A Gis-Based Campus Information System: Izmir Institute of Technology

In the 21st century, GIS based Campus Information Systems (CIS) have been used by many universities for different aims and become an effective tool. CIS is a wholeness and integrity that is formed by hardware, software, data and users in order to collect spatial and non-spatial data about the university and its sub-units (both academic and administrative), transfer them to computer, store, query, analyze and present the result reports as graphics or non-graphics. In general, the goal of this study is to prepare a GIS-based Izmir Institute of Technology (IIT) CIS. Moreover, after preparing maps of campus area in desired formats, the objectives of the project are to store the maps to plan or update, to provide rapid and easy access to personal and sharable information about campus, to prepare the databases about each department, and to use them for administrative purposes. Therefore, it would have been achieved two main objectives in terms of planning and interactive access for students and staff. At first, by this system, it has been achieved more scientific spatial analyses about land use decisions depending on the natural capacities of the campus site. Then, some negative sides and impacts have been determined relating to the physical developments proposed by the existing campus plan. Thus, it has been achieved crucial results about these defects supporting our initial observations about campus. Secondly, to achieve all information about campus referring spatial or non-spatial by students, academic & administrative staff, and inter-active information access would be created. In order to create CIS for IIT, the spatial and non-spatial data about campus including maps, attribute data were collected; maps, databases, spatial analyses and queries were produced via ArcGIS. At the end of the study, site location of IIT, 1/50000 environmental plan, 1/5000 IIT Master Plan, existing map of campus area, proposed implementation plan of campus area, thematic maps & spatial analyses about topography, geology, soil capability and vegetation and other natural features and suitability analysis for campus site were produced as result productions.

EVALUATING TOURISM SECTOR IN ALBANIA BY THE VIEW OF THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

It is clear that there are different studies conducted on the tourism sector of different countries. In contrast, it is quite difficult to find out similar studies thatconducted on Albanian tourism sector that is revealed by the literature review ofthis study. This is one of the main motivations of this study.The purpose of this study is to measure the views and perception of university students on the issue on the basis of empirical data which have been collected for this study. The researchers asked about 24 questions to universities' students.Before conducting the survey, the study had chosen two private and five state run universities from different cities of Albania. The survey conducted by surveyor who had been thought how to conduct survey. These surveyors asked those some 423 students to fill in the survey's questions. After they answered the questions, the surveys had been collected by those surveyors. To investigate which factors have more importance on development of tourism sector including Infrastructure,Transportation, Diversity of Tourism, Promotion, Service Quality and Price.The study are adopting the hypothesis that mean factor ratings are same betweenmale and female, universities and employment status.This study has employed a quantitative method. Within this method, in order toanalyse the data One way Anova Tests is applied. Based on the analysis all factors that has been asked are found as important, however, their contribution level to thetourism development are different. Among factors contributing to tourism,Promotion is considered to have different level of contribution according to different universities' students, while evaluation of factors on other demographic indicators is seen similar within significance level 0.05

Chemical synthesis of LSGM powders for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrolyte

Synthesis of LSGM (La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3-delta), LSFM (La0.9Sr0.1Fe0.8Mg0.2O3-delta), and LSCM (La0.9Sr0.1Cr0.8Mg0.2O3-delta) powders were achieved via organic precursor method. Different organic "carrier" molecules were used for powder synthesis. Citric acid, tartaric acid, Pechini precursors, polyvinyl alcohol, and ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid were selected as organic carriers for their ability to stabilize the metal ions. Each organic carrier material exhibited a different degree of effectiveness in the synthesis of the mixed oxide powders. One of the main factors affecting the phase purity appears to be the interaction of the functional groups with the constituent cations. The effectiveness of the organic carrier with varying number and type of functional groups is evaluated and discussed in terms of the phase distribution in the powders after the calcination step

Effect of Preoperative Kegel Exercises on Continence Rates After Open Radical Prostatectomy

Objective: To reveal the effect of preoperative Kegel exercises on early period continence rates after open radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods: Data of patients with open radical prostatectomy between January 2019 and July 2022, in a tertiary academic health center were retrospectively reviewed. Patient" characteristics, perioperative parameters and postoperative follow-up results were recorded. Patients were divided into two groups as those who did Kegel exercises in the preoperative period and those who did not, and groups were compared. Results: There were 38 patients in the Kegel exercise group and 40 patients in the other group. Postoperative 1st month and postoperative 3rd month incontinence rates were similar between the groups (p=0.406, and p=0.387). At 6th months postoperatively, the rate of incontinence in the Kegel group was 7.9%, while it was 25.0% in the other group (p=0.043). Similarly, the rate of incontinence at 1st year postoperatively was significantly lower in the Kegel group (5.3% vs 20.0%, p=0.001). At 6 months postoperatively, the QoL score in the Kegel positive group was 86, while it was 65 in the other group (p=0.001). In the postoperative 1st year controls, the quality of life (QoL) score was statistically significantly higher in patients with preoperative Kegel exercise (p=0.001). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that preoperative Kegel exercises had a significant positive effect on continence rate after radical prostatectomy in the postoperative 6th month and in the first year follow-up, and preparative Kegel exercises were significantly associated with higher quality of life scores at 6th months and 1st year follow-up

