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To employ educational games in education as intended, it is required to show students' cognitive structures for this concept. As a result, the purpose of this research was to reveal the cognitive structures of secondary school students regarding educational games. The research was a survey-based descriptive study. A total of 340 secondary school students were included for this research, which included fifth graders (n = 80), sixth graders (n = 95), seventh graders (n = 69), and eighth graders (n = 96). Simple random sampling was used to choose the participants. Data were gathered using the Word Association Test and a drawing test. Six categories are used to organize the students' responses to the educational game's concept. "Individual gains," "lessons," "sports," "lesson tools/applications," "games," and "features of games" were all of these. Four categories were used to categorize the drawings made by the students to represent the concept of educational games: "physical ability games," "intelligent and strategy games," "puzzle," and "mixed games." As a result of this research, it is possible to conclude that students' cognitive structures for the concept of educational games include games played in classes, and educational games highlight the game aspect more. Besides that, there was little vocabulary diversity in their cognitive structures for the educational dimension. To enhance students' cognitive structures toward educational games, focus should be given to the instructional feature of educational games in research to be undertaken in the relevant field.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to higher education in Germany, necessitating a rapid transition to remote learning. This study evaluates the impact of the pandemic on academic functioning among German university students. Methods: An online survey was conducted with 207 students aged 18 to 35. Results: Significantly poorer academic functioning was evident during the pandemic, particularly in academic output and role satisfaction. Younger students (18 to 24 years) experienced a greater decrease in contact with teachers and lower academic output compared to older students (25 to 35 years). These findings suggest that younger students may struggle more with remote learning due to challenges in self-regulation and time management. Additionally, pandemic-induced disruptions blurred the boundaries between work and personal life, increasing stress and adversely affecting academic performance. No significant differences were found based on sex or living situation. Conclusion: Academic functioning was significantly poorer during the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding highlights the need for targeted support strategies to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on students’ academic performance and well-being. Further research is recommended to explore the long-term implications of the pandemic on academic outcomes and student well-being.

The Awassi sheep, a breed with a distinctive fat tail, is bred specifically in the south-eastern region in Turkey. It has proven its adaptability to the hot environment of this region, especially in the provinces of Şanlıurfa, Hatay and Gaziantep, which are close to the Syrian border. The aim of this study was to investigate the SNP polymorphisms in the GDF9 gene/exon2 using DNA sequencing. In addition, the study investigated the relationships between SNP genotypes and growth traits, in particular birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW) and weight at the end of the grazing season (GSW), in Awassi sheep. Four different flocks with a total of 131 Awassi lambs were used. PCR was used to amplify exon2 of the GDF9 gene region, which has a length of 815 base pairs (bp), from the genomic DNA of the Awassi sheep. Thus, four new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. The results showed that although the effects of SNP2 and SNP4 on body weight (BW) were statistically significant, only SNP4 had a significant effect on weaning weight (WW) (P

BackgroundCoronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD). CHD is among the most common causes of mortality and morbidity world wide. In addition, CHD is one of the most important causes of health expenditures world wide. Today, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) operations are a widely used surgical procedure and have an important place in the treatment of CHD. Many scoring systems have been evaluated to estimate the risk of mortality and morbidity. 30-day mortality rates after CABG have been reported as 1–4% in large-scale studies.ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between 1-month mortality in patients undergoing CABG and the Hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, platelet index (HALP score) and Prognostic nutritional index (PNI) calculated using laboratory data in the preoperative period.Methods and designA total of 239 patients who underwent CABG were evaluated retrospectively. Preoperative biochemical and hemogram values, demographic characteristics, comorbidities, HALP score and PNI values of the patients were recorded. The patients were divided into two groups: Exitus group (n = 51) and survival group (n = 188). The data of the two groups were compared, mainly HALP score and PNI.ResultsIt was observed that 51 of 239 patients (21.3%) developed exitus during the 30-day follow-up after CABG. When demographic data are compared; advanced age, female gender, history of DM (Diabetes Mellitus), history of HL (hyperlipidemia) and smoking were found to be associated with mortality. When laboratory data are compared; high troponin levels, low hemoglobin, low lymphocyte and low albumin levels were found to be associated with mortality. Low HALP score (p

Resumo Fundamento: A hipertensão pulmonar é uma condição que envolve a remodelação do ventrículo direito. A remodelação contínua também está associada ao prognóstico da doença. Durante o processo de reestruturação, alterações complexas como hipertrofia e dilatação também podem se refletir nos parâmetros eletrocardiográficos. Objetivos: Nosso estudo teve como objetivo investigar a relação entre prognóstico e parâmetros eletrocardiográficos em pacientes com hipertensão arterial pulmonar. Métodos: O estudo foi desenhado retrospectivamente e incluiu pacientes com diagnóstico de hipertensão arterial pulmonar entre 2010 e 2022. Os pacientes foram divididos em dois grupos com base no resultado de sobrevida. Vários parâmetros, incluindo parâmetros eletrocardiográficos, demográficos, ecocardiográficos, de cateter e sanguíneos, foram comparados entre os dois grupos. Um valor de p

Objective: Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibition in cardiac tissue causes inhibition of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, which is responsible for protecting cardiac tissue during stress. Therefore, there is an increase in the risk of arrhythmia. This study explores the prediction of that risk with the Age-Creatinine-Ejection Fraction (ACEF) score as a simple scoring system based on the components of age, creatinine, and ejection fraction. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and receiving ibrutinib treatment for at least 1 year were evaluated with echocardiography and Holter electrocardiography and the results were compared with a control group of CLL patients who had not received treatment. ACEF score was calculated with the formula age/left ventricular ejection fraction+1 (if creatinine >2.0 mg/dL). Results: When the arrhythmia development of the patients was evaluated, no statistically significant difference was found between the control and ibrutinib groups in terms of types of arrhythmias other than paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). PAF was found to occur at rates of 8% versus 22% (p=0.042) among ibrutinib non-users versus users. For patients using ibrutinib, an ACEF score of >1.21 predicted the development of PAF with 77% sensitivity and 75% specificity (area under the curve: 0.830, 95% confidence interval: 0.698-0.962, p

Abstract Most vertebrates develop distinct females and males, where sex is determined by repeatedly evolved environmental or genetic triggers. Undifferentiated sex chromosomes and large genomes have caused major knowledge gaps in amphibians. Only a single master sex-determining gene, the dmrt1-paralogue (dm-w) of female-heterogametic clawed frogs (Xenopus; ZW♀/ZZ♂), is known across >8740 species of amphibians. In this study, by combining chromosome-scale female and male genomes of a non-model amphibian, the European green toad, Bufo(tes) viridis, with ddRAD- and whole genome pool-sequencing, we reveal a candidate master locus, governing a male-heterogametic system (XX♀/XY♂). Targeted sequencing across multiple taxa uncovered structural X/Y-variation in the 5′-regulatory region of the gene bod1l, where a Y-specific non-coding RNA (ncRNA-Y), only expressed in males, suggests that this locus initiates sex-specific differentiation. Developmental transcriptomes and RNA in-situ hybridization show timely and spatially relevant sex-specific ncRNA-Y and bod1l-gene expression in primordial gonads. This coincided with differential H3K4me-methylation in pre-granulosa/pre-Sertoli cells, pointing to a specific mechanism of amphibian sex determination.

ABSTRACT: The gastrointestinal microbial consortium in dairy cattle is critical to determining the energetic status of the dairy cow from birth through her final lactation. The ruminant's microbial community can degrade a wide variety of feedstuffs, which can affect growth, as well as production rate and efficiency on the farm, but can also affect food safety, animal health, and environmental impacts of dairy production. Gut microbial diversity and density are powerful tools that can be harnessed to benefit both producers and consumers. The incentives in the United States to develop Alternatives to Antibiotics for use in food-animal production have been largely driven by the Veterinary Feed Directive and have led to an increased use of probiotic approaches to alter the gastrointestinal microbial community composition, resulting in improved heifer growth, milk production and efficiency, and animal health. However, the efficacy of direct-fed microbials or probiotics in dairy cattle has been highly variable due to specific microbial ecological factors within the host gut and its native microflora. Interactions (both synergistic and antagonistic) between the microbial ecosystem and the host animal physiology (including epithelial cells, immune system, hormones, enzyme activities, and epigenetics) are critical to understanding why some probiotics work but others do not. Increasing availability of next-generation sequencing approaches provides novel insights into how probiotic approaches change the microbial community composition in the gut that can potentially affect animal health (e.g., diarrhea or scours, gut integrity, foodborne pathogens), as well as animal performance (e.g., growth, reproduction, productivity) and fermentation parameters (e.g., pH, short-chain fatty acids, methane production, and microbial profiles) of cattle. However, it remains clear that all direct-fed microbials are not created equal and their efficacy remains highly variable and dependent on stage of production and farm environment. Collectively, data have demonstrated that probiotic effects are not limited to the simple mechanisms that have been traditionally hypothesized, but instead are part of a complex cascade of microbial ecological and host animal physiological effects that ultimately impact dairy production and profitability.

