cancer and 23 healthy individuals, were included in this study. The patients with lung cancer were selected based on their treatment status, histological subgroup, and stage of the disease. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to assess the serum levels of IGFBP-4 and PAPPA, whereas the IGF-1 levels were measured using a chemiluminescent immunometric assay. Results: The serum IGFBP-4 levels in all patient groups, regardless of the treatment status and histological differences, were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.005). However, the serum PAPP-A levels in the untreated patient group were found to be higher than those in the control group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.086). Conclusions: The serum PAPP-A and IGFBP-4 levels are elevated in lung cancer. However, IGFBP-4 may have better potential than PAPP-A as a lung cancer biomarker.

A lo largo de los años se han publicado numerosos artículos sobre variación biológica (VB) de diferente calidad. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron realizar una revisión sistemática y una evaluación crítica de los estudios de VB para albúmina glicosilada y proporcionar datos actualizados de VB para glucosa y HbA1c, incluyendo prestigiosos estudios recientemente publicados como el Estudio de Variación Biológica Europea (EuBIVAS).

This paper presents a unique advanced statistical approach based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to examine factors affective on phonological awareness and print awareness of preschool children. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were created and correlations between the independent and dependent (outcome) variables were analyzed. The ANN models were trained using the data for phonological awareness and print awareness of children. According to the findings, the created ANN model had an excellent fit to the actual data (R[superscript 2] = 0.934 and 0.940). Furthermore, the ANN model results were tested with a traditional analysis technique, Pearson correlation analysis. The ANN models yielded similar results to the Pearson correlation analysis but with more detail as expected. The ANN models were run for user-generated synthetic datasets and the relationships between the dependent and independent variables were discussed using model results. Demographic variables, namely, children's age, mother's age, mother's education, and family income were found to be not effective on children's print and phonological awareness skills. On the other hand, home literacy environment-related variables were found to be very effective. In conclusion, this paper introduces a methodology for implementing ANN modeling in educational data. A novel and powerful approach is provided to assess and estimate essential components of early literacy skills. The study has important implications for advancing our understanding of potential benefits of employing an AI-based modeling techniques in the field of education. The utilization of machine learning methods in educational research, as presented in this paper, has the potential to fundamentally reshape our approaches in categorizing and analyzing educational data.

Background: 25 (OH) vitamin D3 (25(OH)D) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) are important regulators of calcium homeostasis. The aim of this study was to retrospectively determine the cut-off for sufficient 25(OH)D in a four-season region and the influence of age, seasons, and gender on serum 25(OH)D and PTH levels. Methods: Laboratory results of 9890 female and 2723 male individuals aged 38.8± 22.1 years who had simultaneous measurements of 25(OH)D and PTH were retrospectively analyzed by statistical softwares. Serum 25(OH)D and PTH levels were measured by a mass spectrometry method and by an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, respectively. Results: Mean serum 25(OH)D levels showed a sinusoidal fluctuation throughout the year and were significantly (p< 0.01) higher in summer and autumn. On the other hand, PTH levels were significantly higher (p< 0.01) in women and showed an opposite response to seasonal effects relative to 25(OH)D. Lowest levels of 25(OH)D were detected in people aged between 20 and 40 years whereas PTH hormone levels were gradually increasing in response to aging. The significant exponential inverse relationship that was found between PTH and 25(OH)D (PTH = exp(4.12-0.064*sqrt(25(O H )D )) (r= -0 .3 2 5 , Rsquared=0.105, p< 0.001)) suggested that the cut-off for sufficient 25(OH)D should be 75 nmol/L. Conclusions: Our retrospective study based on large data set supports the suitability of the currently accepted clinical cut-off of 75 nmol/L for sufficient 25(OH)D. However, the issue of assessing Vitamin D deficiency remains difficult due to seasonal variations in serum 25(OH)D. Therefore, PTH measurements should complement 25(OH)D results for diagnosing Vitamin D deficiency. It is imperative that seasonally different criteria should be considered in future.

The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of principlas' transformational leader behaviors on teachers' organizational commitment. In the research, causal-comparative and relarional survey methods were used. The study group, defined according to convenient sampling method, was composed of 260 public school teachers working in five provinces in the Central Anatolia Region in Turkey. The data was gathered with "Transformational Leadership Scale" and "Teachers' Organizational Commitment Scale", in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. Descriptive statistical analysis, independent groups t-test, test of variance (ANOVA), Pearsons' corelational analysis and regresion analysis were employed in the analysis phase. The findings showed that both principals' transformational leadership levels and teachers' organizational commitment levels were moderate. It was observed that teachers' perceptions about their principals' transformational leadership behaviours and organizational commitment levels didn't show a significant difference among the groups of gender, age and work experience. It was found that there was a significant relationship between principals' transformational leadership behaviours and teachers' organizational commitment, and the former was a significant predictor of the latter. It was concluded that principals' transformational leadership behaviors might be effective in enhancing teachers' organizational commitment. In this frame practical, theoretical and research recommendations were developed.

