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Background and Aims: The Rome Foundation Global Epidemiology Study (RFGES) assessed the prevalence, burden, and associated factors of Disorders of Gut–Brain Interaction (DGBI) in 33 countries around the world. Achieving worldwide sampling necessitated use of two different surveying methods: In‐person household interviews (9 countries) and Internet surveys (26 countries). Two countries, China and Turkey, were surveyed with both methods. This paper examines the differences in the survey results with the two methods, as well as likely reasons for those differences. Methods: The two RFGES survey methods are described in detail, and differences in DGBI findings summarized for household versus Internet surveys globally, and in more detail for China and Turkey. Logistic regression analysis was used to elucidate factors contributing to these differences. Results: Overall, DGBI were only half as prevalent when assessed with household vs Internet surveys. Similar patterns of methodology‐related DGBI differences were seen within both China and Turkey, but prevalence differences between the survey methods were dramatically larger in Turkey. No clear reasons for outcome differences by survey method were identified, although greater relative reduction in bowel and anorectal versus upper gastrointestinal disorders when household versus Internet surveying was used suggests an inhibiting influence of social sensitivity. Conclusions: The findings strongly indicate that besides affecting data quality, manpower needs and data collection time and costs, the choice of survey method is a substantial determinant of symptom reporting and DGBI prevalence outcomes. This has important implications for future DGBI research and epidemiological research more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a challenging exclusion diagnosis for breast lesions, manifested as benign, chronic inflammation of the breast tissue. Although some evidence suggest that IGM cases are not uniformly distributed worldwide, few investigations have specifically addressed this topic. This study aims to examine the distribution of IGM cases among countries and races/ethnicities based on reported cases. Methods: A review of studies with a report of at least one IGM patient published from 2011 to 2020 inclusive was conducted. The search was performed in MEDLINE, and citations were filtered in two stages by title/abstract and full text. Those cases with a positive growth of pathogens, male granulomatous mastitis and review articles were excluded. Results: Among 365 retrieved publications, 218 were finally included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, comprising 7161 patients from 34 different countries. Turkey, the United States, and China were the countries where the most publications (including case reports) originated. Considering the number of patients within papers, Turkey, Iran, and China were the pioneers. Conclusion: Based on the published literature, some populations seem to be more prone to IGM. Further investigations may reveal the genetic and environmental factors associated with this disease in different geographic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) and ergonomic risk factors are very common in bakery workers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to (1) assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among bakers because they use automated machines or traditional baking, and (2) to determine the strategies to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in bakers. METHODS: A systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted from the beginning to February 4, 2022, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Mesh keywords and phrases were used to execute the search strategy. Information on MSDs and ergonomic risk factors in bakery workers was collected. Two reviewers worked independently on study selection, data extraction, and paper quality ranking. RESULTS: This study identified 14 papers from seven countries. Although the prevalence of MSDs in bakery workers has been studied, only a handful of them have been studied ergonomic risk factors, and the findings have been very limited. The association between different risk factors and MSDs seemed significant compared to many other occupational diseases. The traditional bread-baking system and lack of mechanization may increase the risk of MSDs in bakery workers. CONCLUSION: WRMSDs for bakery workers have been less studied than other occupational diseases. Our systematic review found several significant relations between the factors influencing the prevalence of MSDs. This study also showed the comparison of traditional and modern cooking systems with diseases of the upper limbs, shoulders, and back pain as possible fields for future research. [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]

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]

