Investigation of the opportunities for railway based combined freight transport in Turkey

Bu çalışmada, bir ağ modeli geliştirilerek Türkiye’de demiryolu ağırlıklı kombine yük taşımacılığı olanaklarının araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Geliştirilen model, çeşitli mal gruplarından oluşan yüklerin karayolu ile demiryolunu içeren bir ağ üzerinde taşınmasının benzetimini gerçekleştirmektedir. Yolcu trafiğinin de aynı ağı kullandığı göz önünde tutularak yolcu taşımaları da modelde dikkate alınmaktadır. Modelde yük ve yolcu taşımacılığı için talep, bir matrisler kümesi ile tanımlanmaktadır. Bu yüzden iller arasında gerçekleştirilen yük ve yolcu taşımalarına ait matrisler elde edilmiş ve çoklu regresyon analizi kullanılarak yük ve yolcu taşımalarının ileriye dönük tahmininde kullanılabilecek çekim modeli tarzında denklemler geliştirilmiştir. Karayollarında gerçekleştirilen iller arası yük ve yolcu taşımalarına ait matrislerin belirlenmesi için eksenler bazında verilen araç sayılarından O-D matrisleri oluşturabilen ve Bell tarafından geliştirilen modelden yararlanılmıştır. Demiryolu yük ve yolcu matrislerinin belirlenmesi için TCDD tarafından sağlanan yük taşımalarına ilişkin veriler ile ekspres ve bölgesel yolcu trenleri cetvelleri kullanılmıştır. Karayolu, otoyolu, bağlantı yolları, demiryolu, transfer ve merkez bağlantılarından oluşan bütünleşik ulaştırma ağı ile sadece merkez, karayolu, otoyolu ve bağlantı yollarından oluşan karayolu ağları ve yine sadece merkez ve demiryolu bağlantılarından oluşan demiryolu ağı üzerine yük grupları ve yolcular için elde edilen O-D matrislerinin atamaları gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu atamalardan sonra hangi demiryolu bağlantılarında sıkışıklık oluşacağı belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre Türkiye’de kombine yük taşımacılığının yaygınlaşması için neler yapılması gerektiği tartışılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Ağ analizi, matris tahmini, çekim modelleri, kombine taşımacılık.If some special cases are excluded, highway transportation is the only mode used to provide the door-to-door movement of goods. Although highway transportation is used commonly, it is not suitable for freight to be carried over long distances because of its cost and environmental impacts. For this reason, more than one mode must be used to carry goods economically and safely. This kind of transportation is called multimodal transport, or intermodal transport, or combined transport and has also been increasing in Turkey. However, in addition to the shortcomings in railway infrastructure, the deficiencies in operating the existing system prevents railways from playing an important role in combined transport. In this study, the requisities that must be brought in to improve the opportunities of combined transport in Turkey have been investigated by developing a network model. The model developed carries out simulating the freight flows consisting of various commercial goods on a multimodal network representing highway and railway modes. The existence of more than one mode between two adjacent regions is represented with parallel links. In order to model transfer of freight between transportation modes, transfer links have been formed. In addition, passenger transportation is taken into account, considering that it also uses the same network. However, it is assumed that travellers determine in advance which transportation mode they will use and that there are no transfers between these transportation modes. Different cost functions are defined for passenger and freight transport. These cost functions depend on the volume of goods and the amount of passenger traffic on the link. Similarly, a cost function is associated with each transfer link. The demand for each product and passenger traffic is specified by a set of O-D matrices. The mode choice for each product and passenger traffic is also indicated by defining for each of these O-D matrices. The demand matrices for passenger transportation are determined separately for highway and railway modes. Highway passenger traffic is also divided into two groups as automobile and bus passenger. The Bell Model that estimates matrices from traffic counts was used to determine the intercity highway passenger and freight transportation matrices. For highway freight transportation, the initial matrices were formed by modelling the observed matrices obtained from roadside interviews with respect to some socioeconomic parameters, using multiple regression analysis. After these freight matrices were used as the initial matrices in Bell?s model,  the other set of matrices that are consistent with the average annual daily truck traffic on 250 highway sections were determined. The matrices obtained for each freight type by using the Bell Model were also analysed statistically. The model developed by Bell was utilized to determine intercity automobile and bus travel matrices. In this case, the principles of Gravity Model were also used to form the initial matrices. After the intercity automobile and bus travel matrices were determined by using Bell?s method, statistical analyses were performed for the O-D information obtained from these matrices. In order to determine the railway freight and passenger matrices, the freigt transport database provided by TCDD and the charts of express and regional passenger trains were used. The multimodal as well as the highway and railway networks were coded, considering all link attributes such as distance, speed, time, and price. The O-D matrices obtained for all freight and passenger types were then assigned onto the related networks, taking into account the unit time values of all freight types and passengers. As a result of these assignments, the freight and passenger volumes carried on links as well as numbers of vehicles and trains were found. For each link, the numbers of vehicles and trains on the links that result from assigning the freight and passenger matrices onto the related networks were added up, and the total numbers of vehicles and trains on links were found. In conclusion, it is seen that the highway, freeway and connection links are not congested, and that some of the railway links carry freight volumes beyond their capacities. Finally, the requisites that must be brought in to improve the possibilities of combined transport in Turkey were discussed, based on the results obtained from this study.  Keywords: Network analysis, matrix estimation, gravity models, combined transport

