Housing Wealth Effects Mechanism and the Monetary Policy Transmission in Turkey

It is commonly presumed that significant movements in wealth can often have wider economic impacts in consumer spending. This study first investigates the impact of housing wealth on aggregate consumer spending in the context of Turkey using a Vector Error Correction Method (VECM) under the structural break with quarterly data for the 1991Q1-2011Q1 period. Furthermore, to improve the robustness to instability in the long-run relationship between the variables, we also estimate an alternative econometric model based upon Carroll (2004). Both the VECM and Carroll's method suggest that permanent changes in housing wealth have considerable effects on aggregate consumption after 2001 while there is no significant financial wealth effect for the same period. Since our VECM results indicate that housing wealth does play a role in determining consumption, the next step is to find out whether there is a linkage between monetary policy and housing wealth and if so, how this relationship operates. For this purpose, we employ a kind of counterfactual experiment. Our results show that interest rate affects the housing market considerably and house prices play an important role in the monetary transmission.Doctor of Philosoph

True knot of the umbilical cord in advanced weeks of pregnancy: a case report

True knot of the umbilical cord is a very rare condition. Usually a true knot is noticed after delivery and does not lead to problems. It is relatively less common than the other umbilical cord anomalies. Most authors agree that there is little that can be done to prevent fetal death in undiagnosed true knot. In our case, the patient gave birth to a healthy male baby weighing 2700 grams by normal vaginal delivery after an ultrasound was suggestive of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The baby’s Apgar scores were 8 at one minute and 9 at five minutes. The umbilical cord measured 125 cm and contained two loose true knots. It was surprising that the baby could survive until term with these two knots and we hypothesize that this was the cause of the IUGR. Our case was interesting as neither neurologic sequela nor intrauterine death developed, despite two true umbilical cord knots

True knot of the umbilical cord in advanced weeks of pregnancy: a case report

True knot of the umbilical cord is a very rare condition. Usually a true knot is noticed after delivery and does not lead to problems. It is relatively less common than the other umbilical cord anomalies. Most authors agree that there is little that can be done to prevent fetal death in undiagnosed true knot. In our case, the patient gave birth to a healthy male baby weighing 2700 grams by normal vaginal delivery after an ultrasound was suggestive of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The baby’s Apgar scores were 8 at one minute and 9 at five minutes. The umbilical cord measured 125 cm and contained two loose true knots. It was surprising that the baby could survive until term with these two knots and we hypothesize that this was the cause of the IUGR. Our case was interesting as neither neurologic sequela nor intrauterine death developed, despite two true umbilical cord knots

Is there a relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome and the FABP1 gene rs2197076 single nucleotide polymorphism?

Aim: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multifactorial, endocrine, and metabolic disorder seen in 10%-20% of women of reproductive age. Due to the close relationship observed between the increased risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance and the polymorphism of the fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1) gene rs2197076 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), we investigated the frequency of the FABP1 gene rs2197076 SNP in patients with PCOS. Methods: This is a prospective case-control study. The study included 151 women—75 patients with PCOS and 76 healthy women. A real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for the FABP1 rs2197076 polymorphism. Additionally, biochemical and hormonal levels of the patients were studied. Results: Menstrual irregularities, the body mass index (BMI), hirsutism scores, the luteinizing hormone / follicular stimulating hormone ratio, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and testosterone levels were significantly higher in the PCOS group than in the control. There was no significant difference between the PCOS and control groups in terms of FABP1 rs2197076 genotype distribution and FABP1 rs2197076 allele frequency distribution. Conclusion: There was no increase in the genotype distribution and allelic frequency of the FABP1 gene rs2197076 SNP in PCOS patients. Further studies are needed on this subject

The Taylor Matrix Method for Approximate Solution of Lane-Emden Equation with index-n

Abstract: Many problems in mathematical physics can be formulated as an equation of Lane-Emden type. There are many methods for the solution of this equation. One of these methods is the Taylor matrix method. The only types of nonlinear equations that this method has been applied so far are the Riccati and Abel equations. In this study, an algorithm based on the Taylor matrix method is proposed and applied to the nonlinear Lane-Emden equation with index-n. An example is also given

