Assessment of Ecological Bridges at Wildlife Crossings in Türkiye: A Case Study of Wild Boar Crossings on the Izmir-Çesme Motorway.

In this study, the use of an ecological bridge installed as a wildlife overpass and constructed in the Zeytinler neighborhood in 2020 was analyzed as a mitigating factor in wild-boar-vehicle collisions (WVCs) on the Izmir-Çesme motorway. In this context, this study aimed to assess the use of the Zeytinler Ecological Bridge by wild boars (Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758). To this end, wildlife crossings were monitored, analyzed, and modeled with Bayesian networks. Between August 2020 and December 2022, a total of 686 instances of movement were observed among six medium to large wild mammal species. Wild boars accounted for approximately 87.5% of the recorded wildlife crossings, with foxes comprising 10%. The findings showed that the highest frequency of wildlife crossings occurred during the autumn season, particularly between 22:00 (10 p.m.) and 02:00 (2 a.m.), coinciding with the Waxing Gibbous and Waxing Crescent phases of the moon. The model outcomes highlighted that during the autumn season with a full pond, wild boar crossings increased by one and a half times in comparison to regular herd crossings. Throughout the observation period, there were no instances of wild boar fatalities subsequent to the completion of the bridge.

Child marriage and its association with Maternal Health Care Services utilisation among women aged 20-29: a multi-country study in the South Asia region.

Despite pervasiveness of child marriage in South Asian countries, its association with the usage of Maternal Health Care Services (MHCS) is poorly explored. In this study, we examined the impact of child marriage on MHCS utilisation among the prime reproductive aged women of five South Asian countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Data for this study are extracted from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys. The effect of child marriage on the use of MHCS was assessed by the multivariate logistic regression analysis. Findings reveal that in the South Asian region, the prevalence of child marriage is more common in Bangladesh, followed by Afghanistan, Nepal, India and Pakistan. Child marriage significantly (p< .01) deters the usage of MHCS - at least once antenatal care (ANC) visit, at least four ANC visit, Institutional delivery and seeking assistance from skilled birth assistance (SBA), though the effect size was somewhat different across the countries. Findings stipulate to remain girls in schooling more and the marriage acts of the countries should be enacted properly to diminish child marriage not only for increasing MHCS use, also for individual wellbeing and overall development of each country.Impact StatementWhat is already known on this subject? Child marriage in South Asian countries is commonplace despite substantial improvements of socioeconomic status. Although child marriage have many adverse reproductive and health outcomes, empirical evidence and systematic studies, particularly the association of child marriage with the usage of Maternal Health Care Services (MHCS) in the South Asian women are few.What do the results of this study add? Findings of this study affirm that prevalence of child marriage in South Asian region is still common. Although every country has set out minimum age at first marriage by acts, the acts are poorly followed, which adversely impacts the usage of MHCS among married women.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or future research? The study findings provide important insights of the consequence of child marriage on the skilled MHCS utilisation. The marriage acts of the countries should be enacted properly to restrict child marriage not only for increasing MHCS, also for individual wellbeing and overall development of each country. Study has important implications for planners, organisation managers and policy makers.

The association between marital violence and reproductive and sexual health outcomes of women: A multi-country study of South Asia.

In this study, we examined the relationship between marital violence(MV) and reproductive and sexual health outcomes of women of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The lifetime MV inflicted by husbands on their wives was highest at 53% in Bangladesh, India(37%), Pakistan(28%) and Nepal(28%) respectively. Overall, our results in this study suggest that MV perpetrated by husbands on their wife is significantly associated with unintended pregnancy, pregnancy termination, current use of any modern contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted infections, but inconsistent associations are appeared across countries. Lifetime sexual violence and physical-sexual force were significantly and positively associated with unintended pregnancy and pregnancy termination respectively, whereas, all types of MV were significantly and positively related with the symptom of sexually transmitted diseases in the women. Appropriate measures should be undertaken to combat Violence against women(VAW) and necessary services should be provided to the victimized women to uphold their reproductive and sexual rights.

Examination of National Basketball Association (NBA) team values based on dynamic linear mixed models.

In the last decade, NBA has grown into a billion-dollar industry where technology and advanced game plans play an essential role. Investors are interested in research examining the factors that can affect the team value. The aim of this research is to investigate the factors that affect the NBA team values. The value of a team can be influenced not only by performance-based variables, but also by macroeconomic indicators and demographic statistics. Data, analyzed in this study, contains of game statistics, economic variables and demographic statistics of the 30 teams in the NBA for the 2013-2020 seasons. Firstly, Pearson correlation test was implemented in order to identify the related variables. NBA teams' characteristics and similarities were assessed with Machine Learning techniques (K-means and Hierarchical clustering). Secondly, Ordinary linear regression (OLS), fixed effect and random effect models were implemented in the statistical analyses. The models were compared based on Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Fixed effect model with one lag was found the most effective model and our model produced consistently good results with the R2 statistics of 0.974. In the final model, we found that the significant determinants of team value at the NBA team level are revenue, GDP, championship, population and key player. In contrast, the total number of turnovers has a negative impact on team value. These findings would be beneficial to coaches and managers to improve their strategies to increase their teams' value.