The Ideology of the 21st Century: Anarchist Conservatism

Although it is mostly accepted that the ideologies of conservatism and anarchism are at the very opposite sides of the political thought spectrum, this paper is based on its own speculation that conservatism and anarchism are based on the same grounds. In fact, apart from sharing same philosophical roots, these two ideologies are establishing a neutral alliance spontaneously on the basis of anarcho-capitalism. As a matter of fact, one step further than alliance, conservatism and anarchism are becoming two sides of the same coin and this new ideology can be labelled as anarchist conservatism. This essay aims to reveal and highlight the characteristics of this new ideology in a critical manner

Empiric treatment of children with gastroesophageal reflux- like symptoms: Effect of proton pump inhibitors

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is an important cause of morbidity in childhood. Although various diagnostic methods are available, short course of empiric treatment with a proton pump inhibitor is widely used in adults as a diagnostic test. Data about empiric treatment is scarce in children. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of empiric treatment of reflux-like symptoms in children.Pediatric gastroenterology outpatient files were searched and patients with a diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux were found. Patient complaints, history and the treatments provided were recorded. Treatment naive patients older than 2 years of age with symptoms suggestive of gastroesophageal reflux were selected and included if they were given empiric treatment with a proton pump inhibitor. Empiric treatment was found to be effective in 78% of patients. Treatment response tended to be better in children older than 5 years of age. Of the 22 non-responders 9 underwent endoscopy and pathological findings were discovered in 7 of them. Treatment of children with gastroesophageal reflux symptoms with a proton pump inhibitor might significantly decrease the need for extensive evaluations. However it is important to investigate non-responders to empiric therapy, as it seems there might be high probability of pathological findings

Modernleşme ve jeopolitik ekseninde doğu sorunu

Doğu Sorunu, diplomasi tarihçileri tarafından temelinde din çatışması bulunan ve Osmanlı-Avrupa düşmanlığından kaynaklanan bir sorun olarak ele alınmıştır. Bu anlayışa göre Doğu Sorunu, Osmanlı’nın sahip olduğu topraklardan çıkarılması için “büyük devletlerin” aralarında yaptıkları işbirliğinin adıdır. Ancak gerçekte söz konusu olan Osmanlı’nın yok edilmesi değil, yaşatılması sorunudur. Bu sav, Avrupa ve Osmanlı arasında düşmanlık değil dostluk ilişkilerinin olduğu anlamına gelmemektedir. Söz konusu tez, dostluk ve düşmanlık kalıplarının Doğu Sorunu ile ilgili olmadığı, politikaların devletlerin çıkarları doğrultusunda belirlendiği üzerine kuruludur. Makalenin bir diğer savı ise, Doğu Sorunu’nun yalnızca “güçler dengesi” ve “19. yüzyıl diplomasi tarihi” konusu olmadığı, aynı zamanda, Arnold Toynbee’nin ilk olarak ortaya koyduğu gibi, bir batılılaşma-modernleşme sorunu olduğudur. Bu bağlamda makalede öncelikle Doğu Sorunu’na ilişkin çeşitli yaklaşımlar özetlenmiştir. İkinci olarak, Rusya ve İngiltere’nin “sorun” karşısında izledikleri politikalar dönemler halinde incelenmiştir. Üçüncü olarak “Sorun”un Osmanlı Devleti’nin yıkılışı ile değil, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin kuruluşu ile ve Cumhuriyet’in iradesi doğrultunda çözümlendiği konusu üzerinde durulmuştur. Son olarak Osmanlı’nın 19. yüzyıldaki devlet ve toplum yapısından hareketle Doğu Sorunu, batılılaşma olgusu ile ilgili bir şekilde ele alınmış ve bu bağlamda günümüzde yeni bir Doğu Sorunu’nun gündeme getirilmek istenilip istenilmediği tartışılmıştır.Diplomatic historians conceptualized the Eastern Question as a rivalry which takes its roots from the religious differences between Ottoman Empire and Europe. According to this perspective, the Eastern Question is the name of the company among the “Great Powers” to disband the Ottoman State from its territories. However, in contrast to this general understanding, the question was about the perpetuation of the Ottoman State instead of its abolishment. This assertion does not mean that there were no patterns of enmity between the Ottomans and the European states. It is to claim that policies were shaped by the interests of the states, and the aforementioned enmity and amity are irrelevant to the heart of the Eastern Question. Another hypothesis of the article is that the Eastern Question is not an issue about the 19th century diplomatic history and balance of power relations only; it is also an issue of westernization-modernization as first recognized by Arnold Toynbee. In this context, firstly somegeneral approaches to the Eastern Question are presented. Secondly, the policies of Russia and England against the “Question” were examined in periodical manner. Thirdly, it is argued that the “Question” was not solved simply by the demise of the Ottoman Empire, but it is settled by the will of Turkish Republic with its establishment. Finally, the Eastern Question is analyzed in relation to the issue of westernization-modernization, and in this framework, it is argued whether a new Eastern Question is about to put on the agenda in the contemporary era

