Effect of different irrigation water level on cotton yield and yield components

Effects of different water level on yield and yield components of the drip irrigated cotton were evaluated in Amik Plain in the East Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Four levels of irrigation water were tested in2003 and 2004. Treatments were 25 (I25), 50 (I50), 75% (I75) of the full irrigation treatment (I100) which received 100% class-A pan evaporation. Numbers of irrigation events were 5 and 8 in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Under I25, I50 and I75 treatment conditions, evapotranspiration, total cotton seed yield, boll weight, lint percentage, number of sympodial branches and leaf area index decreased while some boll parameters such as boll weights and opened boll numbers increased. Increase of boll number per plant under water stress condition showed that cotton had high ability for adapting water stress conditions. The highest yield was obtained in the I100 treatment. A second degree polynomial relation could adequately describe the cotton seed yield response to the irrigation water amount. The highestirrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was obtained with the I50 treatment

Market Reaction to Risky Banks: Did Generous Deposit Guarantee Change it?

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Turkey experienced a massive banking crisis in February 2001, resulting in the loss of more than a thousand managerial jobs and the closure of 21% of all bank branches in the market. In this paper, we study the behavior of the market and the banks in Turkey before the crisis, from 1988 to 2000, which includes the period of full deposit insurance. The empirical results showed that not only depositors but also borrowers reacted negatively to risky banks and punished them even more during the period of generous government guarantee. However, in the same period, banks were found to increase their moral hazard behavior significantly. Although the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank recommend explicit deposit insurance for developing countries, the findings of this paper suggest that deposit insurance may not be an effective policy tool to improve market confidence, and it does not guarantee a stable economic environment even when the market reacts negatively to the moral hazard behavior of banks

Bank Quality, Loan Demand and Market Discipline

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this paper, we examine the disciplinary role of borrowers, who are one of the key stakeholders in Turkish banks and are heavily affected when their banks experience difficulty. In the theoretical model, we show that borrowers prefer to have a relationship with less risky banks although it increases their cost of getting funds. Empirically, we examine the relationship between quality of a bank and its loan demand and find that as riskiness of a bank decreases, its loan demand increases significantly, suggesting the disciplinary role of borrowers in Turkey

Mobility and Optimal Tenure Choice

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this paper, we offer a dynamic model of the optimal tenure behavior of an individual who faces the possibility of moving multiple times during his lifetime. We also investigate the lifetime effects of such factors as income tax, property tax, transaction costs, and mortgage rates on the household's tenure choice. The agents in the model utilize a genetic algorithm, a probabilistic search approach, to determine their optimal lifetime tenure choice path. The agents are forward looking in that they anticipate such possible events as changes in jobs, marital status, household size, or dissatisfaction with current residence. Our results suggest several housing policy implications and explain some of the empirical findings in the literature. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Kültürlerarası çalışmalarda yöntem: örgütsel bağlılık yazınından dersler

Bu makalede 1991-2001 yılları arasında yayınlanmış görgül kültürlerarası örgütsel bağlılık çalışmalarındaki yöntemsel uygulamalar niteliksel olarak derinlemesine değerlendirilmektedir. Özellikle, kültürel açıklamaların geçerliliğini tehdit eden örnekleme, araçlama ve veri toplamaya ilişkin hususlar incelenmektedir. İnceleme, Sosyal Bilimler Atıf Endeksi’nde (Social Sciences Citation Index, SSCI) sosyal psikoloji, uygulamalı psikoloji, yönetim ve çalışma ilişkileri başlıkları altında listelenen İngilizce dergilerde tespit edilen altı makale ile yapılmıştır. Bulgular, değerlendirmeye tabi tutulan araştırmaların kültürel kuramları önsel olarak temel almakla beraber Kuzey Amerika kökenli kuramların evrenselliğini sınayan çalışmalar olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca, zamanla bir miktar iyileşme görülmekle birlikte, çalışmaların örnekleme, araçlama ve veri toplama uygulamaları açısından eksikliklerinin olduğu görülmüştür

