Effects of Growth Volatility on Economic Performance

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper examines the relationship between growth and growth volatility for a small open economy with high growth volatility: Turkey. Quarterly data for the period from 1987Q1 to 2007Q3 suggests that growth volatility reduces growth and that this result is robust under different specifications. This paper contributes to the literature by focusing on how growth volatility affects a set of variables that are crucial for growth. Empirical evidence from Turkey suggests that higher growth volatility reduces total factor productivity, investment, and the foreign currency value of local currency (depreciation). Moreover, it increases employment, though the evidence for this is not statistically significant. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

External Income Shocks and turkish Exports: A Sectoral Analysis

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This study assesses how the growth rates of Turkish trading partners affected Turkish exports in various sectors for the period 1996:01 to 2009:12. To determine this, we modeled the destination countries and the export demand for each sector separately. Each model is estimated as a system of equations, where each equation represents a country using a seemingly unrelated regression method. The empirical evidence suggests that Motor Vehicles, Basic Metals, and Radio-Television are the sectors with the highest income elasticities for most of the analyzed countries, whereas the Food Products and Beverages sector has the lowest income elasticity. We also performed simulations for the effect of a 1% increase in the growth rate of each country on Turkish exports. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

The Impact of Using Technological Devices on Mental and Physical Health in Adolescents

Objectives: In recent years, adolescents spend increasingly more time on technologic devices such as smartphones, televisions, computers, and tablets. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the usage of digital technology and health-related problems among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted by using a face-to-face survey administered to a sample of students studying at 4 randomly chosen public middle school and 4 randomly chosen public high school in the city of Istanbul. In this study recruited 1147 volunteer adolescents. All participants were answered a questionnaire regarding the demographic characteristics, technological devices useage patterns and health-related problems. Results: Most of the adolescents had smartphones (99.4%) and the fewest had game consoles (18.2%). The rate of using television and smartphone for more than two hours a day among adolescents was 13.1% and 28.4%, respectively. A decrease in sleep duration, increase in falling asleep time, distraction, fatigue, eating disorders and psychological symptoms were significantly more present for individuals using smartphone more than two hours. A positive and very weak relationship was detected between the duration of smartphone use and neck (r=0.096; p=0.002), wrist (r=0.079; p=0.008) and shoulder (r=0.069; p=0.021) pain. Also, positive and very weak relationship was detected between the duration of computer use and upper back (r=0.102; p=0.001), lower back (r=0.078; p=0.011) and shoulder (r=0.069; p=0.041) pain. Conclusion: This study showed the most widely used technological device among adolescents is smartphones and it was observed that the excessive use of this device among adolescents is more associated with many different health-related problems than other technological devices

Total factor productivity and macroeconomic instability

Total factor productivity (TFP) is an important component of growth for most countries. This article assesses the role of macroeconomic instability on TFP growth. We consider volatility in inflation, openness of an economy and financial market deepness as measures of macroeconomic instability. Empirical evidence provided from Turkey suggests that volatility of openness and financial market deepness reduce TFP growth, whereas volatility of inflation increases TFP growth. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

The relationship between smartphone addiction and musculoskeletal pain prevalence among young population: a cross-sectional study

Background: In the literature, there have been debates as to whether smartphone use has negative effects on physical and mental health. The present study investigated the extent to which smartphone addiction impacts on musculoskeletal pain prevalence among university students. Methods: The questionnaire consisted of three sections: demographic information, the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), and the modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Results: A total of 249 participants were included in this cross-sectional study. The body parts that were reported with highest prevalence of musculoskeletal pain were the upper back (70.3%), neck (65.9%), and wrists/hands (68.7%). The SAS scores were correlated with duration of smartphone use on a typical day (P = 0.001), duration of owning a smartphone (P = 0.027), and musculoskeletal pain prevalence in the neck (P = 0.001), wrists/hands (P = 0.001), shoulders (P = 0.025), and upper back (P = 0.023). The SAS score was significantly associated with prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the neck (odd ratio [OR], 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98-1.10; P = 0.002), wrists/hands (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.97-1.09; P = 0.001), and upper back (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.98-1.11; P = 0.033). Conclusions: The findings indicated that the upper back, neck, and wrists/hands have a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among smartphone users, particularly those with a smartphone addiction. Smartphone addiction scores were correlated with duration of smartphone use on a typical day, duration of owning smartphone, and musculoskeletal pain prevalence in the neck, wrists/hands, shoulders, and upper back

