Determination of the perceptions of sports managers about sport concept: A metaphor analysis study

The aim of this research is to determine the perceptions of sport managers in Turkey on the concept of sport by means of metaphors. 74 sport managers participated in the research. Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. Content analysis method was used for the data analysis. Evaluation of the data showed that sports managers produced a total of 50 metaphors. These metaphors produced were collected in 6 different categories. As a result, it was determined that sport managers expressed the concept of sport by means of metaphors in a very rich and diverse perspective. Therefore, the metaphors determined in this study may lead the sport managers and candidates responsible for the administration of sports services and activities in terms of offering a different perspective on the practice of sport management. © 2018, Sciedu Press. All rights reserved

Conformal Collineations and Ricci Inheritance Symmetry in String Cloud and String Fluids

Conformal collineations (a generalization of conformal motion) and Ricci inheritance collineations, defined by $\pounds_\xi R_{ab}=2\alpha R_{ab}$, for string cloud and string fluids in general relativity are studied. By investigating the kinematical and dynamical properties of such fluids and using the field equations, some recent studies on the restrictions imposed by conformal collineations are extended, and new results are found.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, no figures, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Smart Home Laboratory for Smart Grid Infrastructure in Turkey

Akıllı şebekeler konusunda yapılan çalışmalarda, özellikle enerji verimliliğinin etkin bir şekilde sağlanması için temel olarak evlerdeki elektrik enerjisi tüketimi ele alınmaktadır. Bu tüketim değerleri ile enerji üretim tesislerinin kontrolü ve izlenmesi ile enerji akışının verimli bir şekilde gerçekleştirilebileceği belirtilmektedir. Bu amaçla yapılan çalışmalarda üzerinde en çok durulan konulardan birisi de akıllı şebekelerin temelini oluşturan “akıllı evler (smart homes)”dir. Akıllı evlerin yerel şebekedeki diğer tüketicilerle ve evlerde bulunan elektrikli cihazlarla haberleşmesi sayesinde elektrik enerji sistemi daha verimli bir şekilde işletilebilir. Bu sayede, tüketim değerlerinin mevcut enerji üretimine oldukça başarılı bir şekilde adapte edilebilmesi mümkün hale gelmektedir. Bu çalışmada İstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı (ISTKA)’nın desteğiyle Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi bünyesinde kurulan akıllı şebekeler alt yapısına uygun Akıllı Ev ele alınacaktır. Kurulan evde tüketicinin enerji ihtiyacı hem yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarından sağlanabilmekte hem de geliştirilen enerji yönetim algoritmalarıyla enerjinin etkin kullanımı üzerine araştırmalar yapılmaktadır. In smart grid related studies ,mainly domestic electrical energy consumption is discussed in order to provide a better energy efficiency. It is stated that, control and observation of both domestic consumption rates and power plants will provide more effective energy flow. One of the core point of these studies are “smart homes” which can be considered as principal component of smart grids. The communication of smart homes with other consumers in the grid and the electrical appliances in the home provides a more efficient management of electrical energy system. Therefore it becomes possible to adapt consumption rates to the existent energy production in a succesfull way. In this study, a smart grid compatible smart home, established with the support of ISTKA (Istanbul Development Agency) in Yildiz Technical University, will be evaluated. In the constructed smart home, the user’s energy demand is provided by the renewable energy resources and research is being conducted for energy management algorithms for more effective use of electrical energy

ANKOS publisher application system and its impact on the e-resource evaluation process

The Publisher Application System (PAS) is a Web-based archiving and online evaluation system developed by the Database Evaluation Group (DEG), one of the working groups formed within the Anatolian University Libraries Consortium (ANKOS). The DEG was formed in 2008 to inquire and evaluate e-resources suited to the needs of the consortium; to follow up similar consortial activities worldwide as well as developments in connection with the scientific publishing industry; and to determine, implement, and improve pricing models in accordance with the prevailing economic, legal, and academic system. Development of the PAS was essential to ensure standardization and sustainability towards a more detailed and effective analysis of e-resources qualifying for evaluation by ANKOS. The PAS played an important part not only in establishing and defining the workflow of the DEG, but also in creating an archive of both the e-resources submitted to the consortium and the applicant publishers/agents submitting these resources. This article outlines the process that started with the foundation of the DEG through the formation of the PAS as well as the present setup of the system. It is also hoped that this case study will have a positive contribution to the processes being followed by the persons and the groups engaged in similar activities.pre-prin

ANKOS publisher application system and its impact on the e-resource evaluation process

The Publisher Application System (PAS) is a Web-based archiving and online evaluation system developed by the Database Evaluation Group (DEG), one of the working groups formed within the Anatolian University Libraries Consortium (ANKOS). The DEG was formed in 2008 to inquire and evaluate e-resources suited to the needs of the consortium; to follow up similar consortial activities worldwide as well as developments in connection with the scientific publishing industry; and to determine, implement, and improve pricing models in accordance with the prevailing economic, legal, and academic system. Development of the PAS was essential to ensure standardization and sustainability towards a more detailed and effective analysis of e-resources qualifying for evaluation by ANKOS. The PAS played an important part not only in establishing and defining the workflow of the DEG, but also in creating an archive of both the e-resources submitted to the consortium and the applicant publishers/agents submitting these resources. This article outlines the process that started with the foundation of the DEG through the formation of the PAS as well as the present setup of the system. It is also hoped that this case study will have a positive contribution to the processes being followed by the persons and the groups engaged in similar activities.pre-prin

Carotid endarterectomy compared with carotid artery stenting for extracranial carotid artery stenosis: a retrospective single-centre study

Aim: One of the main risk factors for an ischemic stroke is significant carotid artery stenosis, and extracranial severe carotid artery stenosis accounts for 20% of ischemic strokes. Prior to the development of carotid artery stenting (CAS), the only effective and reliable treatment for carotid artery stenosis was carotid endarterectomy (CEA). This study compares the results of CAS and CEA in patients with significant carotid artery stenosis. Methods: Between 2018 and 2022, hospital records of all patients who underwent carotid artery revascularization at the institution were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups depending on whether CEA or CAS was performed for carotid revascularization. Propensity score matching was performed to reduce bias by equating the baseline clinical characteristics of the groups. To compare 30-day, 1-year, and long-term outcomes, rates of transient ischemic attack (TIA), myocardial infarction, stroke, all-cause mortality, and composite endpoints were analyzed. Results: After PSM, 76 patients each in the CEA and CAS groups were compared. The mean age was 69.80 years ± 11.35 years and 121 (80%) were male. The patients were followed up for a mean of 33 months ± 6 months. The incidence of TIA in the perioperative period [9 (12%) vs. 4 (5%); P < 0.05], TIA and composite endpoint at 1-year period [11 (15%) vs. 2 (3%); P < 0.05 and 27 (36%) vs. 16 (21%); P < 0.05, respectively] were significantly higher in the CAS group than in the CEA group. No difference was observed between the groups in the long-term. Conclusions: There was no noticeable difference between the CEA and CAS groups in the examination of cases with severe carotid artery stenosis in terms of 1-month, and 1-year results (apart from TIA and composite endpoints), or long-term outcomes. Extracranial carotid artery stenosis can be treated safely and effectively also by CAS

Time trends in diagnostic testing for primary ciliary dyskinesia in Europe

status: publishe

A computational model of perception and action for cognitive robotics

Robots are increasingly expected to perform tasks in complex environments. To this end, engineers provide them with processing architectures that are based on models of human information processing. In contrast to traditional models, where information processing is typically set up in stages (i.e., from perception to cognition to action), it is increasingly acknowledged by psychologists and robot engineers that perception and action are parts of an interactive and integrated process. In this paper, we present HiTEC, a novel computational (cognitive) model that allows for direct interaction between perception and action as well as for cognitive control, demonstrated by task-related attentional influences. Simulation results show that key behavioral studies can be readily replicated. Three processing aspects of HiTEC are stressed for their importance for cognitive robotics: (1) ideomotor learning of action control, (2) the influence of task context and attention on perception, action planning, and learning, and (3) the interaction between perception and action planning. Implications for the design of cognitive robotics are discussed

The professionals speak: Practitioners’ perspectives on professional election campaigning

Faced with some fundamental changes in the socio-cultural, political and media environment, political parties in post-industrialized democracies have started to initiate substantial transformations of both their organizational structures and communicative practices. Those innovations, described as professionalization, become most obvious during election campaigns. In recent times, the number of empirical studies measuring the degree of political parties’ campaign professionalism has grown. They have relied on a broad spectrum of indicators derived from theory which have not been tested for their validity. For the first time, we put these indicators to a ‘reality check’ by asking top-ranked party secretaries and campaign managers in 12 European countries to offer their perceptions of professional election campaigning. Furthermore, we investigate whether any differences in understanding professionalism among party campaign practitioners can be explained by macro (country) and meso (party) factors. By and large, our results confirm the validity of most indicators applied in empirical studies on campaign professionalism so far. There are some party- and country-related differences in assessing campaign professionalism too, but the influence of most factors on practitioners’ evaluations is weak. Therefore, we conclude that largely there is a far-reaching European Union-wide common understanding of professional election campaigning