Characteristics Of Turkey Research Articles

Late Diagnosis in HIV with New and Old Definitions; Data from a Regional Hospital in Turkey.

Late presentation for HIV care, continues to be a challenge, leading to increased morbidity, mortality, and society costs. The study aimed to determine the rates of late diagnosis (LD) and patient characteristics in Turkey, utilizing the new definition excluding recently infected. The study included patients admitted to the hospital between 1998 and 2023, with at least 1 year of follow-up. Patients without a CD4 count at their initial admission were excluded. Two definitions of presentation were used: LD, (CD4<350 cells/mL or AIDS-defining event) and advanced disease (AD), (CD4<200 cells/mL or AIDS-defining event). Individuals with recent evidence of infection were reclassified as "not late". Out of the 914 patients meeting the criteria and the analysis focused on 794 treatment-naïve patients, with 90.6% being male and an average age of 36.0 ± 12.0 years. Using the previous definition, 48.9% were diagnosed as late, while the new definition identified 47.2%. A total of 183 patients (23%) were diagnosed with AD, and 25.9% of the diagnoses occurred during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The rate of LD increased during the pandemic compared to before (55.8% vs 44.2%, p=0.005), as did the rate of AD (30.1% vs 20.6%, p=0.007). There was no significant relationship between gender and LD. Patients with LD were older (median ages were 31 vs 36 in groups, p<0.001), had poorer virological response, higher mortality rates (4.8% vs 1.2%, p=0.003), and shorter survival compared to those without (log rank=0.004). HIV patients with LD have poorer prognosis with older age as well as disruption of health services during the pandemic as risk factors. To improve outcomes, multicenter studies should investigate missed opportunities and specific risk factors in our region, and we should screen at-risk populations, promote awareness among underdiagnosed populations, and advocate testing even in disastrous situations.

Directions and Characteristics of Turkey's Regional Foreign Policy

Directions and Characteristics of Turkey's Regional Foreign Policy

Türkiye’de Ev Dışı Gıda Harcamalarının Kohort Analizi

In this study, the expenditures of food away from home of households are examined using the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, which was conducted by the Turkish Institute of Statistics from 2002 to 2018. We adopt the Dependent Double Hurdle model with the incorporation of age, period, and cohort effects and the impact of socio-demographic variables. Analysis results reveal that the cohort and age effects are significant in both participation and consumption on food expenditure away from home of household. The findings suggest that the expenditure of food away from home for younger cohorts rises faster for older cohorts. The elasticity of food expenditures for cohorts and age groups is increasing from the youngest cohort and from the youngest age group to the oldest cohort which is the largest age group. The results show that participation and consumption decisions are significantly affected by income and demographic characteristics in Turkey.

Analysis of long‐term trends and variations in extreme high air temperatures in May over Turkey and a record‐breaking heatwave event of May 2020

AbstractThis paper investigated the trends and variability in warmest daily maximum (TXx) and warmest daily minimum (TNx) air temperatures, and heatwave characteristics in Turkey in May during 1950–2020. It also analysed the climatological and synoptic meteorological evolutions of heatwave (HW) observed in May 2020. Trend analysis revealed significant increasing trends in TXx and TNx series and heatwave characteristics in May since 1950. Since the mid‐1980s, a continuously increasing trend in TXx and TNx series, and the number, frequency, and magnitude of the heatwaves were observed that accelerated with the mid‐1990s. The most severe heatwave in Turkey since 1950 in May was observed in 2020. The record‐breaking daily maximum (daily minimum) air temperatures were noted at 32 (23) of 96 stations in May 2020, mainly over Turkey's western and southern parts. Record‐high maximum (minimum) air temperature was 43.2°C (31.1°C) reached for the first time in May since 1950. The generalized extreme value model applied to the May TXx and TNx series revealed that the daily air temperatures in May 2020 exceeded 100 years' return periods at many stations of Turkey. This heatwave was linked to a regionalized strong anticyclonic blocking anomaly circulation and other associated atmospheric anomalies in May 2020. This also resulted in the centring of an unprecedented subsiding, calm, and stable warm air mass over Turkey. Adiabatic warming and drying developed very likely under subsidence control because of relatively weak circulation conditions. Such circumstances resulted in extremely hotter conditions in May 2020 compared to the long‐term averages.

