Spalax denizliensis sp. nov. (Spalacidae, Rodentia) from an early Pleistocene-aged locality in the Denizli Basin (southwestern Turkey)

It is thought that Spalacidae (Rodentia, Mammalia) originated in Anatolia. They are widespread among Neogene-aged faunas in Anatolia and they are used as zonal fossils because of their strong evolutionary dynamics. Only one fossil species (S. odessanus, Middle Pliocene) has been identified from the genus Spalax, which has more than 14 species presently. There are no fossil findings of this genus in Anatolia. Early Pleistocene-aged Spalax denizliensis sp. nov. from the Denizli Basin is the youngest fossil Spalax species and it will be helpful to understand the evolution of recent Spalax species. © TÜBİTAK

The evaluation of thermal hotels' online reviews

Th e main objective of this study was to evaluate the perceptions related to the online user reviews of thermal hotels. Specifi cally, it was investigated whether perceptions towards value (V), location (L), sleep quality (SQ), rooms (R), cleanliness (C), service (S) and factors infl uencing general evaluation depend on the star numbers of hotels, the location of the hotels and the nationalities of participants. In order to obtain data on perceptions of consumers towards thermal hotels in Turkey, the web site Trip Advisor (TA) was used. In total, 2,895 user reviews about thermal accommodations on TA were assessed by content analysis method. According to the study results, it was determined that the most important factor was the cleanliness of the hotels. It was followed by the location, sleep quality, rooms and service. Th e value factor was the last important. To analyse the eff ect of the nationality of the participants, domestic and foreign visitors, stars and the location of the accommodation on the perceptions towards value, location, sleep quality, rooms, cleanliness and service, t test and one-way ANOVA method were performed. It was found that the perceptions towards value, location, sleep quality, rooms, cleanliness and service diff ered between domestic and foreign visitors, nationalities, location and 4 or 5-star

Environmental urbanization assessment using gis and multicriteria decision analysis: a case study for Denizli (Turkey) municipal area

In recent years, life quality of the urban areas is a growing interest of civil engineering. Environmental quality is essential to display the position of sustainable development and asserts the corresponding countermeasures to the protection of environment. Urban environmental quality involves multidisciplinary parameters and difficulties to be analyzed. The problem is not only complex but also involves many uncertainties, and decision-making on these issues is a challenging problem which contains many parameters and alternatives inherently. Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a very prepotent technique to solve that sort of problems, and it guides the users confidence by synthesizing that information. Environmental concerns frequently contain spatial information. Spatial multicriteria decision analysis (SMCDA) that includes Geographic Information System (GIS) is efficient to tackle that type of problems. This study has employed some geographic and urbanization parameters to assess the environmental urbanization quality used by those methods. The study area has been described in five categories: very favorable, favorable, moderate, unfavorable, and very unfavorable. The results are momentous to see the current situation, and they could help to mitigate the related concerns. The study proves that the SMCDA descriptions match the environmental quality perception in the city. © 2018 Erdal Akyol et al

An unexpected long-term complication of genital burn in a child: Secondary cryptorchidism

Genital and perineal burns are rare and challenging injuries with serious long-term complications. Involvement of the testes is a sign of severity. There is limited knowledge in the literature about the management of complications and testes involvement in genital and perineal burns. In this report, we present the case of an 8-year-old boy with secondary cryptorchidism due to burn contracture who was treated by increasing the scrotal volume by Z-plasties, skin graft, and orchidopexy. © 2018 Turkish Association of Trauma and Emergency Surgery

Granting Greater Municipality Status in Turkey: Issues, Policy Process and Outcomes

