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In the open literature, there are numerous studies on the normal and extreme (flood and drought) behavior of wet and dry periods based on the understanding of the standard precipitation index (SPI), which provides a series of categorizations by considering the standard normal (Gaussian) probability distribution function (PDF). The numerical meaning of each categorization assessment is quite lacking in terms of future predictions of wet and dry period duration based on historical records. This paper presents a new approach for calculating possible formations of future wet and dry period durations based on historical records through an effective fractal geometric forecasting approach. The essence of the proposed methodology is based on the number of dry periods (steps) of non-overlapping monthly duration along consecutive broken line paths in the SPI classification for wet and dry period durations. It has been observed that the plot of periods on double logarithmic paper falls along a straight line against the number of such periods, implying a power function, which is the essence of fractal geometry. Extending the empirically derived straight line provides the number of periods that may occur in the future over a range of SPI levels. This methodology is referred to as SPI fractal (SPIF), and the classic SPI classification is converted into SPIF wet and dry polygons, which provide additional information about the drought period number within a valid polygonal area, compared to the classic SPI results. The wet and dry period features of any hydro-meteorology time series are constrained in SPIF polygons. The application of the methodology was carried out on monthly rainfall records on the European side of the Istanbul Florya meteorological station in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyprus with its rich cultural heritage has been the showcase of ornamentation throughout history with a rich variety of materials, details, and narratives. Integrating ornamentation with its body architecture can be seen as one of the storytellers of these narratives through design elements. After the mid-1990s when casinos had been banned in Turkey, five-star casino hotels became one of the main investment areas in North Cyprus. Together with this new building type and new users' expectations with a new understanding of holidays, the 21st century brought the changing use of ornamentation in hotel interiors and, hence, decoration came to the fore more than before. Hotel lobbies welcoming the users to their second homes and introducing the hotels' identities have always been seen as the most important area of hotels by investors, designers, and hotel managers. Sometimes the reception areas were perceived as the living room of the hotel customers where they feel attached culturally, socially, or economically, and sometimes it could be a place where they can feel themselves as one of the characters of ancient history, a king or a queen for a while. Hence, hotel interiors, in general, and hotel lobbies, in particular, acted as a cultural representative, a social status symbol, and a political image of the story told. The aim of this paper is to examine five-star hotel lobbies within the framework of ornamentation through a reading model created with the concepts used by theoreticians. Together with the site visits and visual recordings, the analysis conducted in this paper is based on qualitative data incorporated by a rich theoretical background on ornamentation. The paper tries to highlight the representational value of ornamentation that can help to understand and interpret the spatial transformation of hotel interiors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic negatively affected many sectors including aviation and travel. Travel bans and forced lockdowns prevented transportation activity, especially air travel. Accordingly, huge amounts of emission reductions occurred. On the other hand, travel restrictions are not the only cause of emissions reductions. Changing travel intention in the era of Covid-19 is another important factor that affects aviation emissions. This paper aims to investigate the Landing/Take-Off (LTO) emission changes at Turkish airports. An emission inventory has been implemented for the years 2019 and 2020 to reveal the impacts of Covid-19 on aviation emissions. Domestic, international, and cargo flights have been included in the inventory. According to the results, total emissions of SO2, CO2, CO, NOx, NMVOC, CH4, N2O, and PM2.5 have decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 by 49.8%, 49.7%, 41.0%, 52.6%, 40.0%, 33.8%, 49.8%, and 50.3%, respectively. Total CO2 reductions in the Q2, Q3, and Q4 periods of 2020 compared to that of 2019 are 87%, 50% and 43%, respectively. Another aim of this paper is to find the underlying reasons for emission reductions. For Turkish airports, emission reductions have resulted from travel bans in Q2. After the relaxation of restrictions with the declaration of the "New Normal" in Turkey, flight traffic rebounded to a certain level but was lower than 2019 levels. Therefore, changing travel intention is the main cause of emission reductions in Q3 and Q4 of 2020. The results of this study contribute to both the areas of air pollution and tourism management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discussed two International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards, namely, ISO 19152 – Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) and ISO 16739 – Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), to identify three-dimensional (3D) multi-floor building rights. These days, it is challenging to characterize all multifunctional structures due to the increase in complex buildings. High-rise building land and property information management is recommended through building information modeling (BIM). Countries like the Netherlands, Australia, and Turkey have considered adopting BIM for their land administration. A land administration standard, such as LADM, offers better legal and physical representation in identifying the rights, restrictions, and responsibilities (RRRs) of the spatial units and stakeholders. However, LADM falls short in representing all building elements, such as semantic information and invisible functional spaces. Hence, this paper reviews incorporating additional information from BIM to create a comprehensive three-dimensional building representation including legal information from LADM. Issues and challenges also being highlighted with some recommendations for possible future works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design, as a practice of developing solutions beyond products, and increasingly services and policies, inevitably poses an impact on gender (in)equality which remains largely unrecognized by design practitioners. This paper advocates the urgent need for adopting gender lenses in design education for sustainable cultural transformation through proper recognition of the complexity of any societal and cultural issue, power relations and inequalities, and introduces an initial attempt through a graduate-level educational design project. Throughout the project, students critically reflected on existing orientations in designing to develop norm-critical gender lenses, contained the resultant disorientation emerging from the contrast between their critical approaches and local contexts, and explored novel directions as reorientation to address four different societal and cultural issues and develop 11 design outcomes aiming at gender equality, social justice-oriented empowerment, and cultural transformation. The authors analyzed the design processes and outcomes to reveal opportunities and challenges for developing and deploying norm-critical gender lenses in tackling complex, intersecting socio-cultural and political issues, under three themes: gender stereotypes, norms, expectations, and roles; intersectional power relations and inequalities embedded in the social structure; and social justiceoriented empowerment beyond the market-oriented individualistic neoliberal order. A shift in the perceptions of the role of designers, from creator/problemsolver to facilitator/participant, and design outcomes, from absolute solutions to intermediaries of sociological and political imaginations, is found crucial in this endeavor, which requires safe spaces for future designers to reflect on existing orientations, contain disorientation with negative capability, and explore novel ways through reorientation. [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]

