Turkey's global strategy: Turkey and Iraq

Interaction between Turkey and Iraq is rapidly increasing, with economic and strategic interests driving political cooperation, yet there are still longer-term challenges remain to be solved, particularly in relation to energy and water security. Iraq is one of Turkey’s most important trading partners and is becoming an essential source of energy. It attaches great deal of importance to Iraq’s stability and territorial integrity and sees those matters as crucial to its own security and stability. Turkey has become more active in Iraqi affairs, including burgeoning trade and investment relations, close communication with infl uential political actors and pro-active engagement with Iraqi Kurds. The elimination of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a major security objective on the agenda of Turkish-Iraqi bilateral relations. Moreover, the future status of Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city of Kurds, Arabs, and Turcomans, among them Muslims and Christians and home to some of the Iraq’s largest oil reserves, is another cause for concern for Turkey. Turkey’s principal anxiety is that the oil riches of Kirkuk will only encourage the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to seek greater autonomy, which may spill over into its own borders and spark unrest among Turkey’s own Kurdish population. Essentially, energy, economy and reconstruction form the crux of the Turkish involvement in Iraq

Removal of Basic Red 18 onto modified sepiolite: Equilibrium, adsorption kinetics and thermodynamic studies

The adsorption of Basic Red 18 (BR 18) from aqueous solution onto KF modified sepiolite was carried out as a function of pH, initial dye concentration, contact time and temperature. The equilibrium data were evaluated according to Langmuir and Freundlich models. The experimental results showed that the best correlation was obtained on Freundlich model. The adsorption kinetics was examined with pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion models. The result was best fitted for pseudo-second order kinetic model. Thermodynamic investigations were also performed to determine ΔH°, ΔG° and ΔS°. The results indicated that the adsorption of BR 18 was exothermic and spontaneous

Nonisocyanate based polyurethane/silica nanocomposites and their coating performance

A series of silica nano-particles with different size were prepared by sol–gel technique, then surface modification by using cyclic carbonate functional organoalkoxysilane (CPS) was performed. Various amounts of carbonated silica particles directly added into carbonated soybean oil (CSBO) and carbonated polypropylene glycol (CPPG) resin mixture to prepare polyurethane–silica nanocomposite coating compositions by nonisocyanate route using an aliphatic diamine as a curing agent. Cupping, gloss, impact, and taber abrasion tests were performed on aluminum panels coated with those nano-composite formulations and tensile tests, thermogravimetric and SEM analyses were conducted on the free films prepared from the same coating formulations. An increase in abrasion resistance of CSBO-CPPG resin combination with the addition of silica was observed. In addition, the maximum weight loss of CSBO-CPPG resin combination was shifted to higher temperatures with incorporation of silica nano-particles The positive effect of modified silica particles on thermal stability of CSBO-CPPG system could be explained in such a way that PPG chains are able to disperse particles in the medium throughout the interactions between ether linkages and silanol groups

Delaying spontaneous combustion of reactive coals through inhibition

A moist coal adiabatic oven test has been used to quantify the effect of applying an anti-oxidant agent to reactive coals from Australia and the US. For the dosage rate applied, the anti-oxidant significantly reduces the coal self-heating rate and extends the time taken to reach thermal runaway by a factor of three for sub-bituminous coal and by a factor of two for the same application to high volatile C bituminous coal. The laboratory result obtained for sub-bituminous coal from Powder River Basin is in direct agreement with the practical site experience of applying the anti-oxidant product as a spontaneous combustion management control. Consequently, it is now possible to benchmark the application of the anti-oxidant to any reactive coal prior to mining as part of developing a leading practice spontaneous combustion management plan

The relationship between burnout and emotional labour of the employees

Abstract Emotions of the employees of especially the sectors like banking, tourism, and health care, in which the interaction with the customers is at utmost importance, are expected by the businesses to be properly managed. While the display of emotions by the employees according to the demands of the organization in respect to the payments made has positive contributions to the businesses, i

A one-pot biomimetic synthesis of selectively functionalized lignins from monomers: a green functionalization platform

Herein, a platform synthesis of functionalized lignin polymers of interest for material systems is demonstrated

