COVID-19 and its Economic Implications for Turkish Tour Guides

The COVID-19 outbreak, which became one of the most stunning pandemics of the modern era, had a truly global effect on the world economy in a short period of time. Almost all countries were negatively impacted by the outbreak, which practically paralysed global life and resulted in negative dynamics, unprecedented conditions, and obstacles. Türkiye was not immune to this, having felt seriously negative consequences during this period. Tourism, nearly coming to a complete interruption for the first time since World War II in the 21st century, happened to be one of the hardest hit industries. The industry of tourism in Türkiye, steadily growing over the previous decade was subjected to this difficult process, bringing the situation to a near-standstill. Tour guides who are major front-line employees in the industry experienced this negativity and faced numerous job-related challenges. With these considerations in mind, the present study sought to uncover how the COVID-19 outbreak impacted Turkish tour guides. For this purpose, a sample of 26 certified tour guides associated with the Izmir Chamber of Tour Guides were interviewed using a semi-structured interview form in September 2021. The study findings reveal that the COVID-19 outbreak greatly affected tour guides, reducing their sources of income while maintaining most of their fixed expenses. To ensure their survival, tour guides require more supports, particularly financial ones

Death anxiety in outdoor-adventure recreation: study of demographic variables and experience

This study investigated the death anxiety (DA) scores of participants in outdoor-adventure recreational (OAR) activities, and the relationship of the DA scores to several demographic features and experience of DA. The study included 589 individuals with various leisure-time OAR experience levels (131 women, 458 men; Mage=29.79±9.64). Their sports included climbing (n=200), scuba diving (n=142), and paragliding (n=247). DA was measured by the Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale. Overall, the DA scores were low, with no significant differences between OAR activities. However, the DA scores were affected by age and gender, and length of OAR experience. More specifically, the DA scores were highest for 18-28-year-old participants, women, and participants with 4-6 years of middle-level OAR experience. Previous negative DA experiences did not increase the DA scores

Interfaith Tourist Behaviour at Religious Heritage Sites: House of the Virgin Mary Case in Turkey

This study questions selected behavioural aspects of travellers belonging to different religious beliefs during their religious heritage site visits. Tourist behaviour needs to be analysed in specific circumstances. This study aims to clarify in situ problems experienced by religious tourists, behavioural differences of tourists with different beliefs, and religious tourist behaviour regarding cultural heritage site protection. A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews has been followed. Documentary analysis provided secondary data. On-site observation and face-to-face interviews with key-informants provided primary data. Snowball (referral) sampling was applied as non-probability sampling was convenient for data collection. Primary data suggest that visitor behaviour tends to differentiate based on religious faith and age of visitors. Young Turkish Muslim visitors (Gen Y) seemed to have superficial contact with holy sites especially when the site does not represent their own faith. This superficiality seemed higher for Euro Turks and young male students. Muslims and Christians exhibit similarities (deeper interest and respect with increasing age) and dissimilarities (more female interest in Muslims, more on-site praying for Christians)

New Metaheuristic Algorithms for Reactive Power Optimization

Optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) is significant regarding operating the practice safely and efficiently. The ORPD is beneficial to recover the voltage profile, diminish the losses and increase the voltage stability. The ORPD is a complicated optimization issue in which the total active power loss is reduced by detecting the power-system control variables, like generator voltages, tap ratios of tap-changer transformers, and requited reactive power, ideally. This study offers new approaches based on Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA) and Tree Seed Algorithm (TSA) to solve the best ORPD. The results of the approaches are offered set against the current results studied in the literature. The recommended algorithms were tested by IEEE-30 and IEEE-118 bus systems to discover the optimal reactive power control variables. It was observed that the obtained results are more successful than the other algorithms

Examınatıon of the Factors Effectıng the Use of Parks and Recreatıon Areas in Terms of Dıfferent Varıables

