Turkey between NATO and Russia: the failed balance: Turkey's S-400 purchase and implications for Turkish relations with NATO

Turkey’s purchase of a Russian S-400 air defense missile system has raised questions concerning Turkey’s alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the country’s future intentions. Nonetheless, a break with NATO is unlikely, as alliance dependence is still applicable for both Turkey and other members. Turkish government circles have cast the recent purchase as a means to gain more autonomy from and/or better bargaining power with Western allies. However, the purchase of S‑400s will not bring about the desired outcomes. Instead, it will generate a dual de­pendency characterized by vulnerability to Russia and an increased need for assurances from NATO. Turkey also seems to have reached the limits of its bargaining power, as the United States is placing more weight on punitive measures. The only explanation left for the purchase is the possibility that President Tayyip Erdoğan may be seeking a domestic rally effect via a confrontation with the United States to pre­vent possible challengers to his leadership from gaining momentum. (author's abstract

Antennas and Front-End in GNSS

Antenna and front-end play a key role in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers where multi-frequency and multi-constellation services are used simultaneously to produce high-precision position, navigation, and timing information. Being the first element on the receiver system, specifications on the antenna for multi-constellation GNSS applications can be challenging. Especially, integration of the antenna into the target platform, either mobile or stationary, may severely affect antenna performance. This is usually an issue for small-size antennas where measured stand-alone antenna performance in ideal conditions is usually not descriptive of actual performance on the platform. Furthermore, carrier phase tracking has become popular among algorithm developers to obtain high accuracy and anti-spoofing at the same time which demand minimal phase centre variation of the antenna within the intended GNSS band. Spoofing and jamming of GNSS receivers is a growing concern especially for aerial vehicles with ever-increasing applications of drones. These requirements demand different characteristics on the antenna and front-end than traditional applications. One of the most utilized forms of GNSS antenna is ceramic patch, due to its low height, low cost, and relatively good narrow band performance. Simulations of this particular antenna in terms of axial ratio and impedance bandwidths, axial ratio variation over elevation, and half-power beam width are carried out and discussed with comparison to its counterparts. Another critical part of the receiver is its front-end where huge amount of signal amplification with minimal distortion takes place. Long integration times (>1 ms) in GNSS signal processing also puts severe requirements on the software and temperature-compensated crystal oscillator. For mass production, the front-end should be implemented in the form of an integrated circuit. Front-end architectures from traditional superheterodyne to zero/low-intermediate frequency configurations are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of each configuration are outlined in view of multi-band and multi-standard GNSS receivers

Design of a Ku Band Planner Receive Array for DBS Reception Systems

The main objective of this chapter is to present to the readers a step‐by‐step design approach when designing antenna array. Subsequently, the chapter will proceed following an example design of a passive Ku band planner receive array antenna for direct broadcast from satellite (DBS) reception for mobile systems. First, an appropriate antenna topology capable of reaching our target goals will be selected and optimized to be the base array element. During the design process of the base element, some figures‐of‐merit will be proposed in order to make a comparative study with the designed antenna and previously published antenna structures. Subarrays of microstrip line feed antennas will be combined by waveguides in order to build a low‐loss feed network for the array antenna. The main question during the design of the feed network is: “How should one form the subarrays and their accompanying waveguide feed networks?” These sections will answer this question by formulating the subarray and array feed network loss as an optimization problem with constraints on the size and the weight of the array. In the concluding sections, measurements on realized antennas will show that the design exhibits a 16.5% relative bandwidth, covering the complete downlink band, and the designed antennas have a 28.4–31.3 dBi gain for both vertical and horizontal polarizations. Results of some field tests will be given and conclusions will be made in the final section

Sphenopalatine ganglion pulsed radiofrequency treatment in patients suffering from chronic face and head pain

AbstractPurposeThere are various facial pain syndromes including trigeminal neuralgia, trigeminal neuropathic pain and atypical facial pain syndromes. Effectiveness of the pulsed radiofrequency in managing various pain syndromes has been clearly demonstrated. There are a limited number of studies on the pulsed radiofrequency treatment for sphenopalatine ganglion in patients suffering from face and head pain. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction of pulsed radiofrequency treatment at our patients retrospectively.MethodsInfrazygomatic approach was used for the pulsed radiofrequency of the sphenopalatine ganglion under fluoroscopic guidance. After the tip of the needle reached the target point, 0.25–0.5ms pulse width was applied for sensory stimulation at frequencies from 50Hz to 1V. Paraesthesias were exposed at the roof of the nose at 0.5–0.7V. To rule out trigeminal contact that led to rhythmic mandibular contraction, motor stimulation at a frequency of 2Hz was applied. Then, four cycles of pulsed radiofrequency lesioning were performed for 120s at a temperature of 42°C.ResultsPain relief could not be achieved in 23% of the patients (unacceptable), whereas pain was completely relieved in 35% of the patients (excellent) and mild to moderate pain relief could be achieved in 42% of the patients (good) through sphenopalatine ganglion-pulsed radiofrequency treatment.ConclusionPulsed radiofrequency of the sphenopalatine ganglion is effective in treating the patients suffering from intractable chronic facial and head pain as shown by our findings. There is a need for prospective, randomized, controlled trials in order to confirm the efficacy and safety of this new treatment modality in chronic head and face pain

