Disturbance Facilitates Invasion: The Effects are Stronger Abroad than at Home

Disturbance is one of the most important factors promoting exotic invasion. However, if disturbance per se is sufficient to explain exotic success, then invasion abroad should not differ from colonization at home. Comparisons of the effects of disturbance on organisms in their native and introduced ranges are crucial to elucidate whether this is the case; however, such comparisons have not been conducted. We investigated the effects of disturbance on the success of Eurasian native Centaurea solstitialis in two invaded regions, California and Argentina, and one native region, Turkey, by conducting field experiments consisting of simulating different disturbances and adding locally collected C. solstitialis seeds. We also tested differences among C. solstitialis genotypes in these three regions and the effects of local soil microbes on C. solstitialis performance in greenhouse experiments. Disturbance increased C. solstitialis abundance and performance far more in nonnative ranges than in the native range, but C. solstitialis biomass and fecundity were similar among populations from all regions grown under common conditions. Eurasian soil microbes suppressed growth of C. solstitialis plants, while Californian and Argentinean soil biota did not. We suggest that escape from soil pathogens may contribute to the disproportionately powerful effect of disturbance in introduced regions

Acquired Generalized Lipodystrophy Associated with Autoimmune Hepatitis and Low Serum C4 Level

Lipodystrophies are a group of diseases characterized by loss of fat tissue and are associated with insulin resistance. A six-year- old girl followed with the diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis showed a severe loss of fat tissue, hyperinsulinemia, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertriglyceridemia and low serum complement 4 (C4) levels. She had coarse facial features with generalized loss of subcutaneous fat and prominent muscularity. Remarkable acanthosis nigricans was present over the neck, axilla, and umbilicus. Two hours after glucose loading, the glucose tolerance test revealed a glucose level of 258 mg/dL, a HbA1c value of 6.8%, and an insulin level of 642.9 mIU/mL, documenting a state of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Acquired generalized lipodystrophy was diagnosed and metformin with dietary intervention was initiated. Low serum complement levels proved the autoimmune nature of the process. We conclude that the serum complement levels must be investigated in patients with acquired lipodystrophy, particularly when it is associated with autoimmune hepatitis

Experimental admixture among geographically disjunct populations of an invasive plant yields a global mosaic of reproductive incompatibility and heterosis

1. Invasive species have the ability to rapidly adapt in the new regions where they are introduced. Classic evolutionary theory predicts that the accumulation of genetic differences over time in allopatric isolation may lead to reproductive incompatibilities resulting in decreases in reproductive success and, eventually, to speciation. However, experimental evidence for this theoretical prediction in the context of invasive species is lacking. We aimed to test for the potential of allopatry to determine reproductive success of invasive plants, by experimentally admixing genotypes from six different native and non‐native regions of Centaurea solstitialis, an invasive forb for which preliminary studies have detected some degree of reproductive isolation between one native and non‐native region. 2. We grew plants under common garden conditions and outcrossed individuals originating from different source populations in the native and introduced range to evaluate reproductive success in terms of seed to ovule ratio produced. We also assessed geographical and genetic isolation among C. solstitialis regions as a potential driving factor of reproductive success. 3. Experimental admixture generated mixed fitness effects, including significant increases, decreases and no differences in reproductive success as compared to crosses within population (control). Centaurea solstitialis invasive populations in the Americas generated preponderantly negative fitness interactions, regardless of the pollen source, suggesting selection against immigrants and reinforcement. Other non‐native populations (Australia) as well as individuals from the native range of Spain demonstrated an increase in fitness for between‐region crosses, indicating inbreeding. These differences show an asymmetrical response to inter‐regional gene flow, but no evidence of isolation by distance. 4. Synthesis. The speed of adaptation and the accumulation of reproductive incompatibilities among allopatric populations of invasive species might be more rapid than previously assumed. Our data show a global mosaic of reproductive outputs, showcasing an array of evolutionary processes unfolding during colonization at large biogeographical scales