Comparison of digital and conventional impression techniques: evaluation of patients’ perception, treatment comfort, effectiveness and clinical outcomes

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare two impression techniques from the perspective of patient preferences and treatment comfort.Methods: Twenty-four (12 male, 12 female) subjects who had no previous experience with either conventional or digital impression participated in this study. Conventional impressions of maxillary and mandibular dental arches were taken with a polyether impression material (Impregum, 3 M ESPE), and bite registrations were made with polysiloxane bite registration material (Futar D, Kettenbach). Two weeks later, digital impressions and bite scans were performed using an intra-oral scanner (CEREC Omnicam, Sirona). Immediately after the impressions were made, the subjects' attitudes, preferences and perceptions towards impression techniques were evaluated using a standardized questionnaire. The perceived source of stress was evaluated using the State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Processing steps of the impression techniques (tray selection, working time etc.) were recorded in seconds. Statistical analyses were performed with the Wilcoxon Rank test, and p < 0.05 was considered significant.Results: There were significant differences among the groups (p < 0.05) in terms of total working time and processing steps. Patients stated that digital impressions were more comfortable than conventional techniques.Conclusions: Digital impressions resulted in a more time-efficient technique than conventional impressions. Patients preferred the digital impression technique rather than conventional techniques

Red flags for the early detection of spinal infection in back pain patients

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Red flags are signs and symptoms that are possible indicators of serious spinal pathology. There is limited evidence or guidance on how red flags should be used in practice. Due to the lack of robust evidence for many red flags their use has been questioned. The aim was to conduct a systematic review specifically reporting on studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of red flags for Spinal Infection in patients with low back pain. Methods: Searches were carried out to identify the literature from inception to March 2019. The databases searched were Medline, CINHAL Plus, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, Pedro, OpenGrey and Grey Literature Report. Two reviewers screened article texts, one reviewer extracted data and details of each study, a second reviewer independently checked a random sample of the data extracted. Results: Forty papers met the eligibility criteria. A total of 2224 cases of spinal infection were identified, of which 1385 (62%) were men and 773 (38%) were women mean age of 55 (± 8) years. In total there were 46 items, 23 determinants and 23 clinical features. Spinal pain (72%) and fever (55%) were the most common clinical features, Diabetes (18%) and IV drug use (9%) were the most occurring determinants. MRI was the most used radiological test and Staphylococcus aureus (27%), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (12%) were the most common microorganisms detected in cases. Conclusion: The current evidence surrounding red flags for spinal infection remains small, it was not possible to assess the diagnostic accuracy of red flags for spinal infection, as such, a descriptive review reporting the characteristics of those presenting with spinal infection was carried out. In our review, spinal infection was common in those who had conditions associated with immunosuppression. Additionally, the most frequently reported clinical feature was the classic triad of spinal pain, fever and neurological dysfunction. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Nuclear poly(ADP-ribose) activity is a therapeutic target in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating and fatal motor neuron disease. Diagnosis typically occurs in the fifth decade of life and the disease progresses rapidly leading to death within ~ 2–5 years of symptomatic onset. There is no cure, and the few available treatments offer only a modest extension in patient survival. A protein central to ALS is the nuclear RNA/DNA-binding protein, TDP-43. In > 95% of ALS patients, TDP-43 is cleared from the nucleus and forms phosphorylated protein aggregates in the cytoplasm of affected neurons and glia. We recently defined that poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) activity regulates TDP-43-associated toxicity. PAR is a posttranslational modification that is attached to target proteins by PAR polymerases (PARPs). PARP-1 and PARP-2 are the major enzymes that are active in the nucleus. Here, we uncovered that the motor neurons of the ALS spinal cord were associated with elevated nuclear PAR, suggesting elevated PARP activity. Veliparib, a small-molecule inhibitor of nuclear PARP-1/2, mitigated the formation of cytoplasmic TDP-43 aggregates in mammalian cells. In primary spinal-cord cultures from rat, Veliparib also inhibited TDP-43-associated neuronal death. These studies uncover that PAR activity is misregulated in the ALS spinal cord, and a small-molecular inhibitor of PARP-1/2 activity may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of ALS and related disorders associated with abnormal TDP-43 homeostasis