Protectionist demands in globalization

This paper analyzes a small, open economy whose citizens have single-peaked preferences on the tariff rate for an import good. They publicly declare this rate to the government, which has discretion in implementing it. While the government has an incentive not to deviate too much from the publicly chosen tariff rate, its final choice is determined by bargaining with a foreign lobby that has a much lower optimal rate and offers monetary transfers in return for lower tariffs. The authors show that the expectation of foreign influence causes citizens to vote for a more protectionist tariff policy. Moreover, citizens’ behavior leads to an increase in transfers by the foreign lobby.Tariff ; Trade

The evaluation of efficacy of subtenon triamcinolone injection combined with focal laser photocoagulation in diabetic macular edema

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate efficacyand safety of subtenon triamcinolone (ST) in combinationwith focal laser photocoagulation in diabetic macularedema (DME).Materials and methods: Medical records of patients withDME, treated with 40 mg subtenon injection of triamcinoloneacetonid prior to focal laser photocoagulation wereretrospectively analyzed. Seventeen eyes of 17 patientswith DME were enrolled in the study. All patients underwenta comprehensive ophthalmological examinationbefore the treatment. Efficacy of the treatment after STinjection was evaluated by visual acuity and flouresceinangiography (FA). Follow-up visits were performed at 1st,3rd, 6th and 12th months. Repeated measures ANOVA wasused for statistical analysis.Results: The mean age was 61.5 ± 8.7 years and themean visual acuity in the study eyes was 0.22 ± 0.13 beforethe treatment, 0.39 ± 0.15 at 1st month, 0.36 ± 0.18at 3rd month, 0.33 ± 0.15 at 6th month and 0.34 ± 0.16 at12th month. The differences in the visual acuity before thetreatment and follow-up visits were significant (p ˂0.05).Visual acuity was increased in 13 (%76,4) patients, decreasedin 1 (%5,8) and unchanged in 3 (%17,6).Conclusion: Injection of 40 mg of triamsinolon via subtenonroute combined with focal laser photocoagulation isa safe and beneficial treatment in cases of DM

Flexible work environments’ effects on employees’ satisfaction in an intelligent office building

Çalışma mekânları içinde bulundukları dönemin sosyo-kültürel, ekonomik ve toplumsal yapısı ile şekillenen ortamlardır. Günümüzde, teknolojinin ve sürdürülebilirlik olgusunun yaşam ve iş yapma biçimlerini değiştirmesiyle çalışma mekânları yeniden kurgulanmaktadır. Çalışma mekânlarının değişmesinde en etkili unsurlardan biri esneklik kavramıdır. Esnek çalışma mekânları çalışanların iletişimini kuvvetlendirecek ve yatay hiyerarşiyi destekleyecek şekilde tasarlanmaktadır. Esnek çalışma mekanlarında açık ofis alanları aktivite odaklı alanlarla desteklenmekte ve çalışanların konsantrasyon gerektiren çalışma, toplantı ve ekip çalışması gibi ihtiyaçlarını karşılayacak şekilde planlanmaktadır. Bu durumun bir göstergesi olarak günümüz bilgi ve teknoloji çağında organizasyonlar ofis olarak akıllı binaları ve esnek çalışma mekânlarını tercih etmeye başlamışlardır. Fiziksel çevre tasarımının çalışan memnuniyeti ve verimi üzerine etkileri bilindiğinden, bu yeni tip çalışma mekânları özelinde tasarımın ve çevre kalitesinin çalışan memnuniyeti, verimi ve yapılan işin kalitesine etkileri üzerine araştırmalar dünyada, özellikle Kuzey Amerika ve Avrupa’da hız kazanmıştır. Ancak, Türkiye’deki çalışma mekânları özelinde bu gibi çalışmalar sınırlıdır. Bu çalışmada, bu boşluğu doldurmak amacı ile İstanbul’da yer alan LEED sertifikalı bir binada hizmet veren bir firmanın esnek çalışma mekânı örnek olarak seçilmiştir. Anket, görüşme ve yerinde gözlem yöntemlerine dayanan bir kullanım sonrası değerlendirme çalışması yürütülmüştür. Elde edilen bulgular esnek çalışma düzeni, fiziksel çevre koşulları ve mekânsal tasarım bağlamında çalışan memnuniyetine etkileri açısından değerlendirilmiştir.Social, cultural, and economical structures shape physical work environments. Today, workplaces are reconstructed according to the effects of sustainability and technology on the form of working. Flexibility is one of the most influential elements affecting the change of workplaces. Flexible workplaces are designed to strengthen the communication and to support the horizontal organizational structure. Open office areas are planned to meet the need for activities such as relaxation, conversation, meeting, concentration, and teamwork. In the era of the knowledge society and technology, organizations increasingly prefer smart buildings and flexible workplaces as their work environments. As a result, there is a growing literature, especially in North America and northern Europe, on the impact of flexible workplace design and indoor quality on employee satisfaction, productivity, and work quality. However, such studies are still limited in Turkey. To fill the gap, this research focuses on a flexible workplace located in a LEED -certified building in Istanbul. A post-occupancy evaluation was conducted in this office. Data collection methods included questionnaires, interviews, and participant observations. The data was analyzed based on the employees’ satisfaction from the flexible workplace.Publisher versio

