Multifont Ottoman character recognition

Ottoman characters from three different fonts are used character recognition problem, broadly speaking, is transferring a page that contain symbols to the computer and matching these symbols with previously known or recognized symbols after extraction the features of these symbols via appropriate preprocessing methods. Because of silent features of the characters, implementing an Ottoman character recognition system is a difficult work. Different researchers have done lots of works for years to develop systems that would recognize Latin characters. Although almost one million people use Ottoman characters, great deal of whom has different native languages, the number of studies on this field is insufficient. In this study 28 different machine-printed to train the Artificial Neural Network and a %95 classification accuracy for the characters in these fonts and a %70 classification accuracy for a different font has been found. © 2000 IEEE

Neurogenic bladder in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury: Treatment and follow-up

Study design:Multi-center, cross-sectional study.Objectives:Our aim was to evaluate the treatment methods and follow-up of neurogenic bladder in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury retrospectively using a questionnaire.Setting: Turkey.Methods:Three hundred and thirty-seven patients who had spinal cord injury for at least 2 years were enrolled from six centers in the neurogenic bladder study group. They were asked to fill-out a questionnaire about treatments they received and techniques they used for bladder management.Results:The study included 246 male and 91 female patients with a mean age of 42±14 years. Intermittent catheterization ( IC) was performed in 77.9% of the patients, 3.8% had indwelling catheters, 13.8% had normal spontaneous micturition, 2.6% performed voiding maneuvers, 1.3% used diapers and 0.6% used condom catheters. No gender difference was found regarding the techniques used in bladder rehabilitation ( P>0.05). Overall, 63.2% of patients used anticholinergic drugs; anticholinergic drug use was similar between genders ( P>0.05). The most common anticholinergic drug used was oxybutynin ( 40.3%), followed by trospium ( 32.6%), tolterodine ( 19.3%) darifenacin ( 3.3%), propiverine ( 3.3%) and solifenacin ( 1.1%). The specialties of the physicians who first prescribed the anticholinergic drug were physiatrists ( 76.2%), urologists ( 22.1%) and neurologists ( 1.7%). Only four patients had previously received injections of botulinum-toxin-A into the detrusor muscle and three of them stated that their symptoms showed improvement. Most of the patients ( 77%) had regular follow-up examinations, including urine cultures, urinary system ultrasound and urodynamic tests, when necessary; the reasons for not having regular control visits were living distant from hospital ( 15.3%) and monetary problems ( 7.7%). Of the patients, 42.7% did not experience urinary tract infections ( UTI), 36.4% had bacteriuria but no UTI episodes with fever, 15.9% had 1-2 clinical UTI episodes per year and 5% had ≥3 clinical UTIs. The clinical characteristics of patients with and without UTI ( at least one symptomatic UTI during 1 year) were similar ( P>0.05). The frequency of symptomatic UTI was similar in patients using different bladder management techniques ( P>0.05).Conclusion:The most frequently used technique for bladder rehabilitation in patients with SCI was IC ( 77.9%). In all, 63.2% of patients used anticholinergic drugs, oxybutynin being the most commonly used drug. Also, 77% of patients had regular control visits for neurogenic bladder; 42.7% did not experience any UTIs. © 2014 International Spinal Cord Society

Intermittent catheterization in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury: Obstacles, worries, level of satisfaction

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the obstacles in people with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) face performing intermittent catheterization (IC), also their worries and level of satisfaction. Methods: Two hundred sixty-nine patients performing IC for at least 3 months were asked to fill-out a questionnaire about their opinions on IC. Results: In total, 69.5% of patients performed IC themselves, 10.4% had performed by their mothers, 7.8% by another caregiver and 7.4% by their spouse. For the 72 (26%) patients unable to apply IC, reasons were insufficient hand function (56.1%), being unable to sit appropriately (35.4%) and spasticity (8.5%). In all, 70% of male patients had insufficient hand function, 20% could not sit and 10% had spasticity while 56.3% of female patients could not sit, 37.5% had insufficient hand function and 63% had spasticity. Difference between sexes was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). Worries patients had when starting IC were fear of being dependent on IC (50.2%), accidentally injuring self (43.8%), embarrassment (43.2%), causing an infection (40.2%), bleeding (32.7%), fear of feeling pain (30.2%) and hygiene (24.7%). More women felt embarrassment; other items were similar in both sexes. In all, 46.9% of patients had urinary incontinence in intervals. Conclusion: In total, 69.5% of patients performed IC themselves. Men's most common obstacle was insufficient hand function while women's was being unable to sit appropriately. Patients' most common worries were being dependent on IC for life. In all, 46.9% had incontinence in intervals; 47.9% said IC improved their life quality; and 97.4% preferred IC over continuous catheterization. © 2014 International Spinal Cord Society All rights reserved

