Effect of visitor activities on surface soil environmental conditions and aboveground herbaceous biomass in Ayder Natural Park

The effects of visitor activities on surface soil environmental conditions and above-ground herbaceous biomass in Ayder Natural Park, Turkey, were investigated. Soilproperties and aboveground herbaceous biomass were identified and characterized asheavily trafficked site (HTS), moderately trafficked sites (MTS) and control (non-traf-ficked site) in grassland in a forest gap. Some soil properties were measured on 60pits at 0–5 and 5–10 cm soil depths. The intensity of visitor activities had a negativeimpact on both surface soil properties and the aboveground herbaceous plant bio-mass and root mass in the study area in Ayder. The soil bulk density and soil penetra-tion resistance increased from 0.94 to 1.47 g cm–3and 0.55 to 1.65 MPa, respectively,saturated hydraulic conductivity decreased from 77.98 to 8.85 mm h–1, and soilorganic matter decreased from 6.71 to 1.77% in moderately and heavily traffickedsites, respectively, at 0–5 cm soil depth. The soil properties were degraded at both thesurface layer and the subsurface layer and the greatest degradation was measured inthe heavily trafficked site followed by the moderately trafficked site. There was astrong negative linear relationship between soil degradation and aboveground herba-ceous plant biomass, which decreased by 50.05 and 78.19% in moderately and heavilytrafficked sites, respectively

The effects of land-use changes on soil properties: The conversion of alder coppice to tea plantations in the Humid Northern Blacksea Region

Over the last century, the conversion of natural ecosystems to agricultural production is one of the primary factors in environmental degradation. As in most parts of the world, forest soils in the north- east of Turkey are being seriously degraded and destroyed due to extensive agricultural activities. This study investigated the effects of changes in land-use on some soil properties in Rize, Turkey. Two adjacent sites were studied: One had been converted 60 years previously from alder coppice to tea cultivation (TC); the other remained as alder coppice (AC). The experimental design at each site was a randomized complete block with four replications in the study area. Four disturbed and four undisturbed soil samples were taken randomly at soil depths of 0 -10 cm, 10 - 30 cm and 30 - 50 cm in each plot in the study area. When the alder coppice was converted into tea cultivation, the bulk density (Db) increased from 0.84 g cm-3 to 1.02 g cm-3, soil penetrometer resistance (SPR) increased from 0.94 to 1.27 MPa, the soil organic matter (SOM) decreased from 5.14 to 4.06%, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) decreased from 40.64 to 16.33 mm h-1 at 0 to 10 cm depth of soil. According to soil depth steps the mean PAW, St, Ksat, SOM and total N content decreased linearly in alder coppice (AC) and tea cultivation (TC). The results indicated that the change in land use and introduction of cultivation had a significant effect on soil properties

The Effects of Performing Prayer on the Physical Fitness Levels of Men Over 60 Years Old

This study was carried out to determine and compare the physical fitness levels of elderly people who pray regularly with those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, as well as to emphasize the importance of performing regular prayer for the physical fitness levels of elderly people.The research sample consisted of 849 men who were able to conduct their daily activities independently, with no serious health problems, and who were viewed as healthy according to their age category. They were divided on the basis of age into 5 age groups. The Senior Fitness Test (SFT) was applied to determine the physical fitness levels of elderly men (Rikli, Jones, 2001). In addition, a questionnaire was administered to learn whether the subjects performed regular prayer or not.The differences between the prayer group and sedentary group were analyzed using the Independent Samples Test. It was found that the physical fitness levels of the elderly men who performed prayer were higher than those of the sedentary group; all of the parameters of physical fitness measured through the SFT protocol were higher in the case of the elderly men who performed prayer

The Evaluation of Building Materials in Terms of Energy Efficiency

Buildings consume energy at different levels in every stage of the life-cycle. Building materials occupy a great share of this consumption. Therefore, the amount of  energy consumed by materials used in building during their life cycle is an important parameter in determining the energy eciency of the building. In this study, the importance of energy- efficient material selection in designing “Energy-Efficient Building” is considered and discussed. It is possible to evaluate some building  materials in Turkey in the framework of energy ecient building material criteria. This information is considered as a guide for users and employees of the building sector. As a result of the study, the selection of building material and energy efficient features of building materials are important parameters for the provision of energy efficiency

Effect of visitor activities on topsoil hydrophysical properties in two protected areas in northern blacksea region

