R.G. Collingwood: Re-interpretation of Metaphysics in contemporary Philosophy.

Bu tezin amacı; çağdaş felsefede Viyana Çevresi düşünürleri ile birlikte "metafizik"in elenmesi çabalarına karşılık Collingwood'un metafiziği yeniden yorumlama çabasını gözler önüne sermektir. Collingwood da Çağdaş felsefe ve Viyana Çevresi düşünürleri gibi dogmatik metafiziği reddetmektedir. Ek olarak Collingwood, Aristoteles'e dönerek gerçek metafiziği yeniden tesis etmeye girişmiştir. Buna göre metafizik, her türlü bilimsel, entelektüel etkinliğin dayandığı mutlak ön kabulleri ele alır. Collingwood’a göre mutlak ön kabuller tarihsel olduğu için; onu sorgulayan etkinliğin de tarihsel olması gerekir. Tarihsel bir etkinlik olarak metafiziğin yöntemi de soru-yanıt mantığıdır. Bu bağlamda metafizik, soru-yanıt mantığıyla mutlak ön kabulleri irdeleyen tarihsel bir felsefi etkinliktir. Öte yandan metafizik, disiplinler arası ilişkinin kurulmasında hayati öneme sahip evrensel bir soruşturmadır. Dolayısıyla, metafizik, sadece felsefi etkinliğe ait bir soruşturma değil, her türlü etkinliği kapsayan evrensel bir bilimdir.This thesis is interested in spelling out Collingwood’s attempts to reinterpret metaphysics against the struggles so as to eliminate “metaphysics together with the thinkers of Vienna Circle in modern philosophy. Like modern philosophy as well as the thinkers of Vienna Circle, Collingwood rejects the dogmatic metaphysics as well. Moreover, Collingwood sets out to re-establish the true metaphysics by returning Aristotle once again. Metaphysics as such deals with the absolute presuppositions on which any kind of scientific and intellectual activities are based. For Collingwood, since absolute presuppositions are historical, the activity that questions it is also supposed to be historical. Now the method of metaphysics as an historical activity is the logic of questioning and answering. In this sense, metaphysics, which investigates the absolute presuppositions by the logic of questioning and answering, is a philosophical and historical activity

Top-down and bottom-up control of drug-induced sleep and anaesthesia

In recent decades, research has unravelled fascinating detail about the molecular mechanisms underpinning pharmacologic loss of consciousness (LOC). However, the systems-level mechanisms are far less clear. Recent genetic approaches, however, enable unprecedented dissection on neural pathways, and they are paving a way for this line of research. The focus of this thesis is to investigate the neuroanatomical substrates of commonly used drugs which reversibly render us unconscious. Zolpidem is a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of the GABAA receptor which binds to the benzodiazepine (BZ) site. Because zolpidem binds 1-3,,2 containing GABAA receptors, which are widespread, it acts virtually everywhere. We do not know if zolpidem causes sleep by enhancing GABAergic inhibition throughout the entire brain, or if the therapeutic sleep-inducing property depends upon specific brain circuitry. 2I77 mice are devoid of zolpidem-sensitivity. But, zolpidem-sensitivity can be restored selectively in brain regions, enabling dissection of the circuitry involved in zolpidem’s effect. To isolate the therapeutic effect of zolpidem we deleted GABAA-2I77-subunits and replaced them with GABAA-2F77-subunits in HDC neurons or frontal-cortex in isolation. We were able to selectively restore zolpidem-sensitivity in target neurons. This conferred zolpidem-enhanced IPSCs locally. Compared with wild-type mice and zolpidem-insensitive 2I77lox mice, we found that GABAA-2F77 receptors in either HDC-neurons or frontal cortex alone were enough to rescue the majority of zolpidem-mediated sleep. The response in HDC-2F77 mice was similar to that of an H1-receptor antagonist. By producing a null effect in a negative-control area – the superior colliculus – we show that HDC neurons and the frontal cortex are both substrates involved in zolpidem-mediated sleep. We also investigated the role of synaptic-inhibition onto corticothalamic-neurons in anaesthetic-induced LOC and sleep-wake. To do this, we genetically ablated 2-subunits from layer-6 corticothalamic-cells by crossing Ntsr1-Cre mice with GABAA-2I77lox mice. We found this reduced isoflurane sensitivity, but left sleep-wake behaviours virtually unaffected.Open Acces

