Turkey’s Northern Iraq Policy Within the Dilemma of National Security Problems and Economic Cooperation (2003-2015)

The general characteristic of the foreign policy adopted by Turkey for North Iraq has been shaped based on the national integrity of Iraq since the Gulf War4. However developments in this country caused an increase in seperation demands from North Iraq Kurds. On the other hand this region had become an important base for Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) since 1980’s. Turkey’s security dilemma and priorities over Iraq were formulated as “red lines” and decleraded before invasion of Iraq. But North Iraq based security issues increased after the occupation of Iraq by the United States of America (USA). Getting support of the USA Iraqi Kurds began to follow a policy as political rival of Turkey. But economic relations, which have been established with the regional Government in terms of energy and trade, caused cooperation in other fields. So transfomation of bilateral relations of Turkey and Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq (KRGI) is discussed in this paper. Aim of this paper is to analyze how economic cooperation caused cooperation in security issues such as fight against terrorism

Agent-Based Fault Tolerant Distributed Event System

In the last years, event-based communication style has been extensively studied and is considered a promising approach to develop large scale distributed systems. The historical development of event based systems has followed a line which has evolved from channel-based systems, to subject-based systems, next content-based systems and finally type-based systems which use objects as event messages. According to this historical development the next step should be usage of agents in event systems. In this paper, we propose a new model for Agent Based Distributed Event Systems, called ABDES, which combines the advantages of event-based communication and intelligent mobile agents into a flexible, extensible and fault tolerant distributed execution environment

Effects of application methods and species of wood on color changes of varnishes

In this study, the color effects of wood materials to coloring with different application methods (brush, roller sponge and spray gun) and waterborne varnishes were investigated according to ASTM-D 2244. For this purpose, the experimental samples of Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.), oriental beech (Fagus orientalis L.) and oak (Quercus petreae L.), which are commonly used woods in the carpentry and furniture industry in Turkey, were prepared and varnished with one and two-pack waterborne varnishes in accordance with ASTM D 3023. According to the result of the research, significant color changes in coloring as red and yellow tones on the sample surfaces of varnished wood materials were found. The highest color change was obtained in the samples of oak, when varnished with brush and spray gun while the lowest value was obtained in roller sponge in respect to the application methods for waterborne varnishes. However, the application method of spray gun for self crosslinked polyurethane, topcoat-clear, (SCPt) gave the highest metric chroma value among the three different application methods

Atherosclerosis development and progression: the role of atherogenic small, dense LDL.

Atherosclerosis is responsible for large cardiovascular mortality in many countries globally. It has been shown over the last decades that the reduction of atherosclerotic progression is a critical factor for preventing future cardiovascular events. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) have been successfully targeted, and their reduction is one of the key preventing measures in patients with atherosclerotic disease. LDL particles are pivotal for the formation and progression of atherosclerotic plaques; yet, they are quite heterogeneous, and smaller, denser LDL species are the most atherogenic. These particles have greater arterial entry and retention, higher susceptibility to oxidation, as well as reduced affinity for the LDL receptor. Increased proportion of small, dense LDL particles is an integral part of the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype, the most common form of dyslipidemia associated with insulin resistance. Recent data suggest that both genetic and epigenetic factors might induce expression of this specific lipid pattern. In addition, a typical finding of increased small, dense LDL particles was confirmed in different categories of patients with elevated cardiovascular risk. Small, dense LDL is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which emphasizes the clinical importance of both the quality and the quantity of LDL. An effective management of atherosclerotic disease should take into account the presence of small, dense LDL in order to prevent cardiovascular complications

Specific c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Inhibitor, JNK-IN-8 Suppresses Mesenchymal Profile of PTX-Resistant MCF-7 Cells through Modulating PI3K/Akt, MAPK and Wnt Signaling Pathways

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of breast cancer, and resistance to PTX is a common failure of breast cancer therapy. Therefore, understanding the effective molecular targets in PTX-resistance gains importance in identifying novel strategies in successful breast cancer therapy approaches. The aim of the study was to investigate the functional role of PTX resistance on MCF-7 cell survival and proliferation related to PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways. The generated PTX-resistant (PTX-res) MCF-7 cells showed enhanced cell survival, proliferation, and colony formation potential with decreased cell death compared to wt MCF-7 cells. PTX-res MCF-7 cells exhibited increased motility profile with EMT, PI3K/Akt, and MAPK pathway induction. According to the significant SAPK/JNK activation in PTX-res MCF-7 cells, specific c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor, JNK-IN-8 is shown to suppress the migration potential of cells. Treatment of JNK inhibitor suppressed the p38 and SAPK/JNK and Vimentin expression. However, the JNK inhibitor further downregulated Wnt signaling members in PTX-res MCF-7 cells. Therefore, the JNK inhibitor JNK-IN-8 might be used as a potential therapy model to reverse PTX-resistance related to Wnt signaling

C3G mediated suppression of malignant transformation involves activation of PP2A phosphatases at the subcortical actin cytoskeleton

