ORDER BASED EMIGRANT CREATION STRATEGY FOR PARALLEL ARTIFICIAL BEE COLONY ALGORITHM

Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm inspired by the foraging behaviors of real honey bees is one of the most important swarm intelligence based optimization algorithms. When considering the robust and phase divided structure of the ABC algorithm, it is clearly seen that ABC algorithm is intrinsically suitable for parallelization. In this paper, we proposed a new emigrant creation strategy for parallel ABC algorithm. The proposed model named order based emigrant creation strategy depends on sending best food source in a subcolony after modifying it with another food source chosen sequentially from the same subcolony at each migration time. Experimental studies on a set of numerical benchmark functions showed that parallel ABC algorithm powered by the newly proposed model significantly improved quality of the final solutions and convergence performance when compared with standard serial ABC algorithm and parallel ABC algorithm for which the best food sources in the subcolonies directly used as emigrants

DESIGN OF ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED JACQUARD MACHINE FOR MULTI-SHED WEAVING MACHINES

The Jacquard shed opening system, which makes it possible to open the shed by controlling the warp threads in groups and obtain different designs and shapes, differs from other shed opening systems in that each group of warp threads and each of them can be controlled as needed. The various warp movements, which are limited by the number of frames in other shedding systems, are limited by the number of sinkers in the Jacquard system. Since all known Jacquard shedding systems are designed for operation with single shed weaving machines, they cannot be used for shedding on multiple weaving machines. In this study, a new electronically controlled jacquard machine for multiple shed weaving machines was developed, which eliminates this problem and enables the opening of the weaving compartments by controlling the warp threads individually in multiple shed weaving machines, thus allowing the weaving of all known jacquard fabric patterns. The technological and kinematic schemes of the jacquard machine were prepared taking into account the type of fabric to be produced, the operating principles of the weft insertion and shedding mechanisms to be used in the machine to be developed, and the expectations for improving the technical and economic indicators of the machine. The electronically controlled pattern reading system, which consists of modules in the machine, converts the electronic data into mechanical data to ensure shedding. In the cam shedding mechanism, which transmits motion to the knives in the form of a stepped shaft in the multiple weaving machine, the warp threads are placed on the knives so that they can move vertically. They are controlled by specially structured sinkers which, in contact with the blades, move from the lower to the upper state with the help of the blades and from the upper to the lower state with the help of springs. When the warp threads are to remain in the upper position according to the pattern, the sinkers are interlocked by electromagnets to form an undulating nozzle corresponding to the fabric pattern. By arranging the interlocking projections along the sinker, it is possible to match the density of the sinker to the density of the warp threads. Since the machine allows weaving of all known jacquard fabrics, the problem of not being able to produce weaves other than the rag foot weave, which is considered one of the major drawbacks of multiple shed weaving machines, has been solved

Konut Hakkı ve Konut Sektörüne 2013-2016 Dönemi Konya Özelinde Bakış

Barınma ihtiyacı, insanlığın var oluşundan bu yana karşılanması gereken bir olgudur. Birleşmiş Milletler İnsan Hakları Evrensel Bildirgesi ve bu bildirgenin somutlaşmasına olanak tanıyan farklı bir takım sözleşmelerde de konut hakkına, diğer bir ifadeyle, barınma hakkına yer verilmiştir. Türkiye’de de, 1961 ve 1982 Anayasalarında, söz konusu hakka değinen ifadeler kullanılmıştır. Temel yaşamsal haklardan biri olarak kabul edilen konut hakkının, ulusal ve uluslararası mevzuatta tanınıyor olmasına rağmen, günlük yaşamda ne denli gözetilmekte olduğu tartışmalı bir husustur. Bu çalışmada, konut hakkı kavramı ile ne kastedildiğinin açıklanmasının ardından, Türkiye’deki konut sektörüne ilişkin birtakım güncel istatistiki verilerin analizine girişilecektir. Son olarak, Konya’nın merkez ilçeleri olan Karatay, Meram ve Selçuklu’daki emlak ve konut sektörü temsilcilerinin bir kısmı ile yüz yüze gerçekleştirilen görüşmelerden de yararlanılarak, Konya’da, kiralık ya da satılık olmak üzere konut ediniminin ne şekilde seyrettiği araştırılacaktır. Çalışmanın ana gayesi, araştırma sahasında yaşam süren insanların konut ihtiyacına, sektörce, ne ölçüde yanıt verildiğinin ortaya konulmasıdır