The main objectives of this paper are to question the criteria and establishment process of granting greater municipality status and to develop comprehensive and precise criteria and procedures for major Turkish urban regions. Currently, 16 greater (metropolitan) municipalities exist in Turkey in addition to 3200 other municipalities. All these greater municipalities were established by the Turkish Parliament based on the previous Act of 1984, which stayed in force until 2004. According to 1984 Greater Municipalities Act, major criteria were economic and social development level, which were to be assessed by the Government. However, social and economic development indicators were never established for such an assessment and decision for granting all current greater municipalities were made by the general political considerations and rough assumptions about the need and suitability of those urban areas. Only 5 of the greater municipalities’ population exceed 1 million, and still 5 of them are under 500.000 according to 2000 Census. Considering the lack of certain reasonable criteria for gaining greater municipality status, almost 15 other major (populous) municipalities with the population of around 500.000, have searched various ways and made several attempts to be granted greater municipality status by the Turkish Parliament. However, with the exception of Adapazarý (in 2000), all the greater municipalities were granted their status between 1984 and 1993. The exception for Adapazarý urban area was done due to major earthquakes in the Marmara Region in 1999. Yet, those other major urban areas having metropolitan characteristics are still waiting for being granted greater municipality status. The 2004 Act brings a new criterion, which requires settlements in a 10km diameter to have a minimum of 750.000 populations, which not based on academic and practical arguments. Ambiguously, economic and social development criteria are still effective in 2004 Act. However, middle-sized urban areas whose populations are around 500.000 and struggling for greater municipality status left administratively fragmented, and continue their existence being deprived of status, prestige, power, strong financial resources, administrative structure which greater municipality status may provide. Thus, determining precise criteria and processes for granting greater municipality status is an urgent and vital policy area in Turkish local government system. After summarizing the evolution of Turkish greater municipality system, this paper discusses establishing alternative and comprehensive criteria for granting greater municipalities in Turkey in a wider context of international literature and similar cases in European urban regions.

Palaeoclimate changes in the Afyon province, Sw-Turkey, during the Middle-Late Pleistocene: Signals from calcareous tufa pollen and stable isotope records

The calcareous tufas of Sarikavak located in the northern part of NE-SW trending Acigöl Graben in SW-Turkey are investigated in detail. For this aim, various analyses (stable isotopes, U/Th dating, palynology) have been carried out on samples obtained from both outcrops and drilling logs in and surrounding Sarikavak Village. U/Th dating shows that these carbonates precipitated from 400 ka up to 80 ka. Preliminary pollen data, document climatic variability between MIS 11 and MIS 8 in the studied area. © 2010 AIQUA - Associazione Italiana per lo Studio del Quaternario e EMMEVI - Servizio Congressi SPA

A hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis case with newly defined UNC13D (C.175G>C; p.Ala59Pro) mutation and a rare complication

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) represents a severe hyperinflammatory condition with cardinal symptoms of prolonged fever, cytopenias, hepatosplenomegaly, and hemophagocytosis by activated, morphologically benign macrophages with impaired function of natural killer cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes. A 2-month-old girl, who was admitted with fever, was diagnosed with HLH and her genetic examination revealed a newly defined mutation in the UNC13D (c.175G>C; p.Ala59Pro) gene. She was treated with dexamethasone, etoposide, and intrathecal methotrexate. During the second week of treatment, after three doses of etoposide, it was noticed that there was a necrotic plaque lesion on the soft palate. Pathologic examination of debrided material in PAS and Grocott staining revealed lots of septated hyphae, which was consistent with aspergillosis infection. Etoposide was stopped and amphotericin B treatment was given for six weeks. HLH 2004 protocol was completed to eight weeks with cyclosporine A orally. There was no patient with invasive aspergillosis infection as severe as causing palate and nasal septum perforation during HLH therapy. In immuncompromised patients, fungal infections may cause nasal septum perforation and treatment could be achieved by antifungal therapy and debridement of necrotic tissue. © 2015 Turkish Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and multidrug resistance ındex in Pseudomonas aeruginosa among clinical isolates in Denizli, Turkey

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important hospital infection agent causing morbidity and mortality with the ability to gain resistance to many antimicrobials. The objective of this study was to determine the sensitivity profiles of nosocomial P. aeruginosa isolates in Denizli, Turkey. Methods: A total 120 P. aeruginosa strains which were isolated from specimens sent to the microbiology laboratory between January 2015 and December 2015 were investigated. Antimicrobial resistance was determined by agar disc diffusion method using Mueller-Hinton agar according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommendations. Results: With respect to sensitivity pattern, the most sensitive antimicrobials were Amikacin, colistin, tobramisin, netilmicin and gentamicin and the resistance rates were detected as 97%, 96%, 92%, 90%, 83%, respectively over 120 P. aeruginosa strains. The sensitivity rates for the other antimicrobials were 56% for Piperacilin and 54% for Tazobactam. P. aeruginosa strains 62 (52%) isolates showed multiple antimicrobial resistance to 13 antimicrobials Conclusion: To prevent the spread of the resistant bacteria, it is critically important to have strict antimicrobial policies while surveillance programmes for multidrug resistant organisms and infection control procedures need to be implemented. In the meantime, it is desirable that the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of bacterial pathogens like P. aeruginosa in specialized clinical units to be continuously monitored and the results readily made available to clinicians so as to minimize the development of resistance. © 2018, National Institute for Medical Research. All rights reserved