Investigating the influence of cultural background on daylight perception

Millions of people migrate every year, aiming to settle either permanently or temporarily in new places. People from countries with different intensities of daylight might have various perceptions and expectations towards the climatic and indoor conditions. It might result from a previously accustomed lighting environment and other associated factors, namely individual cultural background. It is important because study outcomes may be utilised by architects and lighting professionals on how to design buildings and interior spaces depending on occupants’ perceptions and expectations to increase occupants’ satisfaction. This knowledge also can be used to save energy because the efficient use of daylight can reduce the energy consumption of both HVAC and illumination systems. To date, few studies have explored the relationship between cultural background and daylight perception; however, they mostly focused on glare sensitivity rather than daylight intensity. Cross-cultural studies aiming to investigate lighting preferences in interior environments are also rare. What is not yet known is the importance of cultural background and its impact on daylight perception, expectation, and satisfaction. Therefore, the development of a methodology for assessing daylight perception and its application in the context of cultural background are the main objectives of this research project, in order to investigate the impact of cultural background on daylight perception. In this thesis, three subjective evaluation methods were used to assess participants' daylight perceptions: subjective ratings, seat preference, and daylight boundary line drawings, and the perceived daylight availability obtained through these methods were compared to measured daylight availability. It was demonstrated that perceived daylight availability obtained through seat preference and subjective statement methods corresponds to some extent with actual daylight availability (p<0.01 and p =0.002, respectively). The findings obtained from both students’ seat selections and occupancy data from motion sensors in the library also highlighted the importance of daylight availability in the seat selection of students in the libraries. However, the lit area drawn by participants representing the perceived daylight conditions as part of the daylight boundary line method varied extensively from person to person regardless of actual daylight measurements. In other respects, a systematic review was conducted to create a conceptual framework of cultural background in the lit environment, and factors thought to be influencing daylight perception in the cultural context had been defined in four ways. These were ethnicity and/or physiological properties of individual eyes, the residential area, the previous luminance environment and sociocultural background. Finally, the developed methodology based on the previous findings was applied to understand if individuals perceive daylight conditions differently due to their cultural backgrounds. Although some findings proved that culture might be an important factor in daylight perception, the study results did not provide strong evidence of a cultural background influence on daylight perception. However, the number of participants in this study (N=193) was limited, and this unique topic requires additional research with larger sample size

Turkish National Software Engineering Symposium

Ulusal Yazılım Mühendisliği Sempozyumu’nun (UYMS) on üçüncüsü, 23-25 Eylül 2018 tarihlerinde İzmir Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü ev sahipliğinde düzenlenmiştir. Önceki yıllarda olduğu gibi bu yılki sempozyuma oldukça yoğun bir ilgi oldu. Ulusal Yazılım Mühendisliği Sempozyumu, Türkiye yazılım sektörü ile yazılım alanında çalışmalar yapan akademisyenleri bir araya getirerek yazılım mühendisliğindeki son gelişmelerin ve araştırmaların paylaşılmasını sağlayan bir platformdur. 2003 yılından bu yana gerçekleştirilen UYMS, araştırma sonuçlarının paylaşıldığı bir ortam sağlamasının ötesinde, ulusal yazılım mühendisliği araştırmalarının geleceğinin şekillenmesinde etkin rol oynamaktadır. Çalışmalarını sempozyumdaki çeşitli oturumlarda paylaşan tüm katılımcılara teşekkür eder, bu çabaların gelecek yıllarda yazılım mühendisliği alanında daha da başarılı çalışmalara yol açacağına olan inancımızı tekrarlamak isteriz. UYMS temel alanla birlikte Yazılım Test Mühendisliği, Sağlık için Yazılım Mühendisliği, Yazılım Modelleme ve Lisans Üstü Tezler tematik alanlarında, bu yıl toplam 77 bildiri kabul edilmiştir. Bildiriler, bu yıl da, en az 3 hakem tarafından değerlendirilerek çok titiz bir inceleme sonucunda seçilmiştir. Hakem olarak görev alan tüm komite üyelerine gönülden teşekkür ederiz.The 13th National Software Engineering Symposium (UYMS) of Turkey was held Izmir Institute of Technology on 23-25 September 2019. There has been a great interest in this year’s symposium, as in previous years. UYMS is a platform which helps bring together the software industry and the academicians working in this area. It is being organized since 2003 and it plays an important role in shaping the future of the software industry in Turkey. We would like to thank all the participants whose contributions led to the successful realization of this symposium. We would also like to express our belief that these contributions will lead to a better and more productive efforts in the field of software engineering. Along with the main area of UYMS, in the thematic areas of Software Test Engineering, Software Engineering for Health, Software Modeling, and Graduate Theses, a total of 77 papers were accepted this year. At least three referees reviewed each paper and the papers were evaluated based on these reviews. We thank all the program committee members who served as referees

