Efficient MRF Energy Propagation for Video Segmentation via Bilateral Filters

Segmentation of an object from a video is a challenging task in multimedia applications. Depending on the application, automatic or interactive methods are desired; however, regardless of the application type, efficient computation of video object segmentation is crucial for time-critical applications; specifically, mobile and interactive applications require near real-time efficiencies. In this paper, we address the problem of video segmentation from the perspective of efficiency. We initially redefine the problem of video object segmentation as the propagation of MRF energies along the temporal domain. For this purpose, a novel and efficient method is proposed to propagate MRF energies throughout the frames via bilateral filters without using any global texture, color or shape model. Recently presented bi-exponential filter is utilized for efficiency, whereas a novel technique is also developed to dynamically solve graph-cuts for varying, non-lattice graphs in general linear filtering scenario. These improvements are experimented for both automatic and interactive video segmentation scenarios. Moreover, in addition to the efficiency, segmentation quality is also tested both quantitatively and qualitatively. Indeed, for some challenging examples, significant time efficiency is observed without loss of segmentation quality.Comment: Multimedia, IEEE Transactions on (Volume:16, Issue: 5, Aug. 2014

SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CHALLENGES OF SYRIAN REFUGEE STUDENTS IN TURKISH UNIVERSITIES

In this study, the economic and social problems faced by Syrian students who were forcefully migrated to Turkey and studied in Osmaniye Ata University were examined. Many people who immigrated to Turkey due to the civil war that began in Syria in 2011 and were children in those years have started their university education today. The problems faced by Syrian asylum-seeking students studying at universities in the city of Osmaniye in their ability to meet their vital needs, sources of income, participation in education and adaptation processes were examined. The data of the study was obtained through in-depth interview and survey work, then analyzed through a statistical package program. As a result of the study, it was observed that Syrian students studying at Osmaniye Korkut Ata University faced many different economic problems in the city of Osmaniye where they lived. Many problems that Syrian students experience in their educational lives are financial, and financial concerns directly affect their social lives. In addition, it was revealed that as their stay in Turkey extended, they may experience anxiety about resettlement when they are sent back to their country.  Article visualizations

IOT Forensics Curriculum: Is It a Myth or Reality?

In this research paper, two questions are answered. The first question is Should universities invest in the preparation of an IoT forensics curriculum? . The second question is If the IoT forensics curriculum is worth investing in, what are the basic building steps in the development of an loT forensics curriculum? . To answer those questions, the authors conducted a comprehensive literature review spanning academia, the private sector, and non-profit organizations. The authors also performed semi-structured interviews with two experts from academia and the private sector. The results showed that because of the proliferation of IoT technology and the increasing number of attacks against loT devices, developing loT forensics curriculum should be considered by the universities. It is worth mentioning that loT forensics can be one of the main driving factors for securing IoT devices. However, because of the peculiarity and novelty of the domain, and the challenges of IoT forensics, it is difficult to prepare a course-centric curriculum at the very first step. Rather than doing this, universities can collaborate with various stakeholders from the private sector and government agencies to spot and study in real-world cases and let these cases build and evolve an IoT forensics curriculum

Evaluating ICT integration in Turkish K-12 schools through teachers' views

The current study aims to explore ICT integration in Turkish K-12 schools purposively selected as a representation of F@tih and non-F@tih public schools together with a private school. A convergent mixed methods design was employed with a multiple case strategy as such it will enable to make casewise comparisons. The quantitative data was collected through e-capacity measurement scales. Concurrently, the qualitative data was gathered through three open-ended questions. The evaluation results illustrate that a private school outperformed all public schools, including F@tih and non-F@tih schools. However there are some promising results indicating that F@tih project has made some significant inroads into improvement of ICT related school conditions, specifically ICT infrastructure of public schools. Yet, the findings also illustrate that ICT coordination and support, ICT vision and policy and teachers’ ICT training and their ICT use are policy domains that should be addressed and improved in both F@tih and non-F@tih schools

A Psychoanalytic Qualitative Study of Subjective Life Experiences of Women With Breast Cancer

This article exemplifies research on the subjective life experiences of women with breast cancer, designed from a psychoanalytic perspective. Such research aims to reveal the subjective intrapsychic processes of women suffering from breast cancer, which can provide researchers and health care professionals with useful insight. Using Biographic narrative interpretative method, the study reveals some common denominators in the subjective life experiences of women with breast cancer. The study revealed that the subjects consider the diagnosis of breast cancer as one of the four main events in their lives. Even though these events are very different from each other, in terms of type and severity, the results indicate a common process in the way these life events are experienced by the participants. These results are relevant for health care practitioners in structuring their psychosocial support programs so as to better accommodate their patients' psychological needs

BİLGİSAYAR SAYILARININ C PROGRAMLAMA DİLİNE UYGUN GENİŞLETİLMESİ

Günümüzde fen ve mühendislik alanındaki problemler sayısal olarak bilgisayarlarda çözülmektedir. Problemin çözümünde kullanılan klasik matematiksel yöntemler, bilgisayarda her zaman istenilen çözümü veremeyebilir. Bunun nedenlerinden birisi, bilgisayarların reel sayılar yerine sonlu kümelerle çalışmasıdır. Bilgisayar sayılarının kümesi (Format), yazılım ve donanım açısından standartlara bağlanmıştır. C dilinde reel sayılarla çalışmak için  float,  double ve  long double olmak üzere 3 çeşit bilgisayar sayı kümesi kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada C dilindeki bu 3 çeşit kümeye karşılık gelen Format kümeleri incelenmiştir. Fakat “ucuz” Formatın genişletilmesi, “reel sayıların” ayrık kuvvetle gösterilmesi yöntemiyle yeni Format’ları verir. Elde edilen bu Formatların karakteristikleri çalışmamızda tablolar  şeklinde verilmiştir

Yetim proteinlerde ikincil yapı öngörüsü için eğitim kümesi indirgeme yöntemleri = Training set reduction methods for single sequence protein secondary structure prediction

Orphan proteins are characterized by the lack of significant sequence similarity to almost all proteins in the database. To infer the functional properties of the orphans, more elaborate techniques that utilize structural information are required. In this regard, the protein structure prediction gains considerable importance. Secondary structure prediction algorithms designed for orphan proteins (also known as single-sequence algorithms) cannot utilize multiple alignments or aligment profiles, which are derived from similar proteins. This is a limiting factor for the prediction accuracy. One way to improve the performance of a single-sequence algorithm is to perform re-training. In this approach, first, the models used by the algorithm are trained by a representative set of proteins and a secondary structure prediction is computed. Then, using a distance measure, the original training set is refined by removing proteins that are dissimilar to the initial prediction. This step is followed by the re-estimation of the model parameters and the prediction of the secondary structure. In this paper, we compare training set reduction methods that are used to re-train the hidden semi-Markov models employed by the IPSSP algorithm. We found that the composition based reduction method has the highest performance compared to the other reduction methods. In addition, threshold-based reduction performed bettern than the reduction technique that selects the first 80% of the dataset proteins

The working poor: a comparative analysis

Recently, there is growing debate in developed countries on the issue of the working poor. Poverty is a phenomenon traditionally associated with economically inactive persons such as the homeless, the unemployed or the handicapped. The changing of work patterns and a growing polarisation in the labour market between low or unskilled work and high-skilled work have created new poverty risks amongst the employed population. As a result of this trend, the concept of the ‘working poor’, which gained ground in the United States in the 1970s, has become increasingly applicable to labour market realities in the world. Today, there are around 550 million person who can be classified as the working poor in the world. In other words, one in every five persons in labour force belongs to a poor household. While the problem of working poverty is broadly discussed in the USA, a limited number of studies exist on this issue in the EU and in Turkey. In this paper, this reality will be emphasized and the situation in the USA, in the EU and in Turkey will be compared

Soil respiration in apple orchards, poplar plantations and adjacent grasslands in Artvin, Turkey

Abstract: In this study, influence of land-use type on soil respiration was investigated in poplar plantation, apple orchard (apple trees with understory grasses) and adjacent grassland sites in Seyitler Area, Artvin, Turkey. , respectively. Mean soil respiration was significantly greater in apple orchard than in poplar plantations and grasslands. Seasonal changes in soil respiration were related to soil moisture and temperature changes. Mean soil respiration rate correlated strongly with subsurface soil (15-35cm) pH (R = -0,73; p<0.05), sand content (R= 0.96, p<0.001), soil silt content (R= -0.75; p<0.05), soil clay content (R= -0,83; p<0.001) and organic matter content (R= 0,88; p<0.001). No significant correlations were observed between soil respiration and surface (0-15 cm) soil properties and root biomass. Overall, our results indicate that apple orchards with understory grasses have higher soil biological activity compared to poplar and grassland sites