Turkey\u27s Unraveling Democracy: Reversing Course from Democratic Consolidation to Democratic Backsliding

The Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) promised a new and democratic Turkey in the 2002 general elections, and it succeeded in winning the elections of 2002, 2007, and 2011. Everyone lauded the democratization process in Turkey under the AKP, calling it the “Turkish model.” Yet, with the prolonging rule of the AKP, cracks in the Turkish democracy gradually appeared, ranging from politicized trials to media repression. The situation in Turkey continued to worsen at an increasing pace under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leading to the major Gezi Park protests last summer. The erosion of the AKP’s commitment to Turkish democracy is evident, as is Turkey’s democratic backsliding. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive landscape of domestic events in Turkey that demonstrate democratic backsliding by identifying major issue areas where this trend is most prominent. These key issues where democratic backsliding becomes most apparent in Turkey are divided into five categories: media freedoms, the judiciary, corruption and graft, the nature of the opposition, and civil liberties. These five categories will be examined through narratives, which provide crucial insight into the strategies used by the AKP to undermine the consolidation of liberal democracy in Turkey. The findings from the critical case study of Turkey can be instrumental in preventing the trend of democratic backsliding in other developing countries

The place of expert systems in business now and over the next decade

Information technology has entered a new generation. In recent years, considerable interest has been focussed on the commercialisation of expert systems, which represent an important application of Artificial Intelligence in the field of Information Technology. Expert systems are now in a crucial stage of development because, although in business computerised systems are not new, expert systems still need time for their applicability and usefulness to be proved. The market for expert systems will not develop if such systems are unable to cope with the demanding applications of business; for example with top management problem-solving and decision-making. This thesis is principally concerned with determining the position of expert systems in business by looking at these major business related issues. [Continues.

Clothing Selection Motivations and Challenges for Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Qualitative Exploration of Caregivers’ Viewpoints

The study explored current adaptive clothing items that are available for individuals with Alzheimer’s and explore their needs of effective clothing features from their caregiver’s viewpoints

A Feasibility Study of Microbialites as Paleomagnetic Recorders

Microbialites–layered, organosedimentary deposits–exist in the geologic record and extend back in deep time, including all estimated times of inner core nucleation. Microbialites may preserve magnetic field variations at high-resolution based on their estimated growth rates. Previous studies have shown that microbialites can have a stable magnetization. However, the timing and origin of microbialite magnetization were not well determined, and no study has attempted to evaluate whether actively growing microbialites record the geomagnetic field. Here, we present centimeter-scale magnetization and magnetic property variations within the structure of modern microbialites from Great Salt Lake (GSL), United States, and Laguna Bacalar, Mexico, Pleistocene microbialites from GSL, and a Cambrian microbialite from Mongolia. All samples record field directions close to the expected value. The dominant magnetic carrier has a coercivity of 35–50 mT and unblocking temperatures are consistent with magnetite. A small proportion of additional high coercivity minerals such as hematite are also present, but do not appear to appreciably contribute to the natural remanent magnetization (NRM). Magnetization is broadly consistent along microbialite layers, and directional variations correlate with the internal slope of the layers. These observations suggest that the documented NRM may be primarily detrital in origin and that the timing of magnetization acquisition can be close to that of sediment deposition

An intervention trial targeting methadone maintenance treatment providers to improve clients' treatment retention in China.

BackgroundService providers including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals play an essential role in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). This study evaluated the impact of an intervention targeting MMT providers on their clients' treatment retention.MethodsThis study was conducted in 68 MMT clinics in five provinces of China with 36 clients randomly selected from each clinic. The clinics were randomized to intervention or control condition. The MMT CARE intervention started with group sessions to enhance providers' communication skills. The trained providers were encouraged to conduct individual sessions with clients to promote treatment engagement. The outcomes, which include client retention (main outcome) and their reception of provider-delivered individual sessions (process outcome), were measured over a 24-month period.ResultsSignificantly fewer intervention clients dropped out from MMT than control clients during the study period (31% vs. 41%; p < 0.0001). Dropout hazard was significantly lower in the intervention condition compared to the control condition (HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.89). More intervention clients had individual sessions than control clients (93% vs. 70%; p < 0.0001). Having individual sessions was associated with a significantly lower dropout hazard (HR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.40). The intervention clients had a significantly lower dropout hazard than the control clients if they started the individual sessions during the first six months (HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.90).ConclusionsThe MMT CARE intervention focusing on provider capacity building has demonstrated efficacy in reducing clients' treatment dropout. This study sheds light on MMT service improvement in China and other global community-based harm reduction programs

