Towards a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement?

Given its close political, economic, social and cultural ties to the region, stability, prosperity and a cooperative atmosphere in the South Caucasus are of great significance to Turkey. From this perspective, the normalization of Turkey’s relations with Armenia is one of the priorities of the AKP government. So a new era is about to begin in Turkish-Armenian relations, which up until now have been burdened by historical legacies, inertia and a lack of trust. The process of rapprochement launched with the restoration of the Akhtamar Church in 2002 is likely to soon result in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries; however, the process is complicated, and it is still uncertain when the official ties will be definitively established. That is why a detailed look at the 18 years of deadlock between Turkey and Armenia would be helpful in order to better understand the changing dynamics of the problem

Generalized Elastic Line Deformed on a Nonnull Surface by an External Field in the 3-Dimensional Semi-Euclidean Space E₁³

We deduce intrinsic equations for a generalized elastic line deformed on the nonnull surface by an external field in the semi-Euclidean space E₁³ and give some applications.Виведено природні рівняння для узагальненої пружної лінії, деформованої на ненульовій поверхні зовнішнім полем у тривимірному напівевклідовому просторі E₁³, та наведено деякі застосування

Higher order lifts of complex structures

We study about lifts on extended complex manifold. More clearly, we will obtain higher order vertical and complete lifts of differentiable elements on complex manifold M to the extended complex manifold kM

Novel graphene-based electrodes for energy storage devices

Graphene sheets have exceptional electrical, mechanical and optical properties. Graphene-based nanocomposites can be utilized as an electrode for the fabrication of energy storage devices for practical applications. Graphene nanosheets were produced by an enhanced technique including graphite oxidation, ultrasonic treatment, expansion, and chemical reduction

Energy Relations between Turkey and Israel

This Future Note prepared within the scope of the MENARA project aims to provide a brief outlook to the energy relations between Israel and Turkey. Following a six years of rupture in bilateral relations, Turkey and Israel signed a reconciliation agreement on June 2016 in order to normalize relations. Several developments have unfolded at regional level during this period of détente including the escalation of war in Syria, the coup in Egypt, the nuclear deal between Iran and the West and the rise of terrorism at both regional and international level. Besides regional dynamics, the Israel–Turkey reconciliation was also facilitated by energy-related factors. On that regard, this note aims to briefly outline the energy dimension in bilateral relations along with current developments in the region relevant to the energy- specific cooperation. This publication is part of the MENARA Future Notes series which in the form of policy briefs analyse ongoing events in the SEMCs and Middle East region, emphasising the implications for the EU, suggesting the best policy options and assessing plausible and preferable future scenarios

Is there any relationship between autism and pineal gland volume?

Purpose: Abnormalities in melatonin physiology and circadian rhythm are detected in patients with autism. Melatonin is produced predominantly in the pineal gland and the amount of melatonin released is proportional to the pineal gland volume. This study aimed to examine whether the pineal gland volume in children with autism is different from that in healthy children. Material and methods: Brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 120 paediatric patients with autism and 82 control paediatric subjects were examined; pineal parenchymal volume (PPV), pineal cyst rate (PCR), and total pineal gland volume (TPGV) were measured using a multimodality viewer (MMV), but only the TPGVs were measured using a tumour tracking (TT) method. Measurements were taken by 2 separate radiologists. Results: In patients with autism, the PPV and TPGV according to MMV, and the TPGV according to TT were significantly lower, and the PCR was significantly higher. Moreover, the ratio of PPV to TPGV was significantly lower in the autism patient group. In both groups, the TPGVs were significantly lower in the autism patient group than the controls among all age groups. Conclusions: Our study was the first to examine TPGVs in detail in paediatric patients with autism using 2 different methods. Low PPV-TPGV and high PCR have been observed in autism. This study also provides comparable reference values for pineal gland size in healthy children or autistic children aged 2-17 years. These results show promising potential for further research to understand the relationship between autism pathogenesis and the pineal gland

Investigation of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome markers in the etiology of recurrent miscarriage

This study aimed to determine the markers of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS), which has an important place in the etiology of recurrent miscarriage, and toprovide guidance for the treatment of the related disorders. This prospective observational study was performed on 120 female patients admitted to the Obstetrics andGynecology outpatient clinics due to recurrent pregnancy loss. Blood samples were analyzed using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique to findout the levels of APS-associated anticardiolipin (ACA), anti-beta2-glycoprotein I (a?2GPI), anti-annexin V (aANXV), anti-prothrombin (aPT), and antiphosphatidylserine(aPS) antibodies. A statistically significant difference was found between increased age groups and the number of miscarriages (p=0.03, p<0.05). There were no significantdifferences between the age groups by the time of miscarriage (p=0.35, p<0.05). ACA positivity (75%, n = 90) and anti-annexin V positivity (50.8%, n = 61) werehigher than the positive results found in other tests(p=0.01, p<0.05). Antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs) showed significantly different positivity levels by the age groups(p=0.01, p<0.05). The positivity levels of APAs were significantly different by the number of miscarriages (p=0.01, p<0.05). Other antibody levels were not statisticallysignificantly different. The frequency of positive APA levels increases with advancing age and a high number of miscarriages in association with the etiology of recurrentmiscarriage. Among the subgroups of these antibodies, ACA and anti-annexin V can serve as highly appropriate diagnostic markers in recurrent miscarriage

Function generation synthesis of planar slider-crank linkages for given 3 positions and a dead-center position

Function generation for finitely many positions and dead-center design problems are generally separately handled in the literature. This paper presents a mixed formulation for planar slider-crank linkages where three precision points and a folded or extended dead-center position are to be satisfied. The formulation results in an 8th degree univariate. Examples show that generally there are four real solutions, only two of which result in distinct solutions