Growth and characterization of carbon nanotubes by thernal chemical vapor deposition method

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Physics, Izmir, 2008Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 53-61)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxi, 61 leavesThis thesis work is focused on producing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by methane gas thermal chemical vapor deposition method on very thin Cobalt, Iron, and Nickel catalyst thin films deposited onto SiO2/Si substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. This thesis is also devoted to understanding some parameters affecting the growth of CNTs; such as catalyst material, temperature, and catalyst layer thickness effects In this study, CNT growth was performed on directly Si substrates, which was observed that the growth was too difficult and requiring very high temperatures. Hence, very thin catalyst films were deposited on SiO2/Si substrates, and the CNT growth was observed. The temperature effect was also examined. When the growth temperature was increased, the average diameters of the CNTs were decreased up to a critical temperature, but after this point the average diameter of CNTs were increased. This effect was studied systematically by utilizing Fe and Co catalyst thin films and with the help of Raman spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy results.Catalyst thickness effect was also examined. For this aim, Ni catalyst thin films with three different thicknesses; 0.7 nm, 1.4 nm, and 6 nm, were utilized. It was observed that CNTs were grown well on 0.7 and 1.4 nm thick Ni films, while there was a little growth on 6 nm thick Ni film. The roughness analysis of 0.7 nm and 1.4 nm thick Ni films were also done. Some of as-grown CNTs were also examined by X-ray diffraction method, and the results were compared one another

Exploring the cultural intelligence levels of bilinguals and multilinguals

There have been numerous studies conducted on the importance of multiple intelligence levels of learners and the significance of language learning. By contrast, this study dwells on exploring cultural intelligence, its components and the relationship between cultural intelligence and language learning. To achieve this aim, bilingual and multilingual primary school students were selected and administered a cultural intelligence questionnaire to detect whether or not there is a relationship between these two aspects. The results yield the fact that multilinguals have higher scores in cultural intelligence, showcasing that those who are open to other cultures and can easily adapt to new patterns of thinking are likely to learn languages with ease

Heat Transfer Operators Associated with Quantum Operations

Any quantum operation applied on a physical system is performed as a unitary transformation on a larger extended system. If the extension used is a heat bath in thermal equilibrium, the concomitant change in the state of the bath necessarily implies a heat exchange with it. The dependence of the average heat transferred to the bath on the initial state of the system can then be found from the expectation value of a hermitian operator, which is named as the heat transfer operator (HTO). The purpose of this article is the investigation of the relation between the HTOs and the associated quantum operations. Since, any given quantum operation on a system can be realized by different baths and unitaries, many different HTOs are possible for each quantum operation. On the other hand, there are also strong restrictions on the HTOs which arise from the unitarity of the transformations. The most important of these is the Landauer erasure principle. This article is concerned with the question of finding a complete set of restrictions on the HTOs that are associated with a given quantum operation. An answer to this question has been found only for a subset of quantum operations. For erasure operations, these characterizations are equivalent to the generalized Landauer erasure principle. For the case of generic quantum operations however, it appears that the HTOs obey further restrictions which cannot be obtained from the entropic restrictions of the generalized Landauer erasure principle.Comment: A significant revision is made; 33 pages with 2 figure

The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Online Identity Construction: An Analysis of turkey's Banking Sector

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This study focuses on Turkey's banking sector and investigates the role of public relations and corporate social responsibility practices in constructing organizational identities through a thematic content analysis of banks' corporate websites. Based on social identity theory, the research reveals that regardless of its core business function, an organization must communicate non-economic social concerns to construct a public identity and gain legitimacy. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Immigrant Integration Through Public Relations and Public Diplomacy: An Analysis of the Turkish Diaspora in the Capital of the European Union

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This research focuses on the European Union's (EU) public relations and public diplomacy efforts for immigrant integration. It uncovers the relationship between the EU and leaders of Turkish associations in Brussels, Belgium. In-depth interviews with Turkish association leaders reveal the way they see themselves and the Turkish diaspora, how they reflect on their national identities, and their understanding of EU public diplomacy and public relations strategies. The communication strategies Turkish associations use to gather information about immigrant integration and their opinions on EU communication strategies are also studied. In addition, the research investigates whether two-way communication exists between the Turkish associations and the EU, and unveils the strategic communication and public relations strategies the Turkish diaspora uses to influence public policy and to engage in lobbying