To constitute awareness of climate change, hearing the solutions of students in their words and seeing visual products by creating experiences in schools is vital. This case study was limited to sequential implementations of climate change in the natural sciences teaching process in 5th grade. After an education process on using Pixton, 12 students transformed their learning into digital comics. This research aimed to reveal the problems created by students through digital stories about climate change, solutions they suggested for climate problems, and aesthetic subtleties they applied to express themselves. Digital comics created by students, researcher notes, observations, and students' view forms were used as data collection tools. Finally, vital solutions to problems such as global climate change, pollution, destruction of the natural environment, and extinction of living creatures were created by students during this case. Important solutions consisting of preventing global warming, making peace with nature, vital measures and efforts to protect the soil were suggested. Besides, interesting aesthetic subtleties such as storification, positioning of the characters, place preferences, expression of emotions, and time depiction were applied. Teachers can use comics to see students' tendencies, raise awareness, encourage them, and help them develop solutions for current socioscientific problems.

In this study, the effects of some student (e.g., gender, bullying, etc.) and school variables (e.g., emphasis on academic achievement, clarity of teaching, etc.) on the TIMSS 2015 science and mathematics achievement of eighth grade students in Türkiye were examined by controlling for the socioeconomic status of the students at the student and school level. The analyses were performed using the multilevel modelling method and the HLM8 package program. The findings show that school variables account for 34% of the variability in the TIMSS 2015 science achievement of eight grade students, while student variables account for 66%. Similar to this, school variables account for 35% of the variability in these students' mathematics achievement and student variables for 65% of it. The socioeconomic status of the school at the school level and students' confidence in learning the lesson at the student level are the two variables that have the strongest effects on students' achievement in science and mathematics. According to the results, other variables that have a significant effect on students' achievement in both science and mathematics at the school level are the clarity of teaching, the emphasis on academic achievement, and the school bullying level. Furthermore, school discipline problems have an effect on students' mathematics achievement. However, school resources and teacher qualifications do not have a significant effect on student achievement. Home educational resources and bullying among students are two important variables that effect how well students do in science and mathematics. The effect of gender and value learning the lesson on science achievement was significant, whereas the effect on mathematics achievement was not. The effect of like learning lesson on student achievement is significant only for mathematics.

Background: Individuals need to be conscious and aware not to experience the negative effects of digital games and identify the difference between dijital games and digital educational games. The use of digital educational games has four sub-dimensions. These are the "affective approach", the "perceived usefulness," "perceived control," and "behavioral approach" (Sarigöz, Bolat, & Alkan, 2018). In this study, these sub-dimensions analyzed in the frame of digital game addiction awareness. Purposes: This study examines the predictors of pre-service teachers' awareness of digital game addiction and their use of digital educational games. Methodology/Approach: The data of this study, in which the correlational predictive research method was used, were collected through the Digital Game Addiction Awareness Scale and the Digital Educational Game Use Scale. Findings: As a result of the study in which 246 pre-service teachers participated; there is a negative relationship between pre-service teachers' awareness of digital game addiction and their emotional approach towards their use of digital educational games, their perceived usefulness of digital educational games, their perceived control in digital educational games using and their behavioral approaches to digital educational game use, which expresses the preference of digital educational games over other games, and the relationship between digital educational game playing situations are determined. In addition, it was determined that all of these relationships were predictive. Discussion: Digital educational games are played to learn. While it is expected that teacher candidates' awareness of digital game addictions will increase, it is recommended to raise awareness of the benefits of digital educational games so that they do not have negative feelings about digital educational games.

This study examines the factors affecting the mathematics achievement of 8th-grade students in Türkiye using data from the TIMSS in 2011, 2015, and 2019. The data were analysed with multilevel (two-level) modelling. The first level was the student, and the second level was the school. At the student level, such affective characteristics as self-confidence in learning mathematics, liking to learn mathematics, and value given to learning mathematics, as well as educational resources, namely at home, gender, and the frequency of speaking the language of the test at home, were taken into consideration. At the school level, the school's socioeconomic status was included in the model. The results showed that self-confidence in learning mathematics is the most important variable affecting students' mathematics achievement in all years. Besides, the school's socioeconomic status has the strongest effect on students' mathematics achievement, which has increased over the years. The study also showed that those students who performed higher achievement in TIMSS 2011, 2015, and 2019 are confident in learning mathematics, have many educational resources at home, frequently speak Turkish at home, and are from affluent schools. On the other hand, for TIMSS 2011 and 2019, female students were more successful than male students. The effect of liking to learn mathematics on achievement was negative and significant only for TIMSS 2015, while the effect of value given to learning mathematics was positive and significant only for TIMSS 2019. However, the effect size values of the variables showed that this effect was not significant in practice.

