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During the preschool period, children's interest in reading increases, and their attitudes toward books develop with the means and opportunities provided by their teachers. Teachers' attitudes develop during their undergraduate education as pre-service teachers. This study aims to reveal preschool pre-service teachers' attitudes toward children's literature and reading habits and the relationship between these attitudes. The relational screening model was used, and the study was conducted with 343 preschool pre-service teachers. The data were collected through the "Preservice Teacher's Attitude toward Children's Literature Scale (ACLS)" and "Pre-service Teacher's Attitudes toward Reading Habit Scale (ARHS)." The descriptive, difference and correlation analyses were used to analyze the collected data. As a result of the study, the attitudes of preschool pre-service teachers toward children's literature were found to be high, and their attitudes toward reading habits were moderate. Regarding the differences in the attitudes according to the variables, the following results were obtained: female pre-service teachers' attitudes toward children's literature and reading habits were significantly higher than males; attitudes of 4th-grade pre-service teachers' toward children's literature were significantly higher than others; regarding the attitudes toward reading habits, the only significant difference is in the "attitude toward the development of reading habit" sub-dimension, in favor 1st-grade pre-service teachers; attitudes toward children's literature showed a statistically significant difference in favor of pre-service teachers who took children's literature course, but taking this course did not affect their attitudes toward reading habits. A positive and weak relationship was found between preschool pre-service teachers' attitudes toward children's literature and reading habits.

Despite the unanimous agreement regarding the positive outcomes of learner engagement, theorists and researchers draw attention to the disparate conceptualizations and structural models of "engagement" construct. The present study, in this respect, attempts to contribute to the development of a theoretical framework by suggesting a multidimensional overarching model for assessing higher education learner engagement. Following the descriptive research design, the study reports the initial model construction and validation results. The findings show significant differences from the earlier conceptualizations indicating a five-dimension model: academic-functional, cognitive, meta-cognitive, collaborative-social, and collaborative-academic engagement. While metacognitive engagement indicators form a distinct but integral dimension in the construct, the social dimension displays an idiosyncratic structure, implying that the multidimensional nature of the engagement construct has a situated nature. Pedagogical implications are discussed based on the engagement model validated.

Technology may lead to many new problems, especially for students at high school level. The ease of using and accessing technology increases the risk of the younger pupils' addiction to technology. Problematic uses of technology, especially among high school students, include internet use, instant messaging, online gaming, social networking and computer use. Given the large young population in Turkey, it is important to evaluate the internet-based technologies' potentially positive effects as well as their undesirable effects. For this reason, the technology addiction levels of high school students before and after the pandemic and the change in technology addiction based on demographic characteristics (owning a computer, socio-economic level, time spent on social networks, grade level) were investigated. The cross-sectional survey method, one of the descriptive research designs, was used in the research. Participants consisted of 304 high school students selected via random sampling method. "Technology Addiction Scale" was used in the research. The data of the study was compared with the data of another study conducted with the same measurement tool and a similar sample before the pandemic. As a result of the research, when the addiction levels of adolescents before and after the pandemic are compared, it is seen that the students in the low-risk group move towards the risky and the addicted groups. In addition, it was determined that the percentage of highly-addicted students increased. It was observed that the students' highest addiction levels were in instant messaging, website use, social network use and online gaming, respectively. While the addiction levels of the participants varied based on the time spent on social networks and online gaming, the interaction effect between owning a computer and the family socioeconomic level also caused significant differences.

21st century skills can be considered as a tool to facilitate students' lives and prepare them for the world of the future. In this context, teachers' knowledge and experience of 21st century skills will be effective in solving possible problems that students will experience, and in turning them into a socially accepted, active, questioning, self-sufficient, well-equipped, determined, harmonious, social, qualified individual. In this study, phenomenological research design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The study group of the research consisted of 26 primary school teachers working in Balikesir. In the study, criterion sampling and maximum variation sampling method, which are purposive sampling methods, were used. In the 4th Grade Social Studies course, teachers' experiences regarding how 21st century skills are perceived by teachers and how they are reflected in the program were collected by interview method. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the qualitative data obtained from the interviews. In this study, interview questions were evaluated under 3 different skill groups. Among the findings of the study, teachers see themselves as inadequate in "entrepreneurship" and "project management" and in parallel, they place less place in activities for the development of these skills in students in the social studies program, they mostly find themselves in "Empathy", "Lifelong learning", "Problem Solving and Decision". However, they mentioned the inadequacy of today's education system in acquiring skills because the curriculum is intense, resources or textbooks do not support skill-based activities, and our assessment-evaluation approach is exam-oriented.

