Effect of psychological stress on the L-arginine-nitric oxide pathway and semen quality

It has been reported that mental stress causes abnormality of spermiogram parameters. We investigated the effect of psychological stress on the L-arginine-nitric oxide (NO) pathway. Semen samples were collected from 29 healthy fourth semester medical students just before (stress) and 3 months after (non-stress) the final examinations. Psychological stress was measured by the State Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. After standard semen analysis, arginase activity and NO concentration were measured spectrophotometrically in the seminal plasma. Measurements were made in duplicate. During the stress period, sperm concentration (41.28 ± 3.70 vs 77.62 ± 7.13 x 10(6)/mL), rapid progressive motility of spermatozoa (8.79 ± 1.66 vs 20.86 ± 1.63%) and seminal plasma arginase activity (0.12 ± 0.01 vs 0.22 ± 0.01 U/mL) were significantly lower than in the non-stress situation, whereas seminal plasma NO (17.28 ± 0.56 vs 10.02 ± 0.49 µmol/L) was higher compared to the non-stress period (P < 0.001 for all). During stress there was a negative correlation between NO concentration and sperm concentration, the percentage of rapid progressive motility and arginase activity (r = -0.622, P < 0.01; r = -0.425, P < 0.05 and r = -0.445, P < 0.05, respectively). These results indicate that psychological stress causes an increase of NO level and a decrease of arginase activity in the L-arginine-NO pathway. Furthermore, poor sperm quality may be due to excessive production of NO under psychological stress. In the light of these results, we suggest that the arginine-NO pathway, together with arginase and NO synthase, are involved in semen quality under stress conditions.

Haploinsufficiency of a Spliceosomal GTPase Encoded by EFTUD2 Causes Mandibulofacial Dysostosis with Microcephaly

Mandibulofacial dysostosis with microcephaly (MFDM) is a rare sporadic syndrome comprising craniofacial malformations, microcephaly, developmental delay, and a recognizable dysmorphic appearance. Major sequelae, including choanal atresia, sensorineural hearing loss, and cleft palate, each occur in a significant proportion of affected individuals. We present detailed clinical findings in 12 unrelated individuals with MFDM; these 12 individuals compose the largest reported cohort to date. To define the etiology of MFDM, we employed whole-exome sequencing of four unrelated affected individuals and identified heterozygous mutations or deletions of EFTUD2 in all four. Validation studies of eight additional individuals with MFDM demonstrated causative EFTUD2 mutations in all affected individuals tested. A range of EPTUD2-mutation types, including null alleles and frameshifts, is seen in MFDM, consistent with haploinsufficiency; segregation is de novo in all cases assessed to date. U5-116kD, the protein encoded by EFTUD2, is a highly conserved spliceosomal GTPase with a central regulatory role in catalytic splicing and post-splicing-complex disassembly. MFDM is the fast multiple-malformation syndrome attributed to a defect of the major spliceosome. Our findings significantly extend the range of reported spliceosomal phenotypes in humans and pave the way for further investigation in related conditions such as Treacher Collins syndrome.

Turkey and Neo-Ottomanism: Domestic Sources, Dynamics and Foreign Policy

This study examined the relationship between the Turkish Islamic movements and the present government of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AK Party). Since the AK Party came to power in 2002 it implemented unparalleled political reforms and pursued to improve Turkey’s relations with the EU. Opponents argued that because of the dominance of the secular military in Turkish politics, the AK Party is forced to secretly advance its Islamic agenda using the language and symbolism of democracy and human rights. This study argued that the ideas of the AK Party show similarities with the “Ottomanist” thought of the late Ottoman era. With special reference to the preservation of the Ottoman State, Ottomanism in an eclectic way was able to incorporate Islamic principles like freedom, justice and consultation into the political arena which was increasingly dominated by the secular European concepts. Literature on Islam and politics in Turkey, however, disregards the Ottoman roots of freedom and pluralism and tends to reduce the relationship between religion and state into exclusively confrontational struggles. This conceptualization of the political process relies on particular non-Turkish Muslim experiences which do not necessarily represent Islam’s venture in Turkey. Contrary to the prevailing scholarship, Islamic movements in Turkey, namely, Naqshbandi, National View and Nur, which are discussed in detail in this study, are not monolithic. They all uphold the same creedal tenets of Islam but they have sharp differences in terms of how they conceptualize the role of religious agency in politics. I argue that this diversity is a result of three distinct methodologies of Islamic religious life which are the Tariqah (Tarikat), Shariah (Şeriat), and Haqiqah (Hakikat). The differences between these three approaches represent a typological hierarchy in the formation of the Muslim/believer as an agent of Islamic identity. Through these different if not conflicting modes, the AK Party reconnected itself with Turkey’s Ottoman heritage in a post-Ottoman, secular setting and was able to develop an eclectic political identity of Neo-Ottomanism that is evident in the flexibility if not inconsistency of its domestic and foreign policy preferences.

Crustal-scale shear zones and heterogeneous structure beneath the North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey, revealed by a high-density seismometer array

Peer reviewed

New constraints on micro-seismicity and stress state in the western part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone : Observations from a dense seismic array

Major funding was provided by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under grant NE/I028017/1 and partially supported by Boğaziçi University Research Fund (BAP) under grant 6922. We would like to thank all the project members from the University of Leeds, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory, Aberdeen University and Sakarya University. I would also like to thank Prof. Ali Pinar and Dr. Kıvanç Kekovalı for their valuable comments. Some of the figures were generated by GMT software (Wessel and Smith, 1995).

Crustal-scale shear zones and heterogeneous structure beneath the North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey, revealed by a high-density seismometer array

Peer reviewed

New constraints on micro-seismicity and stress state in the western part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone : Observations from a dense seismic array

Major funding was provided by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under grant NE/I028017/1 and partially supported by Boğaziçi University Research Fund (BAP) under grant 6922. We would like to thank all the project members from the University of Leeds, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory, Aberdeen University and Sakarya University. I would also like to thank Prof. Ali Pinar and Dr. Kıvanç Kekovalı for their valuable comments. Some of the figures were generated by GMT software (Wessel and Smith, 1995).