İş Modelindeki Değer Önerileri Mukayesesi Yoluyla Katılım Bankalarının Mevcut Durumunun Analizi Analysis of Participation Banks Through Business Model Value Propositions

Bu makalenin amacı, Türkiye’deki katılım bankalarının, konvansiyonel bankalar ile iş modelindeki değer önerileri kalemleri açısından mukayese edilmesidir. Söz konusu mukayesenin neticesinde, katılım bankalarının başarılı ve başarısız oldukları noktalar tespit edilmekte, ardından bunların olası sebepleri ortaya konulup bunlara dair çözüm önerileri sunulmaktadır. Bahsi geçen amacı gerçekleştirirken, literatürdeki genel temayülün aksine, finansal oran analizi yerine, iş modeli kanvasında yer alan değer önerileri kısmına dâhil edilebilecek kalemlerin miktar ve oran analizi yapılmaktadır. Türkiye’deki tüm katılım bankalarını ve konvansiyonel bankaları içeren çalışma, BDDK’dan edinilen Temmuz 2017 verilerine dayanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda makalenin öne çıkan bulguları şunlardır; aktif toplamı ve krediler açısından büyüklüğü %5 civarı olan katılım bankalarının; işletme, nakdi KOBİ, konut ve özellikle taşıt kredilerindeki payı %5’in üzerindedir. Katılım bankalarını bu iki ana kalemde aşağıya çeken unsur, ihtiyaç kredileridir. Kredilerden daha iyi bir durumda olmak üzere mevduatların/fonların %5,9’unu toplayan katılım bankaları, mudi sayılarına göre de yaklaşık olarak %5 paya sahiptir. Katılım bankaları, TL ve döviz tevdiat hesabı açısından mevduat payına yakın oranlara sahip iken kıymetli maden hesabında %20 civarı bir paya sahiptir. Bu durum da ürün çeşitliliğinin, katılım bankalarını öne taşımak hususunda ne derece önemli olduğunu göstermektedir. The aim of this work is to compare participation and conventional banks in terms of value propositions taking place in business model canvas. By this way, we identify successful and unsuccessful points of participation banks. Then, we present possible reasons behind these points. Astly, we offer solution proposals. While conducting this research, in contrast to general tendency in current literature, we make quantity and ratio analysis of the items taking place under value propositions of business model canvas instead of running financial ratio analysis by statistical methods. The work includes all participation and conventional banks as of July 2017. The necessary data is gathered from Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency of Turkey. In result of our analysis, the main findings are as follows; the share of participation banks is around %5 in terms of credits and assets whereas the ratio is higher regarding business, cash SME, housing and especially vehicle credits. The item which brings participation banks down is consumer credit/loan. In terms of deposits, they are slightly better than their position for credits with around %6 share. Regarding amount of depositors, the share is again around %5. Deposits in TL and foreign exchange, the share is closer to general deposit share, however, participation banksa re having almost %20 share in precious metal accounts. The results show that product range is very important for them to have better position in the market

Time between first and second transurethral resection of bladder tumors in patients with high-grade t1 tumors: is it a risk factor for residual tumor detection?

