Couchsurfing involvement in non-profit peer-to-peer accommodations and its impact on destination image, familiarity, and behavioral intent

Accommodation is a fundamental part of tourism, and it plays an important role in the tourist experience. The emerging economy and especially the peer-to-peer accommodations (P2P) have shaken up the conventional accommodations sector. While most P2P accommodation studies have focused on the monetary platform, which includes Airbnb, there is little knowledge about the linkages of involvement and behavioral intentions on the non-profit accommodation users. This empirical study applied a multiple-methods approach to investigate the positive impacts of involvement on couchsurfing, such as P2P accommodations on the destination image, familiarity, and the behavioral intentions. The data was collected from 609 travelers who have used couchsurfing while traveling to Turkey from 2016 to 2017...

Determination of the effect of silica nanoparticles on TRP currents in retinal pigment epithelial cells by entropy measurement

Söğüt, Fatma | Kibar, Deniz | Yılmaz, Şakir Necat | Çömelekoğlu, Ülkü

Ion channels in cell membranes are gated, water-filled pores that allow passive transport of ions across the membrane along their electrochemical gradient. Recent studies have shown that nanoparticles can interact with ion channels and change their currents kinetics properties of the channel. In this study, we used the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel currents in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells recorded by whole-cell patch clamp technique to observe the silica nanoparticle-ion channel interaction. For whole cell recordings, we clamped membrane potential to −40 mV and used a ramp of 1000 ms duration for stimulation. The ramp was increased from −140 mV to +60 mV. We used windowed scalogram entropy and compared the results with windowed scale index method. Our results indicat...

Evaluating IMO 2030 strategies for environmental sustainability in maritime transportation using ANP method

Kök, Gökçe Tuğdemir

The maritime sector significantly contributes to global climate change by emitting pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs). In response to these challenges, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has implemented the 2030 Strategic Vision to promote environmental sustainability in the industry. This study employs the Analytic Network Process (ANP), a sophisticated multi-criteria decision-making instrument, to quantitatively assess and rank eight strategies outlined during the 81st session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81). The analysis indicates that Ballast Water Management (normalized weight: 0.269) is identified as the highest priority, succeeded by proposals concerning Ship Recycling (0.179) and Emission Control Areas (ECAs) (0.142). The study’s approach, su...

A research to determine the effect of entrepreneurship attitude and education on entrepreneurial intention

Kale, Anıl | Akmaz, Abdullah

In this study, the effects of perceived suitability, perceived consistency and perceived effectiveness on entrepreneurship intention were investigated. In addition, the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurship intention was investigated. For this purpose, data were collected from 377 students studying in the field of tourism. Data were analyzed with structural equation model. As a result of the study, it was found that perceived consistency and perceived effectiveness significantly affect entrepreneurship intention. However, perceived suitability, perceived consistency and entrepreneurial intent have been shown to differ significantly between students who previously have worked in a workplace and those who have not. The fact that the attitude of entrepreneurship and...

Possible association of temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction with a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene

Erdal, Mehmet Emin | Barlas, İbrahim Ömer

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene polymorphism. Forty-eight patients with temporomandibular joint pain and 111 healthy control subjects were examined. The results for the patients and control subjects were not significantly different (P > .05). The analysis of genotype distribution (homozygous for STin 2.10 genotypes of the variable-number tandem-repeat polymorphism) showed significant differences between the patients and control subjects (P = .003). ST 2.10 allele was more frequent in the patients with temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction. In the control group, however, STin 2.12/12 genotype was significantly higher (P = .017). In the patients who were homozygous or...

Investigation of the relationship between periodontal and systemic inflammation in children with Sickle Cell Disease: A case- control study

Öztürk, Candan | Aslan Tek, Sebahat | Taşdelen, Bahar | Ünal, Selma

Periodontal diseases are chronic inflammatory diseases and tissue destruction increases with oxidative stress in periodontal tissues. Periodontal diseases are associated with systemic diseases such as diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and rheumatoid arthritis by means of systemic inflammation. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic inflammatory disease in which vaso-occlusive crisis and endothelial dysfunction are present. It is not known whether the chronic systemic inflammation seen in SCD affect periodontal tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between periodontal and systemic inflammation in children with SCD. Forty-three children with SCD and 43 healthy children were included in the study. Physical, dental and periodontal statuses were examined, blood and...

Cytotoxic effect of silica nanoparticles on human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Çömelekoğlu, Ülkü | Kibar, Deniz | Yıldırımcan, Saadet | Yılmaz, Şakir Necat

In recent years, the use of nanotechnology-based methods has become widespread in the treatment of ocular diseases. Silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are most common used NPs in medical field due to their physicochemical properties. SiO2 NPs can easily cross biological membranes and interact with basic biological structures, causing structural and functional changes in cells. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the dose dependent effect of SiO2 NPs on retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in vitro using electrobiophysical, biochemical and histological methods. A commercially purchased human RPE (hARPE-19) cell line was used in this study. Cells were divided into four groups as control, 50 mg/mL SiO2, 100 mg/mL SiO2 and 150 mg/mL SiO2 groups. Cell index, apoptotic activity, cell cycle and ...