Analysis of the Most Important Factors that Affect Tensile and Shear Strength of Dual-Phase Steels Using Taguchi Method

Dual-phase steels are high-strength steels which are heat treated to contain both a ferrite and martensite microstructure to achieve an extra strength. They have high formability, low alloy content, and high strength. In today's competitive environment, the aim of businesses is to produce quality products with a low cost. The quality is taken into consideration substantially in products selection. In this study, the DP 600 series of the dual-phase steel group, which has become widespread in the automotive sector in recent years, is discussed and the most important factors and factor levels affecting the tensile and shear strength of these automotive sheets are analyzed using the Taguchi method. The main reason of using the Taguchi method is to reduce the number of experiments to be performed using orthogonal arrays. So it is expected to achieve less time and labor force and low cost. Firstly, the average and S/N ratio for each experiment using the L16 orthogonal array are calculated and found which levels are more appropriate for the factors. Then, analysis of variance is performed in order to determine the factors, which significantly affect the tensile and shear strength of dual-phase 600 type automobile sheets

Albumin evokes Ca 2+ -induced cell oxidative stress and apoptosis through TRPM2 channel in renal collecting duct cells reduced by curcumin

In proteinuric nephropathies of chronic kidney disease, the epithelial cells of the nephron including the collecting duct are exposed to high concentrations of luminal albumin. Albumin is taken up from collecting duct cells by endocytosis causing excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and a proinflammatory response. Curcumin used in the traditional medicine possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. ROS and ADP-ribose (ADPR) activate the cation channel TRPM2. We hypothesize, that albumin-induced cell stress and proinflammatory response are mediated by Ca2+ and can be reduced by curcumin. The cortical collecting duct (CCD) cells mpkCCDc14 exhibit spontaneous and inducible Ca2+ oscillations, which can be blocked by pre-treatment with curcumin. Curcumin accumulates in plasma membrane and intracellular vesicles, where it interferes with TRPM2 and decreases the influx of Ca2+. Albumin reduces cell viability and increases apoptosis, NF-κB activation, and mitochondrial membrane depolarization via Ca2+-dependent signaling, which results in increased ROS production. Albumin-induced cell stress is diminished by the inhibition of TRPM2 after administration of curcumin and ADPR (PARP1) inhibitors. Curcumin did not reduce the Ca2+ elevation induced by thapsigargin in Ca2+-free medium, but it reduced the function of store-operated Ca2+ channels and ATP-evoked Ca2+ response. In conclusion, albumin-induced oxidative stress is mediated by Ca2+-dependent signaling via TRPM2 and leads to cell damage and a proinflammatory response, strengthening the role of CCD cells in the progression of chronic kidney disease

Class Based Storage with Mixed Integer Linear Programming Approach for Hazardous Materials Storage

The paper presents storage location assignment problem using a new mixed integer linear programming approach for class based storage assignment in hazardous materials storage. Class-based storage strategy is widely used in practical division of all stored items into a number of classes according to their turnover. Material safety data sheets are used for determining the special needs of storing criteria. Storage location assignment problem problem is solved using a new proposed mixed integer linear programming model. Main objective of our approach is directed to a class of items with higher turnover allocated to region closer to the warehouse depot. As a result, materials are assigned onto dedicated storage areas while considering the storage constraints of item-to-location and item-to-item in chemical warehouse. Moreover, the item-to-location constraints mean that the item has specified characteristics and needs to be stored into specified racks. For item-to-item constraints, some items should not be stored close to each other. These constraints confine the storage assignment strategy environment. Mixed integer linear model is solved using the Branch and Bound algorithm to minimize travelling distance inside the warehouse. The results indicated that the proposed approach improved the picking efficiency significantly and decreased prevalence of all unexpected situations such as death due to danger, injury, and trouble

Azeri petrolünün batı pazarlarına taşınmasının basındaki yeri ve Türk tarafının konuya yaklaşımı

