One Step Closer To European Union: Smart Card Technology In Turkey

Europe and Asia are competing to deploy smart cards for functions from banking to retailing to telecommunications. This study analyzes factors that contribute to the implementation of smart card technology, focusing on smart card and magnetic card technologies in the financial industry  in Turkey. The paper examines the effects of technological and business factors on Turkish banks, such as Akbank, Deniz Bank, Garanti Bankasi, and Tekstil Bank. The business factors are budgeting, culture, customization, and loyalty, and the technical factors are infrastructure, multi-functionality, payment speed, and transaction security.  This exploratory study will assist international and local entrepreneurial entrants to the financial industry in Turkey, in taking advantage of smart card technology

Türkiye’deki doğal Türk fındığı (Corylus colurna L.) popülasyonlarının durumu

Location and climate information of 18 natural Turkish hazel populations in Turkey is reported. Populations are small (mean area = 206 ha) and are found at 700 m to 1600 m above sea level. Mean annual temperature is 8.83 °C and (range: 6.9 - 11 °C) and mean annual precipitation is 654.28 mm (range: 477 - 952 mm) at population locations. The species is of interest in Turkey for plantation in arid and semi-arid regions but only three of the 18 population locations are classified as semi-arid. The rest of the populations are located in more humid environments. The genetic structure of these populations should be determined and a comprehensive gene conservation program should be put in place. A through genetic testing (provenance and/or progeny tests) should be conducted to determine suitable seed sources and families for plantation in semi-arid environments.Bu çalışmada Türkiye’deki 18 doğal Türk fındığı popülasyonunun konum ve iklim verileri irdelenmiştir. İncelenen popülasyonlar küçüktür (ortalama alan = 206 ha) ve deniz seviyesinden 700 ila 1600 m arasında bulunmaktadır. Popülasyon konumlarında yıllık ortalama sıcaklık 8.83°C (aralık: 6.9 - 11 °C) ve yıllık ortalama yağış 654.28 mm (aralık: 477 - 952 mm) olarak belirlenmiştir. Türün Türkiye’deki kurak ve yarı-kurak alanların ağaçlandırılmasında kullanılması yönünde bir ilgi vardır ancak incelenen popülasyonların sadece üçü yarı-kurak sahalarda bulunmaktadır. Diğer popülasyonlar daha nemli bölgelerde bulunmaktadır. Bu popülasyonların genetik yapısı belirlenmeli ve kapsamlı bir gen koruma programı gündeme alınmalıdır. Ayrıntılı köken (orijin) ve/veya döl denemeleri ile yarı-kurak sahaların ağaçlandırılmasında kullanılabilecek tohum kaynakları ve aileler belirlenmelidir

AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD): FROM METABOLOMICS APPROACH TO THE INHIBITION OF PDK AS A NEW THERAPEUTIC TARGET

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in the western world among people aged 50 or older. 90% of all vision loss due to AMD results from the exudative form, which is characterized by choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Age-related changes that induce pathologic CNV are incompletely understood. A successful application of anti-VEGF approaches in the clinic is obviously a turning point in AMD treatment. Nevertheless, despite such important advances, critical issues remain to be addressed. To better understand the aetiology of this pathology, we used and improved a murine model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization and applied a 1H NMR metabolomics study. This approach leads to the emergence of different putative biomarkers and to the validation of the CNV model for an experimental study of AMD. Among these “biomarkers”, lactate appears to be clearly involved in the development of AMD. The modulation of their plasma concentration by treatment of the animals with synthetic compounds and more specifically Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase inhibitors (PDK) significantly decrease the impact of laser induced CNV. Starting from these results, the development of new PDHK inhibitors could open the way to innovative treatment opportunities in AMD diseas

EVALUATION OF THE CRITERIA AFFECTING THE DEATH RATE UNDER-5 BY THE ENTROPY-BASED TOPSIS METHOD

Introduction and Aim: One of the criteria used in determining the health levels of countries, planning health services and determining priorities is the under-5 mortality rate. The aim of this study is to weight the criteria that may affect the under-5 mortality rate and to compare the countries in the WHO Europe region in line with these criteria. Material and methods: The criteria have been obtained as a result of literature review. These; Conjugated pneumococcal, hepatitis B and measles vaccination rates in children under 1 year of age, percentage of children 0-14 years of age with tuberculosis, adolescent pregnancy, percentage of premature deaths among the causes of death under the age of 5, crude birth rate, country's exposure to air pollution, current health expenditure as percentage of gross domestic product, current health expenditure per capita in US$, domestic general government health expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure, domestic private health expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure, out-of-pocket expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure. The data was obtained from WHO. The Entropy Weighting Method was used to obtain the objective weights of the criteria that affect the under-5 mortality rate, and the TOPSIS method was used to rank the countries." Results and discussion: When the criteria affecting under-5 mortality rate were evaluated, it was found that the highest level of importance was percentage of children with tuberculosis. This is followed by the variables 'current health expenditure per capita in US$' and 'adolescent pregnancy', respectively. Relatively less important among the criteria was rate of children with 2 doses of measles vaccine. When the ranking of countries was made analysis, it was determined that "Switzerland" was in the best condition. "Slovakia" ranked last. Conclusion: In order to reduce the mortality rate under 5 years of age, it is recommended to plan interventions to reduce tuberculosis rates first

Daytime Sleepiness in University Students and Internet Addiction as the Determinant

PURPOSE: The aim of the study is to determine daytime sleepiness in university students and its relationship with internet addiction as the determinant. METHOD: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Study population consisted of 1,150 first- and fourth-year students studying in some faculties at a university located in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. FINDINGS: In this study, it was determined that the students obtained a mean score of 5.9 ± 2.1 points from the daytime sleepiness scale and the rate of those with daytime sleepiness problem was 17.9%. Furthermore, 52.3% of the students had a sleep duration of 7-8 hours. An increase in internet addiction mean score increases the risk of daytime sleepiness approximately one time. CONCLUSIONS: Increase of internet addiction score increases the risk of daytime sleepiness approximately one time

Von Willebrand hastalığı’nda oral cerrahi yaklaşım: olgu sunumu

Von Willebrand Disease (VWD) is a hereditary coagulation disorder characterized by a deficient or abnormal plasma protein known as the von Willebrand factor (vWF). Patients with VWD usually manifest a dual hemostatic defect characterized by a prolonged bleeding time and low plasma levels of Factor VIII coagulant activity. In the present case, management of 39 years old female patient with VWD in whom cryoprecipitate transfusion was applied for multiple tooth extractions was reported and alternative treatment protocols were discussed. ÖZET Von Willebrand Hastalığı (VWH), von Willebrand faktör (vWF) olarak bilinen plazma proteinin yetersiz ya da anormal şekilde bulunması ile karakterize herediter koagülasyon bozukluğudur. VWH olan hastalar, genellikle uzamış kanama zamanı ve Faktör VIII koagülasyon aktivitesinin düşük plazma değerleri ile karakterize ikili  bir hemostatik defekte sahiptirler. Bu olgu raporunda, kliniğimize VWH tanısı ile başvuran 39 yaşındaki bayan hastanın, kriyospitat replasman tedavisi ile çoklu diş çekimleri gerçekleştirilip, alternatif tedavi protokolleri tartışılmıştır. Anahtar kelimeler: Von Willebrand Hastalığı, diş çekim

Perfiles cognitivos de ASIS de niños con problemas de aprendizaje

Intelligence scales are widely used for cognitive profile analyses in the diagnosis of learning disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the cognitive profiles of children with learning disabilities on a new test of intelligence, the Anadolu-Sak Intelligence Scale. The intelligence test was administered to 89 children diagnosed with general learning disabilities. A matched control group (N = 92) was randomly selected from the norm sample.  Data analyses included latent profile analyses and comparisons of scores across groups and within-group comparisons. The findings showed that the mean general intelligence and means of the verbal and visual ability of children with learning disabilities were in the average range but closer to the lower boundary. The mean of working memory was slightly below the average range and significantly lower than the mean of the matched control group. Latent profile analyses showed three distinct profiles: the zigzag profile, wavy profile, and waterfall profile.  The only weakness shared by the three profiles is visual sequential processing memory. The results imply that weak sequential processing memory may contribute to learning disabilities. Las escalas de inteligencia se utilizan ampliamente para el análisis de perfiles cognitivos en el diagnóstico de problemas de aprendizaje. El propósito de este estudio fue explorar los perfiles cognitivos de los niños con problemas de aprendizaje en una nueva prueba de inteligencia, la Escala de Inteligencia Anadolu-Sak. La prueba de inteligencia se administró a 89 niños diagnosticados con discapacidades generales de aprendizaje. Se seleccionó aleatoriamente un grupo de control emparejado (N = 92) de la muestra estándar. Los análisis de datos incluyeron análisis de perfil latente y comparaciones de puntuaciones entre grupos y comparaciones dentro de los grupos. Los hallazgos mostraron que la inteligencia general media y los medios de la capacidad verbal y visual de los niños con problemas de aprendizaje estaban en el rango promedio pero más cerca del límite inferior. La media de la memoria de trabajo estaba ligeramente por debajo del rango medio y significativamente más baja que la media del grupo de control emparejado. Los análisis de perfil latente mostraron tres perfiles distintos: el perfil en zigzag, el perfil ondulado y el perfil en cascada. La única debilidad compartida por los tres perfiles es la memoria de procesamiento secuencial visual. Los resultados implican que la memoria de procesamiento secuencial débil puede contribuir a las discapacidades de aprendizaje