Energetic Consequences of Human Impacts for Bioindicator Atlantic Ghost Crab (\u3cem\u3eOcypode Quadrata\u3c/em\u3e)

Human activities have caused notable changes in ecosystems globally over the past century, which cause substantial ecological issues. The degree of these ecological issues is often investigated using the responses of bioindicator species. Bioindicator species often reduce their population densities and individual sizes as a response to the human disturbance. Observing these variations in the demographics is often an effective way to measure the strength of the ecological changes. However, they do not provide any mechanistic reason (s) for the shifts in the demographics, which is important for making predictions about responses of the species to the future conditions. Therefore, this dissertation employs an energetic approach to investigate the human disturbances on a bioindicator species, Ocypode quadrata. We show that O. quadrata populations alter their demographics as a response to the human disturbance, suggesting a reliable bioindicator for sandy shores. We also show that organisms alter their behavior based on the strength of the human disturbance, and these behavior changes are the energetic consequences of the human disturbance. We further show that human disturbance has a selective pressure on the morphology of O. quadrata. By combining field and laboratory surveys, we also show that habitat quality varies with relation to the strength of human disturbance and these habitats with lower quality influence the diet, physiology and reproductive potential of O. quadrata. Ultimately, this dissertation highlights the influences of human disturbance on ecology and physiology of a bioindicator

Analysis of the Effects of Defense Expenditures on Income Distribution and Economic Development with Panel Asymmetric Causality Test: Brics Countries and Turkey Case

In this study, for BRICS countries and Turkey defense spending economic development and income distribution relationship is examined for the period 1995-2015. High defense expenditures are on the agenda as an important research topic in the world and in our country. Therefore, the effects of defense expenditures on income distribution and economic development of countries can be determined by examining these three variables. For the BRICS countries and Turkey, to examining the impact of defense spending and income distribution to economic development too much work not found. Westerlund (2008) found that the cointegration relationship between the main variables and the negative components was not detected in the long term, whereas long-term relationship was found between the positive components. According to the results of the asymmetric panel causality analysis, only one-way causality from economic growth to defense expenditures was determined between economic growth and defense expenditures in the period 1995-2010, while there was no causality from defense expenditures to economic growth. One-way causality from income inequality to defense expenditures was identified between 1995 and 2010 in terms of income inequality and defense expenditures, while bi-directional causality was detected in 1996-2011 period. In the period of 2000-2015, it is concluded that there is a one-way causality from defense expenditures to income inequality

The Relationship Between Military Expenditures, Democracy and Economic Development

From the 1950s and onwards, the relationship between democracy and economic development remains a matter of curiosity. In this study, the relationship between democracy and economic development as institutional determinants of military expenditures is investigated by Dumitreschu-Hurlin (2012) time-varying panel causality test for 34 OECD countries for the period of 1990-2017. As a result of the analysis, between 1995-2015 period there was a two-waycausal relationship between military expenditures and economic development, military expenditures and democracy, and a one-way causality running from development to democracy. In the period between 2002 and 2016, there was a one-way causal relationship from democracy to military spending and from democracy to development. In the period of 2003-2017, it was revealed that there was a one way causality from democracy to development and the compatibility perspective is valid.           &nbsp

STR-960: ELIMINATING ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES IN VIBRATION-BASED DAMAGE DETECTION USING ARMAX RESIDUAL ERROR AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS

Despite offering a great promise for continuous and automated monitoring of civil infrastructure systems, vibration-based damage detection methods may yield false positives and negatives due to environmental and/or operational effects. This paper presents a method based on ARMAX residual error in conjunction with Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to eliminate the environmental effects from damage detection process. A finite element model of a bridge type structure was simulated with different damage scenarios under various temperatures. Damage features obtained from statistical process on ARMAX residual errors were then compared between with and without environmental effects. Artificial neural networks were trained to learn and predict damage features due to temperature change only, by subtracting which the final damage feature was obtained. It is shown that both damage location and damage severity can be accurately identified

New Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites and cult centres in the Urfa Region

