IMMIGRATION AND CHILDREN

  Various economic, political, environmental and social reasons can force people to migrate, leaving their home. Migration, which is as old as human history, has increased because of some reasons such as globaliza­tion, wars and natural disasters. Children have constituted a significant proportion of immigrants. According to the report of the United Nations Children’s Fund for 2015, the number of immigrant children living in a different country from the country of their birth is approximately 31 million, of whom about 10 million are refugees around the world. Children have been obliged to deal with many problems such as hunger, thirst and illness during their migratory journey. In countries to which children migrated to seek asylum, children have been exposed to a great deal of abuse and exploitation, including violence, human trafficking and participation in criminal organisations. Unaccompanied children are especially vulnerable to all these hazards. The physical and mental health of immigrant children is affected by cultural, geographical and climatic changes. Not knowing the language of the destination country and being unable to communicate with their peers causes an impact of psychological trauma on children. In addition, refugee children living in difficult conditions for a long time are at risk of mental problems and behavioural disorders

Instantaneous Gain in Video Head Impulse Test: A Reliability Study

Objective:Vestibulo-ocular reflex gain at 40, 60, and 80 ms following the head movement start is calculated as the instantaneous gain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of instantaneous gain values at 40, 60, and 80 ms with testing and retesting in healthy adults.Methods:The study was conducted with Interacoustics EyeSeeCam vHIT (Interacoustics, Denmark), and 42 healthy adults were evaluated twice at half-hour intervals (test and retest) by the same practitioner. Agreement of mean gain, gain asymmetry, and instantaneous gain was evaluated using a paired samples t-test.Results:Mean age of the participants was 33.62±11.17; 38.1% were male and 61.9% were female. In the degree of the agreement, paired sample correlation (r) between test and retest results of the horizontal semicircular canals was found to be higher than those of the vertical semicircular canals. Moreover, the highest correlation between test and retest for instantaneous gain, calculated for only horizontal semicircular canals, was found at 80 ms on each side (0.791; 0.838, right and left, respectively), while the lowest correlation between these parameters was found between the gain asymmetry values.Conclusion:The video head impulse test used in studies calculates the mean gain in approximately at 60 ms. However, the higher correlation between mean gain values at 80 ms in our findings indicates that gain calculation strategies and techniques for latencies should be discussed. Additionally, the low correlation of vertical semicircular canals for mean gain and gain asymmetry between semicircular canal pairs, which clearly shows that more standard and more reliable methods should be developed

Relationship of serum pentraxin-3 with peripheral arterial disease

Aim: Since atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory process associated with peripheral artery disease (PAD), the inflammatory marker pentraxin (PTX) may increase in PAD. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional clinical study was performed at the tertiary university hospital emergency department and cardiovascular surgery departments in Turkey. The purpose was to determine the value of PTX3 in the diagnosis of PAD. This study was performed on 43 symptomatic patients aged >18 years and diagnosed with PAD. Results: Median PTX3 value was 1.027 (25–75th percentile: 0.395–2.902) in the control group and 0.585 (25–75th percentiles: 0.406–5.467) in the PAD group (p=0.913). A comparison of PTX3 with ankle brachial index (ABI) values revealed a weak and non-significant correlation (rho: 0.016, p=0.886). Analysis of PTX3 values with other parameters (age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and SpO2) revealed no significant correlation with any of the other parameters. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that PTX3 levels cannot be used as a marker in patients with the chronic process of PAD

Rapid Alleviation of Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms via Electrostimulation of Intrinsic Auricular Muscle Zones

Background: Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) and the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) significantly improve cardinal motor symptoms and postural instability and gait difficulty, respectively, in Parkinson’s disease (PD).Objective and Hypothesis: Intrinsic auricular muscle zones (IAMZs) allow the potential to simultaneously stimulate the C2 spinal nerve, the trigeminal nerve, the facial nerve, and sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves in addition to providing muscle feedback and control areas including the STN, the PPN and mesencephalic locomotor regions. Our aim was to observe the clinical responses to IAMZ stimulation in PD patients.Method: Unilateral stimulation of an IAMZ, which includes muscle fibers for proprioception, the facial nerve, and C2, trigeminal and autonomic nerve fibers, at 130 Hz was performed in a placebo- and sham-controlled, double-blinded, within design, two-armed study of 24 PD patients.Results: The results of the first arm (10 patients) of the present study demonstrated a substantial improvement in Unified Parkinson’s Disease Ratings Scale (UPDRS) motor scores due to 10 min of IAMZ electrostimulation (p = 0.0003, power: 0.99) compared to the placebo control (p = 0.130). A moderate to large clinical difference in the improvement in UPDRS motor scores was observed in the IAMZ electrostimulation group. The results of the second arm (14 patients) demonstrated significant improvements with dry needling (p = 0.011) and electrostimulation of the IAMZ (p < 0.001) but not with sham electrostimulation (p = 0.748). In addition, there was a significantly greater improvement in UPDRS motor scores in the IAMZ electrostimulation group compared to the IAMZ dry needling group (p < 0.001) and the sham electrostimulation (p < 0.001) groups. The improvement in UPDRS motor scores of the IAMZ electrostimulation group (ΔUPDRS = 5.29) reached moderate to high clinical significance, which was not the case for the dry needling group (ΔUPDRS = 1.54). In addition, both arms of the study demonstrated bilateral improvements in motor symptoms in response to unilateral IAMZ electrostimulation.Conclusion: The present study is the first demonstration of a potential role of IAMZ electrical stimulation in improving the clinical motor symptoms of PD patients in the short term

