Urban water demand forecasting based on climatic change scenarios

Water resources projects, are designed to serve for many years to meet water needs. Therefore, the future water demand forecasting is of great importance for planning and management of water resources. In this study, a multi linear regression model is built to forecast urban water consumptions based a series of variables, namely the population served, monthly mean temperature and monthly total precipitation. Using the extended values of the variables up to the year 2100 based on climatic change scenarios, urban water demands are forecasted up to 2100

Does the number of prior oocyte retrieval practices increase the amount of blood loss in subsequent OPU procedures?

Background: Though OPU is a safe and simple procedure, it may cause damage to pelvic structures and bleeding. It is unclear whether history of a prior OPU poses any risk of increased blood loss in the OPU. We, herein, aimed to evaluate whether mean blood loss and hematologic parameters vary between women with and without the history of an OPU, in an unexplained infertility population.Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted through the files of patients who underwent IVF/ICSI-ET between June and December 2013. Unexplained infertility patients with a CBC result were assigned to two groups; those undergoing OPU for the first time (Group 1, n=40) and those who were previously subjected to at least 1 procedure (Group 2, n=13). Blood samples were obtained before the ET. Hemoglobin values and changes were compared between the two groups.Results: Delta hemoglobin value did not significantly differ between the groups (p=0.469) and there were no significant difference between the pre- and post-procedure hemoglobin values in the patients with no and at least one OPUs and the total patient population (p=0.792, 0.259 and 0.442, respectively).Conclusions: Our study results reveal that the amount of the blood loss in OPU does not significantly vary between women subjected to the procedure for the first time and for more than 1 time.

Religious prejudices and economic interests in Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta

Ankara : Faculty of Letters and Institute of Economics and Social Sciences, Bilkent Univ., 1991.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1991.Includes bibliographical refences.Çakırlar, Ali ÖzkanM.S

The environmental ethic in Wordsworth's poetry

Ankara : Faculty of Humanities and Letters and Institute of Economics and Social Sciences, Bilkent University, 1995.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Bilkent University, 1995Includes bibliographical references leaves 174-178Wordsworth's poetry, with its emphasis on the independent existence and consciousness of nature , has a distinctive place in the Romantic movement. His interest in the external world is not, of course, totally new and original. He prefers to take man, nature and society as the main sources and subjects of his poetry. However, the way Words worth handles his themes is revolutionary and unique. Nature, for him, is an in dependent and self - sufficient presence having its own consciousness and the ref ore it is treated exclusively in various parts of his poetry. Man, like other beings, belongs to the larger family of nature in terms of both his individual and social existence. In this context, Words worth's poetry functions as an insistent reminder that man ought to adapt himself as well as his society to the broader order of nature.Çakırlar, Ali ÖzkanPh.D

Effects of two different acid etching and surface washing methods on bond strength on different CAD-CAM blocks under aging protocols

