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Why R? Turkey 2022 was a non-profit conference that aimed to bring Turkish R users together and encourage them to attend the R conferences. The targeted audience of the conference consisted of, data scientists, data analysts, and all R users from academia and industry. The three-day conference, which consisted of several events such as workshops, regular talks, lightning talks, short tutorials, and panels, was free of charge and fully online. This article describes the challenges and benefits, as well as providing an overview of the conference's content and participants' profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many physicians in Turkey are both clinicians and researchers, and publishing their research contributes to better patient care as well as to career advancement. Objective: To identify the barriers faced by Turkish physicians to writing research papers and getting them published. Methods: Respondents were asked, through eight multiple-choice questions, about the difficulties they faced in writing research papers and in getting them published in journals. We also searched published literature for accounts of similar difficulties and answers to the question 'What is your purpose in writing scientific publications?' Results: A total of 18% (155 of 871) of physicians completed the questionnaire. About the difficulties faced in writing, 82 out of the 155 participants, or 57%, reported problems in finding financial support; 58 (40%), in obtaining required permissions and clearances; 65 (45%), in acquiring relevant skills, especially those related to data analysis or statistics; and 42 (29%), in languagerelated skills. About the difficulties in getting their papers published in journals, 85 (60%) said that they tried to overcome the difficulties by searching for appropriate solutions on the internet; 66 (47%) sought help from experienced colleagues; and 47 (33%) needed professional help in English translation and editing. Need for financial support was reported by a significantly (p = 0.04) larger proportion of associate professors or full professors (69%) than that of residents (47%) and fellows (45%). Conclusion: The main problems that Turkish physicians face in preparing scientific manuscripts were lack of financial support, inadequate knowledge of data analysis and statistics, and the paperwork involved in obtaining required approvals and permissions--problems that were common to the departments of internal medicine and of surgery. The primary motivation for writing and publishing was career advancement, especially through promotion to a higher academic rank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The Assyrian Trade Colonies Age, from the EBA to MBA, marked a shift in the trading system between Anatolia and Mesopotamia due to increased mineral trade. Assyrian traders transported tin, textiles, and valuable stones and metals, paying taxes to local rulers. They established settlements and established Karum colonies in major cities and Wabartum stations in smaller ones. It is known that donkeys and mules were used as caravan animals towards the end of the Early Bronze Age in Central Anatolia. However, we have not identified enough archaeological material to prove the existence of mules in particular. Animal bone remains recovered from the Derekutuğun mining settlement were examined, and especially the teeth of equids were further examined by the researcher. This study mentions the existence of the oldest known possible mules, especially based on the dental remains of equids found in Derekutuğun. This paper discusses the discoveries of early donkey and the earliest mule remains in Central Anatolia from the site Derekutuğun. This site represents the remains of a village dating back to the Early Bronze Age and Assyrian Trade Colonies period, associated with mining. The archaeofaunal assemblage was studied by the author and his team using classical archaeozoological methods. The dental remains of the Equidae found at Derekutuğun have been re-examined and are described in this article. The dental evidence indicates that donkeys, and possibly the earliest mules ever found in Central Anatolia, were kept at this site. Although the paper is based on the archaeozoological remains, written sources from the period also support the faunal identification. Derekutuğun was a small settlement that specialized in processing copper ore, and which was an important hub for a trade network because of its extensive mining and extraction operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Easter controversy of the late second century unveiled a profound theological and cultural debate within early Christianity. Originating from differing practices regarding the calculation of Easter dates, the dispute pitted the churches of Asia Minor against the Roman Church. This paper primarily employs a method of documentary analysis. It analyzes the accounts provided by the fourth-century historian Eusebius of Caesarea in his work The History of the Church. It is also cross-referenced with the works of second-century Christian writers. Through this process, this paper seeks to reconstruct the situation of this Easter controversy. Furthermore, it aims to uncover the struggle for apostolic authority concealed beneath the surface of this debate over dates. Central figures like Victor I and Polycrates engaged in this struggle for Apostolic authority, responding to challenges posed by heresies. Victor I leveraged his position to convene religious conferences and issue excommunication decrees against dissenting churches, laying claim to the papal primacy. However, Polycrates invoked the apostolic succession and heritage from John the Apostle to assert the legitimacy of the churches in Asia Minor, challenging Victor I's attempts at centralizing power within the Roman see. The controversy reflected broader debates over apostolic succession and ecclesiastical power structures. The Easter controversy serves as a case study of the Early Church's engagement with practical theology and the integration of religious festival culture with social backgrounds, highlighting the significance of Easter as a symbol of Christian unity and collective memory. This debate highlighted theological nuances and underscored broader issues of communal identity and the power struggle within early Christian communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of the historical trajectory of Turkish geographical practice over the past four decades, situated within the broader socio-political landscape of the country. The transmission of the modern geographical tradition from continental Europe to Turkey during the interwar period established the discipline as a holistic science of the human-environment relationship. Although this understanding started to change after the 1968 events, the 1980 Turkish military coup abruptly disrupted innovative endeavors in the discipline, prompting a resurgence of regionally focused synthesis within geography. This insular approach prevailed for several decades but began to evolve in response to the internationalization trends that emerged in the 2000s, with deliberate steps taken toward fostering innovation. Despite institutional damage resulting from the political developments following the 2016 military coup attempt, the discipline maintained its commitment to innovation. This paper critically examines the divergent responses of Turkish geography and its practitioners to the 1980 military coup and the 2016 coup attempt, highlighting the significant influence of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project of modernity, which started in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, turned into a planned action in the country with the Republic of Turkey. In this context, within the project of modernity, planned development for economic independence and the development of industry were given importance. The İzmir Economy Congress (1927) and the First Five-Year Industry Plan (1934) ensured the realization of industrial investments in this process. These investments were seen as the elements that sustain the revolutions and the basic requirements for economic/social development and were realized by the state. As one of the first steps in the modernization process of the country, the Kocaeli SEKA Paper Factory area is a concrete example where the stages of this process can be followed. With the global crisis in the second half of the 20th century, the service sector began to become a predominant sector in industrial cities. Industrial areas, which used to be located in city centers in the past, started to be decentralized towards the periphery. In this process, production areas in city centers began to lose their usability in terms of both location and production due to technological obsolescence. With its locations covering large areas in city centers, it has become attractive in terms of new uses. The need to maintain these areas, which are also important in terms of urban