The efficacy of cinacalcet in the treatment of hyperparathyroidism in Turkish hemodialysis patient population

WOS: 000393291900012OBJECTIVE: Cinacalcet reduces parathyroid hormone levels by increasing the sensitivity of the parathyroid gland to calcium. in this study, we firstly aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cinacalcet in Turkish hemodialysis patients. MATERIAL and METHODS: 4483 hemodialysis patients were screened and 469 patients who had used cinacalcet were included in the study. the patients were divided into 4 groups according to drug usage durations (Group 1: 3 months, Group 2: 6 months, Group 3: 9 months and Group 4: 12 months). the patients' Parathormone, Ca, P and CaxP levels at the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months were compared to the start of treatment and previous months. RESULTS: the levels of Parathormone, Ca, P and CaxP significantly decreased compared to their initial levels in all groups (from 1412 pg/ml to 1222 pg/mL for Parathormone, p< 0,001) in the 3rd month. However, this reduction was not continued in the subsequent months (Parathormone: 1381 pg/ml for the 12th month). CONCLUSION: Cinacalcet may not provide adequate benefit in control of hyperparathyroidism in Turkish hemodialysis patient population

Turner syndrome and associated problems in turkish children: A multicenter study

Objective: Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder caused by complete or partial X chromosome monosomy that manifests various clinical features depending on the karyotype and on the genetic background of affected girls. This study aimed to systematically investigate the key clinical features of TS in relationship to karyotype in a large pediatric Turkish patient population. Methods: Our retrospective study included 842 karyotype-proven TS patients aged 0-18 years who were evaluated in 35 different centers in Turkey in the years 2013-2014. Results: The most common karyotype was 45,X (50.7%), followed by 45,X/46,XX (10.8%), 46,X,i(Xq) (10.1%) and 45,X/46,X,i(Xq) (9.5%). Mean age at diagnosis was 10.2±4.4 years. The most common presenting complaints were short stature and delayed puberty. Among patients diagnosed before age one year, the ratio of karyotype 45,X was significantly higher than that of other karyotype groups. Cardiac defects (bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta and aortic stenosi) were the most common congenital anomalies, occurring in 25% of the TS cases. This was followed by urinary system anomalies (horseshoe kidney, double collector duct system and renal rotation) detected in 16.3%. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was found in 11.1% of patients, gastrointestinal abnormalities in 8.9%, ear nose and throat problems in 22.6%, dermatologic problems in 21.8% and osteoporosis in 15.3%. Learning difficulties and/or psychosocial problems were encountered in 39.1%. Insulin resistance and impaired fasting glucose were detected in 3.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Dyslipidemia prevalence was 11.4%. Conclusion: This comprehensive study systematically evaluated the largest group of karyotype-proven TS girls to date. The karyotype distribution, congenital anomaly and comorbidity profile closely parallel that from other countries and support the need for close medical surveillance of these complex patients throughout their lifespan. © Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology

Archaeogenetic analysis of Neolithic sheep from Anatolia suggests a complex demographic history since domestication

Yurtman, ozer, Yuncu et al. provide an ancient DNA data set to demonstrate the impact of human activity on the demographic history of domestic sheep. The authors demonstrate that there may have been multiple domestication events with notable changes to the gene pool of European and Anatolian sheep since the Neolithic. Sheep were among the first domesticated animals, but their demographic history is little understood. Here we analyzed nuclear polymorphism and mitochondrial data (mtDNA) from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating from Epipaleolithic to late Neolithic, comparatively with modern-day breeds and central Asian Neolithic/Bronze Age sheep (OBI). Analyzing ancient nuclear data, we found that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds relative to Asian breeds, a conclusion supported by mtDNA haplogroup frequencies. In contrast, OBI showed higher genetic affinity to present-day Asian breeds. These results suggest that the east-west genetic structure observed in present-day breeds had already emerged by 6000 BCE, hinting at multiple sheep domestication episodes or early wild introgression in southwest Asia. Furthermore, we found that ANS are genetically distinct from all modern breeds. Our results suggest that European and Anatolian domestic sheep gene pools have been strongly remolded since the Neolithic

Estimating Third Dimension Data From Sar Images

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Bilişim Enstitüsü, 2009Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Informatics, 2009Bu projenin amacı, birbirleri arasındaki tutarsızlığı yüksek iki uydu radar görüntüsünden elde edilen interferogram ile sayısal yükselti bilgisinin elde edilmesidir. Son adımda kıyaslamalı bir faz - yükselti dönüşümü deneyi gerçekleştirildi. Ön araştırmalar göstermiştir ki; bu amaçla işlenecek uydu görüntülerinin dört temel adımdan geçmesi gerekmektedir. Bunlar, sırasıyla; uydu görüntülerinin radyometrik ve geometrik düzeltmeleri, düzeltilen görüntülerden interferogram sentezi, iki boyutlu faz katlılığının giderilmesi ve son adım olarak faz ? yükselti dönüşümünün yapılmasıdır. Bu projenin en temel ve kritik ihtiyacı, her ikisi de farklı faz bilgisi taşıyan uygun iki uydu SAR görüntüsü bulmak olarak tespit edilmiştir. Proje amacı için böyle bir veri çifti bulunduktan sonra verinin kendisi ve özellikler dökümanı sayesinde proje yazılımı oluşturulmuştur. Sayısal yükselti verisi çıkarımı adımlarını gerçekleştiren bu yazılım birbirleriyle oldukça tutarsız veri çifti üzerinde denenmiştir. Projedeki görüntü işleme adımları arasında olan iki boyutlu faz katlılığının giderilmesi, en sınırlayıcı ve zor adım olarak gözlemlenmiştir. İki boyutlu faz katlılığının giderilmesi adımı kaynak zorlayan karmaşık algoritmalar istediğinden bu alanda literatürde oldukça fazla çalışma tespit edilmiştir. Bu adım için en güvenilir, uygulaması kolay ve hızlı yöntemlerden biri, bu proje için seçilmiştir. Son adım olan faz ? yükselti dönüşümünün üç farklı yönteminin uygulaması kıyaslamalı deney olarak yapılmıştır. Ön araştırmalar, bilimsel literatürde interferometriden sayısal yükselti verisi elde etmek için bulunan bu faz ? yükselti dönüşümü yöntemleri arasında kıyaslamalı çalışmanın yeterli miktarda yapılmamış olduğunu göstermiştir. Proje bu nedenle akademik çalışma için uygun ve gerekli görülmüştür.The aim of this project is to create digital elevation data from an interferogram created via satellite radar imagery which are incoherent amongst each other. A comparative experiment is done at the last step of this process as phase-to-height conversion techniques. The pre-research has shown that in order to process the satellite imagery for this purpose, four basic steps are needed to be carried out. These are, in order; radiometric and geometrical correction of satellite images, synthesis of interferogram form these corrected images, two dimensional phase unwrapping, and as the last step, phase-to-height conversion. Acquiring two separate SAR images each carrying different phase data seems to be the most basic and crucial requirement for this project. After a set of data was acquired for this purpose, a software has been developed with the help of data and its specifications documentation. Digital elevation data creation steps implemented in this software have been run on highly incoherent data pair. Two dimensional phase unwrapping is observed as the most limiting and hardest step of this image processing. Because two dimensional phase unwrapping methods can be done with resource demanding complex algorithms, there are lots of experiments and research with these methods in the literature. One of the most robust, easy to implement, and fastest algorithms has been chosen for this particular processing step. The last step, which is about phase-to-height conversion from unwrapped phase data, is performed with three different methods as a comparative experiment. The pre-research has shown that there are very few comparative research in the literature about these phase-to-height conversion methods for acquiring digital elevation modeling from interferometry. Because of this fact, this project is deemed to be suitable and necessary as an academical study.Yüksek LisansM.Sc

Yeni Nesil Binek Otomobillerin Vergilendirilmesi: Türkiye Örneği

As a mutual consequence of the efforts that put to protect the environment at the global level within the technological development in the automotive industry, internal combustion engines powered by conventional fossil fuel are being replaced by electric and hybrid electric vehicles, which are defined as new generation vehicles. In this substitution process, many countries and cities conduct works to limit or completely prohibit the use of fossil fueled cars. In this context, to generalize new generation vehicles which start to find its way in the automotive market and with intent to replace conventional vehicles, various incentives are needed for this kind of vehicles. The change in consumer preferences in the use of new generation cars in favor of new generation vehicles depends on the consideration of various incentives in the taxation process and the construction of the tax technique on this purpose. In this study, proposals are presented for the new generation of vehicles’ excise duty and motor vehicles tax which are applied on vehicles in Turkey to be revised in a contributed way in the conversion process of the new generation vehicles’ becoming common. The proposals generally include reducing tax burdens on such vehicles and other incentives. In this context, the taxation process and incentives of automotive in the countries where the use of new generation vehicles are widespread are examined and the automotive sales and sectoral effects of the policy changes are emphasized.KABUL VE ONAY i YAYIMLAMA VE FİKRİ MÜLKİYET HAKLARI BEYANI ii ETİK BEYAN iii TEŞEKKÜR iv ÖZET v ABSTRACT vi İÇİNDEKİLER vii KISALTMALAR DİZİNİ x TABLOLAR DİZİNİ xi ŞEKİLLER DİZİNİ xii GİRİŞ 1 1. BÖLÜM 4 GEÇMİŞTEN GÜNÜMÜZE BİNEK OTOMOBİL TEKNOLOJİLERİ 4 1.1. OTOMOBİL TANIMI 4 1.2. OTOMOBİL TEKNOLOJİLERİNİN TARİHSEL GELİŞİMİ 6 1.3. BİNEK OTOMOBİLLERİN YAKIT VE GÜÇ KAYNAKLARINA GÖRE SINIFLANDIRILMASI 10 1.4. YENİ NESİL BİNEK OTOMOBİLLER 11 1.4.1. Hibrit Elektrikli Taşıtlar 13 1.4.1.1. Taşıtın Hareketlenmesinde Üstlendikleri Role Göre Hibrit Taşıtlar 14 1.4.1.2. Elektrik Motoru Tarafından Üretilen Gücün Oranına Göre Hibrit Taşıtlar 18 1.4.2. Tamamen Elektrikli Taşıtlar 20 1.4.2.1. Akü Beslemeli Elektrikli Taşıtlar 21 1.4.2.2. Yakıt Pilli Elektrikli Taşıtlar 22 1.5. YENİ NESİL BİNEK OTOMOBİLLERE YÖNELİŞİN SEBEPLERİ 24 1.6. TEŞVİK MEKANİZMASINDA KULLANILACAK MALİ ARAÇLAR 29 1.6.1. Vergi Teşvik Türleri 32 1.6.1.1. Dolaysız Vergi Teşvikleri 33 1.6.1.2. Dolaylı Vergi Teşvikleri 34 1.7. YENİ NESİL BİNEK OTOMOBİLLERİN TEŞVİK EDİLMESİ 35 2. BÖLÜM 37 YENİ NESİL BİNEK TAŞITLARIN VERGİLENDİRİLMESİNDE UYGULAMA ÖRNEKLERİ 37 2.1. YENİ NESİL