An analysis of the obstacles and difficulties in the introduction of the EU Common Agricultural Policy reform

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the first Common Policy of the European Union (EU). It was established in the late 1950’s, but came into force in 1962. Its primary aim was to overcome food shortage problems after the Second World War. Therefore, the CAP introduced price support measures, eventually resulting in surplus production. This meant a financial burden for the EU budget as the reduction of surplus required export subsidies, which distorted international agricultural trade. In many reform efforts, the main idea was to reduce surplus of reduction, to replace price support with direct payments and to prepare the EU agricultural trade negotiations led by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But making fundamental change in the CAP has not been straightforward. This study identifies three main reasons why the realization of the CAP reform has been elusive and taken such a long time: conflict of national interests, farm lobbying and the structure of the EU-policy making. Net contributing countries such as Germany and the UK opposed to subsidise the agricultural sectors of net recipient countries such as France. As European farmers were heavily reliant on subsidies, farm lobbyists opposed even the smallest reform to the CAP. Since one institution has not been given total power to play a decisive role in the decision making process, making fundamental change in the CAP has not been trivial so far, nor can it be easy in the near future.Publisher's Versio

Investigating Text-Based Comprehension Questions Primary School Teachers Ask in Exams of Turkish Course

Bu araştırmanın amacı sınıf öğretmenlerinin Türkçe dersi sınavlarında sormuş oldukları metne dayalı anlama sorularını çeşitli yönlerden incelemektir. Betimsel bir yöntemle yürütülen bu çalışmada, veriler doküman incelemesi yoluyla toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu ve materyallerini, 2014- 2015 eğitim-öğretim yılının bahar döneminde Bartın ili ve ilçelerindeki 16 ilkokulda yer alan 35 dördüncü sınıf öğretmeninin hazırladığı Türkçe dersi sınav kâğıtları oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma kapsamında 169 adet metne dayalı okuduğunu anlama sorusu analiz edilmiştir. Veri analizi süreci altı aşamadan oluşan (basit anlama, yeniden organize etme, çıkarımsal anlama, tahmin yürütme, değerlendirme ve kişisel tepki) Day ve Park (2005) Taksonomisi ile incelenmiştir. Ayrıca sorular anlam kurma sürecinde başvurulan cevap kaynağı (metin içi, metin dışı veya metinler arası), soru türü (yazılı yoklama veya çoktan seçmeli) ve kullanılan metin türü (öyküleyici, bilgilendirici ve şiir) açısından değerlendirilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, Sınıf öğretmenlerinin hazırladıkları metne dayalı anlama sorularının Day ve Park (2005) tarafından geliştirilen anlama düzeyleri taksonomisine göre ağırlıklı olarak basit anlamayı içerdiği gözlenmiştir. Yeniden organize etme, tahmin yürütme ve kişisel tepki düzeylerinde çok az sorunun yer aldığı ve değerlendirme ile çıkarım yapma düzeylerinde ise hiçbir sorunun sorulmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Araştırmadan elde edilen diğer bir sonuç soruların cevap kaynakları açısından Akyol’un (1997) sınıflamasına göre önemli bir bölümünün cevabı metin içerisinde olan sorulardan oluştuğu diğer bir ifadeyle yalnızca hatırlama yoluyla çok az zihinsel çaba harcayarak cevaplanabilecek türde sorular olduğudur. Bununla birlikte hazırlanan metni anlamaya dayalı sorularda büyük oranda öyküleyici metinlerin kullanıldığı ve kısa cevaplı soruların tercih edildiği görülmüştür.The aim of current study is to investigate text-based comprehension questions that primary school teachers ask in exams of Turkish course from various aspects. In this descriptive study, the data have been obtained via document analysis. Sample of the study includes the exams of Turkish course prepared by thirty five fourth grade teachers who teach in 16 primary schools in Bartın in 2014-2015 education year spring term. In this study, 169 text-based comprehension questions have been analyzed with Day and Park (2005) taxonomy in which there are six categories in comprehension process (literal, reorganization, inference, prediction, evaluation, and personal response). In addition, questions have been evaluated in terms of the answer source used in comprehension process (intratextual extratextual or intertextual), question types (written essay exam or multiple choice) and text types preferred (narrative, informative or poetry). According to the findings of the research, it is observed that text based comprehension questions in essay exams for Turkish course include extensively literal comprehension according to comprehension level taxonomy developed by Day and Park (2005). Very few questions are at the levels of reorganization and personal response and there is no question at evaluation and prediction levels. Another finding obtained with this study shows that a large portion includes questions whose answers are directly located within texts according to Akyol’s classification (1997) in terms of answer sources. In other words, these questions are those which can be answered just by recalling and making very little cognitive effort. Additionally, narrative texts are used to a large extent in text comprehension questions, and short answer questions are preferred

Ochratoxin A biodegradation by Agaricus campestris and statistical optimization of cultural variables

The goal of this study is to identify the optimum conditions for ochratoxin A (OTA) biodegradation by the supernatant of Agaricus campestris strain. The Plackett–Burman and Box–Behnken methods were used to determine optimum OTA degradation conditions of Agaricus campestris under various incubation conditions. The Plackett–Burman method was planned through 16 varied experiments with 15 variants. The three most potent variants, sucrose, yeast extract and wheat bran, were selected using the Box–Behnken methodology. Ochratoxin A biodegradation ratio of 46.67% has been specified in only 1 h under ideal growing conditions. This is the first report on the optimization of OTA biodegradation by Agaricus campestris. When compared to previously published articles, it can be asserted that Agaricus campestris has promise based on its OTA biodegradation ratio in only 1 h of reaction time