Agricultural origins on the Anatolian plateau

This paper explores the explanations for, and consequences of, the early appearance of food production outside the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, where it originated in the 10th/9th millennia cal BC. We present evidence that cultivation appeared in Central Anatolia through adoption by indigenous foragers in the mid ninth millennium cal BC, but also demonstrate that uptake was not uniform, and that some communities chose to actively disregard cultivation. Adoption of cultivation was accompanied by experimentation with sheep/goat herding in a system of low-level food production that was integrated into foraging practices rather than used to replace them. Furthermore, rather than being a short-lived transitional state, low-level food production formed part of a subsistence strategy that lasted for several centuries, although its adoption had significant long-term social consequences for the adopting community at Boncuklu. Material continuities suggest that Boncuklu’s community was ancestral to that seen at the much larger settlement of Çatalhöyük East from 7100 cal BC, by which time a modest involvement with food production had been transformed into a major commitment to mixed farming, allowing the sustenance of a very large sedentary community. This evidence from Central Anatolia illustrates that polarized positions explaining the early spread of farming, opposing indigenous adoption to farmer colonization, are unsuited to understanding local sequences of subsistence and related social change. We go beyond identifying the mechanisms for the spread of farming by investigating the shorter- and longer-term implications of rejecting or adopting farming practices.</p

Feasibility of markerless motion capture in clinical gait analysis in children with cerebral palsy

The main purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of deep learning based markerless motion capture in clinical settings. This study compares the markerless motion capture (Blazepose) to the gold standard marker-based system (Vicon) by assessing the hip, knee, and ankle joint flexion angles of cerebral palsy (CP) patients and their typically developed (TD) peers. The participant group included six CP patients and six TD individuals. The participants walked on an 8-meter gait path at a self-selected pace. 11 Vicon cameras (200 Hz) and 3 GoPro (60 Hz) cameras were used for the marker-based and markerless system setup. Both systems were synchronized and recorded simultaneously. The keypoint trajectories from Blazepose were obtained by feeding the images collected with GoPros as an input to the algorithm. Further analysis included calibration, 3D reconstruction, and data filtering in Matlab. Skeletal modeling and joint angle calculations were conducted in OpenSim for both systems to eliminate the methodological difference. SPM1D Matlab package was used for statistical analysis. Significant differences were observed in ankle and hip joint angles between the Blazepose and Vicon systems at specific gait cycle phases in both the CP and TD groups. The ankle angle showed significant differences in the CP group at 0.7–1.3% (p<0.016) of the gait cycle and in the TD group at 38–46% (p<0.016). For hip flexion, significant differences in the CP group were noted at 0.81–1.81% (p<0.016), 13–40% (p<0.016), and 89–93% (p<0.016) of the gait cycle, while in the TD group, a significant difference was observed at 75–84% of the gait cycle (p<0.016). No significant difference was observed for the knee angle in both groups. The results of this study highlight the potential use and certain limitations of markerless motion capture systems like Blazepose in clinical settings. While showing promise in certain aspects of joint angle tracking, the study emphasizes the need for more refined datasets and advanced algorithms to enhance the accuracy and reliability of such systems, especially for clinical applications involving CP patients

Integration of the insurance system with the Azerbaijan Compulsory Insurance Bureau

“Apdrošināšanas sistēmas integrācija ar Azerbaidžānas obligātās apdrošināšanas biroju” ir integrācija starp Azerbaidžānas apdrošinātāja Xalq polišu pārvaldības sistēmu un Azerbaidžānas obligātās apdrošināšanas biroju (CIB). Integrācijas iemesls - CIB pieņēma lēmumu izveidot jaunu polišu izdošanas sistēmu. Iepriekšējā sistēmā katram apdrošinātājam bija sava polišu pārvaldības sistēma. CIB nodrošināja tīmekļa servisus, kurus izmantojot, apdrošinātājs varēja izdot polises CIB sistēmā. Jaunajā sistēmā apdrošinātāji nevar izdot vai modificēt polises individuālajā sistēmā - visas polises tiek izdotas un modificētas tikai caur CIB sistēmu. Pēc CIB nosacījumiem, visiem apdrošinātājiem savās sistēmās ir jāizveido tīmekļa servisi, ar kuru palīdzību CIB nodos informāciju apdrošinātājam par izdotajām polisēm un polišu izmaiņām. Savukārt arī CIB no savas puses nodrošina tīmekļa servisus, kurus apdrošinātāji var izmantot, lai iegūtu informāciju par polisēm no CIB sistēmas. Projekts realizēts pēc spējās izstrādes metodoloģijas. Programmatūras izstrādes procesā izmantots ASP.NET Web API 2 atklātā pirmkoda ietvars, programmēšanas valoda C♯ un Microsoft SQL Server[5] datubāžu pārvaldības sistēma. Atslēgvārdi: apdrošināšana, ASP.NET Web API 2, Compulsory Insurance Bureau, integrācijaINTEGRATION OF THE INSURANCE SYSTEM WITH THE AZERBAIJAN COMPULSORY INSURANCE BUREAU "Integration of the insurance system with the Azerbaijan Compulsory Insurance Bureau" is the integration between the policy management system of the Azerbaijani insurer Xalq and the Azerbaijan Compulsory Insurance Bureau (CIB). The reason for the integration - the CIB decided to create a new policy issuance system. In the previous system, each insurer had its own policy management system. The CIB provided web services, which allowed the insurer to issue policies in the CIB system. Under the new system, insurers are not able to issue or modify policies in their individual system - all policies are issued and modified only through the CIB system. Under CIB conditions, all insurers must create web services in their systems, through which CIB will transfer information to the insurer about issued policies and policy changes. For its part, the CIB also provides web services which insurers can use to obtain information about polices from the CIB system. The project is realized according to the Agile development methodology. The ASP.NET Web API 2 open source framework, C♯ programming language and Microsoft SQL Server database management system was used in the software development process. Keywords: insurance, ASP.NET Web API 2, Compulsory Insurance Bureau, integratio

