Evaluating effectiveness of public support to business R and D in Turkey through concepts of input and output additionality

It is the purpose of this paper to examine the impact of direct public support granted to business R&D not only on the R&D expenditures of enterprises (would the recipients of incentives have carried out the same amount of R&D expenditures even in the absence of subsidies?) but also on the output of R&D expenditures of these enterprises (would the recipients of R&D subsidies have recorded growth rates -or exported or hired people- to the same extent if they had not received these subsidies?) We will use enterprise-level data for the Turkish economy over the period 2003-2006 –a time span where a substantial increase occurred in funds aimed at supporting business R&D– and a semi-parametric matching technique to examine the effectiveness of R&D incentives given to private R&D as far as their effects on R&D expenditures (input additionality) and output of R&D activity (output additionality) is concerne

Root Canal Morphology and Anatomy

Success in root canal treatment depends on the proper application of all procedures of root canal treatment. This wholistic approach includes leakproof crown restoration, following ideal instrumentation, irrigation and hermetic obturation. Therefore, the first step of root canal treatment begins with understanding the tooth morphology in detail. The teeth vary according to their localization at the jaws and the gender and race of people. Detection of the extra canals, canal curvatures, isthmuses and lateral and accessory canals plays an important role in the success of root canal treatment. With all this, the academic knowledge and proficiency of the dentist and/or endodontist enable tooth morphology to be more clearly understandable

Characterizing 311 System Reactions to a Global Health Emergency

Communities are complex, multi-dimensional systems that react to crises in a variety of different ways. Based on the municipal services provided to a community, 311 calls can be used as indicators of the different dimensions of that community’s reaction to a crisis situation. To improve Citizen Relationship Management, municipalities can analyze and even augment their 311 systems to capture specific types of information about an ongoing crisis. New York City did this by adding specific category types and descriptors to their 311 system, in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. This paper provides an initial look at the 311 data for New York City and the variety of community behaviors that it is able to capture as a reaction to the pandemic and the associated actions taken by the authorities to respond to the situation

Examining User Access Options for eGovernment Services During a Crisis from a Digital Inequality Perspective

City governments incorporate ICTs into government services to improve citizen participation and access to those services. Too much dependence on technology, however, can lead to concerns about creating a digital divide between different groups of citizens. The potential for digital inequality is a critical issue that can be exacerbated by insufficient attention being paid to vulnerabilities across communities. Given that socio-economically vulnerable populations are the ones who need government services the most, especially during disaster events, it is critical to investigate the extent to which digital inequality is an issue for technology-based government services. With this in mind, this paper analyzes the use of different technology-enabled access options for a representative eGovernment service system, the New York City 311 service system, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two sets of socio-economically distinct locations in New York City are compared, using average income as a proxy for vulnerability, to draw conclusions about potential inequalities in such a system during a crisis

Foreign direct investment and technology spillovers in the Turkish manufacturing industry

Technology spillovers from foreign to domestic firms in emerging economies are considered to be the most important channel through which Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) influence the host economy. Empirical evidence about the existence, magnitude and direction of FDI-related spillovers in these countries is contradictory pointingto the necessity of conducting more econometric studies using firm-level data. We conduct an econometric analysis to assess the impact of FDI-related horizontal technology spillovers on output growth of domestic firmsin the Turkish manufacturing industry over 2003-2006. Whena broad definition of foreign ownership is adopted,our findings suggest that horizontal spillovers occur from foreign to local firms in the sectorof activity. Export-oriented firms do notbenefit from these spillovers in contrast to firmsproducing mainly for the domestic market. However, when foreign ownership is defined according to whether the minority or majority of capital is detained by the foreign partner, horizontal spillovers seem to originate from foreign firms with majority or full foreign ownership while no such effect is associated with minority-owned foreign firms

Analyzing RD activities of foreign enterprises in emerging economies. Lessons from Turkey

Emerging economies have played an important role in the internationalization of R&D activities at least since the 1990s. Turkey, an emerging economy and at same time an accession country to the European Union which signed a Customs Union Agreement with the EU already in 1995, is no exception. In-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with R&D directors of 26 multinational companies operating in Turkey –with headquarters located in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerlandand USA- in the informatics, automotive, electronics and pharmaceutical industries. Data and qualitative information obtained through these interviews are then used to analyze those factors theory points to as being major determinants of foreign R&D in emerging economies. The emphasis is on the (i) motivations of foreign enterprises for launching new R&D activities or extending existing ones (ii) restrictions of different kind they encounter in doing so (iii) their reactions with respect to FDI promotion policies and public R&D support incentives implemented by Turkish policy makers, and (iv) advantages/disadvantages of Turkish economy as an R&D location in comparison with other emerging economies. A number of policy recommendations for attracting more foreign R&D in Turkey and integrating them with the Turkish national innovation system are advanced

Autoimmune thyroiditis CRP association

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase reactant and its serum levels may be risen during many diseases. Hypothyroidism is a clinical disease state accompanied by mild inflammation that is known to be significantly associated with atherosclerosis. In this study, we aim to determine and compare serum CRP levels in overt and subclinical hypothyroidism subgroups and research their association with autoimmune markers.Methods: Around 79 patients who are diagnosed with overt and subclinical hypothyroidism in our polyclinic were included in this study. Patients’ morning blood samples were collected after 8hours of fast and thyroid functions, CRP, sedimentation rate, anti TG and anti TPO antibody levels were studied. Thyroid ultrasonography was planned for each patient.Results: We found significant differences regarding age, sT3, sT4, TSH, anti-TPO, anti-TG and CRP levels between overt and subclinical groups. There was no significant difference between the groups in thyroxin use, nodularity and sedimentation rate. No significant difference was found between CRP levels and autoimmunity markers anti-TPO and anti-TG among the groups as well. A significant cut-off value was determined for CRP in overt hypothyroidism by using Roc analysis and this value was also considered for being a possible cardiovascular risk marker.Conclusions: In this study, we found out that CRP levels were high in both overt and subclinical subgroups, CRP levels were increased during progression of the disease from subclinical to overt and this increase may be related with higher inflammation and tendency to cardiovascular diseases.