Bismarck Döneminden 2. Dünya Savaşı’na Alman Jeopolitik Düşüncesi: Haushofer ve Hitler Karşılaştırması

Alman milletleri 1800'lü yıllarda milliyet duygusundan yoksun küçük devletçikler hâlinde varlıklarını sürdürmekteydiler. Millî bilincin Alman milletlerinde oluşması ancak 1800’lü yılların ilk yarısında sınırlı bir Alman kesiminde gerçekleşmiştir. 1834 yılında Prusya önderliğinde kurulan Alman Gümrük Birliği ile Alman devletçikleri arasında sağlanan ekonomik birleşme ileride gerçekleşecek birleşmenin ilk adımını oluşturmuştur. 1830’larda atılan bu adımı, 1860’lı yıllarda Bismarck önderliğindeki Prusya’nın milliyetçi ideal ile Birleşik Almanya yolunda attığı adımlar izlemiştir. Prusya’nın kan ve demir ile kazandığı zaferler sonucu 1872 yılında daha önceleri dağınık devletçikler hâlinde bulunan Alman halkı, Alman İmparatorluğu bünyesinde toplanmıştır. Bismarck politik ve askerî dehasıyla oluşturduğu bu imparatorluğu Avrupa’nın kaderine şekil verebilecek devasa bir güç hâline getirmiştir. Ancak bu milliyetçi güç 1. Dünya Savaşı’nda uğradığı yenilgi sonrası Versay Antlaşması ile ortadan kalkmıştır. Haushofer ve Hitler, Bismarck’tan miras kalan milliyetçi anlayışı kendi görüşleri çerçevesinde şekillendirmişlerdir. Hem Hitler hem de Haushofer Alman devletinin tekrar güçlenip eski ihtişamına kavuşması adına 1. Dünya Savaşı’nda kaybedilen toprakların geri kazanılmasını amaçlamışlardır. Haushofer bu amaçla jeopolitik alanda çalışmalar yapmıştır. Daha sonraları Hitler’in yönetime gelmesi ile kendisinin görüşleri sonucu doğmuş olan nasyonal sosyalist İdeoloji ile Almanya, faşist bir yönetime bürünecektir. Bu çalışmada Alman milliyetçiliğinin başlangıcından bahsedimiş, Bismarck’ın Alman milletlerini bir araya toplaması anlatılmış ve Haushofer’ın teorileri ile Nazi ideolojisi karşılaştırılmıştır

Turkish translation, validation, and reliability analysis of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis symptom severity module version 2.0

The Paediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Symptom Severity Modules Version 2.0 (T-PEESv2.0) was developed in English as a valid, reliable questionnaire for follow up. This work aimed to develop a Turkish version of T-PEESv2.0 via translation and cultural adaptation and then to test its validation and reliability. Methods: The PEESv2.0 was translated into Turkish by standardized procedural steps completed in cooperation with the Mapi Research Trust. The final version of the questionnaire was submitted to eosinophilic oesophagitis patients or their parents at 2 times point separated by 1 week. An age-matched control group was used to test the discriminant validity. Construct validity was tested using the Wilcoxon test, and internal consistency was tested using Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was measured with Cohen's kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: One hundred twenty-eight participants (70 patients, 58 parents) were enrolled. Fifty-eight (39.1%) of them completed T-PEESv2.0-parent by proxy and 70 (54.7%) were T-PEESv2.0. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability were >0.70 for both questionnaires and for all domain (frequency and severity) and total scores. For discriminant validity analysis, subscale (frequency and domain) and total scores of the patient group were compared with those of the control group. The subscale and total scores were significantly different between the groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: T-PEESv2.0 appeared to be valid and reliable, ready to be introduced as a clinical and research tool for the assessment of patients with eosinophilic oesophagitis

Chronic Effects of Lead Exposure on Topsmelt Fish (Atherinops Affinis): Influence of Salinity, Organism Age, and Relative Sensitivity to Other Marine Fish

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of salinity and organism age on the chronic toxicity of waterborne lead (Pb) to Atherinops affinis and to compare the relative Pb sensitivity of A. affinis with other marine species. Chronic Pb exposure experiments were conducted in a water flow‐through testing system. Survival, standard length, dry weight, and tissue Pb concentration were measured and lethal concentrations (LC), effective concentrations (EC), and bioconcentration factor (BCF) were calculated. In general, increasing salinity and organism age decreased Pb toxicity. The LC50s for larval fish at 14 and 28 ppt salinity were 15.1 and 79.8 µg/L dissolved Pb, respectively; whereas, the LC50 for juvenile fish was 167.6 µg/L dissolved Pb at 28 ppt salinity. Using standard length data, the EC10 values for larval fish were 16.4 and 82.4 µg/L dissolved Pb at 14 and 28 ppt salinity, respectively. The dry weight EC25 for low and high salinity were 15.6 and 61.84 µg/L dissolved Pb, respectively. The BCF was higher with the lower salinity study (1,703) in comparison to the higher salinity study (654). Results of Pb speciation calculation showed higher fraction of Pb2+ in water with lower salinity, explaining the higher observed toxicity of Pb in lower salinity water than higher salinity water. Atherinops affinis is more sensitive to Pb than several other marine species. Evidences for abnormal swimming and skeletal deformities were observed in Pb exposure treatment. Results of the present study are useful for marine Biotic Ligand Modeling and support ecological risk assessment and deriving Pb environmental quality criteria for marine environment

The local clinical validation of a new lithium heparin tube with a barrier: BD Vacutainer® Barricor LH Plasma tube

Introduction: Although serum-providing blood tubes with a barrier are still widely used due to their significant advantages, the use of blood tubes with a barrier to provide plasma is becoming widespread. We compared 22 analytes in a BD Vacutainer® Barricor LH Plasma tube for local clinical validation of this new lithium heparin tube with a barrier. Materials and methods: Samples from 44 volunteers were collected in different tubes (Becton Dickinson and Company): Z tube without additive (reference), clot-activator tube with gel (SST), lithium heparin tube without gel (LiH), and lithium heparin tube with barrier (Barricor). Analyte concentrations in different tubes were compared with the reference tube. All tubes were also evaluated according to additional testing (different centrifugation durations, blood-sampling techniques and individual differences). Results: Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose (Glc), potassium (K), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), sodium (Na), and total protein (TP) had a significant bias in Barricor (9.19%, - 3.24%, - 4.88%, 21.60%, - 0.40%, 5.03%, respectively) relative to the reference tube. There was no statistical difference between different centrifugation durations and individual differences for AST, K and LD in LiH and/or Barricor (P > 0.05). There was a significant bias for LD between LiH and Barricor in terms of blood-sampling techniques (21.2% and 12.4%, respectively). Conclusions: Recently, the use of plasma has become prominent due to some of its advantages. In this study, plasma AST, K, LD, Glc and TP levels in Barricor were clinically different in comparison to serum. The results of additional tests showed that higher levels of LD in Barricor did not result from haemolysis, and they might be related to other factors including number of platelets, cellular fragility, or functional environment