INTRODUCTION: The etiology and progression of sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (AD) have been studied for decades. One proposed mechanism is that amyloid-beta (Aβ) proteins induce neuroinflammation, synapse loss, and neuronal cell death. Microglia play an especially important role in Aβ clearance, and alterations in microglial function due to aging or disease may result in Aβ accumulation and deleterious effects on neuronal function. However, studying these complex factors in vivo , where numerous confounding processes exist, is challenging, and until recently, in vitro models have not allowed sustained culture of microglia, astrocytes and neurons in the same culture. Here, we employ a tri-culture model of rat primary neurons, astrocytes, and microglia and compare it to co-culture (neurons and astrocytes) and mono-culture enriched for microglia to study microglial function (i.e., motility and Aβ clearance) and proteomic response to exogenous Aβ. METHODS: We established cortical co-culture (neurons and astrocytes), tri-culture (neurons, astrocytes, and microglia), and mono-culture (microglia) from perinatal rat pups. On days in vitro (DIV) 7 - 14, the cultures were exposed to fluorescently-labeled Aβ (FITC-Aβ) particles for varying durations. Images were analyzed to determine the number of FITC-Aβ particles after specific lengths of exposure. A group of cells were stained for βIII-tubulin, GFAP, and Iba1 for morphological analysis via quantitative fluorescence microscopy. Cytokine profiles from conditioned media were obtained. Live-cell imaging with images acquired every 5 minutes for 4 hours was employed to extract microglia motility parameters (e.g., Euclidean distance, migration speed, directionality ratio). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: FITC-Aβ particles were more effectively cleared in the tri-culture compared to the co-culture. This was attributed to microglia engulfing FITC-Aβ particles, as confirmed via epifluorescence and confocal microscopy. Adding FITC-Aβ significantly increased the size of microglia, but had no significant effect on neuronal surface coverage or astrocyte size. Analysis of the cytokine profile upon FITC-Aβ addition revealed a significant increase in proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6) in tri-culture, but not co-culture. In addition, Aβ addition altered microglia motility marked by swarming-like motion with decreased Euclidean distance yet unaltered speed. These results highlight the importance of cell-cell communication in microglia function (e.g., motility and Aβ clearance) and the utility of the tri-culture model to further investigate microglia dysfunction in AD.

BackgroundVagal afferent neurons represent the key neurosensory branch of the gut-brain axis, which describes the bidirectional communication between the gastrointestinal system and the brain. These neurons are important for detecting and relaying sensory information from the periphery to the central nervous system to modulate feeding behavior, metabolism, and inflammation. Confounding variables complicate the process of isolating the role of the vagal afferents in mediating these physiological processes. Therefore, we developed a microfluidic model of the sensory branch of the gut-brain axis. We show that this microfluidic model successfully compartmentalizes the cell body and neurite terminals of the neurons, thereby simulates the anatomical layout of these neurons to more accurately study physiologically-relevant processes.MethodsWe implemented a primary rat vagal afferent neuron culture into a microfluidic platform consisting of two concentric chambers interconnected with radial microchannels. The microfluidic platform separated cell bodies from neurite terminals of vagal afferent neurons. We then introduced physiologically-relevant gastrointestinal effector molecules at the nerve terminals and assessed their retrograde transport along the neurite or capacity to elicit an electrophysiological response using live cell calcium imaging.ResultsThe angle of microchannel outlets dictated the probability of neurites growing into a chamber versus tracking along chamber walls. When the neurite terminals were exposed to fluorescently-labeled cholera toxin subunit B, the proteins were taken up and retrogradely transported along the neurites over the course of 24 h. Additionally, mechanical perturbation (e.g., rinsing) of the neurite terminals significantly increased intracellular calcium concentration in the distal soma. Finally, membrane-displayed receptor for capsaicin was expressed and trafficked along newly projected neurites, as revealed by confocal microscopy.ConclusionsIn this work, we developed a microfluidic device that can recapitulate the anatomical layout of vagal afferent neurons in vitro. We demonstrated two physiologically-relevant applications of the platforms: retrograde transport and electrophysiological response. We expect this tool to enable controlled studies on the role of vagal afferent neurons in the gut-brain axis.

Nanoporous gold (np-Au) has found its use in applications ranging from catalysis to biosensing, where pore morphology plays a critical role in performance. While the morphology evolution of bulk np-Au has been widely studied, knowledge about its thin-film form is limited. This work hypothesizes that the mechanical compliance of the thin film substrate can play a critical role in the morphology evolution. Via experimental and finite-element-analysis approaches, we investigate the morphological variation in np-Au thin films deposited on compliant silicone (PDMS) substrates of a range of thicknesses anchored on rigid glass supports and compare those to the morphology of np-Au deposited on glass. More macroscopic (10 s to 100 s of microns) cracks and discrete islands form in the np-Au films on PDMS compared to on glass. Conversely, uniformly distributed microscopic (100 s of nanometers) cracks form in greater numbers in the np-Au films on glass than those on PDMS, with the cracks located within the discrete islands. The np-Au films on glass also show larger ligament and pore sizes, possibly due to higher residual stresses compared to the np-Au/PDMS films. The effective elastic modulus of the substrate layers decreases with increasing PDMS thickness, resulting in secondary np-Au morphology effects, including a reduction in macroscopic crack-to-crack distance, an increase in microscopic crack coverage, and a widening of the microscopic cracks. However, changes in the ligament/pore widths with PDMS thickness are negligible, allowing for independent optimization for cracking. We expect these results to inform the integration of functional np-Au films on compliant substrates into emerging applications, including flexible electronics.

The morphological evolution of nanoporous gold is generally believed to be governed by surface diffusion. This work specifically explores the dependence of mass transport by surface diffusion on the curvature of a gold surface. The surface diffusivity is estimated by molecular dynamics simulations for a variety of surfaces of constant mean curvature, eliminating any chemical potential gradients and allowing the possible dependence of the surface diffusivity on mean curvature to be isolated. The apparent surface diffusivity is found to have an activation energy of ∼0.74 eV with a weak dependence on curvature, but is consistent with the values reported in the literature. The apparent concentration of mobile surface atoms is found to be highly variable, having an Arrhenius dependence on temperature with an activation energy that also has a weak curvature dependence. These activation energies depend on curvature in such a way that the rate of mass transport by surface diffusion is nearly independent of curvature, but with a higher activation energy of ∼1.01 eV. The curvature dependencies of the apparent surface diffusivity and concentration of mobile surface atoms is believed to be related to the expected lifetime of a mobile surface atom, and has the practical consequence that a simulation study that does not account for this finite lifetime could underestimate the activation energy for mass transport via surface diffusion by ∼0.27 eV.

Aim: Reduction mammoplasty (RM) operations are frequently performed for breast reduction and asymmetry correction. Evaluation of these materials is important in patients at high risk of developing invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) to detect precancerous lesions or lesions that may accompany cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the histopathologic and clinical features of proliferative and non-proliferative lesions in RM materials.Material and Methods: In this study, 214 cases (402 specimens) of RM operated for aesthetic purposes (except gynecomastia) at Eskişehir Osmangazi University Hospital between the years 2020 and 2023 were included. The age of cases, location and bilaterality of the lesions, and proliferative and non-proliferative lesions were evaluated.Results: The mean age of RM cases was 38.5±10.9 years. The most common lesion was apocrine metaplasia in RM materials. Proliferative and non-proliferative lesions were found bilaterally in 24.8% (n=53) of all RM cases. The most common bilaterality was intraductal papilloma and the most common unilateral lesion was ductal ectasia. 0.2% (n=1) case of ductal carcinoma in situ and 0.9% (n=4) cases of lobular carcinoma in situ was found.Conclusion: Detection of high-risk lesions is important for appropriate clinical follow-up. In this study, high-risk proliferative lesions were found considerably in RM cases. Patients with high-risk proliferative lesions should be followed up more closely in terms of cancer risk in the future. In addition, it is crucial to perform a careful macroscopic examination in mammoplasty operations performed for aesthetic purposes to avoid missing these lesions.