A model for managing and monitoring the quality of glucometers used in a high-volume clinical setting.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to present a model for assuring the quality of a large number of glucometers being used in a high-volume hospital clinical setting. Materials and methods: Internal quality-control samples and blood samples from two patients were used to determine the accuracy of 83 glucometers used at our hospital. On each glucometer three levels of control were used for glucose concentrations determination. In addition, the difference between the results from patient samples obtained with the glucometers and the hexokinase reference method were compared. The differences were assessed based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 15197) standards. Results: The glucose concentrations were as follows: 2.51 ± 0.34 mmol/L for the hypo-control samples; 5.12 ± 0.32 mmol/L for the low-control samples; and 16.11 ± 1.03 mmol/L for high-control samples. All results were within the expected ranges. For Patient I, the result with the first group of 52 glucometers was 11.56 ± 0.5 mmol/L, while the result for Patient II with the second group of 31 glucometers was 10.52 ± 0.62 mmol/L. All data points of the study complied with the requirements of the Clarke error grid. Conclusion: All quality-control and comparison assay results were appropriate for evaluating glucometers used in a high-volume hospital setting. The method used in this study can be suggested as a model for laboratory managers, especially in similar high-volume hospitals

Turkey’s reaction to the coup in Egypt in comparison with the us and Israel

In this study, Turkey’s reaction to the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt is studied in comparison with one regional and one global actor with a democratic regime. This study aimed to examine the dynamics of Turkey over-signalling negatively to the coup in comparison with Israeli and American reactions. In comparison with Turkey’s reaction, the US shyly signalled positively in statements and used financial means against the coup hesitantly. Israel pursued a ‘strategic silence’ approach and eschewed signalling at all. It is seen that all three countries’ motivations were dominantly material, and no country reacted with purely normative motivations. The US and Turkey applied a selective normative approach according to their material motivations. While Turkey focused on the illegitimacy of the coup, the US focused on the illiberal policies of Morsi whereas Israel openly avoided adopting a normative approach. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Synthesis, Production and Characterization of Next Generation Thermal Interface Materials for Electronic Applications

The inefficient dissipation of heat is a crucial problem that limits the reliability and performance of all electronic systems. As electronic devices get smaller and more powerful, and moving components of machinery operate at higher speeds, the need for better thermal management strategies is becoming increasingly important. Heat removal during the operation of electronic, electrochemical, and mechanical devices is facilitated by high-performance thermal interface materials (TIMs), which are utilized to couple devices to heat sinks. Herein, we report a new class of TIMs involving the chemical integration of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS), soft organic linkers, and a metal matrix - which are prepared by chemisorption coupled electrodeposition approach. Thermal and mechanical characterization of the copper-based hybrid nanocomposites involving thiosemicarbazide demonstrates bulk thermal conductivities ranging from 211 to 277 W/(m.K), which are very high considering their relatively low elastic modulus values on the order of 15 to 30 GPa. The synergistic combination of these properties leads to the lowest measured total thermal resistivity to date for a TIM with a typical bondline thickness of 30-50 µm: 0.38 to 0.56 mm^2.K/W. Moreover, its coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is 11 ppm/K, forming a mediation zone with a low thermally-induced axial stress due to its close proximity to the CTE of most coupling surfaces needing thermal management. Furthermore, preliminary electrochemical tests revealed that the presence of organic ligands and BNNS in the hybrid nanocomposite TIMs improves the corrosion protection behavior of the TIMs by nearly 72%. Further analysis of the hybrid nanocomposite TIMs included the replacement of thiosemicarbazide with various organic ligands and the replacement of copper matrix with silver. Compared to all the ligands that were used in copper-based hybrid nanocomposites, the most promising thermal and mechanical test results were obtained from thiosemicarbazide. On the other hand, the best silver-based nanocomposite TIM was determined to be the one involving the ligand 2-mercapto-5-benzimidazolecarboxylic acid, in which the thermal conductivity was near 360 W/m.K, and elastic modulus and hardness were about 35 GPa and 0.25 GPa, respectively. The promising results indicate that metal-inorganic-organic nanocomposite TIMs can be great alternatives to currently used TIMs in the market