Iron status in the elderly: a review of recent evidence

A comprehensive literature review of iron status in the elderly was undertaken in order to update a previous review (Fairweather-Tait et al, 2014); 138 papers were retrieved that described research on the magnitude of the problem, aetiology and age-related physiological changes that may affect iron status, novel strategies for assessing iron status with concurrent health conditions, hepcidin, lifestyle factors, iron supplements, iron status and health outcomes (bone mineral density, frailty, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney failure, cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases). Each section concludes with key points from the relevant papers. The overall findings were that disturbed iron metabolism plays a major role in a large number of conditions associated with old age. Correction of iron deficiency/overload may improve disease prognosis, but diagnosis of iron deficiency requires appropriate cut-offs for biomarkers of iron status in elderly men and women to be agreed. Iron deficiency (with or without anemia), anemia of inflammation, and anemia of chronic disease are all widespread in the elderly and, once identified, should be investigated further as they are often indicative of underlying disease. Management options should be reviewed and updated, and novel therapies, which show potential for treating anemia of inflammation or chronic disease, should be considered

Katetere dayalı kalp haritalamasında konumsal aradeğerleme ve istatistiksel kestirim yöntemlerinin kullanılması

Katetere dayalı kalp haritalama yaklasımları açık-kalp cerrahisi gerektirmediginden gün geçtikçe daha sık tercih edilmekte olup, aritmi teshis ve tedavisi (ablasyon) açısından ciddi yenilikler getirmistir. Ancak katetere dayalı kalp haritalamasında islem süresini uzatması ve kalp anatomisinin müsade etmemesi nedeniyle, arzu edildigi kadar çok sıklıkta ölçüm alınamamaktadır. Bu çalısmada, Aliev-Panfilov modeli kullanılarak olusturulan kalbin iç (endokart) ve dıs (epikart) yüzeylerine ait sınırlı sayıdaki benzetim verisinden, daha yüksek konumsal çözünürlüklü bir haritalama elde etmeye yönelik bir yaklasım gelistirilmistir. Çalısmanın ilk bölümünde Newton'un dogrusal, Hardy'nin, Laplacian, egik (spline) konumsal aradegerleme yöntemleri kullanılmıstır. Sonuç olarak çok elektrotlu sepet kateter (ÇSK) ile alınan sınırlı sayıdaki ölçümler ile ilinti katsayısı ( K): 0,992 ± 0,003, hata karelerinin ortalamalarının karekökü (HKOK): 1,793 ± 0,330, göreceli hata (GH): 0,044 ± 0,008 ve yerellestirme hatası (YH): 3,998 ± 1,853 sonuçları elde edilmistir. kinci olarak kalp yüzeylerine ait sınırlı sayıda benzetim verisi kullanılarak, istatistiksel kestirim yöntemi uygulanmıs, tüm yüzeylerin aktivasyon zamanı haritaları es zamanlı olarak olusturulmustur. Sonuç olarak; K: 0,995 ± 0,004, HKOK: 2,568 ± 0,727, GH: 0,033 ± 0,010 ve YH: 2,386 ± 2,101 elde edilmistir. Ayrıca, aritmi kaynagına sebep olan noktanın kalbin hangi bölgesinde bulundugu (sag-sol endokart, epikart) tespit edilmeye çalısılmıs, sol endokart kaynaklı aritmilerin kaynagı %100, sag endokart kaynaklı artimilerin kaynagı %98,8 dogruluk ile tahmin edilmistir. Because the catheter based cardiac mapping does not require open-chest surgery, recently it has become more and more popular and brought novelty towards arrhythmia diagnosis and therapy (ablation). However, due to long procedure times and complexity in the heart anatomy, it is not possible to acquire high spatial resolution measurements. In this study by using Aliev-Panfilov’s mathematical model we created a computer simulation database and extracted activation time data from endocardial and epicardial surfaces. From limited number of selected points on cardiac surfaces we reconstructed high resolution activation data. In the first part of the study we used Newton’s linear, Hardy’s, Laplacian and spline spatial interpolation methods. Consequently, several error criteria between the original data and reconstructed data were computed, such as correlation coefficient (CC), root mean squares error (RMSE), relative error (RE) and localization error (LE). The average results obtained by using basket catheter were; CC: 0,992 ± 0,003, RMSE: 1,793 ± 0,330, RE: 0,044 ± 0,008 and LE: 3,998 ± 1,853. Secondly, instead of interpolation approaches we investigated the usage of statistical estimation method in order to reconstruct the activation time distribution on both endocardial and epicardial surfaces simultaneously. The worst results we obtained were CC: 0,995 ± 0,004, RMSE: 2,568 ± 0,727, RE: 0,033 ± 0,010, and LE: 2,386 ± 2,101. In addition, we tested the success of the method to determine the origin of the arrhythmia. As a result 100% of left endocardially and 98.8% of right endocardially originating arrhythmias were correctly located on their region