Aim. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of hydrofluoric acid and one-component ceramic primer and silane (Monobond Etch and Prime (MEP)) applications on lithium disilicate glass ceramics and zirconium-infiltrated lithium silicate glass ceramics, as well as the effect of ultrasonic and phosphoric acid surface washing methods on bond strength. Materials and Method. A total of 240 ceramic samples were prepared using two different CAD-CAM material blocks with a thickness of 2 mm made of lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (IPS e.max CAD) and zirconium-infiltrated lithium silicate glass ceramic blocks (Celtra Duo). The samples were cemented to the composite discs (Tetric N-Ceram) after two different acid treatments, and surface washing processes were applied to them. As such, 24 groups were formed, each with two different acid applications, three different washing processes, two different CAD-CAM blocks, and two different aging procedures (n=10). Following the application of the acid, different washing processes are used. These were HF acid and washing only (HF + W), HF acid and ultrasonic washing (HF + US), HF acid and phosphoric acid (HF + PA), MEP with washing only (MEP + W), MEP and ultrasonic washing (MEP + US), and MEP and phosphoric acid (MEP + PA). The composite discs were cemented with dual cure adhesive cement (Multilink Automix) after the determined surface treatments were applied to the blocks. After surface applications, SEM analysis was conducted. Following exposure to two different thermal procedures, long-term (TL) and short-term (TS), bond strengths were measured using an Instron universal test device. SPSS version 23.0 software was used to perform the statistical analyses. Histogram graphs and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov/Shapiro-Wilk test were used to assess the variables' conformity to the normal distribution. Results. The bond strength values of TS and TL in the Celtra Duo block were significantly higher than those in the e.max CAD block (p<0.05). The TS-TL bonding strength value difference in the e.max CAD block was significantly higher than the surface measurements in the Celtra Duo block. While the highest bond strength value HF + US for TS in e.max CAD was 20.07±.31, the values of HF + US in Celtra Duo were significantly higher in terms of TL values when compared to other groups. Conclusion. Celtra Duo material demonstrated higher bond strength values after a short and long thermal cycle than e.max CAD material. In general, groups bonded with HF were less affected by the thermal cycle than groups treated with MEP

TRAVMA SONUCU OLUŞAN KIRIKLARDA DİŞLERİN KENDİ KIRIK PARÇALARIYLA RESTORASYONU: 2 OLGU NEDENİYLE

Ön bölge dişleri kafa travmaları sırasında darbeye en sık maruz kalabilen diş grubudur. Yaygın bir dental sağlık sorunu olan ve yaşam standartlarını düşüren travmatik diş yaralanmaları, diş ve periradiküler yapılara zarar verebilen, fiziksel ve psikolojik rahatsızlıklar ile ağrıya neden olabilen bir durumdur. Travmanın etkileri klinik ve radyolojik muayenede dikkatle kontrol edilmelidir. Travma sonucu, pulpası açılmamış kuron kırığı bulunan dişlerde tedavi yöntemi olarak, kırık parçanın rezin içerikli bondingle yapıştırılması yöntemi uygulanabilir. Bu sayede asitle pürüzlendirme haricinde diş yapısından madde kaybı olmaksızın, minimal invaziv restoratif yaklaşımlar uygulanabilmektedir. Yaptığımız olgu sunumunun amacı: orijinal parçasıyla restore edilen dişlere uygulanan tedavi sonucunun estetik ve fonksiyonel parametrelerle takiplerini değerlendirmek ve bu tekniğin avantajlarını ortaya koyabilmektir

