The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Active Control Experiments on a Smart Robotic Glass with End-Point Control for Parkinson’s Patients

This paper describes a robotic system that uses an actively controlled glass to help patients with tremors. End-point control is proposed for the upper part of a robotic device that becomes active in response to motion changes or vibrations of its holder. The device mechanisms, hardware, software, and sensory system are all integrated, presenting a novel robotic glass design. The control system consists of two degrees of freedom proportional–integral velocity regulators for direct current motors. These regulators are designed, implemented, and tuned to keep the robotic glass stable against changes in its position. In realizing direct current motor control, it is essential to take system constraints into consideration to develop regulators that can handle the nonlinear Coulomb friction and avoid operating in the saturation zone. This is crucial when designing, tuning, and implementing regulators for real-time applications. The computer simulations of the system, which involved developing and running all the control algorithms for real-time applications, are carried out in Matlab/Simulink. The proposed designs are validated by comparing system simulations to real-time physical experiments. The recorded results confirmed the outstanding performance of the proposed experimental platform mechanisms and the accurate control tracking, which provides fast and precise control responses to meet the high requirements of a fast end-point control application

A Case of Enterobacter cloacae Meningitis Secondary to Urinary Tract Infection

Gram-negatif bakterilere bağlı menenjit, genellikle yenidoğanlarda ve yaşlı hastalarda, prostat biyopsisi, beyin cerrahisi gibi girişimlerden sonra veya kafa travmasından sonra gelişebilmektedir. Bu hastalarda akut bakteriyel menenjitin ateş, baş ağrısı ve meninks iritasyonu gibi tipik bulguları görülmeyebilmektedir ve mortalitesi yüksektir. Bu yazıda üriner sistem infeksiyonuna bağlı bakteriyemiye sekonder geliştiği düşünülen bir Gram-negatif bakteri menenjiti olgusu sunulmuştur. Uygun antibiyotik tedavisine rağmen hasta eksitus olmuştur. Özellikle yaşlı ve komorbid hastalığı olan hastalar antibiyotik tedavisine yanıt vermediğinde ve bilinç bozukluğu geliştiğinde santral sinir sistemi infeksiyonu mutlaka akılda tutulmalıdır.Gram-negative bacterial meningitis can usually be seen in neonates and elderly patients, after head trauma or interventions such as prostate biopsy and brain surgery. Typical findings of acute bacterial meningitis such as fever, headache and meningeal irritation signs may not be observed, and mortality rate is high in these patients. In this report, we present a case of Gramnegative bacterial meningitis secondary to bacteremia probably due to urinary tract infection. The patient died despite appropriate antibiotic therapy. Central nervous system infection should be kept in mind especially when elderly patients with comorbid diseases do not respond to antibiotic treatment and changes in mental status develop

Evaluation of the Surgeons’ Approach to HIV Infection

Introduction: The number of persons diagnosed as HIV positive is increasing rapidly in Turkey. Although the overall prevalence of the disease is still low, the increase of newly diagnosed persons emerges an important concern dealing with the awareness of the clinicians, and especially the surgeons. The aim of the study is to evaluate the approach of surgeons to HIV infection in the hospital. Materials and Methods: A 12-item self-administered anonymous questionnaire about the HIV infection with true and false options was developed. The questionnaire also included the specialty, age, duration of occupation and position of the surgeons. The questions were targeted to learn the knowledge and attitude about transmission route, occupational risk of acquiring HIV infection, prophylaxis for prevention, reluctance for operation and current drug therapy. The questionnaires were voluntarily filled by surgeons in November 2017. The descriptive statistics of the study were calculated as numbers and percentages. Yates’ corrected chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used in comparative analysis. Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation test was used for comparison of continuous variables and correlation, respectively. Results: The total number of filled questionnaires was 90. In 90 of them, the demographic fields were filled. Among 90 surgeons, 37% (33/90) were assistant doctors between the ages of 25-31 years, and the duration of occupation was between 1-6 years. The remaining was older than 31 years of age and the duration of occupation as surgeon was 5-40 years. Specialties were urology, orthopedics, plastic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmic surgery, ear-nose-throat surgery, cardiovascular, general surgery, and neurosurgery. The results generally denote that the surgeons are aware of the occupational risk of HIV infection. Current knowledge about transmission risk evaluation, existence of prevention prophylaxis, advance in HIV treatment and prolonged life expectancy were less than expected. Correspondingly, half of the surgeons were reluctant to touch the patients. For each question, there was no statistically important difference between the answers of the surgeons according to position (residency doctor or specialist) (p> 0.05). There was also no statistically important difference between the answers of the surgeons according to age and duration of occupation (p> 0.05). Any significant correlation was not detected when age and duration of occupation were evaluated according to the total number of true answers (p= 0.802, r= -0.028 and p= 0.831, r= 0.023 respectively) Conclusion: The survey revealed the need for a meeting to be held with the surgeons of our hospital regarding the current status of the disease in the near future

