What Types of Perceived Governance Indicators Matter the Most for Private Investment in Middle East and North Africa

By using a simultaneous equations model, this paper establishes that the perceived quality of governance, which is measured by three different indicators “Quality of Administrationâ€, “Public Accountability†and “Political Stabilityâ€, has a positive effect on the private investment decisions in the developing countries. Our model allows us to point out the fact that the mechanisms through which each type of indicator affects private investment are different. In addition to our primary result we also show that Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could have attained a better private investment performance if it had reached a more advanced level of perceived institutions in last two decades. The low level of public accountability, among other governance deficiencies, was predominantly responsible for the deficiency in private investment in MENA.

What Types of Perceived Governance Indicators Matter the Most for Private Investment in Middle East and North Africa

By using a simultaneous equations model, this paper establishes that the perceived quality of governance, which is measured by three different indicators “Quality of Administration”, “Public Accountability” and “Political Stability”, has a positive effect on the private investment decisions in the developing countries. Our model allows us to point out the fact that the mechanisms through which each type of indicator affects private investment are different. In addition to our primary result we also show that Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could have attained a better private investment performance if it had reached a more advanced level of perceived institutions in last two decades. The low level of public accountability, among other governance deficiencies, was predominantly responsible for the deficiency in private investment in MENA.cerdi

What Types of Perceived Governance Indicators Matter the Most for Private Investment in Middle East and North Africa

By using a simultaneous equations model, this paper establishes that the perceived quality of governance, which is measured by three different indicators “Quality of Administration”, “Public Accountability” and “Political Stability”, has a positive effect on the private investment decisions in the developing countries. Our model allows us to point out the fact that the mechanisms through which each type of indicator affects private investment are different. In addition to our primary result we also show that Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could have attained a better private investment performance if it had reached a more advanced level of perceived institutions in last two decades. The low level of public accountability, among other governance deficiencies, was predominantly responsible for the deficiency in private investment in MENA.

Being a vegetarian athlete; how should food consumption be shaped?

Vejetaryen sporcu sayısı her geçen gün artış göstermekte ancak bu artışa paralel olarak sporculara referans olabilecek literatür sayısı oldukça sınırlı kalmaktadır. Vejetaryen bireyler çoğunlukla ani şekilde, sağlık kontrolü geçirmeden ve diyetisyen desteği almadan besin tüketimlerini değiştirmektedirler. Vejetaryen olmaya karar veren bir sporcunun diyetinden hayvansal besinleri çıkarması ile günlük gereksinmesi olan enerji, protein, B12 vitamini, demir, çinko, kalsiyum, iyot, D vitamini ve n-3 yağ asitleri gibi besin ögelerini yetersiz alması olasıdır. Sporcu bu besin ögelerinin bitkisel kaynaklarını diyetine eklemediği takdirde spor performansının azalmasının yanı sıra sağlık problemleri yaşama riski artmaktadır. Bu yeni beslenme düzeninin antrenman/müsabaka sürecine adapte edilmesi ise büyük önem taşımaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra vejetaryenliğin spor performansı üzerine etkisi ile ilgili kesin net sonuçlar belirtmek mümkün değildir. Ancak şuan ki veriler ile iyi planlanmış besin tüketimi ve destekleri ile spor performansının olumsuz etkilenmediğini söylemek mümkündür. Bu derleme yazıda vejetaryen sporcuların performans ve besin tüketimi üzerine yapılmış olan güncel literatür bilgisi değerlendirilmiş ve sunulmuştur. Konuya dikkat çekilmesi ve daha fazla yayın yapılmasının teşvik edilmesi büyük önem taşımaktadır.The number of vegetarian athletes is increasing nowadays, but in parallel with this increment, the number of literature can be very limited. Vegetarian individuals often change their food consumption suddenly, without undergoing health checks and without dietitian consultation. By removing animal foods from the diet of an athlete who decides to become a vegetarian, it is possible that their daily energy and some nutrient intakes can be insufficient such as; protein, vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, vitamin D, and n-3 fatty acids. If the plant sources of these nutrients were not added to athletes’ diet, the risk of health problems experience increases as well as reduced sports performance. The adoption of this new diet to the training/competition process has great importance. In addition to this, it is not possible to state certain clear results about the effect of vegetarianism on sports performance. However, with the current data, it is possible to say that sports performance is not adversely affected by well-planned food consumption and supplements. In this review article, the current literature on the performance and food consumption of vegetarian athletes has been evaluated and presented. Drawing attention to the issue and encouraging more publications is important for vegetarian athletes

