Turkey-EU Relations: Beyond membership; army, religion, and energy

This thesis examines the impact of Turkey-EU relations on Turkey's domestic political evolution in the 1990s and 2000s, with a focus on the evolution of the religious political parties, the changing position of the military and Turkey’s new energy politics. Although Turkey-EU relations resemble non-progressive affairs to many, in reality, they are as productive as any other relations that have resulted in the expected goal. Both Turkey and the EU made significant gains from this long lasting relationship. However, this thesis focuses more on the impact of these relations on Turkey. While engaging with the EU, Turkish domestic politics underwent a major evolution especially concerning the religiously motivated political parties; they were founded on anti-Western and pro-Islamic principles. However their attempt to come to power was continuously prevented by the secular forces, most importantly the army. In 2000s, realizing the importance of Europeanisation to help avoid the military’s intimidation, they became the real champions of Westernisation, contrary to their founding principles. Under Erdoğan’s leadership they started the accession negotiations with the EU. While Islamic political thinking was evolving, the position of the Turkish Armed Forces, who, directly or indirectly, drove Turkish politics since the 1960s, was also changing in favour of civilian control. Thanks to the EU initiated reform programs which were implemented by the religiously rooted JDP after 2002, the Turkish army’s heavy presence in civilian politics was reduced almost to zero. Again, close relations with the EU encouraged Turkey to become proactive within Eurasian energy politics. As well as the good relations with the West, Turkey also started utilizing its geostrategic positioning by trying to become the energy bridge, and perhaps energy hub, between the energy producers on its eastern borders with energy hungry Europe on its western borders

Erosive arthritis in a patient with primary sjogren's syndrome: a case report

Primer Sjögren sendromu, sıklıkla ağız ve göz kuruluğu ile seyreden bir kronik otoimmun ekzokrinopatidir. Ağız içi bezleri ve göz yası bezleri dışında, nadir de olsa diğer ekzokrin bezler de etkilenebilir. En sık kas-iskelet sistem tutulusu ile karsımıza çıkmaktadır. Artralji, sabah tutukluğu ve romatoid artrite benzer kronik inflamatuvar poliartrit, eklem bulgularını oluşturmaktadır. Romatoid artrit'ten farklı olarak, Sjögren sendromunda sabah tutukluğu ve hareket kısıtlığı daha hafif olup, el ve el bilek deformasyonları görülmektedir. Romatoid artrit'ten ayıran en önemli özellik ise, direk grafi ve/veya magnetik rezonans görüntülerde, eklemlerde eroziv değişikliklerin olmamasıdır. Bu bildiride, primer Sjögren sendromu tanısı almış hastada, eroziv artrit rapor edilmiştir.Primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune exocrinopathy characterized by dry eyes and dry mouth. Exocrine glands other than salivary and lacrimal glands may be affected less frequently. The most common mode of presentation is musculoskeletal system involvement. Articular signs and symptoms include arthralgias, morning stiffness, and chronic polyarthritis that resemble those seen in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Compared with RA, the arthritis tends to be more relapsing and remitting, and stiffness is less marked. The distinction fromRAis that, there is not any erosive changes neither on direct radiography nor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).We report a patient of primary SS presented with erosive arthritis

A panel of oxidative stress assays does not provide supplementary diagnostic information in Behcet's disease patients

Published onlineJournal ArticleBACKGROUND: Recent findings suggest a role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Behcet's disease (BD), but the utility of oxidative stress-associated assays in offering diagnostic information or in the monitoring of disease activity is largely unassessed. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: We aimed to measure oxidative and inflammatory markers, along with the markers of reactive nitrogen species, S-nitrosothiols and 3-nitrotyrosine, in BD patients (n = 100) and healthy volunteers (n = 50). These markers were evaluated in regard to their role in the pathogenesis of BD as well as their relation to clinical presentation, disease activity and duration. RESULTS: Median values for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein, leukocyte count, and IL-18 levels, as well as myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, were statistically higher in the patient group compared to controls. Some inflammation markers (ESR, neutrophil and leukocyte counts) were statistically higher (p 0.05 in all statistical comparisons), nor was there any difference in median levels of these oxidative stress markers in active disease versus disease remission. S-nitrosothiols and 3-nitrotyrosine were undetectable in BD plasma. CONCLUSIONS: The application of oxidative stress-associated measures to BD blood samples offered no supplemental diagnostic or disease activity information to that provided by standard laboratory measures of inflammation. S-nitrosothiols and 3-nitrotyrosine appeared not to be markers for active BD; thus the search for biochemical markers that will indicate the active period should be continued with larger studies