A determination of season shifting across Turkey in the period 1965–2020

AbstractSignificant changes in the onset, length and thermal characteristics of seasons have been reported all over the globe in recent decades; however, the spatiotemporal changes of seasonal characteristics in Turkey have received little attention in relation to seasons delineation. In this study, the changes in the characteristics of Turkish seasons have been examined from 1965 to 2020 by considering the daily average temperature data obtained from 65 meteorological stations. A nonstatic definition of season onset was used to delineate the seasons. The study also presents the response of seasons timing and thermal characteristics affected by climate change. All over Turkey, the trend rate for beginning of summer was determined to be 2.1 days·decade−1 from 1965 to 2020, while the beginning of winter has shifted forward at many stations in southeastern Anatolia. All the seasons have experienced increases in average temperatures. The maximum increase was in summer seasons and occurred at up to a rate of 0.7°C·decade−1. There has been almost no change in winter temperatures over the Mediterranean region. Eastern Marmara with the western and middle Black Sea regions experienced an extension of spring as well as a shortening of the autumn season. It was noted that the change in the beginning of summer occurred all over the country. However, the extension of spring and shortening of the autumn season was mainly limited to the western Black Sea regions. The seasons, defined by considering climate change and variability, showed significant trends for length, average temperature and their onset. To the best of the author's knowledge, the delineation of seasons using a dynamic approach is the first attempt of its kind in this study area.

Energy Poverty Clustering by Using Power-cut Job Order Data of the Electricity Distribution Companies

The identification of the population suffering from energy poverty, which is more visible after Covid-19 pandemic following by the 2021 energy crisis, is an essential requirement for producing systematic and sustainable solutions. Although European Union approaches to the problem with a multi-indicator sets; this indicator sets have a large amount of secure and almost unreachable data, such as identity information, wage information, health information, asset information (title deed, rental income), expenditure information, debt information, credit information, bank records, etc. Experienced two long term projects between 2014 and 2016 (problem definition for energy theft and the best practices searching 13 different country examples including Brazil, Hungary, India, etc.) and 2016–2018 (energy poverty set and consumption characteristics in Turkey) over 6 million end-user consumption and payment data brings us to confirm that. The primary indicator of energy poverty is the arrears on utility bills. The arrears resulting from the affordability problem of the energy consumed trigger a power cut-off job order in the utility company. This research examines the literature and country social assistance implementation data to see how an energy poverty level can be identified using details on arrears and powercut job orders. On this subject, power-cut job orders were constituted, because of arrears on utility bills, were subjected to statistical analysis, and the compatibility of the trend data with the socio-economic development index was investigated. Cities with a less indexes have more utility bill arrears in terms of both number and volume, according to correlation-test data. Urban cities are more visible in data since the non-urbanized cities have some energy theft activities which show us no efficiency target for the consumption! Hence one of the strategical step for decreasing the non-technical losses is having more registered customer, the relationship between the growth index and the number of customers is another intriguing finding. Separating the consumption levels of arrears, it is found that 63% of total non-payment is depending on 18% of consumers. Trend analysis confirmed that every energy consumption level has the absolute and fluctuated component inside. The number of people inside the absolute poverty cluster is coherent with national and international approaches almost in the same number. The findings revealed that arrears on utility bills can be used specifically to assess the population identified with energy dependency rather than relying on evidence from a variety of sources.