TAŞITLARA İLİŞKİN KÜRESEL GÖRÜNÜM 38 2.2. NORVEÇ 40 2.3. ÇİN 45 2.4. AMERİKA BİRLEŞİK DEVLETLERİ 48 2.5. AVRUPA BİRLİĞİ ÜLKELERİNDE YENİ NESİL BİNEK TAŞITLARIN VERGİLENDİRİLMESİ 52 2.5.1. Almanya 57 2.5.2. Birleşik Krallık 60 2.5.3. Fransa 63 2.5.4. İsveç 64 2.5.5. Hollanda 66 2.5.6. Diğer Avrupa Birliği Ülkeleri 70 3. BÖLÜM 73 TÜRKİYE’DE YENİ NESİL BİNEK TAŞITLARIN VERGİLENDİRİLMESİ 73 3.1. ÖZEL TÜKETİM VERGİSİ UYGULAMASI 73 3.1.1. Binek Otomobillere Yönelik Özel Tüketim Vergisi Mevzuat Düzenlemeleri 75 3.2. KATMA DEĞER VERGİSİ UYGULAMASI 84 3.3. MOTORLU TAŞITLAR VERGİSİ UYGULAMASI 86 3.3.1. Binek Otomobillere Yönelik Motorlu Taşıtlar Vergisi Mevzuat Düzenlemeleri 88 3.4. BİNEK OTOMOBİLLERİN TESCİL VE DEVİRLERİNDEKİ VERGİ VE ÜCRET UYGULAMALARI 92 3.5. AKARYAKIT ÜZERİNDEN ALINAN VERGİLER 93 3.6. TÜRKİYE’DEKİ BİNEK OTOMOBİL İSTATİSTİKLERİ 95 3.7. ÖZEL TÜKETİM VERGİSİ VE MOTORLU TAŞITLAR VERGİSİ BÜTÇE İSTATİSTİKLERİ 99 SONUÇ VE ÖNERİLER 103 KAYNAKÇA 107 EK 1. ORİJİNALLİK RAPORU……………………………………….…….…116 EK 2. ETİK KOMİSYON MUAFİYET FORMU………………………….…...118Otomotiv endüstrisinde meydana gelen teknolojik gelişim ile birlikte küresel düzeyde çevrenin korunmasına yönelik gösterilen çabaların ortak bir sonucu olarak konvansiyonel fosil yakıtlı içten yanmalı motorlu binek taşıtlar yerini yeni nesil binek taşıt olarak ifade edilen elektrikli ve hibrit elektrikli taşıtlara bırakmaktadır. Bu ikame sürecinde birçok ülke ve şehir fosil yakıtlı otomobillerin kullanımının sınırlandırılması veya tamamen yasaklanmasına yönelik çalışmalar yapmaktadır. Bu kapsamda, otomotiv pazarında kendisine yer bulmaya başlayan yeni nesil taşıtların yaygınlaştırılması ve konvansiyonel taşıtların yerini alması amacıyla bu tip taşıtlara yönelik çeşitli teşviklere ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Yeni nesil otomobillerin kullanımında tüketici tercihlerinin yeni nesil binek taşıtlar lehine değişmesi, çeşitli teşvik unsurlarının vergilendirme sürecinde dikkate alınmasına ve vergi tekniğinin bu amaca göre kurgulanmasına bağlıdır. Çalışmada yeni nesil taşıtların yaygınlaşmasına yönelik dönüşüm sürecinde, Türkiye’de binek taşıtlara yönelik uygulanmakta olan özel tüketim vergisi ve motorlu taşıtlar vergisinin, yeni nesil taşıtlara nihai tüketicilerin talebinin artmasına katkı sağlayacak şekilde revize edilmesine yönelik öneriler sunulmuştur. Öneriler genel olarak bu tip taşıtlardaki vergi yüklerinin azaltılmasını ve diğer teşvik unsurlarını ihtiva etmektedir. Bu çerçevede, yeni nesil binek otomobillerin kullanımının yaygın olduğu ülkelerdeki binek otomobil vergilendirme süreci ve teşvikleri incelenmiş, politika değişikliklerinin binek otomobil satışları ve sektörel etkileri üzerinde durulmuştur