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The general aim of the study is to determine the motivation of volunteers to participate in the sportive activities of mentally handicapped individuals (Study 1) and to reveal the details that can ensure the continuity of these volunteering activities (Study 2). In Study I, a survey model including the qualitative paradigm was used. Study I was carried out with 138 volunteers who participated in the Special Olympics Turkey event for mentally handicapped individuals in Gazi University. In the study I, an open-ended data collection tool with one question was used to determine the reasons for volunteers to participate in the sportive activities of mentally handicapped individuals. In the study I was used thematic analysis. In study I, It was determined that 121 (Female: 76, Male: 45) volunteers were in the internal motivation sub-dimension, 15 (Female: 4, Male: 11) volunteers were in the external motivation sub-dimension and 2 participants were in the non-motivation sub-dimension. In Study II, it was aimed to examine the expressions of volunteers involved in external motivation and non-motivation dimensions for these dimensions in depth. In Study II, a qualitative research approach was used. Study II was carried out with 17 volunteers involved in the dimensions of External Motivation (n: 15) and Non-motivation among volunteers. In Study II, semi-structured interview form was used as data collection tool. Study II shows the categories and frequencies achieved during interviews with individuals, whose voluntary participation motivations are external motivation and non-motivation. In interviews with volunteers in the external motivation sub-dimension, the following categories were obtained: "Occupational anxiety," "Increasing the Sincerity with Teachers," "Gaining Social Status/Becoming Popular," and "Rewarding Voluntary Participation."

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of peer-mediated adaptive physical activity program on problem behaviors of mentally handicapped students. Eight mentally handicapped students and eight peer students with normal development participated in this study, which was designed according to a sequential descriptive design. In the research, peer education program was applied to the peer students in line with the skills expected to be exhibited during the practices. In the study, Problem Behavior Sub-Scale (PBS), which is one of the subscales of Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) developed by Gresham and Elliot (1990) and Turkish adaptation by Sucuoglu and Ozokcu (2005) was used as a quantitative data collection tool. As a qualitative data collection tool, semi-structured interview form was used. The Friedman test was used to analyze the quantitative data, and Wilcoxon Signs test was used to determine the source of the difference. Significance value was determined as 0.05. In the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis was applied. The quantitative findings of the study showed that the peer-mediated APA program was effective on the problem behaviors of mentally handicapped students and that the skills acquired as a result of the practice were maintained by the children three weeks after the completion of the practices. In the qualitative findings, the teachers stated that after the peer-mediated APA program, there were positive developments in the ability of mentally handicapped students to experience push-pull, touch discomfort, fear, trust, power control with their peers and to act in accordance with the instructions. The obtained qualitative and quantitative findings showed that peer mediated APA program had positive effects on the problem behaviors of mentally handicapped students.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the opinions of physical education teachers on the concept of sportsmanship. This study, which has been based on the qualitative research paradigm, involves opinions of 13 physical education teachers (9 males and 4 females) which serve in public schools of Turkey and which have been specified through a critical incident sampling. A "semi-structured interview form" which has been developed using a literature review and expert opinions has been used to collect data. The descriptive analysis technique was used in analyzing the obtained data. Results of the study showed that physical education teachers have different views on the sportsmanship concept. Although physical education teachers stated their opinions on requirement of activities towards enhancing the awareness with regard to the sportsmanship concept in schools they work in, it was determined that they performed few activities pertaining to sportsmanship. However, it was seen that the current physical education course programs do not provide teachers with sufficient information regarding the sportsmanship education and that teachers desire to have education on the sportsmanship concept during in-service training activities. Furthermore, the involved teachers think that quality of the current university education in terms of the sportsmanship concept should be improved. In conclusion, in order to enhance the quality of physical education teachers with regard to the sportsmanship concept, particularly faculties of education are recommended to include compulsory courses containing both the theory and practice on sportsmanship and researchers are recommended to develop sample activities and practice guiding physical education teachers.

It is to determine the perception of the gifted students who participate to "Science and Art Center" about "Physical Education Course" and "Physical Education Teachers" via metaphors. The working group of the research consists of 48 students who participate Science and Art Center in 2014-2015 school years. Among the purposive sampling methods, criterion sampling method is used in choosing the working group. In the research, among the qualitative research approaches, phenomenological design is used. The data is gathered by semi-structured metaphor form and gathered data have been subjected to content analysis. It was seen that, toward the physical education, they described it in a way that includes positive qualifications as a good lecture, a mean of freedom, a source of life, an educating activity, a competition area and a natural event. It was determined that generally the students' perception towards physical education teachers are positive and they are described as a mentor, compassionate, fun, capable, knowing, hard-working and strong. It can be said that the students see the physical education more as a mean to have fun, to have great time and to move freely. The physical education teacher is also described as a mentor, compassionate and fun person.

Considering that parents are one of the key figures in their child's participation in physical activity, it is extremely important to examine parents' perceptions and experiences of physical activity in order to protect children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) from the inactive life during the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and to include them in physical activities in the home environment. Although it is still a new subject, there is no research that addresses parents' physical activity knowledge, needs and recommendations for the physical activity experiences of children with ASD during the COVID-19 outbreak, and offers solutions accordingly. Considering this gap in the literature, the aim of this qualitative study is to explore parents' perceptions on physical activity for their children with ASD. Participants of the study were 10 parents with children with ASD, who participated in one-to-one semi-structured phone calls. Interview data were analyzed thematically. The analysis of the data revealed three main themes: (1) possible benefits of physical activity during the COVID-19 outbreak; (2) physical activity barriers during the COVID-19 outbreak; and (3) recommendations for physical activity during the COVID-19 outbreak. The results revealed that parents thought that physical activities had a positive effect on the development areas of their children with ASD. It was determined that parents want to involve their children in physical activities in the home environment, but they have barriers that they need to overcome.

Cotton straws are one of the most produced agricultural wastes in Turkey and getting attention by not being consumed as animal feed or an industrial stock and having a huge potential in clean energy production. In this study, different pretreatment methods for the conversion of cotton straw to sugar then biohydrogen and biomethane production from cotton straw were examined. The energy potential of cotton straw in case of an evaluation of these biomass residues was also determined using fuel cell technology. Acid pretreatment provided the highest yield in biogas formation as well as sugar extraction from the raw sample. The highest biohydrogen and biomethane production were obtained as 33 mL H 2 /g VS and 83 mL CH 4 /g VS, respectively. Concomitantly, the maximum power peaks in PEM fuel cell studies were observed as 0.45 W/cm2 and 0.23 W/cm2 with current densities of 1.086 A/cm2 and 0.522 A/cm2 when the fuel cell was fed with pure H 2 and biogas, respectively. This suggested that acid pretreatment is more suitable for cotton straw management in sustainable and renewable ways and the results demonstrated that PEM fuel cell is a promising clean technology for energy generation from cotton straw. Image 1 • Cotton straws were extracted by using three different pretreatment methods. • Acid pretreatment was ~2 times effective than other methods in sugar extraction. • The highest bioH 2 and bioCH 4 production was 33 and 83 mL/g VS, respectively. • The biohydrogen was used as fuel in PEM fuel cells for clean energy generation. • The maximum power and current density in PEMFC were 23 W/cm2 and 0.522 A/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Although patients with acromegaly may have an increased risk of developing several types of cancers, the degree of risk for malignancy in these patients is unresolved., Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the potential genotoxic effects of acromegaly on the cell cycle in peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures., Design: This was a single center, crossover, case-control study conducted on the acromegalic patients in Turkey., Setting: The study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of a university hospital., Patients: Seventy-one consecutively screened acromegalic patients and 56 controls participated in the study., Intervention: Patients were included, regardless of the disease activity status and their treatment duration before the study., Main Outcome Measures: The primary end point was the frequency of micronucleus (MN) in the peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures, and the secondary end point was its clinical correlations., Results: The MN level was 3.82 ± 1.49 in the control group and 18.00 ± 6.13 in the acromegalic group (P < .01), whereas the nuclear division index (NDI) was 1.79 ± 0.12 in the control group and 1.68 ± 0.07 in the acromegalic group (P < .01). Neither MN nor NDI was correlated with age, GH, IGF-I, initial GH, initial IGF-I, duration of the remission period, and initial tumor size. Only the MN level was positively correlated with the duration of disease (r = 0.323, P = .014)., Conclusion: Our results indicated that acromegalic patients had genotoxic damage at a substantial level, and there was a positive correlation between the duration of disease and genotoxicity level.