Who is Responsible for the Conflict? The Role of Identification and Perception of Discrimination

This study examines whether identification (ethnic and national) and perception of discrimination between minority and majority members are related to attributions of responsibility in the context of the prolonged Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Understanding attributions of responsibility for the conflict are important because they can exacerbate or hinder conflict. The two ethnic groups, Turks and Kurds, hold different views of the conflict in which they are involved. We identify four primary parties in the current context of conflict: the Turkish state, the PKK, Kurdish citizens, and foreign states. The official state discourse holds that the PKK and the Kurds are responsible for the conflict. A shared national identification might reduce in-group conflict but also might result in minority group members adopting the official state discourse. Ethnic identity might operate differently for the different groups. Furthermore, perception of discrimination might be related to endorsing alternative explanations for the conflict, different from the state discourse. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group in Turkey but have been denied ethnic, political, and cultural rights until recently. They have also been the targets of a long-standing assimilation policy aimed to create a nation state based on Turkish ethno-cultural identity. The Turkish Republic’s founding ideology has historically denied the existence of the Kurdish ethnic minority group (currently around 18% of the population). For this study, we used a nationally representative data set of 10,386 participants; of the participants, 76% self-identified as Turkish and 13.4% as Kurdish. We conducted multiple regression analyses to predict how the two groups differed in their ethnic and national identification and perception of discrimination in predicting four different sources of conflict. Results were discussed in terms of social identity theory and conflict resolution approaches

Predictors of Support for Democratic Reform: Role of Intergroup Friendship, Perception of Discrimination and Identification

In Turkey, recent debate is whether to include the word “Kurd” in the constitution or to replace the word “Turk” with “Turkiyeli” (who holds Turkish citizenship). These changes symbolically challenge the close correspondence between Turkish ethnicity and nationality. Granting some rights to the Kurdish minority, including recognition of their ethno-political identity in the constitution, is critical for democratic reforms and sustainable reconciliation following the peace agreement in March 2013. The question is “How much of the Turkish population supports these constitutional changes?” Research has proposed that having relationship with out-group individuals positively influences an individual’s perceptions of others. Therefore, the current study investigates the role of intergroup friendship, perception of discrimination, and identification (ethnic, national) in predicting support for democratic reforms through constitutional change. 380 college students (68.2% women, 31.3% men) who identified themselves as Turkish, participated in the study. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to predict support for democratic reform. The main effects of intergroup friendship, perception of discrimination and identification (ethnic, national) were entered. All predictors had significant independent effects except ethnic identity. Results were discussed in terms of intergroup relations

A novel hybrid edge detection technique: ABC-FA

Image processing is a vast research field with diversified set of practices utilized in so many application areas such as military, security, medical imaging, machine learning and computer vision based on extracted useful information from any kind of image data. Edges within images are undoubtedly accepted as one of the most significant features providing substantial practical information for various applications working on top of miscellaneous optimization algorithms to achieve better results. Artificial Bee Colony and Firefly algorithms are recently developed optimization algorithms and are used to obtain better results for various problems. In this study, a novel hybrid optimization technique is proposed by combining those algorithms aiming better quality in edge detection on grayscale images. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with individual performances of Artificial Bee Colony algorithm and the fundamental edge detection methods. The results are demonstrated that the proposed method is encouraging and also produces meaningful results for similar applications.Publisher's Versio

Okul Öncesi Dönem Çocuklarının Duygusal Yüz İfadelerini Yansıtan İnsan Figürü Çizimlerinde Kullandıkları Renklerin İncelenmesi