Developmental changes in vibration sensing and vibration-cued hatching decisions in red–eyed treefrogs

Arboreal embryos of red-eyed treefrogs, Agalychnis callidryas, hatch prematurely to escape from egg predators, cued by vibrations in attacks. Young embryos modulate hatching based on multiple, non-redundant frequency and temporal properties of vibration cues, reducing the chance of false alarms that unnecessarily expose hatchlings to risk in the water. We used a variety of techniques, including vibration playbacks, to test two hypotheses concerning why hatching responses increase developmentally. First, we tested the hypothesis that sensory development improves cue detection. In ch.1, we assessed the role of vestibular mechanoreception in A. callidryas embryos. We found ontogenetic congruence of vestibular system function and MCH, suggesting that the developing ear plays a role in egg-motion sensing. In ch.2, we tested if lateral line mechanoreceptors contribute to MCH by blocking neuromast function with gentamicin then exposing embryos to vibration cues across ontogeny. We found that the lateral line mediates the earliest onset of MCH, and MCH continues to increase with increasing numbers of neuromasts. Second, we tested the hypothesis that, once sensory capabilities have developed, embryos are able to consider the cues available to them and weigh their costs and benefits in order to make an informed, optimal decision to hatch. Ch.3 explored the ways in which embryo responses could be contextually modulated in complex ways. We showed that second-order temporal pattern elements such as prefixes and long gaps could be threatening in certain contexts and not in others, suggesting that embryos practice a very impressive, highly functioning decision-making process that incorporates multiple vibration properties to distinguish between threatening and non-threatening stimuli. Development had a drastic effect on this decision process because hatchlings face aquatic predators in ponds. Since older and bigger hatchlings were less likely to be killed by this new suite of predators, the costs of false alarms decreased as embryos approach spontaneous hatching and they should decide to hatch more readily compared to their younger and smaller counterparts. In ch.4, we showed that older embryos selectively accept more false alarms in response to ambiguous cues, providing evidence for ontogenetic adaptation in information use for escape-hatching decisions. Overall, this research will help us understand how animals facing different risk trade-offs use information to make crucial behavioral decisions

Retail Therapy: What Makes You Feel Relieved and Happy?

Today the term retail therapy has been used frequently and the concept of retail therapy has received notable attention from both marketers and scholars. Shopping has always been a form of therapy for consumers because they experience a significant amount of pleasure from the act of browsing or buying. Researchers have identified some factors to explain retail therapy motivations, such as loneliness, boredom, mood alleviation, and others. (Atalay & Meloy, 2011; Kang & Johnson, 2011). However, little research has been done to understand or draw linkages between personal characteristics (as antecedents) and retail therapy. Therefore, understanding what factors influence retail therapy and how the factors motivate retail therapy is critical. Consequently, this study aims to 1) examine the antecedents of retail therapy and 2) explore the impact of personal characteristics on retail therapy

Body Image from the Military Service Member\u27s Perspective: The Effects of Weight Concerns and Social Pressures, and Health-Related Attitudes

Military service members are required to meet service-specific weight and body fat standards, and both active duty and reserve military personnel are required to maintain weight and fitness standards. This requirement to be fit and healthy is often found as an additional stressor and as an influence on body image. Also, anxiety and changes in eating and exercise prior to the bi-annual fitness tests have been documented. Thus, it is important to understand the military service member\u27s weight and body image perceptions in order to adequately plan intervention programs for the service members. The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of body image of military service members to better understand social-psychological needs to improve body image. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of weight concerns, perceived social pressures, as well as exercise and eating attitudes on body image

An Investigation of Self-Concept, Clothing Selection, and Life Satisfaction among Disabled Consumers

Because consumer behavior research has typically focused on the population of “haves” and assumed consumers’ normalcy (Miller, 1997), the population of “have nots” has been largely ignored by researchers. As a result, we have a limited understanding of disabled individuals as consumers, particularly their behaviors related to the selection of clothing to wear. Thus, this study is designed to better understand disabled consumers and to investigate the influence of disabled individuals’ multifaceted self-concept on their motivations for clothing selection