MAPPING THE NEXT GENERATION'S IMAGINATION: BALKAN WARS AND THE TURKISH NATIONALISM

Characterized by voluntaristic nationality in terms of citizenry concept, Ottomanismas a political ideology lost gradually its credit due to the political developments 146 inthe post-1908 Revolution period. Especially the loss of Rumeli with the Balkan Wars and with the Muslim immigration from there, the multi-ethnic composition ofthe Empire was relatively disappeared. It was commonly accepted that the Balkan wars was a turning point in Turkish nationalism, which was "materialized as apolitical ideology" 147 and was recognized as an official policy by the Unionists, who came to power with a coup d'etat in 1913. Before the Balkan Wars, Turkism was appeared as an expression of Ottoman intellectual's identity searching in terms of both the reinvention of ethnic history and a defense mechanism against the Western expansion.148 The disappointment experienced in Ottomanism transformed Turkist movement, which had been a reactionary cultural movement, into an officially accepted ideology and to some extends it "became synonymous with the Pan-Turkism" 149, which aimed the political unification of all Turkic peoples. Eventhough the approaches on the scope of official Turkism-from cultural Turkists to Pan-Turkists- was variable, one should realize that Turkism in general wase valuated in this era a compensation way for the crushing defeat in the Balkan Wars

Two siblings with hiomocystinuria presenting with dystonia and parkinsonism

Movement disorders such as dystonia, chorea or tremor are rarely encountered in patients with homocystinuria. We present 2 siblings with laboratory-confirmed homocystinuria, one with severe generalized dystonia and the other with mild parkinsonism. The movement disorders in our patients appeared in the second and first decades, respectively. (C) 2004 Movement Disorder Society

High-dose piracetam is effective on cerebellar ataxia in a patient with cerebellar cortical atrophy

We describe a patient with cerebellar ataxia of degenerative nature who was administered high-dose piracetam in a single-blind trial. Piracetam was demonstrated to be highly effective on tandem gait and gait ataxia in daily doses of 60 g. We suggest piracetam has a potential anti-ataxic effect in human cerebellar ataxia when used in considerably higher doses than those indicated for other purposes. (C) 2003 Movement Disorder Society

Assessment of movement time in patients with essential tremor

Background We have observed mild bradykinesia in essential tremor (ET) patients, which do not satisfy the criteria of Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective To compare the mean movement time for repetitive movements around distal and proximal joints in ET patients with normal controls by using a simple test paradigm. Patients and methods Seventeen patients with ET and 14 control subjects were instructed to tap with the index finger sequentially on push-button microswitches. Movement times around metacarpophalangeal, wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints of the right side were tested. The data collected were stored on a computer and the time elapsed between sequential taps on two keys (ms) and number of taps on the left key for 15 seconds were evaluated offline. Results Movement times of the patients with ET were not found to be significantly different from those of the controls at all joints tested despite slight prolongation for movements around the shoulder joint. Conclusion The simple test paradigm we have used showed that there is no difference in the movement time for repetitive movements around four joints of the upper extremity between patients with ET and normal control subjects. The slightly prolonged movement time around the shoulder joint noted in patients with ET may be ascribed to tremor, not bradykinesia. Tremor may cause these patients to pay more attention to the performance of goal-directed finger movements and consequently prolong movement time slightly or it may simply delay the time elapsed to reach the goal in the absence of overt intention tremor

Features associated with the development of hallucinations in Parkinson's disease

Objective - To identify features related to the development of hallucinations in Parkinson's disease (PD). Materials and methods - Seventy PD patients with hallucinations (group 1) and 60 PD patients without hallucinations (group 2) were evaluated for disease severity, presence of motor complications, rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder (RBD), and antiparkinsonian drug profile. The ages at the emergence of hallucinations and duration of disease in group 1 were matched with the ages at the last visit of those in group 2. Results - Disease severity and presence of motor complications were similar in both groups. RBD was more frequently encountered among hallucinators than among non-hallucinators (P = 0.007). The mean duration and daily doses of levodopa and other dopaminergic drugs did not differ in both groups; however, the usage of anticholinergics and amantadine were significantly more frequent in group 2, unexpectedly. Conclusions - The presence of RBD was significantly more common in hallucinators; however, severity of PD, duration and daily doses of dopaminergic drugs were not associated with the emergence of hallucinations