Safety-at-work competences as a driver of corporate social responsibility

In order to operate effectively in a continuously changing and frequently turbulent markets, companies must account for the needs and expectations of both their management and lower-ranking employees. To that end, it is essential that business organizations identify ways to adopt changes that will guarantee their success. One way to improve the market position of a company is to employ the principles of corporate social responsibility. A key requirements as well as a key area of such responsibility is occupational health and safety, whose guidelines fall within the scope of the overall practices enshrined in labor law. A prerequisite for the effective fulfillment of such requirements is to secure competent contractors who will undertake all measures associated with this field. The article notes the issue and examines it against the standards set forth in ISO 26000. The author demonstrates the need to acquire competences that will enable the concerned company to ensure the safe performance of work and the fulfillment of occupational health and safety requirements in conformity with the principles of corporate social responsibility. Only by embracing the rules of CSR under such an approach will a business be able to achieve the desired outcomes

An Exploration of Factors Contributing to Students’ Unwillingness to Communicate

One of the most challenging issues in language classes is the reluctance of learners to communicate. The term “unwillingness to communicate” (UWTC) is defined as a predisposition which represents a chronic tendency to avoid or devalue oral communication. The main aim of this study is to investigate the factors contributing to university level students’ unwillingness to communicate in English. The participants of this study were selected using the stratified sampling method and consist of 100 students from an English Language Teaching (ELT) Department. The data was collected through a questionnaire examining three dimensions, namely the affective factors, teacher-related factors and environmental factors underlying students’ negative communication behaviour. The results indicated that environmental factors such as rapport among students, class size, materials, noise and classroom atmosphere have the biggest effects with regard to students’ reluctance to communicate in English. On the other hand, affective factors including anxiety, shyness, lack of motivation, lack of vocabulary knowledge, lack of self-confidence, fear of being criticised, topic familiarity, peer pressure and fear of making mistakes have a second highest impact on students’ negative communication behaviour. When the items in the teacher-related category of the questionnaire were analysed in detail the results showed they ranked third most important in this context, with students attributing their reluctance to communicate to teacher attitudes, teacher pressure, lack of teacher support, lack of opportunity to speak English, and the use of the mother tongue and target language

Students’ metaphoric perceptions regarding online education process including English language, English instructors and future life

The aim of the present study is to investigate the perceptions of prep-class students regarding online education along with English instructors, English language and their future life. Hermeneutic phenomenology method was employed and metaphors were used as a data collection tool to gather information from 80 prep-class students selected through convenience sampling method. The findings indicated that more than half of the participants (52.5%) have a negative attitude towards online education. A considerable number of students (73.7%) have a quite positive perception of English instructors. “Universal language, new world, new people” are among the most preferred metaphors for the participants’ perceptions of English language. Moreover, 66.3% of the students are pessimistic about their future life. Hence, students are not in favor of online education although it is flexible and comfortable, which implies that online education should be a secondary option only when face-to-face education is impossible to implement

An Exploration of Factors Contributing to Students’ Unwillingness to Communicate

One of the most challenging issues in language classes is the reluctance of learners to communicate. The term “unwillingness to communicate” (UWTC) is defined as a predisposition which represents a chronic tendency to avoid or devalue oral communication. The main aim of this study is to investigate the factors contributing to university level students’ unwillingness to communicate in English. The participants of this study were selected using the stratified sampling method and consist of 100 students from an English Language Teaching (ELT) Department. The data was collected through a questionnaire examining three dimensions, namely the affective factors, teacher-related factors and environmental factors underlying students’ negative communication behaviour. The results indicated that environmental factors such as rapport among students, class size, materials, noise and classroom atmosphere have the biggest effects with regard to students’ reluctance to communicate in English. On the other hand, affective factors including anxiety, shyness, lack of motivation, lack of vocabulary knowledge, lack of self-confidence, fear of being criticised, topic familiarity, peer pressure and fear of making mistakes have a second highest impact on students’ negative communication behaviour. When the items in the teacher-related category of the questionnaire were analysed in detail the results showed they ranked third most important in this context, with students attributing their reluctance to communicate to teacher attitudes, teacher pressure, lack of teacher support, lack of opportunity to speak English, and the use of the mother tongue and target language

Gaining legitimacy through CSR: An analysis of Turkey's 30 largest corporations

Grounded in institutional theory, this study provides an overview of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Turkey's 30 largest corporations through a thematic content analysis. The study focuses on the G-20 member Turkey and investigates the influence of isomorphism mechanisms on the adoption of CSR initiatives in a developing country context. The aim of this study is to integrate Carroll's CSR dimensions, the type of CSR engagement and coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism mechanisms proposed by institutional theory. Through this integration the study makes a unique contribution to the literature by providing a different perspective. Findings reveal industry characteristics do not influence the selection of CSR initiatives. While business-to-business companies focus on CSR activities linked to their core business functions, business-to-consumer companies focus on CSR initiatives that are more discretionary, varied and philanthropic. In addition, findings show that multinational corporations implement CSR initiatives at the global level rather than focusing on local needs. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd