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Purpose: This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project. Design/methodology/approach: Forty-eight TCs participated (26 in Türkiye and 22 in the USA) in the study. TCs discussed critical issues in multicultural education on an online learning platform for six weeks. Their discussions were analyzed using content and discourse analysis. Findings: The findings indicated that TCs approached the telecollaborative space as a translingual contact zone and positioned themselves and their interlocutors in the discourse by using the personal pronouns; I, we, you and they. When they positioned themselves using we (people in Türkiye/USA), they spoke on behalf of everyone included in the scope of we. Their interlocutors responded to these positionings either by accepting this positioning and responding with a parallel positioning or by engaging in translingual negotiation strategies to revise the scope of we and sharing some differences/nuances in beliefs and practices in their community. Research limitations/implications: When TCs talk about their culture and community in a singular manner using we, they frame them as the same across every member in that community. When they ask questions to each other using you, the framing of the questions prime the respondents to sometimes relay their own specific experiences as the norm or consider experiences from different points of view through translingual negotiation strategies. A singular approach to culture(s) may affect the marginalized communities the most because they are lost in this representation, and their experiences and voices are not integrated in the narratives or integrated with stereotypical representation. Practical implications: Teachers and teacher educators should first pay attention to their language choices, especially use of pronouns, which may communicate inclusion or exclusion in intercultural conversations. Next, they should prepare their students to adopt and practice language choices that communicate respect for cultural diversity and are inclusive of marginalized populations. Social implications: Speakers' pronoun use includes identity construction in discourse by drawing borders around and between communities and cultures with generalization and particularity, and by patrolling those borders to decide who is included and excluded. As a response, interlocutors use pronouns either to acknowledge those borders and respond with corresponding ones from their own context or negotiate alternative representations or further investigate for particularity or complexity. In short, pronouns could lead the direction of intercultural conversations toward criticality and complexity or otherwise, and might be reasons where there are breakdowns in communication or to fix those breakdowns. Originality/value: This study shows that translingual negotiation strategies have explanatory power to examine how speakers from different language backgrounds negotiate second and third order positionings in the telecollaborative space.

Today, science and technological developments play a role in the field of sports, as in all domains of life. For this reason, coaches may use technology to improve the technical, tactical, condition, and psychological performance of their athletes. Besides, pandemic conditions such as COVID-19 bring about this obligation. The aim of the present study was to examine the attitudes and levels of use of technology by coaches working in individual and team sports in terms of athlete education. The study group consisted of 205 people accessed by convenience sampling method. The data collection tool, "Teacher Technology Acceptance Measure: T-TAM," which consists of 38 items and 11 sub-dimensions and has a reliability coefficient of [alpha]=0.94 for this study, developed by Ursavas et al. was used by participants using an online questionnaire. The data showed normal distribution, analyses were made using parametric tests. According to the results, it can be suggested that 3rd level coaches use technology more widely in training and competitions than their 1st and 2nd level colleagues. Additionally, there is a statistical difference in the sub-dimensions of compatibility and subjective norms in favor of male coaches compared to female colleagues. Consequently, it can be claim that the coaches have a positive attitude towards using technology and try to use it at the highest level.

In this paper, we focus on the situatedness of teacher identity and agency within sociopolitical contexts dominated by neo-nationalist discourses and rely on data from online conversations among preservice and in-service teachers of English in Türkiye and the United States (US). We report on data constructed in a telecollaboration (a.k.a., virtual intercultural exchange) that we, four TESOL teacher educators, designed for teachers to discuss issues of social justice (particularly for minoritized immigrant students) and to have a discursive and experiential space in which to negotiate their language teacher identities (LTI). Gathering 117 teachers from five universities (three in Türkiye, two in the US) and underserved school districts in both contexts, this telecollaboration is our pedagogical, agentive response to dominant neo-nationalist discourses in the two countries. To make quantities of data more manageable, we analyze interactions from one-third of those 117 participants (five of 15 small groups) to address this research question: How do preservice and in-service teachers from Türkiye construct their teacher identities in response to neo-nationalist discourses in their sociopolitical context? In particular, how do they engage in this identity work through asynchronous small-group discussions in a social justice-focused telecollaboration with teachers from the US? Findings indicate that participants from Türkiye discussed teacher agency, conservatism and cultural difference in the society, and discrimination/xenophobia against refugees as important factors that shape their work with minoritized English language learners. They experienced tensions in their identity construction between their desire to advocate for their students and the external forces coming from meso- and macro-level policies that impact their instruction and assessment procedures. We discuss our findings in relation to previous research on language teacher identity and social justice in sociopolitical contexts shaped by neo-nationalist discourses. We also share the implications of our study for pedagogizing identity in teacher education.