In this study, the effects of visitor acitivities on topsoil hydrophysical properties in two protected areas in northern Bleacksea region were investigated. For this purpose, soil samples taken from study area that was characterized as heavily trafficked site (HTS), moderately trafficked sites (MTS) and control (non-trafficked site). The soil bulk density and soil penetration resistance increased from 1.02 to 1.39 g cm–3 and 0.66 to 1.55 MPa, respectively, saturated hydraulic conductivity decreased from 60.60 to 10.35 mm h–1 in moderately and heavily trafficked sites, respectively, at 0–10 cm soil depth in Ayder protected area. The soil bulk density and soil penetration resistance increased from 0.85 to 1.40 g cm–3 and 0.68 to 1.50 MPa, respectively, saturated hydraulic conductivity decreased from 58.75 to 10.35 mm h–1 in moderately and heavily trafficked sites, respectively, at 0–10 cm soil depth in Kafkasor protected area. The intensity of visitor activities had a negative impact on topsoil hydrophysical properties in the study area in Ayder and Kafkasor. The principles of management in Ayder and Kafkasor protected areas should be revised, and use of this area without a plan should be stopped as soon as possible

Fuzzy Clustering Neural Networks for Real-Time Odor Recognition System

The aim of this study is to develop a novel fuzzy clustering neural network (FCNN) algorithm as pattern classifiers for real-time odor recognition system. In this type of FCNN, the input neurons activations are derived through fuzzy c mean clustering of the input data, so that the neural system could deal with the statistics of the measurement error directly. Then the performance of FCNN network is compared with the other network which is well-known algorithm, named multilayer perceptron (MLP), for the same odor recognition system. Experimental results show that both FCNN and MLP provided high recognition probability in determining various learn categories of odors, however, the FCNN neural system has better ability to recognize odors more than the MLP network

Turkish National Software Engineering Symposium

Ulusal Yazılım Mühendisliği Sempozyumu’nun (UYMS) on üçüncüsü, 23-25 Eylül 2018 tarihlerinde İzmir Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü ev sahipliğinde düzenlenmiştir. Önceki yıllarda olduğu gibi bu yılki sempozyuma oldukça yoğun bir ilgi oldu. Ulusal Yazılım Mühendisliği Sempozyumu, Türkiye yazılım sektörü ile yazılım alanında çalışmalar yapan akademisyenleri bir araya getirerek yazılım mühendisliğindeki son gelişmelerin ve araştırmaların paylaşılmasını sağlayan bir platformdur. 2003 yılından bu yana gerçekleştirilen UYMS, araştırma sonuçlarının paylaşıldığı bir ortam sağlamasının ötesinde, ulusal yazılım mühendisliği araştırmalarının geleceğinin şekillenmesinde etkin rol oynamaktadır. Çalışmalarını sempozyumdaki çeşitli oturumlarda paylaşan tüm katılımcılara teşekkür eder, bu çabaların gelecek yıllarda yazılım mühendisliği alanında daha da başarılı çalışmalara yol açacağına olan inancımızı tekrarlamak isteriz. UYMS temel alanla birlikte Yazılım Test Mühendisliği, Sağlık için Yazılım Mühendisliği, Yazılım Modelleme ve Lisans Üstü Tezler tematik alanlarında, bu yıl toplam 77 bildiri kabul edilmiştir. Bildiriler, bu yıl da, en az 3 hakem tarafından değerlendirilerek çok titiz bir inceleme sonucunda seçilmiştir. Hakem olarak görev alan tüm komite üyelerine gönülden teşekkür ederiz.The 13th National Software Engineering Symposium (UYMS) of Turkey was held Izmir Institute of Technology on 23-25 September 2019. There has been a great interest in this year’s symposium, as in previous years. UYMS is a platform which helps bring together the software industry and the academicians working in this area. It is being organized since 2003 and it plays an important role in shaping the future of the software industry in Turkey. We would like to thank all the participants whose contributions led to the successful realization of this symposium. We would also like to express our belief that these contributions will lead to a better and more productive efforts in the field of software engineering. Along with the main area of UYMS, in the thematic areas of Software Test Engineering, Software Engineering for Health, Software Modeling, and Graduate Theses, a total of 77 papers were accepted this year. At least three referees reviewed each paper and the papers were evaluated based on these reviews. We thank all the program committee members who served as referees

Energy-Efficient Building Design in the Context of Building Life Cycle

Energy is one of the most important catalysts in wealth generation, economic growth, and social development in all countries. Buildings have a significant share in total energy consumed globally; therefore, they have a profound impact upon the environment. Energy is used in every stage of building life cycle (these stages are choice of locality, architectural design, structural systems and material selection, building construction, usage and maintenance, demolition, reuse-regain-recycle, and waste disposal). According to World Watch Institute data, buildings are responsible for the annual consumption of 40% of the world\u27s energy. Energy consumption of buildings can be reduced significantly in every stage of a building life cycle. This study investigated the energy-efficient methods in building life cycle. In this context, we give information about the life cycle of building and explain energy-efficient guiding principles in life cycle stages