PalmCity: An Emerging Benchmark Dataset for Semantic Segmentation of Panoramic Street View Images in Under-Represented Developing Countries

Street View Imagery (SVI) offers detailed, street-level data for urban analysis, enabling the study of green spaces, sky, buildings, and other urban elements through semantic segmentation. Techniques like Green/Sky/Building View Indexes link urban morphology, climate, socio-economic factors, and public health. However, pre-trained models such as Cityscapes and ADE20K, designed for cities in developed countries, often fail to represent the diverse architectural and land-use patterns of developing countries like Türkiye, resulting in poor segmentation performance. To address this, the PalmCity project introduces a tailored benchmark dataset for Türkiye’s unique urban characteristics. Using 360-degree action cameras, PalmCity will collect at least 5,000 panoramic SVI images from Mersin City, chosen for its representative urban typologies. The dataset aims to improve SVI semantic segmentation and support urban studies in under-represented regions. PalmCity is going to evaluate the state-of-the-art deep learning models, including FCN, PSPNet, DeepLabV3 and Transformer-based models, using ResNet as the primary backbone. Models trained on PalmCity are going to be compared to Cityscapes-trained models to assess segmentation performance. Preliminary results show that Cityscapes weights perform well for general classes like sky, road, building and trees but struggle with urban objects, vehicles, and panoramic distortions in PalmCity images, underscoring the need for dataset-specific training

A comparative study on crystal violet and congo red dyes removal from wastewater using Trichoderma reesei biomass: Equilibrium, kinetic, thermodynamic studies, and error analysis

This study examined the adsorption of crystal violet (CV) and Congo red (CR) dyes utilizing Trichoderma reesei biomass. The physicochemical characteristics were examined by FTIR-ATR, SEM, zeta potential, and pHpzc tests. The influences of pH, initial dye concentration, temperature, adsorbent dosage, and contact time on biosorption capacity were examined and optimized by a batch experimental approach, subsequently followed by modeling the kinetics, equilibrium, and thermodynamics of the adsorption process. The adsorption isotherm was utilized in multiple two- and three-parameter non-linear isotherm models. The Langmuir model indicated adsorption capacities for CV and CR dyes of 40.35 ± 2.34 mg/g and 30.44 ± 1.75 mg/g at 298 K, respectively. Adsorption kinetics indicated that the adsorption adhered to a pseudo-second order kinetic, and the intraparticle diffusion suggested that the process transpired in two stages. Moreover, thermodynamic modeling indicated that adsorption was spontaneous, characterized as an exothermic (∆Ho=−24.91 kJ/mol) process for CV dye and an endothermic (∆Ho=32.02 kJ/mol) process for CR dye. Real wastewater research was undertaken, indicating that T. reesei biomass was successful in diverse aquatic settings. Reusability studies demonstrated that the biomass exhibited significant efficacy until the sixth cycle. Based on the results, T. reesei biomass demonstrated significant efficacy in the adsorption of both anionic and cationic dyes

Autonomous and Autogenous Self-Healing of Freeze-Thaw Cracks of Geopolymer Concrete Containing Colemanite/Red Mud

This study investigated autonomous and autogenous healing of metakaolin-based geopolymer concrete exposed to the freeze-thaw cycles. Sporosarcina pasteurii was used as a healing agent in the healing process. Samples with and without the S. pasteurii bacteria were produced and cured at 20°C±2°C for 28 days. Subsequently, these samples were exposed to freeze-thaw cycles. Then, the solutions with bacteria and bacteria-free medium were injected into the cracks. After the healing procedure, the ultrasonic pulse velocity, splitting tensile strength, mass change, capillary water absorption, and microstructure experiments were carried out on the samples. The results showed that after the autonomous and autogenous healing, the splitting tensile strength of samples containing bacteria was found to be up to 10.9% greater compared to samples without bacteria. Also, the highest ultrasonic pulse velocity and splitting tensile strength values were obtained from autogenous self-healing samples. Also, the microcomputed tomography found that the bacteria-based healing could heal 91.3% of the total porosity of the sample

Reconstruction of Historical Buildings Using Social Media Data: A Case Study from the World Cultural Heritage List

Cultural and natural heritage assets, as a set of tangible and intangible values that reveal the shared past and historical accumulations of the communities living together, are important not only for the past but also for the transfer to future generations and are the responsibility of all nations of the world. Today's digitalized information age, development, and change in science and technology contribute to producing highly accurate three-dimensional (3D) inventories of these cultural heritages. However, in addition to natural degradation and destruction processes, unexpected events such as war, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters can hinder the formulation of the traditional inventories. At this point, it is important to carry out 3D modeling studies using crowdsourced images and videos from social media, to enhance modeling accuracy and support digital documentation, virtual museum initiatives, and heritage preservation. This study aims to present a strategy following the Structure-fromMotion approach to create 3D models of cultural heritage assets by using shared crowdsourced images and videos collected via social media platforms and applying a normalization procedure for scale standardization to assess model accuracy. Data obtained during nighttime, snowy conditions, or overly filtered captures were excluded, and a segmentation procedure using the Segment Anything model was implemented to remove irrelevant objects. As a result, an approach that can be used in inventory studies has been presented by using images and videos shared by users on social media platforms through an integrated and mutually supportive methodology. Quantitative analysis using the M3C2 method showed that RMSE values ranged from 0.0010 to 0.0036 across the models, with over 93% of the matched points falling within ±1σ. These results confirm the reliability of the proposed approach for large-scale digital heritage documentation.</p