İş güvencesi endeksi ve iş güvencesi memnuniyeti ölçeği: güvenirlik ve geçerlik analizi

İş güvencesi konusu şirketlerin yeniden yapılanma çabalarının yoğunlaştığı, çalışma süreçlerinde ve iş gücü piyasasında önemli değişikliklerin gerçekleştiği son yirmi yıl boyunca artan bir ilgi görmüştür. Bu dönemde araştırmacılar iş güvencesi kavramının geliştirilmesi ve bu kavramın ölçülmesi için gerekli araçların yaratılması üzerinde yoğunlaşmıştır. Bu çalışmada Probst’un (1998) geliştirdiği iki ölçeğin (İş Güvencesi Endeksi ve İş Güvencesi Memnuniyeti ölçeği) güvenirlik ve geçerlik analizi sunulmaktadır. Çalışmanın bulguları bu ölçeklerin Türkçe’de güvenirlik ve geçerliklerini desteklemektedir. Özellikle yakın dönemdeki mali kriz nedeniyle işten çıkarmaların yoğunlaştığı Türkiye’de iş güvencesi çalışmaları önem kazanmıştır. Geçerlik ve güvenirliğe sahip olduğu gösterilen, kısa ve anlaşılır olan İş Güvencesi Endeksi ve İş Güvencesi Memnuniyeti ölçeği bu çalışmalara katkıda bulunabilecektir

Patterns of antihypertensive prescribing, discontinuation and switching among a Hong Kong Chinese population from over one million prescriptions

Hypertension is an alarming public health problem among Chinese. The present study evaluated the prescribing patterns, discontinuation and switching profiles of antihypertensive agents and their associated factors in one Hong Kong Chinese population. Data were retrieved from computerized records for patients prescribed anti-hypertensive agents in government primary care clinics of Hong Kong from January, 2004 to June, 2007. A total of 1,069,836 antihypertensive drug visits, representing 67,028 patients, were analyzed. The most commonly prescribed drugs were Calcium Channel Blockers (CCBs) (49%), b-Blockers (BBs) (46%) and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs) (19%). Thiazide diuretic prescribing was low (13%) and on the decline (14% in 2004 to 12% in 2007). Prescribing of ACEIs was rising (16% in 2004 to 23% in 2007). Patients’ age, gender, and socio-economic status were independent predictors of class of anti-hypertensive prescribed but explained less than 3.5% of the variation observed. Drug discontinuation was highest for BBs (21%) and lowest for CCBs (12%). The high rates of discontinuation in BBs remained apparent after controlling for confounding variables. Switching was less common than discontinuation and was most likely with thiazide diuretics. To summarize, prescribing of CCBs and BBs were high and that of thiazide diuretics particularly low in this Chinese population when compared with international trends. CCBs may be a particularly favorable antihypertensive treatment in Chinese, given the high discontinuation rates of BBs and international guidelines advising against the use of BBs as first-line therapy. The low use of thiazide diuretics warrants further clinical and cost effectiveness studies among Chinese

Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on Healthcare Workers in Italy: Results from a National E-Survey

Italy has been the first-hit European country to face the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Aim of this survey was to assess in depth the impact of the outbreak on healthcare workers (HCW). A 40-item online survey was disseminated via social media inviting Italian HCW, with questions exploring demographics, health status and work environment of respondents. A total of 527 were invited to take part in March 2020, of whom 74% (n = 388) responded to the survey. Of these, 235 (61%) were women. HCW were mostly physicians (74%), from high-prevalence regions (52%). 25% experienced typical symptoms during the last 14 days prior to survey completion, with only 45% of them being tested for COVID-19. Among the tested population, 18 (18%) resulted positive for COVID-19, with 33% being asymptomatic. Only 22% of HCW considered personal protective equipment adequate for quality and quantity. Females and respondents working in high-risk sectors were more likely to rate psychological support as useful (OR, 1.78 [CI 95% 1.14–2.78] P = 0.012, and 2.02 [1.12–3.65] P = 0.020, respectively) and workload as increased (mean increase, 0.38 [0.06–0.69] P = 0.018; and 0.54 [0.16–0.92] P = 0.005, respectively). The insights from this survey may help authorities in countries where COVID-19 epidemic has not yet broken out. Management strategies should be promptly undertaken in order to enhance safety and optimise resource allocation

Geriatric pharmacotherapy : optimisation through integrated approach in the hospital setting

Since older patients are more vulnerable to adverse drug-related events, there is a need to ensure appropriate prescribing in these patients in order to prevent misuse, overuse and underuse of drugs. Different tools and strategies have been developed to reduce inappropriate prescribing; the available measures can be divided into medication assessment tools, and specific interventions to reduce inappropriate prescribing. Implicit criteria of inappropriate prescribing focus on appropriate dosing, search for drug-drug interactions, and increase adherence. Explicit criteria are consensus-based standards focusing on drugs and diseases and include lists of drugs to avoid in general or lists combining drugs with clinical data. These criteria take into consideration differences between patients, and stand for a medication review, by using a systematic approach. Different types of interventions exist in order to reduce inappropriate prescribing in older patients, such as: educational interventions, computerized decision support systems, pharmacist-based interventions, and geriatric assessment. The effects of these interventions have been studied, sometimes in a multifaceted approach combining different techniques, and all types seem to have positive effects on appropriateness of prescribing. Interdisciplinary teamwork within the integrative pharmaceutical care is important for improving of outcomes and safety of drug therapy. The pharmaceutical care process consists offour steps, which are cyclic for an individual patient. These steps are pharmaceutical anamnesis, medication review, design and follow-up of a pharmaceutical care plan. A standardized approach is necessary for the adequate detection and evaluation of drug-related problems. Furthermore, it is clear that drug therapy should be reviewed in-depth, by having full access to medical records, laboratory values and nursing notes. Although clinical pharmacists perform the pharmaceutical care process to manage the patient’s drug therapy in every day clinical practice, the physician takes the ultimate responsibility for the care of the patient in close collaboration with nurses

What is the evidence for the contribution of forests to poverty alleviation? A systematic map protocol

This is the final version of the article. Available from BioMed Central via the DOI in this record.Background: Forests provide an essential resource that support the livelihoods of an estimated 20% of the global population. Forests are thought to serve in three primary roles to support livelihoods: subsistence, safety nets, and pathways to prosperity. While we have a working understanding of how poor people depend on forests in individual sites and countries, much of this evidence is dispersed and not easily accessible. Thus, while the importance of forest ecosystems and resources to contribute to poverty alleviation has been increasingly emphasized in international policies, conservation and development initiatives and investments- the strength of evidence to support how forests can affect poverty outcomes is still unclear. This study takes a systematic mapping approach to scope, identify and describe studies that measure the effect of forest-based activities on poverty outcomes at local and regional scales. This effort builds upon an existing systematic map on linkages between conservation and human well-being in order to make this process more efficient. We will conduct a refined and updated search strategy pertinent to forests-poverty linkages to glean additional evidence from studies outside the scope of the original map. Results of this study can be used for informing conservation and development policy and practices in global forest ecosystems and highlight evidence gaps where future primary studies and systematic reviews can add value. Methods: We build upon the search strategy outlined in McKinnon et al. (Environ Evid 1-25, 2016) and expand our search to cover a total of 7 bibliographic databases, 15 organizational websites, 8 existing systematic reviews and maps, and evidence gap maps, and solicit key informants. All searches will be conducted in English and encompass all nations. Search results will be screened at title, abstract, and full text levels, recording both the number of excluded articles and reasons for exclusion. Full text assessment will be conducted on all included article and extracted data will be reported in a narrative review that will summarize trends in the evidence, report any knowledge gaps and gluts, and provide insight for policy, practice and future research. The data from this systematic map will be made available as well, through an open access, searchable data portal and visualization tool.We are grateful for funding support from the Program on Forests (PROFOR) (SA, SO, SC, RG) and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project #1009327 (DM)