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Objectives: This paper investigates the associations of social competence with cognitive representation and communication skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), by measuring these skills in an expansive way through assessing both mental and internal-state understanding, and verbal and non-verbal communication. Methods: The data were collected from 45 Turkish children (M[subscript age]=8.52 years, SD=3.05, min-max=3-14) with a diagnosis of ASD. Individual assessments were used to measure mental- and internal-state understanding. Teacher-rated scales were used to assess child's verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and social competence. Results: The results showed that social competence, cognitive representation, verbal and non-verbal communication skills were all significantly associated, but over and above cognitive representation skills and verbal communication, non-verbal communication had a salient role in adaptive social relationships of children with ASD. Conclusions: These findings have important applied implications for intervention studies and suggest that improvements of non-verbal communication skills in children with ASD might be important for increasing their positive social relations.

Byline: Ahmet. Gurcay, Oktay. Gurcan, Atilla. Kazanci, Ismail. Bozkurt, Salim. Senturk, Mahmut. Ferat, Omer. Turkoglu, Ethem. Beskonakli, H. Orhun Yavuz Sir, Xanthogranulomas (XGs), also known as cholesterol granulomas or xanthogranulomatous [...]

Prediction of the aerodynamic forces acting on a NACA 2415 airfoil equipped with plasma actuators is carried out by using artificial neural network. The data sets for ANN model include the experiments which are plasma actuator positions for effective flow control, different Reynolds numbers and various attack angles. Mean absolute percentage and mean squared errors are calculated to assess the performance of the training and the testing stages of ANN model in prediction of drag and lift coefficients. The maximum error for lift and drag estimation are 12.84% and 23.705%, respectively. Also, as a part of the presented study, the process parameters affecting the performance of the plasma actuators in active flow control around a NACA 2415 airfoil is presented in detail. The well-matched results of the ANN based estimations of the ANN indicates that there is almost no need for dealing with complex experimental studies to determine the aerodynamic performance of the NACA2415 airfoil, hence providing the advantage of saving time and cost. Furthermore, the experimental results along with the ability of ANN to estimate aerodynamic performance parameters provide a good database in the active flow control related research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cümbüş çalgısı, Türk müziği içerisinde kullanılan bir eşlik çalgısıdır. Bu çalgının icat edildiği 1930’lu yıllarda gazino ve eğlence müziklerinde kullanılmaya başlanması ile bazı fasıl heyetlerinin yaptığı müzikal çalışmalarda da kullanımı devam etmiştir. Türkiye’nin birçok yöresinde, mahalli müzisyenler tarafından yöresel icralarda kullanımı günümüzde de devam etmektedir. Cümbüş sazı, Türk popüler müzik kültüründe yapılan albüm çalışmalarında da oldukça sık kullanılan bir çalgıdır. Cümbüş çalgısını, farklı ülkelerdeki popüler müzik yorumcularının ve çalgı icracılarının kullandığı görülmektedir. Bu çalışmada icracı örnekleri arasında Türkiye’de; Salih Korkut Peker, Fatih Ahıskalı, Cafer Nazlıbaş, Erkan Oğur, Ali Yılmaz, Fikret Gül, Mehmet Karataş gibi isimlerin yanı sıra Dünya’da ise Aram Tigran, Ara Dinkjiyan, Pink Floyd grubundan David Gilmour, İngiliz rock müziği ve halk müzisyeni Lu Edmonds gibi isimler ele alınacaktır. Çalışmada, cümbüş çalgısının icadı, yapısı ve özelliklerinin yanısıra cümbüş çalgısını kullanan bazı icracıların tanıtılması araştırılmıştır.

Abstract Background Following COVID-19 infection, some patients acquired lung injury and fibrosis. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by lung fibrosis. Both post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cause loss of respiratory function and involvement of the lung parenchyma. We aimed to compare respiratory related functional characteristics and radiological involvement between post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Methods A single center, cross-sectional study was applied. Patients with post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis included in the study. All patients underwent the 6-minute walk test, as well as the Borg and MRC scales. Radiological images were evaluated and scored for lung parenchymal involvement. The impact of post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on respiratory functions of were compared. The relationship of functional status and radiological involvement, as well as the effect of potential confounding factors were investigated. Results A total of 71 patients were included in the study. Forty-eight (67.6%) of the patients were male and the mean age was 65.4 ± 10.3 years. Patients with post-COVID lung injury had greater 6-minute walk test distance and duration, as well as higher oxygen saturations. The MRC and Borg dyspnea scores were comparable. At radiologic evaluation, ground glass opacity scores were higher in patients with post-COVID lung injury, whereas pulmonary fibrosis scores were higher in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. However, the total severity scores were similar. While pulmonary fibrosis score was found to have a negative correlation with 6-minute walk test distance, test duration, and pre- and post-test oxygen saturation levels, there was a positive correlation with oxygen saturation recovery time and MRC score. There was no relationship between ground glass opacity and the functional parameters. Conclusions Despite having equal degrees of radiological involvement and dyspnea symptom severity, PCLI patients exhibited higher levels of functional status. This might be due to different pathophysiological mechanisms and radiological involvement patterns of both diseases.

