Islamist Political Engagement in the Early Years of Multi-party Politics in Turkey: 1945-60

This study examines what has been overlooked by most studies of Islamist activism in the early years of the multi-party politics (1945-60) in Turkey. By examining the formal and informal political institutions, power relations and practices, it reveals that the early Islamists did not remain content with only socio-cultural activities. They effectively and creatively engaged with and within the political field, enjoyed an impact disproportionate to their actual numbers and power, and set the parameters for future Islamist activism. In so doing, they reproduced the Republican orthodoxy while advancing their heterodox claims. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Prediction of pathological stage in patients with prostate cancer: a neuro-fuzzy model

The prediction of cancer staging in prostate cancer is a process for estimating the likelihood that the cancer has spread before treatment is given to the patient. Although important for determining the most suitable treatment and optimal management strategy for patients, staging continues to present significant challenges to clinicians. Clinical test results such as the pre-treatment Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) level, the biopsy most common tumor pattern (Primary Gleason pattern) and the second most common tumor pattern (Secondary Gleason pattern) in tissue biopsies, and the clinical T stage can be used by clinicians to predict the pathological stage of cancer. However, not every patient will return abnormal results in all tests. This significantly influences the capacity to effectively predict the stage of prostate cancer. Herein we have developed a neuro-fuzzy computational intelligence model for classifying and predicting the likelihood of a patient having Organ-Confined Disease (OCD) or Extra-Prostatic Disease (ED) using a prostate cancer patient dataset obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network. The system input consisted of the following variables: Primary and Secondary Gleason biopsy patterns, PSA levels, age at diagnosis, and clinical T stage. The performance of the neuro-fuzzy system was compared to other computational intelligence based approaches, namely the Artificial Neural Network, Fuzzy C-Means, Support Vector Machine, the Naive Bayes classifiers, and also the AJCC pTNM Staging Nomogram which is commonly used by clinicians. A comparison of the optimal Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) points that were identified using these approaches, revealed that the neuro-fuzzy system, at its optimal point, returns the largest Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC), with a low number of false positives (FPR = 0.274, TPR = 0.789, AUC = 0.812). The proposed approach is also an improvement over the AJCC pTNM Staging Nomogram (FPR = 0.032, TPR = 0.197, AUC = 0.582)

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

Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species

To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia)

NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT TAUBERIAN CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH STATISTICALLY LOGARITHMIC CONVERGENCE FOLLOWS FROM STATISTICALLY LOGARITHMIC SUMMABILITY

Let (sn) be a sequence of complex numbers. The sequence (τn) of n-th logarithmic means of (sn) is defined by (formula presented). It is well known that if a bounded sequence (sn) is statistically logarithmic convergent to s, then it is statistically logarithmic summable to the same number. However, the converse of this implication is not true in general. In this paper, we obtain conditions, so called Tauberian conditions, under which the converse implication holds. © D l, Zagreb

Left ventricular function in professional football players evaluated by tissue Doppler imaging and strain imaging

PubMed ID: 17410479Background: Long-term regular exercise is associated with physiologic and morphologic cardiac alterations. Tissue Doppler Imaging(TDI) and Strain Myocardial Imaging(SI) are new tools in the evaluation systolic and diastolic myocardial function. We sought to compare TDI and SI findings in professional football players and age adjusted sedentary controls to assess the effect of regular athletic training on myocardial function. Methods: Transthoracic echocardiography, M-mode, 2-D measurements, Doppler derived mitral-tricuspid annular velocities, reconstructed spectral pulsed wave tissue Doppler velocities, strain and strain rate imaging of seven different myocardial regions were obtained from 24 professional football players and age, sex and weight adjusted 20 controls. Results: Age, body surface area, blood pressure and heart rate were comparable between 2 groups. Football players had significantly increased LV mass, mass index (due to both higher wall thickness and end-diastolic diameter), end-systolic and end-diastolic volume, left atrial diameter and decreased transmitral diastolic late velocity. In athletes TDI analysis showed significantly increased mitral annulus septal TDI peak early diastolic(e) velocity(0.22 ± 0.04 vs. 0.19 ± 0.04 m/s, P < 0.05), lateral TDI peak e velocity (0.19 ± 0.03 vs. 0.16 ± 0.02 m/s, P < 0.05) and lateral TDI e/a ratio (1.96 ± 0.41 and 1.66 ± 0.23, P < 0.05). In SI analysis mid septal walls (1.71 ± 0.23 in athletes and 1.49 ± 0.25 in controls, P < 0.05) and mid lateral walls (1.55 ± 0.28 and 1.34 ± 0.25 respectively, P < 0.05) peak systolic strain rate values differences were found to be increased in athletes. Conclusions: Professional football playing is associated with morphologic alteration in left ventricle and left atrium and improvement in left ventricle diastolic function which can be detected by TDI. Strain rate imaging may be a new tool to define subtle change in systolic left ventricular function in "athletes heart" which cannot be determined in standard echocardiographic parameters. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

On a Max-Type Difference Equation

We study the behaviour of the solutions of the following difference equation with the max operator: xn+1=max{1/xn,Axn−1}, n∈ℕ0, where parameter A∈ℝ and initial values x−1 and x0 are nonzero real numbers. In the most of the cases we determine the behaviour of the solutions in the terms of the initial values x−1 and x0 and the parameter A

Endovascular management of vascular injury during transsphenoidal surgery

Vascular injury is an unusual and serious complication of transsphenoidal surgery. We aimed to define the role of angiography and endovascular treatment in patients with vascular injuries occurring during transsphenoidal surgery. During the last ten-year period, we retrospectively evaluated nine patients with vascular injury after transsphenoidal surgery. Eight patients were symptomatic due to vascular injury, while one had only suspicion of vascular injury during surgery. Four patients presented with epistaxis, two with subarachnoid hemorrhage, one with exophthalmos, and one with hemiparesia. Emergency angiography revealed a pseudoaneurysm in four patients, contrast extravasation in two, vessel dissection in one, vessel wall irregularity in one, and arteriovenous fistula in one. All patients but one were treated successfully with parent artery occlusion, with one covered stent implantation, one stent-assisted coiling method, while one patient was managed conservatively. One patient died due to complications related to the primary insult without rebleeding. Vascular injuries suspected intra or postoperatively must be investigated rapidly after transsphenoidal surgery. Endovascular treatment with parent artery occlusion is feasible with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates in the treatment of vascular injuries occurring in transsphenoidal surgery

The rapid pull-back technique for navigation across a wide-necked aneurysm: A report of four cases

Embolization of wide-necked and/or giant aneurysms may fail due to the inability to pass across the aneurysm neck. We describe the rapid bull-back technique used in four patients in which a small diameter microcatheter with the aid of a hydrophilic microguidewire was navigated along the inner surface of the aneurysm, making a loop in the dome, exiting the neck to reach distal intracranial vessels. After withdrawal of microguidewire, the microcatheter is pulled back rapidly up to a predetermined length. This maneuver results in elimination of the loop, straightening the microcatheter to allow an exchange procedure for another device to cross the neck distally and continue the embolization procedure. The rapid pull-back technique is useful during the endovascular treatment of wide-necked and/or giant aneurysms as it helps to achieve reliable access to the distal parent vessel with the microcatheter. This is of increasing importance since an increasing number of aneurysms will be treated in the future with refinements in various intracranial stents