Purpose: We evaluated the risk factors for residual tumor detection after transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT) in patients with newly diagnosed high-grade T1 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Patients and Methods: Overall 132 patients underwent TURBT for primary bladder tumors and were diagnosed as high-grade T1 bladder cancer. Patients with incomplete resections were excluded from the study. Clinical and pathologic characteristics of the patients were compared and multivariate analysis was performed to determine independent prognostic factors. Results: Residual tumor was demonstrated in 57 (43.1%) of the patients. The residual tumor rate was significantly lower in patients with solitary tumors, tumors 3 cm in size, absence of detrusor muscle in the initial TURBT specimen, TURBT performed by trainees and finally, as a new finding, prolonged interval between first and second TURBT are independent predictors for residual tumor detection in patients with high-grade T1 tumors. (c) 2013 S. Karger AG, Base

The Effect of Preoperative Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio on Disease Specific Survival in Testicular Tumor Patients

INTRODUCTION: The effect of hemogram parameters on survival has been evaluated in many studies for patients who have urogenital tumor. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on disease specific survival (DSS) in patients who have testicular tumor. METHODS: The data of 67 patients who treated for primary testicular tumor at our clinic between January 2000 and December 2010 was evaluated retrospectively. Patients' age, histological type of tumor, pathologic stage, serum neutrophil and serum lymphocyte counts and NLR values were recorded. RESULTS: For all patients, mean age, mean serum neutrophil, lymphocyte counts and mean NLR were 33+-8, 4800+-2100, 1100+-520 and 3,69+-1.1, respectively. In histopathological examination, pure seminoma, pure non-seminom and mix histologic type were detected in 21(31.4%), 23(34.3%) and 23(34.3%) patients, respectively. Stage 1 disease and stage ≥2 disease were revealed in 42(62%) and 25(38%)of the patients. During median 67 months follow-up period, DSS rate was 91%. According to previous studies, we determined NLR cut-off value as 4. Patients were divided into two groups as NLR≤4 and NLR>4. There was no statistically significant difference on DSS between two groups. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: According to our outcomes, we observed that NLR was not a prognostic factor to predict of DSS. However, high patient volume and prospective trials are needed to support our results

The effect of organizational culture on organizational commitment

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı araştırma yapılan kurumun örgüt kültürü algısı ve örgüt kültürü tercihini ortaya koymak ve bu kültürün boyutlarının çalışanlarının örgütsel bağlılıklarına etkilerini belirlemektir. Çalışma üç ana bölümden oluşmaktadır. Birinci ve ikinci bölümde örgüt kültürü ve örgütsel bağlılık kavramları açıklanmıştır. Çalışmanın son bölümünde ise örgüt kültürünün örgütsel bağlılık üzerindeki etkisini belirlemek amacıyla bir kamu kurumunda yapılan araştırmaya yer verilmiştir.Araştırmanın amacına uygun olarak üç bölümden oluşan bir anket formu hazırlanmıştır. Anketin ilk bölümünde Harrisonzın örgüt kültürü ölçeği, ikinci bölümünde Allen-Meyerzın örgütsel bağlılık ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Anketin son bölümü ise çalışanların demografik özelliklerine ilişkin (yaş, cinsiyet, eğitim durumu, çalışma süresi ve çalışma şekli) sorulardan oluşmaktadır. Araştırma sonuçları SPSS 15 programı kullanılarak eğerlendirilmiştir. Araştırma sonucuna göre, araştırmanın uygulandığı kurumun mevcut örgüt kültürü rol odaklı kültür, örgüt kültürü tercihi (istenen örgüt kültürü) ise görev odaklı kültür olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Araştırmada ayrıca, güç odaklı kültür boyutunun normatif bağlılığı, rol odaklı kültür boyutunun devam ve normatif bağlılığı, görev odaklı kültür boyutunun duygusal bağlılığı, birey odaklı kültür boyutunun normatif bağlılığı etkilediği belirlenmiştir.The main purpose of this study is to determine organizational culture perception and preference of the employees to whom the questionnaire is applied and to identify the effects of organizational culture on organizational commitment. The study is composed of three main parts. First and second parts consist of theoretical framework which explains the concept of organizational culture and organizational commitment. In the third part, a survey aiming to identify the effect of organizational culture on organizational commitment in a public organization is examined. Related to the purpose of this study, a questionnaire consisting of three parts has been prepared. Harrison organizational culture scale and Allen-Meyer organizational commitment scale are used in the questionnaire. The third part includes questions about the demographic variables of the employees (age, gender, education and working period/type). The research result is evaluated by SPSS 15 software. According to the result of the study, the current organizational culture model is stated as role-oriented model and the employees settle task-oriented model as a preferred organizational culture model. Due to the research results, significant relationship between poweroriented culture and normative commitment, role-oriented culture and normative and continuance commitment, task-oriented culture and emotional commitment, people-oriented and nomative commitment is determined