Bu tezin, veri tabanı üzerinden yayınlanma izni bulunmamaktadır.ÖZET Geçmiş yüzyıllarda olduğu gibi, 21. yüzyılda da Dünya devletlerinin üzerinde hassasiyetle duracakları en önemli konu enerji olacaktır. Teknolojik gelişmeler baş döndürücü bir hızla gelişmekte ve bir o kadar da bizleri enerjiye bağımlı hale getirmektedir. Petrol dünyada enerji kaynakları içinde belki de en önemli yeri işgal etmektedir. Petrol, keşfiyle birlikte gelişen teknolojinin motor görevini üstlenmiştir. Petrolün olmadığı bir dünyayı düşünmek herhalde mümkün olamayacaktır. Hayatın bu kadar zaruri ihtiyacı haline gelen petrol üzerine 20.yüzyılın başlarından itibaren pek çok planlar ve mücadeleler yapılmıştır. Petrolü tüketenlerle, sahip olanlar arasındaki mücadele bugün de kıyasıya devam etmektedir. Bu sebeple zengin petrol yataklarına sahip bölgeler dünyanın güçlü devletlerinin her zaman ilgisini çekmiş ve bu gibi yerleri kontrolleri altına almak istemelerine yol açmıştır. Sovyetler Birliği'nin dağılmasından sonra Türkistan ve Orta Asya devletlerinin sahip oldukları yeraltı ve yerüstü doğal kaynaklan gözler önüne serilmiş, bu da büyük bir ekseriyetle tüketen Batılılar için yeni bir kaynak olmuştur. Azerbaycan bağımsızlığını kazandıktan sonra ekonomisini geliştirebilmek, istikranın koruyabilmek, iktisadi dengelerini kurabilmek için sahip olduğu enerji kaynaklarını, ilk başta da petrolünü çıkartarak alıcı durumundaki Batıya satmayı düşünmüştür. Azerbaycan, ne denizden ne de karadan Batı ile komşuluğu olmadığı için petrolün taşınması problemi gündeme gelmiştir. Petrolün çıkartımı kadar emniyetli bir şekilde kullanıcıya ulaştırılması da önemli olduğundan dolayı, petrolün taşınması konusunda çeşitli görüşler gündeme gelmiştir. Bu çalışmada Azerbaycan'ın sahip olduğu petrolün, Batı pazarlarına taşınması ve bunun için yapılan mücadelelerin ana hatları incelenmiştir. Birinci bölümde, Azerbaycan'ın yakın tarihi, coğrafyası, doğal kaynakları, siyasi yapısı anlatılmıştır. IXİkinci bölümde ise, Hazar petrolleri konusu ve batıya hangi yollarla taşınacağı Türkiye içinde ve dışındaki ülkelerde basında çıkan makaleler incelenerek görüş ve yaklaşım farklılıkları vurgulanmıştır. Üçüncü bölümde ise, Hazar petrolleri ve batı pazarlarına taşınacak yollar konusunda Azeri, Amerikan, Rus, İran ve Türk siyasetleri anlatılmış, yapılan büyük mücadelenin ana hatlarından bahsedilmeye çalışılmıştır. Dördüncü bölümde ise, Hazar petrollerinin taşınması amacıyla ortaya atılan tezler sunulmuş, bu tezler içerisinde Türk tezinin neden en iyi, en mantıklı ve en iktisadi olduğu farklı açılardan değerlendirilmiştir. Beşinci bölümde ise, petrolün taşınması konusunda bu çalışmadan çıkartılabilecek sonuçlar belirtilerek bölgede menfaatleri bulunan devletlerin izlemesinde faydalı olunabilecek yaklaşımlar üzerinde durulmuştur.Countries have given a great interest on energy problem in last century. The problem looks like that it will be an important issues of world at 21st century. While technology has been continued to develop, people will have become more dependent on the energy than before. Oil is one of the important type of the energy. After oil was discovered, life of people has become dependent on the oil and it has become a driving force of developing technology. In the future, world could not be thought without the oil. After oil has become an important part of life, many political struggles have been started at the beginning of 20 century. Countries which consume oil, put a great political struggle to control countries which have oil resource at this time as well. After Soviet Socialist Republics Unity disintegrated itself, Turkish countries have become an independent state. The countries have very rich natural energy resources such as oil, gas, minerals, gold etc. Oil consumer countries draw their attention on these resources in order to supply their energy requirements. Republic of Azerbaijan has firstly considered to sell its oil and natural gas to Western countries in order to recover its economy and to establish political balance after establishing its independence. Azerbaijan has no border neither from sea nor from land with Western countries. That's why, Azerbaijan has not only an oil extraction problem but also oil transportation problem from Azerbaijan to Western countries. Different alternative oil transportation routes have been proposed by countries which wants to take a part on political struggle on Azerbaijan oil at Caspian sea. In this thesis, oil transportation routes from Azerbaijan to Western countries and main political struggle on oil, have been examined. At the first chapter of thesis, history. XIgeography and natural resources and political structure of Azerbaijan have been mentioned. At the second chapter, articles about Caspian oil and oil transportation routes are selected from Turkish and other countries newspapers. Differences and similarities of countries political approach are also examined. At the third chapter, Azerbaijan, America, Russia, Iran and Turkey's political approach on the Caspian oil and alternative transportation routes of oil are discussed. At the fourth chapter. Turkey's proposed pipe line is discussed. Comparison between Turkish proposed pipe line and other alternative pipe lines in terms of security and economic reasons, are also mentioned. At the last chapter, conclusion of the thesis are given and what kind of policy should follow countries which have interest on Caspian oil in order to achieve political stability and to develop their economy, are mentioned. XI