Purchasing decisions at private hospitals in the framework of resource dependency theory

The environment influencing hospitals in the health industry is quite complicated, and despite the high volume of inputs, the functions that occur at purchasing level are very intricate. The reason that the feedback mechanism of health services is not organized completely, and thus another reason that the health system is quite complicated, is diversification of inputs and the consequent rising volume of inputs from the environment, and high dependency on the environment.  Governing the demands and pressures of the environmental actors and reorganizing them for its own benefit are only possible for the business, depending on how much power it has in the interdependent relationship. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the role of power as a concept when analyzing these environmental relationships in order to elucidate the behaviors of organizations. This study addresses power relations in the framework of resource dependency theory. The "power and dependency relationship" of the actors that are influential in purchasing decisions regarding clinics at a private hospital where physicians, who are experts in their field work, is the proposal of this research. The matter of which actors (hospital upper management, purchasing department, relevant expert physicians) have an influence on purchasing decisions and mutual relations are discussed in the context of power

The impact of architectural design criteria on energy performance of residential buildings: A case study in İzmir

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology, Architecture, İzmir, 2012Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 101-107)Text in English;Abstract: Turkish and Englishxi, 162 leavesThe impact of architectural configuration and design norms on energy performance of buildings has been a critical issue. Even, it becomes noteworthy for residential buildings of good quality. New legislation in Turkey which was prepared to comply for the latest European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EC requires information about the evaluation of energy performance of existing buildings. So, this study aimed to determine energy performance of residential buildings in Izmir, to analyze significant relationships between their performance and architectural configuration through statistical analyses (analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression, t-Test, scatter charts). Utilizing production drawings, certain area-based ratios and building dimensions were determined as architectural configuration indicators. Most prevailing architectural variables, such as, zoning status, external surface area and A/V ratios, and others, namely, orientation, floor counts in a building, aspect ratio, heating system were analyzed. Energy performance of case buildings were determined by using The Standard Assessment Method for Energy Performance of Dwellings (KEP-SDM) which referred to Turkish standard TS 825, and European standard EB ISO 13790. Majority of the investigated buildings were in Energy Class B and C, in CO2 Class G; however, their energy consumption values were two times higher than the ones in European countries. Findings present such a clue that interactions between variables and their total effect on the energy performance and CO2 emissions should be taken into consideration. They would also provide feedback information on the residential building stock in İzmir, selected as a representative city in Turkey

Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted cryogels for carbonic anhydrase purification

Bu çalışmada, sığır kanından karbonik anhidraz enziminin saflaştırılması için moleküler baskılanmış poli(HEMA-MAH) kriyojeller sentezlenmiştir. Sentezlenen kriyojellerin karakterizasyonu şişme, makrogözeneklilik ve akış hızı denemeleri ve FTIR, SEM, yüzey alanı ve elementel analiz ölçümleri yapılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Kriyojellerin şişme oranının 8.01 g H2O/g olduğu makrogözenekliliğin ise % 70 civarında olduğu bulunmuştur. kriyojel makrogözenekliliğinin artışı ile akış hızı da artmıştır. Kriyojel yapısına MAH monomerinin katıldığı elementel analiz ve FTIR analizleri ile gösterilmiş ve sentezlenen kriyojelin yüzey özellikleri SEM ile incelenmiştir. Kriyojelin oldukça gözenekli olduğu ve sünger benzeri bir morfolojiye sahip olduğu bulunmuştur. Karbonik anhidraz baskılanmış kriyojellerin yüzey alanı BET ölçümleri ile 29.3 m2/g olarak bulunmuştur. Maksimum karbonik anhidraz adsorpsiyonu pH 6.0 MES tamponu ile elde edilirken (3.16 mg/g kriyojel), sıcaklığın adsorpsiyon üzerine etkili olmadığı bulunmuştur. Artan tuz derişimi ile adsorpsiyon kapasitesi azalırken kromatografik akış hızı 4 mL/dak'ya çıkarıldığında adsorpsiyon kapasitesi şiddetli bir şekilde azalmıştır. Adsorplanan karbonik anhidrazın floresans spektrumu alınarak üç boyutlu yapısında bir değişiklik olmadığı gözlenmiştir. Kriyojellerin tekrar kullanılabilirliği 10 döngü boyunca incelenmiş ve adsorpsiyon kapasitesinde % 10'luk bir azalma meydana gelmiştir. Sentezlenen kriyojelin seçiciliği albumin, hemoglobin, IgG, -globulin ve lizozime karşı incelenmiş ve sırasıyla 15.26, 60.05, 21.88, 17.61 ve 17.42 kat yüksek seçicilik bulunmuştur. Sentezlenen karbonik anhidraz baskılanmış kriyojeller kullanılarak sığır kanından karbonik anhidraz enzimi yaklaşık % 80 verimle ve 84 kat saflaştırılmıştır ve saflık SDS-PAGE ve zimogram ile gösterilmiştir.In this study, molecularly imprinted poly(HEMA-MAH) cryogels were synthesized and used for purification of carbonic anhydrase from bovine blood. Cryogels were characterized by its swelling degree, macroporosity, flow rate and FTIR, SEM, surface area and elemental analysis. Swelling degree of the cryogel was found to be 8.01 g H2O/g while their macroporosity was about 70 %. Flow rate increased with increasing macroporosity. Incorporation of MAH monomer into cryogel structure was shown with elemental analysis and FTIR. With SEM photographs it was shown that cryogels were highly porous and had sponge like morphology. Their surface area was found to be 29.3 m2/g with BET studies. Maximum carbonic anhydrase adsorption was found to be 3.16 mg/g with MES buffer (pH 6.0) while temperature had no significant effect over the adsorption. Adsorption capacity was decreased with increased chromatographic flow rate to 4 mL/min. Tree-dimensional structure of the enzyme was studied with fluorometric analysis. Cryogels were re-used for 10 cycle and their adsorption capacity decreased only 10 %. Cryogel selectivity were investigated with albumin, hemoglobin, IgG, -globulin and lysozyme and found to be 15.26, 60.05, 21.88, 17.61 and 17.42, respectively. These cryogel used for purification of carbonic anhydrase from bovine blood and it?s purified with 84 fold and 80 % recovery. Purity of the enzyme was shown with SDS-PAGE and zymogram