The aim of this study is to examine the facial expressions and color preferences used by orphaned children, children who have experienced an earthquake and children living with their parents.The sample of the study included 85 children, 27 of whom had experienced the great earthquakes in Bolu and Gölcük in 1999, 21 orphans living in Keçiören Atatürk Child Care Center and 37 children living with their families. Regular A4 white paper and coloring pens were used as data collecting tools, and children were asked to draw human figures with happy, scared, surprised, sad and aggravated facial expressions, respectively. Children were told that they were allowed to use whichever colors they wanted.. The children’s drawings, each reflecting different facial expressions, were examined to ascertain which, and how many, colors had been used. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the children who had experienced an earthquake and the orphaned children used only one or two colors, while the majority of the children living with their families used at least two or more different colors. It was found that the children who had experienced an earthquake particularly chose black as the color to reflect all of the facial expressions. It was seen that the colors used by orphans and by the children living with their families showed differences according to the facial expressions illustrated.Bu araştırmanın amacı, korunmaya muhtaç çocukların, depremi yaşayan çocukların ve ailesi ile yaşayan çocukların duygularını dışa vurmalarında, yüz ifadeleri ve renk tercihlerini incelemektir. Çalışmanın örneklemini, Bolu ve Gölcük depremini yaşamış 27 çocuk ile Ankara ilinde Keçiören Atatürk Çocuk Yuvası’nda kalan 21 korunmaya muhtaç çocuk ve ailesi yanında yaşayan 37 çocuk olmak üzere toplam 85 çocuk oluşturmuştur. Veri toplama aracı olarak A4 boyutunda beyaz kağıtlar ve renkli boya kalemleri çocuklara dağıtılmış ve çocuklardan sırasıyla mutlu, korkmuş, şaşırmış, üzgün ve öfkeli bir insan figürü çizmeleri istenmiştir. Çocukların renk tercihlerinde serbest oldukları belirtilmiştir. Çocukların yaptığı her biri farklı bir yüz ifadesini yansıtan resimler, kullanılan renk sayısına ve kullanılan renklere göre incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçları, korunmaya muhtaç ve depremi yaşayan çocukların çoğunluğunun tek veya iki renk kullandığını, aileleri ile yaşayan çocukların çoğunluğunun ise en az iki ya da daha fazla renk kullandığını ortaya koymaktadır. Özellikle depremi yaşamış çocukların tüm yüz ifadelerini yansıtan insan figürü çizimlerinde siyah rengi tercih ettikleri bulunmuştur. Korunmaya muhtaç çocukların ve ailesi ile yaşayan çocukların en yüksek oranda kullandıkları renklerin yüz ifadelerine göre değişiklik gösterdiği belirlenmiştir. Her iki grup incelendiğinde; ailesi ile yaşayan çocukların kullandıkları renklerin kullanım yüzdelerinin, korunmaya muhtaç çocukların kullanım yüzdelerine göre daha yüksek olduğu da ulaşılan önemli bulgulardandır

Support for Kurdish language rights in Turkey:the roles of ethnic group, group identifications, contact, and intergroup perceptions

The question of Kurdish language rights has been a central issue in the Turkish– Kurdish conflict. The current study examined endorsement of Kurdish language rights in relation to intergroup factors (i.e. group identifi cations, cross-group friendships, perceived discrimination, and perceived out-group beliefs about state unity) among self-identifi ed Turkish and Kurdish participants. The results indicate that Turks were much less in favour of these rights than the Kurds. In addition, for the Turks, higher national and ethnic identification were associated with lower support for Kurdish language rights, while cross-group friendship, perceived discrimination of Kurds and the belief that Kurds endorse national unity were associated with more support for rights. For the Kurdish participants, stronger national identification seems to undermine the mobilizing meaning that Kurdish group identification has for language rights support. Furthermore, friendship with Turks can undermine the support for rights because it strengthens national identification and reduces ethnic identification

Yeniden İşlevlendirme Uygulamalarında Özgünlük Kayıplarının Araştırılması: Geleneksel Alanya Konutları Örneği

