Work environments for employee creativity

Innovative organisations need creative employees who generate new ideas for product or process innovation. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the effect of personal, social-organisational and physical factors on employee creativity. Based on this framework an instrument to analyse the extent to which the work environment enhances creativity is developed. We apply this instrument to a sample of 409 employees and find support for the hypothesis that a creative work environment enhances creative performance. We illustrate how the instrument can be used in companies to select and implement improvements

Modeling and forecasting car ownership based on socio-economic and demographic indicators in Turkey

Since car ownership is an important determinant to analyze car travel behavior especially in developing countries, this paper deals with modeling and forecasting car ownership in Turkey based on socio-economic and demographic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product(GDP) per capita, Gasoline Price (GP), car price and number of employees by using multiple nonlinear regression analysis. Although most of the studies on this subject prefer using annual data, we use monthly data for the analysis of car ownership since all explanatory variables and exchange rates used for the modeling are unstable and vary even in a short period in developing countries such as Turkey. Thus, it may be possible to reflect the effects of socio-economic and demographic indicators on car ownership more properly. During the modeling process, exponential and polynomial nonlinear regression models are set up and then tested to investigate their applicability for car ownership forecasting. Based on results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the polynomial models has been selected to forecast car ownership for the year 2035. In order to reveal the possible different trends of the independent variables in future, car ownership is forecasted along the scenarios which are related to the GDP per capita and GP. Results show that Turkey’s car ownership may vary between 230 and 325 per thousand capita in 2035 depending on economic achievements, global oil prices and national taxation policies. The lowest and the highest values of the car ownership may provide insight to car producers and transport planners in Turkey. Another significant result presented in this study is that car ownership rate will be substantially lower in Turkey than that in the European Union countries despite it has an increasing trend in the past two decades

Effect of paste-to-voids volume ratio on the performance of concrete mixtures

The purpose of this study is to investigate the minimum paste volume required with an appropriate water-to-cementitious ratio (w/cm) to achieve required workability, strength, and durability requirements of concrete mixtures for pavements. In this experimental program, 64 concrete mixtures with varying w/cm, cementitious content, and binder type were prepared and tested. The fine aggregateto-total aggregate ratio was held constant for all the mixtures. Fresh and hardened concrete properties of the mixtures were determined at various ages. Test results have shown that approximately 1.5 times more paste by volume is required than voids between the aggregates to achieve a minimum performance in concrete for pavements. For a given w/cm, strength is independent of cementitious content after a critical value is provided. When w/cm is constant, increasing paste content increased chloride penetrability and air permeability

Effect of water-to-binder ratio, air content, and type of cementitious materials on fresh and hardened properties of binary and ternary blended concrete

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of water-to-binder ratio (w/b), air content, and type of cementitious material on the fresh and hardened properties of binary and ternary blended concrete mixtures in pavements. This experimental program prepared a total matrix of 54 mixtures with w/b of 0.40 and 0.45; nominal air content of 2, 4, and 8%; and three types of supplementary cementitious materials and one ordinary portland cement in different combinations. Binder systems included ordinary portland cement, binary mixtures with slag cement, Classes F and C fly ash, and ternary mixtures containing a combination of slag cement and one type of fly ash.Workability, total air content, air void system parameters (i.e., spacing factor and specific surface) in fresh concrete, setting time, compressive strength, surface resistivity, and shrinkage were determined. Test results showed that ternary mixtures followed the trends of their constituent materials. Binary and ternary mixtures containing Class C fly ash and slag cement exhibited higher compressive strength than the control mixture. The surface resistivity and shrinkage results of binary and ternary mixtures were equal to or improved over the control mixture

Influences of Orally Taken Carotenoid-Rich Curly Kale Extract on Collagen I/Elastin Index of the Skin

Two differently designed, spatially resolved reflectance spectroscopy-based scanners and two-photon tomography were used for noninvasive in vivo determination of cutaneous carotenoids, and collagen I/elastin aging index of dermis, respectively, in the skin of 29 healthy female volunteers between 40 and 56 years of age. The volunteers received a supplement in the form of a carotenoid-rich natural curly kale extract containing 1650 µg of carotenoids in total (three capsules of 550 µg), once a day. Measurements were taken before, after 5 months and after 10 months of daily supplementation. The results showed significantly increased values for the cutaneous carotenoids and the collagen I/elastin aging index of dermis 5 and 10 months after the beginning of the study. The obtained results show that a natural carotenoid- rich extract could prevent the aging-related collagen I degradation in the dermis and improve the extracellular matrix

Size-controlled conformal nanofabrication of biotemplated three-dimensional TiO2 and ZnO nanonetworks

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A solvent-free fabrication of TiO2 and ZnO nanonetworks is demonstrated by using supramolecular nanotemplates with high coating conformity, uniformity, and atomic scale size control. Deposition of TiO2 and ZnO on three-dimensional nanofibrous network template is accomplished. Ultrafine control over nanotube diameter allows robust and systematic evaluation of the electrochemical properties of TiO2 and ZnO nanonetworks in terms of size-function relationship. We observe hypsochromic shift in UV absorbance maxima correlated with decrease in wall thickness of the nanotubes. Photocatalytic activities of anatase TiO2 and hexagonal wurtzite ZnO nanonetworks are found to be dependent on both the wall thickness and total surface area per unit of mass. Wall thickness has effect on photoexcitation properties of both TiO2 and ZnO due to band gap energies and total surface area per unit of mass. The present work is a successful example that concentrates on nanofabrication of intact three-dimensional semiconductor nanonetworks with controlled band gap energies

Eltrombopag for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia: The aegean region of Turkey experience

Objective: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an immune-mediated disease characterized by transient or persistent decrease of the platelet count to less than 100x109/L. Although it is included in a benign disease group, bleeding complications may be mortal. With a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, thrombopoietin receptor agonists, which came into use in recent years, seem to be an effective option in the treatment of resistant cases. This study aimed to retrospectively assess the efficacy, long-term safety, and tolerability of eltrombopag in Turkish patients with chronic ITP in the Aegean region of Turkey. Materials and Methods: Retrospective data of 40 patients with refractory ITP who were treated with eltrombopag in the Aegean region were examined and evaluated. Results: The total rate of response was 87%, and the median duration of response defined as the number of the platelets being over 50x109/L was 19.5 (interquartile range: 5-60) days. In one patient, venous sinus thrombosis was observed with no other additional risk factors due to or related to thrombosis. Another patient with complete response and irregular follow-up for 12 months was lost due to sudden death as the result of probable acute myocardial infarction. Conclusion: Although the responses to eltrombopag were satisfactory, patients need to be monitored closely for overshooting platelet counts as well as thromboembolic events. © 2015 Turkish Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

Bottom trawl fishery discards in the Black Sea coast of Turkey

The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of bycatch and discardfish caught by bottom trawlers used in the Black Sea coasts of Turkey anddiscard changes depending on the depth. The study was conducted during theSeptember 2009 – April 2010 fishing season. Twenty-one bottom trawleroperations were sampled and the catch composition was determined. A total of 26species were caught, which included 22 species of fish, 2 species of arthropods,1 species of gastropods and 1 species of bivalves. Two of these were targetspecies (Mullusbarbatus, Merlangius merlangus), while 25 species werediscarded including trash fish and specimens below the legal size. A total of2142.76 kg of biomass was caught during the operations, of which 53.99 % bycatch.The weighted discard rate was determined as 42.06% and two different groupswere identified in discards (T1: 10-57 m, T2: 72-118 m) based on the depth. Significantdifferences were identified between these depth groups (p<0.05). It was determined that the biomass (kg h-1),the evenness index (J) (p<0.05),the average species number and the species richness (D) (p<0.01) of the discards showed significant differences, but thatthe difference between species diversity (H) was negligible. No difference wasfound (p>0.05) between theecological parameters of landings