Purchasing decisions at private hospitals in the framework of resource dependency theory

The environment influencing hospitals in the health industry is quite complicated, and despite the high volume of inputs, the functions that occur at purchasing level are very intricate. The reason that the feedback mechanism of health services is not organized completely, and thus another reason that the health system is quite complicated, is diversification of inputs and the consequent rising volume of inputs from the environment, and high dependency on the environment.  Governing the demands and pressures of the environmental actors and reorganizing them for its own benefit are only possible for the business, depending on how much power it has in the interdependent relationship. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the role of power as a concept when analyzing these environmental relationships in order to elucidate the behaviors of organizations. This study addresses power relations in the framework of resource dependency theory. The "power and dependency relationship" of the actors that are influential in purchasing decisions regarding clinics at a private hospital where physicians, who are experts in their field work, is the proposal of this research. The matter of which actors (hospital upper management, purchasing department, relevant expert physicians) have an influence on purchasing decisions and mutual relations are discussed in the context of power

Framework for a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Lean Production Systems

Although lean production and its advantages are discussed for over 20 years, the detailed identification of the contribution of individual lean methods is still hardly possible. Due to the lack of efficiency analysis frameworks the benefits and costs of a lean production system remain vague in literature. This paper presents a framework to analyze the benefits and costs of the implementation of lean methods. A specific decomposition methodology is used which starts with a high-level performance indicator to break it down to operational indicators which individual lean methods can be assigned. The framework assists companies to track the contribution of individual lean methods to a key performance indicator

Systematic support for continuous optimization of lean-based manufacturing systems

Due to the organizational complexity that goes along with the introduction and application of a lean production system, companies cannot lift the full potential of lean production. Problems, such as specific company conditions, lack of expertise in the implementation and continuous development as well as financial and personnel constraints inhibit the introduction and in particular the use and sustainable development of methods of lean production. As part of the continuous improvement process the constant questioning of existing structures is of particular importance. However, companies are missing tools that support automatically the development of lean production systems so that their full potential can be exploited. Against the background of the described problem, the author developed a tool in the form of an optimization system for lean production systems and validated it in an automotive supplier, which allows a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the application of lean methods and the proposal of relevant suggestions taking into consideration the diverse interrelations in the network of interdependent lean methods. An extensive record of existing basic and method parameters paired with a comprehensive assignment of optimization measures allows a consistent display of improvement proposals which can be applied within the continuous improvement process. The target group of this system is goods manufacturing industry