Given that China and Türkiye are direct successors of former empires, i.e., the Qing and Ottoman Empires, they share common feelings of century-long Western humiliation, constrained maritime space, and unfinished territorial unification in modern times. However, the two countries chose divergent paths of modern national building, which result in their turbulent bilateral relations in the 20th century. While the old structural disagreements are not completely fading away, China and Türkiye have tended to build a more cooperative relations in 21st century as both of them struggle to adapt to the common challenges of neoliberal world order, which leads to more convergences than divergences in their second nation building process. Based on this historical comparison, this paper suggests that the nation building processes and its reflections on foreign affairs are the structural factor in China-Türkiye relations, which defined potential issues of cooperation and division between the two countries in different times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies on coronary slow flow are receiving increasing attention, but objective evaluations are still lacking. The purpose of this study was to visualize the current status and research hotspots of coronary slow flow through bibliometric analysis. Methods: All relevant publications on coronary slow flow from 2003 to 2022 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database and analyzed by VOSviewer and CiteSpace visualization software. Year of publication, journal, country/region, institution, and first author of each paper, as well as research hotspots were identified. Results: A total of 913 publications were retrieved. The journal with the most publications was Coronary Artery Disease. The country/region with the most publications was Turkey, followed by China and the United States. The institution with the largest publication volume was Turkey Specialized Higher Education Research Hospital. The author with the largest publication volume was Chun-Yan Ma from China. Keyword analysis indicated that "treatment and prognosis", "pathogenesis and risk factors" and "diagnosis" were the clustering centers of coronary slow flow, and the research hotspots gradually changed with time, from pathogenesis to treatment and prognosis. Conclusion: Future research will focus on the search for effective and non-invasive detection indicators and treatments of coronary slow flow. Collaboration needs to be enhanced between different institutions or countries/regions, which would improve clinical outcomes for patients with coronary slow flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates different uses of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) in national journal rankings and discusses the merits of supplementing metrics with expert assessment. Our focus is national journal rankings used as evidence to support decisions about the distribution of institutional funding or career advancement. The seven countries under comparison are China, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Turkey—and the region of Flanders in Belgium. With the exception of Italy, top‐tier journals used in national rankings include those classified at the highest level, or according to tier, or points implemented. A total of 3,565 (75.8%) out of 4,701 unique top‐tier journals were identified as having a JIF, with 55.7% belonging to the first Journal Impact Factor quartile. Journal rankings in China, Flanders, Poland, and Turkey classify journals with a JIF as being top‐tier, but only when they are in the first quartile of the Average Journal Impact Factor Percentile. Journal rankings that result from expert assessment in Denmark, Finland, and Norway regularly classify journals as top‐tier outside the first quartile, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. We conclude that experts, when tasked with metric‐informed journal rankings, take into account quality dimensions that are not covered by JIFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Microteaching is a teacher training method based on microclasses (groups of four or five students) and microlessons lasting no more than 5-20 min. Since it was first explored in the late 20th century in experiments at Stanford University, microteaching has evolved at the interdisciplinary level. The purpose of this paper is to examine the networks found via an analytical bibliometric study of the scientific output related with microteaching in teacher training, through a study and examination of the Web of Science database. Design/methodology/approach: This research was conducted with the VOSviewer tool for content analysis through data mining and scientific network structure mapping by means of the normalisation technique. This technique is based on the association strength indicator, which is interpreted as a measurement of the similarity of the units of analysis. Findings: Two hundred and nine articles were thus obtained from the Web of Science database. The networks generated and the connections among the various items, co-authorship and co-citation are presented in the results, which clearly indicates that there are significant authors and institutions in the field of microteaching. The largest cluster is made up of institutions such as Australian Catholic University. The most often-cited document is by Rich and Hannafin. Allen (1968), who defines microteaching as a technique based on microclasses and microlessons, is the author most often cited and has the largest number of connections. Research limitations/implications: This research's limitations concern either aspects that lie beyond the study's possibilities or goals that have proved unattainable. The second perspective, which focuses on skill transfer, contains a lower percentage of documents and therefore has a weaker central documentary structure. Lastly, the authors have also had to bear in mind the fact that the scientific output hinges upon a highly specific realm, the appearance and/or liberalisation of digital technologies and access to those technologies in the late 20th century. Originality/value: This research shows that microteaching is a promising area of research that opens up vast possibilities in higher education teacher training for application in the realm of technologies. This paper could lead to several lines of future research, such as access to and the universal design of learning from the standpoint of different communication and pedagogical models based on microteaching.

Global science is more networked and connected than ever before. The rise of research collaborations occurs not only in the established Euro-American science systems that hold 'central' nodes in the globally networked science, but also in other parts of the world as science systems pluralise and multipolarise. Yet, research collaborations between traditionally non-central science systems are understudied. This paper examines factors leading to increased research collaborations between scientists in China and Turkey, two "traditionally" non-central science systems. A multiple regression analysis was conducted using an original dataset of 2256 collaborative papers and 605 China-based and Turkey-based scientists. The analysis reveals the statistically significant role of in-person mobility to the other system in increasing research collaborations. Additionally, being male instead of female and working in a university instead of a research institute are statistically significant predictors of increased research collaborations. The paper adds further nuances to the literature, suggesting that having obtained a PhD abroad or being in a large city may not lead to increased collaborations among traditionally non-central systems, although they may increase international collaborations at the conflated global level.

Higher education informatization (HEI) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the use and integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education. This paper provides a bibliometric and visual analysis of the research trends, patterns, and topics in this field. Using the Web of Science database, the authors selected and analyzed 199 SCI and SSCI papers on HEI published from 2000 to 2023 by VOSviewer and CiteSpace software. The results indicate that the publication volume of HEI research has grown significantly in recent years. The author network shows the collaboration and contribution of different researchers and institutions, while the journal network reveals the multidisciplinary nature and scope of the field. The keyword network and the burst keyword analysis identify the main research themes and the emerging hot topics in HEI. The co-citation network of sources illustrates the theoretical and methodological foundations and influences of the field. The paper concludes with some implications and suggestions for future HEI research.