Chemerin as a marker of subclinical cardiac involvement in psoriatic patients

Background: Chemerin has been associated with psoriasis and inflammation, but there are no studies demonstrating an association between chemerin and subclinical cardiac involvement in psoriatic patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate whether psoriatic patients with increased epicardial fat tissue, impaired flow-mediated dilatation, and diastolic dysfunction have higher serum chemerin levels than a healthy control group. Methods: The study included 60 psoriatic patients and 32 healthy controls. Echocardiographic parameters, epicardial fat tissue, flow-mediated dilatation, and chemerin levels were recorded for both groups. Results: The serum levels of chemerin in the psoriatic patients were significantly higher than in the control group. The diastolic function parameters, including isovolumic contraction and relaxation time, E’/A’ (early diastolic mitral annular velocity/late diastolic mitral annular velocity), and E/E’ (early diastolic peak velocity of mitral inflow/early diastolic mitral annular velocity) values, differed significantly between the groups. Epicardial fat tissue was significantly higher and flow-mediated dilatation was significantly lower in psoriatic patients than in the controls. Chemerin was significantly positively correlated with age, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, waist circumference, E/E’, and epicardial fat tissue. Serum chemerin was significantly negatively correlated with E’, E’/A’, and flow-mediated dilatation. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that chemerin was independently correlated with E/E’. Conclusions: Psoriatic patients exhibit early subclinical atherosclerosis and diastolic dysfunction. Chemerin can be used as a marker to screen for patients with subclinical cardiac involvement

(Trans)cribing History: The Oral Histories of Transgender Clergy in America

Popular American rhetoric around religion and LGBTQ issues puts the two at odds. The Bible has been the center of many debates over sexuality, gender identity, and faith. However, very few conversations have included or revolved around the authentic experiences of LGBTQ people of faith. Nine participants from various Protestant backgrounds shared their narratives with me and spoke on issues of gender and faith. This report is an in-depth summary of a short oral history project of transgender clergy (as well as candidates for ordination or exemplary church members)

Interstitial cystitis: a rare manifestation of primary Sjögren’s syndrome, successfully treated with low dose cyclosporine

Chronic interstitial cystitis (IC), mostly affecting middle-aged women, is a very rare manifestation of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). Hereby, we report a 42-year-old woman with pSS, presenting with dysuria, urinary frequency, and suprapubic pain. She was diagnosed to have chronic IC, based upon the cystoscopic biopsy finding of chronic inflammation in the bladder wall. Systemic corticosteroid and azathioprine treatments together with local intravesical therapies were not effective. Therefore, cyclosporine (CSA) therapy was initiated. Initial low dose of CSA (1.5 mg/kg/d) improved the symptoms of the patient, with no requirement for dose increment. After 4 months of therapy, control cystoscopic biopsy showed that bladder inflammation regressed and IC improved. This case suggests that even low doses of CSA may be beneficial for treating chronic IC associated with pSS syndrome

Genetic Association of a Gain-of-Function IFNGR1 Polymorphism and the Intergenic Region LNCAROD/DKK1 With Behcet's Disease

Objective. Behçet’s disease is a complex systemic inflammatory vasculitis of incompletely understood etiology. This study was undertaken to investigate genetic associations with Behçet’s disease in a diverse multiethnic population.Methods. A total of 9,444 patients and controls from 7 different populations were included in this study. Genotyping was performed using an Infinium ImmunoArray- 24 v.1.0 or v.2.0 BeadChip. Analysis of expression data from stimulated monocytes, and epigenetic and chromatin interaction analyses were performed.Results. We identified 2 novel genetic susceptibility loci for Behçet’s disease, including a risk locus in IFNGR1(rs4896243) (odds ratio [OR] 1.25; P = 2.42 × 10−9) and within the intergenic region LNCAROD/DKK1 (rs1660760) (OR 0.78; P = 2.75 × 10−8). The risk variants in IFNGR1 significantly increased IFNGR1 messenger RNA expression in lipopolysaccharide- stimulated monocytes. In addition, our results replicated the association (P 30 genetic susceptibility loci with a suggestive level of association (P < 5 × 10−5), which will require replication. Finally, functional annotation of genetic susceptibility loci in Behçet’s disease revealed their possible regulatory roles and suggested potential causal genes and molecular mechanisms that could be further investigated.Conclusion. We performed the largest genetic association study in Behçet’s disease to date. Our findings reveal novel putative functional variants associated with the disease and replicate and extend the genetic associations in other loci across multiple ancestries

Analysis of the common genetic component of large-vessel vasculitides through a meta- Immunochip strategy

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) are major forms of large-vessel vasculitis (LVV) that share clinical features. To evaluate their genetic similarities, we analysed Immunochip genotyping data from 1,434 LVV patients and 3,814 unaffected controls. Genetic pleiotropy was also estimated. The HLA region harboured the main disease-specific associations. GCA was mostly associated with class II genes (HLA-DRB1/HLA-DQA1) whereas TAK was mostly associated with class I genes (HLA-B/MICA). Both the statistical significance and effect size of the HLA signals were considerably reduced in the cross-disease meta-analysis in comparison with the analysis of GCA and TAK separately. Consequently, no significant genetic correlation between these two diseases was observed when HLA variants were tested. Outside the HLA region, only one polymorphism located nearby the IL12B gene surpassed the study-wide significance threshold in the meta-analysis of the discovery datasets (rs755374, P?=?7.54E-07; ORGCA?=?1.19, ORTAK?=?1.50). This marker was confirmed as novel GCA risk factor using four additional cohorts (PGCA?=?5.52E-04, ORGCA?=?1.16). Taken together, our results provide evidence of strong genetic differences between GCA and TAK in the HLA. Outside this region, common susceptibility factors were suggested, especially within the IL12B locus