Techno-economic analysis of PV systems with manually adjustable tilt mechanisms

Solar radiation falling on photovoltaic (PV) panel surface can be maximized via solar tracking systems, however, in return for infeasible investments. On the other hand, manual and periodic tilt adjustment of PVs can increase energy yield significantly and cost-effectively. Therefore, this study presents a techno-economic analysis of 1 MW PV power plants with manually adjustable tilt mechanisms. Firstly, the optimal tilt angles for fixed and periodically adjusted (monthly, seasonal, and semi-annual) PV systems in locations with different solar characteristics in Turkey are estimated, and then an economic analysis is performed, including a sensitivity analysis. The results show that, manual tilt adjustment provides a remarkable net present value (NPV) increase in Turkey between 12.4 and 14.9% compared to fixed-tilt. The discounted payback period (DPBP) ranges between 9.20 and 12.36 years and can be shortened by 8–10 months. The internal rate of return (IRR) of 5.4–8.6% can be increased by 0.7–0.9%.

Appraisal of seasonal drought characteristics in Turkey during 1925–2016 with the standardized precipitation index and copula approach

Appraisal of seasonal drought characteristics in Turkey during 1925–2016 with the standardized precipitation index and copula approach

A Comparative Investigation of Changing Building Characteristics in Turkey

Deprem tehlikesi, bir bölgenin sismotektonik yapısıyla ilgili bir konu iken; deprem riski, deprem tehlikesi altındaki yapıların davranışını ele alarak belirli bir zaman dilimi için sismik kayıp ve hasarların aşılma olasılıklarını ifade eder. Bu nedenle, deprem riski hesaplanırken dikkate alınan bölgedeki yapıların deprem davranışını etkileyen özelliklerinin iyi bilinmesi gerekir. Türk yapı stoku, zaman içerisinde artan nüfusa cevap verebilmek amacıyla son yıllarda hızla büyümüş, yeni konut iştahı ve değişen sosyoekonomik yapı gibi faktörler etkisinde zamana ve lokasyona göre büyük değişim göstermiştir. Ayrıca, depreme dayanıklı yapı tasarımı ile ilgili yönetmelikler ve inşaat uygulamalarındaki ilerlemeler son yıllarda yapı özelliklerinin değişmesine sebep olmuştur. Bu bağlamda, farklı zaman dilimlerinde inşa edilmiş yapıların yerel karakteristiklerini gerçekçi bir şekilde dikkate alan uygun deprem kayıp modellerinin kullanımı önem kazanmıştır. Ancak Türk yapı stoku ile ilgili çalışmalar bölgesel veya nispeten eski verilere dayalıdır. Bu çalışmada, deprem riski ve kayıp hesaplarında kullanılacak bina bilgilerinin derlenmesi ve bina tipi yapıların temsili modellerinin oluşturulması için gerekli olan istatistiki verinin üretilmesi hedeflenmiştir. Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu tarafından sağlanan 2000 Bina Sayımı verileri ve Yapı İzin İstatistikleri kullanılarak istatistiksel bir araştırma yapılmış ve elde edilen sonuçlar karşılaştırmalı olarak sunulmuştur. Bu çalışmada incelenen yeni yapı stokunun kullanım amacı, taşıyıcı sistem tipi, dolgu duvar malzemesi ve barındırdığı nüfus oranı özellikleri 2000 Bina Sayımı verileri ile karşılaştırılmış; birleştirilmiş bina veri tabanı üzerinden Türk bina stokunun yıllar içinde gösterdiği değişim ortaya konulmuştur. Sunulan istatistiki veriler deprem risk ve kayıp hesaplarında rahatlıkla kullanılabilir.

Eating Behaviors in Early Childhood (1-5 Years) and Their Association With Sociodemographic Characteristics in Turkey.

