Application of Kvaal et al.'s age estimation method to panoramic radiographs from Turkish individuals

Age estimation of living adult individuals can be accomplished with limited methods. Radiographic dental methods based on the pulpal narrowing with secondary dentin formation have been presented. In the present study, Kvaal et al.'s method, one of the radiographic dental age estimation methods, was applied to panoramic radiographs from Turkish individuals. The correlation between chronological and estimated ages was examined and the feasibility of length and width measurements of pulp cavity was evaluated for age estimation. The study population consisted of 123 patients with ages ranging from 14 to 57 years. The measurements of the length and width of six types of teeth on digitized panoramic radiographs were performed, and the ratios between tooth and pulp cavity measurements were calculated. Age was estimated using the linear regression models presented by Kvaal et al. and Paewinsky et al. High differences were observed between chronological and estimated ages. Measurement ratios showed no significant or weak correlation with age. The linear regression models were derived using variables that were significantly correlated with age. The determination coefficients of the models varied from 0.035 to 0.345. In conclusion, a difference of more than 12 years in the chronological and estimated ages derived using regression models in literature was found on panoramic radiographs in Turkish individuals. The length and width of the pulp cavity, measured according to the method of Kvaal et al. using panoramic radiographs, were insufficient to precisely estimate the age of Turkish individuals.     

Civil Society and Deliberative Democracy: Have Voluntary Organisations Faded from National Public Politics?

The political context of civil society in Western Europe has changed dramatically in recent decades. These changing circumstances may produce a decline in the integration of civil society into political life – especially deliberative activities at the national level. This article discusses how serious these alleged threats are to a hitherto vital civil society – that of Sweden. It focuses on fours indicators of organised civil society's contribution to deliberative democracy. First, have efforts to contact politicians, public servants and the media, as well as participation in public debates, decreased? Second, has civil society directed interest away from national arenas and instead concentrated resources in local and/or supranational arenas? Third, is there any evidence of a withdrawal from public activities, such as public debates and media activities in favour of direct contacts with politicians and public servants? Fourth, has civil society become more professionalised in the sense that interest groups are increasingly hiring professional consultants? Two surveys conducted in 1999 and 2005 show that Swedish organised civil society has not faded from national public politics. However, growing public participation is almost exclusively connected to increasing communication via the mass media and direct contact with politicians. Taking part in open public debate has not increased. The national arena has marginally lost some importance. Moreover, there is an increasing tendency to hire professional lobbying consultants. This might improve the quality of civil society's contributions to public deliberation, but a more elitist civil society might also develop, which is uninterested in social dialogue.     

Democracies and Deficits: Prospects for Fiscal Responsibility in Democratic Nations

The financial crisis had significant implications for the fiscal positions of OECD. As nations seek to cope with the economic contraction, budget deficits and debt have risen to near record postwar levels. As the crisis in Europe and other advanced economies has deepened, fiscal consolidation will have to be coupled, and even preceded, by actions to jump‐start crippled economies. Nonetheless, when fiscal consolidation becomes necessary, nations that procrastinate by waiting for a crisis to provide cover for the politically hard choices will pay a steep price indeed both economically and politically. Many in the academic and policy community have raised questions about whether advanced democracies have the political wherewithal to respond to gathering fiscal pressures through early and timely action. Recent fiscal actions in advanced nations suggest that democracies are not doomed to wait for market shocks and crises. Rather, leaders have shown that fiscal sacrifice can be achieved in ways that promote electability. In this article, we discuss the impetus for democratic fiscal actions and the strategies used to gain public support.     

Reproducing ‘hegemony’ thereafter? The long-term political effects of the Gezi protests in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This study examines an understudied aspect of the Gezi protests: its long-term effects on the hegemonic politics of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi, AKP) government. Building on the insights of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, and Stuart Hall on hegemonic struggles and populism, it contends that the Gezi protests forced the AKP to reformulate its hegemonic strategies by deconstructing the relation formed contingently between the AKP and democratization, and thus, exposing both the limits of the neoliberal and Islamic/conservative hegemonic politics of the AKP, and the authoritarian tendencies of this government. The article maintains that the AKP, in response, turned to focus its efforts on becoming not hegemonic, but dominant by adopting a full-blown authoritarian populism, which, rather than entailing the closure of all democratic channels, favours retaining some for mobilizing popular support for its increasing authoritarianism. It is demonstrated that this popular support has been secured by the AKP through the articulation of a discourse that ignites fear and anxiety among the conservative religious and conservative nationalist segments, by portraying all opposition as detrimental to their interests and lifestyles. The article concludes that counter-hegemonic movements like Gezi may lead to significant political changes in the long run, even if they are repressed.     