Baby steps to a child-to-child network: A path to empower children for exercising their participation rights

This study focuses on an adult-initiated and child-led research journey that aimed to explore the path to empower children towards exercising their participation rights in different environments of their lives. To this end, a series of multi-stage participation empowerment activities were carried out with 60 children in Istanbul, as guided by the child participation model and ecological systems theory. Findings are narrated through children's voices and illustrate their multifaceted opinions, challenges and demands with respect to how they participate in life. Children's experiences in this research journey suggest that grassroots of a child-to-child participation network is possible via empowerment and capacity building activities

Diet and lifestyle in relation to small intestinal cancer risk: findings from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Background Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of highly fluorinated aliphatic compounds, which are widely used in commercial applications, including food packaging, textiles, and non-stick cookware. Folate might counteract the effects of environmental chemical exposures. We aimed to explore the relationship between blood folate biomarker concentrations and PFAS concentrations. Methods This observational study pooled cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003 to 2016 cycles. NHANES is a population-based national survey that measures the health and nutritional status of the US general population every 2 years by means of questionnaires, physical examination, and biospecimen collection. Folate concentrations in red blood cells and in serum, and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) concentrations in serum were examined. We used multivariable regression models to assess the percentage change in serum PFAS concentrations in relation to changes in folate biomarker concentrations. We additionally used models with restricted cubic splines to investigate the shape of these associations. Findings This study included 2802 adolescents and 9159 adults who had complete data on PFAS concentrations, folate biomarkers, and covariates, were not pregnant, and had never had a cancer diagnosis at the time of the survey. The mean age was 15·4 years (SD 2·3) for adolescents and 45·5 years (17·5) for adults. The proportion of male participants was slightly higher in adolescents (1508 [54%] of 2802 participants) than in adults (3940 [49%] of 9159 participants). We found negative associations between red blood cell folate concentrations and serum concentrations of PFOS (percentage change for a 2·7 fold-increase in folate level –24·36%, 95% CI –33·21 to –14·34) and PFNA (–13·00%, –21·87 to –3·12) in adolescents, and PFOA (–12·45%, –17·28 to –7·35), PFOS (–25·30%, –29·67 to –20·65), PFNA (–21·65%, –26·19 to –16·82), and PFHxS (–11·70%, –17·32 to 5·70) in adults. Associations for serum folate concentrations and PFAS were in line with those found for red blood cell folate levels, although the magnitude of the effects was lower. Restricted cubic spline models suggested linearity of the observed associations, particularly for associations in adults. Interpretation In this large-scale, nationally representative study, we found consistent inverse associations for most examined serum PFAS compounds in relation to folate concentrations measured in either red blood cells or serum among both adolescents and adults. These findings are supported by mechanistic in-vitro studies that show the potential of PFAS to compete with folate for several transporters implicated in PFAS toxicokinetics. If confirmed in experimental settings, these findings could have important implications for interventions to reduce the accumulated PFAS body burden and mitigate the related adverse health effects.United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

What Types of Perceived Governance Indicators Matter the Most for Private Investment in Middle East and North Africa

By using a simultaneous equations model, this paper establishes that the perceived quality of governance, which is measured by three different indicators “Quality of Administration”, “Public Accountability” and “Political Stability”, has a positive effect on the private investment decisions in the developing countries. Our model allows us to point out the fact that the mechanisms through which each type of indicator affects private investment are different. In addition to our primary result we also show that Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could have attained a better private investment performance if it had reached a more advanced level of perceived institutions in last two decades. The low level of public accountability, among other governance deficiencies, was predominantly responsible for the deficiency in private investment in MENA