The aim of this study was to determine the factors that are effective in the non-preference of Park and recreation areas in the city center of Gaziantep Metropolitan municipality according to different variables. There were no significant differences between the income and the variables affecting participation in activities in parks and recreation areas (p> 0.05), and the absence of participation in activities in parks and recreation areas when women prefer park and recreation areas (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between health status of participants and reasons of not choosing park and recreation areas (p> 0.05). Women in parks and recreation areas are more likely to be exposed to physical assault than men, and those who do not have the necessary spare time to participate in these areas are not very interested in recreation areas because of their family responsibilities they have not been able to use such areas

Examination of the Attitudes of School of Physical Education and Sports Students towards Teaching Profession in Terms of Various Variables

The aim of this research is to determine the attitudes of the students who are studying in the physical education and sports departments towards the teaching profession. 244 students attending Ahi Evran University School of Physical Education and Sports and Fırat University Sports Sciences Faculty Physical Education and Sport Teacher Training, Sports Management and Coaching Education departments participated in the research. In the research, personal data form and attitude scale for the teaching profession composed of 34 items were used as data collection means. Distribution, frequency, t test and anova test were performed in the comparison of the related data. Statistical analyzes show that attitudes of participants to the teaching profession do not differ in terms of gender and whether they are teachers in the family, the university in which the training was conducted and the type of sport made

Black Carrot Extract Containing Polyvinyl Alcohol-Based Nanofibers%253A Structural Characterization and Determination of Total Oxidant-Antioxidant Capacity

In this study three different electrospun nanofiber samples, named as polyvinly alcohol (PVA), polyvinly alcohol %2Bblack carrot extract (PVAB) and polyvinly alcohol%2Bblack carrot extract%2Btin dioxide (PVABT), were produced successfully using the electrospinning method. According to characterization analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it has been found that PVA nanofibers were continuous and they preserved their uniform structure and average diameters were measured as 215.76plusmn%253B75.47. With the addition of black carrot extract, fiber diameters increased to 637.97plusmn%253B91.85 nm. On the other hand, for PVABT accumulation of new structures observed and diamater thickness increased to 658.66plusmn%253B101.5 nm respectively. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy elemental mapping results of PVABT sample proved the binding and integration of the tin dioxide to the surface of the electrospun nanofibers. Antioxidant properties are also compared to determine how nanofiber coating of plant extracts effect on Total Oxidant Level (TOL) ndash%253B Total Antioxidant Level (TAL). While the antioxidant level of the black carrot extract covered with nanofiber was ~62%25 higher than the extract without nanofiber, it was determined that the extract-metal oxide combination showed higher antioxidant results. In addition, no oxidant was detected in electrospun nanofiber samples. Overall, it has been concluded that nanofibers can be fabricated in combination with plant extract and metal oxides and addition of these materials have ability to effect characteristic properties and antioxidant properties. Therefore, metal oxides and plant extracts have the potential to be used as an active food packaging ingredients for further applications in food industry. In the future, it will be important to determine other properties such as thermal stability, mechanical properties, or water vapor permeabilities of these nanomaterials

May Inhaled Corticosteroid Use Give Rise to Impaired Glucose Tolerance in Bronchial Asthma?

Systemic side effects of inhaler corticosteroids (IC) are quite rarely. It is also well known that systemic use of corticosteroids for a long period of time may have diabetogenic effects. In this study, the relationship between use of IC in patients with bronchial asthma and tendency of development of diabetes was investigated via oral glucose tolerance test. Eighty three patients with bronchial asthma and 34 healthy subjects without any known disease as a control group were enrolled the study. Asthma group and control group were similar according to gender, age and BMI. Mean period for the diagnosis of asthma was 8.9±6.4 years, for IC use was 4.2±2.7 years and mean daily dose of IC was 616.66±355.62 µgr. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) for asthma group who were on IC and for control group were 92.96±6.82 mg/dl and 93.05±12.51 mg/dl, respectively. Following 75 gr OGTT, glucose levels for asthma group and control group were 110.21±32.17 mg/dl and 109.08±28.41 mg/dl, respectively. FBG levels and 2-hour glucose levels separately in both groups were not statistically significant (p0.05). In asthma group, correlations between duration of IC use and, FBG and 2-hour glucose levels, and also between dose of IC and FBG and 2-hour glucose levels were evaluated. Statistically significant but mild positive correlation was seen between duration of IC (4.2±2.7 year) use and 2-hour glucose levels (110.21±32.17 mg/dl) (p=0.007, r=0.292). In conclusion, in patients with asthma, mild positive correlation between IC use and 2-hour glucose levels was observed. Our findings may point out that IC use over a long period of time may lead glucose intolerance

Allocation of component types to machines in the automated assembly of printed circuit boards

Duman, Ekrem (Dogus Author) -- An earlier version of this paper which has been presented at ISCIS'06: The 21st International Symposium on Computer and Information Sciences, November 1-3, 2006 Istanbul, Turkey, has been published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science [18].Although the use of electronic component placement machines has brought reliability and speed to the printed circuit board (PCB) assembly process, to get higher utilization, one needs to solve the resulting complex operations research problems efficiently. In this study, the problem of distributing the assembly workload to two machines deployed on an assembly line with two identical component placement machines to minimize the line idle time is considered. This problem is NP-Complete even in its simplest form. A mathematical model and several heuristics have been proposed to solve this problem efficiently

Valorización sostenible del patrimonio cultural via tour guías: caso turco de efeso ciudad antigua

The concept of sustainability has become one of the most popular topics of tourism studies. Sustainable tourism emerged as a strong stream of tourism research based on the stance that tourism industry has responsibility for degradation of natural and cultural environments. Additionally, tourism industry consumes local resources and has to pay its attention on conservation issues. Tour guides are part of tourist experience in destinations and they have a strong influence on tourist behavior. In this study, the potential support of tour guides conducting excursions to Ephesus Ancient City located at Western Anatolia nearby Izmir metropolitan city is questioned for sustainable heritage valorization process. Ephesus is regarded as one of the great outdoor museums of Turkey, once the trade center of the ancient world, a religious center of the early Christianity and today an important tourism center deserves to be questioned through cultural heritage valorization concept. Role of tour guides in minimizing negative impacts of tourist traffic is rarely perceived and applied as a support to heritage site managers. This research seeks to reflect primary data obtained through qualitative data collection techniques (semi -structured interview) from Turkish tour guides surveyed at Ephesus Ancient City. Following the evaluation of findings, recommendations will be developed for tourism industry and cultural heritage site managers.El concepto de sostenibilidad se ha convertido en uno de los temas más populares entre los estudios de turismo. El turismo sostenible surgió como una fuerte corriente de investigación basada en la postura de la industria del turismo en relación a su responsabilidad en la degradación de los ambientes naturales y culturales. Además, la industria del turismo consume recursos locales y tiene que prestar atenciónal tema de la conservación. Los guías turísticos hacen parte de la experiencia turística en los destinos y tienen una fuerte influencia en el comportamiento de los turistas. En este estudio es cuestionado el potencial apoyo de los guías turísticos que realizan excursiones a Éfeso, antigua ciudad ubicada en Anatolia occidental cerca de la ciudad metropolitana de Esmirna, en el proceso de valorización del patrimonio sostenible. Éfeso es considerado como uno de los grandes museos al aire libre de Turquía, uno de los centros de comercio del mundo antiguo, un centro religioso del cristianismo primitivo, y en la actualidad, un centro turístico importante que merece ser estudiado a través del concepto de valorización del patrimonio cultural. El papel de los guías turísticos en la minimización de los impactos negativos del tráfico de turistas rara vez es percibido y aplicado como un apoyo para los gestores de lugares con patrimonio. Esta investigación procura reflejar datos primarios obtenidos a través de técnicas de recolección de datos cualitativos (entrevista semiestructurada) de guías turísticos turcos encuestados en la Ciudad Antigua de Éfeso. Tras la evaluación de los resultados, se elaborarán recomendaciones para la industria del turismo y para los gestores de lugares con patrimonio cultural