Analysis of the Enigma of Leptospirosis Epidemics in Zalophus californianus: Seroprevalence as a Biomarker of Exposure and Persistence

For almost 50 years, researchers have documented the zoonotic disease leptospirosis, which infects mammalian hosts every three to five years. Their findings in attempting to describe the persistent and cyclical nature of this disease in California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus; CSLs) are primarily centered around environmental factors. It is still unknown whether Leptospira spread and accumulate in the sea lion population or if it is a recurrent infection resulting from external reservoirs. The present study focuses on immune responsiveness and its role in CSL leptospirosis epidemics intertwined with environmental drivers of disease. I analyzed antibodies IgM, IgG, and avidity IgG (IgGU) in lepto-positive and non-lepto-positive yearlings, juveniles, sub-adults, and adults. I also analyzed these antibodies with respect to the fall, winter, spring and summer seasons as well as in outbreak years and non-outbreak years (which were also years of El Niño occurrences). I found that adult CSLs produced the lowest amount of IgM and IgG of all age classes suggesting their high likelihood of re-exposure. In general, between lepto-positive and non-lepto-positive individuals of all age classes, antibody production was lowest in individuals that were non-lepto-positive. Comparing antibody titers to one another depicted a positive correlation amongst all titers besides one anomaly in the juvenile data where IgM and IgGU had a negative relationship. This suggests that age class has a significant role in leptospirosis epidemics. Outbreak and El Niño years which are most conducive to Leptospira survival had greater amounts of IgG and IgGU in CSL samples than non-outbreak/El Niño years. However, this same trend did not exist with IgM titers in the yearling and juvenile age classes. This suggests that environmental sensitivity to leptospirosis infection in terms of IgM production is impacted by age more so than IgG and IgGU. Seasonal analysis yielded that IgM and IgG titers were highest in the winter and lowest in the spring and fall. IgGU on the other hand, was produced in greater amounts in the fall and summer seasons, agreeing with past research. Furthermore, environmental anomalies may be changing our knowledge of leptospirosis as the winter season may play more of a role in epidemics than it was previously found to. Longitudinal analysis depicted a general declining trend of IgM, IgG, and IgGU in all CSL individuals throughout leptospirosis persistence. Furthermore, longitudinal IgM and IgGU titers were found to have statistically similar patterns as time persists, both differing from longitudinal IgG titers patterns. This confirms past literature and its conclusion that IgM and IgGU function similarly in acting as a marker for distinguishing between primary and subsequent infections. Future research should consider examining a greater number of CSLs equally distributed between the four seasons to further explain seasonal deviation effecting leptospirosis epidemics. Additionally, future researchers should incorporate more than one region of CSL residence into analysis to eliminate varying environmental effects on the nature of leptospirosis persistence