Real-world efficacy and safety of Ledipasvir plus Sofosbuvir and Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir +/- Dasabuvir combination therapies for chronic hepatitis C: A Turkish experience

Background/Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the real-life efficacy and tolerability of direct-acting antiviral treatments for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with/without cirrhosis in the Turkish population.Material and Methods: A total of 4,352 patients with CHC from 36 different institutions in Turkey were enrolled. They received ledipasvir (LDV) and sofosbuvir (SOF)+/- ribavirin (RBV) ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir +/- dasabuvir (PrOD)+/- RBV for 12 or 24 weeks. Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates, factors affecting SVR, safety profile, and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) occurrence were analyzed.Results: SVR12 was achieved in 92.8% of the patients (4,040/4,352) according to intention-to-treat and in 98.3% of the patients (4,040/4,108) according to per-protocol analysis. The SVR12 rates were similar between the treatment regimens (97.2%-100%) and genotypes (95.6%-100%). Patients achieving SVR showed a significant decrease in the mean serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (50.90 +/- 54.60 U/L to 17.00 +/- 14.50 U/L) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores (7.51 +/- 4.54 to 7.32 +/- 3.40) (p<0.05). Of the patients, 2 were diagnosed with HCC during the treatment and 14 were diagnosed with HCC 37.0 +/- 16.0 weeks post-treatment. Higher initial MELD score (odds ratio [OR]: 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-2.38; p=0.023]), higher hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.31-2.28; p=0.038), and higher serum ALT levels (OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.21-1.83; p=0.042) were associated with poor SVR12. The most common adverse events were fatigue (12.6%), pruritis (7.3%), increased serum ALT (4.7%) and bilirubin (3.8%) levels, and anemia (3.1%).Conclusion: LDV/SOF or PrOD +/- RBV were effective and tolerable treatments for patients with CHC and with or without advanced liver disease before and after liver transplantation. Although HCV eradication improves the liver function, there is a risk of developing HCC.Turkish Association for the Study of The Liver (TASL

Privatization of war in foreign policy : Russia’s utilization of private military companies