In the field of English medium instruction (EMI), multilingual research approaches are crucial to carrying out effective and ethically responsible research, because EMI policies and practices are inherently multilingual. This paper is a partial replication study that adopts a 'researching multilingually' analytical framework to interrogate the challenges and affordances of using multiple languages during two EMI research projects. In the project in Turkey, the lead researcher, who is an English-Turkish bilingual, analysed policy documents (n = 145) and interview data (n = 67) drawing on her knowledge of both languages. Additionally, 85 EMI classroom observations were conducted. In the project in China, the research team of two L1 English speakers and two L1 Chinese speakers investigated 93 bilingual policy documents and conducted interviews with 26 policy arbiters by drawing on both languages during data collection and analysis. Together, these reflections highlight how multilingual approaches can be utilised throughout the research process, from team formation, research design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings in research reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we test the validity of the purchasing power parity (PPP) hypothesis between Türkiye and its trading partners - the European Union, China, and the US - for the period from January 2001 to January 2020. We test the stationarity of the real exchange rates for the validity of the PPP hypothesis by applying linear and nonlinear unit root tests. We also employ Fourier-based tests to account for the structural changes that occurred in the considered period. Test results indicate that shocks are temporary, and the PPP hypothesis is valid for Türkiye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides summaries of various research studies on depression. The studies cover a range of topics, including the impact of trauma reporting on journalists, stigma and self-stigma of mental illness in Turkey, the relationship between depression severity and perceived cognitive impairment, the construct validity of a depression scale in Chinese adolescents, the interaction between a specific gene and peer rejection in predicting depression among Chinese adolescents, a clinical psychoinformatics approach to detect signs of depression recurrence, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among Filipino university students, the influencing factors of depression among 11th grade students in China, the effectiveness of a Mindful Self-Compassion program on college students with depression, and the effectiveness of a self-help paper-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention in reducing the risk of depression. The studies provide valuable insights into the causes, effects, and treatment of depression, highlighting the need for intervention and mental health support. [Extracted from the article]

The aim of this study is to identify the most prolific countries in the field of special education and to discuss the widespread impact of their papers by taking into account the country's h-index. Through a bibliometric analysis, the data were collected in the Web of Science Core Collection category "Education, Special" in the Social Science Citation Index during 2011-2020. The 25 most prolific countries in the field of special education were determined in terms of paper productivity, and it was seen that the leading country was undisputedly the USA (54.42%). Meanwhile, a strong positive correlation was found between the h-index and the number of papers published by the countries (r=0.864). On the other hand, when the ranking in terms of the number of papers was reconfigured by the h-index, it was relatively changed. The possible reasons for this change for the countries with the most changing rankings were discussed by considering some definitive criteria such as the journal quartiles, the percentage of international and domestic, and the percentage of open access papers. This study reports a positive correlation between the quality and quantity in the field of special education for the publications of countries. It has been shown that where the positive correlation deviates, then especially, the journal quartiles, the percentage of international collaboration and the percentage of open access papers have a significant effect. The bibliometric findings may be useful to enrich the discussion about the widespread impact of papers and debate whether the use of h-index is acceptable for cross-national comparisons.

Solving arithmetic word problems has been a challenge for primary students due to difficulties in understanding the problem structure and relating the quantities in the problem to each other. This paper reports on an action research study to enhance students' subtraction word problem-solving skills. The authors observed that their students had difficulties in representing the situations in word problems and solving the problems correctly. They designed, implemented, and analyzed an intervention to scaffold their students' subtraction word problem-solving skills. As part of the intervention, a digital subtraction game was developed and used with second and third-grade students. The game involves three different representations: a discrete visual model, a bar model, and a number sentence. The students played the game and solved additional problems to strengthen their skills for representing and solving subtraction word problems. Twenty-four 2nd grade students in China and two 3rd grade students in Turkey participated in the study. Data sources included a pre-test, a post-test, student worksheets, and teachers' filed notes. Data analysis showed an increase in students' subtraction word problem-solving performance. They also effectively used a variety of representations to represent problem situations. The design and implementation processes of the intervention are discussed in the paper. We share suggestions for future implementation.

The higher education efficiency evaluation model using the data envelopment analysis method has interested many researchers. This paper uses bibliometric analysis on publications extracted from the Scopus database to provide a comprehensive overview of research publications on the measurement of higher education efficiency based on data envelopment analysis: its growth rate, major collaboration networks, the most important and popular research topic. A total of 169 related publications were collected and analyzed from 1988 to 2021. The analysis results show that: Publications published every year have increased sharply in the last six years; The quality of publications is relatively high as publications tend to be published in journals with high-ranking indexes; Countries with the most influence in studies on this topic are: Italy, China, Spain, the USA, and the United Kingdom; Authors with the most influence in this research direction are Agasisti T., Abbott M., Doucouliagos C., Avkiran N.K., and Johnes J.; The research cooperation among countries and among affiliations is not strong. Finally, the paper has provided recommendations for future studies based on the findings.

The present paper aims to explain the newly found momentum in the China-Turkey relationship over the course of the past decade. Attention is given to two interlocking processes involving global dynamics and domestic politics in Turkey in a rapidly shifting international context. At the global level, significant power shifts away from the West and the growing global reach and assertiveness of China during the Xi Jinping era have played an important role. At the domestic level, profound power shifts and attempts to consolidate a new and yet fragile political-economic model associated with a highly centralized and authoritarian presidential system have emerged as crucial factors. Our central point is that the China-Turkey partnership embodies an important political dimension that goes beyond a narrow economic partnership. Given the inherently political nature of the relationship, the future path of the China-Turkey partnership will depend crucially on Turkey's domestic political trajectory over the next decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Involving the global issues as listed in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education is necessarily done in the education process, especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning. Exposure to global issues is known to improve students' understanding, awareness, and ability to solve urgent issues faced by global society. This paper aims to find out the trend of research on the coverage of SDGs in students' learning process. This systematic literature analysis was done by applying Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Method. A total of 25 studies were recognized through a systematic search by using Sustainability, SDGs, and EFL as keywords. The result shows that the trend of associating SDGs with EFL settings was done mostly in Indonesia. In the recent year 2022, it reached the highest number of studies in the particular matter with 7 total of research. It was also found that the study involving SDGs on EFL learning was mostly done in the tertiary setting, compared with K-12, junior high school, secondary, high school, and other educational institutions. It was also discovered that the specific area of study enhances EFL students' learning achievement, environmental awareness, global citizen values, as well as students' levels of self-norms, beliefs, and self-value.