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]

Purpose: Based on the dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of the adaptive capability of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the relationship between business ties and firm performance. This study also investigates the moderating role of technological turbulence in those relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 1,265 SME managers in Turkey. Partial least squares analysis, a variance-based structural equation modelling, was applied to examine a mediated moderation model. Findings: The results support the proposed framework illustrating that business ties are positively related to adaptive capability and firm performance. Moreover, adaptive capability mediates the relationship between business ties and firm performance. The results also indicate that the indirect effect of business ties on firm performance through adaptive capability was moderated by technological turbulence. Practical implications: SMEs in emerging economies need to enhance their business ties and invest in their adaptive capabilities to increase their performances. This relation becomes more strategic under technologically turbulent environments. Originality/value: By introducing empirical data from the Turkish emerging context, this paper contributes to our understanding of how SMEs' relational networks contribute to firm performance. From the dynamic capability perspective, it shows how SMEs use their adaptive capabilities to environmental challenges. It also fills an important gap by showing that environmental uncertainties (specifically technological turbulence) moderate the adaptive capability's mediating impact on the relationship between business ties and firm performance. The results also provide potential future directions for dynamic capabilities research in emerging contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of Covid-19 pandemic crisis on rates of return is analyzed in this paper in the light of possible data manipulation related to reporting systems provided by the administration in the USA, Turkey and Poland. The study used various methods of analyzing the relationship of a discrete, non-discrete and dichotomous data nature between the studied variables. As a result, the strongest reaction of the market was observed in Turkey followed by the USA and Poland. It can be concluded that the reaction of the surveyed markets was influenced by the data manipulations. The added value of the article is related to the use of various methods to study phenomena and detect the impact of data manipulation on the markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hearing loss that arises from various causes at different stages of life has a direct impact on individuals' physical and mental well-being. This paper aimed to evaluate the employment, workplace adaptation, productivity, and professional success of individuals who have hearing loss and whose hearing loss is corrected with a cochlear implant. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected between November 2022 and March 2023 with the participation of individuals with cochlear implants living in several settlements in all regions of Türkiye. A total of 142 participants with severe hearing loss who were corrected with a cochlear implant were included in this study. The survey method was used to collect data for the study. The questionnaire consisted of 32 questions and was distributed to the participants online. In the first part of the questionnaire (questions 1–10), the general characteristics of implant patients were investigated. In the second part (questions 11–32), the positive or negative effects of implantation on the work lives of the participants were evaluated. Almost half of the research group (49.3%, n = 70) consisted of women, and the mean age of the participants was determined to be 35.8 ± 14.8 years. There was no significant difference between gender, educational status, implanted side, working time, working style (physical, desk), and factors affecting work life (p > 0.05). Professional satisfaction and success at work increased significantly more in those with acquired hearing loss (p = 0.010). Post-implantation workplace compliance, success, and productivity were found to be higher in those with acquired hearing loss (p = 0.013). Hearing loss had a significantly less negative impact on work performance in those implanted in childhood than in those implanted in adulthood (p = 0.043). It was observed that hearing loss had a greater negative impact on the work life of married people (p = 0.006). Cochlear implantation greatly enhances workplace satisfaction, increases self-confidence, and has a positive impact on the future of profoundly deaf individuals. [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]

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]