The Izmir City and Natural Hazard Risks

Turkey has many geological disadvantages such as sitting on top of active tectonic plate boundaries, and why having avalanche, flood, and landslide and drought prone areas. However, this natural structure is inevitable; the only way to survive in such a harsh geography is to be aware of importance of these natural events and to take political and physical measures. Natural hazards are generally forgotten shortly after a while. Many projects that are planned to mitigate future hazards are suspended soon after natural hazards happened. Instead of taking pre- disaster measures and precautions, only emergency measures for recovery and post- disaster aid to the victims of a calamity are applied. Izmir which is the third biggest city in Turkey survived as a big city throughout its history of 5000 years and has been frequently renovated under geopolitical and geological influences. Izmir has been greatly affected by some disasters such as earthquakes, fires, epidemics and etc. Thus many edifices that would reflect historical background of the city did not survive until today and present remains are generally few and known only by experts and the neighboring people (Towards Agenda 21 in Izmir, 1998). Population increases and its development pressures on rural areas are inevitable problems for Izmir. Urban housing supply could not meet the demand, the housing policies could not be integrated with that of urban land and the housing subsidies could not help to serve low-income groups. Natural environmental features of Izmir increase its natural hazard risks. Izmir has sloppy topography that surrounds the city shape. Further more, soil geology is unsuitable for to settle down in built up area. On the other hand natural hazard risks increase because of the spread of the illegal urban settlements and because of the feeble building types. The major aim of this research is to bring up the magnitude of natural hazard risks in Izmir built-up zone, not being taken into consideration adequately. Because the dimensions of the peril are not taken seriously enough, the natural hazard risks, which are commonly well known, are not considered important or they are being forgotten after some time passes. Within this research, the magnitude of natural hazard risks for Izmir is being presented in the scope of concrete and local researches over Izmir risky areas.

Spatial changes of land use pattern in Guzelbahce district (Izmir)

The primary issues related the spatial organization of urban settlements are based on the development of density and land use decisions leading due to the market mechanisms. The current spatial land use pattern of cities have emerged depending various factors such as the migration movements increased rapidly from the 1950s, the rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, the pressures of rent directing the market mechanisms, etc. This urbanization process also has accompanied many problems as the insecure construction for disasters, dense and solid urban texture, various weaknesses or deficiencies of urban infrastructure. As a consequence of the evaluation for social facility areas (gaps in urban area, open and green areas, etc.) as "potential investment areas", the loss of solid - void ratio and dense built-environment have been experienced in urban centres and also urban development directions. The main aim of this study is to examine the spatial effects of land use decisions between the years of 2002-2017 under the influence of the Law 6360 in terms of urban planning discipline. These spatial variations related land use pattern are determined using Google Earth and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). According to the results, it is clearly understood that current land use patterns in Guzelbahce district have changed significantly in 15-years period. The results of analyses related the case area which the urban sprawl has seen are discussed and a variety of policies have been developed. © Authors 2018. CC BY 4.0 License

