Civil Society Monitoring Report 2012

TUSEV published the first Civil Society Monitoring Report in 2011 in order to more closely observe and evaluate developments in the area of civil society. The purposes of this report are for civil society to be recognized, better understood and bring awareness to challenges faced, as well as portraying developments over the past ten years. We believe that the favorable assessment of the Civil Society Monitoring Report by the representatives of civil society and the various institutions in the international arena is a significant progress. The Civil Society Monitoring Report 2012 presents the developments and achievements in the area of civil society, as well as the shortcomings and difficulties observed in practice within the period of 2011-2012. Also, the report compares findings of this year with the previous year

Screen Generic Lightlike Submanifolds

WOS: 000477611600001In this study, we introduce a new class of lightlike submanifolds for indefinite Kahler manifolds which particulary contain invariant lightlike, screen real lightlike and generic lightlike submanifolds and we call this submanifolds as screen generic lightlike submanifolds. After giving an example of a screen generic lightlike submanifold, we investigate the integrability of various distributions and prove a characterization theorem of such lightlike submanifolds in a complex space form. Then we find necessary conditions for the induced connection to be metric connection. Moreover, we investigate the existence of totally umbilical screen generic lightlike submanifolds and minimal screen generic lightlike submanifolds

Screen Transversal Cauchy Riemann Lightlike Submanifolds

WOS:000600791000012We introduce a new class of lightlike submanifolds, namely, Screen Transversal Cauchy Riemann (STCR)-lightlike submanifolds, of indefinite Kahler manifolds. We show that this new class is an umbrella of screen transversal lightlike, screen transversal totally real lightlike and CR-lightlike submanifolds. We give a few examples of a STCR lightlike submanifold, investigate the integrability of various distributions, obtain a characterization of such lightlike submanifolds in a complex space form and find new conditions for the induced connection to be a metric connection. Moreover, we investigate the existence of totally umbilical (STCR)-lightlike submanifolds and minimal (STCR)-lightlike submanifolds. The paper also contains several examples

Chen Inequalities on Lightlike Hypersurface of a Lorentzian Manifold with Semi-Symmetric Metric Connection

WOS: 000412878500001In this paper, we introduce k-Ricci curvature and k-scalar curvature on lightlike hypersurface of a Lorentzian manifold with semi-symmetric metric connection. Using this curvatures, we establish some inequalities for lightlike hypersurface of a Lorentzian manifold with semi-symmetric metric connection. Considering these inequalities, we obtain the relation between Ricci curvature and scalar curvature endowed with semi-symmetric metric connection

Evaluation of retinal ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer complex in healthy smokers

Smoking does not seem to have any effect on GC-IPL thickness, mean RNFL and CMT values. Further studies in larger groups are needed to reveal the effect of smoking on these parameters

Evaluation of the retinal ganglion cell and choroidal thickness in young Turkish adults with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia

The purpose of this study is to compare the choroidal thickness (CT) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness of the normal fellow eyes and the amblyopic eyes using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) in young Turkish adults with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia. Patients with unilateral hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia were enrolled and underwent a full ophthalmological assessment, including best-corrected visual acuity, cycloplegic refraction, and axial length (AL) measurements. Cirrus EDI-OCT was used to obtain subfoveal CT, GCC thickness, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and central macular thickness (CMT) measurements. Comparison was performed between the amblyopic eyes and the normal fellow eyes. Forty-three hyperopic anisometropic amblyopic patients were enrolled in this study. Mean age of 23 female and 20 male patients was 24.8 +/- A 7.4 years. Mean AL was 21.9 +/- A 1.3 and 22.4 +/- A 0.9 mm in amblyopic and fellow eyes, respectively (P 0.05). Mean GCC thickness was 83.8 +/- A 3.6 A mu in amblyopic eyes and 83.5 +/- A 3.9 A mu in the fellow eyes. Statistically significant difference was not seen between the groups (P > 0.05). Mean RNFL and mean CMT measurements were also similar in two groups (P > 0.05). Subfoveal CT, CMT, RNFL, and GCC thickness measurements were not statistically significant between hyperopic anisometropic amblyopic eyes and normal fellow eyes

