A robust nonlinear scale space change detection approach for SAR images

In this paper, we propose a change detection approach based on nonlinear scale space analysis of change images for robust detection of various changes incurred by natural phenomena and/or human activities in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images using Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSERs). To achieve this, a variant of the log-ratio image of multitemporal images is calculated which is followed by Feature Preserving Despeckling (FPD) to generate nonlinear scale space images exhibiting different trade-offs in terms of speckle reduction and shape detail preservation. MSERs of each scale space image are found and then combined through a decision level fusion strategy, namely "selective scale fusion" (SSF), where contrast and boundary curvature of each MSER are considered. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using real multitemporal high resolution TerraSAR-X images and synthetically generated multitemporal images composed of shapes with several orientations, sizes, and backscatter amplitude levels representing a variety of possible signatures of change. One of the main outcomes of this approach is that different objects having different sizes and levels of contrast with their surroundings appear as stable regions at different scale space images thus the fusion of results from scale space images yields a good overall performance

The effect of organizational culture on positive extra-role behaviors: the mediator role of organizational commitment

Örgütlerde çalışanların sergiledikleri davranış örneklerinden birisi rol ötesi olumlu davranışlardır. Mevcut çalışmada bu davranışlardan vatandaşlık davranışlarına odaklanılarak, bu davranışlara etkisi olan ortamsal ve tutumsal faktörlerin doğrudan ve dolaylı etkilerinin ortaya çıkarılması amaçlanmaktadır. Bu kapsamda özel bir bankanın 384 çalışanından Örgütsel Vatandaşlık Davranışları Ölçeği, Örgüt Kültürü Ölçeği ve Örgütsel Bağlılık Ölçeği’nin yer aldığı bir anket formuyla elde edilen veriler yapısal eşitlik modellemesi tekniğiyle değerlendirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, çalışanların rol ötesi olumlu davranışlarından vicdanlılık ve nezaket davranışlarında klan ve gelişme eğiliminin, centilmenlik ve sivil erdem davranışlarında ise yalnızca gelişme eğiliminin etkileri olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca tüm bu süreçlerde örgütsel bağlılığın kısmi bir aracılık rolünün olduğu ortaya çıkarılmıştır.One of the examples of behavioral patterns of employees is positive extra role behaviors. The purpose of this study is to determine the direct and indirect effects of contextual and attitudinal factors by focusing on organizational citizenship, which is one of those behaviors. The data which were collected from 384 employees of a private bank by using a survey form including Organizational Citizenship Behaviors Scale, Organizational Culture Scale and Organizational Commitment Scale were analyzed with structural equation modeling technique. The findings of this study indicate that the clan and development tendencies predict conscientiousness and courtesy, and the development tendency predicts sportsmanship and civic virtue behaviors of the employees’ extra role behaviors. Moreover organizational commitment has a partial mediator role in all these processes

Automatic and semi-automatic extraction of curvilinear features from SAR images

Extraction of curvilinear features from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is important for automatic recognition of various targets, such as fences, surrounding the buildings. The bright pixels which constitute curvilinear features in SAR images are usually disrupted and also degraded by high amount of speckle noise which makes extraction of such curvilinear features very difficult. In this paper an approach for the extraction of curvilinear features from SAR images is presented. The proposed approach is based on searching the curvilinear features as an optimum unidirectional path crossing over the vertices of the features determined after a despeckling operation. The proposed method can be used in a semi-automatic mode if the user supplies the starting vertex or in an automatic mode otherwise. In the semi-automatic mode, the proposed method produces reasonably accurate real-time solutions for SAR images

Exploring the Effects of EFQM Excellence Model on the Process of Intrapreneurship: A Research from Turkey

The innovation process requires intrapreneurial behaviors of employees concerning stages of idea conception, development, implementation and integration. All organizations should apply and follow a suitable excellence model which leads them toward innovative behaviors. One of the methods for creating an innovative culture in the organizations is the EFQM Excellence Model. The purpose of this study is to explore how the applications of EFQM Excellence Model influence on the intrapreneurship behaviors of the employees. A comperative analysis (one-way analysis of variance) was conducted with 275 teachers from three schools one of which achieved Recognized for Excellence 5-Star to find the answer of the research question. The results showed that the innovativeness, proactiveness, risk taking, autonomy and networking dimensions of the intrapreneurship behaviors are higher in the school using EFQM Excellence Model. Thus this paper indicates that the eight basic rules of excellence applications of EFQM Excellence Model make a positive impact on the intrapreneurship behaviors of the employees