Müşteri memnuniyet indeks modelinde yapay sinir ağları kullanımı

The concept of customer satisfaction has attracted much attention in recent years. A key motivation for the growing emphasis on customer satisfaction is that higher satisfaction can lead to a stronger competitive position resulting in higher market share and profit, reduce price elasticity, lower business cost, reduce failure cost, and reduce the cost of attracting new customers. The purpose of customer satisfaction index (CSI) models is to measure the quality of the goods and services as experienced by the customers that consume them. The independent and uniform measurement characteristics of the CSI model provide a useful tool for tracking performance and systematic benchmarking over time. A major advantage of the measurement model is the use of generic questions, which are sufficiently flexible to be used across a wide variety of products and services. In this study, a new customer satisfaction index model is developed considering the previous CSI models such as American Customer Satisfaction Index and European Customer Satisfaction Index. The proposed model was applied for Turkish mobile phone sector since the competition in this industry results a dynamic product development and an increasing demand for that products. CSI models are designed as a structural equation model (SEM) which consists of well established theories and approaches in customer behaviour. The constructs of the CSI models are latent variables indirectly described by a block of measurement variables. The structural model of the proposed CSI consists of 6 latent variables with their 23 observable variables. The latent variables of the model are company image, customer expectations, perceived quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. A survey instrument, developed to measure the manifest variables, was conducted to 700 mobile phone users. Besides the model questions, some demographic questions (e.g. age, gender, education level etc.) are also included in the survey. The structural model of the present model is analyzed using variance based Partial Least Squares (PLS) method. The main concern of the PLS is related to the explanatory power of the path model along with the significance level of standardized regression weights. An iterative scheme of simple and/or multiple regressions contingent on the particular model is performed until a solution converges on a set of weights. The general applicability of a SEM model depends on the reliability and validity of the modelling results. Reliability and validity of the proposed CSI model were assessed by checking unidimensionalty of the blocks, individual item reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity. All test results satisfy the crucial requirements for validity and reliability of structural model. In this study, a feed forward neural network model is proposed as an alternative to simple or multiple regression methods for the inner model estimation of the CSI. The use of artificial neural networks (NN) gained popularity in different fields, and some studies have demonstrated the superiority of NN over multiple regression. NN simulates human cognition by modelling the inherent parallelism of neural circuits in the brain using mathematical models of how the circuits function. However, the NN approach has been applied more recently to customer satisfaction and loyalty analysis. In this study there are 5 different inner models estimating 5 different endogenous latent variables of the CSI model. Each inner model was estimated using three-layer feed forward neural networks. A sigmoid function is used in the hidden layer, and a linear function in the output layer. The data was divided into two sets, 75 percent for training, and 25 percent for testing. Training is performed using the Levenberg Marquardt back propagation algorithm, and the weights are initialized using Nguyen Widrow algorithm. After the NN is trained it was evaluated for the test data. Root mean squared error and R square scores were used as performance criteria. The use of NN provides a powerful estimation for the inner models used in the CSI. The results of the CSI model as a whole can be a valuable guide for the managers in formulating competitive marketing strategies. Considering the results of the CSI model, the limited resources of the firms can be allocated for critical factors which have important impacts on satisfaction. In conclusion, the CSI model provides important information for the purchase decisions of the customers and lead to improvements in the quality of goods and services they consume. Keywords: Customer satisfaction index, partial least squares, neural networks. M&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeks modelleri son yıllarda bir&ccedil;ok &uuml;lkede yaygın olarak uygulanmaktadır. M&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indekslerinin en b&uuml;y&uuml;k &ouml;zelliği yapısındaki &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;m fakt&ouml;rlerinin &uuml;r&uuml;n ve hizmet sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde rahatlıkla kullanılabilmesine &nbsp;imkan sağlamasıdır. Bu sayede g&uuml;venilir bir &ouml;l&ccedil;ekle firmalar arasında, sekt&ouml;rler arasında ve &uuml;lke &ccedil;apında karşılaştırmalı bir memnuniyet &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;m&uuml; m&uuml;mk&uuml;n olmaktadır. M&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeks modelleri, m&uuml;şteri memnuniyeti ile ilişkili gizli (latent) değişkenler ve bu gizli değişkenleri &ouml;l&ccedil;en &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;m değişkenleri arasındaki ilişkilerden oluşan yapısal eşitlik modelleridir. Bu &ccedil;alışmada diğer &uuml;lkelerde kullanılan m&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeks modellerinden yola &ccedil;ıkarak &uuml;lkemiz şartlarında kullanılabilecek bir m&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeks modeli geliştirilip test edilmiştir. Model, 6 gizli değişken ve bunlara bağlı toplam 23 &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;m değişkeninden oluşmaktadır. Modele uygun olarak hazırlanan anket formu kullanılarak, cep telefonu sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde 700 kullanıcı ile y&uuml;z-y&uuml;ze anket uygulaması yapılmıştır. M&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeks modelindeki gizli değişkenler ve &ouml;l&ccedil;&uuml;m değişkenleri arasındaki ilişkiler kısmi en k&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k kareler y&ouml;ntemiyle tahmin edilmiştir. M&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeks modelinin g&uuml;venilirlik ve ge&ccedil;erlilik test sonu&ccedil;ları modelin genel uygulanabilirliğini g&ouml;stermektedir. &Ccedil;alışmada ayrıca, gizli değişkenler arası ilişkilerin oluşturduğu i&ccedil; modellerin tahmininde Yapay Sinir Ağları (YSA) metodu &ouml;nerilmiştir. Yapısal modeller i&ccedil;in tasarlanan YSA modeli 3 katmanlı ileri beslemeli ve geri yayılımlı bir modeldir. Gizli katmanda sigmoid transfer fonksiyonu, &ccedil;ıkış katmanında ise doğrusal transfer fonksiyonu kullanılmıştır. Bu şekilde 5 farklı i&ccedil; modelin tahmini i&ccedil;in yapay sinir ağları metodunun kullanımı modellerin a&ccedil;ıklayıcılık g&uuml;c&uuml;n&uuml; artırmıştır.&nbsp;Anahtar Kelimeler: M&uuml;şteri memnuniyet indeksi, kısmi en k&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k kareler, yapay sinir ağları.&nbsp

Development of Subjective Well-Being Increasing Strategies Scale for Children (1-5 Ages) Their Mothers Use

Subjective well-being is a sign of positive mental health of children. The aim of the present study is to develop subjective well-being increasing strategies scale for children whose mothers’ uses are varied 1 to 5. In this study, there were 195 mothers whose mean ages were 31, 49 and standard deviation were 4,71.  Satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect scales were used. Moreover, item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis were used. According to results, the scale has 66,03 % explained variance and four dimensions which were named as acting physical contact, playing game, satisfaction of desires and  take out.  The reliability and validity of the scale have enough values. The scale is valid and reliable. In future, some researches might carry out with this scale in order to increase children’s’ physical and mental health

Spectrum Sensing and Signal Identification with Deep Learning based on Spectral Correlation Function

Spectrum sensing is one of the means of utilizing the scarce source of wireless spectrum efficiently. In this paper, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model employing spectral correlation function which is an effective characterization of cyclostationarity property, is proposed for wireless spectrum sensing and signal identification. The proposed method classifies wireless signals without a priori information and it is implemented in two different settings entitled CASE1 and CASE2. In CASE1, signals are jointly sensed and classified. In CASE2, sensing and classification are conducted in a sequential manner. In contrary to the classical spectrum sensing techniques, the proposed CNN method does not require a statistical decision process and does not need to know the distinct features of signals beforehand. Implementation of the method on the measured overthe-air real-world signals in cellular bands indicates important performance gains when compared to the signal classifying deep learning networks available in the literature and against classical sensing methods. Even though the implementation herein is over cellular signals, the proposed approach can be extended to the detection and classification of any signal that exhibits cyclostationary features. Finally, the measurement-based dataset which is utilized to validate the method is shared for the purposes of reproduction of the results and further research and development

Effects of air-polishing powders on color stability of composite resins

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different air-polishing powders on the color stability of different types of composite resin restorative materials. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty cylindrical specimens (15×2 mm) were prepared for each of 7 composite resin restorative materials. All specimens were polished with a series of aluminum oxide polishing discs (Sof-Lex). The prepared specimens of each composite resin were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 specimens each, for control (Group-C) and two air-powder applications (Group-CP: Cavitron Prophy-Jet; Group-PS: Sirona ProSmile prophylaxis powder). A standard air-polishing unit (ProSmile Handly) was used. All specimens were air-powdered for 10 s at 4-bar pressure. The distance of the spray nosel from the specimens was approximately 10 mm and angulation of the nosel was 90°. Specimens were stored in 100 mL of coffee (Nescafe Classic) for 24 h at 37°C. Color measurement of all specimens was recorded before and after exposure to staining agent with a colorimeter (Minolta CR-300). Color differences (&#8710;E*) between the 2 color measurements (baseline and after 24 h storage) were calculated. The data were analyzed with a 2-way ANOVA test, and mean values were compared by the Tukey HSD test (