The emergence and development of online M.A./M.Ed. in TESOL programs has created new possibilities for language teachers around the world to become part of a learning community that may not have been previously available to them. Online education means anywhere/anytime learning, continued employment and continued residence. Yet, online learning has brought challenges as much as celebrations; one being fear of disconnect between theory and practice. In this paper, through qualitative study, the authors address this concern by sharing the experiences and reflections of 22 teachers who completed a fully online TESOL master's degree program at a university in the South Central United States. Their voices specifically reflect the "connect" or "disconnect" of theory and practice in their online courses in one particular M.Ed. TESOL program. Overall, the voices of the students reaffirm that a strong connection of theory and practice is in fact possible in a virtual learning environment.

Abstract Introduction Myotonic dystrophy (MD) or Steinert's syndrome is a rare cause of chronic diarrhea and anal incontinence. In the presence of chronic diarrhea and fecal incontinence with muscle weakness, neuromuscular disorders such as myotonic dystrophy should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Case Presentation We present the case of a 45-year-old Turkish man with Steinert's syndrome, who was not diagnosed until the age of 45. Conclusions In clinical practice, the persistence of diarrhea and fecal incontinence with muscle weakness should suggest that the physician perform an anal manometric study and electromyography. Neuromuscular disorders such as myotonic dystrophy should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

The study reports on a telecollaboration exchange between two teacher education classes in the United States and Turkey. In synchronous and asynchronous conversations, preservice teachers (PTs) engaged in social justice issues and made discourse choices that captured culture(s) and communities as diverse or essentialized. These choices were affected by PTs' positionings and impacted how PTs connected to individuals only and/or to broader society. PTs asked questions that created space for critical discussions and facilitated awareness of diversity, yet sometimes led to overgeneralizations. The study has implications for designing telecollaborations that promote language and practices to unpack the issues of social justice.

ABSTRACTThe phytopathogenic fungus Rhizopus microsporus harbors a bacterial endosymbiont (Mycetohabitans rhizoxinica) that produces a crucial virulence factor responsible for the characteristic symptoms of rice seedling blight. The persistence of this unique microbial alliance is ensured by evasion of fungal defense mechanisms by the resident endosymbionts and their strict control of fungal reproduction. A functional bacterial Type 3 secretion system (T3SS) is essential for the establishment of the symbiosis. Yet, the nature of the effector(s) secreted through the T3SS, and their effects on fungal physiology, has remained elusive. Using bioinformatic analysis, we identified genes encoding potential T3SS effectors, namely an alanine-tryptophan-arginine triad (AWR) peptide and a set of transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors, in the genomes of eight endofungal Mycetohabitans strains. Co-culture experiments demonstrated that the sporulating phenotype of apo-symbiotic R. microsporus is unaffected upon reinfection with M. rhizoxinica Δawr compared to with wild-type M. rhizoxinica. In contrast, the ability of apo-symbiotic R. microsporus to produce mature sporangiophores when reinfected with M. rhizoxinica strains deficient in individual MTALs (M. rhizoxinica Δmtal1, M. rhizoxinica Δmtal2, and M. rhizoxinica Δmtal3) is significantly reduced. Trans-complementation experiments showed restoration of fungal sporulation, thus confirming that TAL effectors produced by M. rhizoxinica (MTAL1, MTAL2, and MTAL3) are needed for fungal sporulation. Using fluorescence microscopy, we show that AWR- and MTAL-deficient M. rhizoxinica strains successfully colonize apo-symbiotic R. microsporus, revealing the importance of bacterial MTALs in establishing a stable symbiosis after fungal colonization. Our findings attribute a new function to members of the MTAL family of T3SS-associated effectors and provide deeper insights into host control by prokaryotic symbionts.IMPORTANCEInteractions between fungi and bacteria are critically important in ecology, medicine, and biotechnology. In this study, we shed light on factors that promote the persistence of a toxin-producing, phytopathogenic Rhizopus-Mycetohabitans symbiosis that causes severe crop losses in Asia. We present an unprecedented case where bacterially produced transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors are key to maintaining a stable endosymbiosis. In their absence, fungal sporulation is abrogated, leading to collapse of the phytopathogenic alliance. The Mycetohabitans TAL (MTAL)-mediated mechanism of host control illustrates a unique role of bacterial effector molecules that has broader implications, potentially serving as a model to understand how prokaryotic symbionts interact with their eukaryotic hosts.

