Challenge of rural people to reduce digital divide in the globalized world: Theory and practice

In the future, knowledge will manage the world since knowledge gives a power to people/states to direct governmental and non-governmental organisations. Therefore, as starting in the last quarter of 20th century, leaders, bureaucrats, policy makers, education experts, scientists, local managers and people who are in the conscious of this reality have tried to draw the vision of their countries and reduce digital divide. Design of web pages and Internet access can be a bridge between rural and urban people in terms of marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs, supplying extension services for farmers, development of human resources, advertisement of natural, historical and cultural values, etc.     

Elicitation and use of relevance feedback information

The paper presents two approaches to interactively refining user search formulations and their evaluation in the new High Accuracy Retrieval from Documents (HARD) track of TREC-12. The first method consists of asking the user to select a number of sentences that represent documents. The second method consists of showing to the user a list of noun phrases extracted from the initial document set. Both methods then expand the query based on the user feedback. The TREC results show that one of the methods is an effective means of interactive query expansion and yields significant performance improvements. The paper presents a comparison of the methods and detailed analysis of the evaluation results.     

Relationship Between Hemodynamically Significant Ductus Arteriosus and Ischemia-Modified Albumin in Premature Infants

Hemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) may alter organ perfusion by interfering blood flow to the tissues. Therefore, in infants with hsPDA, hypoxia occurs in many tissues. In this study, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic significance of serum (ischemia-modified albumin) IMA levels as a screening tool for hsPDA, and its relation to the severity of the disease in the preterm neonates. For this purpose, seventy-two premature infants with gestation age <34 weeks were included in the study. Thirty premature infants with hsPDA were assigned as the study group and 42 premature infants without PDA were determined as the control group. Blood samples were collected before the treatment and 24 h after the treatment, and analyzed for IMA levels. IMA levels in the study group (1.26 ± 0.36 ABSU) were found to be significantly higher than control group (0.65 ± 0.12 ABSU) (p < 0.05). In infants with hsPDA, a positive correlation was found between IMA and PDA diameter (ρ = 0.876, p = 0.022), and LA/Ao ratio (ρ = 0.863, p = 0.014). The cut-off value of IMA for hsPDA was measured as 0.78 ABSU with 88.89 % sensitivity, and 90.24 % specificity, 85.71 % positive predictive, 92.5 % negative predictive value [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.96; p < 0.001]. The mean IMA value of the infants with hsPDA before treatment was 1.26 ± 0.36 ABSU, and the mean IMA value of infants after medical treatment was 0.67 ± 0.27 ABSU (p = 0.03). We concluded that IMA can be used as a marker for the diagnosis and monitoring of a successful treatment of hsPDA.     

The cruel optimism of casual games: neocolonialism,neoliberalism, and the valorization of play

Casual games disrupted the games industry, but not in ways commonly believed. What if we left behind the hardcore vs. casual games dichotomy to reveal that casual gameplay and casual game development have extended the neoliberal and neocolonial logic of the industry? Casual games, in terms of design and industry practices, remind us that there is nothing inherently liberating about play. Rather, the design and development practices of casual games should be understood as an extension and acceleration of neoliberal and neocolonial logics. Casual gameplay and casual game development pull us within processes of cruel optimism. These deeply political economic processes endanger free play and creativity and therefore are obstacles to the flourishing of gamers and game developers as free subjects. In this neoliberal and neocolonial game market, cruel optimism is enticing because casual gameplay and game development emerge as powerful actors and practices in a context where the state has globally failed in the distribution of hope.     

抛锚式分层教学法在“概论”课教学中的应用

文章阐述了抛锚式分层教学法的内涵、特点和研究进程,介绍了抛锚式分层教学法在“概论”课教学中的应用,通过对运用效果的分析,提出抛锚式分层教学法方法在“概论”课教学中值得推广,其运用有待进一步研究和完善,同时指出抛锚式分层教学法对师生都有更高的要求。     

Diagnostic accuracy of UriSed automated urine microscopic sediment analyzer and dipstick parameters in predicting urine culture test results

Introduction

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common types of infection. Currently, diagnosis is primarily based on microbiologic culture, which is time- and labor-consuming. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of urinalysis results from UriSed (77 Electronica, Budapest, Hungary), an automated microscopic image-based sediment analyzer, in predicting positive urine cultures.

Materials and methods:

We examined a total of 384 urine specimens from hospitalized patients and outpatients attending our hospital on the same day for urinalysis, dipstick tests and semi-quantitative urine culture. The urinalysis results were compared with those of conventional semi-quantitative urine culture.

Results:

Of 384 urinary specimens, 68 were positive for bacteriuria by culture, and were thus considered true positives. Comparison of these results with those obtained from the UriSed analyzer indicated that the analyzer had a specificity of 91.1%, a sensitivity of 47.0%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 53.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 40.8–65.3), and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 88.8% (95% Cl = 85.0–91.8%). The accuracy was 83.3% when the urine leukocyte parameter was used, 76.8% when bacteriuria analysis of urinary sediment was used, and 85.1% when the bacteriuria and leukocyturia parameters were combined. The presence of nitrite was the best indicator of culture positivity (99.3% specificity) but had a negative likelihood ratio of 0.7, indicating that it was not a reliable clinical test.

Conclusions:

Although the specificity of the UriSed analyzer was within acceptable limits, the sensitivity value was low. Thus, UriSed urinalysis results do not accurately predict the outcome of culture.     

The impact of using mobile-supported learning management systems in teaching web design on the academic success of students and their opinions on the course

This research aimed to examine the impact of using mobile-supported learning management systems (LMS) in teaching web design on the academic success of students and their opinion on the course; and it was conducted on 70 volunteer students (35 experimental, 35 control) enrolled at Giresun University, Technical Sciences Vocational School, Computer Technologies Department, Program of Computer Programming in Spring 2015–2016. After the eight weeks long implementation of Mobile Moodle, which is a mobile-supported LMS, as a supplement to traditional learning methods; t-test was used in order to determine whether the methodology mentioned had a significant impact on the academic success of web design teaching. As a result of the t-test implemented; it was seen that there was a significant level of difference in favor of the experimental group; between the academic success of students in the experimental group where mobile-supported LMS is used and the academic success of the students in the control group where traditional learning methodologies are used. Also, it has been determined that using Mobile LMS has increased the students’ interest.     

Academic amotivation and intention to school dropout: the mediation role of academic achievement and absenteeism

The purpose of the current study is to examine the mediation role of academic achievement and absenteeism in the relationship between multidimensional amotivation and intention to school dropout among Turkish high school students. The results have shown that multidimensional amotivation has direct and indirect effects on intention to school dropout. In addition, it has been revealed that academic achievement and absenteeism mediate the association between multidimensional amotivation and intention to school dropout. Finally, the findings suggest that the relationship between amotivation and intention to school dropout varies by gender. These results have shed light on two mechanisms that clarify the relationships between amotivation and intention to school dropout.