Terrorism and the international system

The main objective of this study is to investigate the relation and interaction between terrorism (as one face of politically motivated violence) and the international political system, as well as the causative link between these two. For this end, after investigating how terrorism and the international system generally are related to each other, the impact of system level long-term transformations in the post-Cold War era on the nature of terrorism will be assessed. Every academic/scientific study covering the issues of terror and terrorism, first of all, has to deal with the problem(s) of definition, and has to formulate its own definition of terrorism. Although this process is not an easy one-due to some theoretical and practical difficulties-definition of terrorism can be formulated as "a kind of mechanism for political control". In order to adequately and accurately assess the impact of terror and terrorism on the international system, determining the relative positioning of terror and terrorism within the system, and exhibiting its interaction with the international system seem to be a necessity. This circumstance is clearly manifest in the post-Cold War era. When carefully analyzed, the changes that have been witnessed in the nature of terrorism, and those have been attributed to actor level transformations strengthened by conjectural military-political changes, turns out to be a reflection of an adaptation process to a series of gradual and long-term transformations within the "structure" of the international system. The military, political, economic, and diplomatic developments in the aftermath of terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, constitutes an integral part of this transformation and adaptation process and consequently they should be evaluated within the context of theses transformations. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, politik amaçlı şiddet olgusunun bir görünümü olan terörizmin uluslararası siyasi sistemle olan ilişkisini, etkileşimini ve ikisi arasındaki nedensellik bağlarını incelemektir. Bu amaçla öncelikle terörizmin uluslararası sistemle olan ilişkisi genel olarak incelendikten sonra Soğuk Savaş sonrası dönemde, sistemsel düzeyde uzun dönemli dönüşümlerin terörizmin doğası üzerindeki etkisi ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır. Terör ve terörizm olguları ile ilgilenen her akademik/bilimsel çalışma öncelikle terörizmin tanımı sorunu ile ilgilenmek ve kendi terörizm tanımını ortaya koymak zorundadır. Bu işlem teorik ve pratik bazı sorunlar nedeniyle kolay bir süreç olmasa da, terörizmin tanımı bir çeşit siyasi kontrol mekanizması olarak yapılabilir. Terörün ve terörizmin sistem üzerindeki etkisinin doğru ve yeterli bir değerlendirmesinin yapılabilmesi için, terörün ve terörizmin sistem içindeki konumlarının belirlenmesi, ve de uluslararası sistemle olan etkileşimlerinin ortaya konulması gereklidir. Bu durum Soğuk Savaş sonrası dönemde, kendisini açıkça ortaya koymaktadır. 90'lı yıllarda terörizmin doğasında görülen ve terörizm çalışmaları literatüründe, genel olarak, dönemsel askeri-politik değişimlerce desteklenen aktör seviyesindeki dönüşümlere atfedilen değişimin, daha derinlemesine analiz edildiğinde, uluslararası sistemin "yapısında" meydana gelen uzun dönemli ve tedrici bir dizi dönüşüme uyum sağlama sürecinin bir yansıması olduğu görülmektedir. 11 Eylül 2001 tarihinde Dünya Ticaret Merkezi ve Pentagona yönelik terör saldırıları sonrasındaki askeri, siyasi, ekonomik, ve diplomatik gelişmeler bu dönüşüm ve uyum sürecinin bir parçasını oluşturmaktadır ve dolayısıyla sonuçları yine bu dönüşüm süreci çerçevesinde değerlendirilmelidir