Cinmethylin is a potential pre-emergence herbicide that could be used to control grass weeds in winter cereals. To determine the herbicidal activity of cinmethylin against common gramineous weeds in wheat fields in China and its level of safety on wheat, we conducted the following experiments: (i) assessing the efficacy of cinmethylin against 11 grass weeds and (ii) determining its safety against 19 wheat varieties. The results showed that cinmethylin had good herbicidal efficacy against annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.), shortawn foxtail (Alopecurus aequalis Sobol.), slender meadow foxtail (Alopecurus myosuroides Huds.), Japanese foxtail (Alopecurus japonicus Steud.), Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), British timothy (Phleum paniculatum Huds.), Asia Minor bluegrass (Polypogon fugax Nees ex Steud.), Helictotrichon tibeticum (Roshev.) Holub., and wild oat (Avena fatua L.), with a GR50 (the herbicide dose resulting in 50% growth inhibition) value of 4.50–99.21 g a.i. ha−1 in plant height and 1.43–70.34 g a.i. ha−1 in fresh weight. However, cinmethylin cannot control Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus L.) or Tausch's goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii Coss.) at a dose of 200 g a.i. ha−1. Different wheat varieties varied in their phytotoxicity to cinmethylin. Overall, there is a phytotoxicity risk when using cinmethylin on wheat, mainly to wheat roots, with a reduction in root length of 40.81–64.09% at a dose of 400 g a.i. ha−1. These findings indicate that the pre-emergence herbicide cinmethylin provides good efficacy against most grass weeds and may possess potential for weed management in wheat fields. However, attention should be given to the application dosage and the sensitivity of wheat varieties when using cinmethylin in wheat fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opinion is central to understanding when states enforce human rights abroad. Yet we do not have firm evidence regarding why individuals demand government action in some cases of human rights violations, but not others. I argue that economic interests and shared identity play important roles. I employ a pre-registered survey experiment in Turkey measuring the extent to which individuals support sanctioning China for its repressive policies against the minority Uyghur population. Results provide partial support for my hypotheses. The findings have implications for the question of international human rights enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Clarifying the distinctions between art-based creative activities in the domains of occupational therapy and art therapy in the context of stroke rehabilitation, while also describing the effects of art-based creative activities on stroke rehabilitation. Design: Scoping review. Data source: A systematic search was performed in nine databases (Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and four Chinese database) from their inception to December 2023. Review methods: The study included randomized and non-randomized controlled trials involving art-based creative activities, as well as qualitative research providing detailed intervention measures. The study focused on stroke patients, with primary outcomes related to patients' physiological recovery, psychological well-being, ADL, etc. Data extraction included information on intervention strategies and study results. Results: Seventeen studies were included, extracting six similarities and differences in creative activity between two domains. Creative activities were observed to have positive impacts on daily living activities, limb motor function, fine motor ability, and emotional well-being in stroke patients. Conclusion: Creative activities, whether in occupational therapy or art therapy, involve providing participants with tangible crafting materials for the creation of artistic works. Future stroke rehabilitation practices should tailor activities and intervention focus based on patients' rehabilitation needs, preferences, and cultural background. The current comprehensive analysis provides initial support for the potential positive role of creative activities in stroke rehabilitation, but further in-depth research is needed to confirm their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to compare Turkish novice teacher induction system with China, New Zealand, and Germany in terms of assignment to teaching, duration of induction, and opportunities provided in programs. Those countries selected are known to have the best practices for induction training. Despite their differing policies regarding novice teacher training, they provide novice teachers with many exemplary aspects of support. The comparison shows that collaboration activities are formalized in three countries, except Türkiye. While novice teachers in Türkiye have the same workload as experienced teachers, novices in the other three countries have a reduced workload and have more free time for education. A mentoring program is being conducted in all countries, including Türkiye. Türkiye has weekly seminars on liberal education topics, while the other three countries have mostly branch-specific seminars. The paper concludes with a discussion of the educational implications of the induction programs.

While ChatGPT has recently become very popular, AI has a long history and philosophy. This paper intends to explore the promises and pitfalls of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) AI and potentially future technologies by adopting a speculative methodology. Speculative future narratives with a specific focus on educational contexts are provided in an attempt to identify emerging themes and discuss their implications for education in the 21st century. Affordances of (using) AI in Education (AIEd) and possible adverse effects are identified and discussed which emerge from the narratives. It is argued that now is the best of times to define human vs AI contribution to education because AI can accomplish more and more educational activities that used to be the prerogative of human educators. Therefore, it is imperative to rethink the respective roles of technology and human educators in education with a future-oriented mindset.

