Consumer Willingness-To-Pay for Different Organic Certification Logos in Turkey

Using data from focus group discussions with consumers and a choice experimentconducted in some of Turkey’s major cities, this study investigates whetherTurkish consumers prefer certain organic labelling schemes over others attemptsand to elicit their willingness to pay (WTP) for different organic certificationlogos. Although the level of awareness regarding organic certification logos waslow, consumers’ perceptions of the logos were generally positive. The results ofthe random parameter logit models indicated a positive WTP for the presence ofone of the three tested certification body logos in addition to the mandatorygovernmental logo. Given the low level of certification logo awareness, theconclusion is that both purchasing decisions and perceptions regarding logoswere affected by subjective criteria. Both the government and certification bodiesshould develop measures to increase consumer awareness of their logos and formconsumer perceptions and attitudes regarding the quality of the certificationimplied by the logo

Factors influencing the perception of organic certification logos in Turkey

Consumers’ perceptions on organic certification logos and the factors influencing these perceptions were explored. Data from surveys conducted in major cities of Turkey revealed that organic food consumers had little knowledge about logos, although the declared level of trust in organic logos was high. According to ordered logit models, consumer’s perceptions on organic certification logos were influenced by purchasing frequency and weight of organic foods in total food consumption. Dummy variables representing additional private certification company logos as well were generally found to have a significant effect on logo perception. This result suggests that consumers’ attitudes towards these logos and towards the governmental logo are not the same. Female and older people were more sceptical about the trustworthiness of the logos. While the credibility of the logos and the standards and control systems underlying the logos increased as frequency of purchasing organic food increased, those consumers who prefer organic open markets for buying organic food were hesitant to trust the credibility of the organic certification logos. The mandatory governmental logo and the underlying standards are trusted more than the private company logos. However, the difference of the attitudes toward logos decreases when the control system is in question. When a comparison between perceptions towards labels including different additional certification companies’ logos is made, the additional logo was found to affect the stated preferences more negatively when the companies were foreign. Enhanced interest and trust in the organic certification logos among consumers would foment the development of the organic sector, and the findings of this paper serve as an input for the achievement of this aim

OFDM based visible light broadcasting systems

Visible light communication (VLC) involves the use of light emitting diode (LED)- based illumination infrastructure for communication purposes [1]. Recent experimental studies on VLC have demonstrated data speeds more than 3 Gigabits per second [2]. Although indoor spaces usually have more than one light source, most of the existing works on VLC in the current literature consider point-topoint communication and few efforts have been made on the scenarios with multiple transmitters. In this work, we consider a broadcasting scenario in which multiple transmitters (light sources) simultaneously emit the same information using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)

Update or Wait: How to Keep Your Data Fresh

In this work, we study how to optimally manage the freshness of information updates sent from a source node to a destination via a channel. A proper metric for data freshness at the destination is the age-of-information, or simply age, which is defined as how old the freshest received update is since the moment that this update was generated at the source node (e.g., a sensor). A reasonable update policy is the zero-wait policy, i.e., the source node submits a fresh update once the previous update is delivered and the channel becomes free, which achieves the maximum throughput and the minimum delay. Surprisingly, this zero-wait policy does not always minimize the age. This counter-intuitive phenomenon motivates us to study how to optimally control information updates to keep the data fresh and to understand when the zero-wait policy is optimal. We introduce a general age penalty function to characterize the level of dissatisfaction on data staleness and formulate the average age penalty minimization problem as a constrained semi-Markov decision problem (SMDP) with an uncountable state space. We develop efficient algorithms to find the optimal update policy among all causal policies, and establish sufficient and necessary conditions for the optimality of the zero-wait policy. Our investigation shows that the zero-wait policy is far from the optimum if (i) the age penalty function grows quickly with respect to the age, (ii) the packet transmission times over the channel are positively correlated over time, or (iii) the packet transmission times are highly random (e.g., following a heavy-tail distribution)

OFDM based visible light broadcasting systems

Visible light communication (VLC) involves the use of light emitting diode (LED)- based illumination infrastructure for communication purposes [1]. Recent experimental studies on VLC have demonstrated data speeds more than 3 Gigabits per second [2]. Although indoor spaces usually have more than one light source, most of the existing works on VLC in the current literature consider point-topoint communication and few efforts have been made on the scenarios with multiple transmitters. In this work, we consider a broadcasting scenario in which multiple transmitters (light sources) simultaneously emit the same information using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)