Triangular fibrocartilage complex injury treated with prolotherapy

Triangular fibrokartilaj kompleks el bileğinin stabilitesinde ve fonksiyonel çalışmasında önemli rolü olan bir yapıdır. Travmatik ya da dejeneratif olarak hasarlanması ulnar taraf el bileği ağrısının en yaygın nedenlerindendir. Kronik triangular fibrokartilaj kompleks hasarında artroskopik cerrahi tedavi önerilmektedir. Sol el bileği ulnar tarafta ağrı yakınmasıyla gelen 19 yaşında erkek hastada MR görüntüleme ile triangular fibrokartilaj kompleks hasarı saptandı. Daha önce aldığı medikal tedaviden fayda görmeyen hastaya üç seans proloterapi uygulandı. Tedavi sonrasında hastanın ağrısında azalma görüldü ve hasta el bileğini daha rahat kullanabildiğini bildirdi. Bu vakada triangular fibrokartilaj kompleks hasarında artroskopik tedaviye gerek kalmadan proloterapi ile klinik fayda sağlandı. Proloterapinin triangular fibrokartilaj kompleks hasarı tedavisindeki yerini daha iyi göstermek için gelecekte yapılacak klinik çalışmalara ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır.Triangular fibrocartilage complex has a crucial role in stability and functionality of the wrist. Traumatic or degenerative injury of the triangular fibrocartilage complex is a common cause of ulnar side wrist pain. Arthroscopic treatment has been offered in chronic triangular fibrocartilage complex injury. A 19-year old male patient presented with pain at ulnar side of the wrist. He was diagnosed as having triangular fibrocartilage complex injury after assessment with MR imaging. The patients who did not benefit from drugs underwent prolotherapy three times. After treatment, he had pain relief and reported that he could use his wrist better. In this case, triangular fibrocartilage complex injury improved with prolotherapy and arthroscopic treatment was not required. Further clinical trials are needed to show better the role of prolotherapy in the treatment of triangular fibrocartilage complex injury

Determination of intra-specific genetic variation of Phlomis kurdica and Phlomis oppositiflora and investigation for the hybridity of P. x melitenense (Lamiaceae) by means of molecular markers

In this study, intra-specific genetic variation and inter-specific genetic relation were investigated among Phlomis oppositiflora, P. kurdica, P. x melitenense (P. kurdica x oppositiflora), P. capitata and P. kurdica x capitata by using RAPD and ISSR markers. The hybridity of P. x melitenense and P. kurdica x capitata samples was also surveyed in terms of morphological and molecular aspects. Except for two, all bands obtained from RAPD (707 bands) and ISSR (651 bands) analyses were polymorphic. The lowest genetic distance values obtained from RAPD and ISSR analyses were 0.0156 (between P. x melitenense and P. kurdica) and 0.0142 (between P. x melitenense and P. kurdica) respectively. The highest genetic distance values obtained from RAPD and ISSR analyses were 0.0866 (between P. kotschyana and P. oppositiflora) and 0.1237 (between P. kotschyana and P. kurdica x capitata) respectively. While P. kurdica indicated the highest genetic diversity (H = 0.1572; I = 0.2646) in RAPD analysis, P. capitata displayed the highest genetic diversity (H = 0.1403; I = 0.2329) in ISSR analysis. AMOVA results showed that 86% and 75% of the total variance resided within groups based on RAPD and ISSR markers, respectively. Based on the RAPD and ISSR results, both P. x melitenense and P. kurdica x capitata samples inherited species specific bands from their parental species, which confirms their hybridity. Although both P. x melitenense and P. kurdica x capitata hybrids showed a morphological mosaic between their parental phenotypes in terms of the majority of the quantitative characters examined, P. x melitenense and P. kurdica x capitata exceeded their parental phenotypes in terms of the three and 11 quantitative characters respectively. MANOVA results from the morphological data showed significant distinction among P. kurdica, P. oppositiflora, P. x melitenense, P. capitata and P. kurdica x capitata (Wilks' Lambda = 0.003; df = 112; P < 0.01). Average pollen fertilities of P. oppositiflora, P. x melitenense, P. capitata, P. kurdica and P. kurdica x capitata were 93.44%, 68.42%, 93.28 %, 90.12% and 92.77% respectively