Using simulation gaming to validate a mathematical modeling platform for resource allocation in disasters

The extraordinary conditions of a disaster require the mobilisation of all available resources, inducing the rush of humanitarian partners into the affected area This phenomenon called the proliferation of actors, causes serious problems during the disaster response phase including the oversupply, duplicated efforts, lack of planning In an attempt to reduce the partner proliferation problem a framework called PREDIS (PREdictive model for DISaster response partner selection) is put forward to configure the humanitarian network within early hours after disaster strike when the information is scarce To verify this model a simulation game is designed using two sets of real decision makers (experts and non-experts) in the disaster Haiyan scenario The result shows that using the PREDIS framework 100% of the experts could make the same decisions less than six hours comparing to 72 hours Also between 71% and 86% of the times experts and non-experts decide similarly using the PREDIS framewor

The relationship between green supply chain management and performance: a meta-analysis of empirical evidences in Asian emerging economics

The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and firm performance in the manufacturing sector in Asian emerging economies (AEE) based on empirical evidence. Through a systematic literature review, we identified 50 articles that surveyed 11,127 manufacturing companies in the AEE and were published between 1996 and 2015. Subsequently, a conceptual framework was developed and analyzed through a meta-analysis of 130 effects from 25,680 effect sizes. The findings revealed that the GSCM practices lead to better performance in four aspects: economic, environmental, operational, and social performance. Moreover, the results indicate that industry type, firm size, ISO certification, and export orientation moderate several of the GSCM practice-performance relationships. Moreover, the findings of this research help managers and policy makers to have more confidence in the adoption of GSCM practices to improve firm performance. Such results also help researchers to better channel their efforts in studying the GSCM practices in Asian emerging economies. In addition, as meta-analysis has not been widely used in the supply chain management literature, our study is an important step in maturing the academic field by adopting this technique for confirming GSCM practice-performance relationships in the manufacturing sector of Asian emerging economies

"Estimating the Impact of the Recent Economic Crisis on Work Time in Turkey"

This paper provides estimates of the impact of the recent economic crisis on paid and unpaid work time in Turkey. The data used in this study come from the first and only time-use survey available at the national level. Infrequency of collection of time-use data in Turkey does not allow us to make a direct comparison of pre- versus postcrisis time-use patterns. We introduce a tractable way for estimating these possible effects by measuring the impact of an increase in unemployment risk on time-use patterns of women and men living in couple households. The method developed here can be applied to other developing-country cases where there is a lack of longitudinal data availability. Our findings support the argument that economic crises reinforce the preexisting gender inequalities in work time.Economic Crisis; Gender Inequality; Time Use; Unemployment Risk; Unpaid Work; Turkey

Enriching Traditional Protein-protein Interaction Networks with Alternative Conformations of Proteins

Traditional Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) networks, which use a node and edge representation, lack some valuable information about the mechanistic details of biological processes. Mapping protein structures to these PPI networks not only provides structural details of each interaction but also helps us to find the mutual exclusive interactions. Yet it is not a comprehensive representation as it neglects the conformational changes of proteins which may lead to different interactions, functions, and downstream signalling. In this study, we proposed a new representation for structural PPI networks inspecting the alternative conformations of proteins. We performed a large-scale study by creating breast cancer metastasis network and equipped it with different conformers of proteins. Our results showed that although 88% of proteins in our network has at least two structures in Protein Data Bank (PDB), only 22% of them have alternative conformations and the remaining proteins have different regions saved in PDB. However, using even this small set of alternative conformations we observed a considerable increase in our protein docking predictions. Our protein-protein interaction predictions increased from 54% to 76% using the alternative conformations. We also showed the benefits of investigating structural data and alternative conformations of proteins through three case studies

ENGELLİ ÇOCUĞU OLAN ANNELERİN SÜREKLİ KAYGI DÜZEYİ İLE DURUMLUK KAYGI DÜZEYLERİNİN KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI

Bu araştırmada, engelli çocuğu olan annelerin sürekli yaşadıklarıkaygıdüzeyleri ile çocuklarıile birlikte sosyal ortamda alışveriş, lokantada yemek yeme, çocuklarınıkuruma götürme gibi geçirdikleri zamandaki durumluk kaygıdüzeylerinin karşılaştırılmasıamaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini, çocuklarıbir özel eğitim kurumuna devam eden 51 anne oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma verileri Spielberger’in Sürekli-Durumluk KaygıEnvanteri ile engelli çocuğu olan annelerin yaşadıklarıkaygıdüzeylerinin belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Anneler ile ilgili sosyo-demografik bilgi elde etmek için 10 soruluk bir bilgi formu kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonunda annelerin çoğunluğunda sürekli kaygıdurumuna rastlanmıştır. Ayrıca, annelerin eğitim durumlarına göre kaygıdüzeylerinin artışgösterdiği belirlenmiştir

