The Impact of Household Labor Supply Structure on Poverty

Research mostly in the context of developed economies shows that the transformation of household structure from single male breadwinner families to dual earner families is associated with decreasing rates of poverty as well as lower levels of income inequality. This paper uses micro data from Turkish household income and budget surveys for 2003 and 2010 to examine to what extent household labor supply structure has an impact on family income, poverty and income inequality. We classify married couple households by labor supply of husbands and wives and explore any differentials in household income levels, poverty rates as well as income inequality measures amongst dual earner versus male breadwinner households. We also use counterfactual household labor supply structures to explore the potential changes in poverty risk as families transform from single male breadwinner to dual earner families. Given the phenomenally low female labor force participation rate in Turkey, one of the lowest in the world, a structural characteristic of most countries in the Middle East, we show that increasing female employment has strong potential not only in terms of gender equality but also as a sustainable strategy against poverty

Taxes and Subsidies for Diesel Fuel Used in Turkey's Agricultural

Usage of diesel fuel increased in parallel with the increased usage of machines in the agricultural Sector in Turkey. Consequently, the cost of diesel fuel has taken a substantial share within the cost of agricultural products. The ongoing rising trend in diesel fuel prices forced subsidies for diesel fuel to be granted in Turkey's agricultural sector. Farmers have been granted subsidies for diesel fuel especially after the year 2000. When the subsidies for diesel fuel in the agricultural sector are compared with diesel fuel prices along with the taxes levied on the diesel fuel, it can be said that the level of subsidies for diesel fuel used in the agricultural sector are not too high. Diesel fuel is seen as a good source of income in Turkey in terms of taxation. A comparison of the price of diesel fuel in Turkey with the price of diesel fuel in other countries showed Turkey among the countries having the highest diesel fuel prices. Increasing agricultural production costs along with the decline in the prices of agricultural products in Turkey may deepen the ongoing crisis in Turkey's agricultural sector.Diesel Fuel, Tax, Subsidization, Agriculture, Turkey

Opinions of preservice teachers on technology-assisted teaching practices designed to develop critical thinking skills

Bu çalışma, Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsünde M. Seden Tapan Broutin'in danışmanlığında Serkan Gürsan tarafından yazılan "Teknoloji desteği ile dönüşüm geometrisi öğretiminin matematik öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimine katkısı" adlı doktora tezine dayanılarak hazırlanmıştır.Bu araştırmada, ilköğretim matematik öğretmeni adaylarının, Facione (1990) tarafından belirlenen eleştirel düşünme becerilerinin gelişimine katkı sağlayabilmek için tasarlanan teknoloji destekli öğretim modeli uygulamaları ile ilgili görüşleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma, 2019-2020 eğitim-öğretim yılı güz döneminde, Marmara Bölgesindeki bir devlet üniversitesinin Eğitim Fakültesi İlköğretim Matematik Öğretmenliği 4. sınıf öğrencileriyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden durum çalışması deseni kullanılmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak toplam beş sorunun yer aldığı yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Görüşmeler uygulama sürecine katılmış 14 öğretmen adayı ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler betimsel analiz tekniği ile incelenmiştir. Analiz sonucunda tasarlanan öğretim modeli uygulamalarının etkisi, öğretmen adaylarının görüşlerinden yola çıkarak beş tema altında sunulmuştur. Bu temalar, (1) derslerde uygulanan yöntem, (2) derslerin içeriği, (3) GeoGebra kullanımının ders ortamına etkisi, (4) ders planlarının etkinliği ve (5) derslerin eleştirel düşünme becerilerine etkisi şeklindedir. Temalar, olumlu ve olumsuz iki kategori olacak şekilde 40 koddan oluşmuştur. Temalarda en sık ifade edilen kodlardan araştırmanın sonuçları elde edilmiştir. Araştırmanın sonucunda, tasarlanan öğretim modeli uygulamalarının Facione’nin belirlediği eleştirel düşünme alt becerileri ile uyumlu olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca, öğretmen adaylarının, tasarlanan modülün eleştirel düşünme farkındalığının oluşmasına katkı sağladığı yönünde görüş bildirdikleri sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.In this study, the opinions of pre-service mathematics teachers about technology-supported teaching applications designed to develop critical thinking skills determined by Facione (1990) were examined. It was designed as a qualitative case study carried out with 4th grade students of the Faculty of Education, Primary Mathematics Education of a state university in the Marmara Region in the fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. A semi-structured interview form with five questions was used as a data collection tool. The interviews were conducted with 14 candidates participating in the implementation process. The data from the interview form were analyzed using the descriptive analysis. As a result, some findings including GeoGebra applied activities were obtained from the opinions of the candidates. These are related to the lesson practices that Facione determined to develop critical thinking sub-skills: (1) the method applied in the lessons, (2) the content of the lessons, (3) the effect of GeoGebra on the lesson environment, (4) effectiveness of lesson plans and (5) the effect of the lessons on the development of critical thinking skills. These findings are collected under five themes consisting of 40 codes, two categories, positive and negative. The results were obtained from the codes expressed most frequently in the themes. Consequently, it was seen that they stated that the designed teaching model applications were compatible with the critical thinking sub-skills determined by Facione and contributed to the formation of critical thinking awareness in pre-service teachers