Deaths associated with electric shock injuries in children and adults: A 10-year retrospective examination in Şanlıurfa,Southeast Turkey (2012–2022)

Electric shock injuries (EIs) have high rates of morbidity and mortality in both children and adults. The aim of this study was to examine autopsy cases resulting from EIs and to compare pediatric and adult groups with respect to sociodemographic data, clinical characteristics, location of the incident, electricity entry–exit wound characteristics, current direction, pathological effects of the electric shocks on the body, and cause of death. A total of 8075 autopsies conducted between 2012 and 2022 were retrospectively examined. Şanliurfa is a city in the southeast of Turkey with the highest birth rate in the country. Of 123 cases of death resulting from EIs in Şanliurfa, 58 (47.2%) were children (age < 18 years). In the majority of children (81%), a low-voltage injury resulted from a domestic appliance while the children were playing at home in a rural area. In the vast majority of adults, a high-voltage injury (HVI) resulted from a workplace accident due to working with HVI materials in an area outside the home. The manner of death was accidental in all the electric shock injuries. The electricity entry and exit wounds formed as a result of EIs had similar characteristics in both children and adults, with no significant difference identified. In the province of Şanliurfa, Turkey, which borders Syria and where the main occupation is agricultural activities, there is a need to increase electrical safety precautions within the home, educate parents, and increase electrical safety conditions and worker education in the workplace.     

Children in Out-of-Home Care and Adult Labor-Market Attachment: A Swedish National Register Study

Using longitudinal national register data, we investigated labor-market attachment during the years 1993–1995 in Sweden for persons aged 25–35 years who had been in out-of-home care before the age of 18 in Sweden during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. We consider whether an immigrant background has an additional influence on labor-market attachment. Compared to majority population peers, young persons who had been in foster care had shorter educations. Fewer had a strong labor-market attachment and more were dependent on social assistance. Results from multinomial regression models indicated that having been in foster care during childhood reduced the probability of high attachment to the labor-market and increased the probability of social assistance dependency, even after making adjustments for education, marital status, parenthood, domicile, and birth country. Few signs of additive effects from being both an immigrant and a former foster child are found.     

Does politics crowd out professional competence? The organisation of ministerial advice in Denmark and Sweden

The use of politically appointed ministerial advisors has increased noticeably in many Western countries, but we know little about how this development has affected the civil servants recruited on merit. The article asks whether political appointees accentuate or blur the line between politics and administration. Do political appointees take over political-tactical advice and leave policy advice to the permanent civil service, or do they cause permanent civil servants to be even more influenced by political considerations? And do political appointees make it easier or more difficult for the permanent civil service to be politically responsive? A Most Similar Systems Design comparison of Denmark and Sweden allows an assessment of the effects of political appointees. It is found that a large number of political appointees decreases functional politicisation of the permanent civil service; that functional politicisation tends to crowd out tasks related to more classic policy advice; and that functional politicisation increases political responsiveness.     

Policy Transfer and Discursive De-Europeanisation: Higher Education from Bologna to Turkey

Abstract

This article analyses Turkey’s integration into the Bologna Process, concentrating on the questions of why and how Turkey is transferring norms in the area of higher education. As an example of policy transfer, the Bologna Process provides important insights into the question of why states choose to voluntarily adopt norms where there is no top-down pressure for change. Focusing on Turkey as a case study, the article identifies the narratives of the agents of change responsible for the reform process. The agents are the intermediaries in the Europeanisation process – they construct the discourses and they are the ones responsible for transmitting the process to the society at large. The article concludes that while institutional Europeanisation is taking place in the area of higher education, discursive Europeanisation is lacking.     

A recycling story: Developing recycling behavior in Turkey with social marketing program

The present study focuses on improving recycling behavior in Turkey with a social marketing program. It is centered on behavior change and social marketing strategies that can address recycling behavior. The social marketing program developed herein outlines segmentation, targeting, product, price, place, and promotional strategies recommended based on theoretical elements across disciplines. This research is the first to develop a social marketing program for recycling behavior in a developing country at the household level. Furthermore, it is the first study in which behavioral change was ensured through marketing strategies. This article provides a framework that can be employed in developing social marketing programs. In this study, qualitative data collection tools and quantitative measurement data were used based on the action research design. Although there are studies in the literature that argue that women and those with undergraduate/graduate education show more recycling behavior than others, the results of the participant-level research in Turkey showed that there was no significant difference in recycling behavior based on the demographic characteristics of the participants. On the other hand, it has been found that the awareness levels of the people have changed in correspondence with the implementation-oriented efforts of the municipalities on recycling. However, there is a lack of recycling behavior due to the lack of necessary infrastructure and information in all regions in Turkey. One of the most important results obtained in this social marketing program study was that regional and cultural differences had a role in shaping the recycling behavior. This requires different strategies in implementing the program in different provinces, based on the culture and availability of recycling infrastructure. This article provides an example of a social marketing program to improve recycling behavior. It hopes to inspire significantly more work in this area to make behavior change for the better.