Eating problems are common in childhood and being seen in 25%-45% of healthy children. The period following the first year of life up to five years is when eating problems are most frequently reported and also when the child acquires eating habits. Several studies have shown that eating behavior is affected by the family environment, and by parental eating habits and modes of feeding their children.The purpose of this study was to investigate the eating behavior characteristics of children in early childhood, to determine the frequency of problematic eating behaviors, and to compare these with the family’s sociodemographic characteristics.The study consisted of 255 children aged 1-5 years, with no chronic disease, presenting to İzmir Tepecik Education and Research Hospital Child Health and Diseases Department general pediatric clinics between February and April, 2017, together with their parents. In the study, 39 questions were asked to parents related to children’s demographic characteristics and eating behaviour.Problematic eating behavior was present in 43.9% of the study group. Analysis identified feeding bottle use, feeding with the use of an assistant object, eating lasting longer than half an hour, and the child not feeding itself as the most frequent eating problems. Malnutrition was present in 104 (65.8%) of the children with problematic eating behavior. Examination of unhealthy eating behavior in the light of the study findings showed no significant association between eating behaviors and variables such as type and time of delivery, maternal education level, maternal employment status, maternal age, or the number of children in the family.In terms of nutrition status, Turkey appears to exhibit problems associated with both developed and developing countries. Public nutrition in Turkey fluctuates significantly depending on the region, the season, socioeconomic levels, and differences between urban and rural settlements. Early-onset of eating-related problems can have a negative effect on children’s subsequent physical, emotional, and social development.Determination in the early period of eating problems seen in children and investigation of the causes thereof is important in terms of identifying a potential solution. It is important to work with the family to that end, and for children to be followed-up by pediatricians at regular intervals.

HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES IN TURKEY: A COMPARATIVE QUANTILE REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Consumption is one of the key concepts in economics due to its animate connections with GDP, savings, and utility. The current study aims to analyse the relationship between household consumption expenditures and some household characteristics in Turkey through Household Budget Surveys of TurkStat for the years 2002 and 2018. With the implementation of quantile regression estimations, it is shown that disposable income emerges as a very important determinant of consumption expenditures as suggested by the conventional theories of consumption. Most of the households, who intensify their savings, especially to purchase real estate, reduce their consumption levels. It is also observed that the household-heads who are single or enjoy a higher level of education spend more. Although the age of the household head is positively associated with the level of consumption in 2002, this relationship seems to be reversed in 2018. Regarding economic growth trends in the Turkish economy, such an observation might support the lifecycle theory. The households who use credit cards and online shopping are associated with a higher level of consumption expenditure compared to those who do not use these opportunities.

Socio-demographic determinants of happiness in Turkey

This study examines the relationship between the perception of happiness and socio-demographic characteristics in Turkey using the Life Satisfaction Survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute in 2017. For this purpose, nonlinear canonical correlation analysis was performed on a dataset of 4261 employees. Socio-demographic characteristics evaluated the variable set consisting of both the individual's direct perception happiness and the conceptual/personal sources of happiness. Consistent with the literature, it was seen that socio-demographic variables impacted the levels of happiness in Turkey. The main findings show that marital status has the highest effect on perceived happiness, and married people are happier than the unmarried ones. Age has a negative, educational background has a positive effect. For employment status, it is notable that per diem employees are unhappy. Besides, a detailed perspective to researchers working towards increasing perceived happiness by evaluating the identified sub-groups of working individuals living in Turkey is provided.

The Analysis of Turkey’s Fight Against the COVID-19 Outbreak Using K-Means Clustering and Curve Fitting

The COVID-19 is a global disease that occurred at the end of 2019 and it has shown its effects all over the world in a very short time. World Health Organization has mobilized all the countries of the world to survive with minimal damage from this outbreak. The situation in some countries was under control as their health infrastructure is robust enough. On the other hand, many countries suffered significant damage from the outbreak. The countries that have already taken their precautions have suffered less, Turkey is one of the leading countries. Besides taking precautions in advance, countries are guiding each other throughout the outbreak. Therefore, the countries leading the fight against the outbreak should be analyzed and each country should update its precautions to fight the outbreak. In this study, COVID-19 deaths are taken into account and similar countries to Turkey are identified by K-means clustering. Later, by comparing the various characteristics of Turkey with these similar countries, Turkey’s status in fighting the outbreak is revealed. The precautions Turkey took before the outbreak showed that Turkey can fight the COVID-19 outbreak successfully.