Association of liver function tests with severity of disease in patients with COVID-19

Background: We aimed to investigate the association of liver function tests with disease severity at admission and during hospitalization in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Blood tests of patients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 were retrospectively analyzed. Liver tests included serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, total bilirubin, and albumin. Besides these, C-reactive protein and ferritin were also analyzed in the study. Levels of these tests at admission and peak levels during hospitalization were then recorded. Severe COVID-19 infection was defined as the reason for ICU admission. Both the associations of the levels of liver tests at admission and peak levels during hospitalization with severe disease were evaluated. Results: The study included a total of 602 patients, and 127 (21.1%) of the patients were hospitalized in the ICU. In our study, only albumin level abnormality was significantly associated with severe disease in COVID-19 patients at admission. However, during hospitalization, a significant association was found between severe disease and abnormal AST, ALT, GGT, T.BIL, albumin, and ferritin levels. During hospitalization, it was also observed that the rates of severe disease cases increased as AST, ALT, GGT, and T.BIL levels increased. Conclusions: Abnormal liver function tests may be a predictor for severe disease in patients with COVID-19. It is therefore important to monitor liver function tests in hospitalized patients

Türkiye’de Tarım Sektöründe Kullanılan Mazota Yönelik Vergi ve Destekler

Usage of diesel fuel increased in parallel with the increased usage of machines in the agricultural Sector in Turkey. Consequently, the cost of diesel fuel has taken a substantial share within the cost of agricultural products. The ongoing rising trend in diesel fuel prices forced subsidies for diesel fuel to be granted in Turkey's agricultural sector. Farmers have been granted subsidies for diesel fuel especially after the year 2000. When the subsidies for diesel fuel in the agricultural sector are compared with diesel fuel prices along with the taxes levied on the diesel fuel, it can be said that the level of subsidies for diesel fuel used in the agricultural sector are not too high. Diesel fuel is seen as a good source of income in Turkey in terms of taxation. A comparison of the price of diesel fuel in Turkey with the price of diesel fuel in other countries showed Turkey among the countries having the highest diesel fuel prices. Increasing agricultural production costs along with the decline in the prices of agricultural products in Turkey may deepen the ongoing crisis in Turkey's agricultural sector