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and Its relationship with illness risk perceptions, affect, worry, and public trust: An online serial cross-sectional survey from Turkey

Objective: A better understanding of public attitudes towards vaccination and recognition of associated factors with vaccine hesitancy or refusal is important regarding the control of the pandemic. Our aim was to analyze the public's attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and to identify factors affecting them. Materials and Methods: Data were drawn from the Turkish COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring, between July-December 2020, a serial online cross-sectional survey. The sample comprised 3888 adult respondents. Attitudes to vaccines and trust were investigated in 3 periods corresponding to the timeline of pandemic-related events in Turkey. Results: In the third period of our study, in parallel with the increase in the spread of COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy/refusal increased significantly from 43.9% to 58.9% (P < .001). The significant predictors of vaccine refusal were female gender, being elder, and conspiracy thinking. Having a chronic illness, worrying more about loved ones and the health system being overloaded were significant predictors of vaccine willingness. Less compliance with preventive measures, less knowledge of prevention, reduced risk perception, and higher perception of media hype were COVID-19 variables that correlated with vaccine refusal. Trust in the Ministry of Health and medical professional organizations (e.g., Turkish Medical Association) was the lowest in the third period and vaccine refusal was significantly related to the decreased trust (P < .001, P = .002). Conclusion: Most respondents (approximately 60%) refused or hesitated to get a COVID-19 vaccine, though acceptability should be monitored when a vaccine becomes available. Health authorities should consider public trust, risk perception, and behavioral factors to improve COVID-19 vaccine acceptability

Behaviors and pandemic-related knowledge, perceptions, worry content, and public trust in a Turkish sample

Background: This study aimed to explore the effect of knowledge, COVID-19-related perceptions, and public trust on protective behaviors in Turkish people. Methods: Data were collected from an online survey (Turkish COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring) conducted between July 2020 and January 2021. The recommended protective behaviors (hand cleaning, wearing a face mask, and physical distancing) to prevent COVID-19 were examined. The impacts of the following variables on protective behaviors were investigated using logistic regression analysis: knowledge, cognitive and affective risk perception, pandemic-related worry content, public trust, conspiracy thinking, and COVID-19 vaccine willingness. Results: Out of a total of 4210 adult respondents, 13.8% reported nonadherence to protection behavior, and 86.2% reported full adherence. Males and young (aged 18–30 years) people tend to show less adherence. Perceived self-efficacy, susceptibility, and correct knowledge were positively related to more adherence to protective behavior. Perceptual and emotional factors explaining protective behavior were perceived proximity, stress level, and worrying about the relatives who depended on them. Trust in health professionals and vaccine willingness were positive predictors, while conspiracy thinking and acquiring less information (<2, daily) were negative predictors. Unexpectedly, trust in the Ministry of Health showed a weak but negative association with protection behavior. Conclusions: Perceived stress, altruistic worries, and public trust seem to shape protection behaviors in addition to individuals’ knowledge and cognitive risk perception in respondents. Males and young people may have a greater risk for nonadherence. Reliable, transparent, and culture-specific health communication that considers these issues is required

A combined VBM and DTI study of schizophrenia: bilateral decreased insula volume and cerebral white matter disintegrity corresponding to subinsular white matter projections unlinked to clinical symptomatology

PURPOSE:Grey matter and white matter changes within the brain are well defined in schizophrenia. However, most studies focused on either grey matter changes or white matter integrity separately; only in limited number of studies these changes were interpreted in the same frame. In addition, the relationship of these findings with clinical variables is not clearly established. Here, we aimed to investigate the grey matter and white matter changes in schizophrenia patients and exhibit the relation of these imaging findings with clinical variables.METHODS:A total of 20 schizophrenia patients and 16 matched healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the grey matter and white matter alterations that occur in schizophrenia patients using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and whole brain voxel-wise analysis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters with SPM8, respectively. While the preprocessing steps of VBM were performed with the default parameters of VBM8 toolbox, the preprocessing steps of DTI were carried out using FSL. Additionally, VBM results were correlated with clinical variables.RESULTS:Bilateral insula showed decreased grey matter volume in schizophrenia patients compared with healthy controls (P < 0.01). The opposite contrast did not show a significant difference. Psychiatric scores, duration of illness, and age were not correlated with the decreased grey matter volume of insula in schizophrenia patients. DTI analysis revealed a significant increase in mean, radial, and axial diffusivity, mainly of the fibers of bilateral anterior thalamic radiation and superior longitudinal fasciculus with left predominance, which intersected with bilateral subinsular white matter (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION:Our findings suggest that insula may be the main affected brain region in schizophrenia, which is also well supported by the literature. Our results were independent of disease duration and schizophrenia symptoms. White matter alterations were observed within bilateral anterior thalamic radiation and superior longitudinal fasciculus that intersects with subinsular white matter. Studies with larger sample sizes and more detailed clinical assessments are required to understand the function of insula in the neurobiology of schizophrenia

Modified artificial bee colony algorithms for solving multiple circle detection problem

Determining circular shapes from digital images is one of the most required operations in computer vision and its applications. Various techniques including evolutionary and swarm intelligence-based algorithms have been introduced and successfully used over the past decade for detecting single or multiple circles. In this study, two different circle candidate list generation approaches that are based on generating a combination between abandoned food sources and the obtained food sources in the final colony have been proposed and integrated into the workflow of the standard implementation of the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm. Experimental studies on a set of real and synthetic images showed that the proposed list generation approaches improved the solving capabilities of ABC algorithm and decreased the total error values related to the discovered circles compared to the ABC-based implementation for which a circle or circles are selected from a candidate list containing only abandoned food sources, genetic algorithm, bacterial foraging optimization algorithm and an improved version of the Hough transform-based circle detection technique called randomized Hough transform

An Artificial Bee Colony-Guided Approach for Electro-Encephalography Signal Decomposition-Based Big Data Optimization

The digital age has added a new term to the literature of information and computer sciences called as the big data in recent years. Because of the individual properties of the newly introduced term, the definitions of the data-intensive problems including optimization problems have been substantially changed and investigations about the solving capabilities of the existing techniques and then developing their specialized variants for big data optimizations have become important research topic. Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm inspired by the clever foraging characteristics of the real honey bees is one of the most successful swarm intelligence-based metaheuristics. in this study, a new ABC algorithm-based technique that is named source-linked ABC (slinkABC) was proposed by considering the properties of the optimization problems related with the big data. The slinkABC algorithm was tested on the big data optimization problems presented at the Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) 2015 Big Data Optimization Competition. The results obtained from the experimental studies were compared with the different variants of the ABC algorithm including gbest-guided ABC (GABC), ABC/best/1, ABC/best/2, crossover ABC (CABC), converge-onlookers ABC (COABC), quick ABC (qABC) and modified gbest-guided ABC (MGABC) algorithms. In addition to these, the results of the proposed ABC algorithm were also compared with the results of the Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm, Genetic algorithm (GA), Firefly algorithm (FA), Phase-Based Optimization (PBO) algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm-based approaches. From the experimental studies, it was understood that the ABC algorithm modified by considering the unique properties of the big data optimization problems as in the slinkABC produces better solutions for most of the tested instances compared to the mentioned optimization techniques

A comparative study between artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm and its variants on big data optimization

The big data term and its formal definition have changed the properties of some of the computational problems. One of the problems for which the fundamental properties change with the existence of the big data is the optimization problems. Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm inspired by the intelligent source search, consumption and communication characteristics of the real honey bees has proven its efficiency on solving different numerical and combinatorial optimization problems. In this study, the standard ABC algorithm and its well-known variants including the gbest-guided ABC algorithm, the differential evolution based ABC/best/1 and ABC/best/2 algorithms, crossover ABC algorithm, converge-onlookers ABC algorithm and quick ABC algorithm were assessed using the electroencephalographic signal decomposition based optimization problems introduced at the 2015 Congress on Evolutionary Computing Big Data Competition. The experimental studies on solving big data optimization problems showed that the phase-divided structure of the standard ABC algorithm still protects its advantageous sides when the candidate food sources or solutions are generated by referencing the global best solution in the onlooker bee phase