The International Virtual Exchange Project (IVEProject) has been connecting students across multiple countries through asynchronous forums on a large scale since 2015. However, considering the variety of virtual exchange methods and the advantages they bring to the field of foreign language learning, there is an increased need to explore the pedagogical possibilities of combining asynchronous and synchronous modalities, particularly across multiple institutions and countries. This short article reports on a pedagogical innovation which involved adding synchronous sessions conducted over Zoom to the asynchronous IVEProject forums. The authors arranged eight weekly Zoom meetings in which students from China, India, Japan, Jordan, Palestine, Türkiye and Syria participated in May-July, 2021. After the final session, a survey was administered to participating students and their teachers to explore their experiences. The results show that the majority of students appreciated and benefitted from the opportunity to communicate synchronously with peers from other countries. The paper also reflects on the benefits and challenges of combining synchronous sessions alongside the asynchronous IVEProject forums, aiming to derive lessons learned from this project in the hope that this will aid future EFL instructors in creating engaging virtual exchange projects which involve participants from multiple cultures and countries.

Introduction: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a common complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Identifying patients at high CIN risk remains challenging. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index may help predict CIN but evidence is limited. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic value of TyG index for CIN after PCI. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Cochrane, and EMBASE until August 2023 (PROSPERO registration: CRD42023452257). Observational studies examining TyG index for predicting CIN risk in PCI patients were included. This diagnostic meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the TyG index in predicting the likelihood of CIN. Secondary outcomes aimed to assess the pooled incidence of CIN and the association between an elevated TyG index and the risk of CIN. Results: Five studies (Turkey, n=2; China, n=3) with 3518 patients (age range: 57.6 to 68.22 years) were included. The pooled incidence of CIN was 15.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 11-20.8%]. A high TyG index associated with increased CIN risk (odds ratio: 2.25, 95% CI 1.82-2.77). Pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.77 (95% CI 0.59-0.88) and 0.55 (95% CI 0.43-0.68) respectively. Analysis of the summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) curve revealed an area under the curve of 0.69 (95% CI 0.65-0.73). There was a low risk of publication bias (p = 0.81). Conclusion: The TyG index displayed a noteworthy correlation with the risk of CIN subsequent to PCI. However, its overall diagnostic accuracy was found to be moderate in nature. While promising, the TyG index should not be used in isolation for CIN screening given the heterogeneity between studies. In addition, the findings cannot be considered conclusive given the scarcity of data. Further large-scale studies are warranted to validate TyG cutoffs and determine how to optimally incorporate it into current risk prediction models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of English medium instruction (EMI), multilingual research approaches are crucial to carrying out effective and ethically responsible research, because EMI policies and practices are inherently multilingual. This paper is a partial replication study that adopts a 'researching multilingually' analytical framework to interrogate the challenges and affordances of using multiple languages during two EMI research projects. In the project in Turkey, the lead researcher, who is an English-Turkish bilingual, analysed policy documents (n = 145) and interview data (n = 67) drawing on her knowledge of both languages. Additionally, 85 EMI classroom observations were conducted. In the project in China, the research team of two L1 English speakers and two L1 Chinese speakers investigated 93 bilingual policy documents and conducted interviews with 26 policy arbiters by drawing on both languages during data collection and analysis. Together, these reflections highlight how multilingual approaches can be utilised throughout the research process, from team formation, research design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings in research reports.