Observed changes and trends in heatwave characteristics in Turkey since 1950

This study investigated the spatiotemporal changes, including long-term trends and abrupt changes in the heatwave (HW)-related climatic characteristics of Turkey, such as the heatwave number (HWN), duration (HWD), frequency (HWF), magnitude (HWM), and amplitude (HWA). Heatwave-related indices in Turkey based on 88 meteorological stations were calculated considering the 90th percentile of the daily minimum air temperature (Tn90p) and the 90th percentile of the daily maximum air temperature (Tx90p). Trend analysis of the heatwave characteristics indicated that Turkey has experienced more frequent, longer, and hotter heatwaves since 1950. The most significant increasing trends observed in the series of HWNs, HWFs, and HWDs and the Tn90p series were characterized generally with greater trend values. Geographically, the largest changes in the heatwave characteristics of Turkey were detected to occur after the middle of the 1990s in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean coasts, which are in agreement with previous studies performed for various regions of the Mediterranean basin. Long-term trends in almost all country-based heatwave indices of Turkey, except trends in the Tn90p series of HWM values, particularly the Tn90p and Tx90p time series of HWN, HWF, and HWD, and the Tn90p time series of HWA values are statistically significant at the 0.000 level. Statistical comparisons of the means and variances of the Tn90p and Tx90p time series of HWN, HWF, and HWD between the periods of 1950–1984 and 1985–2018 are statistically significant at the 0.005 level. These results indicate abrupt changes towards increased heatwave conditions after the year 1984.

Linking the Performance of Entrepreneurial Universities to Technoparks and University Characteristics in Turkey

Universities’ third mission of knowledge commercialization imposes them a core role as being entrepreneurial universities in the triple helix along with the government and industry to contribute to the regional development and innovation. The emergence of entrepreneurial universities is relatively a new concept in Turkey attracting stakeholders of higher education, policy developers and scholars. The contribution of the entrepreneurial universities to the entrepreneurship ecosystem and regional innovativeness has been quantified via an index developed by the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council starting in 2012. Using this index as the dependent variable in our model, we explore how being located in a technology development zone and other university-specific characteristics play a role in getting higher scores in this index of the most entrepreneurial and innovative universities. Our analyses highlight how the contribution of universities undertaking technology development activities through a formal channel as in the form of technology development zones differ to the regional entrepreneurship and innovativeness. While the performance of the technology development zone and the composition of the university students with higher ratios of graduate students positively improve the scores of the universities, universities that are smaller in sizes are found to have higher scores.

Winter Diets of Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) in Thrace, Turkey

Long-eared owls (Asio otus) are common avian predators in Turkey. Their diet consists primarily of small mammals, but they also feed on bats, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and fish. Limited research has been conducted on long-eared owl diets and pellet characteristics in Turkey, yet this knowledge would improve our understanding of their ecological role in the environment. We investigated prey items in pellets at winter sites of Asio otus in Edirne, Kirklareli, Tekirdag, and Istanbul. We collected 2143 pellets from winter sites and counted 3458 prey items. We identified 30 taxa including 16 mammals, 12 birds and 2 insects. Asio otus primarily consumed small mammal species (97.9%) which consisted mainly of rodents (89.6%, including Cricetidae 45.95%, Muridae 43.7%), Eulipotyphla (1.2%), and unidentified mammals (7.1%). A small proportion of birds (1.9%) and insects (0.2%) also were consumed. Asio otus inhabited small coniferous woodlands at edge of farmlands during winter, but their diet varied with location. Muridae were primarily consumed in Istanbul and Tekirdag, whereas Cricetidae were mostly consumed in Kirklareli and Edirne. Our study shows that Asio otus feeding habits shift depending on prey abundance and that they are not specialists for Microtus species only.