Türkiye’de Tarım Sektöründe Kullanılan Mazota Yönelik Vergi ve Destekler

Usage of diesel fuel increased in parallel with the increased usage of machines in the agricultural Sector in Turkey. Consequently, the cost of diesel fuel has taken a substantial share within the cost of agricultural products. The ongoing rising trend in diesel fuel prices forced subsidies for diesel fuel to be granted in Turkey's agricultural sector. Farmers have been granted subsidies for diesel fuel especially after the year 2000. When the subsidies for diesel fuel in the agricultural sector are compared with diesel fuel prices along with the taxes levied on the diesel fuel, it can be said that the level of subsidies for diesel fuel used in the agricultural sector are not too high. Diesel fuel is seen as a good source of income in Turkey in terms of taxation. A comparison of the price of diesel fuel in Turkey with the price of diesel fuel in other countries showed Turkey among the countries having the highest diesel fuel prices. Increasing agricultural production costs along with the decline in the prices of agricultural products in Turkey may deepen the ongoing crisis in Turkey's agricultural sector

Comparative study on retail sales forecasting between single and combination methods

In today’s competitive global economy, businesses must adjust themselves constantly to ever-changing markets. Therefore, predicting future events in the marketplace is crucial to the maintenance of successful business activities. In this study, sales forecasts for a global furniture retailer operating in Turkey were made using state space models, ARIMA and ARFIMA models, neural networks, and Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). Also, the forecasting performances of some widely used combining methods were evaluated by comparison with the weekly sales data for ten products. According to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first time that the recently developed state space models, also called ETS (Error-Trend-Seasonal) models, and the ANFIS model have been tested within combining methods for forecasting retail sales. Analysis of the results of the single models in isolation indicated that none of them outperformed all the others across all the time series investigated. However, the empirical results suggested that most of the combined forecasts examined could achieve statistically significant increases in forecasting accuracy compared with individual models and with the forecasts generated by the company’s current system

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in Patients with Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma and Its Effect on Development of Cholangitis

Objective. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with inoperable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma and establish the incidence of cholangitis development following ERCP. Material and Method. This retrospective study enrolled patients diagnosed with inoperable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent endoscopic drainage (stenting) with ERCP. Patients were evaluated for development of cholangitis and the effectiveness of ERCP. The procedure was considered successful if bilirubin level fell more than 50% within 7 days after ERCP. Results. Post-ERCP cholangitis developed in 40.7% of patients. Cholangitis development was observed among 39.4% of patients with effective ERCP and in 60.6% of patients with ineffective ERCP. Development of cholangitis was significantly more common in the group with ineffective ERCP compared to the effective ERCP group (P=0.001). The average number of ERCP procedures was 2.33 ± 0.89 among patients developing cholangitis and 1.79 ± 0.97 in patients without cholangitis. The number of ERCP procedures was found to be significantly higher among patients developing cholangitis compared to those without cholangitis (P=0.012). Conclusion. ERCP may not provide adequate biliary drainage in some of the patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma and also it is a procedure associated an increased risk of cholangitis

How does disease location affect acute phase reactants in ulcerative colitis?

Background: We aimed to evaluate erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), platelet (PLT) counts and albumin levels according to disease location in ulcerative colitis.Methods: The ESR, CRP, WBC, PLT counts and albumin levels of 206 ulcerative colitis patients with endoscopic activity were retrospectively evaluated. Endoscopic activity had been assessed using Rachmilewitz endoscopic activity index. Patients were grouped according to the extent of disease by Montreal classification, and they were evaluated regarding the location and severity of disease according to the laboratory test results.Results: Among 206 patients, 88 (42.7%) had extensive colitis, 89 (43.2%) of them had left sided colitis and 29 (14%) patients had proctitis. According to the endoscopic activity index, 32.04% of the patients had mild activity, 39.32% moderate activity and 28.64% had severe activity. As the disease extent progressed from the distal to the proximal intestine, CRP, ESR, WBC and PLT counts showed a significant increase while albumin levels showed a significant decrease. In our study, the test that yielded the best results in the assessment of disease activity was CRP, which was found to be high in 80% of patients with extensive colitis, followed by ESR, PLT and WBC counts. As the involved intestine shortened, the rate of patients with abnormal laboratory tests significantly decreasedConclusion: CRP, ESR, WBC, PLT counts and albumin levels are of limited value in determining disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients, especially in those with proctiti