Selection of dispatching rules with fuzzy ANP approach

Nowadays, the requirement of flexibility in manufacturing has been increased rapidly because of severe market competition in which customer demand should be met in a right time and in a right way. Although there can be many reasons which affect productivity of the flexible manufacturing system (FMS), one of the crucial one is a scheduling policy which depends upon dispatching rules selection. Selection of a best dispatching rule can only be based on one or two criteria such as processing time, due date, or manufacturing system information in traditional methods such as mathematical programming, simulation, and heuristic algorithms. In addition, traditional methods have some weakness such as the following: first one is that dispatching rules do not allow the use of multiple criteria for evaluating process, second one is related with not considering most of the manufacturing system information, and the last one deals with selection decision not being a dynamic structure. In this study, an analytical network process model based on benefit, opportunity, cost, and risk has been developed in order to eradicate these weaknesses. The model is based on a multiple-criteria decision-making process which contains different performance criteria, details of FMS information, a company's strategic criteria, and different well-known dispatching rules. In addition, that fuzziness of information was also considered in the evaluation process

A new algorithm and multi-response Taguchi method to solve line balancing problem in an automotive industry

One of the most important issues in an assembly line balancing problem is to control a flow of production and manufacturing to provide continuous flow to balance the production line. For this purpose, a line balancing problem was considered for a special assembly line in an automotive factory. A new algorithm was required to deal with balancing an assembly line which consisted of the same job which must be performed by more than one worker at the same time. In this way, the new algorithm was expected to be effective in such a case that jobs were simultaneously completed in a parallel way. In order to measure effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, performance criteria were identified as total number of assembly station, total number of workers, and line productivity. As a result of the application of the proposed algorithm with taking into consideration factors such as cycle time, an allowable number of workers in an assembly station, and an allowable idle time of a worker, alternative solutions were determined in order to measure these criteria. However, these alternative solutions do not give any information about which of the solutions provide not only minimization of the number of assembly station and number of workers on the line but also maximize the line productivity at the same time. Hereby, a multi-response Taguchi method was applied in order to investigate levels of factors which directly affected system performance criteria

A new collaborative system framework based on a multiple perspective approach: InteliTeam

This study develops a Web-based collaborative system framework based on a multiple perspective approach. This framework is a recent decision support system (DSS) paradigm proposed by Courtney [Decis. Support Syst. 31 (2001) 17] for knowledge management of and decision making about a special organizational problem. It consists of four main components. The first component is a group decision-making (GDM) approach in which many participants' points of views are considered in the modeling of a specific problem. In the second component, many multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques are employed. The third component is an intelligent system. The fourth component is related to advanced communications that are supported by new technologies such as mobile tools, mobile e-service, and the wireless application protocol (WAP). A new software system called InteliTeam is developed based on the framework. InteliTeam can be accessed from application service providers (ASP), so installation of the software is not required. The software provides online mapping, online queries, and online analysis functions for users anywhere at any time. An example of the software as tested on many organizational problems is presented to illustrate its effectiveness. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

An ERP software selection process with using artificial neural network based on analytic network process approach

An ANN model has been designed and trained with using ANP results in order to calculate ERP software priority. The artificial neural network (ANN) model is trained by results obtained from ANP. It seems that there is no any major difficulty in order to predict software priorities with trained ANN model. By this results ANN model has been come suitable for using in the selection of ERP for another new decision. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved