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Autocracies and their practices have figured prominently in modernity's making and associated sociologies, but in the 21st century the discourse of StrongMen has surged, coming to dominate our "attention economy." We consider its various expressions alongside its articulations referencing multiple spaces and consider it a "floating signifier" that appears to explain but in fact distracts from deeper causalities and possible effects of autocratic governance. In this knowledge cultural sociology, we explore how the concept of StrongMen works within nations, with antipodes, and in networks across global and historical conjunctures. We focus in the end on Erdoğan's 2023 re-election and Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, identifying not only the practices that make them StrongMen, but also how the very concept becomes part of the toolkit implicated in recognizing their autocratic practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the reasons behind the puzzling enthusiastic reception of a book about Finland's national development by Turkish nationalist intellectuals in the early Republic of Turkey. Published in Turkish in 1928, the developmental model laid out in Petrov's The Country of White Lilies resonated with the Turkish intelligentsia and has remained a popular book in Turkey throughout the twentieth century, and even today. First, we compare the fictionalized developmental model presented by Petrov in his book with Finnish development under the Russian Empire, before its independence in 1917. Second, we show that this reception was largely based on a comparison of Turkey and Finland's geopolitical positions in global imperial politics, and a constructed racial affinity between the two nations in the minds of Turkish readers. Third, we argue that this national developmental model served three ideological purposes; distancing the Turkish Republic from the Ottoman Empire, showing the developmental capacity of nations outside the linear and paternalistic developmental model proposed by Western European empires, and last, presenting a model that glosses over Ottoman-Turkish state violence and ethnic cleansing, as well as democratic processes, as irrelevant to considerations of progress and development. Finally, we discuss the implications of our study for re-evaluating the sociological literature on nation formation, largely taking its "model cases" (Krause 2021) from the Western European experience, through a more encompassing inter-imperial approach (Doyle 2014). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kockar C, Ozturk M, Bavbek N. Acta Medica (Hradec Kralove) 2001;44:97-100. In this study, in vivo effectiveness of ascorbic acid (AA), beta carotene (BC) and allicin in HP eradication were [...]

It is well known that epoetin alfa increases serum endothelin (ET)-1 and blood pressure. No data are available, however, on the effects of darbepoetin alfa on serum ET-1 and blood pressure. This study was conducted to compare the effects of darbepoetin alfa and epoetin alfa on serum ET-1 and blood pressure in patients on hemodialysis (HD). A total of 42 patients on HD were included in the study. Serum samples for measuring levels of ET-1 were taken 30 min after administration of epoetin alfa. After blood samples had been taken from all patients, epoetin alfa was changed to darbepoetin alfa. Three months after the start of darbepoetin alfa treatment, blood samples were taken to measure the same parameters. Mean arterial blood pressure was measured before recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) administration and 30 min after EPO administration while patients were taking epoetin alfa or darbepoetin alfa. Injection of epoetin alfa or darbepoetin alfa significantly increased serum ET-1 levels compared with levels in those patients who were not on EPO therapy (P<.05). When the effects of epoetin alfa on serum ET-1 level were compared with those of darbepoetin alfa, the 2 types of EPO were found to increase serum ET-1 levels similarly (P>.05). Administration of epoetin alfa or darbepoetin alfa increased systolic and diastolic blood pressures significantly over values in the control group (P<.05). Serum systolic and diastolic blood pressures increased similarly after injection of epoetin alfa or darbepoetin alfa. Administration of darbepoetin alfa increased blood pressure in patients on HD in a way that was positively correlated with enhanced ET-1 release; a similar correlation was noted with epoetin alfa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The significance of facial aesthetics has been steadily rising, leading people to seek different ways to improve their looks and self-esteem. The study aimed to evaluate the differences in facial satisfaction between participants with straight and convex profiles and the relationship between facial satisfaction and the different styles of self-expression., Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from 110 extraoral profile photos of female participants. The questions in modules for FACE-QTM Aesthetic Appearance of the overall face, Craniofacial appearance of the Jaws, Teeth, Lips, and a survey regarding participants' demographic data and preferred self-expression methods were answered by the participants., Results: Facial Convexity Angle (p = 0.001), Total Facial Convexity Angle (p = 0.001), Nasal Proportion (p = 0.007) were great; lower Third Angle (p = 0.001), Nasolabial Angle (p = 0.010), nasofacial angle (p = 0.001), and lip-chin proportion (p = 0.001) were small in participants with straight profiles. There was no significant correlation between soft tissue measurements and FACE-Q subscale scores., Conclusion: The women with straight profiles preferred hair dyeing and nonsurgical aesthetics. Although the lip appearance was more satisfactory in the participants with a convex profile, they tended to have more piercings, tattoos, and aesthetic surgery., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: This study aimed to analyze the association of unilateral and bilateral palatal canine impaction with the dimensions and morphology of sella turcica from 3-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images., Methods: CBCT images of patients with bilateral (BPI) (n = 12; 9 female 3 male; 20.75 ± 5.88 years) and unilateral (UPI) (n = 35; 22 female 13 male; 19.28 ± 5.57 years) palatally impacted canines were compared with a control group (n = 56; 34 female 22 male; 20.82 ± 4.88 years). Linear measurements regarding sella turcica were made, and its morphologic variations were categorized. Two group comparisons were made with the Student t test or Mann-Whitney U-test, whereas one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for multiple group comparisons. Categorical variables were compared using the chi-square or Fisher exact test as appropriate. The binary logistic regression analyses and correlations using Spearman or Pearson correlation analyses were used to determine associations between variables (P <0.05)., Results: Sella diameter was significantly smaller in the BPI group compared to UPI and control groups. There was a significant association between sella diameter and BPI when compared with the control group (χ 2 [1] = 9.150; P = 0.008). There were no significant differences between groups in the distribution of sella turcica morphology., Conclusions: Despite the similar genetic origin of the sella turcica region and teeth, the association of palatal canine impaction with dimensions and morphology of sella turcica was weak. Both local and genetic factors might contribute to the ectopic position of the canine., (Copyright © 2022 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The goal was to evaluate the content, quality, and readability of the information available about clear aligner treatment on the Internet., Materials and Methods: The search terms "aligner," "clear aligner," and "Invisalign" (Align Technology, Tempe, AZ, USA) were analyzed in three search engines (Google [Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA], Bing [Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA], and Yahoo [Yahoo, Sunnyvale, CA, USA]). The first 50 websites for each keyword in each search engine were screened. Duplicate websites, advertisements, links to scientific articles, videos, and other irrelevant websites were excluded. The quality of the remaining websites was analyzed using the DISCERN and Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark instruments together with the Health on the Net code (HONcode, Health On the Net Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland). The readability of the websites was evaluated by the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL). Statistical analyses were performed by one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis and Fischer's exact tests, with p < 0.05 accepted to be statistically significant., Results: Among 111 evaluated websites, most belonged to multidisciplinary dental clinics (n = 49; 44.2%), followed by aligner companies (n = 26; 23.4%), orthodontists (n = 26; 23.4%), and professional organizations (n = 10; 9%). The mean DISCERN score (sections 1 and 2) for all websites was 29.95/75. The average FRES and FKGL were 55.77 and 9.74, respectively. Professional organization websites had significantly higher DISCERN scores than others (p < 0.001), and together with multidisciplinary dental clinic websites, they showed better compliance with JAMA benchmark criteria. Professional organization websites' FRES and FKGL were also higher than other websites (p > 0.05)., Conclusions: Overall, the quality of web-based information about clear aligners was poor and the readability of the data was insufficient. Websites presenting high-quality data with better readability are needed for potential aligner patients., (© 2021. Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Purpose: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the relationship between pain intensity and concentrations of salivary pain and stress biomarkers during orthodontic tooth movement., Methods: Eighteen patients (8 males, 10 females; mean age 14.57 ± 2.39 years) who needed orthodontic treatment with maxillary premolar extraction and segmental canine distalization participated in this study. Baseline samples were collected (T1), and orthodontic attachments were placed to maxillary first molars, second premolars, and canines. Then extractions were performed. After 1‑month follow-up, canine distalization started with a segmental wire (T2). Concentrations of salivary α‑amylase (sAA), cortisol, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and chromogranin A (CgA) were examined at T1, T2, and on days 4 (T3), 7 (T4), 14 (T5), and 30 (T6) after starting retraction. Participants also scored their pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Pain catastrophizing behavior and dental anxiety levels of the participants were evaluated by the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (C-DAS), respectively. Repeated measure ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis were used for statistical evaluations (p < 0.05)., Results: The maximum values for sAA were seen at T1. Males had higher sAA levels than females with statistical differences at T1, T3, and T4. No significant differences for cortisol, sIgA, and CgA concentrations were observed. The highest mean VAS score was recorded at T3. No correlations were detected between any salivary biomarkers, VAS, C‑DAS, and PCS scores., Conclusions: The stress of starting orthodontic treatment increased sAA levels more than the pain that was experienced during orthodontic tooth movement. Being male was a predictor of higher sAA concentrations. Orthodontic tooth movement did not cause significant alterations in salivary pain and stress biomarkers., (© 2021. Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the 3-dimensional tooth crown symmetry and the crown volumes of maxillary and mandibular teeth in patients with unilateral or bilateral missing or peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors., Methods: Six groups were established for the possible clinical variations in patients with unilateral missing or peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors, bilateral presence of these tooth anomalies, and a control group (CG) with normal lateral incisors. The study was conducted on digital dental models of 132 patients. The morphologic symmetry of the antimere teeth was investigated using 3-dimensional deviation analysis. Volumes of contralateral teeth were compared within and among groups for the maxilla and mandible. Furthermore, volumes of teeth were compared in missing and peg-shaped quadrants and quadrants of CG. Intergroup differences were tested using one-way analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis tests, whereas paired t and Wilcoxon tests were used for parametric and nonparametric variables, respectively, for intragroup comparisons., Results: Significant deviations in symmetry of antimere teeth were not detected (P >0.05). The volumes of mandibular central and lateral incisors in missing or peg-shaped lateral incisor groups were smaller than in the CG (P <0.05). Per quadrant analysis, volumes of the maxillary central incisor and mandibular central incisors, canines, and first molars in quadrants with missing or peg-shaped lateral incisors were smaller than in the control quadrants (P <0.05)., Conclusions: Neither unilateral nor bilateral presence of missing or peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors affected the morphologic symmetry of antimere teeth but did affect tooth volume, especially in the mandibular arch., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the concentrations of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) during orthodontic tooth movement and to compare their levels with interleukin-1β (IL-1β), a well-known proinflammatory biomarker., Materials and Methods: This study consisted of 20 patients (8 males, 12 females; mean age 14.75 ± 2.34 years) who needed maxillary premolar extraction and segmental canine distalization. Concentrations of HSP70, TLR4, and IL-1β were examined before extraction (T1), at the 1st (T2), 4th (T3), 7th (T4), 14th (T5), and 30th (T6) days of canine retraction by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis of gingival crevicular fluid samples. Statistical analyses were performed with repeated measure ANOVA and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis (p < 0.05)., Results: HSP70 increased gradually from T1 to T6 and showed significant differences between T1-T6 and T2-T6 (T1:3.28 ± 0.92 ng/ml; T2:3.72 ± 0.66 ng/ml; T6:9.35 ± 2.45 ng/ml). The lowest TLR4 concentration was at T1, peaked at T3 and remained constant afterwards with significant differences between T1-T3, T1-T4, and T1-T6 (T1:0.71 ± 0.02 pg/ml; T3:1.04 ± 0.11 pg/ml; T4:0.95 ± 0.06 pg/ml; T6:1.00 ± 0.07 pg/ml). IL-1β increased from T1 to T6 with significant differences between T1-T4, T1-T5, and T1-T6 (T1:55.71 ± 5.48 pg/ml; T4:100.11 ± 16.92 pg/ml; T5:103.71 ± 23.19 pg/ml; T6:125.12 ± 22.04 pg/ml). The increase in HSP70 and TLR4 from T2-T3 showed a significant correlation (r = 0.598; p = 0.005)., Conclusions: The increased levels of HSP70, TLR4, and IL-1β show the contribution of these mediators to the inflammatory response from the early stages of orthodontic tooth movement., Clinical Relevance: The regulation of HSP70, TLR4, and/or IL-1β secretion during orthodontic force application could provide alterations for desired optimal tooth movement., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the dimensions and morphology of cranial base and sella turcica in patients with bilateral agenesis of maxillary lateral incisors (BMLI). This retrospective study was conducted on lateral cephalometric radiographs of 34 female patients with BMLI (17.69 ± 2.96 years) and 34 female patients with complete dentation and skeletal Class 1 relationship serving as a control group (17.22 ± 2.2 years). Basicranial and maxillomandibular variables together with linear dimensions and morphology of sella turcica were evaluated. Differences between groups were analyzed by Student's t test for parametric variables and Mann-Whitney U test for nonparametric variables. Chi-square test followed by post hoc test with Bonferroni correction was used for categoric variables (p < 0.05). When compared to control group, N-S-Se angle was less negative, dimensions between Ba-Se, N-Ba, and N-Ar were larger, and SNA angle was smaller in BMLI group. There were no significant differences between groups regarding the linear dimensions of sella turcica. However, variations in sella turcica morphology were more frequent in BMLI group (n = 17; 50%) when compared to control group (n = 2; 5.8%). The most common morphologic variations in BMLI group were oblique anterior wall (20.6%) and irregularity (notching) in the posterior part of sella turcica (14.7%). The present study showed a statistically significant relationship between the presence of BMLI with some craniofacial parameters and morphological variations of sella turcica. This information may be useful as an additional and early diagnostic tool for BMLI and to highlight the possible links to its development.

Introduction: Missing or peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors can affect the mesiodistal dimensions of the dentition., Methods: The pretreatment casts of patients with bilateral (BMLI, n = 35) or unilateral (UMLI, n = 29) missing maxillary lateral incisors or bilateral peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors (BPLI, n = 16) were evaluated. The mesiodistal widths of all permanent teeth except the second and third molars were measured, and the sums of total and quadrant tooth widths were calculated. The results were compared with a control group (n = 32) with normal maxillary lateral incisors. A quadrant analysis was performed by comparing the quadrants with lateral incisor agenesis, peg-shaped lateral incisors, and normal lateral incisors with each other. Statistical analysis was performed by 1-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey and Tamhane tests., Results: In the BMLI and BPLI groups, significant reductions in individual tooth widths and total tooth widths were seen. The size discrepancies were the greatest in the maxillary central incisors and decreased gradually from the incisors to the molars. Compared with the control group, the tooth-size discrepancy was more pronounced in the BPLI group followed by the BMLI and UMLI groups. Due to the variability in clinical presentations of the UMLI group, the association with the reduction of the tooth sizes was not significant. But the quadrant analysis showed that in quadrants with a missing or peg-shaped lateral incisor, the teeth were significantly narrower than in quadrants with normal incisors; this indicates the importance of the contralateral side in unilaterally affected patients during analysis., Conclusions: Bilateral missing or peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors were significantly associated with reduction of individual mesiodistal tooth widths as well as their total and quadrant sums. Patients with a unilaterally missing lateral incisor should be analyzed individually with quadrant analysis, since the variability in the contralateral side would affect the traditional analysis results., (Copyright © 2018 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Functional iron deficiency (FID) incidence is gradually increasing in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Recently, high levels of GDF-15 supressed the iron regulatory protein hepcidin and GDF-15 expression increased in iron-deficient patients. The relationship between FID, GDF-15, and hepcidin is currently unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between GDF-15, hepcidin, and FID in chronic HD patients. Serum GDF-15 and hepcidin concentrations were measured in 105 HD patients and 40 controls. FID is defined as serum ferritin >800 ng/mL, TSAT <25 %, Hb levels <11 g/dL, and reticulocyte haemoglobin content (CHr) <29 pg. Serum GDF-15 and hepcidin levels were increased significantly in HD patients with FID, compared to HD patients without anemia and controls. GDF-15 correlated with ferritin, hepcidin, and CRP in the entire cohort. GDF-15 was related to ferritin and CRP in HD patients with FID. GDF-15 is better diagnostic marker than hepcidin for detection of FID [AUC = 0.982 (0.013) versus AUC = 0.921 (0.027); P = 0.0324]. GDF-15 appears to be a promising tool for detection of FID. High levels of ferritin and CRP correlated with GDF-15. Our results support GDF-15 as a new mediator of FID via hepcidin, chronic inflammation, or unknown pathways.

Background: Galectin-3 (gal-3) is an emerging prognostic biomarker in heart failure (HF). Clinical and experimental studies suggest that gal-3 is an important mediator of HF. Here we aimed to examine the relationship between gal-3 and diastolic dysfunction in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (HD)., Methods: We examined the relationship between plasma gal-3 levels and left ventricular diastolic function. Plasma gal-3 was measured in 87 subjects with chronic HD and in 45 healthy controls using biochemical evaluations. Conventional echocardiography and pulsed tissue Doppler assessment were performed in all patients. Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) was defined as E' < 8 cm/s. The E/E' ratio was used as the main determinant of LVDD grade., Results: The mean gal-3 concentrations were: 16.05 ng/ml (13.89-19.75) in healthy controls; 14.54 ng/ml (10.85-17.65) in HD patients with normal diastolic function; and 23.30 ng/ml (20.12-26.87) in HD patients with LVDD (p  < 0.01). Plasma gal-3 levels correlated with E/E' (r = 0.933, p  < 0.01), left atrial volume index (r = 0.713, p  < 0.01), and E' (r = -0.685, p  < 0.01). ROC analysis showed that the best gal-3 cut-off point for the diagnosis of LVDD was 20.12 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 67.6 % and specificity of 84.6 % (AUC = 0.803)., Conclusion: We suggest that gal-3 may be a promising biomarker for the detection of LVDD in HD patients.