This paper carried out an empirical study on Return on Assets (ROA), total assets turnover, financial leverage, working capital, and debt-to-equity ratio. This study investigated commercial banks operating in Turkey. A secondary data collection method is used for the data collected from fifteen commercial banks. These banks' financial reports were examined from 2011 to 2022. A line graph is presented for each balance that tells us the volatility ratio in the variables, the unit root test applied to resolve the unit root problem, and the cointegration test used for long-term relationships among variables. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound test was performed to measure the short-run and long-run effects. Financial leverage, debt-to-equity ratio, and working capital have short- and long-run effects on ROA. Total asset turnover has only long-run effects on ROA in the Turkish banking industry. This study will be beneficial for investment managers, financial specialists, treasurers, and controllers of the banking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into an assessment of the impact of Turkey's quest for status since the 2000s on changes in its foreign policy. In other words, how has Turkey's search for status influenced its foreign policy stances since the 2000s? And can we consider the changes in Turkey's foreign policy change transformational or transactional in essence? In this vein, this paper will make essential contributions to the existing literature on Turkey's status-seeking strategies by using specific cases to link them to changes in Turkey's foreign policy and assessing the extent to which they are transactional or transformational. The examination of this topic is all the more important in light of internal developments in Turkey, such as democratic backsliding and economic crisis, as well external factors such as its tense relationships with the EU, its rapprochement with Russia and China, and its increasingly proactive profile in regional crises. This paper critically assesses the pattern of Turkey's foreign policy change from transformational and transactional perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, human geneticists have substantially embraced the concept of "biogeographical ancestry" to account for the racial, ethnic, and linguistic categories they use to analyze and interpret genetic difference. Understanding the ongoing role of these categories in human genetic research therefore requires attention to geneticists' representations of geography, particularly the geographic maps they use to illustrate gene distribution and migration. This article examines how the methods and imagery of international genetic geography and its major evolutionary narratives have reinforced or refashioned nationalist practices of geography in the Middle East. Geneticists simultaneously conceptualize the region's physical space as both a historical "crossroads" of human migration and the birthplace of distinct gene sequences and civilizations, alternately blurring and sharpening the boundaries between Europe and Asia. Focusing on genetic research in Turkey and Iran, this paper analyzes how geneticists draw and interpret geographic maps of the region while selectively erasing or highlighting state borders. These genetic maps negotiate between the idealized aims of international projects to reconstruct human evolutionary history, and the reality of practicing science under the constraints of nationstate politics. [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]

Copyright of International Relations & International Law Journal / Seriâ Meždunarodnye Otnošeniâ & Meždunarodnoe Pravo is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University 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.)

Purpose: Sustainability is viewed as an encompassing perspective, as endorsed by the international policy context, driven by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aim to examine how women entrepreneurs transform capitals to pursue sustainability, and to generate policy insights for sustainability actions through tourism entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach: Applying qualitative approach, we have generated empirical evidence drawing on 37 qualitative interviews carried out in Turkey, whereby boundaries between traditional patriarchal forces and progressive movements in gender relations are blurred. Findings: We have generated insights into how women entrepreneurs develop their sustainability practice by transforming their available economic, cultural, social and symbolic capitals in interpreting the macro-field and by developing navigation strategies to pursue sustainability. This transformative process demonstrates how gender roles were performed and negotiated in serving for sustainability pillars. Research limitations/implications: In this paper, we demonstrate the nature and instrumentality of sustainable tourism entrepreneurship through a gender lens in addressing some of these SDG-driven challenges. Originality/value: We advance the scholarly and policy debates by bringing gender issues to the forefront, discussing sustainable tourism initiatives from the viewpoint of entrepreneurs and various members of local community and stakeholder in a developing country context where women's solidarity becomes crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meaning of the concept of freedom has constantly changed in history. In Ancient Greece, freedom referred to making a choice and doing something willingly; Hannah Arendt conceptualized it as a necessary discovery made by people in historical periods when the conditions for manifesting the idea of searching the same concept within oneself as an action were insufficient. Today, the concept of freedom has evolved into a dual meaning as negative and positive, shaped by the expressions of Isaiah Berlin. In this sense, the freedoms that we call classical freedoms, which the individual acquires because of being human, without considering the differences in religion, language, gender, and race, are evaluated in the context of negative freedoms. The basis of this understanding is the absence of pressure and coercion from the environment in which the individual lives rather than the creation of surplus value in the individual by external influence. However, with the deterioration of the freedom concept, the gains included in negative freedom have become a problem that the state needs to solve. The need for state intervention in creating a positive effect on the individual has emerged. The concept of positive freedom that emerged in this sense reveals itself in a structure that requires more than the intervention of others; it requires that individuals have control over their selves and that they have an active role in this dominance. Proponents of positive freedom argue that freedom means the individual dominates their own passions, desires, and all obstacles to self-realization. In order to achieve this, the state must firmly stand by the individual regarding collective freedoms. In this context, since the discussions on the concept of rights and freedoms in Turkey spread to negative and positive areas of freedom, this paper aims to show that presenting the concept with a single definition of freedom would be challenging. The re-reading has shown that the rights and freedoms in Turkey are derived from the concept of both positive and negative individual rights. However, it has been observed that the framers of the Constitution limited the fundamental rights and freedoms based on the idea that there should be a limit to the individual's rights and covered it in the necessary sections in the Constitution to ensure that the fundamental rights and freedoms could not be abused. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Drug utilization studies (DUS) provide a framework for drug utilization at the national or targeted population level and important information on unmet medical needs, particularly in assessing the rationality of drug use. We aimed to systematically review DUS conducted in Turkiye. METHODS: We examined 162 DUS with an accessible full-text, published as "research articles" and conducted in Turkiye between 2000 and 2021 using medical records and prescription data. We included English or Turkish papers with English abstracts. We examined the scientific characteristics of the publications, source of the data, place/time of collection, research designs, and studied drug groups. RESULTS: We found that 79.6% of articles were in English, 45.1% were listed in SCI/SCIE, and 63.0% were on the WOS platform with 3.5 (interquartile range: 1-15) citations. The mean study period and publication time were 2.9±3.1 and 2.9±2.1 years, respectively. The highest number of studies (17.9%) were published in 2021 and (26.5%) were conducted nationwide. We identified that 93.8% of the studies had retrospective design, 67.8% were conducted in secondary/tertiary health-care institutions, and 54.9% used direct hospital data. We detected that 68.5% of the studies were conducted on the general population, 19.1% on adults, 12.4% on children, and 44.4% were antibiotic oriented. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that a significant portion of the DUS, the trend of which has gained momentum in recent years, was antibiotic focused and conducted with a retrospective design from hospital-based data collected on the general patient population. This situation points to the necessity of expanding the existing DUS range by effectively using the new advantages provided by medical record databases and conducting more DUS that can provide critical clues for specific patients and drug groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education plays a significant role in the development and growth of a country. It improves the economy of the country and human capital. Higher education is one of the main stages of the educational career of an individual. Every country pays great emphasis on higher education and makes policies to improve the quality and facilities of higher education. The main aim of this paper is to propose a novel and optimal finance model for higher education in Türkiye. We analyze the key features and issues of various financing models of higher education used by different countries in the world. We also evaluate different aspects of financing mechanisms used in different states and the ways through which Türkiye can get an advantage from the experience of other countries. Our proposed financial model aims to assist in improving the quality of research and education in Türkiye as well as reduce the gap between the universities and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When evaluating an area's seismic risk or resilience, it is necessary to use the spatial correlation to analyze the ground motion parameters of multiple sites together in an earthquake. These two large earthquakes in Türkiye provided the possibility for spatial correlation analysis of ground motion intensity measurements in this area. Based on the strong motion records provided by The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority of Türkiye (AFAD), this study uses the local ground motion prediction equation in Türkiye to give spatial correlation analysis of Intensity Measurements. This study gives an exponential model based on a semivariogram and compares it with the correlation model obtained from previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Analecta Política is the property of Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana 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.)

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 uses the severe economic crisis in Turkey in 2008-2009 as a quasi-experiment to evaluate the impact of worsening economic conditions during pregnancy on birthweight. Using birth history data from the 2008 and 2013 waves of the Demographic Health Surveys, we find that the economic crisis resulted in decreased birthweight in Turkey, especially impacting infants born to mothers with lower educational levels. Furthermore, a procyclical relationship exists between provincial income levels and the birthweight of infants born to mothers with lower levels of education. However, this relationship is only statistically significant during the crisis period. These results highlights how economic constraints on mothers with lower socio-economic status during economic crises can negatively affect birth outcomes. Furthermore, we examine shifts in fertility behavior and find a decrease in childbirth rates during the crisis, particularly in economically disadvantaged provinces. In line with this decrease in fertility, we also observe a reduced propensity to seek an abortion during the crisis period. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of understanding how economic crises affect infant health and the need for targeted interventions to support vulnerable populations, as well as addressing underlying socio-economic disparities to mitigate their impact on infant well-being. [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]

The solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Türkiye have been advancing at a remarkable rate in the last decades because of the region's high solar energy potential. However, it is understood from the literature review that there are still limited research works on the optimization of the tilt angles of PV surfaces to maximize the solar radiation of the PV energy systems in this region. Therefore, this study focuses on a quantitative analysis of the optimal tilt angles of south-oriented PV surfaces and the amount of solar radiation collected by optimally tilted and tracked PV surfaces for all provinces by using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (NASA-SSE) horizontal radiation data for the provinces in Türkiye. Also, a numerical method is proposed to estimate the average daily solar radiation values falling on optimally tilted and tracked PV surfaces in 81 provinces and 7 geographical regions of Türkiye in this paper. An optimal tilt angles map has been created for all provinces where solar plants could be established. Solar data calculations have been carried out for all provinces, and the results are presented for the average total radiation amounts and percentage contributions that can be obtained in the case of installing fixed systems and tracking systems. It is found that the tilt angles of all provinces and regions are below the latitude values of Türkiye (36°′N–42°′N). Annual fixed optimal tilt angle values for south-facing PV surfaces are found between 28° and 36° throughout the year. It is observed that the daily average total radiation values falling on PV surfaces are considerably affected by the geographical and climatic characteristics even between the provinces with close latitude values in Türkiye. The results indicate that the tracking systems provide remarkable solar energy gains compared to the annual fixed systems. The proposed methodology can be used in the case of the implementation of a large-scale PV plant in any location in Türkiye, and this knowledge can be extended to the world thanks to low computational cost. [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]

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]

INTRODUCTION Tobacco products are well-known as a major risk factor for systemic and oral diseases. Dentists may play an important role in the prevention and progression of oral problems related to smoking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of awareness about the poor oral health effects of tobacco products and the role of dentists in smoking cessation among dental patients. METHODS A survey containing 40 questions was prepared, and patients seeking dental treatment between June and October 2019 at the School of Dentistry, Ege University, were asked to participate. The survey included demographic variables in the first part, habits of using tobacco products in the second part, relations between smoking and oral health, and the possible role of dentists in smoking cessation in the last part. Data were tested statistically by Mann Whitney U and chi-squared tests. RESULTS A total of 501 patients participated in the survey; more than half of the participants were non-smokers (63.7%). Cigarettes (95.06%), hookah (7.69%), e-cigarettes (2.75%), and cigars (1.65%) were the most frequently consumed tobacco products. The biggest obstacle to quitting smoking was 'having smoker friends'. The rate of non-smokers (41.4%) agreeing that smoking is related to periodontal diseases was more than that of smokers (32.4%) (p<0.05). The most known side effect of tobacco products was halitosis (81.6%). Half of the respondents (46.7%) did not know about dentists' role in helping them quit smoking. The rate of participants previously recommended by a dentist to quit smoking was only 36%. CONCLUSIONS The aesthetic and social consequences of using tobacco products are well known, but smokers are substantially less aware than non-smokers of the relationship between tobacco products and oral diseases. The present findings suggest that dentists should inform their patients about the detrimental effects of tobacco products and play an active role in advising them to quit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to identify the causal impact of educational human capital on social distancing behavior at workplace in Turkey using district-level data for the period of April 2020 - February 2021. We adopt a unified causal framework, predicated on domain knowledge, theory-justified constraints anda data-driven causal structure discovery using causal graphs. We answer our causal query by employing machine learning prediction algorithms; instrumental variables in the presence of latent confounding and Heckman's model in the presence of selection bias. Results show that educated regions are able to distance-work and educational human capital is a key factor in reducing workplace mobility, possibly through its impact on employment. This pattern leads to higher workplace mobility for less educated regions and translates into higher Covid-19 infection rates. The future of the pandemic lies in less educated segments of developing countries and calls for public health action to decrease its unequal and pervasive impact. [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]