Agent-based model predictive framework to control cell culture bioreactors

Bioprocesses require unique operational conditions and highly specialized process knowledge to obtain consistent product quality and productivity. Optimization and control of these processes are challenging due to the nonlinearities and uncertainties involved, and cell-bioreactor interactions are poorly understood. Automated control of bioreactors using model predictive control (MPC) technologies is less common as translating complex process specific interactions to linear models is challenging. Accurate models of the process are needed for MPC to succeed. Due to the complexity and heterogeneity involved in the culture environment, conventional mechanistic modeling efforts are often incomplete for describing the interactions of cell physiology and environmental conditions and predicting future behavior. Agent-based computational models provide a strong tool for studying mammalian cell culture bioreactor processes where agents (cells) take action based on changing dynamics of their immediate vicinity. An ABM was previously developed to simulate individual mammalian cell behavior and dynamics of bioreactor environment. In this study, applicability of MPC using ABM has been investigated to optimize growth in mammalian cell culture bioreactors

Hvilke utfordringer er involvert ved å benytte standardiserte arbeidsmetodikker i en konsulentorganisasjon? – en casestudie av DevOps

The influence of technological development and intense competition in the marketplaces demands on the use of standardized working methods in the software industry. The speed to issue frequent software releases and flexibility for changes has led to DevOps. DevOps is a standardized work methodology that has been praised for allegedly providing several benefits. Despite this attention to the benefits, it is also important to explore potential challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate and identify the challenges that arise when using standardized work methodologies through a case study of DevOps in a consulting organization. The study deals with three research aspects: theoretical review, literature analysis and research interviews. The theoretical review is summarized in three categories: organizational culture, organizational learning and organizational management. Through the literature analysis, 13 primary challenges are identified based on previous empirical studies. Then, the actual process of implementing DevOps is summarized through interviews with seven respondents and compared to the challenges identified in the theoretical review and literature analysis. A thematic analysis is used to analyze the data. The clear challenges from the interviews were categorized into three main areas: 1) Culture, 2) Adaptation and 3) Organization. The paper concludes that the challenges linked to the use of standardized work methodologies in a consultancy organization are complex and compound. Both positive and negative impacts were uncovered using standardized work methodologies. Faster feedback, improved quality of software releases was among the positive effects, while silo thinking, and reduced collaboration were among the negatives. Optimizing the use of standardized work methodologies can be challenging, especially if the training and understanding are not present. Moreover, it is important that management encourages employees to use these methodologies, as their support is essential. A careful understanding and treatment of these challenges is essential to reap the potential benefits that such methods are expected to provide

Disciplinary Learning From an Authentic Engineering Context

This small-scale design study describes disciplinary learning in mathematical modeling and science from an authentic engineeringthemed module. Current research in tissue engineering served as source material for the module, including science content for readings and a mathematical modeling activity in which students work in small teams to design a model in response to a problem from a client. The design of the module was guided by well-established principles of model-eliciting activities (a special class of problem-solving activities deeply studied in mathematics education) and recently published implementation design principles, which emphasize the portability of model-eliciting activities to many classroom settings. Two mathematical modeling research questions were addressed: 1. What mathematical approaches did student-teams take when they designed mathematical models to evaluate the quality of blood vessel networks? and 2. What attributes of mature mathematical models were captured in the mathematical models that the student-teams designed? One science content research question was addressed: 1. Before and after the module, what aspects of angiogenesis did students describe when they were asked what they knew about the process of blood vessel growth from existing vessels? Participants who field-tested the module included high school students in a summer enrichment program and early college students enrolled in four general-studies mathematics courses. Data collected from participants included mathematical models produced by small teams of students, as well as students’ individual responses before and after the module to a prompt asking them what they knew about the process of new blood vessel growth from existing vessels. The data were analyzed for mathematical model type and science content by adopting methods of grounded theory, in which researchers suspend expectations about what should be in the data and, instead, allow for the emergence of patterns and trends. The mathematical models were further analyzed for mathematical maturity using an a priori coding scheme of attributes of a mathematical model. Analyses showed that student-teams created mathematical models of varying maturity using four different mathematical approaches, and comparisons of students’ responses to the science prompt showed students knew essentially nothing about angiogenesis before the module but described important aspects of angiogenesis after the module. These findings were used to set up an agenda for future research about the design of the module and the relationship between disciplinary learning and authentic engineering problems