A Stranger in the Epididymis: Ectopic Spleen

Splenogonadal fusion, which can be clinically confused with testicular neoplasms as they present with testicular swelling, is a rare abnormality in young adults. Intraoperative frozen section analysis can be helpful in diagnosing such cases and preventing unnecessary orchiectomies. We report a case in which frozen section analysis was done and testis-sparing surgery could be performed

Serum Levels of Soluble P-Selectin Are Increased and Associated With Disease Activity in Patients With Behçet's Syndrome

Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a relapsing, chronic, inflammatory disease characterized by endothelial dysfunction, atherothromboembogenesis, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis with complex immunologic molecular interactions. Generalized derangements of the lymphocyte and neutrophil populations, activated monocytes, and increased PMNLs motility with upregulated cell surface molecules such as ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin, which are found on the endothelial cells, leukocytes, and platelets, have all been demonstrated during the course of BS. Our aim is to investigate the association of serum concentrations of soluble P-selectin in patients with BS, and to evaluate whether disease activity has an effect on their blood levels. This multicenter study included 31 patients with BS (15 men and 16 women) and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy control volunteers (11 men and nine women). Neutrophil count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and acute-phase reactants as well as soluble P-selectin levels were determined. The mean age and sex distributions were similar (P > .05) between BS patients (35 years) and control volunteers (36 years). Serum levels of soluble P-selectin in patients with BS (399 ± 72 ng/mL) were significantly (P < .001) higher when compared with control subjects (164 ± 40 ng/mL). In addition, active BS patients (453 ± 37 ng/mL) had significantly (P < .001) elevated levels of soluble P-selectin than those in inactive period (341 ± 52 ng/mL). This study clearly demonstrated that serum soluble P-selectin levels are increased in BS patients when compared with control subjects, suggesting a modulator role for soluble P-selectin during the course of platelet activation and therefore, atherothrombogenesis formation in BS, especially in active disease

Effects of Enzyme-Producing Probiotic Bacteria Isolated from the Gastrointestinal Tract of Trout on the Growth Performance, Survival, and Digestive Enzyme Activity of Rainbow Trout Fry (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

In this study, we investigated the effects of enzyme-producing probiotic bacteria isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of rainbow trout on the growth performance, feed conversion ratio, and digestive enzyme activity, of fry (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Three isolates (G8/2013, T7/2013 and U5/2013) of candidate bacteria elicited the highest protease, lipase, and amylase activities, respectively. Isolates were identified as Aeromonas sp., Bacillus sp. and Citrobacter braakii by morphological, physiological, biochemical characterizations as well as 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The fry basal diet was supplemented with probiotics at varying concentrations; G8 group, Aeromonas sp. 1.72 x 108 CFU/g; U5 group, Bacillus sp. 3.01 x 108 CFU/g; T7 group, C. braakii 2.96 x 108 CFU/g and a mixed group (same bacterial concentrations), and control group (no bacteria). The rainbow trout fry were fed ad libitum in triplicate treatments with supplemented and non-supplemented probiotic diets for 70-days. The total bacterial count in the intestine was significantly higher in the mixed group (30th and 50th days) and U5 group (50th and 70th days) compared with the control group. However, there was no significant difference in weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), nutrient digestibility, or digestive enzyme activity among the groups.

Haptic dokunma hisli ve kuvvet geri beslemeli arayüz sistem tasarımı

TÜBİTAK MAG01.07.2008“Haptic” cihaz, kullanıcı ile bilgisayar arasında üç boyutlu veri transferi sağlayan bir cihazdır. Bu cihaz kullanıcıya sanal ortamdaki bir nesneyi görmenin yanında, bu sanal nesneye dokunma olanağı da sağlar. Aynı zamanda bu cihaz ile gerçek bir nesneden veriler alınarak bu verilerin sanal ortamda kullanımı da gerçekleştirilebilir. Günümüzde sanal gerçeklik teknolojisinin gelişimine paralel olarak “haptic” cihazlarının kullanımı, sanayi, eğitim ve tıp alanlarında gittikçe artmaktadır. Bu teknolojinin değişik uygulama alanları, farklı bilim dallarına ait disiplinlerarası çalışmaları gerektirdiğinden, kendi içinde özgün çalışma konularını da yaratmaktadır (“haptic” arayüz tasarımı, serbest modelleme, sanal ortamda ameliyat eğitimi, vb.). Medikal uygulamalarda önemli bir potansiyele sahip bu teknoloji ile daha önceleri el işçiliği ile yapılmak zorunda kalınan karmaşık modifikasyonlar gerçekleştirilebilmektedir (beyin cerrahisinde hata kabul etmeyen, ustalık ve ameliyat öncesi uzun uğraşlar gerektiren operasyonlar). Bu örnek “haptic” cihazlar ile dijital ortamda gerçekleştirilebilecek olan uygulamalardan sadece bir tanesidir. Bu proje kapsamında, bahsedilen uygulama alanlarına yönelik 7 serbestlik dereceli bir “haptic” cihaz tasarlanıp üretilmiş ve cihazın kullanılabilirliğini göstermek için bir arayüz tasarlamıştır. Günümüze kadar tasarlanmış olan bütün “haptic” cihazlar maksimum 6 serbestlik derecesine sahiptirler. Tasarlanan 7 serbestlik dereceli “haptic” cihaz, bugüne kadar üretilmiş aynı uzuv uzunlukları ve eklem değişkenlerine sahip diğer “haptic” cihazlar ile karşılaştırıldığında yaklaşık %20 daha büyük bir çalışma hacmine ve daha esnek bir çalışma kabiliyetine sahiptir. Bu çalışma, Dünya’daki “haptic” cihazların geliştirilmesi ve Türkiye’deki “haptic” cihazların ve uygulama alanlarının yaygınlaşması açısından son derece önemlidir.Haptic devices are used to provide multi-modal data transfer between haptic users and computers in virtual reality applications. They enable humans to take force and tactile feedback from any virtual or remote objects. Haptic devices also facilitate the use of data collected from a real object in the virtual environment. Usage of the haptic devices increase more and more in industrial, educational and medical applications in parallel with development of virtual reality technology. As virtual reality technology requires interdisciplinary study with related to its application areas, it creates a lot of different specific working areas (Haptic interface design, freeform model, surgical operations in virtual environment etc.). Especially, some complex modifications which require hand-working can be performed with the system having great potential in medical applications (Brain surgery without error and operations which require great skill etc.). This is only one of the implementations of haptic devices in digital environment. Aim of this project is to design and manufacture a novel haptic device which serves the mentioned application areas and to improve an interface to implement the device. Most of the haptic devices in literature have maximum 6 DOF. The 7 DOF haptic device designed has about 20% extra working space and more flexible working capability compared to the other haptic devices with the similar link lengths and joint limitations. This project is important in terms of the development of haptic devices in the world as well as spreading of haptic devices and its applications in Turkey

The Bibliometric Analysis of the Studies Presented at the Turkish National Otorhinolaryngology Congresses in the Period 2009-2018

Objective: The aim of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the abstracts presented at Turkish National Otorhinolaryngology Congresses in the years from 2009 to 2018.Methods: Abstracts were defined and grouped according to their field of study, design, level of evidence, number of authors, the main institution in which they were held, and whether they were uni- or multi-centric. Frequency and percentage tables were prepared.Results: In total, 5,463 studies, of which 1,431 (26.2%) were oral presentations and 4,032 (73.8%) were poster presentations were reviewed. The highest number of studies was in the field of otology and in the form of oral presentations (32%), and in the field of head and neck surgery in the form of poster presentations (37%). Fifty-seven percent of all studies were conducted in university hospitals, and 34% in Training and Research Hospitals. Eighty-three percent of oral presentations and 99% of poster presentations were clinical studies. The rate of experimental animal studies was 16% in oral presentations. The most commonly used design of orally presented clinical studies was descriptive (31%), whereas prospective randomized controlled design was the least common (3%). No study with a level 1 of evidence was found. The rate of oral papers presented with evidence levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 among all oral presentations were 22%, 13%, 11%, and 54%, respectively.Conclusion: The findings indicated that the abstracts were satisfactory in quantity, but overall scientific quality was not sufficient. The data obtained may serve as a basis for future studies, and follow-up studies may guide individuals and institutions that steer the Turkish ENT community

Optimization of PCR-RFLP method for genotyping of GHSR rs2232165 Gene Polymorphism and Determination of allele frequency in Turkish men

Çağımızın ciddi sorunlardan biri olan alkol bağımlılığı, genetik, çevresel, kültürel, gelişimsel ve nörobiyolojik faktörlerin etkisiyle ortaya çıkmaktadır. Son yıllarda yeme davranışı nörobiyolojisi ile bağımlılık yapan maddelere aşerme davranışının nörobiyolojisinin benzer özelliklere sahip olduğunun keşfedilmesi araştırmacıları, alkol bağımlılığı ile grelin gibi besin alımında önemli olan hormonlar arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaya sevk etmiştir. Alkol kullanım bozukluğunda ve alkole aşermede grelin sisteminin önemi mevcut çalışmalar tarafından ortaya konulmasına karşın bu ilişkinin biyolojik mekanizmasının aydınlatılması için daha çok çalışmaya ihtiyaç vardır. Bu nedenle, bu çalışmada, alkol kullanım sorunu olan Türk erkeklerinde, grelin reseptörünü kodlayan GHSR genindeki rs2232165 polimorfizminin alkol kullanım sorunu ile ilişkisi araştırılmıştır. Çalışmaya alkol kullanım bozukluğu tanısı konmuş 72 erkek birey ile herhangi bir madde bağımlılığı olmayan 82 sağlıklı erkek dahil edilmiştir. GHSR rs2232165 gen polimorfizmi, ilk defa bu çalışmada optimize edilen PCR-RFLP yöntemi ile genotiplendirilmiştir. GHSR rs2232165 polimorfizmi için alel frekansları alkol kullanım sorunu olan grupta (n:144); C aleli için 0,99 (n:142), T aleli için 0,01 (n:2) olarak hesaplanmıştır. Karşılaştırma grubunda ise (n:164), C aleli frekansı 0,98 (n:161), T aleli frekansı 0,02 (n:3) olarak belirlenmiştir. İki grup arasında, T alel frekansı açısından istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark bulunmamıştır (p>0,05). Gen polimorfizmleri, çevresel faktörlerden etkilenmediği için Türk erkeklerindeki minör alel frekansını (MAF) belirlemek için iki gruptaki bireyler birleştirilmiş (n=154) ve Türk erkeklerinde GHSR rs2232165 polimorfizminin MAF değeri 0,02 olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu çalışmada, çağımızda alkol kullanım bozukluğu kadar önemli olan obezite etiyolojisinde de rol oynayan GHSR rs2232165 polimorfizminin Türk erkeklerinde alel frekansı ile ilgili ilk veriler toplanmıştır.Alcohol addiction, which is one of the crucial problems of the current era, arises with the effects of genetic, environmental, culturel, developmental and neurobiological factors. In recent years, the discovery that the neurobiology of eating behavior and the neurobiology of craving for addictive substances have similar characteristics has prompted researchers to investigate the relationship between alcohol addiction and hormones important in food intake such as ghrelin. Even though the importance of the ghrelin system in alcohol use disorder and alcohol craving has been stated by existing studies , more studies are needed to enlighten the biological mechanism of this relationship. Therefore, in this study the relationship between rs2232165 polymorphism in GHSR gene encoding ghrelin receptor and alcohol use disorder in Turkish men with alcohol use problem. Seventy-two individuals diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and 82 healthy men without any substance addiction were included in this study. The GHSR rs2232165 gene polymorphism was genotyped by PCR-RFLP which was optimized for the first time in this study. The allele frequency of the GHSR rs2232165 gene polymorphism was determined in the group with alcohol use problem (n:144) as 0,99 (n:142) for C allele and 0,01 (n:2) for T allele. The frequency of the C allele was 0,98 (n:161) and T allele was 0,02 (n:3) in the healthy group. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups in terms of T allele frequency. Since gene polymorphisms are not affected by environmental factors, individuals in two groups were combined (n=154) in order to determine minor allele frequency (MAF) in Turkish males, and the MAF value of GHSR rs2232165 polymorphism in Turkish males was determined as 0,02. In this study, the first data on the allele frequency of GHSR rs2232165 polymorphism, which plays a role in the etiology of obesity, which is as important as alcohol use disorder in the current era, were collected in Turkish males