Localization in smart dust sensor networks

Our research goal is to design a robust localization system that offers good accuracy even in the harsh indoor and outdoor environments by handling problems in the physical layer. In this respect, localization based on ultra-wide band (UWB) technology with time-based ranging is a good candidate because of the fine delay resolution that is provided by UWB signals

Locating the information: applications, technologies and future aspects

In today’s world, the demand for information is growing rapidly with respect to the human curiosity to explore the inside and the outside of our planet. In a simple analogy, the human body has thousands of sensors called receptor neurons to obtain information such as temperature or pressure from the environment. Similarly, recent developments in electronics and wireless communications lead engineers to the design of small-sized, low-power, low-cost sensor nodes which have the ability to communicate with each other over short distances and collect the information that is gathered

The Attitudes of High School Students Studying in Sports High Schools in Turkey toward Addictive Substances

The aim of this study is to reveal the attitudes of students, who study in sports high schools in Turkey, toward addictive substances. The study group consisted of 326 randomly selected students from Elazig, Erzincan and Malatya Sports High Schools. In order to obtain the data from the research group, the Attitude toward Addictive Substances Scale, consisting of 45 items, was used. The data obtained from 326 students were analyzed in SPSS 22 Package software. Firstly, normality analysis was performed and it was decided to perform parametric and non-parametric tests according to the results. There was a statistically significant difference in age and class variables of the students. There was no statistically significant difference between the variables of gender, monthly income of the family and educational status of the parents. As a result of the study, it was observed that male and female students' attitudes toward addiction increased as age and class levels progressed. In this context, more attention should be paid to education-oriented studies to prevent addiction. It is suggested that educational activities, such as psychological support and health programs, provided by guidance teachers and psychological counselors should be increased in number

The calcareous nannofossil record of the uppermost Maastrichtian-lower Palaeocene in the Kırıkkale Basin, in the Central Anatolian Region (Turkey)

The Late Cretaceous–Early Paleogene (K–Pg) was a critical period of transition in geological time. This period encompassed short-term climatic fluctuations on a global scale, changes in ocean circulation, and sudden and large extinctions of marine and terrestrial organisms. In the study area, located in the mid to low latitudes, the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene were very tectonically active due to the positioning of the site close to the collision zone of two large continents. The impacts of the global K–Pg crisis can be observed in the study area. In this study, the calcareous nannofossil contents of late Maastrichtian–Danian sediments were studied, and the nannofossil biostratigraphy determined, from samples from the Samanlık and Dizilitaşlar Formations, deposited in the Kırıkkale Basin. From three stratigraphic sections, 26 nannofossil genera and 36 nannofossil species were identified from the Late Maastrichtian UC20aTP and UC20bTP biozones and the NP1 and NP2 biozones of the Danian. Additionally, it was determined that the K–Pg boundary was not continuous in the study area. In the Kırıkkale Basin, relatively low abundances of Micula decussate Vekshina, 1959 signals a diagenetic effect and stressful environment in the Late Maastrichtian, whereas the relatively low abundances of Thoracosphaera operculata Bramlette & Martini, 1964, Braarudosphaera bigelowii (Gran & Braarud, 1935) Deflandre, 1947 and Futyania petalosa (Ellis & Lohmann, 1973) Varol, 1989 in the Danian assemblages indicate unstable environmental conditions and major environmental perturbations that reflect tectonic activity in the region. No nannofossils were encountered in those samples taken from turbiditic levels, which contained high proportions of sand

A Theoretical Approach to Artificial Intelligence in Consumer Behavior

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of artificial intelligence, which has increased its popularity in recent years, on the purchasing behaviors of consumers, which have existed since the first ages, in order to meet their needs. In the study, primarily consumer behaviors are explained. Afterward, a literature search was conducted on the emergence and development of artificial intelligence. Finally, the effects of these two concepts on each other were analyzed

Increased Levels of Anxiety, Depression, and Secondary Trauma in Radiation Oncologists during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Preliminary Report from Turkey