Abstract Introduction To better target stroke awareness efforts (pre and post first stroke) and thereby decrease the time window for help-seeking, this study aims to assess quantitatively whether stroke awareness is associated with appropriate help-seeking at symptom onset, and to investigate qualitatively why this may (not) be the case. Methods This study conducted in a German regional stroke network comprises a convergent quantitative-dominant, hypothesis-driven mixed methods design including 462 quantitative patient questionnaires combined with qualitative interviews with 28 patients and seven relatives. Quantitative associations were identified using Pearson’s correlation analysis. Open coding was performed on interview transcripts before the quantitative results were used to further focus qualitative analysis. Joint display analysis was conducted to mix data strands. Cooperation with the Patient Council of the Department of Neurology ensured patient involvement in the study. Results Our hypothesis that stroke awareness would be associated with appropriate help-seeking behaviour at stroke symptom onset was partially supported by the quantitative data, i.e. showing associations between some dimensions of stroke awareness and appropriate help-seeking, but not others. For example, knowing stroke symptoms is correlated with recognising one’s own symptoms as stroke (r = 0.101; p = 0.030*; N = 459) but not with no hesitation before calling help (r = 0.003; p = 0.941; N = 457). A previous stroke also makes it more likely to recognise one’s own symptoms as stroke (r = 0.114; p = 0.015*; N = 459), but not to be transported by emergency ambulance (r = 0.08; p = 0.872; N = 462) or to arrive at the hospital on time (r = 0.02; p = 0.677; N = 459). Qualitative results showed concordance, discordance or provided potential explanations for quantitative findings. For example, qualitative data showed processes of denial on the part of patients and the important role of relatives in initiating appropriate help-seeking behaviour on patients’ behalf. Conclusions Our study provides insights into the complexities of the decision-making process at stroke symptom onset. As our findings suggest processes of denial and inabilities to translate abstract disease knowledge into correct actions, we recommend to address relatives as potential saviours of loved ones, increased use of specific situational examples (e.g. lying on the bathroom floor) and the involvement of patient representatives in the preparation of informational resources and campaigns. Future research should include mixed methods research from one sample and more attention to potential reporting inconsistencies.

Aim of this study was to examine the end-of-unit evaluation questions in the 6th Grade Science book of primary education according to the knowledge and cognitive process dimensions of the Revised Bloom Taxonomy. For that purpose, 130 end-of-unit evaluation questions of 6th grade Science textbooks which were approved by the Board of Education and Discipline in Ministry of National Education of Republic of Turkey. The evaluation was performed with document analysis with considering knowledge and cognitive process dimensions of the Revised Bloom Taxonomy. Data of this study were obtained with document analysis which classified as qualitatively research method. Accessing documents, checking authenticity, understanding documents, analyzing and using data steps were performed. Analyzed questions were categorized according to previously published studies of experts, and according to the criteria of "Taxonomy for learning, teaching and Assessing" book written by Anderson et al which is published in 2001 and translated into Turkish by Ozcelik in 2010. Ratio and frequencies were used to reach results. When the unit evaluation questions of the 6th Grade Science Textbook are evaluated according to the cognitive level of the Revised Bloom Taxonomy, it is observed that 60 of the 130 questions are belong to remembering level. When these questions are evaluated according to the knowledge dimension it is observed that 60 of 130 questions are belong to factual knowledge. When the 6th grade units are evaluated as a whole, it's possible to observe that majority of the questions are belong to subcognitive knowledge level. These questions can be considered as factual knowledge level when evaluated according to Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. As a conclusion, it is suggested that the sub-cognitive and metacognitive questions according to the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy should be served equally at unit-end-up questions of the 6th grade of primary school Ministry of National Education approved book.

There is a need for novel teaching approaches to train biomedical engineers that are conversant across disciplines and have the technical skills to address interdisciplinary scientific and technological challenges. Here, we describe a graduate-level miniaturized biomedical device engineering course that has been taught over the last decade in in-person, remote, and hybrid formats. The course employs experiential learning components, including a proposal development and review that mimic the National Institutes of Health process and technical assignments that use raw research data to simulate a research experience. The effectiveness of the course was measured via pre-/post-course concept inventory surveys as well as course evaluations with targeted questions on the learning instruments. Statistical comparison of pre-/post-course survey scores suggests that the course was effective in students achieving the learning objectives, and comparison of relative increase in pre-/post-course survey scores across different instruction formats (i.e., in-person, remote, hybrid) showed minimal difference, suggesting that the teaching elements are readily transferrable to remote instruction.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-022-00094-z.

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of middle school 7th and 8th grade students towards STEM education in Turkey and Ghana. The research was conducted to a total of 974 grade 7 & 8 middle school students (480 from Turkey-Mugla Province and 494 from Ghana-Accra Province) during the spring semester of 2018-2019 academic year. A quantitative research method was used in this research. The attitudes of the students towards STEM show statistically significant difference in each dimension depending on which country the schools are located. The study revealed that the students' attitudes towards STEM education were "positive". While there was no significant relationship between students' attitudes towards STEM and their gender and grade levels, there was a significant difference between their attitudes and the place where their schools were located.

