Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University

Humans, as social beings, naturally engage with others and sustain these interactions in different ways. Alongside technological progress, social media platforms have become essential tools for meeting people's communication needs. Easy access to social media platforms and their various apps results in more frequent use. The negative aspects of social media, like addiction, become evident. Individuals who frequently experience negative interactions on social media tend to prefer online communication over in-person contact, which may lead to increased feelings of loneliness. Adverse childhood experiences or challenges in establishing secure attachments with parents may result in heightened risks and diminished psychological resilience in later life. Therefore, this research sought to examine the mediating role of loneliness in the relationship between attachment styles and social media addiction. The study group consisted of 554 participants aged 18 and above (M = 25.10, SD = 7.60). The research found that attachment styles, loneliness levels, and social media addiction were consistent across different genders, ages, daily internet and social media use, and the duration of social media accounts. Social media addiction is negatively associated with secure attachment and positively associated with other attachment styles. Similar correlations are found between loneliness and attachment styles. Results indicate that loneliness acts as a mediator in the relationship between secure attachment and social media addiction. The findings of the present study are of considerable significance and suggest that interventions designed to mitigate the detrimental effects of loneliness could serve as a preventive measure against social media addiction, thereby providing practical implications for mental health practitioners and policymakers.

Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965) establishes a universe defined by the “Butlerian Jihad”, a historical crusade that banned artificial intelligence and created a vacuum filled by religious engineering. This paper argues that in this post-cybernetic setting, religion functions as a sociological operating system designed for political control rather than a metaphysical connection to the divine. The study analyzes the Missionaria Protectiva to demonstrate how the Bene Gesserit order creates belief systems by co-opting and re-engineering Islamic theology. It suggests that the order’s manual of superstitions serves as a library of cultural scripts that primes the indigenous population to accept a manufactured Messiah, specifically the Mahdi. Consequently, the protagonist Paul Atreides is reinterpreted not as a traditional “White Savior” or authentic religious prophet but as a “hacker” who utilizes these pre-planted Islamic codes to access and manipulate the social infrastructure of Arrakis. His prescience functions as a form of biological predictive analytics that traps him in a deterministic loop of his own calculation. Ultimately, this reading suggests that Dune offers a critique of “techno-theology” by showing how the instrumentalization of the Mahdi figure transforms the concept of Jihad from a spiritual struggle into an unstoppable, automated algorithm of violence.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of refractive correction on ocular deviation in children with exotropia and high hyperopia, and to compare treatment outcomes between partial and full hyperopic correction. The main objective was to evaluate if complete hyperopic correction leads to worsening ofexotropia in comparison to partial correction. This retrospective study included 43 patients diagnosed with high hyperopia (≥+ 3.00 D) and exotropia (≥10 prism diopters). Patients were categorized into two groups based on the level of spectacle correction: Group 1 received partial correction and Group 2 received full correction. Statistical analysis was conducted to compare best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), amblyopia, and the degree of exotropia deviation. The average age at first admission and the follow-up duration were 6.3 (±3.1) years and 3.7 (±3.0) years, respectively. Before spectacle correction, the mean visual acuity was 0.45±0.28; it increased to 0.63±0.31 after treatment (p < 0.001). Additionally, the number of patients diagnosed with amblyopia significantly decreased (p = 0.001). Twenty-seven patients received partial correction, while sixteen were treated with full correction. Although a slight reduction in exodeviation was observed, there were no statistically significant differences in the overall population or within any of the subtypes (constant exotropia and intermittent exotropia) when comparing deviation angles between the partial and full correction groups before and after treatment (p > 0.05). Refractive correction is essential for improving visual acuity and reducing amblyopia in children with exotropia and significant hyperopia. Our results suggest that the use of high hyperopic spectacle correction did not demonstrate worsening of exotropia in this cohort.

Amaç: Antibiyotik direncindeki artış oranları, alternatif çözüm arayışını yoğunlaştırmaktadır. Çalışmamızın amacı; ticari olarak temin edilebilen aynısefa (Calendula officinalis L.) uçucu yağının yedi farklı standart bakteri suşu ile üç maya mantarı üzerindeki antimikrobiyal etkisini belirlemektir. Gereçler ve Yöntemler: Gram pozitif bakterilerden; Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Streptococcus pneumoniae (ATCC 45615); Gram negatif bakterilerden Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 13883), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) ve kolistin dirençli E. coli (ATCC 19846) ile maya mantarlarından Candida albicans (ATCC 90028), Candida parapsilosis (ATCC 22019) ve Candida auris (klinik izolat) test edilmiştir. Antimikrobiyal aktivite disk difüzyon yöntemi ve resazurin mikrotitre testi (REMA) ile test edilmiştir. Bulgular: Disk difüzyon yöntemiyle en geniş inhibisyon zonu bakterilerde S. pneumoniae (15.33 ± 0.57 mm) suşunda, mayalarda C. parapsilosis (17.67 ± 0.57 mm) suşunda ölçülmüştür. Aynısefa yağının Gram pozitif bakteriler ve mayalar üzerindeki antimikrobiyal etkisinin, Gram negatif suşlara kıyasla anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek olduğu görülmüştür (sırasıyla p &amp;lt; 0.01, p &amp;lt; 0.001). En düşük MİK değerleri ise bakterilerde S.aureus ve E. faecalis’te; mayalarda C. albicans ve C. parapsilosis ’te tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç: Çalışmamız, aynısefa yağının özellikle Gram pozitif bakteriler ve C. auris’i de içeren Candida türleri üzerindeki antimikrobiyal etkileriyle, bitkisel temelli yeni antimikrobiyal yaklaşımlar açısından umut vadeden bir aday olduğunu ve topikal jinekolojik kullanım potansiyelinin ileri in vivo çalışmalarda değerlendirilebileceğini göstermektedir.