Factors affecting 12th‐grade students' physics achievement

AbstractThe current study aimed to determine and predict 12th‐grade students' physics achievement in terms of some selected cognitive, physics‐related effective, personal, and socioeconomic characteristics in Turkey. Four hundred and ninety‐six students (273 female and 223 male) from 18 high schools formed the study group. Findings indicated that cognitive characteristics including science achievement and physics course grades explained the largest amount of variance (60.6%) in the achievement by itself. Physics interest and physics motivation as well as gender and perception of teacher‐directed activities also explained a small amount of variance in student achievement. Although none of the socioeconomic characteristic variables were found to be significant, the entire model accounted for 64% of the variance in physics achievement.

Impact of climate change on the existing residential building stock in Turkey: An analysis on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and occupant comfort

With the growing need for residential buildings as a result of population growth, the building sector is a high-priority area in climate change due to its large share of CO2 emissions, the significant energy saving opportunities it represents, and the increasing expectations for occupant comfort. This paper presents the results of climate change impact assessment on a typical mid-rise residential building in four representative cities with different climatic characteristics in Turkey. Three different scenarios that characterize different solutions towards space cooling are developed, from naturally ventilated to fully air-conditioned. The energy requirements and corresponding CO2 emissions due to space conditioning as well as occupant thermal comfort are the investigated building performance metrics. The preliminary results based on energy simulations indicate that pronounced overheating will be experienced in the future, which will have a strong effect on cooling energy use and/or occupant comfort. The projected energy demand also points to the future need to explore measures for climate change adaptation of buildings and the importance of the decarbonization of the electricity industry for climate change mitigation. The analysis results presented in this paper provide a basis for future studies on building retrofit for climate change.

The effects of Mediterranean oscillation on temperature and precipitation data in Turkey

Abstract Mediterranean Oscillation (MO) is one of the atmospheric teleconnections that influence climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between Mediterranean Oscillation Index (MOI) and temperature and precipitation characteristics in Turkey. First, the Pearson correlation analysis was carried out between the MOI and climate parameters. Then, the result of correlation analysis was evaluated according to Student's t-test. In this regard, the most significant correlations with MOI and the temperature regime were found in the winter season, whereas the most important relationship between precipitation and MOI was obtained in the summer season. Lag correlation analysis showed that winter MOI is influential on the spring temperature in northwestern Turkey and summer MOI could have an impact on the autumn precipitation. In addition, there are significant winter temperature and summer precipitation differences due to the MOI phases. Finally, the relationship between the MO and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was also investigated. Accordingly, it was realized that the NAO and MO could have similar effects in the winter season particularly in the western part of Turkey. As a result, the MO could have a significant relationship to the temperature and precipitation regime of Turkey.

Leadership Approach in Occupational Safety: Taiwan Sample

Having an occupational health and safety management system does not completely guarantee the establishment of a safe working environment and reduction of occupational accidents. In addition to the management system, there is a need for leadership in occupational safety to carry out the operations and ensure the continuity of occupational health and safety activities. The conceptualization of occupational safety leadership plays an important role in the explanation as to how to implement occupational health and safety management system and improve organizational safety performance. In this regard, contemporary leadership theories introduced three approaches. These theories that contributed to the development of occupational safety leadership are as follows: "Transformational Leadership Theory", "Transactional Leadership Theory" and "Delegative Leadership Style" (Laissez-Faire). In addition, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was formed to define leadership behaviors.In this study, Theory of occupational safety leadership developed in the Laboratory of Taiwan University was evaluated, the distinctive characteristics of the theory were determined, and the applicability of such characteristics in Turkey were examined by conducting a literature review. The applicability of occupational leadership theory in Turkey was negotiated by evaluating the outcomes.