Lichtstreuung an Spin-Bahn-Kopplung dominierten Systeme

Strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in solids has recently been identified as leading to novel electronic states with unconventional phases. Examples are topological insulators and unconventional magnets. Sr2IrO4, Sr3Ir2O7, BaIrO3, and Na4Ir3O8 are candidates and model systems for such phases. Recent Resonant X-Ray and IR absorption studies on Sr2IrO4 show anomalies that are related to the proximity of charge and spin modes. This proximity is further investigated in the following thesis based on Raman scattering with different incident Laser energies (Resonant Raman scattering). Pronounced resonances show up in intensity and linewidths of phonon and magnetic scattering. Sr3Ir2O7 is another interesting case of spin orbit physics. Despite the similar crystal structure to Sr2IrO4, the electronic structure and magnetic structure of Sr3Ir2O7 differs significantly from Sr2IrO4 which is evident in our magnetic Raman scattering data. BaIrO3 is a quasi-1D system which exhibits peculiar transitions. A charge density wave (CDW) formation accompanied by structural distortions is evident in our Raman scattering data in terms of electronic scattering and phonon anomalies. Another novel case of spin-orbit physics is given in Na4Ir3O8 which is reported to be a spin liquid. First Raman data of this special compound are discussed.Neuartige elektronische Zustände in Festkörpern mit unkonventionellen Phasen basieren hèufig auf starker Spin-Bahn-Kopplung (SOC). Beispiele dafür sind topologische Isolatoren und unkonventionelle Magnete. Die Verbindungen Sr2IrO4, Sr3Ir2O7, BaIrO3 und Na4Ir3O8 dienen als Modellsysteme für solche Phasen. Aktuelle resonante Röntgen- (RIXS) und IR-Absorptionsstudien an Sr2IrO4 weisen Anomalien auf, die aus dem Zusammenspiel aus Ladung und Spin resultieren. Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Untersuchung dieser Anomalien mittels Raman-Streuung mit unterschiedlichen Laser Energien (resonante Raman-Streuung). Ausgeprägte Resonanzen zeichnen sich in den Intensitäten und Linienbreiten von Phononen und magnetischer Anregung. Sr3Ir2O7 ist ein weiterer interessanter Fall von Spin-Bahn-Physik. Trotz der Sr2IrO4-ähnlichen Kristallstruktur weisen die Raman-Daten deutliche Unterschiede in den elektronischen und magnetischen Strukturen auf. Das quasi-eindimensionale System BaIrO3 zeichnet sich durch die Bildung einer Ladungsdichtewelle (CDW) durch strukturelle Verzerrungen aus, was zu Streu- und Phonon Anomalien in unseren Raman-Spektren führt. Schließlich werden erste Raman-Spektren der Verbindung Na4Ir3O8 gezeigt und diskutiert, die einen Spin-Flüssigkeitsgrundzustand ausbildet

The Role of Serotonin in Aggression and Impulsiveness

Serotonin is a neuromodulator that has a critical role on the regulation of essential events in neuronal and glial development, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, apoptosis, and synaptogenesis, and acts as a developmental signal. It has been known that a serotonergic system is associated with many psychiatric disorders. The serotonergic system also predominates on the etiopathogenesis of two important endophenotypes: impulsivity and aggression. Impulsiveness is defined as personality trait and an implusive temperament is associated with clinical conditions such as pathological gambling, eating disorders, and borderline personality disorder as well as being a risk factor for self‐harm, suicide, and emotional liability. Aggression is not a personality trait like impulsivity, but it is the behavior of harm or injury to others. Besides being a natural human behavior toward survival, aggression can be harmful to the individual and the community when it is constant and excessive. In this chapter, we aimed to review the role of the serotonergic system on impulsivity and aggression, which are two important endophenotypes that identified in many psychiatric disorders

Can the delta neutrophil ındex be used as a preliminary biomarker ın the evaluation of periodontal disease: a pilot study