Background: Dehorning is a common practice in cattle operations aimed at enhancing animal safety, reducing the risk of injury to other animals and humans, and limiting aggressive behaviors. All dehorning methods, including thermal, surgical, and caustic paste application, cause pain, stress, and physiological changes in the animals. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly meloxicam, are used to alleviate pain and inflammation associated with the procedure. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dehorning using the caustic paste method, with and without the administration of painkillers, on both clinical indicators and blood parameters in calves. Materials, Methods &amp; Results: The study involved 24 calves, arbitrarily divided into 2 groups, each comprising 12 calves. In group I, each calf received an intravenous (IV) dose of 2.2 mg/kg of meloxicam dispensed 30 min before dehorning, followed by caustic paste for horn blunting. In group II, the calves' horns were blunted using the same technique but without administering analgesia. Blood samples were collected at 0, 15, 30, and 60 min from calves in both groups, and clinical observations were documented. Cortisol levels (measured via ELISA), glucose levels (measured via ELISA), total oxidant capacity (TOC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (measured via ELISA), and glutathione (GSH) levels (measured via ELISA) were assessed in the collected blood samples. Cortisol levels in Group I showed a significant reduction at 15, 30, and 60 minutes compared to baseline (P &lt; 0.001), whereas no significant changes were observed in Group II throughout the measurement times (P &gt; 0.05). Glucose levels in Group I were lower than those in Group II at 30 and 60 min; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P &gt; 0.05). When evaluated in terms of oxidative stress parameters, Group I showed significantly lower total oxidant capacity (TOC) values (P &lt; 0.001) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) values (P &lt; 0.05) compared to Group II, whereas glutathione (GSH) values were higher (P &lt; 0.001). These findings indicate that administering analgesics before dehorning reduces cortisol levels, alleviates oxidative stress, and supports the antioxidant system. Discussion: Dehorning is an economically significant practice in cattle operations; however, it induces considerable stress, particularly in adult animals. Performing the procedure as early as possible, within the 1st 2 months after birth, minimizes discomfort in the animals. The method used also represents a key factor affecting stress levels; in calves aged 8-14 days, the caustic paste method emerges as the least painful and most practical approach. In this study, physiological parameters (heart rate, respiratory rate, and rectal temperature) generally remained within reference ranges, with a brief increase in heart rate indicating acute stress. In the group receiving meloxicam, lower cortisol and glucose levels demonstrated that analgesia effectively reduces pain-induced stress and inflammation. Regarding oxidative stress parameters, TOC decreased, while TAC and GSH levels increased in the analgesia group. Conversely, opposite trends were observed in the non-analgesia group, indicating higher stress and oxidative load in animals that did not receive analgesic treatment. In conclusion, the use of sedation and local anesthesia combined with analgesia effectively alleviates pain and stress during caustic paste dehorning, rendering this method a safe, effective, and practical procedure for calves. Keywords: dehorning, meloxicam, oxidative stress, calves.

In contemporary academic publishing, journal performance is increasingly discussed through numerical indicators such as impact factors, citation counts, and quartile rankings.While these metrics offer useful measures of visibility, they provide only a partial view of a journal's intellectual direction, editorial rigor, and contribution to clinical practice.For specialty journals affiliated with professional societies, the challenge extends beyond achieving visibility to ensuring that published content maintains sustained scientific relevance and practical value.Against this background, Thoracic Research and Practice represents an example of gradual and deliberate editorial evolution rather than abrupt transformation.The journal's origins date to 2001, when Trk Toraks Dergisi and Turkish Respiratory Journal independently served the respiratory medicine community.Their merger in 2008 under the title Turkish Thoracic Journal marked the transition to English-language publication, while the renaming to Thoracic Research and Practice in 2023 reflected an intention to broaden scope and strengthen international orientation. 1The journal's first inclusion in Journal Citation Reports in 2024 constituted an important indexing milestone.With an initial Journal Impact Factor of 0.6 and a Journal Citation Indicator of 0.20, Thoracic Research and Practice entered the global citation landscape of respiratory system journals. 2These figures are best interpreted as retrospective indicators of accumulated editorial effort rather than as determinants of future strategy.Metrics confirm presence, but they do not define editorial purpose.Within this context, the editorial board renewal at the end of 2025 represents an opportunity to clarify, rather than redefine, editorial priorities.Emphasis has been placed on maintaining clinical relevance, methodological transparency, and consistency in editorial standards across different submission types.The intention is not rapid metric optimization, but the preservation of a coherent editorial approach capable of supporting meaningful international engagement.Recent content published in the journal reflects this orientation, with studies grounded in real-world clinical practice, analyses addressing longer-term respiratory outcomes, and surveys highlighting variability in respiratory care across healthcare settings.Such contributions may not always generate immediate citation gains, but they contribute to cumulative clinical knowledge and practice-based evidence.As the official journal of the Turkish Thoracic Society, Thoracic Research and Practice occupies a balanced position.It serves as a platform for society-led scientific initiatives while adhering to the norms of international scholarly publishing.This balance requires editorial independence together with institutional responsibility.Within this framework, guidelines, task force reports, and consensus documents remain integral to the journal's mission, provided they meet the same transparent methodological and editorial criteria applied to original research.