The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between organizational support perceptions and personal growth initiative levels of the faculty members working in Turkey and to examine the effect of self-efficacy perceptions in this relationship. The study was designed as a relational survey model. 346 faculty members from public universities in Turkey comprised the participants. The data was collected with General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), Perceived Organizational Support Scale (POSS), Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II). Descriptive analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to examine the structural relations among the variables. It was observed that faculty members' organizational support perceptions had a significant direct effect on their personal growth initiative levels; organizational support perceptions had a significant effect on general self-efficacy beliefs; and the effect of general self-efficacy beliefs on personal growth initiative levels was significant. It was evidenced that faculty members' self-efficacy beliefs fully mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support and personal growth initiative levels. These results are in line with the principles of Organizational Support Theory and Social Cognitive Theory. More research explaining the effect of organizational factors on self-efficacy and personal growth initiative is needed.

Developments in industrial activities around the world lead to increase water consumption and to become widespread industrial water pollution problems. This situation accompanied by increasing water shortage issues needs to be realized technological applications which include recovering water in reusable quality from wastewaters of excessive water-consuming industries. In this study, recovering water in reusable quality from textile washing wastewaters having 6.22±0.03 pH, 1130±321 mg TDS/L, 2362±727 mg COD/L and 744±234 mg TOC/L was aimed using ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane processes. In this respect, effect of membrane type as the main parameter for real-scale installations on reusable water quality was examined. Experiments were performed using four membranes each for UF and NF and five for RO at the conditions of original pH, 25 ºC and 300 rpm cross-flow rate in trans-membrane pressures of 8, 12 and 40 bar for UF, NF and RO, respectively. At the experiments, the best performances were obtained by UH050, NF270 and LFC-3 membranes for the aforementioned order of the processes. This study was proved that reuse water with pH 6.34, 13 mg TDS/L, 34 mg COD/L and 14 mg TOC/L could be produced from textile washing wastewaters using UF/NF/RO combined system.

Recent years have seen growing interest in the potential contributions of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technologies to children's health education. Specifically, ChatGPT, a language processing model developed by OpenAI, represents a significant advancement in this field. By presenting child health-related information in an understandable and interactive manner, ChatGPT can potentially enhance the health consciousness of children and their families. Its capacity to facilitate access to health services for children and families in rural areas has been emphasized in various studies. Moreover, ChatGPT's ability to provide real-time feedback to students promotes more effective learning and encourages personalized education. However, the use of ChatGPT in child health education also brings with it certain limitations and ethical concerns. Risks such as the propagation of inaccurate or misleading information, inequalities in access to technology, and issues related to privacy and data security need to be addressed carefully. To overcome these ethical and technical limitations, it is necessary to develop more effective data management strategies and carefully considered ethical guidelines. In addition, collaboration between policymakers and educators is crucial in addressing inequalities in access to technology.

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, the etiology of which has not been clearly determined yet. There is increasing evidence that synaptic and dendritic changes are involved in the etiology of ASD. The aim of this study is to determine whether serum Thrombospondin-1 and Thrombospondin-2 differ between ASD patients and healthy controls. This study also investigates possible correlations between clinical symptomatology of ASD and serum Thrombospondin-1 and Thrombospondin-2 levels. Method: A total of 44 children with ASD and 21 healthy controls under 6 years of age were included in the study. Symptom severity and behavioral problems among children with ASD were evaluated by using Childhood Autism Rating Scale and Abnormal Behavior Checklist. Serum levels of Thrombospondin-1 and Thrombospondin-2 were measured by using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Result: No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of serum Thrombospondin-1 and Thrombospondin-2 levels. In addition, no correlation was determined between Thrombospondin-2 levels and clinical symptomatology and severity of ASD. However, the Thrombospondin-1 level was found to negatively correlated with the total score of Childhood Autism Rating Scale, inappropriate speech and stereotype subscale scores of Aberrant Behavior Checklist scale. Conclusion: Thrombospondin-1 might have a potential role in the etiopathogenesis of ASD. Further studies are required to clearly elucidate the association between Trombospondin-1 and ASD.