Examination of educational technology articles within 2014

Bu çalışmanın amacı, 2014 yılına ait Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) kapsamındaki eğitim teknolojileri alanında önde gelen uluslararası sekiz dergideki makalelerin içerik analizi yöntemiyle incelenmesidir. Araştırmada “Eğitim Teknolojileri Yayın Sınıflama Formu” adı ile Sözbilir ve Kutu (2008), Masood (2004), Reeves (1995) çalışmalarından yararlanılarak Göktaş vd. (2012) tarafından geliştirilip, ardından Kiliç-Çakmak vd. (2013)’ın üzerinde bazı değişiklikler yaparak “Makale İnceleme Formu (MİF) (Article Review Form)” olarak adlandırdıkları veri toplama aracı kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonuçları incelendiğinde makalelerde; yöntem olarak en çok “nicel yöntem”, veri toplama aracı olarak en çok “anket”, veri toplama yöntemi olarak en çok “klasik”, örneklem seçimi olarak en çok “kolay ulaşılabilir örneklem”, örneklem sayısı olarak en çok “31-100 aralığı”, örneklem düzeyi olarak en çok eğitim fakültesi dışındaki fakültelerde “lisans (diğer)”, örneklem türü olarak en çok fen, matematik, sosyal dışındaki “diğer”, veri analiz yöntemi olarak en çok “kestirimsel analiz” yönteminin daha çok tercih edildiği ve “öğretim tasarımı” ve “eğitimde bilişim teknolojileri” konularının ise en çok incelenen konular olduğunu görülmüştür

Characteristics and predictors of chronic kidney disease in children with myelomeningocele: a nationwide cohort study

Background Myelomeningocele (MMC) is highly prevalent in developing countries, and MMC-related neurogenic bladder is an important cause of childhood chronic kidney disease (CKD). This nationwide study aimed to evaluate demographic and clinical features of pediatric patients with MMC in Turkey and risk factors associated with CKD stage 5.Methods Data from children aged 0-19 years old, living with MMC in 2022, were retrospectively collected from 27 pediatric nephrology centers. Patients > 1 year of age without pre-existing kidney abnormalities were divided into five groups according to eGFR; CKD stages 1-5. Patients on dialysis, kidney transplant recipients, and those with eGFR 15 ml/min/1.73 m2 but not on kidney replacement therapy at time of study constituted the CKD stage 5 group.Results A total of 911 (57.8% female) patients were enrolled, most of whom were expectantly managed. Stages 1-4 CKD were found in 34.3%, 4.2%, 4.1%, and 2.4%, respectively. CKD stage 5 was observed in 5.3% of patients at median 13 years old (range 2-18 years). Current age, age at first abnormal DMSA scan, moderate-to-severe trabeculated bladder on US and/or VCUG, and VUR history were independent risk factors for development of CKD stage 5 (OR 0.752; 95%; CI 0.658-0.859; p 0.001; OR 1.187; 95% CI 1.031-1.367; p = 0.017; OR 10.031; 95% CI 2.210-45.544; p = 0.003; OR 2.722; 95% CI 1.215-6.102; p = 0.015, respectively). Only eight CKD stage 5 patients underwent surgery related to a hostile bladder between 1 and 15 years old.Conclusion MMC-related CKD is common in childhood in Turkey. A proactive approach to neurogenic bladder management and early protective surgery in selected cases where conservative treatment has failed should be implemented to prevent progressive kidney failure in the pediatric MMC population in our country

Characteristics and predictors of chronic kidney disease in children with myelomeningocele: a nationwide cohort study

Background: Myelomeningocele (MMC) is highly prevalent in developing countries, and MMC-related neurogenic bladder is an important cause of childhood chronic kidney disease (CKD). This nationwide study aimed to evaluate demographic and clinical features of pediatric patients with MMC in Turkey and risk factors associated with CKD stage 5. Methods: Data from children aged 0–19 years old, living with MMC in 2022, were retrospectively collected from 27 pediatric nephrology centers. Patients > 1 year of age without pre-existing kidney abnormalities were divided into five groups according to eGFR; CKD stages 1–5. Patients on dialysis, kidney transplant recipients, and those with eGFR < 15 ml/min/1.73 m2 but not on kidney replacement therapy at time of study constituted the CKD stage 5 group. Results: A total of 911 (57.8% female) patients were enrolled, most of whom were expectantly managed. Stages 1–4 CKD were found in 34.3%, 4.2%, 4.1%, and 2.4%, respectively. CKD stage 5 was observed in 5.3% of patients at median 13 years old (range 2–18 years). Current age, age at first abnormal DMSA scan, moderate-to-severe trabeculated bladder on US and/or VCUG, and VUR history were independent risk factors for development of CKD stage 5 (OR 0.752; 95%; CI 0.658–0.859; p < 0.001; OR 1.187; 95% CI 1.031–1.367; p = 0.017; OR 10.031; 95% CI 2.210–45.544; p = 0.003; OR 2.722; 95% CI 1.215–6.102; p = 0.015, respectively). Only eight CKD stage 5 patients underwent surgery related to a hostile bladder between 1 and 15 years old. Conclusion: MMC-related CKD is common in childhood in Turkey. A proactive approach to neurogenic bladder management and early protective surgery in selected cases where conservative treatment has failed should be implemented to prevent progressive kidney failure in the pediatric MMC population in our country. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.