Consumer Willingness-To-Pay for Different Organic Certification Logos in Turkey

Using data from focus group discussions with consumers and a choice experimentconducted in some of Turkey’s major cities, this study investigates whetherTurkish consumers prefer certain organic labelling schemes over others attemptsand to elicit their willingness to pay (WTP) for different organic certificationlogos. Although the level of awareness regarding organic certification logos waslow, consumers’ perceptions of the logos were generally positive. The results ofthe random parameter logit models indicated a positive WTP for the presence ofone of the three tested certification body logos in addition to the mandatorygovernmental logo. Given the low level of certification logo awareness, theconclusion is that both purchasing decisions and perceptions regarding logoswere affected by subjective criteria. Both the government and certification bodiesshould develop measures to increase consumer awareness of their logos and formconsumer perceptions and attitudes regarding the quality of the certificationimplied by the logo

Leaving the bubble

Last three decades witnessed fast growing of the cities in Turkey. After many dramatic changes in the physical and social environment as the consequences of the disproportionally increasing population by the migrations, the cities leaded the problems in the transport, safety and other facilities (lack of auto parking, relaxing, sport and divers leisure activities) Regarding to these facts, the locals had unavoidably alienation and left the city centre to live in the ‘bubbles’: the big residences, blocks or villas in the isolated sites of the city’s outskirts. Thus, especially the metropolitan cities were transformed from a location to a consumed space. This seeking of ‘bubble’ was manipulated by the politics which emphasized the building constructions under the title ‘urban renovation’. Whereas the cultural heritage became under threat because of the lack of belonging, the basic concept of the common city life which was providing the cultural interaction with the environment became limited. This presentation focuses on the cultural impact of Taksim Gezi Park movement. According to the observations in Izmir and ethnography among Izmir Festival participants which was conducted in the same period of the manifestations, the awareness of place process begins which would be later the memories of the participants and make new senses within the historical places and public spaces, specially parks and squares. The participants who leave their ‘bubbles’ to protest the government for their individual rights have a collective experience with the divers groups. This experience which provides a reconnection to the city make them learnt fundamental citizenship components: to conceive the meaning of public area and to take responsibility of his environment. As a result, Taksim Gezi Park movement has become not only a political and social case, but also a cultural process in which the individuals ‘taste’ citizenship values; not to live only in its own pure and the comfortable bubble, but to learn live with the diversity and interact responsibly with the location

Simple network management protocol co- existence with hydrocarbon process automation communication real-time network

Hydrocarbon Process Automation Applications (HPAA) utilizes Real-time network connecting process instrumentations, controllers, and real-time logic control applications. Conventional practice is to dedicate a real-time network for process automation applications and prevent other applications from utilizing the same infrastructure. An important application that can help optimize, improve network performance, and provide rapid response time in network diagnostics and mitigation is Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). This paper addresses the co-existence of SNMP traffic with real-time applications. The impacts of activating this protocol with the real-time HPAA utilizing high speed Ethernet network design will be examined. Empirical data for an implemented Hydrocarbon process automation system will be used to illustrate the interdependency of application performance, traffic mix, and potential areas of improvements. The outcomes of this effort demonstrate the co-existence of SNMP with HPPA, given special considerations (i.e., bandwidth, number of applications, etc.)

The evaluation and the effectiveness of project management in transformational e-government projects

This paper forms part of an ongoing research of a PhD degree to describe, critically evaluate and examine the underlying barriers and challenges in large e-Government initiatives. The paper invites technology to be incorporated and inculcated into the art and science of project management, and be part of a passable solution as opposed to being distinct and separate from it. The tools used have to increase the novelty (art and science) of project management through human interaction, and empower the project manager and aiding his capacity in delivering the expected outcomes. Due to inadequate implementations of project management procedures and processes, many large information technology systems (ITS) projects failed. This becomes a characteristic and encompasses e-Government project initiatives, due to ambitious program changes, major innovations, large transformations, enterprise wide solutions, collaboration across organizations’ governments and private sectors, and the implementation of unprecedented (or ambitious) solutions. This research paper critically analyses and summarises a list of e-Government challenges and barriers arising from an e-Government survey administered on behalf of the World Information Technology and Services Association (WITSA) which represents the national technology associations in 70 countries. It compares these challenges to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), which is the North American standard in project management methodology. In addition, it highlights the weaknesses in PMBOK to address these challenges and offers a technology-enabled enhancement to the Project Initiation Phase, the area identified as being particularly weak and inadequate in addressing e-Government initiatives and requirements