In previous work, we demonstrated that C3G suppresses Ras oncogenic transformation by a mechanism involving inhibition of ERK phosphorylation. Here we present evidences indicating that this suppression mechanism is mediated, at least in part, by serine/threonine phosphatases of the PP2A family. Thus: (i) ectopic expression of C3G or C3GΔCat (mutant lacking the GEF activity) increases specific ERK-associated PP2A phosphatase activities; (ii) C3G and PP2A interact, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence and co-immunoprecipitation experiments; (iii) association between PP2A and MEK or ERK increases in C3G overexpressing cells; (iv) phosphorylated-inactive PP2A level decreases in C3G expressing clones and, most importantly, (v) okadaic acid reverts the inhibitory effect of C3G on ERK phosphorylation. Moreover, C3G interacts with Ksr-1, a scaffold protein of the Ras-ERK pathway that also associates with PP2A. The fraction of C3G involved in transformation suppression is restricted to the subcortical actin cytoskeleton where it interacts with actin. Furthermore, the association between C3G and PP2A remains stable even after cytoskeleton disruption with cytochalasin D, suggesting that the three proteins form a complex at this subcellular compartment. Finally, C3G- and C3GΔCat-mediated inhibition of ERK phosphorylation is reverted by incubation with cytochalasin D. We hypothesize that C3G triggers PP2A activation and binding to MEK and ERK at the subcortical actin cytoskeleton, thus favouring ERK dephosphorylation. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This work was supported by grants SAF2003-04177 andGEN2003- 20239-C06-02 from MEC, Spain, FIS-FEDERPI030651, PI041324 and PI061274 from ISCIII,MSC, Spain, as well as institutional support from Redes Temáticas (C03/10 and RD06/0020/0000) de investigación en cáncer from ISCIII, MSC, Spain. S. M-E is a postodoctoral fellow supported by grant GEN2003-20239-C06-02. C.G. was supported by the Ramón y Cajal Program from the Spanish Ministry of Education.Peer Reviewe

Predictive Models for Min-Entropy Estimation

Random numbers are essential for cryptography. In most real-world systems, these values come from a cryptographic pseudorandom number generator (PRNG), which in turn is seeded by an entropy source. The security of the entire cryptographic system then relies on the accuracy of the claimed amount of entropy provided by the source. If the entropy source provides less unpredictability than is expected, the security of the cryptographic mechanisms is undermined. For this reason, correctly estimating the amount of entropy available from a source is critical. In this paper, we develop a set of tools for estimating entropy, based on mechanisms that attempt to predict the next sample in a sequence based on all previous samples. These mechanisms are called predictors. We develop a framework for using predictors to estimate entropy, and test them experimentally against both simulated and real noise sources. For comparison, we subject the entropy estimates defined in the August 2012 draft of NIST Special Publication 800-90B to the same tests, and compare their performance

Betatrophin levels are related to the early histological findings in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Betatrophin, a liver hormone, regulates glucose and lipid metabolism. We investigated the betatrophin levels in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and searched for any relationship with histological severity and metabolic parameters. Fifty males with NAFLD [Nonalcoholic Steatohepati-tis (NASH) (n = 32); non-NASH (n = 18)] and 30 healthy controls were included. Plasma betatrophin was measured by ELISA method. Insulin sensitivity was assessed by HOMA-IR index. Histological features were scored by the semi quantitative classification and combined as the NAFLD activity score (NAS). Betatrophin levels in the non-NASH group were significantly higher than the controls. Betatrophin was positively correlated to the age, waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR index and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase levels, and negatively correlated to the steatosis and NAS. In the stepwise linear regression analysis, the triglyceride (β = 0.457, p < 0.001), glucose (β = 0.281, p = 0.02) and NAS (β = −0.260, p = 0.03) were the independent determinants of betatrophin. Betatrophin levels are higher in the early stages of NAFLD and tend to decrease when the disease progresses. This could be an important preliminary mechanistic finding to explain the increased frequency of glucose intolerance during the course of NAFLD

Where and Why in the UK? The Case of Polish Migrants

This article focuses on one of the most controversial issues frequently discussed by many including politicians, academics and the media in the UK and Poland: migration of Polish people to Britain. The main aim is to identify the important factors causing migration of Poles within the UK. In this article, the authors seek to study the pull factors, i.e. level of wages or employment rate, for Polish people between different regions within the UK. By using the data from “Labour Force Surveys” collected by the UK government; and data from Główny Urząd Statystyczny (GUS) in Poland, this paper analyses where and why the Polish migrants live in the UK. The most important factor determining the fraction of Polish people in a given region is the fraction of Polish people in that region in the past. When Polish people move within UK, they tend to choose a region with a higher level of gross pay, and they don’t seem to consider the risk of unemployment. The authors are grateful to providers of survey data discussed in the“Data and methods”section of this paper. LFS data are made available by the UK Data Service. Views reported in this paper do not necessarily reflect opinions of organisations which commissioned or provided access to these surveys