Objective: Tissue destruction in periodontal diseases is related to inflammatory mediators in the host. However, it is unknown whether a relationship between delta neutrophil index (DNI) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in Stage 3 Grade A patients occurs. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between periodontal disease and DNI and NLR. Methodology: The study included 74 systemically healthy, non-smoking adults separated into 3 groups. Group 1: 26 subjects with good periodontal health, Group 2: 26 subjects with gingivitis, and Group 3: 22 subjects with Stage 3 Grade A periodontitis. After determining which group the patient will be included in, a clinical periodontal examination was made of each patient and pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP) and plaque index (PI) parameters were measured. Venous blood samples were taken and examined with an automatic hematology analyzer for DNI, immature granulocytes (IG), NLR, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, neutrophil count and lymphocyte count. Results: DNI, IG, CRP, and neutrophil count were observed to be highest in Group 3, followed by Group 2, and the difference between the groups in these parameters was determined to be statistically significant (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.046, p=0.016). DNI, IG, CRP and neutrophil count were observed to be positively correlated with periodontal parameters. Conclusion: The findings of this study support the role of DNI as a new biomarker for periodontal diseases. DNI may better reflect the systemic level of stage 3 grade A periodontitis than traditional inflammatory markers

A region-based target detection method for SAR images (SAR görüntüleri için bölge tabanlı bir hedef tespit yöntemi)

Automatic target detection methods for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are sensitive to image resolution, size of the target to be detected, clutter complexity, and speckle noise level. A robust automatic target detection method needs to be less sensitive to the above factors. In this study, a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) based automatic target detection method which can find a target and its heterogeneous clutter independent of the image resolution and the target size has been developed. The proposed method provides efficient memory usage and low computational complexity

Belirli Güç Kalitesi Problemlerinin Nesnelerin İnterneti Teknolojileri ile Tespiti ve Bulut Tabanlı Sunuculara Entegrasyonu

Elektriğin üretim, iletim, dağıtım ve son kullanıcı alanında kullanımında güç kalitesi problemleri sistem performansını, ekipman ömrünü ve buna bağlı olarak enerjinin verimli kullanımını olumsuz yönde etkiler. Güç kalitesi problemlerini giderebilmek için öncelikle bu problemleri tespit etmek ve kayıt altına almak gereklidir. Araştırmanın amacı güç kalitesi problemlerinin en ekonomik şekilde tespit edilmesi ve büyük veri analizine uygun formatta depolanarak birçok iyileştirme çalışmasına hizmet etmesidir. Araştırma kapsamda belirli güç kalitesi problemlerinin tespitinde nesnelerin interneti altyapısını kullanarak problemlerin tespit edilmesi ve buluttaki sunucularda kayıt altına alınması işlemi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmada belirli güç kalitesi problemlerini tespit eden algoritma geliştirilmiştir. Tasarlanan algoritma ve yeni sistem ekipmanları ile işletmede bulunan geleneksel sistem ekipmanlarından daha düşük yatırım maliyeti ile belirli güç kalitesi problemleri tespit edilebilmektedir. Bu çalışma bir tesiste belirli ölçüm noktasında yeni tasarlanan sistemin kurulması ve 48 saatlik ölçüm alınması ile test edilmiştir. Test verileri incelendiğinde tasarlanan algoritma ve sistemin işletmede oluşan güç kalitesi parametrelerini ve problemlerini tespit ederek buluttaki sunuculara gönderdiği tespit edilmiştir. Yapılan maliyet analizi ile mevcut sisteme göre yeni tasarlanan sistemin %47,15 oranında daha az yatırım maliyeti ile yapılabildiği görülmüştür. Bu tip çalışmaların artırılması ve devamında büyük veri, yapay zeka uygulamaları ile daha derin analizler gerçekleştirilmesi sağlanabilmektedir. Böylece elektrik sistemlerinin performansı daha düşük yatırım maliyetleri ile optimize edilerek enerji verimliliği artırılabilmektedir

Psychopathology in Down Syndrome

The main aim of this section is to provide clinicians with a guide to the prevalence of psychopathologies, associated factors, and their treatment in children with Down syndrome (DS). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioral disorders, depression, and autism are more common in DS than the normal population. However, the incidence of psychopathology is generally lower in DS than in other diseases that cause mental retardation. While writing this chapter, approximately 200 articles in electronic databases were scanned using the keywords “Down Syndrome and Psychopathology,” “Down Syndrome and Mood Disorder,” “Down Syndrome and Autism,” “Down Syndrome and Anxiety,” “Down Syndrome and Catatonia,” and “Down Syndrome and Behavioral Disorder.” Psychopathologies in DS will be presented in eight subtitles beginning with the most often diagnosed. It is important to perform psychological evaluations of patients with DS during routine follow-ups. Comorbid diseases (obstructive sleep apnea, cardiac pathologies, etc.) should be taken into account when choosing drugs