Determinants of Industrial Production in Turkey

The necessity of emphasizing the importance of industrial production for the sustainable growth and development of Turkey has been a topic of discussion in political and academia circles. The growth in industrial production (output) depends on the investment in manufacturing sectors and the demand for the products. Along with internal demand, Turkey tries to support its manufacturing base with export (incentives). Manufacturing items occupy the greatest share of products in export sales. The development of manufacturing capabilities of the country is clearly based on the demand from inside and out. The effect of Turkey’s export on its industrial production throughout 2000’s has been analyzed. For this purpose we developed a VAR model where industrial production index was the dependent variable and export, investment, and interest rate were independent variables. All independent variables were found to be significantly explaining industrial production

Financial crisis, macroprudential policies, and depositor discipline

This paper examines to what extent macroprudential policies in the Turkish banking sector affected the functioning of depositor discipline. Our results suggest that depositors’ responses for poor bank performance get stronger after the 2008 crisis, when various macroprudential measures were implemented to preserve financial stability. In the aftermath of the crisis, bank behavior toward depositors also alters. Ahead of the crisis, banks did not significantly respond to the discipline exerted by depositors, however, banks begin offering higher rates to curb deposit withdrawals afterwards. Our findings suggest that the implementation of macroprudential tools seem to have a positive impact on financial stability, since, in the post-2008 period, regulatory supervision have been more firmly assisted by the market

Grain zinc, iron and protein concentrations and zinc-efficiency in wild emmer wheat under contrasting irrigation regimes

Micronutrient malnutrition, and particularly deficiency in zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe), afflicts over three billion people worldwide, and nearly half of the world’s cereal-growing area is affected by soil Zn deficiency. Wild emmer wheat [Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides (Körn.) Thell.], the progenitor of domesticated durum wheat and bread wheat, offers a valuable source of economically important genetic diversity including grain mineral concentrations. Twenty two wild emmer wheat accessions, representing a wide range of drought resistance capacity, as well as two durum wheat cultivars were examined under two contrasting irrigation regimes (well-watered control and water-limited), for grain yield, total biomass production and grain Zn, Fe and protein concentrations. The wild emmer accessions exhibited high genetic diversity for yield and grain Zn, Fe and protein concentrations under both irrigation regimes, with a considerable potential for improvement of the cultivated wheat. Grain Zn, Fe and protein concentrations were positively correlated with one another. Although irrigation regime significantly affected ranking of genotypes, a few wild emmer accessions were identified for their advantage over durum wheat, having consistently higher grain Zn (e.g., 125 mg kg−1), Fe (85 mg kg−1) and protein (250 g kg−1) concentrations and high yield capacity. Plants grown from seeds originated from both irrigation regimes were also examined for Zn efficiency (Zn deficiency tolerance) on a Zn-deficient calcareous soil. Zinc efficiency, expressed as the ratio of shoot dry matter production under Zn deficiency to Zn fertilization, showed large genetic variation among the genotypes tested. The source of seeds from maternal plants grown under both irrigation regimes had very little effect on Zn efficiency. Several wild emmer accessions revealed combination of high Zn efficiency and drought stress resistance. The results indicate high genetic potential of wild emmer wheat to improve grain Zn, Fe and protein concentrations, Zn deficiency tolerance and drought resistance in cultivated wheat

Implications of non-volatile memory as primary storage for database management systems

Traditional Database Management System (DBMS) software relies on hard disks for storing relational data. Hard disks are cheap, persistent, and offer huge storage capacities. However, data retrieval latency for hard disks is extremely high. To hide this latency, DRAM is used as an intermediate storage. DRAM is significantly faster than disk, but deployed in smaller capacities due to cost and power constraints, and without the necessary persistency feature that disks have. Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) is an emerging storage class technology which promises the best of both worlds. It can offer large storage capacities, due to better scaling and cost metrics than DRAM, and is non-volatile (persistent) like hard disks. At the same time, its data retrieval time is much lower than that of hard disks and it is also byte-addressable like DRAM. In this paper, we explore the implications of employing NVM as primary storage for DBMS. In other words, we investigate the modifications necessary to be applied on a traditional relational DBMS to take advantage of NVM features. As a case study, we have modified the storage engine (SE) of PostgreSQL enabling efficient use of NVM hardware. We detail the necessary changes and challenges such modifications entail and evaluate them using a comprehensive emulation platform. Results indicate that our modified SE reduces query execution time by up to 40% and 14.4% when compared to disk and NVM storage, with average reductions of 20.5% and 4.5%, respectively.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme under grant agreement number 318633, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain under contract TIN2015-65316-P, and a HiPEAC collaboration grant awarded to Naveed Ul Mustafa.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A bilateral and symmetrical variation of the anterior belly of the digastric muscle.

We observed a bilateral and symmetrical variation of the anterior belly of the digastric muscle during the dissection of a 35-year-old female cadaver. The accessory muscle bundles were arranged in a cross. These bundles were found superficial to the mylohyoid muscle and deep in the platysma. Such a variation from perfect symmetry has not been previously reported. To avoid misinterpretation of radiological tests, it is important to be aware of bilateral and symmetrical variations of the anterior belly of the digastric muscle when examining the floor of the mouth and the submental region.</p

Foliar-applied glyphosate substantially reduced uptake and transport of iron and manganese in sunflower (helianthus annuus L.) plants

Evidence clearly shows that cationic micronutrients in spray solutions reduce the herbicidal effectiveness of glyphosate for weed control due to the formation of metal-glyphosate complexes. The formation of these glyphosate-metal complexes in plant tissue may also impair micronutrient nutrition of nontarget plants when exposed to glyphosate drift or glyphosate residues in soil. In the present study, the effects of simulated glyphosate drift on plant growth and uptake, translocation, and accumulation (tissue concentration) of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) were investigated in sunflower ( Helianthus annuusL.) plants grown in nutrient solution under controlled environmental conditions. Glyphosate was sprayed on plant shoots at different rates between 1.25 and 6.0% of the recommended dosage (i.e., 0.39 and 1.89 mM glyphosate isopropylamine salt). Glyphosate applications significantly decreased root and shoot dry matter production and chlorophyll concentrations of young leaves and shoot tips. The basal parts of the youngest leaves and shoot tips were severely chlorotic. These effects became apparent within 48 h after the glyphosate spray. Glyphosate also caused substantial decreases in leaf concentration of Fe and Mn while the concentration of Zn and Cu was less affected. In short-term uptake experiments with radiolabeled Fe (59Fe), Mn (54Mn), and Zn (65Zn), root uptake of 59Fe and 54Mn was significantly reduced in 12 and 24 h after application of 6% of the recommended dosage of glyphosate, respectively. Glyphosate resulted in almost complete inhibition of root-to-shoot translocation of 59Fe within 12 h and 54Mn within 24 h after application. These results suggest that glyphosate residues or drift may result in severe impairments in Fe and Mn nutrition of nontarget plants, possibly due to the formation of poorly soluble glyphosate-metal complexes in plant tissues and/or rhizosphere interactions

Evaluation of Alfalfa Plants Growth Irrigated with Arsenic Contaminated Water

The natural and anthropogenic process cause arsenic contamination of waters and creates serious environmental problems throughout the world. Due to the alfalfa is an important crop in diverse farming systems, it has been grown almost 33% of Turkey’s cropland. In this experimental study, effect of As on the alfalfa plant growth and As accumulation in the shoot of the alfalfa was determined. The accumulation of As in shoots as well as growth of alfalfa at various As contaminated water was evaluated. Alfalfa plants were grown in a greenhouse on a soil amended with different concentrations of As (control, 0.51.01.52.02.53.04.06.08.0 mg/L). In this study, data of two harvest samples were presented. Experimental results indicated that the irrigation with Ascontaminated water of alfalfa cause dry weight increase compared to control pots. As accumulation in the shoots of alfalfa plant increase with increasing As concentrations in the irrigation waters. As accumulation in the shoots at the 2 nd harvest samples were higher than the 1 st samples. However, As accumulation differences between the 1 st and 2 nd samples decreased when the As concentrations in the irrigation water was higher than 4 mg/L