Mobbing on construction professionals: causes, consequences, and precautions

Mobbing is a negative attitude and behaviour that may be exhibited by superior(s), subordinate(s), or equal(s) to the victim(s) in a workplace. The primary purposes of this kind of action are to passivate, frustrate, and finally send the victim away from the workplace. This study investigates the causes and types of mobbing in the construction industry, the perception, and reaction of construction professionals about mobbing and the effects of mobbing on victims’ families and social lives. A questionnaire was applied to 664 construction professionals. Collected data were analyzed by using frequency/percentage analysis, The analysis of variance (ANOVA), Thurstone paired comparisons judgments (TC), Pareto method and cross-tabulation analysis. The results show that the construction professionals are aware of the concept of mobbing, but not their rights. Intention to suppress the victim (by the superior), or jealousy/envy (by the subordinates or equals) are the essential reasons for mobbing. Besides, gender discrimination, egoism against female professionals and disagreement in political views are vital factors that lead to mobbing. As a result, professionals exposed to mobbing experience psychological disorders. To avoid mobbing, individuals and companies should develop mobbing prevention and dissuasion strategies such as support from specialists, training and awareness-raising activities. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

PECVD grown SiN photonic crystal micro-domes for the light extraction enhancement of GaN LEDs

In this work, the effect of introducing a photonic crystal network of silicon nitride (SiN) micro-domes on the backside of silver coated gallium nitride (GaN) based light emitting diodes (LEDs) was studied. First, sapphire side of the top emitting LEDs, which is the bottom surface of the LEDs, is coated with silver (Ag). Light emitted towards the sapphire substrate is reflected upwards to the top surface and the amount of light extracted from the LED is expected to increase. In an alternative approach, SiN micro-domes forming a two dimensional photonic crystal, 2 μm in diameter and 80 nm in height in average, are deposited on the light emitting surface of the device with a period of 2 μm. Coating the backside with Ag has increased the efficiency of a top emitting LED by 11%. By introducing the SiN photonic crystal onto the Ag backside coated sample, total internal reflection is reduced via scattering and the amount of light emitted has been increased by 30% at 5·104 mA/cm2. Integration of SiN micro-domes with Ag coating has significantly impacted light extraction which has been shown to increase the efficiency of GaN based LEDs. Fabrication process and the results are discussed in detail

A Midsummer Night's Coup: Performance and power in Turkey's July 15 Coup attempt

Occurring at a time when military interventions appeared to be a matter of the past, the coup attempt of July 15, 2016 left a major mark on Turkish society and politics. This article approaches the July 15 coup attempt as a contingent and transformative event and investigates how symbolic processes helped determine its immediate outcome as well as its cultural, social, and political consequences. Linking the sociological literature on events with social performance theory, the study argues that the putschists' ineffectiveness in projecting legitimacy and power in the critical hours of the coup attempt significantly contributed to its failure. The retrospective construction of an authoritative "Narrative of July 15" in the following weeks, on the other hand, enabled the government to implement specific institutional changes in the cultural, economic, and political domains. The study proposes a two-step analysis for the cultural construction of political events and suggests that social performance theory provides useful analytical tools for tracing the course and explaining the outcome of this process