Saīd Nursi’s Arguments for the Existence of God in Risāle-i Nur

This dissertation examines the philosophical and theological writings of Saīd Nursi (1877–1960) entitled Risāle-i Nur (Epistles of Light), and presents a critical analysis of his arguments for the existence of God. Although certain aspects of Nursi’s writings have been studied at various academic levels, his ways of arguing for the existence of God, and defending his position against the sceptics have not been studied at doctoral level. Therefore, the objective of this study is to understand Nursi’s arguments, then try locate him among other philosophers and scholars and bring out into light his original viewpoints in this context. The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 presents the historical background and the overview of main theistic arguments from the Christian, Islamic and Jewish points of views concerning God’s existence. The theistic arguments analysed are: the ontological arguments, the cosmological arguments, including the kalām cosmological arguments, the teleological arguments, which are also known as arguments to or arguments from apparent design, the arguments from morality and conscience, and, finally, the arguments from miracles and religious experience. Counter-arguments to the theistic arguments posed by the sceptics are also examined such as problem of evil, the problem of Hell, and the poor design arguments. In this chapter, we also aim to sum up some of the chief arguments in order to prepare some basis for this study. These arguments are analysed from Nursian viewpoint in later chapters. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the life and thoughts of Saīd Nursi and explores how and why his discourse changed from political activism into that of intellectual and spiritual life. Certain terminologies that have been developed by Nursi are discussed here. The Ensuing four Chapters, from 3 to 6 analyse four different arguments employed by Saīd Nursi’s for the existence and the unity of God (tawḥīd). The first argument, ‘the great book of the universe’, which is, in modern philosophy, the equivalent of the design argument is discussed in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 examines the second argument which Nursi calls the argument from prophethood (nubuwwah), with a particular focus on Prophet Muḥammad. Chapter 5 deals with the third argument, i.e. from Scriptures (waḥy), with the Qur’ān as the main focus. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses Nursi’s fourth argument that is conscience (wijdān) and the primordial human nature (fıṭrat-ı bashar). In addition, the critics posed specially by the atheist and the sceptics are subjected to an evaluation from Nursi’s perspective. Darwinian theory of evolution as an alternative to creation, criticisms to the Qur’ān and the Prophet Muḥammad, and philosophical issues such as the problem of evil and hell are among the challenges to which Nursi responds. The thesis concludes that Nursi’s first three arguments i.e. the design argument, the argument from prophethood and the argument from scriptures, despite certain different interpretations by Nursi, seem to be a continuations of the traditional argument. However, Nursi’s originality lays in his moral argument or the argument, namely, the argument from primordial human nature

Effects of rosmarinic acid on cognitive and biochemical alterations in ovariectomized rats treated with D-galactose

Introduction. Animal models designed to mimic certain features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can help us to in­crease our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease. Previous studies have revealed that long-term D-galactose injection combined with ovariectomy results in pathophysiologic alterations associated with AD. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of rosmarinic acid (RA) administration on pathological changes associated with ovariectomy and D-galactose injection, which serve as a two-insult model for AD. Material and methods. One hundred female Wistar rats were divided into five equal groups: control (C), Sham (Sh), rosmarinic acid treated (R), ovariectomized rats treated with D-galactose (OD), ovariectomized rats treated with D-galactose and rosmarinic acid (ODR) groups. D-galactose (80 mg/kg/day) was administered by i.p. injection and RA (50 mg/kg/day) was given via gavage for 60 days. Open field and Y-maze tests were used to assess locomotor activity and short-term spatial memory, respectively. Biochemical and histopathological analyses of the brain tissue were performed. Results. Open field testing showed that the locomotor activity and exploratory behavior of rats were prominent­ly impaired in the OD group as compared to the other studied groups. Similarly, Y-maze test results revealed a decrease of short-term spatial memory in the OD rats. A concomitant treatment with RA significantly restored altered locomotor activity and cognitive functions in the ODR group. Lipid peroxidation levels, cyclooxygen­ase-2 expression and prostaglandin E2 levels in the brain tissue were higher in the OD group and RA treatment inhibited these changes. AD-like histopathological alterations and amyloid b peptide (Ab) depositions were observed in the OD group. Normal cell structure and lower Ab depositions were observed in the ODR group compared with the OD group. Conclusions. RA could have the potential to prevent some psychological and biochemical alterations of brain tissue found in a rat model of AD probably by attenuating lipid peroxidation and inflammatory response

Effect of ANA positivity on clinical picture of the JIA: should ANA positive JIA be classified as a different group?

PubMe

Clinical and demographic characteristics of children with familial mediterranean fever in Central Anatolia

PubMe

Comparison of the efficacy of once- and twice-daily colchicine dosage in pediatric patients with familial Mediterranean fever - a randomized controlled noninferiority trial