Dijital dönüşüm stratejisinin uygulanması yerel Türk bankası örneği

Text in English ; Abstract: English and TurkishIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124)xvi, 128 leavesBanks' digital transformation process became the most distinctive feature of developed businesses in this millennium, not just a trend or an option to adopt, it became a necessity for growing finance businesses at competitive markets. The goal of this thesis is to focus light upon advantages and effectiveness of digital transformation strategy implementation at one of financial institutions, a “bank” in the republic of Turkey through descriptive qualitative research methodology. When the bank decides to apply digital transformation, all management levels have to collaborate to formulate a strategy roadmap for a long period of years, to shape the right business model in addition to suitable Fintech projects that will follow. Not far away the finance industry and Banks are the most affected sector by digital transformation strategy to keep on with developing their competitive advantages in the global market. “Fintech” is a portmanteau of financial technology, which is an abbreviation for "financial technology." Therefore, Fintech is a term that relates to software and applications for both computer and mobile devices. Efficient Fintech application technology affects both internal and external stakeholders. Internally, all managerial processes and workflow upgraded and reviewed in regard to fit with digital transformation strategy. Externally, satisfying digital customer needs. Therefore, achieving desired effectiveness of bank digital transformation strategy, faced major changes and challenges such as choosing main digital projects for deployment, developing and educating staff, priority of digital fintech projects, analyzing customer-centric problems to commence digital solutions, building internal human resources digital culture, designing digital skills and competencies through training and development, drawing digital customer journey roadmap, redefining bank’s communication framework processes to build future digital customer. Digital transformation strategy of the bank changed the traditional concept of branches, as well as the bank's financial services and relationships with customers, through new projects of fintech Technologies.Bankaların dijital dönüşüm süreci, bu milenyumda gelişmiş işletmelerin en belirgin özelliği haline gelen bir trend veya benimseme seçeneği olmaktan çıkıp, rekabetçi piyasalarda büyüyen finans işletmeleri için bir zorunluluk haline geliyor. Bu Tez çalışmasının amacı, tanımlayıcı nitel araştırma metodolojisi aracılığıyla Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nde biri “Banka”nın dijital dönüşüm stratejisinin avantajlarına ve etkinliğine ışık tutmaktır. Banka dijital dönüşümü uygulamaya karar verdiğinde, tüm banka yönetim kademelerinin uzun yıllar boyunca strateji yol haritası oluşturmak, doğru iş modelini şekillendirmek ve ardından uygun Fintech projelerini şekillendirmek için işbirliği yapması gerekiyor.Finans sektörü ve bankalar, küresel pazarda rekabet avantajlarını geliştirmeye devam etmek için dijital dönüşüm stratejisinden en çok etkilenen sektörlerdir. "Fintech", "finansal teknoloji"nin kısaltmasıdır. Bu nedenle Fintech, hem bilgisayar hem de mobil cihazlar için yazılım ve uygulamalarla ilgili bir terimdir. Verimli Fintech uygulama teknolojisi hem dahili hem de harici paydaşları dahili olarak etkiler; Bu vakada dahili olarak; tüm yönetim süreçleri ve iş akışı, dijital dönüşüm stratejisine uygun olacak şekilde güncellendi ve gözden geçirildi. Harici olarak, dijital müşteri ihtiyaçları karşılandı. Bu nedenle, banka dijital dönüşüm stratejisi uygularken istenen etkinliği elde etmek, dağıtım için ana dijital projeleri seçmek, personel geliştirmek ve eğitmek, dijital çözümlere başlamak için müşteri merkezli sorunları analiz etmek, dahili insan kaynakları oluşturmak gibi büyük değişiklik ve zorluklarla karşı karşıya kaldı. Dijital kültür, eğitim ve geliştirme yoluyla dijital beceri ve yetkinlikler tasarlama, dijital müşteri yolculuğu yol haritası çizme, geleceğin dijital müşterisini oluşturmak için bankanın iletişim çerçevesi süreçlerini yeniden tanımladı. Bankanın dijital dönüşüm stratejisi, fintech teknolojilerinin yeni projeleri yoluyla geleneksel şube anlayışını, bankanın finansal hizmetlerini ve müşterilerle olan ilişkilerini değiştirdi.DIGITAL BANKING ERAMentioning about FINTECH necessity as mainstream and source of banks digital transformation strategyTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKDigital transformation (DT)Definitions of digital transformationComparison between digitization, digitalization, and digital transformationDigital transformation process stepsDigital transformation imperativesDigital transformation building blocksDigital transformation in finances sector (fintech ecosystem)Definitions of fintechFintech ecosystemDigital bankingDigital banking and customer journeyTraditional vs. digital customer journeyProcess model for customer journey and experienceOmni channels and customer experienceDigital transformation pyramid frameworkStrategy; levels of digital transformation strategyLevels of strategyDigital transformation strategy building approachesDigital transformation and business model (BM)Relation between digital transformation (DT) and business model innovation (BMI)Digital transformation maturity benefitsDigital maturity definitionsDigital maturity model exampleSTUDYING AND ANALYZING BANK STRATEGY AND EVOLVING OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY THROUGH MAIN PROJECTSBackground of bank digital transformation strategy evolutionIDEA beginningDeveloping the conceptCollecting DataSummarizing pre-designed (open-end questions) questionnaireToday bank’s digital reality projectsFintech and agile management structure at bankBank’s strategy group structurePlanning and corporate performance management departmentStrategic program management officeCorporate communications departmentDigital transformation group directorateProduct development directorateAnalyzing bank digital transformation strategy processMain digital transformation projectsBank dynamic websiteBank mobile branchATM machines“Your bank” platformExtreme transactions/teller/ machine (XTM)QR code payments digital projectInternal employees’ mobile phone application projectP.O.S digital project(Continuous form cheque) digital projectBank QR code chequeE-services and accounting integrations at bankBank tablet digital signature project integrationBank digital assistant (Chabot) projectVoice guidance (IVR) systemInvestment applicationHuman resources management role as an asset for bank digital transformation strategyBank innovation centerAdopting modern technological, digital training and development programsBank academyDeployment of digital culture activities among bank employee