Many scientific studies are conducted directly or indirectly with humans, animals, and plants. We believe that body electricity, which is generated and constantly present in the bodies of living beings, should be considered in scientific studies as an effective factor for production activity. We believe that body electricity should be included in the environment to bring the rumen fluids of sheep used in Daisy II rumen simulators closer to reality. In this way, the most realistic environment is created by adding the influencing factors of body electricity and many factors that can affect the outcome. The study was conducted on a total of 16 Karayaka ewes, including 4 lambs, 4 one-year-old ewes, 4 pregnant ewes and 4 lactating ewes. The data obtained in the study were collected by measuring the body electricity of the animals before and after grazing in 3 different periods for each group. At the end of the study, it was found that the value of body electricity of sheep determined at 0.12±0.001 v (volt) before feeding was higher than the value determined at 0.09±0.002 v after feeding. The difference between the two values was found to be statistically significant (P0.05) difference in the electrical body currents before and after feeding (except in lambs (P

Catecholamines and amino acid transmitter systems are known to interact, the exact links and their impact on cognitive control functions have however remained unclear. Using a multi-modal imaging approach combining EEG and proton-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), we investigated the effect of different degrees of pharmacological catecholaminergic enhancement onto theta band activity (TBA) as a measure of interference control during response inhibition and execution. It was central to our study to evaluate the predictive impact of in-vivo baseline GABA+ concentrations in the striatum, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the supplemental motor area (SMA) of healthy adults under varying degrees of methylphenidate (MPH) stimulation. We provide evidence for a predictive interrelation of baseline GABA+ concentrations in cognitive control relevant brain areas onto task-induced TBA during response control stimulated with MPH. Baseline GABA+ concentrations in the ACC, the striatum, and the SMA had a differential impact on predicting interference control-related TBA in response execution trials. GABA+ concentrations in the ACC appeared to be specifically important for TBA modulations when the cognitive effort needed for interference control was high – that is when no prior task experience exists, or in the absence of catecholaminergic enhancement with MPH. The study highlights the predictive role of baseline GABA+ concentrations in key brain areas influencing cognitive control and responsiveness to catecholaminergic enhancement, particularly in high-effort scenarios.

Resumo Fundamento: A triagem do câncer é absolutamente necessária em pacientes com derrame pericárdico, pois o câncer é uma das doenças mais graves em sua etiologia. Estudos anteriores indicaram que o índice de inflamação imunológica sistêmica (IIS), o índice prognóstico nutricional (PNI) e o escore de hemoglobina, albumina, linfócitos e plaquetas (HALP) podem ser escores relacionados ao câncer. Objetivos: Este estudo foi iniciado considerando que esses sistemas de pontuação poderiam prever o câncer na etiologia de pacientes com derrame pericárdico. Métodos: Os pacientes submetidos à pericardiocentese entre 2006 e 2022 foram analisados retrospectivamente. A pericardiocentese foi realizada em um total de 283 pacientes com derrame pericárdico ou tamponamento cardíaco de moderado a grande no período especificado. Os índices de HALP, PNI e IIS foram calculados do sangue venoso periférico retirado antes do procedimento de pericardiocentese. O nível de significância estatística foi aceito em p

Abstract Reward and cognitive control play crucial roles in shaping goal-directed behavior. Yet, the behavioral and neural underpinnings of interactive effects of both processes in driving our actions towards a particular goal have remained rather unclear. Given the importance of inhibitory control, we investigated the effect of reward prospect on the modulatory influence of automatic versus controlled processes during response inhibition. For this, a performance-contingent monetary reward for both correct response selection and response inhibition was added to a Simon NoGo task, which manipulates the relationship of automatic and controlled processes in Go and NoGo trials. A neurophysiological approach was used by combining EEG temporal signal decomposition and source localization methods. Compared to a non-rewarded control group, rewarded participants showed faster response execution, as well as overall lower response selection and inhibition accuracy (shifted speed-accuracy tradeoff). Interestingly, the reward group displayed a larger interference of the interactive effects of automatic versus controlled processes during response inhibition (i.e., a larger Simon NoGo effect), but not during response selection. The reward-specific behavioral effect was mirrored by the P3 amplitude, underlining the importance of stimulus–response association processes in explaining variability in response inhibition performance. The selective reward-induced neurophysiological modulation was associated with lower activation differences in relevant structures spanning the inferior frontal and parietal cortex, as well as higher activation differences in the somatosensory cortex. Taken together, this study highlights relevant neuroanatomical structures underlying selective reward effects on response inhibition and extends previous reports on the possible detrimental effect of reward-triggered performance trade-offs on cognitive control processes.