The COVID-19 has had an impact on almost every aspect of life throughout the world. The quarantine, limited social life, and fear of contamination have triggered psychological symptoms in societies. The need for mental health services has increased, and online psychological counselling, which provides psychological help with no risk of infection, has become more popular. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 on psychological counselling services and compare the general situation of publications on online psychological counselling before and during the pandemic. For this purpose, 463 publications related to online psychological counselling in the Web of Science (WoS) database were examined. The results were discussed in the context of trends and differences before and during COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastic pollution is becoming a major issue for human health due to the recent discovery of microplastics in most ecosystems. Here, we review the sources, formation, occurrence, toxicity and remediation methods of microplastics. We distinguish ocean-based and land-based sources of microplastics. Microplastics have been found in biological samples such as faeces, sputum, saliva, blood and placenta. Cancer, intestinal, pulmonary, cardiovascular, infectious and inflammatory diseases are induced or mediated by microplastics. Microplastic exposure during pregnancy and maternal period is also discussed. Remediation methods include coagulation, membrane bioreactors, sand filtration, adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, electrocoagulation and magnetic separation. Control strategies comprise reducing plastic usage, behavioural change, and using biodegradable plastics. Global plastic production has risen dramatically over the past 70 years to reach 359 million tonnes. China is the world's top producer, contributing 17.5% to global production, while Turkey generates the most plastic waste in the Mediterranean region, at 144 tonnes per day. Microplastics comprise 75% of marine waste, with land-based sources responsible for 80–90% of pollution, while ocean-based sources account for only 10–20%. Microplastics induce toxic effects on humans and animals, such as cytotoxicity, immune response, oxidative stress, barrier attributes, and genotoxicity, even at minimal dosages of 10 μg/mL. Ingestion of microplastics by marine animals results in alterations in gastrointestinal tract physiology, immune system depression, oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, differential gene expression, and growth inhibition. Furthermore, bioaccumulation of microplastics in the tissues of aquatic organisms can have adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem, with potential transmission of microplastics to humans and birds. Changing individual behaviours and governmental actions, such as implementing bans, taxes, or pricing on plastic carrier bags, has significantly reduced plastic consumption to 8–85% in various countries worldwide. The microplastic minimisation approach follows an upside-down pyramid, starting with prevention, followed by reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering, and ending with disposal as the least preferable option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author analyzes 89 studies published from 1990 through 2020 that focused on literacy preservice teachers' involvement in action research as part of learning to teach. In doing so, the author provides an example of why critical reflexivity is necessary in qualitative literature review methods. The author relies on a social practice view of race and uses activity theory to answer the questions: How have researchers considered race as a factor in research on literacy preservice teacher education? How can preservice teachers' experience with research be (re)designed to help develop their racial literacy? Findings demonstrate that in the reviewed studies, 51% of researchers addressed preservice teachers' race, and 34% addressed K-12 students' race. Far fewer studies, however, acknowledged their own race or that of field supervisors and mentor teachers, which ultimately minimized their roles. Findings also emphasize four design principles for literacy teacher education programs that aim to include research: collaboration between K-12 partners and universities; selective teacher educator scaffolding; engagement with diverse communities; and extensive time spent as part of the pathway toward racial literacy. The implications and uses of an existing literature base that reflects shifting reporting standards related to race are also examined.