This study aims to develop a mathematics education program supported by stories for 48-60-month-old children attending pre-school education institutions and examine its effect on children's early mathematics skills. The study group consists of 48-60-month-old-children who continue pre-school education in an independent kindergarten affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Usak province, in 2020-2021. The study was carried out with 33 children, 18 in the experimental and 15 in the control group. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with a control group was used in the study. Test of Early Mathematics Ability-3 (TEMA-3), developed by Ginsburg and Barody, was used to collect data. The test's adaptation, validity, and reliability to 48-60-month-old Turkish children had been conducted by Seker (2013). Regarding data collection, TEMA-3 was administered as a pre-test to the experimental and control group students before implementing the program. After the pre-test, the "Mathematics Education Program Supported by Stories" was instructed to the experimental group three (3) days a week for eight (8) weeks. During the implementation, "Mathematics Education Program Supported by Stories" was instructed to the children in the experimental group by the researcher; the daily education flow specified in the 2013 Pre-School Education Program was continued for the control group children. The data obtained from the research were analyzed with the SPSS statistical program. Independent and dependent t-tests were used to test the difference between the pre-test and post-test between and within groups. Based on the findings obtained from the analyzes, there was no significant difference between the pre-test scores. However, there was a significant difference between the post-test scores in favor of the experimental group. It was concluded that the mathematics education program supported by stories effectively improved children's mathematics skills.

Digital stories are a form of expression that emerges by combining the art of storytelling with multimedia tools such as sound, picture, and video. In this research, examining the experiences of pre-service teachers in creating digital stories in accordance with the science curriculum and the effects of this process on the pre-service teachers' self-confidence in technological pedagogical content knowledge was aimed. This research, using a mixed model approach, was conducted with 24 fourth-grade pre-service teachers. In the study, the "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Confidence Scale" (TPACK) was applied as a pre-test and posttest. The quantitative findings of the study revealed that the experiences of pre-service teachers in creating a scientific digital story increased statistically significantly in the TK dimension of the TPACK scale and in the TPACK total self-confidence scores. The qualitative findings of the research showed that it had a positive effect on TCK, TPK, and TPCK dimensions, as well as on the TK and total score of TPACK. In the light of these findings of the research, the use of digital stories in educational environments can be recommended since the use of digital stories in educational environments is effective in developing students' TPACK self-confidence perceptions.

This study aims to investigate the effect of using the Harezmi education model, which has been widely used in Turkey in recent years, in social studies teaching regarding computational thinking skills. Interviews were held with students and teachers seven months after the applications to determine the conceptual knowledge levels of students for computational thinking skills. Teachers' opinions regarding students' feedback and the changes they observed in the students involved in the application process during the seven months were taken. Besides using one of the mixed-method research designs in this study, that is the triangulation (parallel-convergent) design, quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used simultaneously. Through the joint use of different methods and data collection tools, obtaining rich and various types of data sets was aimed. As for the quantitative dimension of the study, 54 students, which were divided into experimental and control groups, formed the study group. In the qualitative aspect of the study, there are 20 students and three teachers. The computational thinking self-efficacy perception scale was used as a quantitative data collection tool, and the interview forms were used as qualitative data collection tools. While the analysis of quantitative data was made with Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann-Whitney U tests, the analysis of qualitative data was made with content analysis and descriptive analysis methods. As a result, a significant difference was found in the experimental group students' algorithm subdimension scores. According to the interviews held seven months after the applications, students' conceptual knowledge was at a good level. Furthermore, teachers included in the application stated that they observed positive changes in the students after the application. In line with the results obtained, suggestions were made to make arrangements for other sub-dimensions of computational thinking skills and to examine the effects of the Harezmi education model as of different variables.

The aim of this study is to understand and analyze the status, development and current trends of out-of-school learning by evaluating scientific studies published in the field of out-of-school learning environments in terms of various parameters. The bibliometric analysis method and Web of Science (WoS) database were used to carry out the research and achieve the determined goals. The research was limited to the years 1982-2021 and 3101 studies were evaluated. In this study scientific studies published on out-of-school learning were examined within the framework of the annual number of publications, keyword analysis, citation analysis, active researchers, journals and countries. In the results of the study, it was determined that the publication trend about out-ofschool learning started in 2008 and has continued until today, with the most references occurring in the last 10 years. In addition, it was determined that the most cited author was "Nada Dabbagh", the co-author was "Micheal Eraut", the active journal was "Educational Technology & Society", the most cited and co-cited journal was "Computer & Education" and the active collaborator country was "United States". In this context, it is recommended that researchers increase their studies depending on needs. Furthermore, with the disappearance of the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic over time, it is thought that many studies can be conducted in out-of-school learning environments.