Background: This study investigated the effects of Pro-Argin application on the microhardness of bleached enamel and compared them with those of acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) and casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) applications. Methods: Forty blocks (4 9 4 9 4 mm) were prepared from the facial surfaces of 10 sound bovine incisors. The enamel surfaces were bleached with 35% hydrogen peroxide three times at 5-day intervals. The specimens were divided into five treatment regimen groups (n = 8 each): Group 1, bleaching/no surface treatment (control); Group 2, bleaching/Pro-Argin toothpaste treatment; Group 3, bleaching/Pro-Argin treatment; Group 4, bleaching/APF treatment; and Group 5, bleaching/CPP-ACP treatment. During bleaching treatments, specimens were stored in artificial saliva. Vickers microhardness measurements were performed at baseline and after treatment in all groups. Statistical analyses were performed using the paired t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and post hoc least significant difference tests. Results: After bleaching, hardness values of enamel surfaces increased significantly in the treatment groups versus the control group (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was found among treatment groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Through bleaching treatment, Pro-Argin application may have a positive effect on enamel surface hardness, equivalent to that of CPP-ACP or APF.

Suicide, one of the most common problems in modern and postmodern societies, is a socio-psychiatric phenomenon existing in every society or culture. In the past, the concept of suicide was only included in psychiatry; however, with an increasing awareness of some social factors behind suicide, it is now being tackled from a sociological perspective. In the second half of the twentieth century, changes in relationships and lifestyles of modern society begin to be more apparent in postmodern culture. Expectations for the future dramatically decline in this period. The notion of absolute nothingness is now clearly seen in every aspect of human life. All these elements affect humans' inner peace and cause physical, mental, and psychological deterioration. Veronika Decides to Die, written by Paulo Coelho in 1998, deals with the psychological journey of a young woman who loses her motivation to live and attempts suicide. Coelho, based on his own life experiences, reveals the psychological transformations of the main character Veronika, whose suicide attempt fails. Therefore, both the conflict between life and death and the conflict between self and society are highly significant to analyze some possible reasons for the suicidal behaviors of Veronika. In this respect, this paper intends to analyze the novel from the psychoanalytic perspective of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. The psychological and environmental motivation behind the suicide attempt will be clarified with Freudian psychology theory of life (Eros) and death (Thanatos) instincts, and their relation to id, ego, and superego.

This work explores how postmodernism has developed its own literary style reflecting the social, political, religious as well as philosophical and intellectual mood of the era. Postmodern texts have been created and recreated out of a blend of varied texts from previous periods, and they succeeded in creating a more conscious and questioning audience. Throughout the postmodern period, readers replaced authors and writerly texts replaced readerly texts. Literary texts began to be deconstructed according to the notions and theories of scholars and philosophers such as Roland Barthes, John Barth, and Jean-François Lyotard. In an attempt to succeed in producing new texts, postmodern writers established a sort of textual relationship between metanarratives and little narratives, applying intertextuality that is in a close interrelation with parody and pastiche – two complicated terms often miscible to one another. This study seeks to clarify the meaning of postmodern literary works by highlighting some postmodern literary devices such as intertextuality, parody, and pastiche in The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, Night Train by Martin Amis and The Crying Lot of 49 by Thomas Pynchon.

Depicting the existence of social, ethical, and religious problems in institutional church and aristocracy, many of the novels written in Gothic tradition are critical of the aesthetics of the neoclassical period. Being an anachronistic representation of the period, The Monk by Matthew Lewis is highly critical of the Medieval representation of the Church covering incestuous villains, oppressed religious characters like a villainous monk, seducing demon and evil nuns, the plot structure is an extensive presentation of the dark side of the human and problematic issues taking place in and around the Church along with the presentation of aristocratic life. Lewis presents not only what is visible but also highlights contradictory applications of the Church. This deep and dark relationship is one of the main issues of the Medieval period portrayed by Lewis in the late 18th century. In this context, this study intends to shed light on this interwoven and complicated relationship from a Freudian perspective by highlighting connections, especially between id and superego to reveal hidden and deeper feelings inside human beings.