history, except for their original functions, but maintaining the value created by the original function, has revealed the concept of industrial heritage. After the transfer of the SEKA area, whose functioning ended, to the municipality in 2005, it was aimed to reuse. This area, which is important for the history of the city, needs to be evaluated within the scope of the concept of industrial heritage, apart from its original functions, but maintaining the value created by the original function. In this study, the coastline, historical and industrial structures of SEKA, which affects the social and economic structure of the city, will be evaluated especially with the implementation of the Sekapark Urban Transformation Project. In addition, in order to ensure the effective and efficient use of the whole area, suggestions have been developed regarding the buildings and areas that have relatively limited use in the current situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the possibilities of making pulp from sorghum grown in Bartın via the NaOH method. While setting the cooking conditions for producing pulp from annual plants, NaOH was used in quantities that amounted to 14, 16, 18, and 20% of the total weight of the dry sample. Optimum conditions were established relative to pulp yield, Kappa number, and a scoring table based on mechanical, optical, and physical values. Accordingly, optimum conditions for pulp production from sorghum stalks occurred when 20% NaOH was used at 120 °C, a 5:1 solution-tostalk ratio, and a cooking time of 60 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong motion seismometer is a kind of inertial sensor, and it can record middle- to high-frequency ground accelerations. The double-integration from acceleration to displacement amplifies errors caused by tilt, rotation, hysteresis, non-linear instrument response, and noise. This leads to long-period, non-physical baseline drifts in the integrated displacements. GNSS enables the direct observation of the ground displacements, with an accuracy of several millimeters to centimeters and a sample rate of 1 Hz to 50 Hz. Combining GNSS and a strong motion seismometer, one can obtain an accurate displacement series. Typically, a Kalman filter is adopted to integrate GNSS displacements and strong motion accelerations, using the empirical values of noise uncertainty. Considering that there are significantly different errors introduced by the above-mentioned tilt, rotation, hysteresis, and non-linear instrument response at different stations or at different times at the same station, it is inappropriate to employ a fixed noise uncertainty for strong motion accelerations. In this paper, we present a Sage–Husa Kalman filter, where the noise uncertainty of strong motion acceleration is adaptively estimated, to integrate GNSS and strong motion acceleration for obtaining the displacement series. The performance of the proposed method was validated by a shake table simulation experiment and the GNSS/strong motion co-located stations collected during the 2023 Mw 7.8 and Mw 7.6 earthquake doublet in southeast Turkey. The experimental results show that the proposed method enhances the adaptability to the variation of strong motion accelerometer noise level and improves the precision of integrated displacement series. The displacement derived from the proposed method was up to 28% more accurate than those from the Kalman filter in the shake table test, and the correlation coefficient with respect to the references arrived at 0.99. The application to the earthquake event shows that the proposed method can capture seismic waveforms at a promotion of 46% and 23% in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively, compared with the results of the Kalman filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the urban centers of Türkiye, where cultural changes are more widespread and effective, wedding processional is replaced by the solemnization of the marriage at indoor weddings, and the Kūdegū (old Turkic language; refers to bridegroom, son-in-law) awaiting the bride's arrival at the boy's house is replaced by differences in the way of the bride and groom's entry together; moreover, while wedding rituals such as the bridal bath and groom's hammam are being forgotten, bachelor/bachelorette parties are on the rise. The beliefs and practices related to the bride being taken out of the girl's house with a special ceremony have deep meanings, such as blessing the bride who has just joined the family, acclimatizing the bride who feels like an outsider and avoiding her from these feelings, and protecting the bride and groom from the körmös (spirits in Turkic mythology, devilish entities living in the underworld), bad spirits, and the evil eye. In this paper, the structure, function, practices, and beliefs of the rituals surrounding the bride and groom on the last day of Anatolian Turkish weddings are analyzed using a qualitative research method. In addition, this study identified the betrothal, performance, beliefs, and practices surrounding the ritual of "bridal pick up" among Anatolian Turks and evaluated the symbols and signs in the ritual procedures in the functional context of the origins and reflections of traditional Turkish beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to examine whether the characteristics of the audit committee impact the timely reporting represented by audit report lag (ARL), firm-based abnormal audit report lag (FAARL), and industry-based audit reports lag (IAARL). The sample of the study includes mostly hand-collected 2,284 firm-year observations obtained from Turkey's listed non-financial companies. Main regression results show that audit committee gender diversity, meeting frequency, and independence are negatively associated with timely reporting. Furthermore, additional analysis indicates the negative association between timely reporting and the audit committee effectiveness indexes created by the coexistence of the audit committee. Also, an interaction effect between audit committee independence and gender diversity concerning the timeliness of financial reporting has been documented. The use of fixed effects estimators and two-step system GMM estimator also supported the main results. This paper aims to provide concrete contribution to the literature by examining timely reporting in an emerging market like Turkey. The results suggest that regulatory bodies and companies should review the audit committee structure to better timely reporting and reduce firm and industry-based abnormal delays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has evolved into an important provider of resources for developing countries, encompassing capital, know-how and expertise. China has also actively worked to strengthen diplomatic ties with developing regions since the early 2000s. Against this backdrop, the governments in many developing countries have moved to incorporate China as a significant factor in their geopolitical and geoeconomic considerations. Under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP), Turkey has also sought to foster relations with China, particularly since the early 2010s. This pursuit has been further triggered by Ankara's strained relations with the United States and the European Union. Turkish political leadership envisions China as a potentially crucial partner that could enhance the country's autonomy in relation to the West. While this expectation has not entirely materialized so far, there is an ongoing debate regarding the extent to which China can potentially be a transformative actor in Turkey's position within the international order. This paper contributes to this debate by locating Turkey-China engagement within a broader context of China's power and influence in the developing world. The paper suggests that the potential for Turkey's cooperation with China is likely to remain relatively limited for the foreseeable future. This is not only due to Turkey's deeply rooted ties with the West, but also because of the nature of China's global power, which is more partial and not as deep as commonly assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on examining how ecotourism can help rural development. Eco-tourism is an important type of tourism that provides economic and social benefits to the local community by exhibiting rural life, culture, and nature in rural areas. The study was conducted in Yozgat province of Turkey using primary and secondary data. In this context, interviews were had with the authorities of the Culture and Tourism Provincial Directorate, Yozgat Culture, Tourism and Development Association, and local administrations, plus it was observed in the field. Published publications and scientific studies on the subject were also used as secondary sources. According to the research findings, ecotourism was considered an effective and important model for the sustainable development of local communities. In the study, the eco-tourism potential of the province, strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T) were revealed by SWOT analysis. Opportunities and strengths were considered significant for sustainable ecotourism potential. Focusing on local tourism and rural development as a leverage point, this paper puts forward proposals on management strategies and offers a different viewpoint on the need for rural innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Syrian crisis has reached its 10th year, this paper explores posttraumatic growth and the related factors among Syrian refugees in Turkey, with the aim of having a better understanding of the predictors of PTG and the risk factors that may play a role in the inhibition of the growth. In this cross-sectional study, 217 displaced Syrian refugees completed the Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), Brief COPE, General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and sociodemographic information form by a self-reported online survey. Risk and protective factors were associated in bivariate analysis with growth p<0.05 and were retained in multiple regression models to control the confounders. Participants' 60.7% were females, and the mean age was 32.6± 9.4 years. Growth was found to be highest in the Personal Strengths, New Possibilities and Appreciation of Life, Relating to Others, and Spiritual Change. While the consistency of job education, economic status, education level, number of children, level of self-efficacy, level of Turkish, active coping style, religious coping, and self-distraction (p<0.05) were protective factors, the number of traumatic events, and the PTSD symptoms and self-blame were risk factors (p<0.05) in multiple analysis. However, no significant relationship was found for the variables of marital status, taking support, self-distraction, emotional and instrumental support, positive reframing, planning, cultural perception, working type, and age (p>0.05). In conclusion, the findings have provided valuable insight into the domains of the growth among Syrian refugees and discussed both clinical and research-based future recommendations that could be made to improve the mental health of the refugees based on the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The warnings about Turkey's not-so-near accession to the EU are explored as a strategic tool in the Brexit campaign, linking concerns about sovereignty and immigration compounded with the anxieties surrounding Islam and the threat of terrorism. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Edward Said's Orientalism and the unique perspectives gathered from British Turks, this paper sheds light on their nuanced responses. It uncovers strategies of disbelief and denial in the face of the constructed narrative that portrayed Turkey as an undesirable 'Other' with its predominantly Muslim population. A closer analysis of some British Turks' narratives is premised not only on the sacralised defence of the principles of Turkish westernisation but also on the socio-political reputation of the Islamic Ottoman past as almighty. The article equally contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between British national identity and discourses surrounding immigration, sovereignty, and Islamophobia within the context of Brexit, as well as the principles by which the privileges of modern, secular Turkey, as well as the demise of the mighty Ottoman image, are maintained. In a paradoxical manner, the act of denial only serves to affirm the Brexit campaign's narrative depicting Turkey as an undesirable 'Other' with a predominantly Muslim demographic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adlerian Pattern-Focused Therapy is an evidence-based practice based on Individual Psychology. This paper explores the therapy's definition, historical development, the specific processes involved in the therapeutic sessions, and how case conceptualization is approached. Central to this therapy is its goal to transform maladaptive behavioral and cognitive patterns into healthier, adaptive ones. The structured approach encompasses a series of 10 sessions, focusing primarily on the strategy of pattern replacement. Tools like the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Outcome Rating Scale, and Session Rating Scale play a pivotal role in these counseling sessions, providing measurable outcomes and feedback. While Adlerian Pattern-Focused Therapy has gained notable traction in contemporary mental health discourse, its widespread adoption remains limited within Türkiye. Nevertheless, its evidence-based foundation and pragmatic application render it a promising avenue for enhancing mental health services, not only in Türkiye but also across global contexts. By providing information about this therapy, this study may contribute to its implementation and execution within the scope of mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the protective factors that may reduce the possibility of individuals' internet addiction is important in almost every aspect of an individual's life. The present study aimed to explore the association between psychological resilience and internet addiction through self-control. Data were collected from 422 young adults with a mean age of 21.26 years (SD = 2.28) in Türkiye. Our analyses shed light on the gender and age differences in the variables of the study. The current paper also revealed that psychological resilience was negatively associated with internet addiction, and self-control mediated the decrease of internet addiction by psychological resilience among young adults. This suggests that the improvement of self-control through psychological resilience may be a highly reliable and practical way to address internet addiction problems effectively among young adults or other youth around the world. The findings of this study are of great importance in terms of preventing and intervening in internet addiction in young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel route optimization framework to solve the problem of instant pick-up and delivery for e-grocery orders. The proposed framework extends the traditional time-windowed package delivery problem. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach for this integrated problem using actual delivery data from HepsiJet, a leading e-commerce logistics provider in Turkey. We first employ several machine learning algorithms and simulations to investigate the capacity of the courier. Subsequently, a dynamic route planning workflow is executed with a highly specialized and novel routing algorithm. Our proposed heuristic approach considers combined fleet operations for delivering regular packages originating from a central depot and dynamic e-grocery orders picked up at local supermarkets and delivered to the customers. The heuristic algorithm constitutes k-opt and node transfer operation variations customized for this integrated problem. We report the performance of our approach in problem instances from the literature and instances from HepsiJet's daily operations, which we also publicly share as new route optimization problem instances. Our results suggest that, despite the more complex nature of the integrated problem, our proposed algorithm and solution framework produce more efficient and cost-effective solutions that offer additional business opportunities for companies such as HepsiJet. The computational analyses reveal that implementing our proposed approach yields significant efficiency gains and cost reductions for the company, with a distance reduction of over 30%, underscoring our approach's effectiveness in achieving substantial cost savings and enhanced efficiency through integrating two distinct delivery operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the assembly of an updated dataset of detrital zircon geochronology and Lu–Hf isotopes for Turkey, Cyprus and Greek peninsula. This first version of the dataset documented 286 samples with detrital zircon U–Pb data and 70 samples with zircon Lu–Hf isotopes from 42 published articles. These samples are mainly distributed in seven geologic‐tectonic units in the Eastern Mediterranean Tethyan region. The compilation of dataset will be periodically accessed in the Deep‐Time Digital Earth repository, containing more updated raw data of (un)published scientific research. We believe that the construction of such a dataset is fundamental to studies of clastic strata and also to understanding of crustal evolution in the Eastern Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainties related to runout distances in shallow landslide analyses may not only affect lives but may also result in economic losses. Owing to the increase in shallow landslides, which are especially triggered by heavy rainfall, runout distances have been investigated to decipher whether applications of a functional runout distance are feasible. This paper aims to give insights into the modeling of the shallow landslide runout probability in Eocene flysch facies in the Western Black Sea region of Türkiye. There are two main stages in this study—which are dominated by empirical models, the detection of initiation points, and propagation—which help us to understand and visualize the possible runout distances in the study area. Shallow landslide initiation point determination using machine learning has a critical role in the ordered tasks in this study. Modified Holmgren and simplified friction-limited model (SFLM) parameters were applied to provide a good approximation of runout distances during the propagation stage using Flow-R software. The empirical model parameters suggested for debris flows and shallow landslides were investigated comparatively. The runout distance models had approximately the same performance depending on the debris flow and shallow landslide parameters. While the impacted total runout areas for the debris flow parameters were predicted to amount to approximately 146 km2, the impacted total runout areas for the shallow landslide parameters were estimated to be about 101 km2. Considering the inclusion of the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 precipitation scenarios in the analyses, this also shows that the shallow landslide and debris flow runout distance impact areas will decrease. The investigation of runout distance analyses and the inclusion of the RCP scenarios in the runout analyses are highly intriguing for landslide researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the streamflow corresponding to a particular probability is of great importance in many hydrological studies, such as determining hydroelectric water potential, assessing water quality, and investigating sedimentation and drought. This paper aims to effectively estimate low-flow quantiles since hydrologic droughts motivate the study. The study illustrates a methodology, where droughts are characterized by the lower part of the flow--duration curve (FDC), and offers a perspective estimating low-flow quantiles related to the basin characteristics. Low-flow quantiles are derived both from traditional FDCs curves and median annual FDCs (AFDCs). As an innovation, the concept of areal scale factor, which represents a scaling ratio between the basin area and flow quantiles, was introduced. Unlike many other parametric approaches, this study models the streamflow quantiles depending on the basin characteristics instead of the parameters in the analytical equation of FDCs. The methodology was evaluated for the Western and Southwestern Anatolia regions in Turkey. The outcomes were compared for two types of FDCs in two regions. The approach gave similar results for both study regions. AFDCs provided a distinct advantage over traditional FDCs, especially for low-flow quantiles, due to the superiority of AFDCs in estimating streamflow quantiles of intermittent streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional visual inspection technique for damage assessment of buildings immediately after an earthquake can be time‐consuming, labor‐intensive, and risky. Numerous studies have been carried out using deep learning techniques, particularly convolutional neural network (CNN), to evaluate the damage to building structures after an earthquake using buildings' damage images. Quantum computing, on the other hand, is a computing environment that can exploit superposition and entanglement, which are not available in classical computing environments, to achieve higher performance using parallelism between qubits. This paper presents a novel quantum CNN (QCNN) approach to detect damage to reinforced concrete (RC) buildings from images after the earthquake. The QCNN model is developed and trained using the RC building damaged images collected from past earthquakes. The performance of this model is evaluated based on the multiclass damage detection ability of the real‐world RC building damaged images collected from the recent earthquake in Turkey in February 2023. Furthermore, the seismic damage detection accuracy obtained from the QCNN model is compared with various CNN architecture results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeastern Turkey perished by the M w 7.8, Kahramanmaras earthquake on February 6, 2023, at 01:17 UT (04:17 LT). The Kahramanmaras-centered event, hit by the break of the East Anatolian Fault Line, is felt in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Cyprus on the border of Turkey. Together with Syria, it causes loss of lives and severe damage in 10 cities. This work is dedicated to the people of the region. The study discusses the causality of anomalies by conducting ionospheric anomaly research via the interpolated TEC map obtained from the CODE according to the coordinates of the epicenter of the earthquake (latitude, longitude). The TEC amplitudes are observed by evolving the time-domain TEC map into the frequency-domain with the Fourier transform. The peaks of the amplitudes allow preliminary information for the anomaly days. For the anomaly, the TEC (TECU) boundaries are drawn by the statistical specification. The TEC map outside these boundaries is marked as an anomaly. The causality of abnormalities is tried to be read through the triad of the geomagnetic storm(s) , solar activity , and the earthquake effect. One can find seven anomaly days in the paper. January 30, February 2, 3, 11, 15, 16, and 21 are the anomaly days. The essay probably detects the anomaly before 3 days related to the Southeastern earthquake. • Reads the causality of the earthquake in southeast Turkey (Mw 7.8), through the ionosphere-earth crust relationship. • Notices potential anomalies by presenting the time-domain TEC atlas in the frequency domain with Fourier spectral analysis. • Considering all possible TEC anomaly essentials detect the precursors of the earthquake 3 days before the event day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 6 February 2023, an earthquake doublet occurred, the first at Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık district ( M w = 7. 7) at local time 04:17 and the second, which approximately 9 hours after the first earthquake, occurred at Kahramanmaraş Elbistan district ( M w = 7. 6) at local time 13:24 in Türkiye. It is a disaster affected 11 cities in the eastern region in Türkiye and is referred as "Disaster of the Century". Earthquake disasters allow humanity to investigate seismic behavior under related construction details and revising the seismic codes. The authors conducted observational research to obtain interpretive information and digital data by investigating structural damages of moderately and heavily damaged buildings from earthquake sites. In this paper, performance evaluation is done based on existence of soft storey, weak column-strong beam, deficiencies and pounding effect. Damages are classified as beam, column, beam-column joint and shear wall, infill wall, roof and scaffolding damages. Ampleness of soft storey, column damages, inadequate joint reinforcement, inadequate structural ductility and low capacity, strong beam-weak column effect, and infill wall damages have been observed from the field. As a result of field observation, structural deficiencies, irregularities and mismatching capacity design principles have been concluded as common problems of reinforced concrete buildings in the Kahramanmaraş earthquake site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, reversed-phase HPLC procedure was conducted for the synchronized amount of water-soluble such vitamins as thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3) pyridoxine (B6), and cobalamin (B12) in four Meat Based Ethnic Foods (MBEF) of Turkey. In this paper, we investigated MBEF Kelle-Paça, Arnavut Ciğeri, Erzurum Cağ Kebabı, Keşkek respectively. In this paper, rapid and a simple method was constructed for the determination of some water-soluble vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B4, B12), by High-performance liquid chromatography. The B2, B3, B4, B6, and B12 content was determined high in Arnavut Ciğeri 498.68 µg/portion, 2.9857 µg/portion, 24.607 µg/portion, 2.2149 µg/portion, 178.36 µg/portion respectively a significant amount B6 ingredient in Erzurum Cağ Kebab 1.5320 µg/portion. The results of investigation showed that among these meat based ethnic foods are rich sources of vitamins Arnavut Ciğeri. In the food sector, the successful implementation of a simple, low-cost, and time-efficient approach is used to determine these vitamins. We have indicated our meat based ethnic foods are healthy and available. And also, the most commonly used method in the determination of vitamins of the B-groups is RP-HPLC is most suitable procedure. The procedures validation indicated that it is extremely sensitive, selective, and linear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complexity and uncertainty of decision-making, probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs) are currently important tools for qualitative evaluation of decision-makers. The asymmetry of evaluation information can easily lead to the loss of subjective preference information for decision-makers, and the existing operation of decision-maker evaluation information fusion operators is difficult to solve this problem. To solve such problems, this paper proposes some new operational methods for PLTSs based on Dombi T-conorm and T-norm. Considering the interrelationships between the input independent variables of PLTSs, the probabilistic linguistic weighted Dombi Bonferroni mean Power average (PLWDBMPA) operators are extended and the properties of these aggregation operators are proposed. Secondly, the PLWDBMPA operator is used to fuse the evaluation information of decision-makers, avoiding the loss of decision information as much as possible. This paper uses social media platforms and web crawler technology to obtain online comments from users on decision-making to obtain the public's attitude towards decision events. TF-IDF and Word2Vec are used to calculate the weight of alternatives on each attribute. Under traditional group decision-making methods and integrating the wisdom of the public, a novel multi-attribute group decision-making method based on TODIM method is proposed. Finally, the case study of Turkey earthquake shelter selection proves this method is scientific and effective. Meanwhile, the superiority of this method was further verified through comparisons with the PL-TOPSIS, PLWA, SPOTIS and PROMETHEE method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of humanitarian logistics operations is one of the most critical planning problems to be addressed immediately after a disaster. The response phase covers the first 12 hours after the disaster and is prone to uncertainties because of debris and gridlock traffic influencing the dispatching operations of relief logistics teams in the areas affected. Moreover, the teams have limited time and resources, and they must provide equitable distribution of supplies to affected people. This paper proposes an adjustable robust optimization approach for the associated humanitarian logistics problem. The approach creates routes for relief logistics teams and decides the service times of the visited sites to distribute relief supplies by taking the uncertainty in travel times into account. The associated model allows relief logistics teams to adjust their service decisions according to the revealed information during the process. Hence, our solutions are robust for the worst-case realization of travel times, but still more flexible and less conservative than those of static robust optimization. We propose novel reformulation techniques to model these adjustable decisions. The resulting models are computationally challenging optimization problems to be solved by exact methods, and, hence, we propose heuristic algorithms. The state-of-the-art heuristic, which is based on clustering and a dedicated decision-rule algorithm, yields near-optimal results for medium-sized instances and is scalable even for large-sized instances. We have also shown the effectiveness of our approach in a case study using a data set obtained from an earthquake that hit the Van province of Turkey in 2011. History: This paper has been accepted for the Transportation Science Special Issue on Emerging Topics in Transportation Science and Logistics. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2023.1204. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on study of the geomagnetic field variation response caused by a series of earthquakes with magnitudes of Mw = 7.5–7.8 in Turkey on February 6, 2023. The initial data include high-precision observations of the geomagnetic field with a one-second sampling rate recorded at magnetic observatories in Russia and neighboring countries from middle to high latitudes. The paper analyzes the morphology of the geomagnetic signal, its amplitude-frequency characteristics, pulses in the rate of change and delays of the geomagnetic field response to earthquakes with magnitudes Mw = 7–8 depending on the distance to the source. The results suggest that the geomagnetic effect is detected best in the rate of change recordings, reaching anomalous amplitudes of 10 nT/s. The signal delay ranges from 221 to 592 s depending on the magnetic field component and the distance to the epicenter, which is in the range from 765 to 2650 km for the selected observatories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rampant terrorism poses a serious threat to the national security of many countries worldwide, particularly due to separatism and extreme nationalism. This paper focuses on the development and application of a temporal self-exciting point process model to the terror data of three countries: the US, Turkey, and the Philippines. To account for occurrences with the same time-stamp, this paper introduces the order mark and reward term in parameter selection. The reward term considers the triggering effect between events in the same time-stamp but different order. Additionally, this paper provides comparisons between the self-exciting models generated by day-based and month-based arrival times. Another highlight of this paper is the development of a model to predict the number of terror events using a combination of simulation and machine learning, specifically the random forest method, to achieve better predictions. This research offers an insightful approach to discover terror event patterns and forecast future occurrences of terror events, which may have practical application towards national security strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal recycling workers (IRWs), including waste pickers (WPs) and waste sorters, are essential constituents of sustainable ecosystems in many cities in the Global South. Despite their valuable contributions to the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable urban waste recycling, most IRWs work in precarious conditions. This paper examines recent efforts by local municipalities in Izmir to implement co-production design as a new institutional arrangement to generate green jobs for informal workers that provide high and stable incomes, job security, and social recognition. Using qualitative analyses of recent developments in the legal framework and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, this paper identifies the following challenges associated with the current co-production efforts as its main findings: the lack of fiscal and legislative support from the central government; failure to include all IRWs in the co-production schemes; and the potential exclusion of marginalized communities due to the arbitrary requirements of a security clearance, which limit the inclusion of IRWs in co-production efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reconstruction of history and traditions linked to Aeolian identity in Asia Minor, concentrating on the archaiologiai and other mythical accounts about the Aeolian cities and with a primary focus on creating and reconstructing Kyme's history. The origins of these poleis are connected with the so-called "Aeolian migration", whose tradition is reported by Herodotus (1.149-151) and Strabo (13.1.3): this account is linked to the origins of Kyme too and it is based on the Aeolian founders who landed on the new territory, previously populated by an autochtonous ethnos (Pelasgians). The literary sources attest another account concerning the origins of this polis, which is based on the role of the Amazons (who represent the "otherness") as founders and eponymous of the city (Hecat., FGrHist 1 F226; Strabo 11.5.4; 12.3.21; 13.3.6; Mela 1.18.90; Steph. Byz., s.v. Κύμη). The identity of the Aeolians in Asia Minor alternatively is constructed on these traditions, which are interpreted by modern scholars as piece of "intentional and perceived history": such accounts would be a literary creation, composed of the memories and perceptions of the Aeolian ethnos, who needed to represent its origins at certain moment of its history. Following the current historiographical methodologies, this paper will examin the literary sources about the foundation stories and mythical accounts relating to the Aeolian city of Kyme and will try to give a reconstruction of its history and identity. Moreover, considering a wider perspective, the paper will focus on the creation of early historiographical representations of Aeolians' past and will investigate the mechanisms with which the Aeolian history and identity have been elaborated by the ancient authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Intensive Care Units are one of the areas with the lowest digitization rate. This study aims to measure the effect of digitizing medical records kept in paper forms in ICUs on time-saving and paper consumption. In our study, care forms in ICUs were transferred to digital media. In our research, care forms in ICUs were transferred to digital media. Methods: The time required to fill out the nursing care forms on paper and digital media was measured, the change in paper and printer costs was determined, and the results were compared. Two volunteer nurses working in the ICU of a university hospital in Istanbul measured the time it took to