The present study assesses the sites and the corresponding artefacts that were recently discovered during cultural inventory studies in the Urfa region in south-eastern Turkey. The studies were conducted at PPN sites located at Herzo Tepe, Basaran Höyük and Kocanizam, Taslı Tepe and  ̇Inanlı Tepe within the borders of Viransehir and Siverek boroughs; the already known site at Sefer Tepe is also re-examined. The sites extend in a north-south direction and were founded within a 3–5km distance, and they exhibit unique characteristics for this region. Recently discovered sites are compared to already known PPN sites in the region to reveal similar features and characteristics. In particular, the article elaborates similarities and discrepancies between sites with T-shaped pillars and sites with circular structures. The recently discovered sites demonstrate that the pillar tradition is predominant in the region and that the settlements have a distinct layout.V študiji ovrednotimo najdišča in pripadajoče artefakte, ki so bili nedavno odkriti pri študijah kulturnih inventarjev v regiji Urfa na območju južno-vzhodne Turčije. Analize so bile opravljene na najdiščih predkeramičnega neolitika na območjih kot so Herzo Tepe, Basaran Höyük in Kocanizam, Taşlı Tepe in İnanli Tepe znotraj mestnih okrajev Viransehir in Siverek; ponovno smo preiskali tudi že znano najdišče Sefer Tepe. Najdišča se raztezajo v smeri sever-jug in so postavljena v razdalji od 3 do 5km, poleg tega pa izkazujejo edinstvene značilnosti za to območje. Nedavno odkrita najdišča primerjamo z že znanimi predkeramičnimi najdišči v regiji in na ta način ugotavljamo njihove podobnosti in značilnosti. V članku se podrobneje ukvarjamo s podobnostmi in razlikami med najdišči s stebri v obliki črke T in najdišči s krožnimi strukturami. Nedavno odkrita najdišča kažejo, da v tej regiji prevladuje tradicija stebrov in da imajo naselbine značilne prostorske ureditve

Defense Expenditures And Inflation Relationship: 1990-2018 NATO Countries Case

Although it is seen in the literature that defense expenditures are associated with various macroeconomic variables, it can be foreseen that there is no consensus on the relationship between defense expenditures and inflation. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between defense spending and inflation in NATO countries for the period 1990-2018. For this purpose, horizontal cross-sectional dependence test was examined by the bootstrap panel causality analysis developed by Kónya (2006) following the heterogeneity tests of Pesaran and Yamagata (2008). The analysis results indicate that there is a one-way causality relationship from inflation to defense spending in the United States, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, England and Latvia.           &nbsp

The investigation of attitude and readiness of information and communication technologies pre-service teachers toward web based learning

5th International Conference on New Horizons in Education (INTE) -- JUN 25-27, 2014 -- Paris, FRANCEWOS: 000383740201030The present study aims to investigate attitudes and readiness of Information and Communication Technologies pre-service teachers toward web-based learning. In the study group of the research are 165 pre-service teachers. The study was conducted in the survey model. As data collection tools, 'Web-based Teaching Attitude Scale' and 'Readiness and Expectation Scale for e-Learning Process' were utilized. In analysis of the collected data, descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA analysis were conducted. As a result of the research, it was found that attitude levels of pre-service teachers were lower than median; and their readiness levels were above the median. Moreover, in terms of gender, there was no significant difference between attitude and readiness scores. While there was no significant difference among attitude scores in terms of number of years in education, there was significant difference in readiness scores. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

İlkokullarda Yetiştirme Programının (İyep) İşlevselliğinin İncelenmesi

DergiPark: 629316tredBu araştırmadaİlkokullarda Yetiştirme Programının  değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Nitelaraştırma deseni olan fenomonoloji (olgubilim) dayalı bu araştırmada odak grup görüşme ve bireysel görüşme tekniklerikullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Kahramanmaraş ilinde programınuygulandığı 4 okuldan amaçlı örnekleme yöntemi olan ölçüt örnekleme yöntemikullanılarak belirlenen 13 öğretmen, 16 öğrenci, 4 yönetici ve 2 velioluşturmaktadır. Veriler yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formları ile toplanmış veiçerik analizi yapılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda programın bütün paydaşlarının(öğretme, öğrenci, yönetici veli) bu programa ihtiyacın olduğu, programınöğrencilerin gelişimine katkı sağladığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Programınuygulanma aşamasında öğrenci seçiminin doğru yapılamaması, süre yetersizliği,öğrenci devamsızlıkları,  öğrenci veöğretmenlerin yorgunluğu, öğrencilerin sıkılması, programla ilgili yönetici,öğretmen ve velilerin yeterince bilgilendirilmemesi, modüller için belirlenensürelerin dengesiz dağılımı, farklı modüllerdeki öğrencilerin aynı grupta yeralmasının zorlukları, ders kapsamının azlığı, kaynakların yetersizliği gibisorunların varlığına ulaşılmıştır