A Silk Road Hero: King Chashtana

ELMALI, MURAT Academia Via Serica 2018 Acta Via Serica Vol.3 No.2

During the Old Uighur period, many works were translated into Old Uighur under the influence of Buddhism. Among these works, literary works such as $Da{\acute{s}}akarmapath{\bar{a}}vad{\bar{a}}nam{\bar{a}}l{\bar{a}}$ hold an important place. These works were usually translated from Pali to Sanskrit, from Sanskrit to Sogdian, Tocharian and Chinese, and to Old Uighur from these languages. These works which were added to the Old Uighur repertoire by translation indicate that different peoples along the ancient Silk Road had deep linguistic interactions with one another. Aside from these works, other narratives that we have been so far unable to determine whether they were translations, adaptations or original works have also been discovered. The Tale of King Chashtana, which was found in the work titled $Da{\acute{s}}akarmapath{\bar{a}}vad{\bar{a}}nam{\bar{a}}l{\bar{a}}$, is one of the tales we have been unable to classify as a translation or an original work. This tale has never been discovered with this title or this content in the languages of any of the peoples that were exposed to Buddhism along the Silk Road. On the other hand, the person whom the protagonist of this tale was named after has a very important place in the history of India, one of the countries that the Silk Road goes through. Saka Mahakshatrapa Chashtana (or Cashtana), a contemporary of Nahapana, declared himself king in Gujarat. A short time later, Chashtana, having invaded Ujjain and Maharashtra, established a powerful Saka kingdom in the west of India. His descendants reigned in the region for a long time. Another important fact about Chashtana is that coinage minted in his name was used all along the Silk Road. Chashtana, who became a significant historical figure in north western India, inspired the name of the protagonist of a tale in Old Uighur. That it is probable that the tale of King Chashtana is an original Old Uighur tale and not found in any other languages of the Silk Road brings some questions to mind: Who is Chashtana, the hero of the story? Is he related to the Saka king Chashtana in any way? What sort of influence did Chashtana have on the Silk Road and its languages? If this tale which we have never encountered in any other language of the Silk Road is indeed an original tale, why did the Old Uighurs use the name of an important Saka ruler? Is Saka-Uighur contact in question, given tales of this kind? What can we say about the historical and cultural geography of the Silk Road, given the fact that coinage was minted in his name and used along the Silk Road? In this study, I will attempt to answer these questions and share the information we have gleaned about Chashtana the hero of the tale and the Saka king Chashtana. One of the main aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between the narrative hero Chashtana and the Saka king Chashtana according to this information. Another aim of this study is to understand the history of the Saka, the Uighur and the Silk Road and to reveal the relationship between these three important subjects of history. The importance of the Silk Road will be emphasized again with the understanding of these relations. In this way, new information about Chashtana, who is an important name in the history of the India and the Silk Road, will be put forward. The history of the Sakas will be viewed from a different perspective through the Old Uighur Buddhist story.

Successful Medical Management of a Rare Loeffler Endocarditis Case

Okan Gulel,Ilkay Camlidag,Muzaffer Elmali 대한심장학회 2018 Korean Circulation Journal Vol.48 No.7

Hazardous Health Behaviour among Medical Students: a Study from Turkey

Nacar, Melis,Cetinkaya, Fevziye,Baykan, Zeynep,Yilmazel, Gulay,Elmali, Ferhan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.17

Background: Hazardous health behaviour in young people is an important factor that affects the individual risk for non-communicable diseases and other disorders later in life. This study aimed to determine the hazardous health behaviour of first and last class medical students of Erciyes University. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out with 240 medical students from the first and 130 students from the last (sixth) class. Data were obtained by questionnaire between March-April 2012. In total, 339 students were included with a response rate of 91.6%. Socio-demographic characteristics, school success, self-reported economic difficulties, health perceptions, hazardous health behaviour related to chronic disease, tobacco, alcohol, substance use, body weight, height, traffic, violence and nutrition were assessed in line with the literature. Results: Of the participants; 64.0% were from first and 36.0% were from the last class. Mean ages for the first and last classes were $19.4{\pm}1.5$ and $24.0{\pm}1.5years$, respectively. In the current study, males exhibited more hazardous behaviour than females. Sime 19.8% of the students in the study group used alcohol, 35.4% used a waterpipe, and 24.8% used tobacco at least once. These rates increased in both genders in the last class and the increase in males was significant. Some 3.8% of the students in the current study used pleasure-inducing illegal substances at least once. All the students participating in the current study were single, the number of males reported not using condoms (8.6%) was 4.56 times higher compared to females. Some 64.0% of the students did not perform physical activity lasting at least 30 minutes for five times a week, 13.0% did not sleep for mean 7-8 hours daily, males having a 2.9 times higher risk. More than 1/3 of the students did not consume cooked vegetable dishes and 1/4 did not consume fresh fruits and salads, the rates were higher among males. Conclusions: In the current study, hazardous health behaviour was prevalent among medical students, with higher risks among males and last class students. According to these results, medical curriculum may be focused on decreasing hazardous health behaviour. In addition, in order to prevent unhealthy behaviour, the number of youth-friendly health facilities should be increased.

Health Promoting Lifestyle Behaviour in Medical Students: a Multicentre Study from Turkey

Nacar, Melis,Baykan, Zeynep,Cetinkaya, Fevziye,Arslantas, Didem,Ozer, Ali,Coskun, Ozlem,Bati, Hilal,Karaoglu, Nazan,Elmali, Ferhan,Yilmaze, Gulay Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.20

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of health promoting lifestyle behaviour among medical students attending seven of the medical schools in Turkey. Materials and Methods: This crosssectional descriptive study was performed during the second semester of the first and last (sixth) years of study from March to May 2011. A questionnaire with two sections was specifically designed. The first section contained questions on demographic characteristics; the second consisted of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP) Scale. From a total of 2,309 medical students, 2,118 (response rate 91.7%) completed the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t, Anova, Tukey test and binary logistic regression analysis. The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of Erciyes University. Results: The mean age was $20.7{\pm}2.9$ years and it was found that 55.1% were men, 62.3% were in the first year. The overall prevalence of smoking was 19.1%, and for drinking alcohol was 19.4%. HPLP point averages of the first year students were $129.2{\pm}17.7$, and for last year $125.5{\pm}19.0$. The overall mean score for the HPLP II was $2.5{\pm}0.4$. They scored highest on the spiritual growth subscale ($2.9{\pm}0.5$), interpersonal relations ($2.8{\pm}0.5$), health responsibility subscale ($2.3{\pm}0.5$), nutrition subscale ($2.3{\pm}0.5$), stress management subscale ($2.3{\pm}0.4$), and the lowest subscale physical activity ($2.0{\pm}0.5$). It is established that student's grade, educational level of parents, economic status of family, marital status, smoking and general health perception of the students resulted in a significant difference in HPLP Scale total score average and the mean score of majority of subscales. There was no statistically significant difference between the total HPLP when evaluated for gender, chronic disease, alcohol drinking status and BMI. Conclusions: Based on these results, particularly in the curriculum of medical students in order to increase positive health behaviours including physical activity, health promotion issues, and giving more space to aim at behaviour change in these matters is recommended.

Analyses of Multiple Factors for Determination of "Selected Patients" Who Should Receive Rechallenge Treatment in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: a Retrospective Study from Turkey

Ozaslan, Ersin,Duran, Ayse Ocak,Bozkurt, Oktay,Inanc, Mevlude,Ucar, Mahmut,Berk, Veli,Karaca, Halit,Elmali, Ferhan,Ozkan, Metin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.7

Background: Repeating a prior chemotherapy (rechallenge therapy) is an option for selected patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, but there is very little evidence in the literature for this approach. Thus, we reviewed our registry to evaluate prognostic factors and survival of patients who received irinotecan and oxaliplatin-based regimens as rechallenge third and fourth-line therapy. Materials and Methods: Patients who received irinotecan-based or oxaliplatin-base regimen as first-line had been rechallenged with third-line or fourth-line therapy. These patients were selected from the database of Turkish mCRC registry archives between October 2006 and June 2013 and evaluated retrospectively for factors effecting progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) by the Kaplan-Meire and Cox-regression methods. Results: Thirty-nine patients were enrolled. The median duration of follow-up was 36 months (14-68 months). Thirty-one patients (76%) died during follow-up. In terms of rechallenge treatments, 29 patients had received third-line and 10 patients had received fourth-line. Response rate (RR) was found to be 12.9%, with stable disease in 19 (48.7%) patients. The median PFS was 6 months (95%CI=4.64-7.35 months) and the median OS was 11 months (95%CI=8.31-13.68 months). The factors effecting survival (PFS and OS) were only being PFS after first-line chemotherapy ${\geq}12months$ (p=0.007, 95% CI=1.75-35.22 and p=0.004, 95%CI=1.44-7.11), both in univariate and multivariate analyses. Conclusions: This study indicates that rechallenge treatment could be a good option as a third or later line therapy in patients who had ${\geq}12months$ PFS onreceiving first line therapy.