Search results for: Amin Babiker A/Nabi Mustafa

Authors: Cangir Uyarlar, Eyup Eren Gultepe, Mustafa Kabu, Hacı Ahmet Celik

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This study aimed to evaluate the effects of orally Immunoglobulin (Ig) Y treatments to calves were fed with colostrum having insufficient antibodies before first suckling. A total of 28 Holstein calves were fed assigned into control and treatment groups. The calves were fed fresh colostrum from their respective mother for the first 4 days. The treatment group calves were orally administered IgLock (10 g/d/calf) immediately before the first colostrum feeding and IgLock was administered just one time in treatment group calves. Then, the calves were offered normal milk until weaning. After weaning, all calves kept same paddock and were fed same ration. Diarrhea and respiratoric diseases were recorded for one year. Blood was collected from all calves in the study on birth day (0 day) before vaccination and IgLock administration, then, collected for the following 2 days in all groups. Albumin (ALB), Total Protein (TP), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine Aminotrasferase (ALT), Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT), Serum Amyloid A (SAA), Haptoglobin (HPT) and Ig G analyses were performed on all samples. Although serum ALB, ALT, GGT and Ig G levels were not shown a time dependent-change within control group; serum TP, AST, HPT and SAA levels were significantly changed by the time within mentioned group. Serum TP level was steady at first 2 days, then, it was increased significantly at 3rd day. Also, serum AST level was significantly increased at 2nd day, then it was descended to first day levels again at 3rd day. Although serum HPT levels were shown a significant gradually decreasing within control group, serum SAA levels were decreased rapidly after first day and there were no significance differences between 2nd and 3rd day in SAA levels. Serum ALB, ALT, HPT and SAA levels were not shown a time dependent-change within treatmet group. After first day Serum TP, GGT, AST and Ig G levels were shown an significant increasing at 2nd day. Serum TP, GGT and Ig G levels were higher as compared to 1st day within treatment group at 3rd day. But, serum AST level was less significantly 3rd day as compared to 2nd day values. The total numbers of calves suffered from diarrhea were significantly less in treatment group as compared to control group (p < 0,05). The pneumonia reappear ratio in calves suffered the diseases is 33,3% in control group and 11,11% in treatment group. Total cost of diseases and additives was 2339,36 $ for control and 1276,4 $ for treatment. As a conclusion, the immunity enhancers like IgLock are important and cost-effective to boost up immunity status in the early age which would be having positive effects on calves were received colostrum included insufficient antibodies.

Keywords: dairy calves, Ig Y, pneumonia, scours

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Authors: Süleyman Hakan Yilmaz, Yasemin Gülsen Yilmaz

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The Gezi Park protests of 2013 have significantly changed the Turkish agenda and its effects have been felt historically. The protests, which rapidly spread throughout the country, were triggered by the proposal to recreate the Ottoman Army Barracks to function as a shopping mall on Gezi Park located in Istanbul’s Taksim neighbourhood despite the oppositions of several NGOs and when trees were cut in the park for this purpose. Once the news that construction vehicles entered the park on May 27 spread on social media, activists moved into the park to stop the demolition, against whom the police used disproportioned force. With this police intervention and the then prime-minister Tayyip Erdoğan's insistent statements about the construction plans, the protests turned into anti-government demonstrations, which then spread to the rest of the country, mainly in big cities like Ankara and Izmir. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ June 23rd reports, 2.5 million people joined the demonstrations in 79 provinces, that is all of them, except for the provinces of Bayburt and Bingöl, while even more people shared their opinions via social networks. As a result of these events, 8 civilians and 2 security personnel lost their lives, namely police chief Mustafa Sarı, police officer Ahmet Küçükdağ, citizens Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Abdullah Cömert, Ethem Sarısülük, Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Ahmet Atakan, Berkin Elvan, Burak Can Karamanoğlu, Mehmet İstif, and Elif Çermik, and 8163 more were injured. Besides being a turning point in Turkish history, the Gezi Park protests also had broad repercussions in both in Turkish and in global media, which focused on Turkey throughout the events. Our study conducts content analysis of three Turkish reporting newspapers with varying ideological standpoints, Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet ve Yeni Şafak, in order to reveal their basic approach to columns casting in context of the Gezi Park protests. Columns content relating to the Gezi protests were treated and analysed for this purpose. The aim of this study is to understand the social effects of the Gezi Park protests through media samples with varying political attitudes towards news casting.

Keywords: Gezi Park, media, news casting, columns

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Authors: Hameed Ullah, Shujaul Mulk Khan, Zahid Ullah, Zeeshan Ahmad Sadia Jahangir, Abdullah, Amin Ur Rahman, Muhammad Suliman, Dost Muhammad

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The interrelationship between vegetation and abiotic variables inside an ecosystem is one of the main jobs of plant scientists. This study was designed to investigate the vegetation structure and species diversity along with the environmental variables in the Yakhtangay hill district Shangla of the Himalayan Mountain series Pakistan by using multivariate statistical analysis. Quadrat’s method was used and a total of 171 Quadrats were laid down 57 for Tree, Shrubs and Herbs, respectively, to analyze the phytosociological attributes of the vegetation. The vegetation of the selected area was classified into different Life and leaf-forms according to Raunkiaer classification, while PCORD software version 5 was used to classify the vegetation into different plants communities by Two-way indicator species Analysis (TWINSPAN). The CANOCCO version 4.5 was used for DCA and CCA analysis to find out variation directories of vegetation with different environmental variables. A total of 114 plants species belonging to 45 different families was investigated inside the area. The Rosaceae (12 species) was the dominant family followed by Poaceae (10 species) and then Asteraceae (7 species). Monocots were more dominant than Dicots and Angiosperms were more dominant than Gymnosperms. Among the life forms the Hemicryptophytes and Nanophanerophytes were dominant, followed by Therophytes, while among the leaf forms Microphylls were dominant, followed by Leptophylls. It is concluded that among the edaphic factors such as soil pH, the concentration of soil organic matter, Calcium Carbonates concentration in soil, soil EC, soil TDS, and physiographic factors such as Altitude and slope are affecting the structure of vegetation, species composition and species diversity at the significant level with p-value ≤0.05. The Vegetation of the selected area was classified into four major plants communities and the indicator species for each community was recorded. Classification of plants into 4 different communities based upon edaphic gradients favors the individualistic hypothesis. Indicator Species Analysis (ISA) shows the indicators of the study area are mostly indicators to the Himalayan or moist temperate ecosystem, furthermore, these indicators could be considered for micro-habitat conservation and respective ecosystem management plans.

Keywords: species richness, edaphic gradients, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), TWCA

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Authors: Abu S. Mustafa, Mohammad W. Khan, Faraz Shaheed Khan, Nazima Habibi

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Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of worldwide prevalence. There are at least four species and several strains of Brucella that cause human disease. Brucella genomes have very limited variation across strains, which hinder strain identification using classical molecular techniques, including PCR and 16 S rDNA sequencing. The aim of this study was to perform whole genome sequencing of clinical isolates of Brucella and perform bioinformatics and comparative genomics analyses to determine the existence of genetic differences across the isolates of a single Brucella species and strain. The draft sequence data were generated from 15 clinical isolates of Brucella melitensis (biovar 2 strain 63/9) using MiSeq next generation sequencing platform. The generated reads were used for further assembly and analysis. All the analysis was performed using Bioinformatics work station (8 core i7 processor, 8GB RAM with Bio-Linux operating system). FastQC was used to determine the quality of reads and low quality reads were trimmed or eliminated using Fastx_trimmer. Assembly was done by using Velvet and ABySS softwares. The ordering of assembled contigs was performed by Mauve. An online server RAST was employed to annotate the contigs assembly. Annotated genomes were compared using Mauve and ACT tools. The QC score for DNA sequence data, generated by MiSeq, was higher than 30 for 80% of reads with more than 100x coverage, which suggested that data could be utilized for further analysis. However when analyzed by FastQC, quality of four reads was not good enough for creating a complete genome draft so remaining 11 samples were used for further analysis. The comparative genome analyses showed that despite sharing same gene sets, single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions existed across different genomes, which provided a variable extent of diversity to these bacteria. In conclusion, the next generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and comparative genome analysis can be utilized to find variations (point mutations, insertions and deletions) across different genomes of Brucella within a single strain. This information could be useful in surveillance and epidemiological studies supported by Kuwait University Research Sector grants MI04/15 and SRUL02/13.

Keywords: brucella, bioinformatics, comparative genomics, whole genome sequencing

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Authors: Mustafa Rezazada, Takuya Maruyama

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Cars have a strong integration with the human being since its introduction, and this interaction is more evident in the urban context. Therefore, shifting city residents from driving private vehicles to public transits has been a big challenge. Accordingly, carsharing as an innovative, environmentally friendly transport alternative had a significant contribution to this transition so far. It helped to reduce the numbers of household car ownership, declining demand for on-street parking, dropping the numbers of kilometers traveled by car, and affects the future of mobility by decreasing the Green House Gases (GHS) emissions’ and the numbers of new cars to be purchased otherwise. However, majorities of carsharing researches were conducted in highly developed cities, and less attention has been paid to the cities of developing countries. This study is conducted in the Capital of Afghanistan, Kabul to investigate the current transport pattern, user behavior, and to examine the possibility of introducing the carsharing system. This study established a new survey method called Onboard Carsharing Survey OCS. In this survey, the carpooling passengers aboard are interviewed following the Onboard Transit Survey OTS guideline with a few refinements. The survey focuses on respondents’ daily travel behavior and hypothetical stated choice of carsharing opportunities. Moreover, it followed by an aggregate analysis at the end. The survey results indicate the following: two-thirds of the respondents 62% have been carpooling every day since 5 years or more, more than half of the respondents are not satisfied with current modes, besides other attributes the Traffic Congestion, Environment and Insufficient Public Transport were ranked the most critical in daily transportation by survey participants. Moreover, 68.24% of the respondent chose Carsharing over carpooling under different choice game scenarios. Overall, the findings in this research show that Kabul City is a potential underground for the introduction of Carsharing in the future. Taken together, insufficient public transit, dissatisfaction with current modes, and their stated interest will affect the future of carsharing positively in Kabul City. The modal choice in this study is limited to carpooling and carsharing; more choice sets, including bus, cycling, and walking, will have to be added to evaluate further.

Keywords: carsharing, developing countries, Kabul Afghanistan, onboard carsharing survey, transportation, urban planning

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Authors: Adil Mustafa, Ahmet Erten, Alper Kiraz, Melikhan Tanyeri

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Work presented here is based on a novel experimental technique used to hydrodynamically trap oil microdroplets inside a microfluidic chip at the junction of microchannels known as stagnation point. Hydrodynamic trapping has been recently used to trap and manipulate a number of particles starting from microbeads to DNA and single cells. Benzyl Benzoate (BB) is used as droplet material. The microdroplets are trapped individually at stagnation point and their dissolution was observed. Experiments are performed for two concentrations (10mM or 10µM) of AOT surfactant (Docusate Sodium Salt) and two flow rates for each case. Moreover, experimental data is compared with Zhang-Yang-Mao (ZYM) model which studies dissolution of liquid microdroplets in the presence of a host fluid experiencing extensional creeping flow. Industrial processes like polymer blending systems in which heat or mass transport occurs experience extensional flow and an insight into these phenomena is of significant importance to many industrial processes. The experimental technique exploited here gives an insight into the dissolution of liquid microdroplets under extensional flow regime. The comparison of our experimental results with ZYM model reveals that dissolution of microdroplets at lower surfactant concentration (10µM) fits the ZYM model at saturation concentration (Cs) value reported in literature (Cs = 15×10⁻³Kg\m³) while for higher surfactant concentration (10mM) which is also above the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactant (5mM) the data fits ZYM model at (Cs = 45×10⁻³Kg\m³) which is 3X times the value reported in literature. The difference in Cs value from the literature shows enhancement in dissolution rate of sparingly soluble BB microdroplets at surfactant concentrations higher than CMC. Enhancement in the dissolution of sparingly soluble materials is of great importance in pharmaceutical industry. Enhancement in the dissolution of sparingly soluble drugs is a key research area for drug design industry. The experimental method is also advantageous because it is robust and has no mechanical contact with droplets under study are freely suspended in the fluid as compared existing methods used for testing dissolution of drugs. The experiments also give an insight into CMC measurement for surfactants.

Keywords: extensional flow, hydrodynamic trapping, Zhang-Yang-Mao, CMC

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Authors: Teresa Kupczyk, Selçuk Mustafa Özcan, Joanna Kubicka

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The paper presents results of specialist literature analysis concerning learning outcomes and student satisfaction as a factor of the necessary change in the Polish higher education system. The objective of the empirical research was to determine students’ assessment of learning outcomes, satisfaction of their expectations, as well as their satisfaction with lectures and practical classes held in the traditional form, e-learning and video-conference. The assessment concerned effectiveness of time spent at classes, usefulness of the delivered knowledge, instructors’ preparation and teaching skills, application of tools, studies curriculum, its adaptation to students’ needs and labour market, as well as studying conditions. Self-assessment of learning outcomes was confronted with assessment by lecturers. The indirect objective of the research was also to identify how students assessed their activity and commitment in acquisition of knowledge and their discipline in achieving education goals. It was analysed how the studies held affected the students’ willingness to improve their skills and assessment of their perspectives at the labour market. To capture the changes underway, the research was held at the beginning, during and after completion of the studies. The study group included 86 students of two editions of full-time studies majoring in Management and specialising in “Mega-event organisation”. The studies were held within the EU-funded project entitled “Responding to challenges of new markets – innovative managerial education”. The results obtained were analysed statistically. Average results and standard deviations were calculated. In order to describe differences between the studied variables present during the process of studies, as well as considering the respondents’ gender, t-Student test for independent samples was performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 software package. Correlations between variables were identified by calculation of Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. Research results suggest necessity to introduce some changes in the teaching system applied at Polish higher education institutions, not only considering the obtained outcomes, but also impact on students’ willingness to improve their qualifications constantly, improved self-assessment among students and their opportunities at the labour market.

Keywords: higher education, learning outcomes, students, change

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Authors: Ali Kamal M. Sami, Safa Almukhtar, Alaa Al-Krush, Ismael Hama-Amin Akha Weas, Ruqaya Ahmed Alqais

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Introduction and Objectives Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common among men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The combination of 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors and alpha-blockers has been used as a conservative treatment of male LUTS secondary to BPH. Nanotechnology structured water magnalife is a type of water that is produced by modulators and specific frequency and energy fields that transform ordinary water into this Nanowater. In this study, we evaluated the use of Nano-water with the conservative treatment and to see if it improves the outcome and gives better results in those patients with LUTS/BPH. Material and methods For a period of 3 months, 200 men with International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS)≥13, maximum flow rate (Qmax)≤ 15ml/s, and prostate volume > 30 and <80 ccs were randomly divided into two groups. Group A 100 men were given Nano-water with the (tamsulosindutasteride) and group B 100 men were given ordinary bottled water with the (tamsulosindutasteride). The water bottles were unlabeled and were given in a daily dose of 20ml/kg body weight. Dutasteride 0.5mg and tamsulosin 0.4 mg daily doses. Both groups were evaluated for the IPSS, Qmax, Residual Urine (RU), International Index of Erectile Function–Erectile Function (IIEF-EF) domain at the beginning (baseline data), and at the end of the 3 months. Results Of the 200 men with LUTS who were included in this study, 193 men were followed, and 7 men dropped out of the study for different reasons. In group A which included 97 men with LUTS, IPSS decreased by 16.82 (from 20.47 to 6.65) (P<0.00001) and Qmax increased by 5.73 ml/s (from 11.71 to 17.44) (P<0.00001) and RU <50 ml in 88% of patients (P<0.00001) and IIEF-EF increased to 26.65 (from 16.85) (P<0.00001). While in group B, 96 men with LUTS, IPSS decreased by 8.74(from 19.59 to 10.85)(P<0.00001) and Qmax increased by 4.67 ml/s(from 10.74 to 15.41)(P<0.00001), RU<50 ml in 75% of patients (P<0.00001), and IIEF-EF increased to 21(from 15.87)(P<0.00001). Group A had better results than group B. IPSS in group A decreased to 6.65 vs 10.85 in group B(P<0.00001), also Qmax increased to 17.44 in group A vs 15.41 in group B(P<0.00001), group A had RU <50 ml in 88% of patients vs 75% of patients in group B(P<0.00001).Group A had better IIEF-EF which increased to 26.65 vs 21 in group B(P<0.00001). While the differences between the baseline data of both groups were statistically not significant. Conclusion The use of nanotechnology structured water magnalife gives a better result in terms of LUTS and scores in patients with BPH. This combination is showing improvements in IPSS and even in erectile function in those men after 3 months.

Keywords: nano water, lower urinary tract symptoms, benign prostatic hypertrophy, erectile dysfunction

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Authors: Bahar Hazal Yalçınkaya, Bayram Yılmaz, Mustafa Özilgen

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Brain information transmission in the neuronal network occurs in the form of electrical signals. Neural work transmits information between the neurons or neurons and target cells by moving charged particles in a voltage field; a fraction of the energy utilized in this process is dissipated via entropy generation. Exergy loss and entropy generation models demonstrate the inefficiencies of the communication along the dendritic trees. In this study, neurons of 4 different animals were analyzed with one dimensional cable model with N=6 identical dendritic trees and M=3 order of symmetrical branching. Each branch symmetrically bifurcates in accordance with the 3/2 power law in an infinitely long cylinder with the usual core conductor assumptions, where membrane potential is conserved in the core conductor at all branching points. In the model, exergy loss and entropy generation rates are calculated for each branch of equivalent cylinders of electrotonic length (L) ranging from 0.1 to 1.5 for four different dendritic branches, input branch (BI), and sister branch (BS) and two cousin branches (BC-1 & BC-2). Thermodynamic analysis with the data coming from two different cat motoneuron studies show that in both experiments nearly the same amount of exergy is lost while generating nearly the same amount of entropy. Guinea pig vagal motoneuron loses twofold more exergy compared to the cat models and the squid exergy loss and entropy generation were nearly tenfold compared to the guinea pig vagal motoneuron model. Thermodynamic analysis show that the dissipated energy in the dendritic tress is directly proportional with the electrotonic length, exergy loss and entropy generation. Entropy generation and exergy loss show variability not only between the vertebrate and invertebrates but also within the same class. Concurrently, single action potential Na⁺ ion load, metabolic energy utilization and its thermodynamic aspect contributed for squid giant axon and mammalian motoneuron model. Energy demand is supplied to the neurons in the form of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Exergy destruction and entropy generation upon ATP hydrolysis are calculated. ATP utilization, exergy destruction and entropy generation showed differences in each model depending on the variations in the ion transport along the channels.

Keywords: ATP utilization, entropy generation, exergy loss, neuronal information transmittance

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity and weight gain are associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and the progression of liver fibrosis. Aspartate transaminase–to-platelet count ratio index (AST-to-PLT, APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) were primarily considered as the formulas capable of differentiating hepatitis from cirrhosis. Recently, they have found clinical use as measures of liver fibrosis and cardiovascular risk. However, their status in children has not been evaluated in detail yet. The aim of this study is to determine APRI and FIB-4 status in obese (OB) children and compare them with values found in children with normal body mass index (N-BMI). A total of sixty-eight children examined in the outpatient clinics of the Pediatrics Department in Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Medical Faculty were included in the study. Two groups were constituted. In the first group, thirty-five children with N-BMI, whose age- and sex-dependent BMI indices vary between 15 and 85 percentiles, were evaluated. The second group comprised thirty-three OB children whose BMI percentile values were between 95 and 99. Anthropometric measurements and routine biochemical tests were performed. Using these parameters, values for the related indices, BMI, APRI, and FIB-4, were calculated. Appropriate statistical tests were used for the evaluation of the study data. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p<0.05. In the OB group, values found for APRI and FIB-4 were higher than those calculated for the N-BMI group. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the N-BMI and OB groups in terms of APRI and FIB-4. A similar pattern was detected for triglyceride (TRG) values. The correlation coefficient and degree of significance between APRI and FIB-4 were r=0.336 and p=0.065 in the N-BMI group. On the other hand, they were r=0.707 and p=0.001 in the OB group. Associations of these two indices with TRG have shown that this parameter was strongly correlated (p<0.001) both with APRI and FIB-4 in the OB group, whereas no correlation was calculated in children with N-BMI. Triglycerides are associated with an increased risk of fatty liver, which can progress to severe clinical problems such as steatohepatitis, which can lead to liver fibrosis. Triglycerides are also independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, the lack of correlation between TRG and APRI as well as FIB-4 in children with N-BMI, along with the detection of strong correlations of TRG with these indices in OB children, was the indicator of the possible onset of the tendency towards the development of fatty liver in OB children. This finding also pointed out the potential risk for cardiovascular pathologies in OB children. The nature of the difference between APRI vs FIB-4 correlations in N-BMI and OB groups (no correlation versus high correlation), respectively, may be the indicator of the importance of involving age and alanine transaminase parameters in addition to AST and PLT in the formula designed for FIB-4.

Keywords: APRI, children, FIB-4, obesity, triglycerides

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Pediatric overweight and obesity need attention because they may cause morbid obesity, which may develop metabolic syndrome (MetS). Criteria used for the definition of adult MetS cannot be applied for pediatric MetS. Dynamic physiological changes that occur during childhood and adolescence require the evaluation of each parameter based upon age intervals. The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of blood pressure (BP) values within diverse pediatric age intervals and the possible use and clinical utility of a recently introduced Diagnostic Obesity Notation Model Assessment Tension (DONMA tense) Index derived from systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) [SBP+DBP/200]. Such a formula may enable a more integrative picture for the assessment of pediatric obesity and MetS due to the use of both SBP and DBP. 554 children, whose ages were between 6-16 years participated in the study; the study population was divided into two groups based upon their ages. The first group comprises 280 cases aged 6-10 years (72-120 months), while those aged 10-16 years (121-192 months) constituted the second group. The values of SBP, DBP and the formula (SBP+DBP/200) covering both were evaluated. Each group was divided into seven subgroups with varying degrees of obesity and MetS criteria. Two clinical definitions of MetS have been described. These groups were MetS3 (children with three major components), and MetS2 (children with two major components). The other groups were morbid obese (MO), obese (OB), overweight (OW), normal (N) and underweight (UW). The children were included into the groups according to the age- and sex-based body mass index (BMI) percentile values tabulated by WHO. Data were evaluated by SPSS version 16 with p < 0.05 as the statistical significance degree. Tension index was evaluated in the groups above and below 10 years of age. This index differed significantly between N and MetS as well as OW and MetS groups (p = 0.001) above 120 months. However, below 120 months, significant differences existed between MetS3 and MetS2 (p = 0.003) as well as MetS3 and MO (p = 0.001). In comparison with the SBP and DBP values, tension index values have enabled more clear-cut separation between the groups. It has been detected that the tension index was capable of discriminating MetS3 from MetS2 in the group, which was composed of children aged 6-10 years. This was not possible in the older group of children. This index was more informative for the first group. This study also confirmed that 130 mm Hg and 85 mm Hg cut-off points for SBP and DBP, respectively, are too high for serving as MetS criteria in children because the mean value for tension index was calculated as 1.00 among MetS children. This finding has shown that much lower cut-off points must be set for SBP and DBP for the diagnosis of pediatric MetS, especially for children under-10 years of age. This index may be recommended to discriminate MO, MetS2 and MetS3 among the 6-10 years of age group, whose MetS diagnosis is problematic.

Keywords: blood pressure, children, index, metabolic syndrome, obesity

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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A growing list of cancers might be influenced by obesity. Obesity is associated with an increased risk for the occurrence and development of some cancers. Inflammation can lead to cancer. It is one of the characteristic features of cancer and plays a critical role in cancer development. C-reactive protein (CRP) is under evaluation related to the new and simple prognostic factors in patients with metastatic renal cell cancer. Obesity can predict and promote systemic inflammation in healthy adults. BMI is correlated with hs-CRP. In this study, SII index and CRP values were evaluated in children with normal BMI and those within the range of different obesity grades to detect the tendency towards cancer in pediatric obesity. A total of one hundred and ninety-four children; thirty-five children with normal BMI, twenty overweight (OW), forty-seven obese (OB) and ninety-two morbid obese (MO) participated in the study. Age- and sex-matched groups were constituted using BMI-for age percentiles. Informed consent was obtained. Ethical Committee approval was taken. Weight, height, waist circumference (C), hip C, head C and neck C of the children were measured. The complete blood count test was performed. C-reactive protein analysis was performed. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. The degree for statistical significance was p≤0.05. SII index values were progressively increasing starting from normal weight (NW) to MO children. There is a statistically significant difference between NW and OB as well as MO children. No significant difference was observed between NW and OW children, however, a correlation was observed between NW and OW children. MO constitutes the only group, which exhibited a statistically significant correlation between SII index and CRP. Obesity-related bladder, kidney, cervical, liver, colorectal, endometrial cancers are still being investigated. Obesity, characterized as a chronic low-grade inflammation, is a crucial risk factor for colon cancer. Elevated childhood BMI values may be indicative of processes leading to cancer, initiated early in life. Prevention of childhood adiposity may decrease the cancer incidence in adults. To authors’ best knowledge, this study is the first to introduce SII index values during obesity of varying degrees of severity. It is suggested that this index seems to affect all stages of obesity with an increasing tendency and may point out the concomitant status of obesity and cancer starting from very early periods of life.

Keywords: children, C-reactive protein, systemic immune-inflammation index, obesity

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Ayşen Haksayar, Bahadır Batar, Buse Tepe, Birol Topçu, Orkide Donma

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Childhood obesity is an ever-increasing health problem. The Association of obesity with severe chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases makes the problem life-threatening. Aside from psychological, societal and metabolic factors, genetic polymorphisms have gained importance concerning etiology in recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between rs10455872 gene polymorphism in the Lipoprotein (a) locus and the development of childhood obesity. This was a prospective study carried out according to the Helsinki Declarations. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. This study was supported by Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Rectorate, Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit. Project No: NKUBAP.02.TU.20.278. A total of 180 children (103 obese (OB) and 77 healthy), aged 6-18 years, without any acute or chronic disease, participated in the study. Two different groups were created: OB and healthy control. Each group was divided into two further groups depending on the nature of the polymorphism. Anthropometric measurements were taken during the detailed physical examination. Laboratory tests and TANITA measurements were performed. For the statistical evaluations, SPSS version 28.0 was used. A P-value smaller than 0.05 was the statistical significance degree. The distribution of lipoprotein (a) rs10455872 gene polymorphism did not differ between OB and healthy children. Children with AG genotype in both OB and control groups had lower body mass index (BMI), diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index (DONMA II), body fat ratio (BFR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and metabolic syndrome index (MetS index) values compared to children with normal AA genotype. In the OB group, serum iron, vitamin B12, hemoglobin, MCV, and MCH values were found to be higher in the AG genotype group than those of children with the normal AA genotype. A significant correlation was found between the MetS index and BFR among OB children with normal homozygous genotype. MetS index increased as BFR increased in this group. However, such a correlation was not observed in the OB group with heterozygous AG genotype. To the best of our knowledge, the association of lipoprotein (a) rs10455872 gene polymorphism with the etiology of childhood obesity has not been studied yet. Therefore, this study was the first report suggesting polymorphism with AG genotype as a good risk factor for obesity.

Keywords: child, gene polymorphism, lipoprotein (a), obesity, rs10455872

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Authors: Amal Saafan, Kareem Al Sofy, Sameh AbdelGhani, Magdy Amin

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Background: Acinetobacter spp. resistance towards β-lactam antibiotics is mediated mainly by different classes of β-lactamases production; detection of some genes responsible for production of β-lactamases is the objective of the study. Methods: One hundred fifty bacterial isolates were recovered from blood, sputum, and urine specimens from different hospitals in Egypt. Sixty-nine isolate were identified as Acinetobacter baumannii using traditional biochemical tests, CHROM agar, MicroScan and PCR amplification of blaoxa-51like gene. Acinetobacterbaumannii isolates were grouped into carbapenem resistant group (GP1), cefotaxime, ceftazidime and cefoxitin resistant group (GP2) and carbapenem and cephalosporin non-resistant group (GP3). Carbapenemase activity was screened using modified Hodge test (MHT) for GP1.Metallo-β-lactamases screening was performed for MHT positive isolates using double disk synergy test (DDST) and combined disk test (CDT). Amp C activity was screened using Amp C disk test with Tris-EDTA, DDST, and CDT for GP2. Finally, PCR amplification of blaoxa-51like, blaoxa-23like, blaIMP-like, blaVIM-like, and blaADC-like genes was performed for isolates that showed, at least, two positive results of three for both AmpC and carbapenemases phenotypic screening tests (obvious activity), in addition to GP3 (for comparison). Detection of blaoxa-51like and blaADC-like genes preceded by ISAba1 was also performed. Results: Antibiogram of 69 pure Acinetobacter baumannii isolates resulted in 57, 64, and 2 isolates enrolled into GP1, GP2, and GP3, respectively. Carbapenemase activity was shown by 49(85.9%) isolate using MHT. Metallo-β-lactamases screening revealed 32(65.3%) and 35(71.4%) using DDST and CDT, respectively.AmpC activity was shown by 43(67.2%) and 50 (78.1%) isolates using AmpC disk test with Tris-EDTA, and both DDST and CDT, respectively. Twenty-seven isolates showed obvious activity, all of them (100%) were harboring blaoxa-51like and blaADC-like genes, while blaoxa-23like, blaIMP-like andblaVIM-like genes were harbored by 23(85.2%), 9 (33.%) and no isolate respectively. Only 12 (44.4%) isolates harbored blaoxa-51like and blaADC-like genes preceded by ISAba1. GP3 isolates showed only positive blaoxa-51like and blaADC-like genes. Conclusion: It is not possible to correlate resistance with presence of blaoxa-51like and blaADC-like genes and presence of ISAba1 was immediate as transcriptional promoter. A blaoxa-23like gene played an important role in carbapenem resistance when compared with blaIMP-like and blaVIM-like gene.

Keywords: acinetobacter, beta-lactams, resistance, antimicrobial agents

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Authors: Mustafa Tahir Ocak, Gülsün Tanyeli

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Georgia became Christian in the 4th century. During the 7th and 8th centuries, Georgia, with its capital at Tiflis, was devastated by Arab invasions from the south and east. Tiflis was abandoned and a new Georgia, with its capital at present-day Ardanuç; in Turkey, was established, based on the provinces of Tao, Klarjeti and Shavsheti. Georgian power revived during the 9th century and the new kings embarked on a notable period of church building, each prince intent on raising memorials to his reign. Georgia was weakened again in the 11th century. First, by Byzantium which now feared the Georgians’ growing power and, second, by the advance of the Seljuk Turks. But defeat did not last long and under David II, ‘the Builder’, Georgian armies recaptured Tiflis in 1122, heralding a second political and cultural renascence. There has been a remarkable increase in the number of monuments in 9th-11th centuries. Kingdom of Georgia’s boundaries have changed lots of times over the centuries, and consequently a considerable number of churches are to be found in other countries, especially in north-eastern provinces of Turkey. Georgian monuments spread to valleys of the Çoruh, Oltu and Tortum rivers in north-east Turkey. These churches have significant role in architectural history. The medieval Georgians and the Armenians had known contacts with Byzantium. Their churches influenced mid-Byzantine architecture and were a factor in the evolution of the Romanesque style in Europe. In the centuries following the inclusion of Tao and Klarjeti within the expanding Ottoman Empire, the monasteries and churches were gradually abandoned with migration of Christian population. Although some of those monuments are in good condition through the conversion of churches to use as mosques, the rest of those monuments are under threat from neglect and lack of maintenance. Many fell into ruin or were plundered for their stone; others were damaged by earthquakes, by treasure hunters. The only hope for the Georgian churches is for them to be recognised as a touristic value in a beautiful region of deep valleys and magnificent mountain scenery. As coeval churches in modern Georgian boundaries, these churches in north-eastern provinces of Turkey have to evaluated by UNESCO. This study aims to create awereness about the conservation of Georgian churches in north-eastern provinces of Turkey as world heritage taking advantages of tourism. Georgian churches as a heritage should be evaluated not only a monument but also cultural landscape. The cultural route is created visiting both churches and the other medieval structures in these regions.

Keywords: Georgian churches, medieval monuments, Tao-Klarjeti, Turkey

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Morbid obesity is a health threatening condition particularly in children. Generally, it leads to the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) characterized by central obesity, elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TRG), blood pressure values and suppressed high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. However, some ambiguities exist during the diagnosis of MetS in children below 10 years of age. Therefore, clinicians are in the need of some surrogate markers for the laboratory assessment of pediatric MetS. In this study, the aim is to develop an index, which will be more helpful during the evaluation of further risks detected in morbid obese (MO) children. A total of 235 children with normal body mass index (N-BMI), with varying degrees of obesity; overweight (OW), obese (OB), MO as well as MetS participated in this study. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee. Informed consent forms were obtained from the parents of the children. Obesity states of the children were classified using BMI percentiles adjusted for age and sex. For the purpose, tabulated data prepared by WHO were used. MetS criteria were defined. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were measured. Parameters related to glucose and lipid metabolisms were determined. FBG, insulin (INS), HDL-C, TRG concentrations were determined. Diagnostic Obesity Notation Model Assessment Laboratory (DONMA_LAB) Index [ln TRG/HDL-C*INS] was introduced. Commonly used insulin resistance (IR) indices such as Homeostatic Model Assessment for IR (HOMA-IR) as well as ratios such as TRG/HDL-C, TRG/HDL-C*INS, HDL-C/TRG*INS, TRG/HDL-C*INS/FBG, log, and ln versions of these ratios were calculated. Results were interpreted using statistical package program (SPSS Version 16.0) for Windows. The data were evaluated using appropriate statistical tests. The degree for statistical significance was defined as 0.05. 35 N, 20 OW, 47 OB, 97 MO children and 36 with MetS were investigated. Mean ± SD values of TRG/HDL-C were 1.27 ± 0.69, 1.86 ± 1.08, 2.15 ± 1.22, 2.48 ± 2.35 and 4.61 ± 3.92 for N, OW, OB, MO and MetS children, respectively. Corresponding values for the DONMA_LAB index were 2.17 ± 1.07, 3.01 ± 0.94, 3.41 ± 0.93, 3.43 ± 1.08 and 4.32 ± 1.00. TRG/HDL-C ratio significantly differed between N and MetS groups. On the other hand, DONMA_LAB index exhibited statistically significant differences between N and all the other groups except the OW group. This index was capable of discriminating MO children from those with MetS. Statistically significant elevations were detected in MO children with MetS (p < 0.05). Multiple parameters are commonly used during the assessment of MetS. Upon evaluation of the values obtained for N, OW, OB, MO groups and for MO children with MetS, the [ln TRG/HDL-C*INS] value was unique in discriminating children with MetS.

Keywords: children, index, laboratory, metabolic syndrome, obesity

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity is a disease with an ever-increasing prevalence throughout the world. The metabolic network associated with obesity is very complicated. In metabolic syndrome (MetS), it becomes even more difficult to understand. Within this context, hormones, cytokines, and many others participate in this complex matrix. The collaboration among all of these parameters is a matter of great wonder. Cortisol, as a stress hormone, is closely associated with obesity. Thyroid hormones are involved in the regulation of energy as well as glucose metabolism with all of its associates. Fetuin A is known for years; however, the involvement of this parameter in obesity discussions is rather new. Recently, it has been defined as one of the new generation markers of obesity. In this study, the aim was to introduce complex interactions among all to be able to make clear comparisons, at least for a part of this complicated matter. Morbid obese (MO) children participated in the study. Two groups with 46 MO children and 43 with MetS were constituted. All children included in the study were above 99th age- and sex-adjusted body mass index (BMI) percentiles according to World Health Organization criteria. Forty-three morbid obese children in the second group had also MetS components. Informed consent forms were filled by the parents of the participants. The institutional ethics committee has given approval for the study protocol. Data as well as the findings of the study were evaluated from a statistical point of view. Two groups were matched for their age and gender compositions. Significantly higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, thyrotropin, and insulin values were observed in the MetS group. Triiodothyronine concentrations did not differ between the groups. Elevated levels for thyroxin, cortisol, and fetuin-A were detected in the MetS group compared to the first group (p > 0.05). In MO MetS- group, cortisol was correlated with thyroxin and fetuin-A (p < 0.05). In the MO MetS+ group, none of these correlations were present. Instead, a correlation between cortisol and thyrotropin was found (p < 0.05). In conclusion, findings have shown that cortisol was the key player in severely obese children. The association of this hormone with the participants of thyroid hormone metabolism was quite important. The lack of association with fetuin A in the morbid obese MetS+ group has suggested the possible interference of MetS components in the behavior of this new generation obesity marker. The most remarkable finding of the study was the unique correlation between cortisol and thyrotropin in the morbid obese MetS+ group, suggesting that thyrotropin may serve as a target along with cortisol in the morbid obese MetS+ group. This association may deserve specific attention during the development of remedies against MetS in the pediatric population.

Keywords: children, cortisol, fetuin A, morbid obesity, thyrotropin

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Obesity is associated with increased fat mass as well as fat percentage. Minerals are the elements, which are of vital importance. In this study, the relationships between body as well as bone mineral profile and the percentage as well as mass values of fat, fat-free portion, protein, skeletal muscle were evaluated in adult men with normal body mass index (N-BMI), and those classified according to different stages of obesity. A total of 103 adult men classified into five groups participated in this study. Ages were within 19-79 years range. Groups were N-BMI (Group 1), overweight (OW) (Group 2), first level of obesity (FLO) (Group 3), second level of obesity (SLO) (Group 4) and third level of obesity (TLO) (Group 5). Anthropometric measurements were performed. BMI values were calculated. Obesity degree, total body fat mass, fat percentage, basal metabolic rate (BMR), visceral adiposity, body mineral mass, body mineral percentage, bone mineral mass, bone mineral percentage, fat-free mass, fat-free percentage, protein mass, protein percentage, skeletal muscle mass and skeletal muscle percentage were determined by TANITA body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology. Statistical package (SPSS) for Windows Version 16.0 was used for statistical evaluations. The values below 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant. All the groups were matched based upon age (p > 0.05). BMI values were calculated as 22.6 ± 1.7 kg/m², 27.1 ± 1.4 kg/m², 32.0 ± 1.2 kg/m², 37.2 ± 1.8 kg/m², and 47.1 ± 6.1 kg/m² for groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Visceral adiposity and BMR values were also within an increasing trend. Percentage values of mineral, protein, fat-free portion and skeletal muscle masses were decreasing going from normal to TLO. Upon evaluation of the percentages of protein, fat-free portion and skeletal muscle, statistically significant differences were noted between NW and OW as well as OW and FLO (p < 0.05). However, such differences were not observed for body and bone mineral percentages. Correlation existed between visceral adiposity and BMI was stronger than that detected between visceral adiposity and obesity degree. Correlation between visceral adiposity and BMR was significant at the 0.05 level. Visceral adiposity was not correlated with body mineral mass but correlated with bone mineral mass whereas significant negative correlations were observed with percentages of these parameters (p < 0.001). BMR was not correlated with body mineral percentage whereas a negative correlation was found between BMR and bone mineral percentage (p < 0.01). It is interesting to note that mineral percentages of both body as well as bone are highly affected by the visceral adiposity. Bone mineral percentage was also associated with BMR. From these findings, it is plausible to state that minerals are highly associated with the critical stages of obesity as prominent parameters.

Keywords: bone, men, minerals, obesity

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is widely used and an accepted measure of energy expenditure. Its principal determinant is body mass. However, this parameter is also correlated with a variety of other factors. The objective of this study is to measure BMR and compare it with the values obtained from predictive equations in adults classified according to their body mass index (BMI) values. 276 adults were included into the scope of this study. Their age, height and weight values were recorded. Five groups were designed based on their BMI values. First group (n = 85) was composed of individuals with BMI values varying between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m². Those with BMI values varying from 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m² constituted Group 2 (n = 90). Individuals with 30.0-34.9 kg/m², 35.0-39.9 kg/m², > 40.0 kg/m² were included in Group 3 (n = 53), 4 (n = 28) and 5 (n = 20), respectively. The most commonly used equations to be compared with the measured BMR values were selected. For this purpose, the values were calculated by the use of four equations to predict BMR values, by name, introduced by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations University (UNU), Harris and Benedict, Owen and Mifflin. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, post-Hoc Tukey and Pearson’s correlation tests were performed by a statistical program designed for Windows (SPSS, version 16.0). p values smaller than 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant. Mean ± SD of groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for measured BMR in kcal were 1440.3 ± 210.0, 1618.8 ± 268.6, 1741.1 ± 345.2, 1853.1 ± 351.2 and 2028.0 ± 412.1, respectively. Upon evaluation of the comparison of means among groups, differences were highly significant between Group 1 and each of the remaining four groups. The values were increasing from Group 2 to Group 5. However, differences between Group 2 and Group 3, Group 3 and Group 4, Group 4 and Group 5 were not statistically significant. These insignificances were lost in predictive equations proposed by Harris and Benedict, FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen. For Mifflin, the insignificance was limited only to Group 4 and Group 5. Upon evaluation of the correlations of measured BMR and the estimated values computed from prediction equations, the lowest correlations between measured BMR and estimated BMR values were observed among the individuals within normal BMI range. The highest correlations were detected in individuals with BMI values varying between 30.0 and 34.9 kg/m². Correlations between measured BMR values and BMR values calculated by FAO/WHO/UNU as well as Owen were the same and the highest. In all groups, the highest correlations were observed between BMR values calculated from Mifflin and Harris and Benedict equations using age as an additional parameter. In conclusion, the unique resemblance of the FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen equations were pointed out. However, mean values obtained from FAO/WHO/UNU were much closer to the measured BMR values. Besides, the highest correlations were found between BMR calculated from FAO/WHO/UNU and measured BMR. These findings suggested that FAO/WHO/UNU was the most reliable equation, which may be used in conditions when the measured BMR values are not available.

Keywords: adult, basal metabolic rate, fao/who/unu, obesity, prediction equations

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Obesity may lead to growing serious health problems throughout the world. Vitamin D appears to play a role in cardiovascular and metabolic health. Vitamin D deficiency may add to derangements in human metabolic systems, particularly those of children. Childhood obesity is associated with an increased risk of chronic and sophisticated diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate associations as well as possible differences related to parameters affected by obesity and their relations with vitamin D status in obese (OB) and morbid obese (MO) children. This study included a total of 78 children. Of them, 41 and 37 were OB and MO, respectively. WHO BMI-for age percentiles were used for the classification of obesity. The values above 99 percentile were defined as MO. Those between 95 and 99 percentiles were included into OB group. Anthropometric measurements were recorded. Basal metabolic rates (BMRs) were measured. Vitamin D status is determined by the measurement of 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol [25- hydroxyvitamin D3, 25(OH)D] using high-performance liquid chromatography. Vitamin D status was evaluated as deficient, insufficient and sufficient. Values < 20.0 ng/ml, values between 20-30 ng/ml and values > 30.0 ng/ml were defined as vitamin D deficient, insufficient and sufficient, respectively. Optimal 25(OH)D level was defined as ≥ 30 ng/ml. SPSSx statistical package program was used for the evaluation of the data. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p < 0.05. Mean ages did not differ between the groups. Significantly increased body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (C) and neck C as well as significantly decreased fasting blood glucose (FBG) and vitamin D values were observed in MO group (p < 0.05). In OB group, 37.5% of the children were vitamin D deficient, and in MO group the corresponding value was 53.6%. No difference between the groups in terms of lipid profile, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and insulin values was noted. There was a severe statistical significance between FBG values of the groups (p < 0.001). Important correlations between BMI, waist C, hip C, neck C and both SBP as well as DBP were found in OB group. In MO group, correlations only with SBP were obtained. In a similar manner, in OB group, correlations were detected between SBP-BMR and DBP-BMR. However, in MO children, BMR correlated only with SBP. The associations of vitamin D with anthropometric indices as well as some lipid parameters were defined. In OB group BMI, waist C, hip C and triglycerides (TRG) were negatively correlated with vitamin D concentrations whereas none of them were detected in MO group. Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to the complications associated with childhood obesity. Loss of correlations between obesity indices-DBP, vitamin D-TRG, as well as relatively lower FBG values, observed in MO group point out that the emergence of MetS components starts during obesity state just before the transition to morbid obesity. Aside from its deficiency state, associations of vitamin D with anthropometric measurements, blood pressures and TRG should also be evaluated before the development of morbid obesity.

Keywords: children, morbid obesity, obesity, vitamin D

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Authors: Nour Aladdin

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This paper explores the interconnectedness of belonging, space, and identity in Anglo Arab literature, particularly Saleem Haddad’s Guapa and Hasan Namir’sGod in Pink. This paper suggest that Rasa and Ramy, the queer Arab characters respectively, do not belong in either the Middle East or the West. Using Amin Maalouf’s analysis of the Arab identity, specifically his argument that an individual identifies strongly with the aspect of their identity that is under attack, this paper argues that all of Rasa and Ramy’s spaces are politically charged - a term that denotes that all values and beliefs instilled in Arabs and their spaces are heavily influenced by Arab politics, culture, and, often times religion. Therefore, the politically charged environments Rasa and Ramy inhabit will always be against one part of their identity, which is why they cannot identify as queer and Arab simultaneously. For Rasa, the unnamed Middle Eastern country, his home environment, as well as the so-called safe space nightclub, condemn his queerness, leading him to connect more to his sexual orientation. However, Rasa associates himself with his Arab roots when he migrates to America, a different form of politically charged space that minoritizes his ethnicity. Similarly, Ramy’s spaces are naturally religiopolitical after Islam heightened in Iraq during the Iraq War; as a result, Ramy’s home environment, Sheikh Ammar’s house, the mosque, and the nightclub are influenced by the religiopolitics and bombard his ability to identify as not only a queer Arab but a queer Arab Muslim. Ultimately, because Rasa and Ramy are constantly in movement, their identity attributes are also in movement. This paper is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on Guapa and the Arab Spring’s politics, mainly its influence on queer Arabs in and around the Middle East. Drawing from a number of queer and Arab gender theories, I analyze all of Rasa’s spaces as politically charged that prevent him from the means to be queer and Arab. The second section examines God in Pink in close connection to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Ramy’s spaces are religiopolitically charged, that prevent him to embrace all of his identity attributes – nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religious affiliation – concomitantly. The last section considers the rapid use of technology and social media in the Middle East as a means to provide deviant heterotopic spaces for queer Arabs. With the rise of subtle and covert queer heterotopias, there is a slow and steady shift of queer tolerance in the Arab world.

Keywords: belonging, identity, spaces, queer, arabness, middle east, orientalism

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Authors: Amin Akbari, Dongcai Wang, Huiru Li, Xiaoping Du, Jie Chen

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The effect of vibrational force (VF) on accelerating orthodontic tooth movement depends on the level of delivered stimulation to the tooth in terms of peak load (PL), which requires contacts between the tooth and the VF device. A personalized device ensures the contacts, but the resulting PL distribution on the teeth is unknown. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the PL on particular teeth can be adjusted to the prescribed values. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of apersonalized VF device in controlling the level of stimulation on two teeth, the mandibular canines and 2nd molars. A 3-D finite element (FE) model of human dentition, including teeth, PDL, and alveolar bone, was created from the cone beam computed tomography images of an anonymous subject. The VF was applied to the teeth through a VFdevice consisting of a mouthpiece with engraved tooth profile of the subject and a VF source that applied 0.3 N force with the frequency of 30 Hz. The dentition and mouthpiece were meshed using 10-node tetrahedral elements. Interface elements were created at the interfaces between the teeth and the mouthpiece. The upper and lower teeth bite on the mouthpiece to receive the vibration. The depth of engraved individual tooth profile could be adjusted, which was accomplished by adding a layer of material as an interference or removing a layer of material as a clearance to change the PL on the tooth. The interference increases the PL while the clearance decreases it. Fivemouthpiece design cases were simulated, which included a mouthpiece without interference/clearance; the mouthpieces with bilateral interferences on both mandibular canines and 2nd molars with magnitudes of 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2-mm, respectively; and mouthpiece with bilateral 0.3-mm clearances on the four teeth. Then, the force distributions on the entire dentition were compared corresponding to these adjustments. The PL distribution on the teeth is uneven when there is no interference or clearance. Among all teeth, the anterior segment receives the highest level of PL. Adding 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2-mm interferences to the canines and 2nd molars bilaterally leads to increase of the PL on the canines by 10, 62, and 73 percent and on the 2nd molar by 14, 55, and 87 percent, respectively. Adding clearances to the canines and 2nd molars by removing the contactsbetween these teeth and the mouthpiece results in zero PL on them. Moreover, introducing interference to mandibular canines and 2nd molarsredistributes the PL on the entireteeth. The share of the PL on the anterior teeth are reduced. The use of the personalized mouthpiece ensures contactsof the teeth to the mouthpiece so that all teeth can be stimulated. However, the PL distribution is uneven. Adding interference between a tooth and the mouthpiece increases the PL while introducing clearance decreases the PL. As a result, the PL is redistributed. This study confirms that the level of VF stimulation on the individual tooth can be adjusted to a prescribed value.

Keywords: finite element method, orthodontic treatment, stress analysis, tooth movement, vibrational force

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma

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Circumference measurements are important because they are easily obtained values for the identification of the weight gain without determining body fat. They may give meaningful information about the varying stages of obesity. Besides, some formulas may be derived from a number of body circumference measurements to estimate body fat. Waist (WC), hip (HC) and neck (NC) circumferences are currently the most frequently used measurements. The aim of this study was to develop a formula derived from these three anthropometric measurements, each giving a valuable information independently, to question whether their combined power within a formula was capable of being helpful for the differential diagnosis of morbid obesity without metabolic syndrome (MetS) from MetS. One hundred and eighty seven children were recruited from the pediatrics outpatient clinic of Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Faculty of Medicine. The parents of the participants were informed about asked to fill and sign the consent forms. The study was carried out according to the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the institutional non-interventional ethics committee. The study population was divided into four groups as normal-body mass index (N-BMI), obese (OB), morbid obese (MO) and MetS, which were composed of 35, 44, 75 and 33 children, respectively. Age- and gender-adjusted BMI percentile values were used for the classification of groups. The children in MetS group were selected based upon the nature of the MetS components described as MetS criteria. Anthropometric measurements, laboratory analysis and statistical evaluation confined to study population were performed. Body mass index values were calculated. A circumference index, advanced Donma circumference index (ADCI) was introduced as WC*HC/NC. The statistical significance degree was chosen as p value smaller than 0.05. Body mass index values were 17.7±2.8, 24.5±3.3, 28.8±5.7, 31.4±8.0 kg/m2, for N-BMI, OB, MO, MetS groups, respectively. The corresponding values for ADCI were 165±35, 240±42, 270±55, and 298±62. Significant differences were obtained between BMI values of N-BMI and OB, MO, MetS groups (p=0.001). Obese group BMI values also differed from MO group BMI values (p=0.001). However, the increase in MetS group compared to MO group was not significant (p=0.091). For the new index, significant differences were obtained between N-BMI and OB, MO, MetS groups (p=0.001). Obese group ADCI values also differed from MO group ADCI values (p=0.015). A significant difference between MO and MetS groups was detected (p=0.043). The correlation coefficient value and the significance check of the correlation was found between BMI and ADCI as r=0.0883 and p=0.001 upon consideration of all participants. In conclusion, in spite of the strong correlation between BMI and ADCI values obtained when all groups were considered, ADCI, but not BMI, was the index, which was capable of differentiating cases with morbid obesity from cases with morbid obesity and MetS.

Keywords: anthropometry, body mass index, child, circumference, metabolic syndrome, obesity

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Authors: Sait Ozsoy, Hacer Yasar Teke, Mustafa Dalgic, Cetin Ketenci, Ertugrul Gok, Kenan Karbeyaz, Azem Irez, Mesut Akyol

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Self-mutilating behavior or self-injury behavior (SIB) is defined as: intentional harm to one’s body without intends to commit suicide”. SIB cases are commonly seen in psychiatry and forensic medicine practices. Despite variety of SIB methods, cuts in the skin is the most common (70-97%) injury in this group of patients. Subjects with SIB have one or more other comorbidities which include depression, anxiety, depersonalization, and feeling of worthlessness, borderline personality disorder, antisocial behaviors, and histrionic personality. These individuals feel a high level of hostility towards themselves and their surroundings. Researches have also revealed a strong relationship between antisocial personality disorder, criminal behavior, and SIB. This study has retrospectively evaluated 6,599 autopsy cases performed at forensic medicine institutes of six major cities (Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Trabzon, Eskisehir) of Turkey in 2013. The study group consisted of all cases with SIB findings (psychopathic cuts, cigarette burns, scars, and etc.). The relationship between causes of death in the study group (SIB subjects) and the control group was investigated. The control group was created from subjects without signs of SIB. Mann-Whitney U test was used for age variables and Chi-square test for categorical variables. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used in order to analyze group differences in respect to manner of death (natural, accident, homicide, suicide) and analysis of risk factors associated with each group was determined by the Binomial logistic regression analysis. This study used SPSS statistics 15.0 for all its statistical and calculation needs. The statistical significance was p <0.05. There was no significant difference between accidental and natural death among the groups (p=0.737). Also there was a unit increase in number of cuts in psychopathic group while number of accidental death decreased (95% CI: 0.941-0.993) by 0.967 times (p=0.015). In contrast, there was a significant difference between suicidal and natural death (p<0.001), and also between homicidal and natural death (p=0.025). SIB is often seen with borderline and antisocial personality disorder but may be associated with many psychiatric illnesses. Studies have shown a relationship between antisocial personality disorders with criminal behavior and SIB with suicidal behavior. In our study, rate of suicide, murder and intoxication was higher compared to the control group. It could be concluded that SIB can be used as a predictor of possibility of one’s harm to him/herself and other people.

Keywords: autopsy, cause of death, forensic science, self-injury behaviour

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Authors: Vahid Asadzadeh, Amin Ataee

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Since the advent of social media, there has been a wave of optimism among researchers and civic activists about the influence of virtual networks on the democratization process, which has gradually waned. One of the lesser-known concerns is how to increase the possibility of hearing the voices of different minorities. According to the theory of media logic, the media, using their technological capabilities, act as a structure through which events and ideas are interpreted. Social media, through the use of the learning machine and the use of algorithms, has formed a kind of structure in which the voices of minorities and less popular topics are lost among the commotion of the trends. In fact, the recommended systems and algorithms used in social media are designed to help promote trends and make popular content more popular, and content that belongs to minorities is constantly marginalized. As social networks gradually play a more active role in politics, the possibility of freely participating in the reproduction and reinterpretation of structures in general and political structures in particular (as Laclau‎ and Mouffe had in mind‎) can be considered as criteria to democracy in action. The point is that the media logic of virtual networks is shaped by the rule and even the tyranny of the majority, and this logic does not make it possible to design a self-foundation and self-revolutionary model of democracy. In other words, today's social networks, though seemingly full of variety But they are governed by the logic of homogeneity, and they do not have the possibility of multiplicity as is the case in immanent radical democracies (influenced by Gilles Deleuze). However, with the emergence and increasing popularity of Clubhouse as a new social media, there seems to be a shift in the social media space, and that is the diminishing role of algorithms and systems reconditioners as content delivery interfaces. This has led to the fact that in the Clubhouse, the voices of minorities are better heard, and the diversity of political tendencies manifests itself better. The purpose of this article is to show, first, how social networks serve the elimination of minorities in general, and second, to argue that the media logic of social networks must adapt to new interpretations of democracy that give more space to minorities and human rights. Finally, this article will show how the Clubhouse serves the new interpretations of democracy at least in a minimal way. To achieve the mentioned goals, in this article by a descriptive-analytical method, first, the relation between media logic and postmodern democracy will be inquired. The political economy popularity in social media and its conflict with democracy will be discussed. Finally, it will be explored how the Clubhouse provides a new horizon for the concepts embodied in radical democracy, a horizon that more effectively serves the rights of minorities and human rights in general.

Keywords: algorithmic tyranny, Clubhouse, minority rights, radical democracy, social media

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

Abstract:

Anthropometric measurements are essential for obesity studies. Waist circumference (WC) is the most frequently used measure, and along with hip circumference (HC), it is used in most equations derived for the evaluation of obese individuals. Morbid obesity is the most severe clinical form of obesity, and such individuals may also exhibit some clinical findings leading to metabolic syndrome (MetS). Then, it becomes a requirement to discriminate morbid obese children with (MOMetS+) and without (MOMetS-) MetS. Almost all obesity indices can differentiate obese (OB) children from children with normal body mass index (N-BMI). However, not all of them are capable of making this distinction. A recently introduced anthropometric obesity index, waist circumference + hip circumference/2 ((WC+HC)/2), was confirmed to differ OB children from those with N-BMI, however it has not been tested whether it will find clinical usage for the differential diagnosis of MOMetS+ and MOMetS-. This study was designed to find out the availability of (WC+HC)/2 for the purpose and to compare the possible preponderance of it over some other anthropometric or fat-based obesity indices. Forty-five MOMetS+ and forty-five MOMetS- children were included in the study. Participants have submitted informed consent forms. The study protocol was approved by the Non-interventional Ethics Committee of Tekirdag Namik Kemal University. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip circumference (W/H), (WC+HC)/2, trunk-to-leg fat ratio (TLFR), trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAFR), trunk fat+leg fat/2 ((trunk+leg fat)/2), diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index-2 (D2I) and fat mass index (FMI) were calculated for both groups. Study data was analyzed statistically, and 0.05 for p value was accepted as the statistical significance degree. Statistically higher BMI, WC, (WC+HC)/2, (trunk+leg fat)/2 values were found in MOMetS+ children than MOMetS- children. No statistically significant difference was detected for W/H, TLFR, TAFR, D2I, and FMI between two groups. The lack of difference between the groups in terms of FMI and D2I pointed out the fact that the recently developed fat-based index; (trunk+leg fat)/2 gives much more valuable information during the evaluation of MOMetS+ and MOMetS- children. Upon evaluation of the correlations, (WC+HC)/2 was strongly correlated with D2I and FMI in both MOMetS+ and MOMetS- groups. Neither D2I nor FMI was correlated with W/H. Strong correlations were calculated between (WC+HC)/2 and (trunk+leg fat)/2 in both MOMetS- (r=0.961; p<0.001) and MOMetS+ (r=0.936; p<0.001) groups. Partial correlations between (WC+HC)/2 and (trunk+leg fat)/2 after controlling the effect of basal metabolic rate were r=0.726; p<0.001 in MOMetS- group and r=0.932; p<0.001 in MOMetS+ group. The correlation in the latter group was higher than the first group. In conclusion, recently developed anthropometric obesity index (WC+HC)/2 and fat-based obesity index (trunk+leg fat)/2 were of preponderance over the previously introduced classical obesity indices such as W/H, D2I and FMI during the differential diagnosis of MOMetS+ and MOMetS- children.

Keywords: children, hip circumference, metabolic syndrome, morbid obesity, waist circumference

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma

Abstract:

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) components are noteworthy among children with obesity and morbid obesity because they point out the cases with MetS, which have the great tendency to severe health problems such as cardiovascular diseases both in childhood and adulthood. In clinical practice, considerable efforts are being observed to bring into the open the striking differences between morbid obese cases and those with MetS findings. The most privileged aspect is concerning cardiometabolic features. The aim of this study was to derive an index which behaves different in children with and without MetS from the cardiac point of view. For the purpose, aspartate transaminase (AST), a cardiac enzyme still being used independently to predict cardiac-related problems, was used. One hundred and twenty four children were recruited from the outpatient clinic of Department of Pediatrics in Tekirdag Namik Kemal University, Faculty of Medicine. Forty-three children with normal body mass index, forty-one and forty morbid obese (MO) children with MetS and without the characteristic features of MetS, respectively, were included in the study. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip C (HC), head C (HdC), neck C (NC), systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were measured and recorded. Body mass index and anthropometric ratios were calculated. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin (INS), triglycerides (TRG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) analyses were performed. The values for AST, alanin transaminase (ALT) and AST/ALT were obtained. Advanced Donma cardiac index (ADCI) values were calculated. The formula for the index was [(TRG/HDL-C) * (INS/FBG)] * [(WC+HC)/Height] * [(HdC+NC)/Height]. Statistical evaluations including correlation analysis were done by a statistical package program. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p<0.05. The index, ADCI, was developed from both anthropometric and biochemical parameters. All anthropometric measurements except weight were included in the equation. Besides all biochemical parameters concerning MetS components were also added. This index was tested in each of three groups. Its performance was compared with the performance of cardiometabolic index (CMI). It was also checked whether it was compatible with AST activity. The performance of ADCI was better than that of CMI. Instead of double increase, the increase of three times was observed in children with MetS compared to MO children. The index was correlated with AST in MO group and with AST/ALT in MetS group. In conclusion, this index was superior in discovering cardiac problems in MO and in diagnosing MetS in MetS groups. It was also arbiter to point out cardiovascular and MetS aspects among the groups.

Keywords: aspartate transaminase, cardiac, children, index, obesity

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Authors: Mustafa Sengul, Enes Sahin, Sertac Arslan

Abstract:

Pumpjets are one of the marine propulsion systems frequently used in underwater vehicles nowadays. The reasons for frequent use of pumpjet as a propulsion system are that it has higher relative efficiency at high speeds, better cavitation, and acoustic performance than its rivals. Pumpjets are composed of rotor, stator, and duct, and there are two different types of pumpjet configurations depending on the desired hydrodynamic characteristic, which are with accelerating and decelerating duct. Pumpjet with an accelerating channel is used at cargo ships where it works at low speeds and high loading conditions. The working principle of this type of pumpjet is to maximize the thrust by reducing the pressure of the fluid through the channel and throwing the fluid out from the channel with high momentum. On the other hand, for decelerating ducted pumpjets, the main consideration is to prevent the occurrence of the cavitation phenomenon by increasing the pressure of the fluid about the rotor region. By postponing the cavitation, acoustic noise naturally falls down, so decelerating ducted systems are used at noise-sensitive vehicle systems where acoustic performance is vital. Therefore, duct design becomes a crucial step during pumpjet design. This study, it is aimed to optimize the duct geometry of a decelerating ducted pumpjet for a highly speed underwater vehicle by using proper optimization tools. The target output of this optimization process is to obtain a duct design that maximizes fluid pressure around the rotor region to prevent from cavitation and minimizes drag force. There are two main optimization techniques that could be utilized for this process which are parameter-based optimization and gradient-based optimization. While parameter-based algorithm offers more major changes in interested geometry, which makes user to get close desired geometry, gradient-based algorithm deals with minor local changes in geometry. In parameter-based optimization, the geometry should be parameterized first. Then, by defining upper and lower limits for these parameters, design space is created. Finally, by proper optimization code and analysis, optimum geometry is obtained from this design space. For this duct optimization study, a commercial codedparameter-based optimization algorithm is used. To parameterize the geometry, duct is represented with b-spline curves and control points. These control points have x and y coordinates limits. By regarding these limits, design space is generated.

Keywords: pumpjet, decelerating duct design, optimization, underwater vehicles, cavitation, drag minimization

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Authors: Mustafa Alhamdi

Abstract:

Industrial application to classify gamma rays and neutron events is investigated in this study using deep machine learning. The identification using a convolutional neural network and recursive neural network showed a significant improvement in predication accuracy in a variety of applications. The ability to identify the isotope type and activity from spectral information depends on feature extraction methods, followed by classification. The features extracted from the spectrum profiles try to find patterns and relationships to present the actual spectrum energy in low dimensional space. Increasing the level of separation between classes in feature space improves the possibility to enhance classification accuracy. The nonlinear nature to extract features by neural network contains a variety of transformation and mathematical optimization, while principal component analysis depends on linear transformations to extract features and subsequently improve the classification accuracy. In this paper, the isotope spectrum information has been preprocessed by finding the frequencies components relative to time and using them as a training dataset. Fourier transform implementation to extract frequencies component has been optimized by a suitable windowing function. Training and validation samples of different isotope profiles interacted with CdTe crystal have been simulated using Geant4. The readout electronic noise has been simulated by optimizing the mean and variance of normal distribution. Ensemble learning by combing voting of many models managed to improve the classification accuracy of neural networks. The ability to discriminate gamma and neutron events in a single predication approach using deep machine learning has shown high accuracy using deep learning. The paper findings show the ability to improve the classification accuracy by applying the spectrogram preprocessing stage to the gamma and neutron spectrums of different isotopes. Tuning deep machine learning models by hyperparameter optimization of neural network models enhanced the separation in the latent space and provided the ability to extend the number of detected isotopes in the training database. Ensemble learning contributed significantly to improve the final prediction.

Keywords: machine learning, nuclear physics, Monte Carlo simulation, noise estimation, feature extraction, classification

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

Abstract:

Basal metabolic rate is questioned as a risk factor for weight gain. The relations between basal metabolic rate and body composition have not been cleared yet. The impact of fat mass on basal metabolic rate is also uncertain. Within this context, indices based upon total body mass as well as total body fat mass are available. In this study, the aim is to investigate the potential clinical utility of these indices in the adult population. 287 individuals, aged from 18 to 79 years, were included into the scope of the study. Based upon body mass index values, 10 underweight, 88 normal, 88 overweight, 81 obese, and 20 morbid obese individuals participated. Anthropometric measurements including height (m), and weight (kg) were performed. Body mass index, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index I, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II, basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio were calculated. Total body fat mass (kg), fat percent (%), basal metabolic rate, metabolic age, visceral adiposity, fat mass of upper as well as lower extremities and trunk, obesity degree were measured by TANITA body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology. Statistical evaluations were performed by statistical package (SPSS) for Windows Version 16.0. Scatterplots of individual measurements for the parameters concerning correlations were drawn. Linear regression lines were displayed. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p < 0.05. The strong correlations between body mass index and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index I as well as diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II were obtained (p < 0.001). A much stronger correlation was detected between basal metabolic rate and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index I in comparison with that calculated for basal metabolic rate and body mass index (p < 0.001). Upon consideration of the associations between basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio and these three indices, the best association was observed between basal metabolic rate-to-weight and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II. In a similar manner, this index was highly correlated with fat percent (p < 0.001). Being independent of the indices, a strong correlation was found between fat percent and basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio (p < 0.001). Visceral adiposity was much strongly correlated with metabolic age when compared to that with chronological age (p < 0.001). In conclusion, all three indices were associated with metabolic age, but not with chronological age. Diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II values were highly correlated with body mass index values throughout all ranges starting with underweight going towards morbid obesity. This index is the best in terms of its association with basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio, which can be interpreted as basal metabolic rate unit.

Keywords: basal metabolic rate, body mass index, children, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index, obesity

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