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This study aimed to evaluate the compositional changes and bioaccessibility of phenolics and antioxidants in propolis during in vitro digestion as well as the cytotoxic effects of digested propolis on various cancer cell lines.

Six propolis samples were obtained and subjected to in vitro oral, gastric and intestinal digestion. Both digested and undigested samples were analyzed for their total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant activities. Additionally, changes in phenolic composition in the in vitro digestion system were revealed by the HPLC-DAD system. The cytotoxic effects of the digested samples were assessed on lung (A549, H1299), skin (A431), liver (Hep-G2) and colon (Caco-2) cancer cells as well as on fibroblast (Bj) cells.

The mean bioaccessibility values of phenolic and flavonoid compounds were found to be less than 35 and 24%, respectively, while the TEAC and CUPRAC antioxidant results ranged between 225.08–649.04 and 398.68–1552.28 µmol TE/g, respectively. The release of p-coumaric, ferulic, 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acids, naringenin, pinocembrin and chrysin increased progressively from the oral to the intestinal stage. The cytotoxic effects of samples on cell lines were ranked, based on IC50 results, as A431 > Hep-G2 > Caco-2 > A549 > H1299 > Bj.

Propolis has been recognized for centuries as a natural remedy, and numerous studies have explored its bioactive components. However, no studies have previously examined the changes in the phenolic compositions of propolis samples during digestion or their cytotoxic effects on cancer cells. Therefore, this study provides novel insights and an approach to the existing literature on this topic.

This paper aims to study how activists involved in consumer-initiated cooperatives, in a specific context, challenge the practices of the neoliberal system and develop counter-practices that are ingrained with their values. It aims to access the transformative capacity and inclusiveness of consumer-initiated cooperatives and the role played by prefigurative practices in changing the status quo. Three practices – defetishization of agricultural commodities, surplus generation and distribution, prefiguration – that enable the inclusion of those groups who are marginalized in the food production and consumption nexus by neoliberal policies are identified.

The findings of this paper were developed from 23 unstructured interviews, participant observation and analysis of the social media accounts of five consumer-initiated cooperatives located in different districts of Istanbul and which are involved in a collective response to the neoliberal policies.

The study discusses that, in a specific context, political events and economic policies can be a catalyst for the initiation of alternative consumer-initiated cooperatives. The findings indicate that these organizations can develop and articulate prefigurative practices that are influential in transforming the prevailing capitalist food provisioning system to be more inclusive.

The findings offer an alternative view to the dominant capitalist logic and advance the concept of how the economic sphere can be re-politicized and how the persevering notion of financial performance is resolved by invoking values of inclusion, solidarity, responsibility and sharing. The findings are based on the study of five cases in a specific context during a specific period.

This paper focuses on cooperatives owned and governed by activist consumers and presents results concerning their underlying practices for creating a food provisioning system that is inclusive and aiming for social justice and equality. Similarly, it provides evidence of how local political and economic conditions influence the appropriation and development of these practices – commodity defetishization, surplus distribution and prefiguration.

The study seeks to understand the experiences and perceptions of the university youth regarding the democratic atmosphere of a public university located in Turkey. To this end, the objective of this research is twofold: (1) to investigate university students’ level of civic engagement regarding student activism, exercising rights, and interest in politics; and (2) to explore students’ perception of their university environment regarding the promotion of tolerance, respect for ideas, and participation in decision-making. This study was carried out at a public university located in the middle of Turkey. A mixed-method approach was employed, including both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 332 undergraduate students participated in the quantitative part while 14 undergraduate students were interviewed in the qualitative part of the study. In quantitative data collection, two self-developed scales were used: Civic Engagement Scale and Perceptions of Democratic University Environment Scale. The results of the data analysis indicated that students’ overall civic engagement level was below the average level. In particular, the level of students’ activism was significantly lower than that of students’ interest in politics and exercising rights, respectively. In addition, the level of students’ interest in politics was significantly lower than that of students’ exercising rights. With respect to the students’ perception of democratic university environment, the data revealed that students’ overall perception of the university environment was slightly above average level. Specifically, the students’ perception of university environment regarding respect for ideas was significantly higher than that of university environment regarding participation in decision-making.

Drugs are strategic products with essential functions in human health. An optimum design of the pharmaceutical supply chain is critical to avoid economic damage and adverse effects on human health. The vehicle-routing problem, focused on finding the lowest-cost routes with available vehicles and constraints, such as time constraints and road length, is an important aspect of this. In this paper, the vehicle routing problem (VRP) for a pharmaceutical company in Turkey is discussed.

A mixed-integer programming (MIP) model based on the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) is presented, aiming to minimize the total route cost with certain constraints. As the model provides an optimum solution for small problem sizes with the GUROBI® solver, for large problem sizes, metaheuristic methods that simulate annealing and adaptive large neighborhood search algorithms are proposed. A real dataset was used to analyze the effectiveness of the metaheuristic algorithms. The proposed simulated annealing (SA) and adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) were evaluated and compared against GUROBI® and each other through a set of real problem instances.

The model is solved optimally for a small-sized dataset with exact algorithms; for solving a larger dataset, however, metaheuristic algorithms require significantly lesser time. For the problem addressed in this study, while the metaheuristic algorithms obtained the optimum solution in less than one minute, the solution in the GUROBI® solver was limited to one hour and three hours, and no solution could be obtained in this time interval.

The VRPTW problem presented in this paper is a real-life problem. The vehicle fleet owned by the factory cannot be transported between certain suppliers, which complicates the solution of the problem.

This study aims to evaluate the nutritional habits, eating behavior and nutritional status of children with autism.

This study was conducted with 60 boys and 16 girls diagnosed with autism (mean age: 8.3 ± 4.9 years). Research data were collected from parents of children with autism using a questionnaire form developed by researchers after literature searching. The height and body weight of the children were recorded, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated.

Almost half of the children except the 13–18 age group were overweight/obese according to BMI. Difficulty in giving new food was 73.1% in the 2–5 age group, 70% in the 6–12 age group and 40% in the 13–18 age group (p = 0.04). It was determined that the children refused to consume a median of 3 (1–8) types of food (p = 0.04) and were obsessed with consuming 2 (1–4) types of food and 1 (1–4) type of beverages. Additionally, milk and dairy products were refused significantly higher between 2–5 and 6–12 years than 13–18 years (p = 0.02). Also, it was found that age had an inverse effect on refusal food number (β = 0.38, 95% CI = −0.30 − −0.08, p = 0.01). In conclusion, obesity and nutritional problems such as food selectivity, food refusal and obsessive eating behavior are encountered in children with autism which affect children socially and physically and should not be ignored when planning the treatment of children with autism.

The lack of a control group to compare the results of children with autism is an important limitation of the study.

This study fulfills a defined need to examine and evaluate Turkish children’s nutritional status, nutritional habits and eating behavior with autism.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the contribution of the digital storytelling to the peer assessments experiences of pre-service teachers within the teaching practices.

The study is carried out as a special case study. Both qualitative and quantitative data gathering tools were used together to investigate a special case in depth (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2011; Çepni, 2007). In this study, the case investigated was the process whereby the senior year pre-service teachers enrolled in the faculty of education provided assessments of themselves and their peers through the teaching practice course, using digital storytelling. The contributions of the assessment method employed, in the experiences and personal development of the pre-service teachers, were investigated through interviews with pre-service teachers involved.

The results suggested that pre-service teachers’ perspectives were quite positive toward the use of digital storytelling for peer assessment in their teaching practices. The prominent contributions were: they caused easily tolerate personally as they did not take a direct form, and that they considered peer assessment through digital storytelling as an alternative means of assessment to effectively reflect the process. Receiving more detailed feedback about their classroom experiences and their teaching skills was helpful for pre-service IT teachers. Suggestions due to the findings were also included.

In the study, peer assessment digital stories in the teaching practice courses offers the benefits of confidence with, different perspectives, satisfaction, and objectivity. These benefits can help pre-service teachers to focus on shortcomings regarding their teaching experiences, and take care for the correction. Further studies can be provided about the digital storytelling processes in various assessment processes of the instructions to reveal the potential of digital narratives in other domains as well.

Co-working has become popular among knowledge workers and independent contractors as a means of devising alternative ways of work. Accordingly, women cooperatives, which have prioritized the development of socio-economic conditions of women, have started providing workspaces for their members. Thus, to illustrate how solidarity-based women cooperatives provide alternative co-working solutions, we developed a multi-case study. Our work includes three cooperatives from the city of Istanbul, Türkiye.

This study aims to examine the extent to which companies internalize, adopt and communicate the issue of sustainability. With this aim, research questions address companies’ approaches to sustainable development goals (SDGs), the extent to which the concept of sustainability is reflected in the goals, vision, mission and values of the organizations and the interrelationship between corporate identities, SDGs, sustainability projects and communication activities of the companies.

Content analysis is employed on the sustainability reports, websites, social media accounts, media releases and news of the corporations listed in BIST Sustainability Index (2020) in Türkiye. The typology of sustainability communication processes (Newig et al., 2013) is utilized for data analysis to reveal an overall picture of the companies’ approach to sustainability communication.

Research findings demonstrated that only 11 companies internalize, adopt and communicate the issue of sustainability. A total of 32 companies make no mention of sustainability in their vision, mission, purpose or values. It is observed that few companies establish their entire communication on sustainability strategy. Although some of the companies’ purpose of existence is sustainability, and they manage valuable projects, their approach to communication is still tactical. The study reveals that most of the companies take a tactical approach to sustainability and fewer adopt strategic actions and communications.

In Türkiye, research on sustainability involves either optimistic evaluations of governmental organizations or limited case studies on specific SDGs, particular sectors or social media analyses. This research exposes the holistic picture of sustainability and communication among the companies listed in the BIST Sustainability Index. The results of the holistic approach suggest that organizations should improve their communication about sustainability and communication for sustainability to activate their publics.

The objective of this study is to investigate the concept of “earthquake resistance” in high-rise buildings and assess the current level of structural strength in the areas where these structures are situated. The study aims to identify and implement necessary measures to enhance resilience in these areas. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to develop a conceptual framework focusing on earthquake resistance's meanings, stages and physical elements to achieve these goals.

This study focuses on Istanbul, a city known for its high earthquake risk, specifically targeting the Atasehir district. The research utilizes the DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method to evaluate urban resilience parameters. Additionally, the Fuzzy TOPSIS (Preference Ranking Technique by Similarity) method is employed to analyze the location of five buildings in Atasehir, using criterion weights derived from this methodology.

The findings indicate that resilience varies depending on the distance of the buffers. Moreover, the amount and quality of urban equipment in the study areas have a significant impact on the earthquake resistance level of the surrounding areas where high-rise buildings are situated. Building upon this analysis, the study suggests the implementation of measures aimed at augmenting the quantity and quality of urban facilities in the study areas, consequently enhancing urban resilience.

The originality and value of this study lie in its examination of seismic resilience within the context of high-rise buildings and the identification of necessary measures to increase resilience in areas where these structures are prevalent. By focusing on Istanbul, a city with a high earthquake risk, and specifically selecting the Atasehir district as the study area, this research provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding urban resilience and its physical components. Moreover, the study offers a fresh perspective on urban resilience by highlighting the influence of tall buildings on the surrounding areas. Ultimately, it provides practical recommendations for architects, urban planners and other stakeholders to improve regional earthquake resilience.