Pachyonychia congenita type I with severe oral leukokeratosis

Pachyonychia Congenita (PC) is a rare autosomal dominant keratin disorder that affects a number of ectodermal structures including the nails and palmoplantar skin, and often involves the oral mucosa, tongue, larynx, teeth and hair. Clinical features are usually present at birth or early infancy. There are two main subtypes of PC. Fingernail thickening and oral keratosis are more common and severe in PC-1 and cystic lesions, hair abnormalities, natal teeth and pili torti are more common in PC-2. We report the case of a 6-year-old boy with PC-1 presenting with severe and painful oral leukokeratosis and extensive caries

The Relationship Between the Budget Deficit and Current Account Deficit in Turkey

One of the most debated topics in Economics literature is the relation between budget deficit and current account deficit. The data obtained from the presence of this kind of relation is leading for policy makers in terms of determining the quality of the policy to be preferred and the economic policy to be pursued. In this study, the relation between budget deficit and current account deficit in Turkey is analyzed for 2001Q2-2012Q2 period. According to the data obtained, budget deficit has negative and statistically meaningful effect on current account balance. On the other hand, budget deficit has negative effect on current account balance in short terms

Yapı Sağlığı İzleme Verileri İle Hasar Tespitinde Kullanılan Hasar Modellerinin Bulanık Analiz İle Belirsizlik Açısından İncelenmesi

Konferans Bildirisi -- Teorik ve Uygulamalı Mekanik Türk Milli Komitesi, 2013Conference Paper -- Theoretical and Applied Mechanical Turkish National Committee, 2013Son yıllarda yapı sağlığı izleme verileri kullanılarak yapısal tanılama oldukça önem kazanmıştır. Yapısal tanılama, operasyon ve çevre yükleri altında elde edilen veriler ışığında mevcut yapıları daha iyi temsil eden modeller geliştirme alanıdır. Bu modeller, başlangıç bir sayısal modeli ile deneysel veriler arasındaki farkın minimize edilerek belirsiz model parametrelerinin tahmini ile elde edilmektedir. Problemin çıktılarından model parametrelerinin tahmini mekanikte ters problem olarak bilinmekte ve çözümü optimizasyon algoritmaları ile mümkün olmaktadır. Ayrıca, yapılardan elde edilen ve mevcut durum hakkında bilgi içeren her türlü dinamik ve statik veri belirli şartlar altında yerel hasarın yerinin ve şiddetinin tespiti için de kullanılabilmektedir. Bu noktada taşıyıcı elemanlardaki hasar, farklı hasar modelleri ile temsil edilebilir. Elde edilen sonuçların kesinliği ve doğruluğu hasar modeliyle doğrudan alakalıdır. Bundan dolayı bu çalışmada basit bir yapı sistemi için farklı hasar modellerinin hasar tespitindeki performansı, modellemedeki belirsizlikler göz önüne alınarak araştırılmıştır. Belirsizlik modellemesi ve analizinde bulanık sayılar ve bulanık aritmetik yöntemleri kullanılmıştır. Hasar modellerine ait parametreler ve yapı çıktılarındaki (doğal frekanslar, mod şekilleri v.b.) belirsizlikler bulanık sayılar ile modellenerek nicel belirsizlik miktarları elde edilmiştir. Hasar modellerinden elde edilen belirsizlik miktarları modelin, mevcut yapıdaki durumu belirli bir güvenilirlik seviyesinde yansıtması açısından önemlidir. Bu çalışma karmaşık hasar modellerinin hasar tespitindeki performansı incelendiği sonuçlar, düzgün yerel rijitlik azalması ve ayrık yay modelleri gibi basit modeller ile hasarın yerinin ve şiddetinin yeterli yakınsaklıkla tespit edilebileceğini göstermiştir. Karmaşık ve detaylı matematik modellerin davranışı daha iyi temsil etmesine rağmen bu durum genellikle belirli yükleme şartları veya çevre etkileri için geçerli olmaktadır. Bundan dolayı daha basit stokastik modeller ve deneysel veriler yardımıyla mevcut hasar durumunun tespiti daha makul olmaktadır.Structural identification and damage detection using structural health monitoring data has gained considerable attention in the last two decades. The models improved using in-situ measurements are very useful to predict the current damage condition of the structures. Many different damage models might be used to model the crack type damage in structural components. However the models which do not come up with additional computational burden are preferable since the structural damage detection is an inverse problem which is a computationally expensive method. In this study, three crack models for beam type elements are compared in terms of the modeling uncertainty amounts. The modeling uncertainties are quantified by the so-called Fuzzy Finite Element Model Updating method. In this method, uncertainties in both updating model parameters and the response quantities are modeled by means of fuzzy numbers. The natural frequencies and the mode shapes obtained from the simulated damaged cantilever beam are used in the updating process. The results shows that the uniform degradation of the flexural rigidity model which is the simplest damage model can effectively be used to model the damage in beam elements. Despite the fact that the fracture mechanic approach and the Christides and Barr models are more accurate but computationally expensive, they do not provide results which do not considerably differ from the results obtained by the use of uniform degradation model. Hence, it can be said that the uniform degradation of the flexural rigidity model might be preferred for modeling the damage in damage detection applications using structural health monitoring data

