Editorial of Special Issue of National Identities: Alevism as an ethno-religious identity: Contested boundaries

No abstract for editorial but this is the opening paragraph: This special issue on Alevism and trans/national Alevi identity critically engages with the relationship between religion, ethnicity and national identity. The core issues are as follows: • how ethnicity and religion are conceptualised for a relatively invisible ethnic group in different national contexts; • how religion and ethnicity intersect when Alevism is both a faith and an ethnic identity, especially when conceptions of that identity are contested; • how identity is shaped through state policies within different national policy contexts and how etic definitions of minority communities are constructed by the state or other agencies with the power to impose them on the community in contrast to the emic or self-definitions of Aleviness from within the Alevi community; • how despite the fragmented, heterogeneous nature of Alevi communities, there is also a sense of a single, transnational imaginary community, at least for the purposes of political assimilation/integration and activism; • how education and other arenas of political, religious and cultural engagement at local, national and transnational levels create the possibilities, both positively and negatively, for future action/policy to situate minority ethnic communities

Comparison and analysis of trees of life in Turkish and Metepec art of ceramics

Abstract Ceramics is one of the most important materials that carry the traces of past. Kitchenware, architectural elements and religious forms that are made of ceramics carry the important traces of cultures, which they belong to. In this context, the art of ceramics is a field where symbolic statements exist as a mean of expression and it establishes an organic correlation between past and present. One of the most important of these forms that belongs to this expression is the ‘tree of life’. The form of the tree of life differs stylistically and figuratively from culture to culture and it has great expressional richness. In this study, which was supported by Anadolu University as a scientific research project, the pattern of Metepec, which is the centre of ceramics in Mexico and still continues to produce pottery, and of Turkish art of ceramics were analysed and compared historically, stylistically and technically

A case of sudden hearing loss associated with ANCA

A case of sudden hearing loss associated with ANCA. A 46-year-old female patient presented to our clinic with complaints of aural fullness and hearing loss for two days. On audiometric examination, she had sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear. Mean pure tone audiometry (PTA) was 53dB. Her medical history was significant for oral medication-controlled diabetes mellitus and chronic thyroiditis. Laboratory studies showed an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of 40 mm/h and an anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody directed against myeloperoxidase (MPO-ANCA) level of 33.1 EU/ml. ANCA-associated vasculitis was considered. The patient was started on immunosuppressive treatment. Seven months after the initial episode, the patient suffered a relapse. At 17 month follow-up after the initial event, the patient is healthy with normal hearing. Serum MPO-ANCA is within normal limits

Comparison of fine needle aspiration biopsy and paraffin embedded tissue sections for measuring AgNOR proteins

Paraffin embedded tissue sections and fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) are important methods for diagnosis. We compared thyroid tissue obtained by FNAB to paraffin embedded sections to determine whether there were differences in detection of the amounts of argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region (AgNOR) proteins. Twenty-two patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were included in the study. Slides were prepared with both FNAB tissue and 3 mu m sections of paraffin embedded tissue, and stained for AgNOR. One hundred nuclei per individual were evaluated; total AgNOR number/nucleus (TAn/TNn) and total AgNOR area/nuclear area (TAa/TNa) of individual cells were determined. Mean TAn/TNn and TAa/TNa values were 4.800 +/- 1.118 and 13.382 +/- 2.612, respectively, for FNAB samples; corresponding values were 2.406 +/- 0.649 and 8.49 +/- 0.893, respectively, for paraffin embedded sections. The differences between FNAB materials and paraffin embedded tissue sections were significant for the mean TAn/TNn and TAa/TNa values. Significant differences in the amounts of AgNOR protein detected were found between FNAB and paraffin embedded tissue sections

The detection of curcumins' antitumoral effects via argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region-associated protein synthesis in mice with ehrlich's ascitic carcinoma

WOS: 000393635100011PubMed: 28127985BACKGROUND: Curcumin is a polyphenol compound that has antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic and antimicrobial effects. Nucleolar-organizing regions are the sites of the gene on chromosomes. The present study was aimed to show the antitumoral effect of curcumin via AgNOR protein synthesis in Ehrlich's ascitic carcinoma (EAC) bearing mice. METHODS: Twenty three mice with EAC were randomly divided into 3 groups as positive control (n = 7), group 2 (n = 8) and 3 (n = 8) treated intraperitoneally with curcumin (25 mg/kg) and (50 mg/kg), respectively. The animals were sacrificed on Day 16, the solid tumors were removed out. Then, total AgNOR area/nuclear area (TAA/NA) and the mean AgNOR number were estimated for each mice. RESULT: Statistically significant differences were determined among the whole groups for TAA/NA ratio (p = 0.000), conversely mean AgNOR number (p = 0.361). When comparingthe two groups; while no difference was determined between the control and curcumin (25 mg/kg) groups (p = 0.061), the significant differences were detected between the control and curcumin (50 mg/kg) groups (p = 0.000) and between curcumin (25 mg/kg) and curcumin (50 mg/kg) groups (p = 0.000) for TAA/NA ratio. However, there was no significant difference for the mean AgNOR number in double comparison of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed that curcumin had a crucial function against cancer development. Also, both AgNOR values might be used as biomarkers for detection of the most reliable therapeutic dose selection of cancer treatment (Tab. 3, Fig. 2, Ref. 27). Text in PDF www.elis.sk