The effect of halofuginone on radiation-induced cardiovascular injury

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Halofuginone on radiation-induced cardiovascular injury in a rat model. Methods: Sixty Wistar-Albino rats were divided into six groups (the control group, radiotherapy (RT) only group Irradiation (IR), 2.5 and 5 μg Halofuginone groups (Hal (2.5)/C and Hal (5.0)/C), and RT plus 2.5 and 5 μg Halofuginone groups (Hal (2.5)/IR and Hal (5.0)/IR). Rats were exposed to a single dose of 12 Gy irradiation generated by a linear accelerator. Halofuginone was applied intraperitoneally with daily doses. At the 6th and 16th weeks of RT, 5 rats from each group sacrificed and; heart and thoracic aorta tissues removed for both light microscopic and electron microscopic examinations. Results: Light microscopic examinations revealed that the endocardial thickness of all study groups was significantly different at 6th and 16th week of RT (p < 0.001 for both). Pair-wise comparisons showed that the differences were significant in IR- Hal (2.5)/IR (p < 0.001); IR-Hal (5.0)/IR (p < 0.001); and Hal (2.5)/IR-Hal (5.0)/IR (p = 0.001) at 16th week of RT. There were significant differences within the study groups regarding to the thoracic aorta fibrosis scores only at 16th week of RT (p = 0.002). Electron microscopic examinations demonstrated that there were significant differences between all the groups with respect to heart mitochondria scores at both 6th week and 16th weeks of RT (p < 0.001 for both). The differences between Hal (2.5)/IR and Hal (5.0)/IR with respect to the heart mitochondria scores were significant only at 16th week of RT (p = 0.001). Conclusion: These data demonstrated that Halofuginone may improve radiation-induced cardiovascular injury. The most prominent improvement was observed in higher dose of Halofuginone group after long term follow-up

Evaluation of the deaths secondary to entrapment under the debris in the Van earthquake

AbstractIntroductionAn earthquake occurred on October 23, 2011 at 13:41 in the Van city of Turkey. According to the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, the magnitude of this earthquake was measured as 7.2 on the Richter scale. The earthquake caused deaths and injuries due to entrapment under the debris. This study has been planned in order to evaluate the features of these deaths and to discuss the obtained data comparatively with the literature.Materials and methodsExternal examination of the corpses and autopsy reports drawn up for Van Attorney Generalship in the city center were evaluated retrospectively.ResultsTotally 51 deaths secondary to the entrapment under the debris were analyzed. Twenty-seven cases (52.9%) were females and 24 cases (47.1%) were males. All the deaths occurred in houses or workplaces. The causes of deaths were as follows: head trauma together with visceral organ laceration in 30 cases (58.8%), mechanic asphyxia in 14 cases (27.5%) and the crush syndrome in seven cases (13.7%). Deaths due to the crush syndrome occurred after victims’ were rescued alive after having been under the debris.ConclusionTraumatic findings are usually generalized and extensive in deaths related with earthquakes. Multiple fractures of cranial bones, ribs, extremities and injuries of visceral organs and major vessels are determined in the external examination. On the other hand, forensic pathologists should not disregard the diagnosis of the crush syndrome in traumatic deaths, especially if the trauma is secondary to the entrapment under the debris following an earthquake

The design and fabrication of supramolecular semiconductor nanowires formed by benzothienobenzothiophene (BTBT)-conjugated peptides

π-Conjugated small molecules based on a [1]benzothieno[3,2-b]benzothiophene (BTBT) unit are of great research interest in the development of solution-processable semiconducting materials owing to their excellent charge-transport characteristics. However, the BTBT π-core has yet to be demonstrated in the form of electro-active one-dimensional (1D) nanowires that are self-assembled in aqueous media for potential use in bioelectronics and tissue engineering. Here we report the design, synthesis, and self-assembly of benzothienobenzothiophene (BTBT)–peptide conjugates, the BTBT–peptide (BTBT-C3–COHN-Ahx-VVAGKK-Am) and the C8-BTBT–peptide (C8-BTBT-C3–COHN-Ahx-VVAGKK-Am), as β-sheet forming amphiphilic molecules, which self-assemble into highly uniform nanofibers in water with diameters of 11–13(±1) nm and micron-size lengths. Spectroscopic characterization studies demonstrate the J-type π–π interactions among the BTBT molecules within the hydrophobic core of the self-assembled nanofibers yielding an electrical conductivity as high as 6.0 × 10−6 S cm−1. The BTBT π-core is demonstrated, for the first time, in the formation of self-assembled peptide 1D nanostructures in aqueous media for potential use in tissue engineering, bioelectronics and (opto)electronics. The conductivity achieved here is one of the highest reported to date in a non-doped state

Experimental investigation on the nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles

This paper presents experimental measurements of beaching times for buoyant microplastic particles released, both in the pre-breaking region and within the surf zone. The beaching times are used to quantify cross-shore Lagrangian transport velocities of the microplastics. Prior to breaking the particles travel onshore with a velocity close to the Lagrangian fluid particle velocity, regardless of particle characteristics. In the surf zone the Lagrangian velocities of the microplastics increase and become closer to the wave celerity. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that particles having low Dean numbers (dimensionless fall velocity) are transported at higher mean velocities, as they have a larger tendency to be at the free-surface relative to particles with higher Dean numbers. An empirical relation is formulated for predicting the cross-shore Lagrangian transport velocities of buoyant microplastic particles, valid for both non-breaking and breaking irregular waves. The expression matches the present experiments well, in addition to two prior studies