fill out the forms of patients on paper. Then, a future projection was made using digital form data of 5,420 care days of 428 patients hospitalized between October 2017 and September 2018. Only anonymous data of patients hospitalized in the general ICU were used, and other untempered were not included in the study. Results: When the forms were filled in digitally by the nurses, one nurse per patient per day saved 56.82 min (3.95% per day). Discussion: Health care services are provided in hospitals in Turkey with 28,353 adult intensive care beds and an occupancy rate of 68%. Based on the occupancy rate of 68%, the number of full beds is 19,280. When 56.82 min are saved per bed from the forms filled by the nurses, 760.71 care days are dedicated. Considering the salary of 1,428.67 US dollars per nurse, the savings to be achieved are estimated to be 13,040,804.8 US dollars per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay is a well-known folklorist in Turkey and abroad. While writing her doctoral thesis, she applied to Elazig tales the Propp method, which was developed by Russian scientist Vladimir Propp in his work "Morfogija Skazki", published in Leningrad in 1928, which marks the beginning of her scientific works. She is the first scientist to implement the Propp method, which is frequently used by folklorists today, in Türkiye. She started her career at Ankara University, Faculty of Language, History and Geogra- phy, and continued at Hacettepe University, thus creating the Hacettepe University school. She led the establishment of the chair of Turkish Folklore at the same university between 1985-1991. She received the title of "Associate Professor" with her research titled "Aşık Style Poetry Tradition and Dream Motif". She served as a member and consultant in commissions and committees related to culture, folklore and education activities of various institutions such as the Prime Ministry of the Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of National Education, UNESCO and the State Planning Organization. In addition to her 5 books, Prof. Dr. Türkeş Günay has hundreds of publications including articles, papers, introductions-critiques, essays and translations. Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay, who continues her duty as the Dean of the Faculty of Education at Girne American University, sheds light on young researchers with her scientific articles and speeches. Scientists are people who produce, research, question, present their knowledge to the world of science and train young scientists. Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay, a scientist who has devoted her life to Turkish cultural studies, is principled, open to different suggestions and extremely objective as an administrator. She is uncompromising in scientific and business disciplines. She never conducts her relations with the people she works with on the subordinate-superior plane. By displaying her respectful style towards identities and personalities to both academic staff and students, she approaches young academics and students both like a mother and a teacher. In this study, information about Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay's life, her academic and administrative duties, the theses she supervised, and the books, articles and papers she wrote is given. In the study, the following books of Prof. Dr. Türkeş Günay, each a value in itself, were examined in detail: "Elazig Tales and Propp Method", "Aşık Style Poetry Tradition and Dream Motif in Turkey", "Risâlet-i Nushiyye and Yunus Emre", "History of Turks", and "Criticism of Turkish Culture". Based on the works of Turkish culture researcher Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay, attention was drawn to the messages she conveyed to the Turkish society and the importance of her books was examined. In the study, the views of Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay about science and the situation of the Turkish world in the historical course were pointed out and her suggestions and solutions were discussed. In addition, the articles written by Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay on the importance of critical perspective as regards the development and growth of societies are also included within the scope of the study. In addition, the bibliography of Prof. Dr. Umay Türkeş Günay's works is provided. Thus, an attempt has been made to draw a scientific portrait of Prof. Dr. Türkeş Günay based on the works. In the 80th year of her birth, the life path of the professor of the professors, Umay Mother of the Turks, is examined and her contribution to Turkish science is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses issues pertaining to the future of work and sustainability through the lens of a case study of ecological deterioration and how it destroys and creates green jobs in a forest village of Istanbul. As elsewhere in major urban centres of developing countries, the hyper-expansion of city regions due to authoritarian developmentalism fosters the state-led construction sector in Turkey. Growth-driven economic policies continue to have adverse effects on the environment, resulting in deforestation among an array of ecological damage. Based on a qualitative analysis of oral history interviews and observations informed by a larger interdisciplinary research project, we observe resilience in the forest village under scrutiny as certain types of work are abandoned, and new forms are created by adaptation to the ecological and social conditions. The perceptions of changing conditions by locals vary across existing ethnic, gender, and class hierarchies in the local community. Moreover, our findings indicate that the types of work available in the village prior to urban transformation were not all decent or green. In face of ongoing ecological deterioration in a (formerly) forest community, participatory micro-initiatives, and grassroots, utilizing local community projects emerge that nevertheless pursue a green and just transition. We focus on one such initiative, the Community Fungi platform, to demonstrate the possibility of working towards a collective imagination of a green future inspired by past but unforgotten sustainable communal practices, in the context of the forest village under scrutiny in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern people have cut themselves off from the sacred and imaginative realties and live in secular and measurable time. They live in a world described by Max Weber in terms of disenchantment. In Muslim society, many Muslims are not detached from reality; rather, they live in an enchanted world, a world of spirits and forces. This creates tensions between secular liberal and traditional views of life. In this sense, the young people strives to take a certain place and role in that society; they try to know themselves in society, to determine their personalities’ limits, to find out ‘who they are, what they believe, what they value and connect, what their aim should be, in short, what their place in society is’. In this research, the identity, religious life and behavior of Muslim young people, religious resilience, and accordingly religious changes and transformations have been examined along with religious potential. To be resilient, a person must be able to change, and to adapt to new circumstances. Thus, the paper explores that the Turkish youth may have new religious perceptions and different identity structures depending on the color of the time. The effect of different cultures and social changes and the new social manifestations that develop depending on this situation can be effective on the way to the transformation of religious identities. İn the first step, this paper is exploring the questions: ‘how does religion affect young people's recognition and evaluation of themselves and life? The next step is to research how Muslim youth can help people experiencing resilience to be strengthened, and how they can be strengthened as they exercise a religiosity and their identity. The paper could help to find out how religious faith can have in enabling people to overcome difficulty by giving them faith to hold on to life and find meaning and purpose, as well as by providing a supportive network of people. The data were obtained from semi-structured interviews which were conducted with 30 students of Şırnak University in Turkey. İt includes participants’ accounts of their process of making meaning of the world, their evolving understanding, perceptions, experiences and identity situations. Nevertheless, literature survey method has chosen to support and enhance the quality of the research. The qualitative research method was adopted as an interpretative paradigm. The data shows that; the relationship between the individual and religious belief and identity motivation is related to inhomogeneous results and factors. Young people create their own identity, which is mixed, and bricolage. Each individual has different conceptions and different motivations regarding religious identity. In