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the main components of the hydrological cycle and plays a crucial role for water resources. It is sensitive to climate change, and therefore, estimating ET under changing climatic conditions is essential in comprehending hydrological processes, particularly in agricultural water management. In this study, the impact of climate change on ET in the Central Anatolia region of Türkiye was assessed. For this purpose, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios based on two Earth System Models, HadGEM2-ES and MPI-ESM-MR, were employed for three future time periods: 2025-2049, 2050-2074, and 2075-2098. As a baseline period for comparison, the time interval spanning 1980-2000 was considered. ET values were computed by using the Penman-Monteith equation, recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization, along with five widely utilized methods. The study revealed a consistent increase in ET depending on the employed methods for the future period in response to climate change. The average of the ET amounts for the region was determined as 1089 mm for the reference period 1980-2000. As the average of the six methods utilized, amounts estimated by HadGEM RCP4.5, HadGEM RCP8.5, MPI RCP4.5, and MPI RCP8.5 models for the future period were obtained as 1 199, 1 285, 1 166, and 1 248 mm, respectively. Considering the results, it is found that the ET amount in the Central Anatolia region of Türkiye will increase by up to 11% by the end of this century under the optimistic RCP 4.5 scenario and by up to 19% under the extreme RCP 8.5 scenario. These findings regarding increased evapotranspiration play a significant role in water resource management and agricultural production planning in the region, holding crucial implications for sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION The study aims to understand the facilitators and barriers associated with enforcing and complying with Türkiye's smoke-free policy from the perspective of hospitality venue owners and employees. METHODS A qualitative open-ended survey was conducted in Istanbul and Ankara in 2021 with 58 respondents from 3 different districts in each city from four types of venues: restaurants, traditional coffee and waterpipe houses, and European-style cafés. The open-ended survey included questions to understand the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of respondents about Türkiye's smoke-free policy and their perceptions of the facilitators and/or barriers to smoke-free policy implementation and changes after COVID-19. The data were analyzed using an inductive approach to identify patterns and categorize the data into themes. RESULTS The respondents expressed that the smoke-free policy aimed to protect employees and customers from secondhand smoke (SHS), respect human health, and improve air quality. Findings suggest that the positive attitude of venue owners and staff toward the smoke-free policy serves as a facilitator. However, fear of financial impact, customers' negative attitudes, difficulties in meeting physical requirements, and insufficient enforcement were found to be barriers to implementing the smoke-free policy. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were reported as an initial increase in compliance and awareness among customers and staff, but some respondents noted negative changes due to the emotional and financial effects of prolonged restrictions. These challenges have led to decreased attention on the smoke-free policy among venue owners, staff and customers. Respondents' suggested improvements were related to building infrastructure, such as the ventilation systems and educating the public on the harmful health effects of smoking. CONCLUSIONS Despite the general understanding of the dangers of secondhand smoke and the smoke-free policy, this study highlights the challenges in implementing smoke-free policy measures and the continued need to raise awareness about the importance of a 100% smoke-free venue. A comprehensive approach to addressing the tobacco epidemic as a multifaceted public health issue is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Asthma and COPD management have a broad framework, and smoking cessation plays an essential role. We examine the management of asthma and COPD patients not only for inhaler treatment options but also for essential interventions, such as smoking cessation support. METHODS Data were collected cross-sectionally from pulmonology departments of three government hospitals in Türkiye between May and September 2022. Patients aged ≥18 years who had been diagnosed with asthma or COPD for at least a year, were included in the study. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were investigated. Routine cessation interventions were implemented for current smokers, and they were followed via phone calls after one month regarding their quit status and access to cessation clinics. RESULTS Data from 145 patients with asthma and 148 patients with COPD were analyzed. The rate of current smoking among patients with asthma and COPD was 18.8% and 34.5%, respectively. Current smoking was negatively associated with age (<65 years) and disease duration (years) for both diseases (p<0.05). In addition, for asthmatics, presence of pulmonary disease in the family (OR:0.28, 95% CI: 0.10-0.79) and for COPD patients presence of hospitalization (OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.07-0.93) were negatively associated with current smoking. After one month, 85.1% of current asthmatic smokers had not tried to call a quitline, while 14.8% had tried to contact a quitline. Among current smoker COPD patients, only 1.9% had visited a smoking cessation clinic. CONCLUSIONS Tobacco cessation support seems to be neglected in asthma and COPD management. Instead, pulmonologists and patients focus on pharmaceutical treatments, which constitute the other component of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper provides causal evidence on how political parties can sway voters at scale in nascent electoral democracies. We collect novel data on expressway construction by the Justice and Development Party in Turkey and use province-by-year variation in construction to show that votes for the Justice and Development Party increased in response to the expressways. The estimates imply that the expressways increased the Justice and Development Party's vote share by 4.8 percentage points—a third of the increase from 2002 to 2011. We provide evidence that the visibility and competence signalled by the expressway expansion, and not increased local economic growth, drove increased vote shares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frontline language teachers have experienced anxiety, vulnerability, and emotional burnout as a result of the sudden transition to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study extracted Language Teacher Emotions (LTE) literature from the Scopus database during the period 2000-2022. During the first round of data extraction, 169 relevant documents written in English were identified. Furthermore, the researchers conducted a scientometric analysis using the literature analysis tool, CiteSpace (v.5.8.R3), and employed co-citation techniques involving visualization and text mining. Our results indicate the following: (1) The first LTE publication was released in 2004, followed by a growing number of publications in the first decade. Nevertheless, more studies were published during 2020-2022; (2) The five countries with the highest number of publications were the USA, China, Iran, the UK, and Turkey; (3) According to Author Co-citation Analysis (ACA), the majority of researchers had expertise in language education, teaching methods, educational assessment, teacher education, and applied psychology; (4) Based on the Document Co-citation Analysis (DCA), emotional labour, emotional burden, and vulnerability were the primary topics of interest; (5) Cluster analysis of keywords indicates that the LTE research trajectory was inevitably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the first scientometric review of LTE research, this study calls for a greater understanding of the impact of online and blended teaching during the post-pandemic period. It will be of interest to inter-domain researchers and frontline teachers in terms of identifying influential scholars, publications, and research trends, as well as considering future research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the relationship between domestic and international prices of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea fertilisers together with exchange rates in Türkiye using the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model on monthly data for the period of January 2011 to September 2022. The result of the study provides empirical evidence about the presence of asymmetries in the short and long-run among these fertilisers. The findings of the study confirm that international prices of di-ammonium phosphate and urea fertilisers have a symmetric effect in the long-run and exchange rate of the Turkish lira to US dollars has an asymmetric effect on the domestic prices of fertilisers in the short run. This is the first study in Türkiye to delineate the dynamic simultaneous interaction among these markets and its findings can be extremely useful for academicians, and policymakers to make decisions regarding the market structure of countries that do not have sufficient domestic resources for fertiliser supply and are dependent on imports. [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]

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]

Since greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) directly impact climate change that affects the environment, human health, society, and ecosystems, the reduction of GHGE is one of the essential actions for the sustainability of the environment. To reduce global GHGE, the United Nations has defined strategies at three levels: government, private, and public. Choosing between these strategies is a difficult process since there are relationships and contradictions among them. The process also includes uncertainties due to some reasons, such as lack of information, social structure, decision makers' hesitancy, and imprecision in the collected data. In this paper, a hierarchically structured methodology based on a decision-making procedure is proposed for the evaluation of the governmental strategies determined to decide the best strategies by integrating expert knowledge and a literature review. For this aim, interpretative structural modeling, cognitive mapping, and inference systems are integrated as a two-stage decision-making methodology based on fuzzy sets to address uncertainties and imprecision in the evaluation of government strategies for GHGE reduction in Türkiye. Based on the results of the first stage, "Transportation" is determined as the most influential sector for GHGE mitigation. In the second stage, strategies of the transportation sector are assessed and ranked. "Promoting the significant public health benefits of low-carbon policies, including increased public transportation and non-motorized mobility" is determined as the most appropriate transportation strategy for the governmental action plan regarding the climate change reduction objective. This paper contributes to applying knowledge and experiences from the current environmental characteristics and social fields to the strategic decision of the GHGE reduction area, to streamline its assessment process, provide human-centered solutions, and accelerate governmental actions. [Display omitted] • A comprehensive decision-making structure is created. • A fuzzy-based methodology is applied to handle uncertainty. • Governmental strategies for greenhouse gas emissions have been evaluated. • Significant public health benefits of low-carbon policies and non-motorized mobility action plan are determined. [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.

