Resource Leveling of an Industrial Building Using Genetic Algorithm Technique

Construction companies should schedule their projects in a manner that considers theefficient use of limited resources in order to complete a project within estimated budget, onschedule and in compliance with the specifications. In this context, the planning of resourcesbecomes crucial for a construction project, which can be accomplished by resource leveling.Resource leveling - also known as resource smoothing - is a method that attempts to reducethe fluctuations in resource usage in order to make the resource requirements as uniform aspossible while maintaining the original project duration. The studies dealing with resource leveling problems can be classified into two categories, which are; (1) analytical methods and(2) heuristic methods. Analytical methods may give optimal solutions on small-scaledproblems; however, they are inadequate in large-scaled problems. As a result of theweaknesses of analytical methods, many studies have been conducted in order to developmore efficient models by heuristic methods. Genetic algorithm-based resource leveling is oneof these models, which is developed to attain better solutions. The main objective of thisstudy is to handle the resource leveling problem of an industrial building using geneticalgorithms. In this context, a schedule for an industrial building is established using theCritical Path Method (CPM). The information about the logical constraints and the resourcesrequired to carry out activities were obtained through the interviews with civil engineers fromthe company, whose expertise is on industrial buildings. The proposed genetic algorithmbased resource leveling model attempts to improve the schedule. The developed modelprovided a decrease of 20% in the total resource-days required to complete the project. Thestudy is of benefit to participants of construction industry, because it makes them aware of the potential use of the combination of critical path method and genetic algorithms in order to solve the resource leveling problem

Lower risk of hypoglycaemia and greater odds for weight loss with initiation of insulin detemir compared with insulin glargine in Turkish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: local results of a multinational observational study

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of insulin initiation with once-daily insulin detemir (IDet) or insulin glargine (IGlar) in real-life clinical practice in Turkish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This was a 24-week multinational observational study of insulin initiation in patients with T2DM. RESULTS: The Turkish cohort (n = 2886) included 2395 patients treated with IDet and 491 with IGlar. The change in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) from the pre-insulin levels was -2.21% [95% confidence interval (CI) -2.32, -2.09] in the IDet group and -1.88% [95% CI -2.17, -1.59] in the IGlar group at the final visit. The incidence rate of minor hypoglycaemia increased in both groups from the pre-insulin to the final visit (+0.66 and +2.23 events per patient year in the IDet and IGlar groups, respectively). Weight change in the IDet group was -0.23 kg [95% CI -0.49, 0.02 kg], and +1.55 kg [95% CI 1.11, 2.00 kg] in the IGlar group. Regression analysis with adjustment for previously identified confounders (age, gender, duration of diabetes, body mass index, previous history of hypoglycaemia, microvascular disease, number and change in oral anti-diabetic drug therapy, HbA(1c) at baseline and insulin dose) identified an independent effect of insulin type (IDet versus IGlar) with a risk of at least one episode of hypoglycaemia (odds ratio (OR): 0.33 [95% CI 0.21, 0.52], p <0.0001), and weight loss ≥1 kg (OR: 1.75 [95% CI 1.18, 2.59], p = 0.005), but not on HbA(1c) (+0.05% [95% CI -0.15, 0.25%], p = 0.6). CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of basal insulin analogues, IDet and IGlar, were associated with clinically significant glycaemic improvements. A lower risk of minor hypoglycaemia and greater odds of weight loss ≥1 kg was observed with IDet compared with IGlar. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00825643 and NCT0074051

The Hazar pull-apart along the East Anatolian Fault: Structure and active deformation

Understanding the irregularity of seismic cycles: A case study in Turke

Structural System Selection Using the Integration of Multi-Attribute-Decision-Making (MADM) Methods

A structural system carries all loads acting on the building and transfers them effectively to the soil through the foundation. Since it is the essential component of a building, selecting the most appropriate structural system is one of the critical decisions in the structural design. The design team, which consists of engineers and architects, is responsible for determining the structural system that will satisfy the owner's and end user's needs as well as the legal requirements. Due to the fact that a number of compromising and conflicting criteria may affect the structural system selection process, it is a difficult task and it should be considered as a multi-attribute-decision-making (MADM) problem. The main objective of this study is to provide the design teams with a MADM approach that will assist them in selecting the most appropriate structural system in a more objective and systematic manner. In the proposed approach, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to compute the weights of the criteria and Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) is employed to rank the structural system alternatives. In order to demonstrate how the proposed can be applied in a real life problem, the structural system of a housing project in Istanbul, Turkey is selected via this approach. The findings of the model were discussed with the decision making team in the studied project and they stated that the proposed approach could be easily employed as a guideline in selecting the most appropriate structural system from the managerial viewpoint. This paper is the revised version of the paper that has been published in the proceedings of the Creative Construction Conference 2018 (Polat et al., 2018)

A Grading System-based Model for Detecting Unbalanced Bids during the Tendering Process

Unbalanced bidding is a common practice used in both unit price and lump sum contracts. Contractors may unbalance their bids in&nbsp;different forms for various reasons. The studies in the literature either focus on developing optimization models that assist contractors in winning contracts and maximizing profits of their bids through unbalancing or developing models that assist owners in detecting and/or preventing unbalanced bids during the bid evaluation stage. Unbalanced bidding is one of the most controversial subjects in the construction management literature and practice. Although there is no consensus on whether it is unethical or not, this practice is not usually for the benefit of owners. Therefore, owners have the right to reject the unbalanced bids and create a fair competition environment if they have a mechanism to detect it during the bid evaluation process. The main objective of this study is to propose a model, which consists of five different grading systems and helps owners in detecting unbalanced bids during the tendering process. In the proposed model, owners may either calculate the individual grades of each bidder or calculate the final score of each bidder by assigning different weights to these grading systems according to the project characteristics or their own needs. The final scores and bid prices of the contractors can be simultaneously evaluated. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model, an illustrative example is presented. It can be concluded that the proposed model can be effectively and easily used by owners for detecting unbalanced bids. This paper is the revised version of the paper that has been published in the proceedings of the Creative Construction Conference 2018 (Polat et al., 2018)

500,000 Years of Environmental History in Eastern Anatolia: The PALEOVAN Drilling Project

International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) drilled a complete succession of the lacustrine sediment sequence deposited during the last ~500,000 years in Lake Van, Eastern Anatolia (Turkey). Based on a detailed seismic site survey, two sites at a water depth of up to 360 m were drilled in summer 2010, and cores were retrieved from sub-lake-floor depths of 140 m (Northern Basin) and 220 m (Ahlat Ridge). To obtain a complete sedimentary section, the two sites were multiple-cored in order to investigate the paleoclimate history of a sensitive semi-arid region between the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean seas. Further scientific goals of the PALEOVAN project are the reconstruction of earthquake activity, as well as the temporal, spatial, and compositional evolution of volcanism as reflected in the deposition of tephra layers. The sediments host organic matter from different sources and hence composition, which will be unravelled using biomarkers. Pathways for migration of continental and mantle-derived noble gases will be analyzed in pore waters. Preliminary 40Ar/39Ar single crystal dating of tephra layers and pollen analyses suggest that the Ahlat Ridge record encompasses more than half a million years of paleoclimate and volcanic/geodynamic history, providing the longest continental record in the entire Near East to date

Motivation of civil engineers and architects in Turkey

Motivation is one of the key factors that stimulate individuals to improve their productivity. Therefore, motivation of construction workers has been debated with considerable interest by participants in the construction industry. However, motivating only construction workers, but ignoring the motivation of construction professionals, viz., architects and civil engineers, may not be enough to successfully complete a construction project. Although motivation of construction professionals may also enhance the performance of a construction project, this topic is mostly ignored in the motivation literature. This study attempts to fill this gap by (1) identifying the motivators that are of importance to architects and civil engineers and (2) exploring the statistical difference between architects’ and civil engineers’ motivators. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was administered to Turkish architects and civil engineers to collect data on their perceptions of the importance of different motivators. The case of Turkey is investigated because several of the larger Turkish contractors undertake construction projects outside their home country. Statistical analysis was performed on the collected data to verify whether there are statistically significant differences in the perception of some motivators by architects and civil engineers. The study demonstrates the existence of a statistically significant difference between architects’ and civil engineers’ motivators. Identifying the architects’ and civil engineers’ motivators may help construction companies in motivating their architects and civil engineers more effectively, thus developing a quality workforce