Our study draws from discussion board data from a telecollaboration including three teacher education courses in France, Turkey, and the USA. Our data analysis of three groups' conversations (n = 21) addressed this research question: How do participants use translingual negotiation strategies in online contact zones as they construct their cultural, linguistic, and professional identities? The findings indicate that preservice teachers employed: Envoicing and interactional strategies to create a caring teacher identity and resolve conflicts; recontextualizing strategies to maintain the frame of culturally-responsive instruction through their linguistic choices; and entextualizing strategies to locate self in time and space when discussing future teaching and diverse students.

This study mainly aims to determine the effect of the layered curriculum on the 6th grade students' learning styles in science lesson. The study group consists of students in the 6/A and 6/D at Fevzi Cakmak Secondary School in the city center of Siirt-Turkey in the academic year of 2015-2016. "Learning Styles Inventory" developed by Kolb and translated into Turkish by Askar and Akkoyunlu, diaries of students and semi-structured interview form developed by researchers and examination of the documents were used as data collection tools. As for data analysis, percent (%) and chi-square techniques were used to determine the learning styles of students, but in the analysis of students' opinions the descriptive analysis was used. During the study, students were also asked to express their experiences and considerations about learning activities via a diary. The thoughts and feelings reflected in the diaries of students were directly quoted in findings. As a result of the analysis, in pre-test results of the students in the experimental group exposed to the layered curriculum, a significant difference was found in terms of gender; however, no significant difference was found in their post-test results.

This study reports on data from two 6‐week virtual intercultural exchanges (VIEs) between teachers of multilingual learners in K‐12 schools in Türkiye and the United States. Using the data from these asynchronous VIEs, we focus on Turkish world Englishes speakers’ use of epistemic markers and evidentials. We examine how participants from Türkiye use markers of epistemic modality and evidentiality in intercultural encounters and how that use influences their construction of cultural information about Türkiye. Our findings show participants selectively code epistemic modality and evidentiality to indicate (their proximity to) the source of cultural information, avoid potential misunderstanding, and claim responsibility for the factuality of the information shared (or not). Our study contributes to understanding how world Englishes and Intercultural Communication intersect in multilingual contact zones that transcend borders―both real and imagined―between cultures, languages, and nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Objective of the study is to qualitatively evaluate challenges multiple sclerosis (MS) patients faced during diagnosis, treatment, and social life. Materials and Methods: Population of our qualitative study consisted MS patients with expanded disability status scale score =5 (19-50 years of age) who were admitted to a public university hospital neurology department. Semi-structured question guide were applied via in-depth face-to-face interviews. Interviews wereaudio-recorded after permission. Twelve participants agreed to participate voluntarily, the recordings were transcribed, thematic analysis was conducted. Results: "Attitude of family members and social circle", "problems came across" and "worries and coping mechanisms" were the most significant themes. Participants had anxiety after diagnosis because of fear of death, probabilityof losing functions and having no clue about what MS willbring in the future. Their families started to act more sensitively and with understanding after the diagnosis. While this situation was welcomed by some of the participants, some perceived this situation negatively a triggering factor for their feeling of insufficiency. Participants were exposed to stigma. One participant narrated he faced stigmatization due to his gait. Their educational lifeadversely affected. Participants faced situations such as not being hired or termination of employment. Probability of attacks to ocur at work could become an obstacle. Some participants stated it would be difficult to carry their responsibilities due to MS and start a family, so they would have difficulties in establishing romantic relationships. Some emphasized the disease would not cause a problem, but their partners' approach to MS was important. They were worried that their families would experience sadness and anxiety, that they would not be able to support their spouses and children if their disease progressed, they were also worried about risk of transmitting MS to their children. They developed coping strategiessuch as avoidance, religion, self-soothing. Conclusion: Participants' knowledge about MS is limited. Families have a supportive attitude towards patients and takes teps to make participants' lives easier. Studies developing scales such as quantitatively measuring stigma or perceived empathy in MS patients can be recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the professionalization of a group of 28 pre-service teachers, using a qualitative case study design and reflective practice as the analytical framework. The pre-service teachers were involved in a service learning project at a local middle school in the U.S. where they designed and taught a content area lesson to English language learners (ELLs). After the lesson, the pre-service teachers analyzed their experience through a reflective essay assignment. Findings indicated that the pre-service teachers recognized the need to adapt their lessons for ELLs in varying degrees primarily in the areas of language and content support. Reflective practice as a component of the process of providing sheltered instruction of English should serve as an instrumental part of preparing teachers to work in diverse educational contexts.

Introduction: This study aims to assess 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT for detecting hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue in comparison to [99mTc]Tc-MIBI scintigraphy-SPECT/CT (MIBI scan) in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Methods: The cohort comprised 13 patients diagnosed with PHPT based on biochemical analyses, including serum calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. Each participant underwent cervical ultrasonography, MIBI scan, and 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT imaging. Complementary 4D-CT and [18F]fluorocholine PET/CT were conducted in 7 patients. Ten lesions of 7 patients underwent PTH wash-out (WO) procedure. 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT findings were compared with other modalities and PTH-WO results. Results: Ten patients had sporadic PHPT, while 3 were diagnosed with MEN-1 syndrome-associated PHPT. One patient did not have any identifiable parathyroid lesion across the imaging modalities. On a patient-based analysis, MIBI scan and 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT identified parathyroid lesions in 10 and 11 patients, respectively. However, 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT detected 7 additional parathyroid lesions that were negative on the MIBI scan. Consequently, 17 lesions were identified and confirmed as hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue through imaging, PTH-WO, or a combination of both modalities. In lesion-based evaluation, 68Ga-Trivehexin identified 16 lesions compared to 10 by MIBI scan, resulting in a detection rate of 94.1% and 58.8%, respectively. Notably, in three patients who underwent [18F]fluorocholine PET/CT, no lesions were detected; yet 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT successfully identified parathyroid lesions in two of these patients. Conclusion: Our study provides the first evidence that 68Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT can effectively identify hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue with a high detection rate warranting further investigations to comprehensively explore its potential in PHPT management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses four American multicultural teacher education textbooks for instances of inclusive and exclusive representations through the use of first person plural pronouns (i.e. "we", "us", "our", "ours"). Positioning theory is used as a theoretical framework to examine the textbook authors' uses of first person plural pronouns and to understand how these pronouns perform reflexive and interactive positioning and fluidly (re)negotiate and (re)delineate the borders between 'self' and 'other.' The findings suggest that first person plural pronouns are used extensively in the focal textbooks to refer to such groups as authors, Americans, humans, teachers, and teacher educators. Expressing differing levels of ambiguity in interpretation, these pronouns play significant roles in the discursive representations of inclusivity and exclusivity across topics of multicultural education. This study implicates that language teachers should use criticality and reflexivity when approaching exclusionary discourses and representations that neglect the particularities of individuals from different cultures.

We provide a sketch grammar of a new bilingual mixed language based on data gathered through interaction with its last native speakers. The language, which we call Posha of Çankırı, is spoken in central Turkey. The source languages are Turkish and Lomavren, another bilingual mixed language for which the source languages are Armenian and some Central Indo-Aryan varieties. In Posha of Çankırı, the mixing happens in the nominal morphology and in the lexicon while the verbal roots and verbal morphology are entirely from the ancestral language, Lomavren, albeit with certain minor changes. The Indo-Aryan layer of vocabulary is rather thin and the Indo-Aryan retentions in grammar can only be speculated. We show that the emergence of Posha of Çankırı has been initiated by language shift, but that its ultimate defining characteristic is L2 insertions into (some distorted version of) the L1. The study contributes to the documentation of lesser known new varieties and touches upon topics such as the mechanism involved in the emergence of bilingual mixed languages.