OBJECTIVE We surveyed the anxiety, depression, and secondary trauma levels of Turkish Radiation Oncologists related with COVID pandemics. METHODS An anonymous online questionnaire survey was created to evaluate levels of depression, anxiety, and secondary trauma among Turkish Radiation Oncologists. The survey included demographics and occupational status, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSSS), The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS Seventy-two respondents provided the power of about 91.4% for the significance level of 0.05. The variance homogeneity was checked by the Levene test, the effect of COVID-19 on psychology is higher in the group of >19 (9.02 +/- 0.820), as well as the effect of social isolation (8.02 +/- 1.622), the STSS scores (34.28 +/- 9.062), the STAIS scores (60.46 +/- 5.296), the STAIT scores (82.21 +/- 9.298), the BDI scores (22.68 +/- 2.788), and the BAI scores (21.04 +/- 9.321). The multiple regressions to estimate BDI revealed statistically significant effects in STAIS, BAI, and STAIT. There is a significant correlation between STSS, STAIS, STAIT, BDI, BAI, the effect of COVID-19 on psychology, and the effect of social isolation. CONCLUSION We have established one of the first studies demonstrating the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on depression, anxiety levels, and secondary trauma on a special physician population, the Radiation Oncologists, who specifically do not directly take part in COVID19 management

The relationship between Chlamydophila pneumoniae IgG titer and coronary atherosclerosis

Background: The role of Chlamydophila pneumoniae (CP) in the progression of atherosclerosis is controversial. Also no sufficient angiographic study is available about the impact of CP infection on severity and intensity of coronary atherosclerosis. We investigated the relation between CP IgG antibody titers and severity and intensity of coronary atherosclerosis Methods: The study population consisted of 516 consecutive patients who underwent a coronary angiography. The group included 353 patients who had coronary artery disease; a control group included 163 subjects with angiographically proven normal coronary arteries. Chlamydophila pneumoniae IgG antibody titers were measured by an enzyme immunoassay method in all patients. Gensini scores and extent scores were used to evaluate the angiographic extent and severity of atherosclerosis. Results: The mean value of IgG antibody titer was 44.3 &#177; 28.8 IU/mL in the patients and 39.8 &#177; 27.4 IU/mL in the control group (p = 0.14). There was no statistically significant correlation between the Gensini scores, extent scores and CP IgG titers (Gensini score: r = +0.103, p = 0.07, extent score: r = +0.110, p = 0.31). When we grouped the patients as high (> 50 IU/mL) and low (< 50 IU/mL) IgG antibody titers, the number of diseased coronary arteries was higher in patients with high IgG antibody titers (respectively: 2.6 &#177; 1.1 vs. 2.2 &#177; 0.8, p = 0.01). While the Gensini score was significantly higher in patients with high IgG antibody titers (7.5 &#177; 4.0 vs. 6.17 &#177; 4.0, p = 0.01), the extent score did not change with IgG titers (29.8 &#177; 15.9 vs. 25.8 &#177; 15.4, p = 0.08). Conclusions: In our study, we investigated the relation between CP infection and coronary atherosclerosis and found that CP IgG antibody titers are associated with the severity of coronary stenosis at higher antibody levels. However, there is no association between CP antibody titers and clinical presentation of coronary artery disease. We suggest that CP has limited effect on coronary atherosclerosis. (Cardiol J 2008; 15: 245-251

The diagnostic certainty levels of junior clinicians: a retrospective cohort study

Background: Clinical decision-making is influenced by many factors, including clinicians’ perceptions of the certainty around what is the best course of action to pursue. Objective: To characterise the documentation of working diagnoses and the associated level of real-time certainty expressed by clinicians and to gauge patient opinion about the importance of research into clinician decision certainty. Method: This was a single-centre retrospective cohort study of non-consultant grade clinicians and their assessments of patients admitted from the emergency department between 01 March 2019 and 31 March 2019. De-identified electronic health record proformas were extracted that included the type of diagnosis documented and the certainty adjective used. Patient opinion was canvassed from a focus group. Results: During the study period, 850 clerking proformas were analysed; 420 presented a single diagnosis, while 430 presented multiple diagnoses. Of the 420 single diagnoses, 67 (16%) were documented as either a symptom or physical sign and 16 (4%) were laboratory-result-defined diagnoses. No uncertainty was expressed in 309 (74%) of the diagnoses. Of 430 multiple diagnoses, uncertainty was expressed in 346 (80%) compared to 84 (20%) in which no uncertainty was expressed. The patient focus group were unanimous in their support of this research. Conclusion: The documentation of working diagnoses is highly variable among non-consultant grade clinicians. In nearly three quarters of assessments with single diagnoses, no element of uncertainty was implied or quantified. More uncertainty was expressed in multiple diagnoses than single diagnoses. Implications: Increased standardisation of documentation will help future studies to better analyse and quantify diagnostic certainty in both single and multiple working diagnoses. This could lead to subsequent examination of their association with important process or clinical outcome measures