this sense, religiosity and identity is fed by different social and psychological dynamics; in general, it seems to be related to time, space and socialization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, logistics is one of the most important tools in disaster relief operations. The logistic planning is essential and a key component in covering the initial needs in the immediate aftermath of any disaster. Planning is both necessary and practical, as it is generally possible to predict the types of disasters that should affect a given location and the needs that such disasters will be likely to cause. Transport planning, reception and distribution of emergency supplies, type and quantity of the resources, the way of procurement and storage of the supplies, the tools of the tracking and means transportation to the stricken area, the specialization of teams participating in the operation and plan of cooperation between these teams, are some vital life-saving coordination roles after natural disasters are connected directly to logistic planning. Turkey is located in one of the most active earthquake and volcanic regions which causes to many major earthquake-prone, in the world with a majority of the population living in these earthquake-prone areas. Earthquakes are one of the major disasters that require emergency logistic planning strategies due to their devastating effects, the large-scale natural disasters could cause major problem on commodities such as food, medicine etc. In this paper, a game theoretical model for emergency logistic planning is developed. To do this a cooperative game model is constructed from a flow problem which occurred after an earthquake in Istanbul. Several solution concepts for maximizing the transferred commodity are given. The paper ends with a conclusion and outlook to future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human communities suffered a vast socioeconomic burden in dealing with the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) globally. Real-word data about these burdens can inform governments about evidence-based resource allocation and prioritization. The aim of this scoping review was to map the cost-of-illness (CoI) studies associated with COVID-19. Methods: This scoping review was conducted from January 2019 to December 2021. We searched cost-of-illness papers published in English within Web of Sciences, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct and ProQuest. For each eligible study, extracted data included country, publication year, study period, study design, epidemiological approach, costing method, cost type, cost identification, sensitivity analysis, estimated unit cost and national burden. All of the analyses were applied in Excel software. Results: 2352 records were found after the search strategy application, finally 28 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Most of the studies were done in the United States, Turkey, and China. The prevalence-based approach was the most common in the studies, and most of studies also used Hospital Information System data (HIS). There were noticeable differences in the costing methods and the cost identification. The average cost of hospitalization per patient per day ranged from 101$ in Turkey to 2,364$ in the United States. Among the studies, 82.1% estimated particularly direct medical costs, 3.6% only indirect costs, and 14.3% both direct and indirect costs. Conclusion: The economic burden of COVID-19 varies from country to country. The majority of CoI studies estimated direct medical costs associated with COVID-19 and there is a paucity of evidence for direct non-medical, indirect, and intangible costs, which we recommend for future studies. To create homogeneity in CoI studies, we suggest researchers follow a conceptual framework and critical appraisal checklist of cost-of-illness (CoI) studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valuation of the economic, social and environmental impacts of air pollution has become crucial for the benefitcost analysis of pollution restriction strategies, which serve as a foundation for establishing priorities for action. This paper focuses on the estimation of total external costs caused by road transport-related air pollutants using an integrated evaluation methodology combining air quality modelling, engineering science and economics. Emission factors and transport network characteristics were used to compute emissions from the road transport that is followed by economic valuation approaches adopted from international case studies and used for calculating the economic costs of air pollution in Türkiye. The results showed that total external costs of air pollution in Türkiye in 2018 ranged between 37,500 euros which is computed for CO emissions and 2,686 million euros computed as an upper limit for NOx emissions. Regarding the social costs of CO2 emissions, the values range between 31 million euro and 1,427 million euro, the former represents the low value estimate while the latter is the high value estimate. The findings indicate that the impact of emissions from road transport on environment and society can be substantial in Türkiye. Therefore, some regulations are necessary to reduce transport emissions and to sustain socio-economic welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the Turkish foreign policy towards the African continent in the 21st century. With the end of the Cold War and the world order centered on a bipolar logic, Turkey has had greater autonomy to manage its international relations, maintaining a more active foreign policy by expanding its economic, diplomatic, and security affairs beyond the West. In this context, under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the African continent has come to occupy an increasingly prominent place in Turkish foreign relations. Thus, since the early 2000s, there has been a substantial increase in Turkey's presence on the continent, characterized, among other aspects, by the intensification of bilateral trade flows, the expansion of the diplomatic network on the continent, its participation in the mediation of conflicts and the offer of humanitarian assistance to African actors. In this context, and based on the literature on Middle Powers and Regional Powers, this paper discusses the intensification of Turkey's ties with African countries since the beginning of the 21st century, comprehending it as part of a broader international projection strategy. To this end, the study adopts a hermeneutic approach, relying on the literature review on Turkish-African relations and the analysis, supported by quantitative data, of the developments of these relations in the political, economic, and security axes throughout the period in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On February 6, 2023, at 01 : 17 UTC, a M = 7.8 earthquake struck the southern area of Turkey near Gaziantep town and was followed by a second earthquake of M = 7.5 at 10 : 24 UTC with the epicenter in Elbistan city. Both events were associated with the Anatolian Fault System and have claimed over 50,000 victims, as reported by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, and caused serious damage in the regions of southern Turkey and northern Syria. Seismic waves related to strong Turkey earthquakes have been recorded both by seismic stations throughout the globe and on other devices such as the ground deformation (GNSS, strainmeters, or tiltmeters) networks. In this paper, we show and analyze the earthquake signals recorded by bore-hole tilt stations that monitor seismic and volcanic activities at Mt. Etna. Tilt stations showed very large variations, despite their distance from the epicenter (approximately 1950 km) with a period between 10 and 25 seconds. We compared tilt and seismic data for a co–located station evidencing a very similar waveform that highlight how tiltmeters respond to translational acceleration rather than ground tilt during a teleseism, suggesting that, for waves with this period, they may behave as horizontal seismometers. By using these signals, we evidence the different behaviors of two of the most used models of tiltmeters on volcanoes (Lily and Pinnacle) and how they are useful for instrument calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

he paper analyzes the stone inscription in the Asia Minor city of Aphrodisias in the context of the religious pluralism of this environment at the time of the creation of the inscription. Therefore, the questions of the cultural context of the origin of the inscription in Aphrodisias, its dating and linguistic specificities are analyzed in particular, and an attempt is madeto find an answer to the question of who the Godfearers are in question here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide an overview of the existence of waqf in Turkey and the changes that occurred during the Ottoman Empire, which for a long time sustained the existence of Islamic civilization, including community service in the fields of worship, education, social and military. Even though Turkey has been completely secularized, waqf still exists in various forms. Using literary methods, historical qualitative approaches, and descriptive analysis, the researchers attempt to reveal the conditions and types of waqf in Turkey during the Ottoman period and the modern era, namely after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. In general, the researchers found that waqf in Turkey was used for humanitarian purposes, both for Muslims and non-Muslims, and animals might also benefit from the waqf. In the post-Ottoman Turkish period, waqf emerged in other forms, such as special waqf to deal with earthquakes and natural disasters, as well as to help widows and children of war victims. Sufi orders also played a role in the development of waqf, which avoided direct conflict with the secular government of the time of Kemal Atatürk and his supporters. Sufi orders lived to develop Waqf in community services, hospitals, education, and other social activities— expansion of sufi waqf in the Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy consumption is of great importance for the sustainable development of a country in terms of economic, social and environmental aspects. In financial development, it is an important factor for a country's economic growth, stability and prosperity. In the paper, the nexus among energy consumption, financial development, economic growth and trade openness were tested using the ARDL method for the period 1980-2020. In the study, the square of financial development was also included in the analysis, and the nonlinear relationship between energy consumption and financial development was also examined. The findings showed that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between energy consumption and financial development. Accordingly, initially, financial development increases energy consumption, but after a certain point, energy consumption begins to decrease. In addition, it has been determined that economic growth positively effects energy consumption in both the short and long term, while trade openness negatively effects. Analysis of the relationship between financial development and energy consumption will be an important step to understand the economic, environmental and social effects of energy policies and to build a sustainable energy future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple choice exams appear as the most common method used to measure student success in education systems in Turkey and around the world. Evaluation of multiple choice exams is usually done by optical form reading systems using expensive optical forms and optical scanners. The most important reason for using optical form reading systems is to reduce the error rate to zero in the evaluation process. In this study, an alternative system is proposed for the evaluation of multiple choice exams. The designed system is a web-based software with high accuracy on evaluating that contains optical form design module, session planning module and evaluation module. The form in which the designed template will be printed on A4 paper instead of a special optical form and the system in which standard scanners will be used instead of the optical scanner, uses the image processing algorithms in the OpenCV library in the evaluation process which is an intermediate library developed in C#. The proposed system is coded to run in parallel to speed up the evaluation process. In order to determine the performance of the proposed system, the optical forms filled by 208 students studying at Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Department of Computer Engineering were evaluated. The accuracy rate of the system has been determined as 99.97%. It has been determined that 1 optical evaluation time, calculated by dividing the total time obtained by running in parallel, by the number of evaluated optical forms, varies between 1.7 seconds and 15 seconds, depending on the scanning resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical role of experiential value in long-term relationships with consumers in the service industry is well accepted. However, individual evaluations of experiential value are likely impacted by psychological factors unrelated to the service providers. This study investigates the hindering impact of opportunity cost-related regret on consumers’ value assessment and revisit intention in a restaurant setting. The paper also examines the impact of financial constraints in developing regret of expenditures for experiences. A mixed-mode survey was conducted in Turkey, 323 valid responses were obtained, and a path analysis was conducted. The results provided additional empirical evidence regarding the strong relationship between experiential value and restaurant revisit intention. More importantly, opportunity cost-related regret was found to impair experiential value significantly, although its direct negative impact on revisit intentions was not confirmed. Furthermore, findings revealed that consumers who feel more financially constrained feel more regret after their expenditure on a meal experience, regardless of their monthly income and meal price. Findings provide insights for service providers to understand consumers’ reactions, especially in financially constrained situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the development and implementation of a smoking cessation training program for diabetes nurse educators. People with diabetes who smoke have a significantly higher risk of morbidity and mortality. Smoking greatly increases diabetes complications. Surveys were conducted to ascertain how frequently nurses counseled patients to quit and their interest in cessation training. Observations of nursepatient interactions and interviews with diabetes nurses facilitated the development of a culturally sensitive cessation training program. Survey results revealed that diabetes nurse educators recognized the need for training in smoking cessation, as many patients with diabetes do not consider smoking to be harmful for their health. A two-day workshop was developed for nurses on the specific harms of smoking for diabetes patients, including hands-on training in cessation counseling and motivational interviewing. Two months after training, nurses reported that the skills they acquired gave them confidence to counsel patients but identified four challenges to conducting cessation in their clinical settings. Diabetes nurse educators can play a pivotal role in delivering cessation. Training and overcoming challenges to implementation are urgently needed in the time of coronavirus disease 2019 given the dual risks of diabetes and smoking for severe complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Local humanitarian workers in low and middle-income countries must often contend with potentially morally injurious situations, often with limited resources. This creates barriers to providing sustainable mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to displaced individuals. Clinical supervision is an often neglected part of ensuring high-quality, sustainable care. The Caring for Carers (C4C) project aims to test the effectiveness and acceptability of online group-based supportive supervision on the well-being of MHPSS practitioners, as well as service-user-reported service satisfaction and quality when working with displaced communities in Türkiye, Syria, and Bangladesh. This protocol paper describes the aim, design, and methodology of the C4C project. Method: A quasi-experimental, mixed-method, community-based participatory research study will be conducted to test the effectiveness of online group-based supportive clinical supervision provided to 50 Syrian and 50 Bangladeshi MHPSS practitioners working with Syrian and Rohingya displaced communities. Monthly data will be collected from the practitioners and their beneficiaries during the active control (six months) and supervision period (16 months over two terms). Outcomes are psychological distress (Kessler-6), burnout (the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory), compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and secondary traumatic stress (Professional Quality of Life Scale), perceived injustice, clinical self-efficacy (Counseling Activity Self-Efficacy Scale), service satisfaction, and quality (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire and an 18-item measure developed in this project). A realist evaluation framework will be used to elucidate the contextual factors, mechanisms, and outcomes of the supervision intervention. Discussion: There is a scarcity of evidence on the role of clinical supervision in improving the well-being of MHPSS practitioners and the quality of service they provide to displaced people. By combining qualitative and quantitative data collection, the C4C project will address the long-standing question of the effectiveness and acceptability of clinical supervision in humanitarian settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]