Bu çalışma özellikle Soğuk Savaşın bitiminden sonra kullanımları ve faaliyetleri giderek artan özel askeri şirketleri (ÖAŞ) konu almaktadır. Ülke kamuoylarının doğrudan askeri müdahalelere ve kayıplara karşı artan hassaslığı, uluslararası hukukun devletlere getirdiği sınırlar ve askeri teknolojinin hızla gelişmesi gibi faktörler düşünüldüğünde güvenliğin devlet dışı aktörler tarafından yerine getirilmeye başlanması devletler ve bu aktörler arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemeyi oldukça önemli bir hale getirmiştir. Ulusal Tez Merkez'i incelendiğinde ÖAŞ'lerin dış politika uygulamalarındaki rolünü inceleyen bir çalışma yapılmadığı görülmüştür. Uluslararası literatürdeki tespit edilen boşluk ise savaşın özelleşmesi sürecinin dış politikaya yansımasının bütüncül bir yaklaşımla açıklanmadığıdır. Tez, ilk bölümde ÖAŞ'lerin özellikle Avrupa ve Amerika'da başlayan kurumsallaşma süreçlerini, bu şirketlerin dönüşüm ve dış politikada/çatışmalarda kullanım sürecini nedenleri ile birlikte anlatarak uluslararası ilişkilerdeki rollerini açıklamak amacındadır. İkinci bölüm Rus Dış Politikası, jeopolitik öncelikleri, Rus özel askeri endüstrisi ve Moskova'nın siyasi hedeflerini yerine getirmek amacıyla hem ordu hem devlet-dışı askeri aktörleri kullanımı gibi konulara değinecektir. Son bölümde ise tezin ana argümanlarından biri olan ÖAŞ'lerin devletlerin dış politika uygulamasında de-facto bir araç oldukları yargısı önceki bölümlerde edinilen teorik perspektifin de yardımı ile Rusya'nın ÖAŞ kullanımı üzerinden örnek vakalar ile kanıtlanmaya ve gösterilmeye çalışılacaktır. Tez konusunun doğası gereği, çalışmada bu konuyla ilgili olarak elde edilen veriler nitel analiz yöntemi kullanılarak incelenecektir. Tezin ana araştırma sorusu özel askeri şirketlerin devletler tarafından dış politikalarını uygulamak amacıyla kullanılıp kullanılmadıkları, eğer kullanılıyorlarsa sağladıkları hangi faydalar sebebiyle devletlerin bu yolu tercih ettikleridir. Tezin temel savı ÖAŞ kullanım ihtiyacının paralı asker kullanımı ile benzer sebeplere dayandığı, küreselleşmenin etki alanını arttırması ile hükümetlerin kendi devlet iç dinamikleri ve uluslararası sistemin kendisine getirdiği sınırlılıkları aşmak için ÖAŞ'leri onların serbest piyasadaki bağımsız aktör statülerinden faydalanarak alternatif bir yöntem olarak kullandıklarıdır.This study is broken down into three parts. The first chapter lays out the conceptual framework on private military companies within a historical context to establish the necessary theoretical background about the process and will support this context by giving similar examples from history or comparing them with mercenaries. But since this is not a study that describes the history of mercenaries and/or mercenary groups, not all mercenaries or mercenary groups are involved; only examples that are thought to be useful to draw a theoretical perspective to private military companies are given. Thus, this chapter introduces private military companies, reasons of why they started to be widely used, what is the current terminological debate for classifying them, and how they are being used in foreign policy. To discuss their activities, concrete examples from Africa, the Balkans, Middle East, and Colombia have been chosen as specific cases. The chapter will end with the conclusion about mercenaries, private military companies, and national soldiers.The second chapter starts with the Russian foreign policy and geopolitics. The chapter elaborates the Russian use of violence by both the army and non-state actors. It continues with the private military industry. In this chapter, the study briefly discusses the private military power understanding of Russia in terms of Moscow's hybrid war concept. Then, reasons for the illegality of PMCs in Russia and this situation's benefits to Moscow compared to western countries occupies the following section's content. Later, the study discusses the role of Russian PMCs, especially Wagner Group, compared to other western PMCs and mercenaries in the contemporary international system. In the third chapter, the study will continue with the example use cases of Russian PMCs in different parts of the world. In the Ukrainian case, it will be tried to demonstrate how the use of private military power was helpful to Moscow in its geopolitical rivalry against Europe; in Syria, how they were beneficial to save an allied regime and to gain an advantage over the US in the Middle East; in Libya, how they increased Moscow's effectiveness in the Mediterranean; and in other places such as Mozambique, Central African Republic, Venezuela, and Sudan, how they served Russian foreign policy objectives while enjoying the profits from these countries' natural resources

Investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties in MIG welding of AA-6082-T6 alloy

Bu tez çalışmasında, AA 6082 alüminyum alaşıma MIG kaynağı ile farklı alaşımdaki kaynak telleri kullanılarak yapılan kaynak işlemlerinin alaşımının mekanik özelliklerine ve mikro yapısına etkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Farklı alaşımdaki kaynak telleri ile farklı kaynak akım değerlerinde yapılan kaynak işlemlerinin alaşımın sertlik, akma ve çekme dayanımı gibi mekanik özelliklerine etkisi karşılaştırılmalı olarak incelenmiştir. Ayrıca mikro yapı fotoğrafları çekilerek inceleme yapılmıştır. Kullanılan tel değişkenine bağlı olarak kaynak akım şiddeti arttıkça genel olarak alaşımın dayanım değerlerinin azaldığı görülmüştürn this thesis study, it is aimed to investigate the effects on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the AA 6082-T6 alloy performing MIG welding processes using different alloy welding wires. The effects of different welding currents using with different welding wires on the mechanical properties such as hardness, yield and tensile strength of the alloy have been studied comparatively. Microstructure photographs are taken and examined. As the welding current intensity increases according to the used welding wire, a decreasing of the mechanical properties of the alloy is seen generall

3D Propolis-Sodium Alginate Scaffolds: Influence on Structural Parameters, Release Mechanisms, Cell Cytotoxicity and Antibacterial Activity

In this study, the main aim was to fabricate propolis (Ps)-containing wound dressing patches using 3D printing technology. Different combinations and structures of propolis (Ps)-incorporated sodium alginate (SA) scaffolds were developed. The morphological studies showed that the porosity of developed scaffolds was optimized when 20% (v/v) of Ps was added to the solution. The pore sizes decreased by increasing Ps concentration up to a certain level due to its adhesive properties. The mechanical, swelling-degradation (weight loss) behaviors, and Ps release kinetics were highlighted for the scaffold stability. An antimicrobial assay was employed to test and screen antimicrobial behavior of Ps against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains. The results show that the Ps-added scaffolds have an excellent antibacterial activity because of Ps compounds. An in vitro cytotoxicity test was also applied on the scaffold by using the extract method on the human dermal fibroblasts (HFFF2) cell line. The 3D-printed SA-Ps scaffolds are very useful structures for wound dressing applications