Device-free detection and localization of people using UWB networks

Ultra-wideband (UWB) transmission is a promising technology for indoor localization, due to its high-resolution ranging and obstacle penetration capabilities. Most practical UWB localization systems rely on targets (e.g., objects, people) to carry an active UWB device. In some scenarios (e.g., intruder detection, elderly care, smart environments, emergency response) it is desirable to have the ability to track people and assets in a passive manner, without requiring them to be equipped with any radio-frequency (RF) device. The high time resolution property of UWB radios can make it possible to resolve the human-body reflected path among all the other multipath reflections. This reflected path changes over time due to minuscule movements, even though the person seemingly stands still. Because of this, the corresponding received signal samples also vary over time. This observation is presented for an experimental UWB system and forms the basis of the device-free person detection and localization technique in this thesis. The technique collects the energy in the variations of the signal and estimates the travelling distance for the human-body reflected path through its delay estimation. Each estimate draws an ellipse around the transmitter and the receiver for the position of the person. By combining multiple ellipses, a unique position estimate is given for many different positions of the person in an indoor environment. The received signal samples show different variations depending on the random movement of each person. This gives us a way to detect a second person in the environment without extending the measurement setup. By quantifying the correlations between the samples of the received signal, we can understand if the samples are affected by the same person or not. The correlation value is higher if samples are affected by the same person and remains low if the samples are affected by different persons. A detection and device-free ranging method is given for the second person. A localization method for multiple persons is also developed by combining the multiple link correlations

How Cultural, Social, Political and Religious Forces Shape Principals’ Roles and Challenges: Evidence from Four Primary Schools in Turkey

This study investigates the roles and challenges of primary school principals by seeking how roles and challenges reflect sociocultural political and religious structures of Turkey, and aims to understand the nature of primary school principalship within the highly centralised structure of the Turkish Education System. It argues that primary school principals have very limited authority and power, however, they also have excessive responsibilities and great accountability in return. Principals are also not able to fulfil their leadership roles, as principalship is a promotional – rather than a professional – position for teachers. Adopting cultural and bureaucratic models of school management perspectives, this study draws upon the educational initiatives and reforms that negatively affect primary school principalship and the quality of education in Turkey.This study relies on the perceptions and perspectives of school stakeholders and on multiple data resources as a way of understanding what role and function principals play in school management. Highlighting the importance of the individuals’ experiences and voices on the daily practices and routines of principals, six different groups of key stakeholders were used as informants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as the main sources of data in four different primary schools. Student drawings, government documents and the researcher’s field notes were also used as supplementary evidence to corroborate interview narratives.Raising concerns about the centralised control of finance matters and corrupted processes of principals’ appointment and resource allocation, findings of the study show that principals do not have enough time to focus on instructional processes as they spend most of their time on fundraising, caretaking of school buildings, and dealing with parental problems. Principals are also considered as inexperienced and incompetent to supervise and control the instructional processes. The ways and strategies principals draw on to tackle the problems and overcome the difficulties mostly shape their daily routines and practices at school. Findings suggest that primary school principals largely play caretaker and fundraiser roles, and function as gatekeeper and problem-solver.Based on the findings, recommendations are offered predominantly for policymakers. There is a need to rearrange and improve the financial conditions of primary school and give schools enough – yet expert and competent – support staff, which would enable principals to have more time on instructional and in-school processes. There is also a need for a professional body defining the knowledge and skills for principals, and a certification and qualification program assuring quality leadership for school principals. This would bring more experienced and competent principal candidates to school management. This study significantly contributes to the knowledge, particularly to the Turkish EAML field, in terms of empirical, conceptual, and methodological accounts.</div