Effects of rapid maxillary expansion on nasal mucociliary clearance

Objective: To evaluate the changes in nasal mucociliary clearance in orthodontic patients after rapid maxillary expansion (RME) therapy. Materials and Methods: Forty-two children (25 boys and 17 girls) participated in this study. The RME group consisted of 21 patients (mean age, 13.8 years), who had undergone RME at the initiation of orthodontic treatment. The control group consisted of 21 subjects (mean age, 13.6 years), who were attending the department of orthodontics for active orthodontic treatment. The nasal mucociliary clearance was assessed by the saccharin test. Saccharin transit times (STTs) were measured for each treated subject before expansion (T1), after RME (T2), and after a 3-month retention period (T3). Records were obtained at the same time intervals for each group. Results: The STT decreased significantly in the RME group after expansion and retention (P <.05). A statistically significant difference was found when the STTs of the control and RME groups were compared after expansion and retention (P <.05). Conclusions: The STTs of young orthodontic patients with maxillary narrowness and without any history of nasal or systemic disease were within normal limits. However, RME increased the mucociliary clearance in patients who had maxillary narrowness, having positive effects on nasal physiology and increasing nasal cavity volume. © 2016 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc

Evaluation of Probabilistic Streamflow Forecasts Based on EPS for a Mountainous Basin in Turkey

AbstractWhen designing water structures or managing a watershed it is a challenging task to determine the response of a basin to storm and/or snowmelt. In this study, the Upper Euphrates Basin (10,275 km2 area and elevation range of 1125-3500 m) located at the headwater of Euphrates River, one of Turkey's most important rivers, is selected as the application area. In this region, snowmelt runoff constitutes approximately 2/3 in volume of the total yearly runoff, therefore, runoff modeling and forecasting during spring and early summer is important in terms of energy and water resources management. The aim of the study is to make a forward-oriented, medium-range flow forecasting using Ensemble Prediction System (EPS) which is a pioneer study for Turkey. Conceptual hydrological model HBV, which has a common usage in the literature, is chosen to predict streamflows. According to the results, Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiencies are 0.85 for calibration (2001-2008) and 0.71 for validation (2009-2014) respectively. After calibrating/validating the hydrologic model, EPS data including 51 different combinations produced by ECMWF is used as probability based weather forecasts. Melting period during March-June of 2011 is chosen as the forecast period. The probabilistic skill of EPS based hydrological model results are analyzed to verify the ensemble forecasts

Wnt-11 expression promotes invasiveness and correlates with survival in human pancreatic ductal adeno carcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, proving difficult to manage clinically. Wnt-11, a developmentally regulated gene producing a secreted protein, has been associated with various carcinomas but has not previously been studied in PDAC. The present study aimed to elucidate these aspects first in vitro and then in a clinical setting in vivo. Molecular analyses of Wnt-11 expression as well as other biomarkers involved qRT-PCR, RNA-seq and siRNA. Proliferation was measured by MTT; invasiveness was quantified by Boyden chamber (Matrigel) assay. Wnt-11 mRNA was present in three different human PDAC cell lines. Wnt-11 loss affected epithelial-mesenchymal transition and expression of neuronal and stemness biomarkers associated with metastasis. Indeed, silencing Wnt-11 in Panc-1 cells significantly inhibited their Matrigel invasiveness without affecting their proliferative activity. Consistently with the in vitro data, human biopsies of PDAC showed significantly higher Wnt-11 mRNA levels compared with matched adjacent tissues. Expression was significantly upregulated during PDAC progression (TNM stage I to II) and maintained (TNM stages III and IV). Wnt-11 is expressed in PDAC in vitro and in vivo and plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of the disease; this evidence leads to the conclusion that Wnt-11 could serve as a novel, functional biomarker PDA

miR-34a-FOXP1 Loop in Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the main cause of gynecological cancer mortality in most developed countries. microRNA (miR) expression dysregulation has been highlighted in human cancers, and miR-34a is found to be downregulated and associated with inhibition of tumor growth and invasion in several malignancies, including OC. The winged helix transcription factor forkhead box P1 (FOXP1) is reported as either an oncogene or tumor suppressor in various cancers. This study aimed to elucidate potential clinical and biological associations of miR-34a and transcription factor FOXP1 in OC. We investigated nine OC patients’ blood samples and two OC cell lines (SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3) using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to determine both miR-34a and FOXP1 expressions. We have found that miR-34a and FOXP1 are reversely correlated in both in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of miR-34a transiently led to upregulation of FOXP1 mRNA expression and increased cellular invasion in vitro. Our data indicate that miR-34a could be a potential biomarker for improving the diagnostic efficiency of OC, and miR-34a overexpression may reduce OC pathogenesis by targeting FOXP1