Kent merkezlerindeki tarihi dokularda günümüzde rant marjları çok yükselmiş, tarihi yapılara turizm ve ticaret işlevleri verme eğilimi artmıştır. Yeniden işlevlendirme adı verilen bu uygulama aslında terk edilmiş ya da özgün işlevini devam ettirmesi mümkün olmayan yapıları, yeni bir işlevle kullanımını sağlayarak gelecek kuşaklara aktarmak için geliştirilmiş bir koruma yöntemidir. Ancak bu yöntem günümüzde sanki bir tasarım modeli gibi kullanılarak tarihi yapıların özgün değerlerinden çok fazla kayıplara neden olmaktadır. Koruma yasasındaki esneklik, sayısal nicelik ve şahıs mülkiyetlerinde olmaları gibi sebeplerle yeniden işlevlendirilerek özgünlük değerlerinden en çok kayıplar veren yapılar geleneksel konutlardır. Tarihi yapılar ve bu yapıların oluşturduğu tarihi çevre, bölgeye özgü fiziksel ve kültürel özellikler sonucu oluşmuş geleneksel mimari örneklerdir. Özellikle geleneksel konutlar bulunduğu bölgedeki günlük yaşam ve kültürü hakkında önemli veriler sunan tarihi belgelerdir. Bu nedenle diğer tarihi yapılar gibi geleneksel konut yapılarının da özgünlüklerinin korunması ve gelecek kuşaklara aktarılması önem arz etmektedir. Yeniden işlevlendirme ile özgün değerlerini yitiren tarihi çevrelerden birisi de Antalya'nın önemli turizm merkezlerinden birisi olan Alanya’dır. Bu nedenle bu çalışmada yeniden işlevlendirme ile restorasyonu yapılan geleneksel Alanya konutları çalışma alanı olarak seçilmiş, bu bölgedeki uygulamaların olumlu ve olumsuz yönleri ortaya konularak tartışılmıştır

Investigation of Serum NO, ADMA and Apelin Levels in Thyroid Dysfunction

Thyroid gland diseases are among the most common endocrine diseases and still continue to be an important health problem especially in developing countries. It was aimed to investigate serum NO, ADMA and Apelin levels in patients with thyroid dysfunction. This study was conducted with 150 thyroid patients and 50 healthy subjects. Study subjects were divided into three groups; control (n=50), hyperthyroid ( n=75) and hypothyroid (n=75). Serum TSH, FT3, FT4   levels  were  measured  by  chemiluminescence  method  NO  level  were  measured  by spectrophotometric method, ADMA and apelin levels were measured by ELISA. Serum NO levels were higher in hypothyroid group than in hyperthyroid group, and the difference was statistically significant. Serum ADMA levels of the hyperthyroid group were significantly higher than the other two groups and the difference was statistically significant. The levels  of  serum  apelin  were  statistically significantly higher in the hyperthyroid group than the other two groups. In patients with hyperthyroidism, ADMA and Apelin levels were higher, while NO level was lower. However, NO level was higher in patients with hypothyroidims than the other two groups. Apelin, which has been emphasized  as  a  preventive  and  therapeutic  agent  particularly  for  the cardiovascular system, might have increased in hyperthyroid patients, regardless of NO, to protect cardiovascular system from possible adverse effects of ADMA. Keywords: Asymmetric dimethylarginine, apelin, nitric oxide, thyroid dysfunction DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/67-03 Publication date:August 31st 202