Distributive politics and regional development: assessing the territorial distribution of Turkey’s public investment

Turkey is often perceived as a country with low bureaucratic capacity and prone to political manipulation and ‘pork-barrel’. This article tests whether this is the case, by analysing the extent to which politics, rather than equity and efficiency criteria, have determined the geographical allocation of public investment across the 81 provinces of Turkey between 2005 and 2012. The results show that although the Turkish government has indeed channelled public expenditures to reward its core constituencies, socioeconomic factors remained the most relevant predictors of investment. Moreover, in contrast to official regional development policy principles, we uncover the concentration of public investment in areas with comparatively higher levels of development. We interpret this as the state bureaucracy’s intentional strategy of focussing on efficiency by concentrating resources on ‘the better off among the most in need’

Lunapark deficiency leads to an autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental phenotype with a degenerative course, epilepsy and distinct brain anomalies

LNPK encodes a conserved membrane protein that stabilizes the junctions of the tubular endoplasmic reticulum network playing crucial roles in diverse biological functions. Recently, homozygous variants in LNPK were shown to cause a neurodevelopmental disorder (OMIM#618090) in four patients displaying developmental delay, epilepsy and nonspecific brain malformations including corpus callosum hypoplasia and variable impairment of cerebellum. We sought to delineate the molecular and phenotypic spectrum of LNPK-related disorder. Exome or genome sequencing was carried out in 11 families. Thorough clinical and neuroradiological evaluation was performed for all the affected individuals, including review of previously reported patients. We identified 12 distinct homozygous loss-of-function variants in 16 individuals presenting with moderate to profound developmental delay, cognitive impairment, regression, refractory epilepsy and a recognizable neuroimaging pattern consisting of corpus callosum hypoplasia and signal alterations of the forceps minor ('ear-of-the-lynx' sign), variably associated with substantia nigra signal alterations, mild brain atrophy, short midbrain and cerebellar hypoplasia/atrophy. In summary, we define the core phenotype of LNPK-related disorder and expand the list of neurological disorders presenting with the 'ear-of-the-lynx' sign suggesting a possible common underlying mechanism related to endoplasmic reticulum-phagy dysfunction

Of the importance of a leaf: the ethnobotany of sarma in Turkey and the Balkans

BACKGROUND: Sarma - cooked leaves rolled around a filling made from rice and/or minced meat, possibly vegetables and seasoning plants - represents one of the most widespread feasting dishes of the Middle Eastern and South-Eastern European cuisines. Although cabbage and grape vine sarma is well-known worldwide, the use of alternative plant leaves remains largely unexplored. The aim of this research was to document all of the botanical taxa whose leaves are used for preparing sarma in the folk cuisines of Turkey and the Balkans. Methods: Field studies were conducted during broader ethnobotanical surveys, as well as during ad-hoc investigations between the years 2011 and 2014 that included diverse rural communities in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. Primary ethnobotanical and folkloric literatures in each country were also considered. Results: Eighty-seven botanical taxa, mainly wild, belonging to 50 genera and 27 families, were found to represent the bio-cultural heritage of sarma in Turkey and the Balkans. The greatest plant biodiversity in sarma was found in Turkey and, to less extent, in Bulgaria and Romania. The most commonly used leaves for preparing sarma were those of cabbage (both fresh and lacto-fermented), grape vine, beet, dock, sorrel, horseradish, lime tree, bean, and spinach. In a few cases, the leaves of endemic species (Centaurea haradjianii, Rumex gracilescens, and R. olympicus in Turkey) were recorded. Other uncommon sarma preparations were based on lightly toxic taxa, such as potato leaves in NE Albania, leaves of Arum, Convolvulus, and Smilax species in Turkey, of Phytolacca americana in Macedonia, and of Tussilago farfara in diverse countries. Moreover, the use of leaves of the introduced species Reynoutria japonica in Romania, Colocasia esculenta in Turkey, and Phytolacca americana in Macedonia shows the dynamic nature of folk cuisines. Conclusion: The rich ethnobotanical diversity of sarma confirms the urgent need to record folk culinary plant knowledge. The results presented here can be implemented into initiatives aimed at re-evaluating folk cuisines and niche food markets based on local neglected ingredients, and possibly also to foster trajectories of the avant-garde cuisines inspired by ethnobotanical knowledge