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Bcl-2 and Bax proteins are expressed in cells of the tails of Pelophylax ridibundus larvae. We investigated the levels of these proteins in tails undergoing apoptosis. Apoptotic cells were observed in the epidermis, muscle and notochord of tails of different lengths. The apoptotic cells in epidermis exhibited the typical features of apoptosis. Amorphous masses and irregularities in striated muscle tissue undergoing apoptosis and apoptotic remnants in the notochord also were observed. In general, Bax staining in the epidermis, subepidermal fibroblast layer, muscle and notochord cells increased, while Bcl-2 staining decreased as the tail regressed. Our results suggest that during tail regression due to metamorphosis, Bcl-2 and Bax proteins play key roles in the apoptosis of tail epidermis, subepidermal fibroblast layer, muscle and notochord cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of dynamic geometry software application GeoGebra in supporting effective use of physical materials like spaghetti to study frequency curve and amplitude of the sine function. It informs that the traditional method which uses spaghetti solely to measure each segment separately for different angles was a time consuming task for teacher and student. It cites that the software helps students to understand periodic nature of the sine function.

The article describes an activity program for the seventh-grade level which presents a realistic context to help students think proportionally.

The article describes an activity program for middle school education which asks students to effectively interpret box plots by making connections between dot plots and box plots or between histograms and box plots.

Manipulatives have been used in many mathematics classrooms across many age groups with the aim of helping students to understand abstract concepts through concrete, kinesthetic, and visual experiences. In this paper, after we provide a background for the use of physical and virtual manipulatives in teaching and learning of mathematics, we will describe our experiences with a group of students who complete an activity with a physical manipulative which is followed by a virtual manipulative to study the concept of residuals in a linear regression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study of 22 preservice teachers enrolled in a first-semester mathematics teaching methods course. Course activities included participation in two separate field experiences in neighboring school districts. The methods class placed considerable emphasis on the use of advanced digital technologies in the teaching and learning of mathematics, with particularly extensive use of the TI-Nspire. The purpose of the study was to examine preservice teachers' evolving relationships with advanced digital technologies in their teaching, examined through the lens of their technological pedagogical content knowledge (Koehler & Mishra, 2005; Niess 2005, 2006, 2007), and to examine the interplay between their field placements and the quality of their use of advanced digital technologies in inquiry-based lessons. The principal conclusion of the study is that there seems to be a crucial, perhaps decisive effect that modeling of exemplary practice in the field placement has on candidate attitudes regarding the use of advanced digital technologies in their teaching. There is evidence that the pre-service teachers' experiences in the classroom primed them for the possibilities of technology use but it takes the experiencing of exemplary practice to convince them of the benefits of working to incorporate technology in their own teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored secondary school students' attitudes, beliefs and emotions towards mathematics and science in six high schools in Ankara, Turkey, in order to develop a framework for studying students' affective domain. Data were collected via a survey, which included both a 6-point Likert-type scale and open-ended questions. Data analysis aimed to uncover the relationships between gender, grade level and the affective domain. Results indicated that students had generally positive attitudes towards mathematics and science courses. Mathematics was the most favoured subject. Female students favoured biology courses more than male students; whereas male students stated that they liked physics courses more than female students. The main reasons for developing positive and negative attitudes, beliefs and emotions were being able to understand the subject and the teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effectiveness of the Ohio High School Transformation Initiative using several years of state data on attendance, graduation, dropout rates, and performance index scores. Results indicate differences between small schools or small learning communities, and traditional schools that have similar school profiles to small schools in: graduation rates by year; attendance rates among the traditional schools over the years; and the performance index scores. Small schools' performance index scores gradually increased, but traditional schools with similar school profiles outperformed small schools. There was no difference in the dropout rates. Creating a sense of community, rather than simply transforming the school structure, seems to be the key to improving high school education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and values toward a subject not only influence their interests and achievement, but also their actions such as their choices of course work, major, and career. In this study, middle school, high school, and college students' affective responses and perspectives toward mathematics were observed by using metaphors. The outcomes of the use of metaphors to learn about students' affective domains not only revealed the nature of students' affective domains regarding mathematics, but also students' justifications for those affective perceptions. Therefore, another aim of this paper is to model how teachers and researchers might categorize and interpret students' responses to reflect on not only the nature of students' affective tendencies, but also the reasoning behind them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although growing numbers of secondary school mathematics teachers and students use calculators to study graphs, they mainly rely on paper-and-pencil when manipulating algebraic symbols. However, the Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) on computers or handheld calculators create new possibilities for teaching and learning algebraic manipulation. This study investigated the views of Turkish prospective secondary mathematics teachers on the use of advanced calculators with CAS in algebra instruction. An open-ended questionnaire and group interviews revealed prospective teachers’ views and beliefs about when and why they prefer three possible uses of CAS—black box, white box, or Symbolic Math Guide (SMG). The results showed that participants mainly preferred the white box methods and especially SMG to the black box method. They suggested that while the black box method could be used after students mastered the skills, the general white box method and SMG could be used to teach symbolic manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a dearth of research on the mechanisms for preservice teachers development of the pedagogical knowledge necessary for effective use of such technologies. We explored the emergent Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) (Niess 2005, 2006, 2007) of a group of secondary mathematics preservice teachers in a methods course as they designed and implemented technology-rich teaching materials in field settings. Participant surveys and collected assignments were analyzed through the lens of the TPACK framework. The data were also analyzed to examine the trajectory of the participants' beliefs about the appropriate role of advanced digital technologies in mathematics. The results indicate that the participants' understanding of technology shifted from viewing technology as a tool for reinforcement into viewing technology as a tool for developing student understanding. Collected data supports the notion that preservice teacher TPACK development is closely related to a shift in identity from learners of mathematics to teachers of mathematics. In a class where advanced digital technologies were used extensively as a catalyst for promoting inquiry-based learning, preservice teachers retained a great deal of skepticism about the appropriateness of using technology in concept development roles, despite their confidence that they can incorporate technology into their future teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this in vivo study, we aimed to assess the radioprotective effect of amifostine on late normal tissue damage induced by gemcitabine concomitant with pelvic radiotherapy by histopathological and quantitative methods. Fifty-six male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into seven experimental groups as follows: (I) gemcitabine, (II) radiation + gemcitabine, (III) radiation + gemcitabine + amifostine, (IV) radiation + amifostine, (V) sham radiation, (VI) amifostine, (VII) radiation. Irradiation was given to pelvic region with a dose of 25 Gy in 5 fractions. Amifostine was given for 30 min; gemcitabine was administered 24 h before the first fraction of radiotherapy. All animals were killed at the end of 4th month. Pathological examination was performed and the tissue collagen content was measured in bladder and rectal tissues. Fifty-one animals that were alive at the end of the follow-up period were analyzed. Thirty-five animals (68.6%) revealed grades I-III late effect in histopathological examination. We observed grade III colitis in 1 animal (radiation + gemcitabine) and bladder fibrosis in 4 animals (radiation and radiation + gemcitabine groups). There was no significant difference between any groups for bladder cystitis and fibrosis by Kruskal-Wallis method. Colitis was seen significantly lower in the radiation + gemcitabine + amifostine group (P = 0.0005). The collagen contents in the bladder and rectum of radiation and radiation + gemcitabine groups were markedly increased as compared to the sham group. This effect was reversed in the groups which received amifostine in addition to radiation and radiation + gemcitabine groups, but this difference was not significant. This study demonstrated that amifostine may have a beneficial effect in limiting rectal colitis from the radiosensitizing effect of gemcitabine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What knowledge is needed to teach mathematics with digital technologies? The overarching construct, called technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK), has been proposed as the interconnection and intersection of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Mathematics Teacher TPACK Standards offer guidelines for thinking about this construct. A Mathematics Teacher Development Model describes the development of TPACK toward meeting these standards. The standards and model provide structured detail to further the work of various groups. The proposals may guide teachers, researchers, teacher educators, professional development consultants, and school administrators in the development and evaluation of professional development activities, mathematics education programs, and school mathematics programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an activity that introduces the limit concept within geometrical and historical contexts in secondary education. Technology helps to emphasize connections among geometry, measurement, and calculus. The said activity also presents opportunities for students to discover the connections among mathematical ideas and to travel among different representations to experience the same mathematical concept from different points of view. Students can develop their understanding of the limit concept based on their informal and intuitive knowledge.

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The studies in mathematics and science education, which focused on the students' attitudes, concluded that students' attitudes might be related with their approach to the class and subject, level of knowledge, achievement, willingness to learn and interest. This paper aims to analyze secondary school (9th, 10th, and 11th year) students' attitudes towards mathematics and science classes. Data analysis aimed to uncover the relationship between gender, grade level and attitudes. Data were collected with a survey which included both a 6-point Likert-type scale and open ended questions. The analysis of positively stated items revealed that secondary school students had generally positive attitudes towards mathematics and science classes. Two main reasons for developing positive attitudes were admiring the teacher and understanding the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by high blood glucose levels due to the absence of secretion of insulin or its inefficient use in the body. In this study, we investigated how resveratrol administration affects the renal functions and pro-inflammatory signaling pathway components in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in male Wistar rats. Rats were randomly divided into four groups: (1) control/vehicle; (2) control/20 mg/kg resveratrol; (3) diabetic/vehicle; and (4) diabetic/20 mg/kg resveratrol. In addition to renal glucose, lipid, angiopoietin-1 (ANG-1), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), erythropoietin (EPO), malondialdehyde (MDA) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) content, the gene expressions of pro-inflammatory markers, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2) like-2 (Nrf2), and the protein contents of interleukins-1β,6,8 (IL-1β,6,8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were analyzed using qRT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The rats in the diabetes group demonstrated significantly lower terminal body weight and renal ANG-1, but significantly higher renal glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, ADMA and MDA concentrations. Diabetes triggered inflammation in kidney tissues, reflected as an increase in NGAL level. The renal inflammation observed in the diabetes group was associated with significant upregulation of components of the pro-inflammatory pathway, iNOS, NF-κB, Nrf2, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α. To some extent, resveratrol administration reversed the diabetes-induced changes in renal tissues, suggesting that resveratrol partially protected from diabetes-induced renal failure due to its restorative activities in tissue inflammation.