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This research aims to design and apply a lesson plan to satisfy 3rd-grade inclusive education students' individual learning needs on the subject of plant life cycle, and to develop three instruction materials based on this lesson plan. In the first stage of this three-staged research, visually impaired students' individual learning needs were determined by conducting workshops with science teachers, elementary school teachers, and special education teachers. Then, the learning outcomes of science education programs were determined. In the second stage, teaching materials suitable for students' personal characteristics were designed by the teachers after assessing the students' needs. Visually impaired students also participated in the process of developing the educational material. In the last stage, students were taught according to the lesson plan with the materials prepared according to the 5E learning model. After the lessons, data were collected through semi-structured interview forms to determine the students' opinions on the lessons and materials. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data obtained. The research results showed that the teaching material responded to the needs of the students and contributed positively to their conceptual learning.

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable "Environmental Attitude Scale" (EAS) for secondary school (5th, 8th grade), high school (11th) and undergraduate college students. The reliability and validity studies of the scale were carried out in three different countries (Finland, USA and Turkey). The sampling size was 1687 students. For the construct validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was run and in order to test the accuracy of the obtained factor structure. The scale was composed of three sub scales: "Environmental Behaviour Sub Scale (EBSS)", "Environmental Opinion Sub Scale (EOSS)" and "Environmental Emotion Sub Scale (EESS)". The EBSS and EESS consist of two factors each and the EOSS consists of one factor. The EBSS had 13 items, EOSS 11 items and EESS 16 items, all using a 5- point Likert scale. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the whole scale was found to be a=.94, and reliability coefficient of the first subscale was found to be a=0.91, second subscale a=.82 and third subscale a=0.94 and the Spearman Brown coefficients were found to be .85, .83, .80 and .85, respectively. Reliability and validity results of the study show that the "Environmental Attitude Scale" can be used to measure the environmental attitudes of the different levels of students.

In traditional medicine, people commonly consume Bryoria capillaris (BC) as flour and tea, particularly in Northeast Anatolia, where it is one of the most prevalent lichen species. This study aimed to obtain an acetone extract of BC and investigate its inhibitory effects on carbonic anhydrase (CA) I, CA II, acetylcholine esterase (AChE), and butyrylcholine esterase (BChE) enzymes. We determined IC50 values of BC for each enzyme to measure the level of inhibition. The IC50 values for CA I and CA II were 8.77 µg/mL and 7.56 µg/mL, respectively. Acetazolamide, a specific CA I and II inhibitor, had IC50 values of 1.65 and 0.016 µg/mL, respectively. The IC50 values of BC for AChE and BChE were 7.96 and 8.58 µg/mL, respectively. Galantamine had IC50 values of 4.68 and 16.07 µg/mL for AChE and BChE, respectively. These results indicate that BC extract has a high potential to provide new drug candidates for all the tested enzymes, particularly for BChE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine cognitive structures and the retention of knowledge about environmental education, climate change and consumption concepts. The field of Environmental Education is increasingly including both climate change and consumption in the context of sustainability. Thus, this research is investigating the construction of cognitive structures using all three concepts. The study group consisted of 52 students (28 females and 24 males) attending the University of Minnesota Duluth, USA. A word association instrument was used for data collection. In order to evaluate the study results, the responses given about the key concepts were examined in detail. A frequency table was constructed to show which words or concepts best represented each key concept included in the instrument. Based on our findings, a frequency table and associated concept maps were generated to indicate how cognitive structures were formed about the three concepts. The findings showed that respondents generated many ideas related to the key concepts presented in the instrument. However, respondents did not appear to see the broad environmental concepts as a network of related ideas. Implications for using the word association test in the classroom are discussed.

In this study, "television program simulation" which was prepared in compliance with microteaching technique and thought to be effective in environmental education is introduced. This program was tried with 31 primary education pre-service teachers in Aksaray University in environmental education courses during 2009-2010 academic year. As a consequence of this study carried out according to pretest-posttest design, it was found that the pre-service teachers' views of lecturing changed positively and their worries decreased after the application. In light of the findings of the present study, it is suggested that television program that is arranged in compliance with microteaching technique should be frequently used in environmental education. (Contains 2 tables and 8 photos.)

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of an applied environmental education project carried out using the green-class model on students' environmental knowledge and its retention. 101 7th grade students attending Nazim Akcan Primary School in the Altindag Province of Ankara participated in the study. The study was carried out in the form of pre-test post-test monitoring design. The Environmental Knowledge Test was used as a data collection instrument. For the analysis of the data, a two-way ANOVA for mixed measures was used. The post-test and monitoring test means of both the experimental groups were found to be significantly higher than the control group. As a conclusion, the green-class model considerably enhanced the environmental knowledge of the students and its retention. It was able to make a great contribution to the environmental knowledge of the students residing in a low socio-economic neighborhood. This project is an original study and can be implemented with different samplings. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