This paper aims to reflect the ideas of learners of English at higher education level in a multicultural non-native context. The participants were six learners of English (N=6) from six different countries and they were in the preparatory English class to major in the Department of International Affairs at a state university in Turkiye. The design of the study was maintained through in-depth interviews with the participants selected through a convenient snowball sampling. The data was documented for narrative analysis. The main findings elicited that although it would be better and more effective if they learned English in a native context, participants were all satisfied to learn English in a multicultural classroom which may provide some advantages in terms of learning different things and thinking in a multicultural environment. The motivation that drove them to learn English in a non-native environment was commonly related to educational reasons, yet they also indicated that they enjoyed learning foreign languages. In addition, the study submits that although it may sound favourable to learn English in its native context by native speaker language teachers, placing greater emphasis on hard work and effort, it is also attainable to learn English in a non-native context by non-native English teachers.

[Display omitted] • The most profitable system is on-grid PV-Wind Turbine system with an NPC of $52.8 M. • For 0% and 25% sale constrained systems low penetration systems are optimal. • For 50% sale constrained and unconstrained systems high penetration systems are preferred. • Fire hawk Optimizer, Grey Wolf Optimizer and Particle Swarm Optimizer are used to size the system by power flow analysis. Fire Hawk Optimizer is found to be usable in optimal power flow analysis and system sizing. • Increase in penetrations leads to enlargement of the system in the region with high load demand because of optimizations. Today, with a human population of 7.5 billion, increasing power consumption, and widespread use of high-technology equipment, the need for energy in the world is increasing day by day. The damage to nature caused by non-renewable energy resources and the economic and political disadvantages they cause in countries that must import these resources have led the world to search for alternative energy sources. One of the most important benefits of renewable energy sources is that they can create hybrid energy systems with other energy sources. Hybrid energy systems are structures in that more than one energy generation unit works together to feed the electrical load. In this paper, a hybrid system will be designed by using Homer PRO, to supply the energy consumed in the residential areas of Karaburun and Urla districts of Izmir province in Turkey with hybrid renewable energy systems. Systems of different sizes are designed for 50%, 75%, and 100% penetration rates, and sales to the grid are constrained to 0%, 25%, 50%, and no constraint on sales. Sensitivity analyses have been performed for 10% and 20% more power required by the load. Techno-economic analyses were done for the systems and the optimal system has been identified. The power flow of the optimal system is inspected by defining the network in Python and Fire Hawk Optimizer (FHO), Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are used for optimal sizing of the system. The optimal system has a Net Present Cost (NPC) of $52.3 M, 34 wind turbines, and 954 kW PV with conditions of 100% penetration and no restrictions on sales to the grid. FHO proposed 26 wind turbines and 780 kW PVs for Urla and 8 wind turbines, and 174 kW PVs for Karaburun. GWO proposed 25 wind turbines and 747 kW PVs for Urla, 9 wind turbines, and 165 PVs for Karaburun. PSO offered 24 wind turbines and 708 kW PVs for Urla, 10 wind turbines, and 246 kW PVs for Karaburun. When there is no sale to and 25% sales to the grid, it is seen that the optimal scenario is the system with a 50% penetration rate. In fully sale-constrained systems, NPCs are higher than the base system and they can never pay for themselves compared to the base system. It is concluded that smaller-sized systems are more suitable for systems with high constraints. The proposed FHO algorithm and GWO algorithm react to increasing penetration ratios by enlarging the system size in the regions with high load demand. PSO sizes the system like predictions by load demand. FHO reacts quicker to increasing penetrations than PSO and GWO. FHO algorithm is found to be usable to solve optimal power flow problems and optimal system sizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waste management subject is a very important issue today and in the future. Therefore, lots of scholars are endeavoring to investigate the valorization of wastes from different sources, such as paper, metal, glass, and vegetables. In this study, the pistachio soft and hard shells, as an industrial waste material, were used as natural dye sources. For this purpose, waste were collected from Gaziantep province in the south of Türkiye. Then, the soft and hard pistachio shells that had been dried in the shadow were investigated in terms of FTIR analysis and then used as a dyestuff source in the dyeing of cotton fabrics with the help of bio-mordants and metal mordants. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity of the soft and hard shell of pistachio was assessed through the DPPH and FRAP assay methods, and the antibacterial activities were tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli for selected dyed samples. A spectrophotometer was used to determine the CIE L*a*b* color values and (K/S) of cotton fabrics that had been dyed. The results exhibited that the tested wastes could be useful for the coloration of the cotton fabrics, and depending on the used natural dye source, mordanting agent, and mordanting method, the colors were found to have changed, but in general, light brown-ecru-brown colors were observed in the dyed samples. Meanwhile, the fastness of the samples was examined, and the sources were found to exhibit limited light fastness values but good or perfect washing, rubbing, and perspiration fastness. In conclusion, the evaluated conditions were found to be useful for the coloration of cotton, and even more importantly, the pistachio soft and hard shells were observed to reveal great potential for use in textile dye houses as a natural dye source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On February 6, 2023, two heavy earthquakes with moment magnitudes (M W) of 7.7 and 7.6 hit the Kahramanmaraş region in southeast Türkiye. Aftershocks of moment magnitude of 6 occurred consequently. These earthquakes affected more than 14 million people, and caused severe damage to civil infrastructure including buildings, government offices, religious buildings, dams, bridges, airports, and roads. After the earthquakes, a group of researchers visited the Hatay province to assess the response of buildings. Hatay was one of the most heavily affected cities in the region. The researchers gathered data on damaged reinforced concrete buildings, steel structures, as well as masonry buildings. This paper focuses on discussing the findings and analyzing the gathered data from reinforced concrete buildings and steel structures. A wide variety of issues that resulted in heavy damage or, in some cases, complete collapse of the buildings are discussed. These problems include construction mistakes such as insufficient shear reinforcements, neglected corrosion, utilizing low-quality concrete, insufficient development length in flexural reinforcements, and strong beam- weak column failure. In addition, various design errors including excessive torsional response of buildings, rigidity difference in two orthogonal directions of east–west and north–south of the building plan, pounding effect, short column failure, and development of weak and soft stories are described using gathered pictorial data. Finally, recommendations were made, and conclusions were drawn based on previous experimental and numerical studies of the seismic behavior of buildings as well as Turkish Building Earthquake Code (TBEC- 2018) requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psoriasis is an important health problem responsible for morbidity and workforce loss. In recent years, anti‐IL‐23 drugs have become essential in psoriasis treatment. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of guselkumab therapy, recently used in Turkey, by examining real‐life data over 36 weeks. Methods: A total of 39 psoriasis patients (>18 years old) who received guselkumab treatment between December 2021 and December 2022 in the dermatology department of our hospital were included in the study. Patients" ages, sexes, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, duration of illness, drugs used before guselkumab treatment, clinical response to guselkumab treatment, and side effects, if any, were recorded. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores at baseline and Weeks 4, 12, 24, and 36 were evaluated, as well as the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) at the beginning and end of the study. Results: The PASI scores at Weeks 4, 12, 24, and 36 and the DLQI at Week 36 decreased statistically compared with baseline (p < 0.05). The PASI score at baseline and Weeks 4, 24, and 36 did not differ between groups based on IL‐17 use (p > 0.05). No significant correlation was observed between BMI, disease duration, and PASI scores at baseline and Weeks 4, 12, 24, and 36. No side effects were observed in any of the patients during treatment. Conclusion: This study includes real‐life data on the use of guselkumab therapy for psoriasis in the Turkish population. Based on the results, guselkumab is a highly effective and safe treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study evaluates various craniospinal irradiation (CSI) techniques used in Turkish centers to understand their advantages, disadvantages and overall effectiveness, with a focus on enhancing dose distribution. Methods: Anonymized CT scans of adult and pediatric patients, alongside target volumes and organ-at-risk (OAR) structures, were shared with 25 local radiotherapy centers. They were tasked to develop optimal treatment plans delivering 36 Gy in 20 fractions with 95% PTV coverage, while minimizing OAR exposure. The same CT data was sent to a US proton therapy center for comparison. Various planning systems and treatment techniques (3D conformal RT, IMRT, VMAT, tomotherapy) were utilized. Elekta Proknow software was used to analyze parameters, assess dose distributions, mean doses, conformity index (CI), and homogeneity index (HI) for both target volumes and OARs. Comparisons were made against proton therapy. Results: All techniques consistently achieved excellent PTV coverage (V95 > 98%) for both adult and pediatric patients. Tomotherapy closely approached ideal Dmean doses for all PTVs, while 3D-CRT had higher Dmean for PTV_brain. Tomotherapy excelled in CI and HI for PTVs. IMRT resulted in lower pediatric heart, kidney, parotid, and eye doses, while 3D-CRT achieved the lowest adult lung doses. Tomotherapy approached proton therapy doses for adult kidneys and thyroid, while IMRT excelled for adult heart, kidney, parotid, esophagus, and eyes. Conclusion: Modern radiotherapy techniques offer improved target coverage and OAR protection. However, 3D techniques are continued to be used for CSI. Notably, proton therapy stands out as the most efficient approach, closely followed by Tomotherapy in terms of achieving superior target coverage and OAR protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]