A comparative study about corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of Ti6Al4V samples produced by wrought and additive manufacturing methods

Ti6Al4V is widely used in biomedical applications due to its excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Conventional manufacturing techniques, such as plastic deformation processes, have long been employed to produce Ti6Al4V implants and prosthetics. Recently, the advent of additive manufacturing (AM), which allows the generation of complex geometries and customized implants, has introduced a new dimension to the production of these biomedical devices. However, examining the effects of newly developed manufacturing methods on material and sample properties is extremely important to obtain successful products. In this study, additive manufactured and wrought Ti6Al4V samples were implemented for their corrosion resistance and biocompatibility as orthopedic implant material. Three different post processes such as sandblasting, acid etching and bioactive coating (hydroxyapatite-chitosan composite via electrophoretic deposition (EPD)) were applied on the additive manufactured sample surfaces, while only the bioactive coating was applied on the wrought sample surfaces and their effects on the corrosion and biocompatibility were evaluated with the reference of untreated control samples. Corrosion resistance properties were examined with open circuit potential (OCP) measurement, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel extrapolation, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel extrapolation showed similar results. Biocompatibility tests were carried out as mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cell culture and cellular viability tests with mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. Coating and sandblasting were the best post-processing methods for anti-corrosion and biocompatibility applications. AM sandblasted samples are the most suitable samples for both application areas

Stability of single - layer cube armoured roundheads under wind and swell waves

This study investigates the stability of single-layer cube-armored breakwater roundheads under varying wave conditions, focusing on the influence of wave steepness, packing density, and cube material density. Experiments were conducted to assess the impact of different packing arrangements (62 % and 69 %) and unit weights (24 kN/m3 and 31.5 kN/m3) on the movement and displacement behavior of armor units. Wind and swell wave conditions were analyzed to evaluate sector-specific behavior across the roundhead. The results reveal that wave steepness plays a critical role in damage initiation, with wind waves causing earlier and more significant movement in the frontal sectors, while swell waves lead to delayed but widespread displacements toward the rear sectors due to enhanced diffraction effects. The roundhead exhibited non-uniform damage distribution, particularly in the second (45°–90°) and third (90°–135°) sectors, which emphasizes the importance of a sector-specific analysis in the design process. Furthermore, this study showed that packing density significantly influences the stability, with higher packing densities providing improved stability, irrespective of the block material density. High density (HD) cubes exhibited less movement compared to normal density cubes, highlighting the importance of geometric arrangement and lateral resistance in ensuring stability. Furthermore, a new formula has been derived based on the experimental data for the one - layer placement of normal density (ND) cubes. Overall, the findings underscore the need for a detailed sector-specific analyses in the design and evaluation of breakwater roundheads to enhance stability and resilience under varying wave conditions

Identifying and Assessing Suspension Risks of Public Infrastructure Projects

Purpose: The long construction period of public infrastructure projects increases the probability of facing political and economic turmoil, which might be triggered by national and/or international instabilities. Combined with the chronic peculiarity of these projects, such as delays and cost overruns, political and economic turmoil could lead to the temporary suspension of public infrastructure projects since the governments and/or public authorities fail to allocate sufficient financial resources. However, suspension decision for public infrastructure projects poses a wide range of risks that are widely neglected in the literature. Thus, this study proposes a suspension risk management framework by identifying and assessing the risks that may arise after the suspension of public infrastructure projects. The study also investigates perception differences among the leading stakeholders of the public infrastructure projects to ensure that the stakeholders could formalize shared risk response strategies. Initially, a comprehensive literature review and focus group discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted to identify the suspension risks. Next, the questionnaire survey and fuzzy TOPSIS analysis were jointly implemented to determine the significance of each risk. Finally, Cronbach’s alpha analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test were implemented to examine the reliability of the dataset and the perception differences. The results indicated that the suspension decision of infrastructure projects has financial, technical, managerial, social, and environmental implications. Therefore, the suspension risks proposed in this study should be analyzed deeply before the suspension decision is given. Besides, the results pinpointed risks such as “Uncertainties due to constant changes in the contract,” “Financial losses arising from the judicial and/or alternative dispute resolution processes,” and “Administrative difficulties in obtaining financing in the re-starting period” as the most critical suspension risk factors, necessitating urgent and comprehensive risk response strategies. Lastly, the Mann-Whitney U test validated that the proposed framework could be implemented by contracting parties to formulate shared risk response strategies in infrastructure projects.</p