Have the EU pre-accession funds achieved their purpose? Beneficiary perspectives on the effects of the funds on production quality, rural development and sustainability

Turkey's relations with the European Union (EU) financial assistance, which began in 1963, continue today. The IPARD (Instrument for Pre Accession Assistance Rural Development) program aims to increase the efficiency of enterprises and achieve Community quality and quality management standards to achieve rural development and sustainability. This research aimed to measure investors' perceptions of the quality (QA), after-sales quality (ASQ), and rural development for IPARD (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Rural Development) funds. Additional points are given for investor and company characteristics in some measures. This research reveals whether additional scores make a significant difference. 97 enterprises that received support from IPARD I and IPARD II in Bursa province, Turkey, were interviewed. Results showed that the participants' overall perception of RDS was higher than QA and ASQ. The quality perceptions were the lowest. 25-year-old and younger investors had the highest QA and ASQ perceptions. An increase in educational level has led to a rise in the QA, ASQ, and RDS perceptions. No stable trend was observed between the increase in experience and the increase in QA and ASQ perceptions. The perception of RDS is higher among the investors who claim to follow rural development activities

Ignoring environmentally sound practices. Farmers’ manure waste handling behavior and its determinants in Turkey

This paper examines the factors that determine farmers’ intention to improve animal waste storage facilities using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling. Data were collected from 376 small and medium livestock farmers in Turkey. The results showed farmers’ intention to improve waste facilities was primarily determined by their attitudes. Subjective norms (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) were almost equally influential. Multiple-Group Analysis determined the effects of control variables. The attitude of less-educated farmers, who owned more extensive livestock operations and relied solely on income from livestock, had a significant and positive effect on the intention to improve farm waste management. SN and PBC were significant determinants of the behavior of farmers’ who were more educated, had more prominent families, and employed higher-paid labor. The results will help central and local governments, industry investors, and growers’ associations understand farmers’ attitudes toward waste storage issues and develop more effective strategies to ensure environmental sustainability and better use of investment and training opportunities

Critical factors affecting households' red meat consumption in Turkey

Red meat consumption is vital for a balanced diet. This research examines the factors that cause consumers to prefer red meat, determines the shopping channels from which red meat is purchased, and the frequency and consumption of red meat. A face-to-face survey was applied to 273 households selected by simple random sampling. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. The decisive factor in the participants' red meat preferences in the study was taste (61.5%), followed by production date (60.2%) and freshness (58.5%). According to this result, consumers were more pleasure-oriented in choosing red meat products. Advertising was the least important factor. 58.2% of the purchased red meat was from butchers, 10.6% from discount markets and 9.5% from local markets. Participants bought red meat several times a month (26.4% of them.) and consumed it several times a week (44.7%.) Half of the total meat consumed in the households was red meat. The purchasing and consumption frequency of red meat in the families in Bursa was low. Decreasing red meat prices will increase households' purchasing and consumption frequency. Farmers need a subsidy to lower production costs and increase productivity, thus reducing retail meat prices

Kırsal kesimde yaşayanların yenilebilir enerji kaynakları ve çevre bilinci üzerine bir araştırma

Araştırmalar insanların yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarını fosil yakıtlara daha çok tercih ettiğini göstermektedir. Rüzgâr enerjisi çevreye en zararsız yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarından biri olarak kabul edilmiştir ve bu nedenle dünyadaki en hızlı büyüyen elektrik üretim kaynaklarından biridir. Ancak bu hızlı gelişme sonucu zaman zaman özellikle yerel halk tarafından yenilenebilir enerji yatırımlarına karşı tepki oluşturabilmektedir. Halkın rüzgâr enerjisini kabul etmesi çevre bilincine bağlı olarak değişmekledir. Araştırmanın amacı kırsal kesimde yaşayan halkın çevre bilinç seviyelerinin ölçülerek yenilenebilir enerjiye karşı olan tutumlarını ve tepkilerini anlayabilmektir. Bu amaçla yenilenebilir enerji yatırımlarının yoğun olduğu Aydın ili ve hâlihazırda rüzgâr enerji santrali bulunan Koçarlı ilçesi seçilmiştir. Araştırma 2019 yılında yüz yüze anket ile gerçekleştirilmiş ve verilerin hesaplanmasında SPSS 22 programından faydalanılmıştır. Bulgular yerel halkın yüksek bir çevre bilincine sahip olduğunu, rüzgâr enerjisini çevre dostu enerji olarak benimsediklerini, yenilenebilir enerjinin olası zararlarını deneyimlemediklerini ve rüzgâr enerjisi santralleri etrafında tarım yapmaya devam ettiklerini göstermiştir. Halk ayrıca rüzgâr türbinlerini görsel olarak rahatsız edici bulmamakta, çevredeki bitki ve hayvanları rahatsız ettiğine inanmamaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: Aydın, çevre bilinci, kırsal kalkınma, rüzgâr enerji santrali, yenilenebilir enerji Research shows that people prefer renewable energy sources more than fossil fuels. Wind energy has been recognized as one of the most environmentally harmless renewable energy sources and is, therefore, one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity generation in the world. As a result of this rapid development, it is possible that local people react against investments in renewable energy, from time to time. Public acceptance of wind energy varies depending on environmental awareness. The research aims to measure the environmental awareness levels of the people living in rural areas and to understand their attitude towards renewable energy, their reactions. For this purpose, Aydın province, where renewable energy investments are intense, and Koçarlı district, which already has a wind power plant, were selected. The research was conducted in 2019 with face-to-face surveys, and the SPSS 22 program was used in its calculation. The findings showed that local people have high environmental awareness, have embraced wind energy as environmentally friendly energy, have not experienced the potential harms of renewable energy and continue to build around wind power plants. The public also does not find wind turbines visually disturbing, nor do they believe they disturb the surrounding plants and animals

Combination of Searches for Higgs Boson Pair Production in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi></mml:math> Collisions at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msqrt><mml:mrow><mml:mi>s</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msqrt><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>13</mml:mn><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mi>TeV</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter presents results from a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using 126–140  fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s=13  TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. At 95% confidence level (CL), the upper limit on the production rate is 2.9 times the standard model (SM) prediction, with an expected limit of 2.4 assuming no Higgs boson pair production. Constraints on the Higgs boson self-coupling modifier κλ=λHHH/λHHHSM, and the quartic HHVV coupling modifier κ2V=gHHVV/gHHVVSM, are derived individually, fixing the other parameter to its SM value. The observed 95% CL intervals are −1.2&lt;κλ&lt;7.2 and 0.6&lt;κ2V&lt;1.5, respectively, while the expected intervals are −1.6&lt;κλ&lt;7.2 and 0.4&lt;κ2V&lt;1.6 in the SM case. Constraints obtained for several interaction parameters within Higgs effective field theory are the strongest to date, offering insights into potential deviations from SM predictions. © 2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration 2024 CERN </jats:sec