A key strategy for social development and sustainable urban expansion is building sustainable and affordable transport systems. In this study, we aim to test the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis and reveal the impact of infrastructure investment in transportation systems in China, Turkey, India, and Japan over the period 1995–2020 on environmental degradation. According to dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) method analysis, per capita GDP and per capita GDP3 have a significant positive impact on per capita CO2 emission, while per capita GDP2 has a significant adverse impact on per capita CO2 emission. These results confirm the validity of the N-shaped EKC assumption, while inconsistent with the results of the FMOLS technique, showing that per capita GDP is significantly positive, while per capita GDP2 and per capita GDP3 have a significant negative impact on per capita carbon emissions. Moreover, as clarified by the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and DOLS methods, road infrastructure investment (RO), aviation infrastructure investment, trade openness, and foreign direct investment (FDI) have significant positive effects, while railway infrastructure investment (RA) has a significant negative effect on per capita carbon emission. Country-level estimates of per capita carbon emission-based DOLS strategies in the model show that only China and Japan have N-shaped EKC hypothesis. Road infrastructure investment, aviation infrastructure investment, and trade openness have significant positive effects, while railway infrastructure investment has a significant negative effect on per capita CO2 emission in selected central and east Asian countries. The latest electrified rail systems are well thought out and less polluting, so the contribution of rail infrastructure investment to the transport mix can support sustainable and safe transport systems at city center and intercity levels and reduce environmental pollution in central and east Asian countries. Moreover, the implementation of the basic environmental settings of trade agreements should be strengthened to condense the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crony capitalism as a type of capitalism entailing the close relations of political authorities and business circles based on mutual profit maximization is not a new phenomenon in Turkey. However, crony relations have accelerated with the Justice and Development Party (Adalet Kalkınma Partisi – AKP) rule. Despite growing scholarly work on crony relations in the AKP era, the literature remains inward-oriented without analysing the external dimension of crony capitalism, which this article intends to alleviate by providing an analysis of crony capitalism and bringing back the external dimension through an analysis of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-related crony relations. It argues that the case of Turkey demonstrates how the BRI is used to feed instrumental cronyism without the promotion of China and how recipient countries use and misuse Chinese BRI investments to create alternative resources for the government's cronies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective future thinking, namely the anticipation of events for a group, is a relatively new research area in memory studies. Research to date with predominantly Western populations suggests that people tend to expect negative events for their country's future. In two studies, we investigated the emotional valence and perceived control of anticipated future events of one's country and examined the roles of country identification and national well-being in collective future thinking. US and Chinese college students (Study 1) and US, Chinese, and Turkish adults of a community sample (Study 2) imagined events that could happen to their respective countries in 1 week, 1 year, and 10–15 years. Participants rated each event on emotional valence and perceived control. They also completed measures for their country identification and perceived national well-being. Chinese participants imagined future events for their country to be more positive than did the US and Turkish participants, whereas US participants reported higher perceived control by their country for the future events than did Chinese and Turks. Country identification and national well-being predicted more positive future thinking and also mediated cultural differences in future-event valence and perceived country control. These original findings shed critical light on the characteristics of collective future thinking that are shaped by societal-cultural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boric acid and sodium borates are classified as toxic to reproduction and development under category 1B, with the hazard statement of H360FD (May damage fertility. May damage the unborn child) in the EU-CLP regulation. This classification triggered environmental and occupational epidemiology studies on boron in China, Türkiye, and Argentina. The highest mean total daily boron exposure (DBE) levels in mining areas or processing plants in China and Türkiye were 41.2 and 47.17 mg/day, respectively. These DBE levels are higher than the proposed reference doses (RfDs) for the developmental (9.6 mg B/day) and reproductive effects (20.3 mg B/day) of boron in females and males. Despite these high exposure levels in occupational settings, boron-mediated reproductive and developmental effects have not been reported. Blood (or serum) boron concentrations were also reported in these studies. The highest mean blood-boron concentration reported for the boron-exposed male workers in Türkiye is 570.6 ng B/g (ppb). This blood-boron concentration is still much lower than the blood boron concentrations corresponding to the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for both developmental and reproductive effects in rats. Given the blood boron concentrations reported in current epidemiological studies, the lack of reproductive and developmental effects in humans is not surprising. Recent epidemiological studies have proven that it will not be possible to reach the critical blood boron concentrations in humans for the reproductive and developmental effects, especially in daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Managerial ties (i.e. business ties and political ties) could help manufacturers conduct learning ambidexterity by providing external resources. However, the resource management perspective claims that merely accessing external resources does not guarantee learning ambidexterity. As manufacturers utilize their resources by implementing services, this study aims to investigate how the impact of managerial ties on learning ambidexterity depends on human resource service practices (i.e. manager service support and employee service rewards). Design/methodology/approach: This study collected data from 150 high-tech manufacturing firms through a survey-based questionnaire, which was completed by two managers in one firm. The ordinary least squares regression was employed to test the research model and hypotheses. Findings: Business ties hurt learning ambidexterity when manager service support is high, whereas business ties benefit learning ambidexterity when employee service rewards are high. Similar findings are not applied to political ties. Research limitations/implications: The authors did not examine the mechanism underlying the effect of managerial ties on learning ambidexterity. The non-significant findings on political ties suggest potential mediators for future research. Another limitation is that the study's data are only from China. Manager ties are also important in other developing countries like Turkey. More data from other countries are needed to test the generalization of the authors' findings. Practical implications: First, managers should focus on business ties more than political ties when learning ambidexterity is important to their firms. Second, managers should reward service-oriented employees. Originality/value: The study enriches the literature on investigating the impact of managerial ties on learning ambidexterity. The authors also contribute to the literature by examining servitization as a service context. Prior studies mainly examine servitization as a driver of firm performance. The findings suggest that servitization as a business context can affect other business activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid 19 epidemic, which emerged in China at the end of 2019 and spread all over the world, has caused hard times in all countries. In this time, the support of the public authority was needed due to the restriction of economic and social activities. In Türkiye, public supports were mostly implemented in the form of financial supports in order to maintain liquidity. It is seen that public banks play a major role in these financial supports. In this study, the behaviors of state-owned deposit banks during the pandemic and the support they provide to economic life were tried to be examined by comparing them with private and foreign deposit banks. According to the pre-pandemic situation, unlike other banks, it is seen that public banks are the group that gives the most loans in the sector. In addition, there has been no increase in the non-performing loans of public banks, thanks to opportunities such as postponement and restructuring of loan debts of companies and individuals. Due to these incentive loans of public banks, loan volumes reached enormous sizes, but it was observed that the profitability ratios did not increase at the same level. As a result, it has been clearly revealed that public banks work in a service-oriented manner instead of profit-oriented in order to prevent the economic recession caused by the pandemic, and that they are extremely important institutions in delivering government incentives to the public in times of economic depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the importance of developing students' academic literacies has been well-established, academic oracy has been forgotten. There is a paucity of attention to oracy in higher education, despite the key role played by students' oral communication in academic achievement and graduate employability. This study offers a scoping review of the international scholarly literature that does exist, to explore how oracy has been framed and discussed in higher education, and whether connections have been made with the equity agenda to widen participation to traditionally under-represented groups. Following Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping studies, the 31 papers reviewed suggest that oracy is framed in disparate ways, reflecting disconnected understandings of the range, breadth and possibilities for oracy teaching. An oracy as product perspective prevails in the studies, with oracy predominantly explored through monologic, monoglossic activities, assessments, and graduate attributes. The review has highlighted the need to recognise an "oracy for learning" perspective; to establish shared understandings of the features of oracy; and to embed the teaching of oracy practices that support all students, regardless of linguistic and educational background, within their disciplinary learning.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on education. The closure of schools and the cessation of face-to-face classrooms have affected schools and students worldwide. The current need is to transform the traditional classroom to adapt to the new social and educational background. The flipped classroom is usually defined as a strategy to subvert the conventional academic environment; that is, the information transmission part of the traditional face-to-face lecture is removed from the classroom time for online self-learning. The flipped classroom is a highly flexible classroom mode, which has brought significant changes to education. Therefore, this study aims to examine the studies' research trends, advantages, and challenges concerning the flipped classroom for EFL courses during the COVID-19 epidemic. For this purpose, databases including the web of Science (WOS) and Scopus were reviewed, and 15 articles were analyzed. A systematic review was used as the research methodology. The study's findings revealed the effectiveness of flipped classrooms for EFL courses during the pandemic. Based on the review, this paper puts forward suggestions for future research and points out the future development direction.

