Soft-sediment deformation structures interpreted as seismites in the Kolankaya Formation, Denizli Basin (SW Turkey).

The NW-trending Denizli basin of the SW Turkey is one of the neotectonic grabens in the Aegean extensional province. It is bounded by normal faults on both southern and northern margins. The basin is filled by Neogene and Quaternary terrestrial deposits. Late Miocene- Late Pliocene aged Kolankaya formation crops out along the NW trending Karakova uplift in the Denizli basin. It is a typical fluviolacustrine succession that thickens and coarsens upward, comprising poorly consolidated sand, gravelly sand, siltstone and marl. Various soft-sediment deformation structures occur in the formation, especially in fine- to medium grained sands, silts and marls: load structures, flame structures, clastic dikes (sand and gravely-sand dike), disturbed layers, laminated convolute beds, slumps and synsedimentary faulting. The deformation mechanism and driving force for the soft-sediment deformation are related essentially to gravitational instability, dewatering, liquefaction-liquidization, and brittle deformation. Field data and the wide lateral extent of the structures as well as regional geological data show that most of the deformation is related to seismicity and the structures are interpreted as seismites. The existence of seismites in the Kolankaya Formation is evidence for continuing tectonic activity in the study area during the Neogene and is consistent with the occurrence of the paleoearthquakes of magnitude >5.

[Combined treatment supported by piracetam and/or acyclovir in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss: experience with 81 cases]. / Ani isitme kayiplarinda pirasetam ve/veya asiklovir eklenerek yapilan kombine tedavi: 81 olguluk deneyim.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficiency of piracetam and acyclovir in treating sudden hearing loss. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eightyone patients (44 males, 37 females; mean age 40.4 year; range 18 to 72 years) who had treatment between January 2002 and December 2006 with diagnosis of idiopathic sudden hearing loss were evaluated retrospectively. These patients were divided into four groups according to the treatment they received. The patients who had combined treatment constituted the first group; those who had combined treatment and piracetam the second; those who had combined treatment and acyclovir the third; those who had combined treatment, acyclovir, and piracetam the fourth group. RESULTS: For the four treatment groups, in the pre-and post-treatment (10th day) evaluation of the treatment efficiency made by calculation of the hearing thresholds in 250-8000 Hz frequencies, no significant difference between the groups was determined (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: No additional benefit was obtained with acyclovir and piracetam in treatment.

First Homo erectus from Turkey and implications for migrations into temperate Eurasia.

Remains of fossil hominins from temperate regions of the Old World are rare across both time and space, but such specimens are necessary for understanding basic issues in human evolution including linkages between their adaptations and early migration patterns. We report here the remarkable circumstances surrounding the discovery of the first fossil hominin calvaria from Turkey. The specimen was found in the Denizli province of western Turkey and recovered from within a solid block of travertine stone as it was being sawed into tile-sized slabs for the commercial natural stone building market. The new specimen fills an important geographical and temporal gap and displays several anatomical features that are shared with other Middle Pleistocene hominins from both Africa and Asia attributed to Homo erectus. It also preserves an unusual pathology on the endocranial surface of the frontal bone that is consistent with a diagnosis of Leptomeningitis tuberculosa (TB), and this evidence represents the most ancient example of this disease known for a fossil human. TB is exacerbated in dark-skinned peoples living in northern latitudes by a vitamin D deficiency because of reduced levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Evidence for TB in the new specimen supports the thesis that reduced UVR was one of the many climatic variables presenting an adaptive challenge to ancient hominins during their migration into the temperate regions of Europe and Asia.