Diagnostic Value of Ultrasonography in Appendicitis

WOS: 000313027000010PubMed ID: 23356200Background. Clinical diagnosis of appendicitis is often difficult in atypical patients. Objectives. The authors aim to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography (US) for acute appendicitis. Material and Methods. 121 consecutive patients with right lower abdomen pain were evaluated. Of them, 25 were excluded due to not having performed a preoperative US and 5 were obese (Body Mass Index > 30). A total of 91 patients were evaluated. The patients were assessed clinically and radiologically. Blood and urine analysis was carried out in all patients. US was performed with a Toshiba Fomio 8 brand machine with 3.75 and 8 MHz linear probes. Patients underwent an operation and an appendicectomy was done. Specimens were sent for histopathology to confirm appendicitis. Results. Ultrasound supported the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in 58 (63.7%) patients. In the US with positive findings, 55 patients (94.8%) had inflamed appendices on histopathology and 5 (8.6%) had normal appendices. The overall sensitivity of ultrasonography was 71.4% and specificity was 78.5%. Positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography are 94.8%, 33.3%, and 72.5% respectively. Conclusions. All diagnostic tests are adjunctive to the clinician. US should be the first step in the care of patients with right lower abdominal pain after the physical examination (Adv Clin Exp Med 2012, 21, 5, 633-636)

Effects of topical antiglaucomatous medications on central corneal epithelial thickness by anterior segment optical coherence tomography

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of topical antiglaucomatous medications on central corneal epithelial thickness measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Materials and methods: A total of 153 eyes of 153 patients using topical antiglaucomatous medications and 110 eyes of 110 control subjects were enrolled. Glaucoma type, duration of therapy, the number of drugs, and drops/day were noted in the patient group. Patients and control subjects underwent ocular examinations including Schirmer test, slit lamp examination for tear film break-up time, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography for central corneal thickness and central corneal epithelial thickness. Central corneal epithelial thickness and other data were evaluated separately with regard to glaucoma type, duration of therapy, the number of drops, and drugs in the patient group. Results: The mean ages of the patients and controls were 60.1 +/- 10.8 and 58.7 +/- 11.2 years, respectively. The groups were similar with regard to mean age and gender (p = 0.058, p = 0.734, respectively). The median (interquartile range) central corneal thickness was 536 (54) mu m in patients and 552 (53) mu m in controls (p = 0.011). The median (interquartile range) central corneal epithelial thickness of patients and controls were 56 (4) mu m and 60 (8) mu m, respectively (p < 0.001). The median (interquartile range) tear film break-up time and Schirmer were 12 (6) s and 10 (8) mm in patients and 16 (2) s and 18 (4) mm in controls, respectively (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). In patient group, there was no significant difference in the median central corneal thickness, central corneal epithelial thickness, and tear film break-up time in terms of glaucoma type, duration of therapy, the number of drugs, and the number of daily drops. Only the median Schirmer test was found to be statistically lower in terms of number of daily eye drops (p = 0.039). Conclusion: Using topical antiglaucomatous medications seems to affect the central corneal epithelial thickness in glaucoma patients. Central corneal epithelial thickness was thinner in glaucoma patients than controls. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography might be helpful to evaluate the effect of antiglaucomatous medications on central corneal epithelial thickness during treatment

Effectiveness of disinfectants on the adherence of Candida albicans to denture base resins with different surface textures

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of some disinfectants, including ethanol extract of propolis (EEP), on the adhesion of Candida albicans to denture base resins. Seventy-two acrylic resin samples were prepared, half of which was polished and the other half was roughened. C. albicans strain ATCC 10231 was incubated on Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) at 37 degrees C for 48 h. The adhesion period was completed by keeping the cells in this suspension for 90 min at 37 degrees C. Specimens were then immersed in the following solutions: 1\%, 2 \%, and 5\% sodium hypochlorite; 4\% chlorhexidine gluconate; and 10\% EEP. Quantification of the antifungal activity of the chemical solutions was performed using the colorimetric MTT (3-{[}4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay test. One-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey tests were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical agents. Polished and roughened surfaces were compared using independent sample t-test. The mean surface roughness value was 0.35 (+/- 0.04) gm for the polished group and 1.2 (+/- 0.2) gm for the roughened group. The contact angles of both surfaces showed statistically significant difference, and 10\% EEP solution exhibited significantly less removal of adherent viable C. albicans cells in both groups. All forms of sodium hypochlorite solutions yielded higher efficiency than 4\% chlorhexidine gluconate and EEP solutions (P < 0.05)