Recently, carbonic anhydrase (CA, E.C.4.2.1.1) inhibitors from natural product have paved the way for novel drug design in the treatment and prevention of some global diseases such as glaucoma, diabetes, and cancer. For this purpose, the inhibition effects of oleuropein and verbascoside from olive (Olea europaea L.) oil on human carbonic anhydrase I, and II (hCA I, and II) isoenzymes were evaluated in the current study. The inhibition effects of both natural compounds were determined by the esterase activity (in vitro). IC50 value of oleuropein and verbascoside was calculated as 1.57 and 1.73 µM for hCA I isoenzyme, respectively. At the same manner, Ki values were determined as 1.25 ± 0.42 and 2.00 ± 0.42 µM, respectively. Then, IC50 value of each compound for hCA II isoenzyme was calculated as 2.23 and 1.90 µM, respectively. Similarly, Ki values were determined as 2.37 ± 0.87 µM and 1.49 ± 0.33 µM, respectively. Also, the inhibitory effects and potent binding mechanisms of oleuropein and verbascoside on hCA I, and II isoenzymes were realized by molecular docking studies. Consequently, both natural phenolic compounds demonstrated the potent inhibition profiles against the both isoenzymes. Therefore, we believe that these results may break new ground in the drug development for the treatment of some global disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of micro-teaching applications used in environmental education on the attitudes and behaviors of individuals. The present study carried out within the framework of the environmental education course was performed with 31 pre-service teachers from the primary education department of Aksaray University in the fall term of 2009-2010 academic year. The study which is an experimental study carried out according to pretest-posttest control group design continued for 14 weeks. At the end of the study, it was found that scores for the environmental awareness, attitude and behavior of the pre-service teachers significantly increased. In light of this finding, it can be argued that more frequent use of micro-teaching applications in environmental education is useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant role of zinc (Zn) against radiation-induced cataract in the rat lens after total cranial irradiation with a single 5 Gray (Gy) dose of gamma irradiation. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one Sprague-Dawley rats were used for the experiment. The control group did not receive Zn or irradiation but received 1-ml saline orally plus sham-irradiation. The irradiation (IR) group received 5 Gy gamma irradiation to the total cranium as a single dose plus 0.1 ml physiological saline intraperitoneally. The IR plus Zn group received irradiation to total cranium plus 10 mg/kg/day Zn intraperitoneally. Biochemical parameters measured in rat lenses were carried out using spectrophotometric techniques. Results: Lens total (enzymatic plus non-enzymatic) superoxide scavenger activity (TSSA), glutathione reductase (GRD), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities significantly increased in the IR plus Zn groups when compared with the IR group. However, TSSA, GRD and GST activities were significantly lower in the IR group when compared with the control group. Lens non-enzymatic superoxide scavenger activity (NSSA) in the IR plus Zn group was significantly increased compared to that of the IR group. Lens xanthine oxidase (XO) activity in the IR group significantly increased compared to that of both the control and IR plus Zn groups. Conclusion: Zn has clear antioxidant properties and prevented oxidative stress by scavenging free radicals generated by ionizing radiation in rat lenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to investigate the attitude of the primary school secondary level students towards computers depending on the frequency of computer use. In this context, based on the computer usage frequency of the students, pre-test and post-test attitude scores are evaluated in relation to gender, class, age, and income level. The study was carried out in 2006-2007 academic year, based on the experimental design with pretest, post-test and control group. As a sample group of the study, 270 students attending Nazım Akcan Primary School in Altındağ district of Ankara were involved under 6 groups (one control group and one experimental group from each of the 6th, 7th and 8th classes). Experimental groups utilized computer laboratory available in the school 30 hours more than the control groups during lunch breaks throughout the academic year. For data collection, "Computer Attitude Scale" developed by Ekici and Bahçeci (2006) were used. Descriptive statistics, t-test and One-Way Variance Analysis were used for data evaluation. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be α=.75. At the end of the study, depending on the frequency of the computer usage, the attitude scores of the sixth and seventh class students towards computer have been significantly increased. Moreover, pre-test and post-test attitude scores of the students did not significantly vary with gender, age, and income level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It is well known that cancer cells have an altered metabolism both to meet the energy needs and to provide initial molecules for the synthesis of macromolecules. To cope with the new metabolic state, different forms of certain enzymes are expressed in extreme amounts. These enzymes are seen as very attractive targets to deal with cancer. Pyruvate kinases isoenzyme M2 (PKM2) is a key enzyme that determines whether glucose is used for energy or synthesis of biosynthetic molecules. The dimeric form of PKM2 main form in several cancer cells serves the formation of synthetic precursors required for the cell growth and proliferation from glycolytic intermediates., Areas Covered: This article reviews appropriate publications on PKM2 activators from the points of view of synthesis and biological activities between 2011-2017. Herein, based on the chemical structure, PKM2 activators are classified into sulfonamide, phenolic, carboxamide and pyridopyrimidinone derivatives., Expert Opinion: PKM2 activation inhibits cell growth and proliferation by decreasing a number of biomolecules required for cell building. Therefore; PKM2 activators are considered as an ideal drug for or the treatment of many cancer pathogens. It is necessary to discover new, more active and selective compounds for PKM2 activation.