Consumer Willingness-To-Pay for Different Organic Certification Logos in Turkey

Using data from focus group discussions with consumers and a choice experimentconducted in some of Turkey’s major cities, this study investigates whetherTurkish consumers prefer certain organic labelling schemes over others attemptsand to elicit their willingness to pay (WTP) for different organic certificationlogos. Although the level of awareness regarding organic certification logos waslow, consumers’ perceptions of the logos were generally positive. The results ofthe random parameter logit models indicated a positive WTP for the presence ofone of the three tested certification body logos in addition to the mandatorygovernmental logo. Given the low level of certification logo awareness, theconclusion is that both purchasing decisions and perceptions regarding logoswere affected by subjective criteria. Both the government and certification bodiesshould develop measures to increase consumer awareness of their logos and formconsumer perceptions and attitudes regarding the quality of the certificationimplied by the logo

Factors influencing the perception of organic certification logos in Turkey

Consumers’ perceptions on organic certification logos and the factors influencing these perceptions were explored. Data from surveys conducted in major cities of Turkey revealed that organic food consumers had little knowledge about logos, although the declared level of trust in organic logos was high. According to ordered logit models, consumer’s perceptions on organic certification logos were influenced by purchasing frequency and weight of organic foods in total food consumption. Dummy variables representing additional private certification company logos as well were generally found to have a significant effect on logo perception. This result suggests that consumers’ attitudes towards these logos and towards the governmental logo are not the same. Female and older people were more sceptical about the trustworthiness of the logos. While the credibility of the logos and the standards and control systems underlying the logos increased as frequency of purchasing organic food increased, those consumers who prefer organic open markets for buying organic food were hesitant to trust the credibility of the organic certification logos. The mandatory governmental logo and the underlying standards are trusted more than the private company logos. However, the difference of the attitudes toward logos decreases when the control system is in question. When a comparison between perceptions towards labels including different additional certification companies’ logos is made, the additional logo was found to affect the stated preferences more negatively when the companies were foreign. Enhanced interest and trust in the organic certification logos among consumers would foment the development of the organic sector, and the findings of this paper serve as an input for the achievement of this aim

Teacher beliefs and practices of grammar teaching: focusing on meaning, form, or forms?

Despite the worldwide curriculum innovations to teach English through meaning-focused communicative approaches over the years, studies report that most language teachers still follow transmission-based grammar-oriented  approaches. It is known that the success of any curriculum innovation is dependent on teachers. Therefore, given that teaching grammar has always been a central, but problematic domain for language teachers, what teachers believe and do regarding grammar instruction is an important issue that needs to be investigated. However, studies that research teachers and their grammar teaching are rare, and almost non-existent at the elementary-level  English teaching contexts. Therefore, through a questionnaire given to 108 teachers and a focus-group interview, the present study investigated Turkish primary-level English language teachers’ beliefs and practice patterns of teaching grammar, and the reasons behind these patterns. The results revealed that teachers predominantly prefer the traditional focus-on-formS approach, which indicates a serious clash with teachers and curriculum goals, on the one hand, and theoretical suggestions on the other. The paper ends with discussions and suggestions for teacher  education and language policy-making.Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL); English as a second language (ESL);grammar; teacher beliefs; teacher practices; young learner

OFDM based visible light broadcasting systems

Visible light communication (VLC) involves the use of light emitting diode (LED)- based illumination infrastructure for communication purposes [1]. Recent experimental studies on VLC have demonstrated data speeds more than 3 Gigabits per second [2]. Although indoor spaces usually have more than one light source, most of the existing works on VLC in the current literature consider point-topoint communication and few efforts have been made on the scenarios with multiple transmitters. In this work, we consider a broadcasting scenario in which multiple transmitters (light sources) simultaneously emit the same information using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)

An integrative social identity model of populist leadership

In recent years, the questions of what populism is and how populist leaders mobilize their followers have been the subject of extensive debate. While the social psychology literature holds unique theoretical tools that can be used to explain leader-follower dynamics, these have not yet been applied to understand populism and populist leadership. In this paper, we aim to discuss populism as a social-psychological concept and provide a comprehensive approach to examine the interactions between populist leaders and followers by using the identity leadership model (see New Psychology of Leadership, Haslam et al., 2020). Accordingly, we propose an integrative model in which we suggest that populism should be treated as a social-psychological concept based on (i) strong ingroup identification; (ii) interactive leadership processes that open spaces to followers for enacting their ingroup identity that end up with mobilization against vertical (e.g., elites) and horizontal (e.g., minorities, refugees, opponents) outgroups; (iii) leader's ingroup prototypicality and identity entrepreneurship that is boosted by using shared grievances, narratives of collective victimhood, and the destabilization of mainstream opponent leaders. Furthermore, by discussing real-world examples and recent studies, we aim to show how the content of what it means to be ‘us’ and what is seen as moral to ‘us’ can be shaped by populist leaders for mobilization

OFDM based visible light broadcasting systems

Visible light communication (VLC) involves the use of light emitting diode (LED)- based illumination infrastructure for communication purposes [1]. Recent experimental studies on VLC have demonstrated data speeds more than 3 Gigabits per second [2]. Although indoor spaces usually have more than one light source, most of the existing works on VLC in the current literature consider point-topoint communication and few efforts have been made on the scenarios with multiple transmitters. In this work, we consider a broadcasting scenario in which multiple transmitters (light sources) simultaneously emit the same information using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)

The Role of CDK4 in the Pathogenesis of Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) continues to have the lowest overall survival and the lack of effective early diagnosis. Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) plays a fundamental role in the orderly progression of the cell cycle, binding to cyclin D to promote the progression through the G1/2 transition. The inhibition of CDK4/6 has therefore gained substantial interest in the hope of new and effective therapeutics in multiple cancers, such as advanced metastatic breast cancer. While the use of these agents is encouraging, their potential is yet to be fully explored. In this study we used the GLOBOCAN database to understand the most recent epidemiology of PC, Human Protein Atlas and KEGG to highlight the role, prevalence, and significance on patient survival of CDK4 in PC. We found that CDK4 cannot be used as prognostic in PC and no significant differences were observed between CDK4 expression and the patient's clinical status, though larger studies, especially concerning CDK4 protein expressions, are required for a more thorough understanding. The use of CDK4/6 inhibitors in PC is still in clinical trials. However, due to only modest improvements observed in the use of single-agent therapies, efforts have focused on combinatorial approaches

MIMO free-space optical communication employing subcarrier intensity modulation in atmospheric turbulence channels

In this paper, we analyse the error performance of transmitter/receiver array free-space optical (FSO) communication system employing binary phase shift keying (BPSK) subcarrier intensity modulation (SIM) in clear but turbulent atmospheric channel. Subcarrier modulation is employed to eliminate the need for adaptive threshold detector. Direct detection is employed at the receiver and each subcarrier is subsequently demodulated coherently. The effect of irradiance fading is mitigated with an array of lasers and photodetectors. The received signals are linearly combined using the optimal maximum ratio combining (MRC), the equal gain combining (EGC) and the selection combining (SelC). The bit error rate (BER) equations are derived considering additive white Gaussian noise and log normal intensity fluctuations. This work is part of the EU COST actions and EU projects