The Regulation of the Credit Card Market in Turkey

The rapid growth in Turkish credit card market brought together new issues. Card holders and consumer unions complain about the high interest rates, economists complain about the default rates and banks complain about the amnesties. After all of these complaints coinciding with the accelerating suicide incidences due to credit card debts, regulation has been enacted in the credit card market in Turkey. In 2003, credit cards had been taken into the scope of the Consumer Protection Law. This was the first legal arrangement on the credit cards. However it was not satisfying. It was criticized for bringing out temporary solutions. In 2005, a more comprehensive credit card law came into effect. With this regulation, Central Bank of Turkey has put a ceiling on the credit card interest rates and clarified some issues that were left untouched. In this paper; reasons, advantages, disadvantages of this regulation are discussed along with a quick glance on the development of credit card market in Turkey. The regulation and amnesties in 2003 and 2005 are examined and their effects are exposed from the point of view of parties involved: banks, customers and government.Credit Cards; Regulation; Amnesty; Interest Rates; Default; Banks; Consumer Unions

PSEUDO-PARALLEL KAEHLERIAN SUBMANIFOLDS IN COMPLEX SPACE FORMS

Let $\tilde{M}^{m}(c)$ be a complex $m$-dimensional space form of holomorphic sectional curvature $c$ and $M^{n}$ be a complex $n$-dimensional Kaehlerian submanifold of $\tilde{M}^{m}(c).$ We prove that if $M^{n}$ is pseudo-parallel and $Ln-\frac{1}{2}(n+2)c\geqslant 0$ then $M$ $^{n}$ is totally geodesic. Also, we study Kaehlerian submanifolds of complex space form with recurrent second fundamental form

Optimum suspension design for non-linear half vehicle model using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm

This paper is considered with a non-linear suspension design for half vehicle model by using particle swarm optimization technique. To analyze the ride comfort, a five-degree of freedom system is built, and it is integrated with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for optimizing the vehicle vibrations. A multi-objective function is proposed as the sum of the minimum seat and vehicle body acceleration, the minimum suspension deflection and the constraints and the design variables of the optimization problem are selected as the spring and damping coefficients of the front and rear suspension and the non-linear spring and the linear damping coefficients of the seat. The simulations are carried out and the results are compared with the non-optimized values. It is demonstrated that the vehicle vibration is decreased significantly with the help of the optimum values of the suspension parameters

Survey of general practitioners' knowledge about Helicobacter pylori infection

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori, occurring throughout the world and causing gastroduodenal diseases, is one of the most common chronic bacterial agents in humans. The purpose of this study was to measure the general practitioners' (GPs) knowledge and practices pertaining to H. pylori infection. METHODS: A cross-sectional type questionnaire survey was conducted in all of 19 primary health care centres (PHCC) in Samsun, Turkey, between November 1 and December 31, 2003. The questionnaire was sent to 124 GPs and 109 (87.9 %) of those filled in. They were requested to answer the questions on the knowledge, sources of medical information, diagnostic tests and treatment to H. pylori. RESULTS: Medical journals were the most frequently used source of information on H. pylori, being cited by 86 (78.9%) of GPs. Ninety-two (84.4%) of the GPs reported having used one or more tests and 17 (15.6%) never used any test for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Only 9.8% had used stool antigen test for diagnosis. GPs reported that they would prescribe symptomatic treatment without ordering diagnostic tests for 29 (26.6%). 54.1% of the GPs explain that they sent patients with H. pylori infection to a specialist, and most used a triple drug regimen containing a PPI. Treatment duration varies between 7 to 28 days. 80.7 of the GPs treat patients for 14 days. CONCLUSION: GPs may not have enough knowledge about the importance of stool antigen test or possibility of usage of this test. GPs have not sufficient knowledge about the difference between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. It is thought that GPs preferred to treat the patients with suspected ulcer empirically or to send them to a specialist because of the limited diagnostic conditions. The efforts to educate the GPs about the algorithms regarding the management of H. pylori infection during post-graduation period should be improved in PHCCs

Water bucket colour preferences in horses

There is a general agreement that horses have dichromatic colour vision with similar capabilities to those of human beings with red-green colour deficiencies. However, whether colour perception has an impact on equine preference for drinking water and how pronounced the colour stimulus might be for horses is still unknown. This study aimed to investigate the preference of horses for different coloured buckets (red, light green, yellow, green, light blue, turquoise) with different tones, in terms of lightness and darkness, measured by the amount of water consumed from each of them in an outdoor arena. Three Thoroughbred and 3 Haflinger horses were used in the study, and data were collected between 09:00 - 16:00 h. The results showed that the average water consumption during this period can reach up to 25.74 L (at an average environmental temperature of 27.35 °C), and significantly more water had been consumed from the turquoise-coloured bucket than from the other colours. It was also observed that the light toned colours (turquoise, light blue) were preferred to dark ones (green, yellow, red). It is suggested to use water buckets that are turquoise and light blue. Further studies are needed to better understand the relationship between water consumption and colour vision

SOME CURVATURE PROPERTIES ON PARACONTACT METRIC (k;μ)-MANIFOLDS WITH RESPECT TO THE SCHOUTEN-VAN KAMPEN CONNECTION

The object of the present paper is to characterize paracontact metric (k;μ)-manifolds satisfying certain semisymmetry curvature conditions with respect to the Schouten-van Kampen connection

Effects of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) on yield, growth and nutrient contents of organically grown strawberry

The effects of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) on the fruit yield, growth and nutrient element content of strawberry cv. Fern were investigated under organic growing conditions between 2006 and 2008. The experimental plot was a completely randomized design with 3 replicates. Three PGPB strains (Pseudomonas BA-8, Bacillus OSU-142 and Bacillus M-3) were used alone or in combination as biofertilizer agent in the experiment. Data through 3 years showed that the use of PGPB significantly increased fruit yield, plant growth and leaf P and Zn contents. Root inoculation of M3 and floral and foliar spraying of OSU-142 and BA-8 bacteria stimulated plant growth resulting in significant yield increases. M3 + BA-8, BA-8 + OSU-142, M3, M3 + OSU-142 and BA-8 applications increased cumulative yield by 33.2%, 18.4%, 18.2%, 15.3% and 10.5%, respectively. Number of fruits per plant significantly increased by the applications of M3 + BA-8 (91.73) and M3 (81.58) compared with the control (68.66). In addition, P and Zn contents of strawberry leaves with bacterial inoculation significantly increased under organic growing conditions. Available P contents in soil were increased from 0.35 kg P2O5/da at the beginning of the study to 2.00, 1.97 and 1.82 kg P2O5/da by M3 + OSU-142, M3 + BA-8 and M3 + BA-8 + OSU-142 applications, respectively. Overall, the results of this study suggest that root inoculation of Bacillus M3 alone or in combination with spraying Bacillus OSU-142 or Pseudomonas BA-8 have the potential to increase the yield, growth and nutrition content of strawberry plant under organic growing conditions