Türkiye'de Katılım Bankalarının Müşteri Perspektifinden Performanslarının İncelenmesi: Kocaeli İli Örneği

To have an uninterrupted growth performance of participation banks may beonly possible by sustainable development strategies that are consistent withmarket dynamics. Investigating the reasons why customers prefer theseinstitutions, what their expectations are, and analyzing the data obtained fromthese researches are critical in developing strategies. Comprehensive fieldresearch covering all provinces of Turkey which aims to determine the reasonsfor customer preference of participation banks may provide policy implicationsfor the policymakers. As the first step towards carrying out such research, it wasaimed to investigate the reasons for preferring participation banks in Kocaeliprovince. In the study, the required data were collected and analyzed with thehelp of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Firstly, an in-depthinterview method was applied in qualitative research to obtain the data from 12customers working with participation banks in a long period of time. Secondly,the questionnaire method was used to collect data from a wider customer sampleregarding the factors that are important for working with the participationbanks. 407 questionnaires were analyzed and interpreted. 5 main factors, suchas religious factors, service quality variables, social environment effect, financial variables, and marketing mix variables were found to be effective in preferringparticipation banks. The findings of this exploratory study are consistent withthe related literature and it is expected to guide to future studies.Katılım bankalarının büyüme performansının belirli bir eşikten sonra sekteye uğramaması, sürdürülebilir ve piyasa dinamikleri ile tutarlı stratejilerin geliştirilmesi ile mümkün olabilir. Müşterilerin bu kurumları hangi gerekçeler ile tercih ettiği ve beklentilerinin neler olduğu konusunun araştırılması ve bu araştırmalardan elde edilen verilerin analiz edilmesi tutarlı stratejilerin geliştirilmesi açısından önem arz etmektedir. Türkiye genelinde yapılacak kapsamlı bir araştırma ile müşterilerin katılım bankalarını tercih etme gerekçeleri tespit edilerek geliştirilecek politika uygulamalarına dayanak oluşturulabilir. Böyle bir araştırmanın gerçekleştirilmesine yönelik bir adım olarak Kocaeli özelinde katılım bankalarının tercih edilme gerekçelerinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada nicel ve nitel araştırma yöntemleri yardımıyla gerekli veriler toplanarak, analiz edilmiştir. Öncelikle nitel araştırma kapsamında derinlemesine görüşme yönteminden yararlanılarak uzun süreli katılım bankaları ile çalışan 12 müşteriden gerekli bilgiler elde edilmiştir. İkinci olarak, anket yöntemi ile daha geniş bir müşteri örneğinden katılım bankalarının tercih edilmesinde önemli olan faktörlere yönelik bilgiler toplanmıştır. 407 adet anket formu analiz edilerek, yorumlanmış ve dini faktörler, hizmet kalitesi ile ilgili değişkenler, sosyal çevre etkisi, finansal değişkenler ve pazarlama karması ile ilgili değişkenler şeklinde 5 temel faktörün katılım bankası tercihinde etkili olduğu görülmüştür. Keşifsel bir araştırma özelliği taşıyan bu çalışmanın bulguları, literatür ile uyumlu sonuçlar vermekte olup, gelecek çalışmalara yol göstereceği düşünülmektedir

Time-varying convergences of environmental footprint levels between European countries

This study proposes the time-varying nonlinear panel unit root test to investigate the convergence of ecological foot prints between the EU and candidate countries. Sixteen European countries (such as Albania, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Turkey) and analysis periods are selected according to data availability. This study proposes a cross-sectional Panel KSS with Fourier to test the convergence of the ecological footprints. Then, we combine this methodology with the rolling window method to take into account the time-varying stationarity of series. This study evaluated sub-components of ecological footprints separately and provided more comprehensive findings for the ecological footprint. According to empirical findings, this study proves that convergence or divergence does not show continuity over time. On the other side, this study points out the presence of divergence draws attention when considering the properties of the sub-components in general. As a result, this study shows that international policies by EU countries are generally accepted as successful to reduce ecological footprint, but these are not sufficient as expected. In this point, it is suggested to keep national policies to support international policies in the long term. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT: ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000089, UIDB/00685/2020This paper is financed by Portuguese national funds through FCT?Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia, I.P., project number UIDB/00685/2020 and also by the project GREAT-Genuine Rural Experiences in the Azores Tourism, with the code: ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000089.Funding: This paper is financed by Portuguese national funds through FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., project number UIDB/00685/2020 and also by the project GREAT-Genuine Rural Experiences in the Azores Tourism, with the code: ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000089