One-Loop Matching of the Heavy-Light A_0 and V_0 Currents with NRQCD Heavy and Improved Naive Light Quarks

One-loop matching of heavy-light currents is carried out for a highly improved lattice action, including the effects of dimension 4 O(1/M) and O(a) operators. We use the NRQCD action for heavy quarks, the Asqtad improved naive action for light quarks, and the Symanzik improved glue action. As part of the matching procedure we also present results for the NRQCD self energy and for massless Asqtad quark wavefunction renormalization with improved glue.Comment: 25 pages, 3 eps-figure

Primary HIV-1 Infection Among Infants in sub-Saharan Africa: HPTN 024.

Our objectives were to assess clinical signs and diagnoses associated with primary HIV-1 infection among infants. We analyzed data from a clinical trial (HIV Prevention Trials Network Protocol 024) in sub-Saharan Africa. Study visits were conducted at birth, at 4-6 weeks, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The study population comprised live born, singleton, first-born infants of HIV-1-infected women with negative HIV-1 RNA assays who were still breastfeeding at 4-6 weeks. Of 1317 HIV-1-exposed infants, 84 became HIV-1 infected after 4-6 weeks and 1233 remained uninfected. There were 102 primary and 5650 nonprimary infection visits. The most common signs were cough and diarrhea, and the most common diagnoses were malaria and pneumonia. Primary infection was associated with significantly increased odds of diarrhea [odds ratio (OR) = 2.4], pneumonia (OR = 3.5), otitis media (OR = 3.1), and oral thrush (OR = 2.9). For the clinical signs and diagnoses evaluated, sensitivity was low (1%-16.7%) and specificity was high (88.2%-99%). Positive predictive values ranged from 0.1%-1.4%. Negative predictive values ranged from 28.0%-51.1%. Certain clinical signs and diagnoses, although more common during primary HIV-1 infection, had low sensitivity and high specificity. Efforts to expand access to laboratory assays for the diagnosis of primary HIV-1 infection among infants of HIV-1-infected women should be emphasized

An Experimental Study of Coconut Shell with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash as Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregates and Cement to Concrete

High building material costs and demand can be a significant disadvantage for builders and contractors. The cost of raw materials such as wood, steel, and concrete is always growing, increasing the cost of projects. Due to the high demand for certain materials, they can be difficult to get on time, causing project delays. This is especially true when working on large-scale projects with short deadlines. This research presents an idea to minimize the problem by partially replacing the cement and coarse aggregates with sugarcane bagasse ash and coconut shell. The study has 3 main objectives: (1) To determine the effects of workability (slump cone test) and durability (water absorption test) of concrete when Coconut Shell and Sugarcane Bagasse Ash are used as partial replacements of cement and coarse aggregates after 7, 14, and 28 days of curing.The samples were tested using a Universal Testing Machine (UTM) and the outcomes of the experiment revealed that CS and SCBA have a positive result on the properties of standard concrete

ÇOCUKLARIN RESİMLERİNDEKİ AİLEYİ TANILAMA DURUMLARININ DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Çocuklar resim yoluyla bize duygularınıyansıtabilirler ve olaylar hakkındaki his ve düşüncelerini ifade edebilirler. Çocuğun yaptığıresimler onun iç dünyasının aynasıolarak kabul edilmektedir. Bu düşüncelerden yola çıkarak çocuk resmi konusunda pek çok araştırma yapılmıştır. Bu çalışmada; çocuk resminde aile kavramıdeğerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışmaya Türkiye’den Konya İli Meram ve Selçuklu İlçelerinden ilköğretim okullarına devam eden 8-14 yaşarası66 öğrenci ve Almanya’nın Berlin Şehrinde 8-14 yaşarası58 öğrenci olmak üzere toplam 124 öğrenci alınmıştır. Öğrencilere zihinsel boyutu değerlendirmek amacıile Goodenough Harris Adam Çizme Testi uygulanmıştır. Ayrıca öğrencilerden aile kavramınıdeğerlendirmek amacıile birer aile resmi çizmeleri istenmiştir. Çalışmanın sonucunda her iki ülkede yaşayan çocukların cinsiyetine göre resim çizme ve aileyi tanıma durumlarıarasında kızların erkeklerden daha başarılıolduklarıve yaşilerledikçe aileyi tanıma düzeyinin yükseldiği gözlenmiştir. Ayrıca kardeşsayısına göre aileyi tanıma puanlarıfarklılaşmaktadır, okul başarısıyüksek olan öğrencilerin goodenhough harris testinden aldılarıpuan daha yüksek bulunmuştur