Effect of Gilsonite Use on Storage Stability of Styrene-butadiene-styrene Modified Bitumen

Styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) polymer is one of the most preferred additives to improve performance in hot mix asphalt pavements. The storage instability, in other words, the separation of a polymer-rich phase from the bitumen-rich phase in the course of storage and transportation is one of the prevalent problems in SBS modified bitumen. The present study attempted to obtain modified bitumen at the same performance level with the SBS modified bitumen, but stable with respect to the storage stability. For this purpose, both SBS and American Gilsonite (AG) were used in modified bitumen production. It was determined that modified bitumen at the same performance level was obtained with the use of 5 % SBS or 18 % AG in bitumen modification. It was also determined that the performance levels of the modified bitumen obtained with the use of 2 % SBS + 13 % AG, 3 % SBS + 10 % AG and 4 % SBS + 6 % AG were similar. Additionally, 2 %, 3 % and 4 % SBS modified bitumen were used for the assessment of storage stability properties of the SBS modified binders. These 8 different modified bitumen samples were tested for storage stability based on the EN 13399 standard. Penetration, softening point, rotational viscometer, bending beam rheometer, and dynamic shear rheometer tests were conducted on the samples. Based on all conducted tests, it was determined that more stable binders were obtained with the use of AG and SBS in terms of storage stability compared to solely SBS modified bitumen

AB ortak tarım politikasında reform yapmanın önündeki engeller ve zorluklar üzerine bir inceleme

Ortak Tarım Politikası (OTP) Avrupa Birliği'nin (AB) ilk ortak politikasıdır. 1950'li yılların sonlarında oluşturulmuş, ancak 1962'de yürürlüğe girmiştir. Başlangıçta OTP'nin temel amacı II. Dünya Savaşı sonrası dönemde karşılaşılan kıtlık sorununa çare bulmaktır. Bu amaçla, OTP kapsamında fiyat desteği sağlayan araçlar devreye sokulmuş, bu da sonunda üretim fazlasına yol açmıştır. Üretim fazlasını eritmek için başvurulan ihracat sübvanbsiyonları bir yandan AB bütçesi üzerinde ekstra fînansal yük doğururken, bir yandan da uluslararası tarımsal ticareti saptırıcı rol oynamıştır. Reform çabalarının çoğunda ana amaç, üretim fazlasını sınırlandırmak, fiyat desteği yerine doğrudan ödemeleri koymak ve AB'yi DTÖ öncülüğünde yürütülen tarımsal ticaret müzakerelerine hazırlamaktır. Ne var ki OTP'de köklü değişiklikler yapmak hiç de kolay olmamıştır. Bu çalışmada, AB ortak tarım politikasında reform yapmanın zorluklarına ilişkin üç temel sebep üzerinde durulmaktadır: ulusal çıkar çatışması, tarım lobisi ve AB organlarının karar alma yapısı. Ulusal çıkar çatışması ile ilgili olarak, AB ortak tarım politikası çerçevesinde AB bütçesine net katkıda bulunan Almanya ve İngiltere, AB bütçesinden tarımsal destekleme nedeniyle net yararlanıcı ülke olan Fransa'nın tarım sektörünü sübvanse etmeye karşı çıkmaktadır. Öte yandan, AB çiftçileri tarımsal sübvansiyonlara aşın bağımlı olduğu için Ortak Tarım Politikasında en küçük bir değişikliği kabul etmemektedirler. Son olarak, Avrupa Birliğinin karar alma surecinde, bir organ tek başına karar alma yetkisine sahip olmadığı için, Ortak Tarım Politikasında ciddi reform yapmak oldukça zordur.The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the first Common Policy of the European Union (EU). It was established in the late 1950‘s, but came into force in 1962. Its primary aim was to overcome food shortage problems after the Second World War. Therefore, the CAP introduced price support measures, eventually resulting in surplus production. This meant a financial burden for the EU budget as the reduction of surplus required export subsidies, which distorted international agricultural trade. In many reform efforts, the main idea was to reduce surplus of reduction, to replace price support with direct payments and to prepare the EU agricultural trade negotiations led by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But making fundamental change in the CAP has not been straightforward. This study identifies three main reasons why the realization of the CAP reform has been elusive and taken such a long time: conflict of national interests, farm lobbying and the structure of the EU-policy making. Net contributing countries such as Germany and the UK opposed to subsidise the agricultural sectors of net recipient countries such as France. As European farmers were heavily reliant on subsidies, farm lobbyists opposed even the smallest reform to the CAP. Since one institution has not been given total power to play a decisive role in the decision making process, making fundamental change in the CAP has not been trivial so far, nor can it be easy in the near future

The effect of digital storytelling in improving the third graders’ writing skills

The aim of this action research was to investigate the effects of digital storytelling in improving the writing skills of third grade students enrolled in rural primary schools. The writing performances of the students were measured before and after the teaching procedures of digital storytelling. Then, the process of narrative writing with digital storytelling was profoundly and carefully explored through observation and field notes, interviews, audio and video records, student diaries and documents, and student products. The results indicated that digital storytelling enhanced students’ ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions in terms of writing quality. Similarly, the digital storytelling improved story elements and word counts in stories. In terms of the quality of students’ digital stories, the results demonstrated a steady progress in the elements of digital stories, and the technology literacy and competency of students throughout the process. Besides, the digital storytelling modified the process of narrative writing, and emerged as a beneficial tool to overcome the digital divide by developing students’ new literacy perception, competency, and skills. The digital storytelling also created learning community by improving interactions among students in the classroom, and increased their motivation to write