Asymptomatic mass in the tail of the pancreas: Intrapancreatic accessory spleen

We present a 48-year-old male patient with a mass in the tail of the pancreas on abdominal ultrasonography. The lesion was suspicious for a well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and spleen preserved distal pancreatectomy surgery was performed. It was diagnosed as intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) after pathological examination. Accessory spleen is not an infrequent congenital entity caused by the localization of normal splenic tissue in ectopic regions. As it is known, an accessory spleen is a benign entity and does not require surgical treatment or follow-up when detected. However, it is important to recognize IPAS tissue as it may mimic a pancreatic neoplasia when it is located in the pancreas. In this article, we discuss the differential diagnostic possibilities of the IPAS entity

ON SEMI-INVARIANT SUBMANIFOLDS OF ALMOST COMPLEX CONTACT METRIC MANIFOLDS

In this article we study semi-invariant submanifolds of almost complexcontact metric manifolds.We defined semi-invariant submanifolds of almostcomplex contact metric manifold and we have investigated semi-invariantsubmanifolds of almost complex contact metric manifolds. We investigated necessary conditions on which a semi-submanifold of an amlmasot complex contact metric manifold is invariant or anti-invariant. We found necessary and sufficientconditions to be integrable and totally geodesic of distribution $D$defined on $M$. Also we obtained necessary and sufficient conditions to be integrable and totally geodesic of distribution $D^{\bot }$ defined on$M$\

Comparative evaluation of shear bond strength of three flowable compomers on enamel of primary teeth: An in-vitro study

Background: The aim of the present study was to determine Shear bond strength (SBS) of different flowable compomers on the enamel surface of primary teeth. The null hypothesis to be tested was that none of the flowable compomer would differ significantly from the other two with respect to SBS. As a result, the tested materials that have the easiest application on child patient is preferred. Material and Methods: Sixty newly extracted non carious primary molars were selected. The buccal surface was cleaned and polished to obtain a flat enamel surface. The specimens were randomly divided into three groups of 20 teeth each, based on the flowable compomers applied, as follows: group I: Dyract Flow® (Dentsply, Konstanz, Germany); group II: Twinky Star Flow® (Voco, Cuxhaven, Germany); and group III: R&D Series Nova Compomer Flow® (Imicryl, Konya, Turkey). Results: SBS in group II (6.78± 0.45 MPa) were significantly lower than groups I and III (8.30 ± 0.29 and 8.43 ± 0.66 MPa, respectively) (P<.001). No significant difference was found between groups I and III (P<.05). Conclusions: Significant differences existed between the SBS of the groups. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. Flowable compomers can provide adequate SBS with self-etching system at restoration of primary teeth. Thus, successful restorations in pediatric patients can be done in a practical way. © Medicina Oral S.L

Multiorgan involvement of Behcet's disease in a young woman

Behcet's disease is a rare disorder of unknown etiology that is classified as a systemic vasculitis. The prevalence of the disease is high in countries in the Far East, Mediterranean Basin, and East Asia. Thus, it is also known as the Silk Road Disease. Behcet's disease is characterized by recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, genital sores, and ocular lesions. However, it can present with severe clinical manifestations as a result of cardiovascular system, central nervous system, and gastrointestinal tract involvement. The disease causes serious complications, morbidity, and mortality, especially in male patients with early age onset. Here we present a rare case of Behcet's disease exhibiting multiple organ involvement in a 26-year-old Caucasian female

Experience with oral tofacitinib in severe alopecia areata with different clinical responses

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) and generalized form, universalis (AU) are common causes of noncicatricial alopecia, targeting anagen hair follicles. A dominant interferon-gamma transcriptional signaling and cytotoxic T lymphocytes were accused as the main drivers of disease pathogenesis. Tofacitinib is a Janus kinase inhibitor that has been proven to interfere with the positive feedback loop between the follicular cell and the cytotoxic T lymphocytes in AA. There is an increasing number of studies reporting success with tofacitinib in AA. Aims: We aimed to assess oral tofacitinib's safety and efficacy in 13 recalcitrant AA and AU patients. Methods: This is a retrospective pilot study performed between 2017 and 2020. The demographic features and the treatment responses were evaluated with Severity of Alopecia Tool score changes. Results: Thirteen recalcitrant alopecia areata patients (3 AA, 10 AU), aged between 17 and 49, were included in the study. The treatment duration was 3-15 months. All three AA patients responded well; however, the therapy was unsuccessful in five of ten AU patients. Relapse was observed in one of the AA and three of the AU responders. Acneiform lesions and elevation of transaminases were the major side effects. Conclusion: Tofacitinib seems to be more promising and thriving in the treatment of AA than AU. Starting the therapy earlier can bring more successful results. Unfortunately, even in the cases that fully respond to treatment, relapse can be observed after discontinuation of the treatment. It is essential to inform patients about this situation in reducing the frustrations that may occur later