R&D expenditures - growth nexus in Turkey

Technological development and investment in knowledge seem to be very important in order for countries to demonstrate effective growth performance. The first concept that comes to mind when investing in information is the R&D activities. In the past, efforts to develop in countries for years can be realized within months nowadays and technological developments have rapidly changed and can be worn out in a short period of time. Therefore, it can be said that the information economy is the speed economy. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between R&D expenditures and GDP in Turkey for the period 1996-2014 with the help of VAR analysis. Before the study, it was determined whether the series were stationary by Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Peron (PP) unit root tests and it was determined that the variables of GDP and R&D expenditure were stationary in the level values. According to the results of variance decomposition and effect-response functions; It is seen that the effect of GDP changes in Turkey on R&D expenditures is negligible. However, it is seen that R&D expenditures are significantly affected by the changes in GDP. Ülkelerin etkili bir büyüme performansı gösterebilmesi için teknolojik gelişmenin ve bilgiye yatırım yapılmasının oldukça önemli olduğu görülmektedir. Bilgiye yapılan yatırım denilince de ilk akla gelen kavram Ar-Ge faaliyetleridir. Geçmişte ülkelerde yıllarca devam eden gelişme çabaları günümüzde aylar içinde gerçekleşebilmekte ve teknolojik gelişmeler hızlı bir şekilde değişim göstererek kısa bir süre içinde yıpranabilmektedir. Dolayısıyla bilgi ekonomisinin hız ekonomisi olduğu söylenebilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’de 1996-2014 dönemi için Ar-Ge harcamaları ve GSYİH arasındaki ilişkiyi VAR analizi yardımıyla araştırmaktır. Çalışmada önce durağanlığın belirlenmesi için Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) ve Phillips-Peron (PP) birim kök testiyle serilerin durağan olup olmadıkları belirlenmiş ve GSYİH ile Ar-Ge harcamaları değişkenlerinin seviye değerlerinde durağan oldukları tespit edilmiştir. Varyans ayrıştırma ve etki-tepki fonksiyonlarına ait sonuçlara göre; Türkiye’de GSYİH değişimlerinin Ar-Ge harcamaları üzerinde etkisinin yok denilebilecek kadar az olduğu görülmüştür. Ancak Ar-Ge harcamalarının GSYİH’daki değişimlerden oldukça etkilendiği görülmektedi

Impact of the Interactive Story Reading Method on Receptive and Expressive Language Vocabulary of Children

This study aims to review the impact of the interactive story reading method on 48-72 month children’s vocabulary based on receptive and expressive language. The study group is 52 children in the 48-72 months age group at the nurseries of primary schools at Ankara province. The research employed a combined pattern analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. The data were collected via "General Information Form" ,"Expressive and Receptive Language Test in Turkish (TIFALDI)" developed under the leadership of Gul Guven and Berument The "Teacher Observation Form", the "Teacher Interview Form" and the "Family Interview Form". In conclusion of the study, a significant difference in favor of the experiment group in the posttest was observed with respect to average posttest scores of experiment and control groups, following the implementation of the Interactive Story Reading Program. The comparison of the follow-up test and pretest score averages revealed a significantly high value in favor of the total for the follow-up test for the children in the experiment group. The agreement among the forms filled out by two observers with reference to the results of the observation and video analysis regarding the implementation of the "Interactive Story Reading Method" by the teachers, was assessed to be good/very good agreement. In the light of these results it can be said that the interactive story reading method have a fundamental impact on receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge of 48-72 months old children

Intestinal parasites prevalence and related factors in school children, a western city sample-Turkey

BACKGROUND: Intestinal parasitic infections are amongst the most common infections worldwide. Epidemiological research carried out in different countries has shown that the social and economical situation of the individuals is an important cause in the prevalence of intestinal parasites. Previous studies in Turkey revealed a high prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection. The objectives of the current study were to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in Aydin among 7–14 years old school children and to identify associated socio-demographic and environmental factors, behavioral habits and also related complaints. METHODS: Multistage sampling was used in the selection of the study sample. A questionnaire, cellulose adhesive and a stool specimen examination were done. RESULTS: A total of 456 stool specimens were collected. 145 students (31.8%) were infected with one or more intestinal parasites. 29 (6.4%) of the students were infected more than one parasite, 26 (5.7%) with two parasites and 3 (0.7%) with three parasites. The three most common were E. vermicularis, G. intestinalis and E. coli. Intestinal parasite prevalence was higher in rural area, in children with less than primary school educated mother, in children who use hands for washing anal area after defecation, and in children who use toilet paper sometimes or never. The relation between child health and mother education is well known. Children were traditionally taught to wash anal area by hand. Toiler paper usage was not common and might be due to low income or just a behavioral habit also. Most of the complaints of the study population were not significantly related with the intestinal parasitic infection. CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal parasitic infection is an important public health problem in Aydin, Turkey. Rural residence, mother education less than primary school, sometimes or never usage of toilet paper, and washing anal area by hands after defecation were the significant associations. Interventions including health education on personal hygiene to the students and to the parents, especially to mothers are required. The ratio of uneducated women should be declined with specific programs. A multisectoral approach is needed