Frontal sinüs boyutlarının yaş ve cinsiyet ile ilişkisinin değerlendirilmesi

Amaç: Adli araştırmaların önemli bir parçası bireyin kimliklendirilmesidir. Frontal sinüs, kişisel tanımlama, yaş tahmini ve cinsiyet tayini için değerli özelliklere sahiptir. Bu çalışmada amaç konik ışınlı bilgisayarlı tomografi (KIBT) görüntülerinde frontal sinüs boyutlarını değerlendirerek, bu boyutların yaş ile ilişkisini ve cinsiyet tayinindeki önemini belirlemektir.Gereç ve Yöntemler: Yaşları 20 ile 85 arasında değişen toplam 178 birey (105 Kadın, 73 Erkek) retrospektif olarak incelendi. KIBT görüntülerinde her sinüs için sağ ve sol taraf olmak üzere genişlik, yükseklik ve anteroposterior derinlik ve maksimum toplam genişlik ölçümleri yapıldı. Çalışmaya dahil olan bireyler yaşa göre 5 alt gruba ayrıldı ve her ölçüm parametresi de alt gruplar arasında karşılaştırıldı. Toplanan verilerin istatistiksel analizi Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0 programı kullanılarak yapıldı.Bulgular: Sağ ve sol frontal sinüs genişliği, anteroposterior derinlik ve maksimum toplam genişlik özellikleri açısından erkekler kadınlardan istatistiksel olarak önemli derecede yüksek ortalamalara sahipken (p<0.01), sinüs yüksekliği açısından istatistiksel olarak önemli bir fark belirlenmedi. Değerlendirilen tüm parametreler için yaş grupları arasında istatistiksel olarak önemli bir fark gözlenmedi. Yapılan diskriminant analizi sonucu cinsiyet tahmininde doğruluk oranı % 71.3 olarak hesaplandı.Sonuç: Bu çalışmada KIBT görüntülerinde ölçülen frontal sinüs boyutlarının yaş grupları arasında önemli farklılık göstermediği belirlendi. Bununla birlikte frontal sinüsün cinsiyet tayininde dimorfik özellikte olduğu fakat tek başına cinsiyet belirlemede yeterli olmadığı ve ilave parametrelerle doğruluğunun artırılacağı düşünüldü.ANAHTAR KELİMELER Adli bilimler, Cinsiyet tespiti analizi, Frontal sinus, Konik ışınlı bilgisayarlı tomograf

Water‐soluble polypyrrole‐polybis (4‐oxy benzene sulfonic acid) phosphazene composites and investigation of their performance as cathode binder in Li‐ion batteries

Current electric storage systems eagerly focus on high‐power and energy‐dense Lithium‐ion batteries to cope with increasing energy storage demands. Since cathode materials are one of the bottlenecks of these batteries, there is much interest in layered lithium‐rich manganese oxide‐based (LLMO) cathodes which can develop this technology. However, Initial Coulombic Efficiency (ICE) loss, poor rate performance and cycling instability issues are still persistent as problems to be solved for these materials. Recent research shows that water‐soluble binders are effective in improving the performance of LLMO materials. Herein, we describe the synthesis, characterisation, and application of a series of water‐soluble composites as a binder for LLMO cathodes. The PPy is introduced as part of the binder to improve the electronic conductivity and two different oxidants and various PPy to PSAP ratios were used to optimise the final properties. The electrochemical performance and morphology of the cathodes before and after cycling were investigated and compared with the conventional PVDF binder. The LLMO−2c electrode showed excellent charge‐discharge performance, especially at 5 C and 10 C rates, and high cycling stability at 0.2 C whilst maintaining a final capacity of 184 mAh/g after 200 cycles, which is equal to 89.3 % capacity retention

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(bis(4-phenoxysulfonic acid)phosphazene) conductive composites: an alternative interfacial layer to PEDOT : PSS

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT : PSS) is a popular solution-processable hole transporting layer used in organic semiconductor devices such as organic light-emitting diodes or organic photovoltaics. It has benefits such as suitability for orthogonal processing, tunable conductivity and smooth film formation, yet the PSS polyelectrolyte is prone to degradation, impacting device performance or lifetime. In this work we present the use of PEDOT blends with a poly(bis(4-phenoxysulfonic acid)phosphazene) (PSAP) polyelectrolyte and study the effect of the PEDOT : PSAP ratio on the composite material properties. A comparable doping level can be achieved in PEDOT : PSAP films with respect to PEDOT : PSS and, as a result, an appropriate electrical conductivity for use as a hole transport layer can be achieved. Finally, when applied in organic light-emitting diodes, the use of PEDOT : PSAP hole transport layers can boost the external quantum efficiency, highlighting the promising performance of PSAP polyelectrolyte in conductive blends