Voting for Secular Parties in the Middle East: Evidence from the 2014 General Elections in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia

Arab uprisings paved the way for democratic elections in the Middle East and North Africa region. Yet countries in this region, except for Tunisia, were not able to maintain further democratization. Tunisia, regardless of economic turbulence and security problems, managed to hold its second parliamentary elections in October 2014, and Ennahda, the party of the popular Islamist movement, could not keep mass support. A large number of studies have examined the rise of the Islamist parties as their electoral success in the post- Arab Uprisings elections by focusing on their organizational strength as well as their social services. However, the social basis of secular parties in the region has been overlooked in the democratization literature. In this study, four competing arguments, religious–secularism cleavage, nostalgia for the old regime, negative campaign targeting Islamists, and retrospective voting, are considered as the key determinants of citizens’ party choices. By using original election survey data, this study asserts that secular Nidaa Tounes derived its support from secular people, who, at the same time, sympathized with the old regime and disfavoured Islamists

erectile function after radical prostatectomy

In this study our aim is to increase the understanding of the prostate and related organs anatomy for better continence and erectile function results after urological surgery. Prostate and related organs were dissected from seven cadavers. After dissection, 165 serial sections with 300 mu m thickness were derived at a 100 mu m interval. The histological images were examined and imported to the computer. Three-dimensional (3D) remodeling had been performed. The findings were evaluated into three categories: macroscopic, microscopic and 3D reconstruction. Striated muscle fibers had been detected at the anterior fibromuscular stroma in histological sections. In 3D remodeling, urethra seemed to be a complete functional unit, beginning from the trigone up to the membranous urethra. The neurovascular bundles run under the pelvic fascia on both sides and go through to the bladder neck at 5 and 7 o'clock. Computer remodeling demonstrated that neurovascular structures had a close association with the bladder neck and the seminal vesicle. Computer program made it possible to rotate all 3D-reconstructed figures by 3601 and examine them from all possible angles. All reconstructed structures can be examined together at the same time or one by one. Surgeons must pay special attention to the continence area described as a single unit, beginning from trigone to the membranous urethra, during the surgery. Meticulous dissection of the neurovascular bundles, especially close to the seminal vesicles and bladder neck, during the radical prostatectomy is necessary. These reconstructions can be used for the educational purpose of medical students as well as the urology surgeons

In election years, ballot box success for governors also helps presidential candidates, but not the other way around

The US is not just electing a new president in 2016 – in 12 states voters will also be able to choose their next governor. In new research, Amuitz Garmendia Madariaga and H. Ege Ozen examine how presidential and gubernatorial candidates’ electoral fortunes are intertwined. They find that voters are more likely to cast a straight ticket ballots in presidential election years, and that successful gubernatorial candidates actually provide a vote boost for presidential candidates at the state level, not the other way around

Looking for two-sided coattail effects: Integrated parties and multilevel elections in the U.S.

In the context of the American federalism, integrated parties provide the necessary coordination mechanism for state and federal politicians to be electorally successful. This argument rests on the assumption that voters are able to observe the benefits of voting a straight ticket. We test this individual level explanation by using the CCES data. Moreover, at the aggregate level, we measure the so-called ‘two-sided’ coattail effects in concurrent multilevel elections in the U.S. since 1960. By using a simultaneous equation model, we estimate the reciprocal relationship between presidential and gubernatorial vote shares at the state level. While we find no consistent presidential coattails, we reveal robust and significant gubernatorial coattail effects on state-level presidential vote, underscoring the role of multilevel forces within parties in democratic federations

Incumbency advantage is not restricted to established majoritarian systems

To date, most scholarly works have focused on incumbency advantage in the US and consider how it operates in majoritarian contexts. In a recent paper, Mert Moral, H. Ege Ozen and Efe Tokdemir drew on the case of Turkey to explore whether the incumbency operates in multi member district systems. They found that although it is not as marked as in the US context, considerable incumbency advantage persisted in the more proportional system

Patients With Kidney Cancer

To develop a preoperative prognostic model in order to predict recurrence-free survival in patients with nonmetastatic kidney cancer.A multi-institutional data base of 1889 patients who underwent surgical resection between 1987 and 2007 for kidney cancer was retrospectively analyzed. Preoperative variables were defined as age, gender, presentation, size, presence of radiological lymph nodes and clinical stage. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the variables were performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. A model was developed with preoperative variables as predictors of recurrence after nephrectomy. Internal validation was performed by Harrells concordance index.The median follow-up was 23.6 months (1222 months). During the follow-up, 258 patients (13.7) developed cancer recurrence. The median follow-up for patients who did not develop recurrence was 25 months. The median time from surgery to recurrence was 13 months. The 5-year freedom from recurrence probability was 78.6. All variables except age were associated with freedom from recurrence in multivariate analyses (P 0.05). Age was marginally significant in the univariate analysis. All variables were included in the predictive model. The calculated c-index was 0.747.This preoperative model utilizes easy to obtain clinical variables and predicts the likelihood of development of recurrent disease in patients with kidney tumors

Rituximab for treatment of severe lupus nephritis

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