AIMS: Individuals with a higher De Ritis ratio (aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) have an inferior survival in varied malignancies. To our knowledge, the prognostic potential of the De Ritis ratio and NLR to predict the survival in nonmetastatic glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to explore the prognostic power of the De Ritis ratio and NLR in patients with nonmetastatic glioblastoma multiforme. METHODS: Data of 262 patients with glioblastoma multiforme have been retrospectively analyzed. Their age, gender, tumor characteristics, AST/ALT ratio, NLR and hemogram values, including age at diagnosis and date of diagnosis were recorded. RESULTS: The median survival time of the study group was 21 months (95% CI: 19-23 months). The first-year and second-year survival rates were 73.0% and 40.5%, respectively. The univariate analysis revealed that the correlation of survival with age, gender, left/right location of tumor, mean platelet volume and De Ritis ratio did not reach the level of significance. The univariate analysis of the prognostic potential of NLR indicated that a 1-unit increase in NLR value translates to a 1.05 times higher risk of death (95% CI: 1.01-1.09). CONCLUSION: The results of this study lead to the observation that NLR value can serve as an effective prognostic marker in predicting the outcomes of patients with glioblastoma multiforme. It can be positioned as an easily accessible and cost-effective biomarker for establishing appropriate therapeutic strategies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces CeO2/SiO2 double-layer film stacks and its antireflection coating effect. Optical properties were analyzed by spectrophotometer measurements; surface morphology and cross-sections were observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM); elemental distributions and crystallographic properties were determined by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements. Average reflectance of single-layer 0.3MSiO2, 0.6MSiO2, and 0.3MCeO2 thin films were 30.54%, 20.12%, and 14.23%, respectively. Average reflectance was decreased significantly down to 5.9% by 0.3MCeO2/0.6MSiO2 double-layer thin films comparing to those of the results of single-layer films and bare silicon surface reflection (~40%). Antireflective effect of the films on solar cells was estimated by simulation using the measured reflection data. Simulated solar cells indicate that 0.3MCeO2/0.6MSiO2 double-layer antireflective coatings are capable to increase the efficiency significantly and conversion efficiency of 21.7% could be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery is the first-line treatment for growth hormone-secreting adenomas. To analyse the results of the transsphenoidal endoscopic approach for acromegaly and to determine the predictive factors of remission. A single-centre retrospective review was performed in patients who underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly between January 2009 and January 2019. Demographic features, clinical presentation, histopathology records, complications and pre- and postoperative radiologic and endocrinological assessments were evaluated. The factors that influenced the remission rates were investigated. A total of 73 patients underwent surgery via the transsphenoidal endoscopic approach. Cavernous sinus invasion was detected in 32 patients (43.8%); and macroadenoma, in 57 (78%). The pathology specimens of the 27 patients (36.9%) showed dual-staining adenomas with prolactin. A total of 51 patients (69.8%) attained biochemical remission 1 year after surgery. A second operation was performed in 10 patients (13.6%) with residual tumours without biochemical remission in the first year. Six (60%) of the patients attained remission at the last follow-up. Transient diabetes insipidus was observed in 18 patients (24.6%); and rhinorrhoea, which was resolved with conservative treatment, in 4 (5.4%). None of the patients developed panhypopituitarism. The presence of cavernous sinus invasion and preoperative IGF-1, immediate postoperative GH and third-month IGF-1 levels were predictive of remission. Transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery is a safe and effective treatment for acromegaly. Reoperation should be considered in patients with residual tumours without remission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative case study explored how a novice language teacher negotiated her pedagogical beliefs and practices during her socialization into a foreign cultural and educational context. The focal participant was an Uzbek language teacher at a university in the USA. Using a language socialization theoretical framework, data were drawn from multiple sources such as interviews, video-recorded classroom observations, and classroom materials. The findings indicate that biographical factors (e.g. the teacher's personal history, experience as a learner), contextual factors (e.g. interactions with students and institutional resources), and dialogic factors (e.g. the teacher's knowledge of theories of teaching and learning) guided the process of socialization. The teacher was able to transform her beliefs and practices by negotiating the tensions, dilemmas, concerns, and questions across her biography, current teaching context, and theoretical knowledge of teaching and learning.