Limb Lengths of Primary School Children in a City From Western Region of Turkey

Anthropometry has been used for the assessment of growth at different ages. Among the anthropometric measurements, weight, height, arm circumference, and lower and upper limb lengths are of the most important criteria showing the development of children in school age. The aim of the present study was to measure the lengths of upper (arm, forearm, hand) and lower (thigh, leg, foot) limbs of children studying in primary schools of Aydin, a city in the western region of Turkey, and to assess the differences according to the gender (female, male) and living areas (urban, rural). In different age groups, many differences were observed when compared for gender and area. Differences were also seen when compared with the other studies done in different part of Turkey. The data was the first one for the region and it might be useful for further regional studies or for national comparisons. More studies designed with bigger sample sizes that cover many cities belonging to the same region of the country are needed. In addition to cross-sectional studies, Longitudinal studies may give more useful knowledge for understanding the growth of children

Combustion characteristics of Turkish hazelnut shell biomass, lignite coal and their respective blends via thermogravimetric analysis

Thermal behavior and combustion kinetic of coal, hazelnut shell, and coal/hazelnut shell blends at the proper ratio were investigated with thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Four mass ratios (20, 30, 40, 50 mass %) of coal/biomass blends were prepared and oxidized under dynamic conditions from temperature 298 to 1173 K at different heating rates. TG analysis indicated that the combustion of blended samples divided into two stages namely devolatilization and char oxidation combined with coal combustion step. The influence of biomass blends on thermal and kinetic behavior of coal was studied under non-isothermal conditions. It was found that the thermal degradation temperature of coal was higher than that of blended samples due to the molecular structure strength. Ozawa–Flynn–Wall model was applied to deal with non-isothermal TG data for the evaluation of the activation energy corresponding to the combustions of coal, hazelnut shell, and coal/hazelnut shell blends. The average activation energy changed in the range of 90.9–215.3 kJ mol-1, respectively, depending on blending ratio

The Economic Impacts of Aging Societies

Changes occuring in the health sector and in terms of society within the last 100 years in the world has extended the life expectations at the time of birth and decreased the birth rates. These changes have been experienced especially in developed countries rather than the underdeveloped and developing countries. The aim of this study is to make the determination of the economic effects of growth by using panel data analysis method for 2000-2014 period in 19 developed countries consisting of USA, Canada, England, Germany, France, Japan, Belgium, Australia, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Denmark. The panel corrected Standard errors (PCSE) regression test results show that the income per capita is directly proportional with the income per worker and labour force total participation rate (LFTP). So when the average of age increases LFTP decreases and this affects negatively the national income of countries. Keywords: Aging; Labour Force Participation Rate; Panel Data Analysis JEL Classifications: J11; J21; C2

Biogasification and combustion reactions of Turkish lignites: adsorption behavior and biogasification of Soma lignite and co-combustion of Beypazari lignite with biomass

In this study, our primary objective is to understand CBM capacity of the Soma coal basin. For this reason, porosity of the coal samples must be determined. Usually, surface area and the porosity of the materials can be calculated through the N2 physical sorption experiment, in this method entire relative pressure range (10-8 to 1) can be analyzed without using high pressure equipments. However, for microporous materials like carbon materials and zeolites physical sorption occurs at very low relative pressure ranges (10-8 to 10-3) and experiments that are conducted with N2 are less reliable due to the low diffusion rate and adsorption equilibrium in the pores between 0,5 to 1 nm at 77 K. It is also known that specifically for carbon materials experiments that are conducted at low temperatures such as N2 sorption causes pore shrinkage that leads to the low sorption equilibrium

Gestational termination process in sexual abused adolescent: a case report

Sexual abuse is an important public health problem with the prevalence of 7-36% in women and 3-29% in men. While sexual abuse can be seen at all ages, adolescent pregnancy is an important negative result of sexual abuse in adolescence. Considering the risks of psychosocial stress factors influencing adolescents' mental health negatively and causing developmental delays, having a child at adolescent age can not be appropriate for adolescents and adolescents can not take care of a child or can not take on the responsibilities of a parent. Due to item 99/6 of Turkish Criminal Code which came into effect in July of 2005, gestation termination can be in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy as a normal legal procedure but if the gestation is the result of a sexual abuse, gestation termination time is extended to the first twenty weeks of pregnancy. Due to Gestation termination and sterilization employments' implementation and inspection policy guidelines which came into effect as a decision of the Council of Ministers on the 14th of November in 1983; in adolescent pregnant who have mental disorders, gestation termination can be done after first ten weeks because of their mental disorders. This is a case report about the process of gestation termination decision and termination period of a 16 year old pregnant girl with a medication for bipolar disorder and mental retardation, who learnt the pregnancy in its sixteenth week and then consulted to the obstetrics and gynecology clinic for termination of gestation