To employ educational games in education as intended, it is required to show students’ cognitive structures for this concept. As a result, the purpose of this research was to reveal the cognitive structures of secondary school students regarding educational games. The research was a survey-based descriptive study. A total of 340 secondary school students were included for this research, which included fifth graders (n=80), sixth graders (n=95), seventh graders (n=69), and eighth graders (n=96). Simple random sampling was used to choose the participants. Data were gathered using the Word Association Test (WAT) and a drawing test. Six categories are used to organize the students' responses to the educational game's concept. ‘Individual gains,’ ‘lessons,’ ‘sports,’ ‘lesson tools/applications,’ ‘games,’ and ‘features of games’ were all of these. Four categories were used to categorize the drawings made by the students to represent the concept of educational games: ‘physical ability games,’ ‘intelligent and strategy games,’ ‘puzzle,’ and ‘mixed games.’ As a result of this research, it is possible to conclude that students’ cognitive structures for the concept of educational games include games played in classes, and educational games highlight the game aspect more. Besides that, there was little vocabulary diversity in their cognitive structures for the educational dimension. To enhance students' cognitive structures toward educational games, focus should be given to the instructional feature of educational games in research to be undertaken in the relevant field.

Background: Eltrombopag has an off-label indication for haematopoietic cell transplantation in patients experiencing delayed thrombocyte recovery and/or thrombocytopaenia. Aims: To present our centre’s experience of using this agent not only for post- haematopoietic cell transplantation thrombocytopaenia but also for poor graft functioning in the post-haematopoietic cell transplantation setting. Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: Thirty-nine patients who had persistent cytopaenia following haematopoietic cell transplantation and treated with eltrombopag at our centre between October 2011 and December 2021 were retrospectively identified. During this period, 9 (23.1%) and 30 (76.9%) patients who underwent allogeneic transplantations, respectively, received eltrombopag. Results: The female-to-male ratio was 12:27, and the median transplant age was 49 (18-70) years. Eight (20.5%) patients had isolated thrombocytopaenia, 19 (49.4%) had bi-lineage cytopaenia and 12 (30.1%) had pancytopaenia. Patients received a median of 50 mg/day (25-150 mg/day) of eltrombopagfor a median duration of 82 (24-386) days. Nine (23.1%) patients had autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation, and 30 (76.9%) had allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (14 unrelated, 9 sibling and 7 haploidentical). The median donor age was 32 (20-67) years. The median follow-up was 16.4 (1.8-84.3) months. The median pre-treatment platelet count was 11x109/l (1-23), which increased to 41x109/l (6-150). The median platelet count increment was 29.5x109/l (p = 0.001). The pre-treatment median neutrophil count was 1.19x109/l (0.39-5.1), which increased to 2.35 x109/l (0.1-5.33) (p = 0.05), and the pre-treatment median haemoglobin was 8.3 (6.2-14) g/dl, which increased to 10 (6.2-14) g/dl (p = 0.001) with eltrombopag. No eltrombopag-related hepatotoxicity occurred; however, 1 (2.6%) patient failed to continue treatment because of two consecutive episodes of deep venous thrombosis. Six (15.4%) patients were unresponsive to eltrombopag and dependent on blood product transfusions. After a median time of 82 days, 61.5% of the patients discontinued eltrombopag successfully. Conclusion: The results confirmed that eltrombopag could provide a rapid, sustained response in patients with poor graft functioning after haematopoietic cell transplantation. This finding is essential given the high rate of non-relapse mortality caused by poor graft functioning after haematopoietic cell transplantation.

Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to find out specialty training preferences of senior medical students from three medical schools in Turkey, Spain, and Pakistan. Methods: A Discrete Choice Experiment was carried out using an electronic form for students in three countries in 2021–2022 term. Each choice set in the form consisted of two hypothetical specialty training positions. The attributes were location, earnings, working conditions, personal perspective, quality of education, probability of malpractice, and prestige. Conditional logit model was used to estimate participants’ preferences and “willingness to accept” values. Results: The most valued attribute was “personal perspective on specialty area” for Turkish and Spanish students, while this attribute was not meaningful for Pakistani students. Turkish students needed a 204% of change in their income for a swap between the specialty that they like and not like. This tradeoff necessitated a 300% change for Spanish students. The most valued attribute for Pakistani students, which was “working conditions”, necessitated a 97% increase in income to switch from working in good conditions to working in poor conditions. Conclusion: In this first multinational DCE study in the medical education literature, we found the preferences of medical students in Turkey, Spain, and Pakistan are affected to various extents by several factors.