Background: In this study, we examined the efficacy and safety of a once-daily dosage schema of colchicine compared with a twice-daily dosage schema in pediatric patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Methods: In this 24-week, multicenter, randomized controlled noninferiority trial, pediatric patients newly diagnosed with FMF carrying a homozygous or compound heterozygous mutation and not receiving any treatment were included. Patients were randomly assigned using a block randomization method to receive treatment with a once- or twice-daily dosage. Clinical and laboratory characteristics and medication side effects were recorded and compared between groups. The study was carried out in compliance with Good Clinical Practice and the Consolidated Standards for Reporting of Trials (CONSORT) statement. Results: A total of 92 patients were selected, and 79 patients completed the study. There were 42 patients in the once-daily dosage group and 37 in the twice-daily dosage group. The results indicated that the once-daily dosage was not inferior to the twice-daily dosage regarding decrease in attack frequency and duration as well as improvement in clinical findings and Mor severity scores. Alterations in laboratory findings indicating inflammation, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and serum amyloid A, were similar in both groups. The rates of drug side effects were similar between the once- and twice-daily dosage groups, implying comparable safety of colchicine, with the exception of diarrhea, which was slightly higher in the once-daily dosage group. Conclusions: Using colchicine with either a once- or twice-daily dosage provides similar clinical and laboratory improvements. Considering both efficacy and safety, colchicine can be prescribed with a once-daily dosage. Trial Registration ID: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02602028. Registered 5 November 2015

Removals of Gentamicin and Benzo[a]Pyrene in an Anaerobic Multichamber Bed Reactor

 The petrochemical industry wastewaters were not treated effectively due to high concentrations of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) benzo [a] pyren (BaP) and an aminoglucoside antibiotic gentamicin (GNT) in an aerobic treatment plant in Turkey. The high GNT concentration in this industry wastewater mainly originated from the toilets of the working people and from the medical care facilities since an intestinal epidemic occurrred for a period of approximately 1.5 years. The High BaP concentrations release into the wastewater originated from the high BaP production in this industry. In order to improve the biodegradability of petrochemical industry wastewaters containing excess BaP and GNT, different mixtures of BaP and GNT were biodegraded in a high rate anaerobic multichamber bed (AMCBR) reactor. The maximum anaerobic yields for 10 mg/L BaP and 1 mg/ L GNT alone were 45% and 12%, respectively. The addition of primary susbstrate increased the 200 mg/L BaP and 50 mg/ L GNT removals to 97% and 89%, respectively. BaP was biodegraded at short operation times compared to GNT. At low BaP (10-200 mg/ L) and GNT (10-35 mg/ L) concentrations, a non-competitive inhibition does not affect the binding of the substrate and KS were not affected. At high BaP (500-900 mg/ L) and GNT (75-100 mg/ L) concentrations, the BaP and GNT were biodegraded according to competitive inhibition with increased KS. BaP and GNT were biodegraded according to Haldane equations at high concentrations where they were used as the sole substrate

Concentration-Based Measurement Studies of L-Tryptophan Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS)

L-Tryptophan is an extremely important amino acid for a variety of biological functions in living organisms. In this study we were able to measure changes in the concentration of L-tryptophan when incorporated into pellets with polyethylene as a host. The changes were measured both through the characteristic absorption bands of the C11 and C12 bonds in the low terahertz frequency range and using changes in the refractive index where pellets with higher concentrations of L-tryptophan showed higher refractive indices. The volumetric concentration of L-tryptophan in the polyethylene pellet was accurately determined with a simple model that explains the contribution to the complex refractive index for the resultant sample due to the two constituent materials. These measurements show that terahertz time-domain techniques can be applied to detect variation in concentration of certain amino acids rapidly by examining the relative phase delay and amplitude change of the terahertz transients

The dicyano compound induces autophagic or apoptotic cell death via Twist/c-Myc axis depending on metastatic characteristics of breast cancer cells

Background Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease with various subtypes, therefore, the illumination of distinctive mechanisms between subtypes for the development of novel treatment strategies is important. Here, we revealed the antiproliferative effects of our customized dicyano compound (DC) on BC cells. Methods and results We determined the antiproliferative effect of the DC on non-metastatic MCF-7 and metastatic MDA-MB-231 cell lines by MTT. We evaluated protein levels of LC3BI-II and p62 to detect effects of the DC on autophagy. Furthermore, we examined whether the DC induce apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells by performing TUNEL and western blotting. We showed that the DC induces autophagic cell death in MDA-MB-231 while it leads to apoptosis in MCF-7, demonstrating that DC can induce different cell death mechanisms in BC cells according to what they represent subtypes. To understand the reason of different cell response to the DC, we evaluated the expressions of several regulator proteins involved in survival, cell arrest and proliferation. All findings revealed that c-Myc expression is directly correlated with autophagy induction in BC cells and it could be a marker for the selection of cell death mechanism against anti-cancer drugs. Interestingly, we showed that the overexpression of Twist, responsible for metastatic features of BC cells, imitates the effects of autophagy on c-Myc expression in MCF-7 cells, indicating that it is implicated in both the regulation of c-Myc as a upstream factor and subsequently the selection of cell death mechanisms. Conclusion Taken together, we suggest that Twist/c-Myc axis may have a role in different response to the DC-induced cell death pathways in BC subtypes with different invasive characteristics.Pamukkale University Research Foundation [2018SABE024]This study was supported by Pamukkale University Research Foundation (Grant Number: 2018SABE024)

Single Incision Laparoscopic Total Gastrectomy and D2 Lymph Node Dissection for Gastric Cancer Using a Four-Access Single Port: The First Experience

Single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) have been developed to reduce the invasiveness of laparoscopic surgery. SILS has been frequently applied in various clinical settings, such as cholecystectomy, colectomy, and sleeve gastrectomy. So far, there have been four reports on single incision laparoscopic distal gastrectomy and one report on single incision laparoscopic total gastrectomy with D1 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer. In this report, we present our single incision laparoscopic total gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection technique using a four-hole single port (OctoPort) in a patient with gastric cancer