Objectives: This paper investigates the associations of social competence with cognitive representation and communication skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), by measuring these skills in an expansive way through assessing both mental and internal-state understanding, and verbal and non-verbal communication. Methods: The data were collected from 45 Turkish children (Mage=8.52 years, SD=3.05, min-max=3-14) with a diagnosis of ASD. Individual assessments were used to measure mental- and internal-state understanding. Teacher-rated scales were used to assess child's verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and social competence. Results: The results showed that social competence, cognitive representation, verbal and non-verbal communication skills were all significantly associated, but over and above cognitive representation skills and verbal communication, non-verbal communication had a salient role in adaptive social relationships of children with ASD. Conclusions: These findings have important applied implications for intervention studies and suggest that improvements of non-verbal communication skills in children with ASD might be important for increasing their positive social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectivesAlthough several repurposed antiviral drugs have been used for the treatment of COVID-19, only a few such as remdesivir and molnupiravir have shown promising effects. The objectives of our study were to investigate the association of repurposed antiviral drugs with COVID-19 morbidity.MethodsPatients admitted to 26 different hospitals located in 16 different provinces between March 11–July 18, 2020, were enrolled. Case definition was based on WHO criteria. Patients were managed according to the guidelines by Scientific Board of Ministry of Health of Turkey. Primary outcomes were length of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) requirement, and intubation.ResultsWe retrospectively evaluated 1,472 COVID-19 adult patients; 57.1% were men (mean age = 51.9 ± 17.7years). A total of 210 (14.3%) had severe pneumonia, 115 (7.8%) were admitted to ICUs, and 69 (4.7%) were intubated during hospitalization. The median (interquartile range) of duration of hospitalization, including ICU admission, was 7 (5–12) days. Favipiravir (n = 328), lopinavir/ritonavir (n = 55), and oseltamivir (n = 761) were administered as antiviral agents, and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ, n = 1,382) and azithromycin (n = 738) were used for their immunomodulatory activity. Lopinavir/ritonavir (β [95% CI]: 4.71 [2.31–7.11]; p = 0.001), favipiravir (β [95% CI]: 3.55 [2.56–4.55]; p = 0.001) and HCQ (β [95% CI]: 0.84 [0.02–1.67]; p = 0.046) were associated with increased risk of lengthy hospital stays. Furthermore, favipiravir was associated with increased risks of ICU admission (OR [95% CI]: 3.02 [1.70–5.35]; p = 0.001) and invasive mechanical ventilation requirement (OR [95% CI]: 2.94 [1.28–6.75]; p = 0.011).ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that antiviral drugs including lopinavir, ritonavir, and favipiravir were associated with negative clinical outcomes such as increased risks for lengthy hospital stay, ICU admission, and invasive mechanical ventilation requirement. Therefore, repurposing such agents without proven clinical evidence might not be the best approach for COVID-19 treatment.

Hypomyelinating leukodystrophies (HLDs) affect the white matter of the central nervous system and manifest as neurological disorders. They are genetically heterogeneous. Very recently, biallelic variants in NKX6‐2 have been suggested to cause a novel form of autosomal recessive HLD. Using whole‐exome or whole‐genome sequencing, we identified the previously reported c.196delC and c.487C>G variants in NKX6‐2 in 3 and 2 unrelated index cases, respectively; the novel c.608G>A variant was identified in a sixth patient. All variants were homozygous in affected family members only. Our patients share a primary diagnosis of psychomotor delay, and they show spastic quadriparesis, nystagmus and hypotonia. Seizures and dysmorphic features (observed in 2 families each) represent an addition to the phenotype, while developmental regression (observed in 3 families) appears to be a notable and previously underestimated clinical feature. Our findings extend the clinical and mutational spectra associated with this novel form of HLD. Comparative analysis of our 10 patients and the 15 reported previously did, however, not reveal clear evidence for a genotype‐phenotype correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper focuses on the numerical investigation of the flow around the fully submerged 2D and 3D hydrofoils operating close to a free surface. Iterative boundary element method is implemented to predict the flow field. This study aims to investigate the aspect ratio effect on the free surface interactions and hydrodynamic performance of the hydrofoils under a free surface by using potential flow theory. Three different submergence depths and aspect ratios are studied in the wide range of Froude Numbers. In 3D cases, spanwise width of the numerical wave tank model is selected both equal and wider to the foil span, to observe the sidewall effects. Wave field seems to be two dimensional at low Froude numbers. On the other hand, signs of three dimensionalities are observed on the free surface structure for higher Fn, even the predicted wave elevations are very close to 2D calculations in the midsection. Increment in the Fn give a rise to the amplitude of the generated waves first, however a further increase in Fn has a lowering effect with the beginning of waves spill in the spanwise direction in the form of Kelvin waves. Free surface proximity and resultant wave field are also seeming to be linked with the lift force on the hydrofoil. As aspect ratio of the foil increase, 3D lift values are getting closer to those of 2D calculations. However, it is seen that, 3D BEM predictions of a hydrofoil under free surface effect cannot be considered two-dimensional even the aspect ratio is equal to 8.

This paper presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach which can be used to investigate the hydrodynamic performances of various antifouling paints. Steady Reynolds - Averaged - Navier - Stokes (RANS) equations were solved for the flows around a flat plate at Reynolds number of 2,8×106 and 5,5×106 . The surface roughness effects were modelled as downward shift of the velocity profile at the log – law region of the boundary layer. Granville’s similarity law was used to extrapolate the results for a full scale ship. Results are in good agreement with the previous experimental and numerical studies.