Integrating support vector regression into dynamic water budget model

Yağış-akış modelleri kapsamında ele alınan modeller içerisinden kavramsal modeller havza dinamiğini atanan parametreler yardımıyla benzeştirmeye çalışırken, kapalı kutu modelleri ise fiziksel süreci dikkate almadan veri işleme esaslı uygulanmaktadır. Her iki yöntemin de birbirine göre avantajlı ve dezavantajlı yönleri bulunmaktadır. Örneğin kavramsal modellerin bazı parametreleri doğrusal tanımlandıklarında simülasyonlarda yanlılıklar gözlenebilmektedir. Diğer yandan, kapalı kutu modelleri tutarlı bir simülasyon için gecikmeli yağış değerlerine ihtiyaç duymaktadır. Bu nedenle çalışmada her iki yaklaşımın iyi yönlerini birleştiren hibrit bir model yapısının ortaya konması amaçlanmıştır. Bu kapsamda, dinamik su bütçesi adı verilen kavramsal bir yağış-akış modelinin doğrusal davranış gösteren yeraltısuyu depolama elemanı yerine destek vektör makinesi eklenerek beş parametreli hibrit bir model oluşturulmuştur. Destek vektör makinesi ilavesi ile doğrusal olmayan haritalama yetisi kazanan model Balıkesir’in İkizcetepeler Baraj Havzası’nda uygulanmıştır. Hibrit modelin kavramsal modele kıyasla kalibrasyon ve validasyon dönemlerinde sırasıyla %21 ve %14 daha düşük hata performansı vermesi istatistiksel açıdan anlamlı bulunmuştur.Among the various rainfall-runoff models, conceptual ones can simulate the basin dynamics by means of assigned parameters, while black-box models are applied as data-driven techniques which take no account of the physical process. Both types involve some advantages and shortcomings relative to each other. For instance, as some parameters assigned in conceptual ones are linear, the runoff simulations can be biased. Besides, black-box models generally require antecedent precipitation data to get a robust simulation. Therefore, in the study, it is intended to propose a hybrid model structure integrating the prominent aspects of both approaches. In this concept, the linear groundwater storage of the dynamic water budget model, one of the conceptual types, was eliminated and a support vector regression was included instead, and thus, a hybrid model with five parameters was built. The model, which achieved nonlinear mapping capability with the inclusion of support vector regression, was implemented for Ikizcetepeler Dam located at Balikesir. It was found statistically significant that hybrid model provided relatively lower error performance as 21% and 14% in calibration and validation periods, respectively, when it was compared to that of the conceptual one

RAPD-PCR AND REAL-TİME PCR HRM BASED GENETIC VARIATION EVALUATIONS OF URTİCA DİOİCA PARTS, ECOTYPES AND EVALUATIONS OF MORPHOTYPES İN TURKEY

Urtica dioica is an ethnobotanically and medicinally important Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) plant worldwide and in Turkey; 90 % of herbal CAM applications depend on it in Turkey. It has a wide range of habitats in nearly all continents. It is found in all three phytogeographical regions in Turkey (Euro-Siberian, Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean) with high adaptivity to heterogeneous geographies such as climate, soil types and altitudes. This fact in relation to the assessment of chemical constituents of the plant and combining with further genetic and morphological variation data can assist and enhance the works for the utility and reliability of CAM applications in effect and activity of this plant species. In this work we have made some preliminary experiments with novel approaches to reveal the ecotypes and genetic variation of mighty ecotypes of Urtica dioica from different phytogeographical regions of Turkey (Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean). The ecotypes have heterogeneity in both its parts (leaf, stem, root) as revealed by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) using random primers and High-resolution Melt (HRM) analysis using Urtica dioica specific primers and universal chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) primers and morphological traits such as phenolic contents and antioxidant capacities of plants’ leaf infusions as used in medicinal applications in Turkey. This work will contribute a lot for the development of molecular markers to detect the genetic variation and heterogeneity of Urtica dioica to further relate with expected phenotypes that are most useful and relevant in CAM applications