This article examines how the rise of geoeconomics vis-à-vis geopolitics has influenced the Turkish-Chinese rapprochement. It focuses on the impacts of the rise of geoeconomics on the long-term military alliances established in the Cold War and the strategic autonomy of smaller states that were once primarily dependent on their great power allies for their economic and regime security. Besides, it deals with the case-specific factors pushing Turkey towards China such as the rising authoritarian tendencies in Turkey and Ankara's disagreements on regional security issues with its traditional Western allies. Those factors have had negative repercussions on Turkey's economy, while the government has been facing a strong domestic imperative to continue infrastructure and construction projects which had contributed to the rapid economic growth in the 2000s. This situation has facilitated China's geoeconomic power projections seeking to create asymmetrical interdependence with Turkey and to influence Ankara's significant political and economic decisions. This article also underlines the limits of Turkish-Chinese rapprochement like Turkey's long-standing interdependence with the West and the relatively small role played by China in the Turkish economy. It concludes that Sino-Turkish 'geoeconomic rapprochement' would neither ensure Turkey's economic recovery nor increase its strategic autonomy unless Turkish-Western relations are ameliorated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High prevalence of smartphone addiction among medical students may contribute to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Aim: To estimate the prevalence of smartphone addiction, and explore the influencing factors and related mental health symptoms of smartphone addiction among Asian medical students. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: PubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE were searched for relevant literature from the inception to September 10, 2021. Using Stata software 11.0, the meta-analysis of prevalence and the influencing factors of smartphone addiction were determined with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Nineteen articles, published between 2014 and 2019, were included, producing medical student studies from seven different Asian countries. The included studies were conducted in India (n = 11) and Malaysia (n = 3), with China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Nepal, and Iran each contributing one study. Among a total of 5,497 medical students, the participants included 3,214 females, of whom 2,181 were medical students with smartphone addiction. The prevalence of smartphone addiction among Asian medical students was 41.93% (95% CI [36.24%, 47.72%]). The influencing factors of smartphone addiction among medical students included gender, duration of smartphone use, smartphone function, and marital status. Ten studies (52.63%) explored related mental health symptoms of smartphone addiction among Asian medical students. Smartphone addiction was positively correlated with poor sleep quality (r = .17-.31), stress (r = .30-.40), anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and general health among Asian medical students. Conclusion: Smartphone addiction is highly prevalent among Asian medical students. Smartphone addiction may adversely affect mental health, resulting in sleep disturbance, stress, anxiety, depression, and neuroticism. It is necessary to take appropriate precautionary actions and interventions to prevent smartphone overuse among medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Linezolid (LNZ) is an effective antibiotic to treat patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment failure. M. tuberculosis strains resistant to isoniazid and rifampin are defined as MDR-TB. In recent years, resistance to LNZ among MDR-TB cases has been reported in several different countries. In this study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the prevalence of LNZ resistance among MDR-TB isolates. Methods: The databases of Embase, PubMed/Medline, and Web of Science were searched systematically from January 2000 to April 2021. Statistical analyses were performed by using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Heterogeneity was reported by using the t-squared statistic and Q-statistic. Begg's rank correlation in combination with the funnel plot were used to evaluate any possible publication bias. Results: In total, 25 studies were selected for meta-analysis from 14 different countries; the majority was from China (n=5) and Turkey (n= 4). Moreover, 7,366 patients were infected with MDRM. tuberculosis. Among the study population, 98 patients were co infected with HIV, and 18 patientswith hepatitis C virus (HCV). Furthermore, 28 cases had diabetes, and139 caseswere alcohol abuser. Overall, 4,956 MDR M. tuberculosis strains were isolated from TB patients. The pooled frequency of LNZ resistance among the clinical isolates of MDRM. tuberculosis was 4.2%(95%). Begg's(p=0.72) test showed no evidence of publication bias. Conclusion: LNZ resistance among MDR M. tuberculosis isolates is increasing. On the other hand, long-term treatment of MDR-TB cases with LNZ alone is associated with several adverse effects. Thus, it is recommended that newer anti-TB drugs, including bedaquiline and delamanid, in combination with linezolid could increase its effectiveness and decrease toxicities. However, more studies should be done in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of this study were PHEs concentration meta-analysis (Fe, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Cd) in eggplant irrigated by wastewater and the following estimation of non-carcinogenic (n-CR) risk for the consumers based on countries. According to the results, the rank order of PHEs concentration in eggplant was Fe (88.3 mg/kg -dry weight) > Zn (10.1 mg/kg -dry weight) > Pb (3.0 mg/kg -dry weight) > Ni (2.7 mg/kg -dry weight) > Cu (1.1 mg/kg -dry weight) > Cd (0.9 mg/kg -dry weight) > Cr (0.05 mg/kg -dry weight). Moreover, n-CR risk showed that all investigated countries (China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Jordan) except for United Arab Emirates (UAE) had a considerable n-CR in both age groups (adults and children). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Marmara University Social Sciences Institute / Öneri is the property of Marmara University, Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Security Strategies Journal / Güvenlik Stratejileri Dergisi is the property of Strategic Research Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)