Patterns of financial capital flows and accumulation in the post-1990 Turkish economy

The purpose of this paper is twofold: using time series econometrics, we first investigate the determinants of short-term foreign capital inflows for Turkey following its capital account liberalization in 1989. We next investigate the changing nature of the private investment function under post-capital account liberalization and deduce hypotheses on its correlation with capital inflows and the key macroeconomic prices, such as the exchange rate, the real rate of interest, and real wages. Our results suggest that financial capital inflows have a significant negative correlation with the industrial production index and trade openness, and are positively correlated with real currency appreciation. Fixed private investment was found to have an inconclusive relationship with financial capital inflows. Real wage costs were observed to carry a significant negative relationship with private investment, indicating that at a time of currency appreciation, investors had to rely on declining wage costs in order to keep their export competitiveness. Under the volatile and uncertain conditions of speculation-driven investment patterns, the downward flexibility of real wages has to be seen as a concomitant factor of the post-financial liberalization episodes

The Effects of Two Different Stretching Programs on Balance Control and Motor Neuron Excitability

We examined the effects of training (4d/wk for 6 wks) with static stretching (SS) or contract-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) on static balance time and motor neuron excitability. Static balance time, Hmax/Mmax ratios and H-reflex recovery curves (HRRC) were measured in 28 healthy subjects (SS: n=10, PNF: n=9, control: n=9) before and after training. SS improved static balance time with a trend observed for PNF. Post training, during 150-200-250 msec interstimulus intervals, we observed a reduction in facilitation, but during 500-700-900 msec interstimulus interval; there was an increase in H2/H1 ratio in the PNF group only. Both stretching techniques improved static balance. The Ia afferent inhibitions during the acute exercises were not found after the SS and PNF training programmes. It was concluded that training with contract-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation may cause some augmentation in supraspinal and postsynaptic inhibition on the motoneuron pool

Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review

Toy M, Önder FO, Wörmann T, et al. Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review. BMC infectious diseases. 2011;11(1): 337.BACKGROUND: To provide a clear picture of the current hepatitis B situation, the authors performed a systematic review to estimate the age- and region-specific prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Turkey. METHODS: A total of 339 studies with original data on the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Turkey and published between 1999 and 2009 were identified through a search of electronic databases, by reviewing citations, and by writing to authors. After a critical assessment, the authors included 129 studies, divided into categories: 'age-specific'; 'region-specific'; and 'specific population group'. To account for the differences among the studies, a generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the overall prevalence across all age groups and regions. For specific population groups, the authors calculated the weighted mean prevalence. RESULTS: The estimated overall population prevalence was 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.58, 5.76, and the estimated total number of CHB cases was about 3.3 million. The outcomes of the age-specific groups varied from 2.84, (95% CI: 2.60, 3.10) for the 0-14-year olds to 6.36 (95% CI: 5.83, 6.90) in the 25-34-year-old group. CONCLUSION: There are large age-group and regional differences in CHB prevalence in Turkey, where CHB remains a serious health problem

Erratum: Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning

Effect of slaughter weight on carcass characteristics of awassi male lambs

Sixteen Awassi ram lambs were slaughtered at 40, 50, 55, 60 and 65 kg liveweight to determine their carcass composition and characteristics. The carcasses were jointed into neck, forelegs, thorax, loin, pelvis and hindlegs. Each joint was dissected into bone, lean, subcutaneous and intermuscular fat. Most of the carcass characteristics increased when lambs were slaughtered at 50 kg liveweight. Carcass length, skin weight and most of the fat estimating parameters continued to increase with increase in slaughter weight. The mean carcass bone and lean content values as a percentage of carcass weight decreased from 19.6 and 53.7% at 40 kg slaughter group to 14.4 and 45.5% at 65 kg slaughter group. The subcutaneous fat (SCF) increased from 40 to 65 kg slaughter group (16.4 to 26.0%). It can be said that the optimum carcass with an acceptable composition from Awassi male lambs can be produced at 40 kg slaughter weight. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC