The sense of well being on the campus: Integrating university brand to city identity

Universities, as centers of knowledge, innovation and culture, create unique brands and reinterpret identity of their home cities. Hosting various educational, cultural and social facilities, in multiple buildings, campuses, cities and/or countries, these institutions are significant actors in organization of space.Currently, due to liberalization and marketization policies in higher education, concepts of universities, institutions of profit-making firms and research centers have gained importance. (Aktan, 2007). Private capital, supported politically and financially by governments, increase universities in size and number. Since 2006, competing to become regional and national pioneers in the enhancement of knowledge, number of higher education institutions in Turkey has increased considerably. Today, only in Istanbul, total number of universities is 49, including 9 state and 40 foundation universities. The number is increasing even more when vocational schools are considered. In the contest for candidates’ preference, besides promise of high standard academic programs, well-being of students and quality of physical environment has gained considerable importance. Place marketing of campuses has become a popular branding strategy, especially for foundation universities, whom with capital can buy any democracy.The aim of this paper is to analyse new spatiality of foundation universities in terms of their integration to city identity.  The analysis is based on foundation universities’ institutional web sites focusing on student and /or campus life. Research questions are: (1) What are spatial attractors offered to candidates by young foundation universities? (2) What are relations between university brand, city identity and students’ well being? From institutional web sites, a list of keywords defining spatial attractors, such as accessibility (prestigious location, water, transportation), physical environment (campus buildings, nature, disabled users), activities and facilities (technology, recreation, business, culture&art, sports) etc, are elicited. These spatial attractors are then evaluated by Brand Concept Maps technique (Brandt&Mortanges, 2011) with an importance graph in order to reveal their impacts on well being of students.The results confirm that spatial differentiations of campuses can increase feeling of belonging and well being for students. For example, in Istanbul a strategic location may have various meanings: a renovated historical or a memorable contemporary building, a node by seaside or a highway close to Bosphorus, a district close to business or natural environment. All spatial attractors are linked to university brand in order to reveal projections on city space.  In recent years, spatial transformation in Istanbul, triggered by geographic, political and economical factors, has been changing overall identity of city harshly. Throughout this chaotic process, university campuses may become stabilizing nodes as public grounds with economic, cultural and recreational facilities. Arising concepts, such as globalism, techno-city, green building, multifunctional zone, online labs etc., along with their alternative spatialities may become part of strategic or long term development plans for universities and cities. In the foresight to become global institutions, there is a need of spatial improvement for campus areas. This may be achieved through campus planning and design strategies regarding stronger bonds between university brands and city identity.

Evaluation Method, Dataset Size or Dataset Content: How to Evaluate Algorithms for Image Matching?

Most vision papers have to include some evaluation work in order to demonstrate that the algorithm proposed is an improvement on existing ones. Generally, these evaluation results are presented in tabular or graphical forms. Neither of these is ideal because there is no indication as to whether any performance differences are statistically significant. Moreover, the size and nature of the dataset used for evaluation will obviously have a bearing on the results, and neither of these factors are usually discussed. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of commonly used performance characterization metrics for image feature detection and description for matching problems and explores the use of statistical tests such as McNemar’s test and ANOVA as better alternatives

Assessment of the effect of salinity on the early growth stage of the common sunflower (Sanay cultivar) using spectral discrimination techniques

Salinity is one of the main limiting factors for agricultural production. This is especially true in arid and semi-arid regions of the world like Turkey. The objective of this study was to determine if the effect ofsalt concentration on the physiological and physiological features of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) could be measured using remote sensing techniques. Sunflower seedlings were grown undercontrolled conditions and irrigated with ½ Hoagland Solution containing three different concentrations of NaCl (salt) (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%). The results showed that plant growth decreased proportionallywith increasing levels of NaCl. Chlorophyll concentration and a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were derived for the plants using a spectroradiometer. There was found to be a significant (r2 = 0.76) correlation between chlorophyll and NDVI values. Therefore, factors that can be derived through remote sensing such as NDVI and chlorophyll can be used to indirectly demonstrate the impact salinity has on sunflower plants. Therefore, agriculturalists can assess growth rate changes caused by salinity using remote sensing techniques

In Vitro Effect of Porphyromonas gingivalis Methionine Gamma Lyase on Biofilm Composition and Oral Inflammatory Response

Methanethiol (methyl mercaptan) is an important contributor to oral malodour and periodontal tissue destruction. Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia and Fusobacterium nucleatum are key oral microbial species that produce methanethiol via methionine gamma lyase (mgl) activity. The aim of this study was to compare an mgl knockout strain of P. gingivalis with its wild type using a 10-species biofilm co-culture model with oral keratinocytes and its effect on biofilm composition and inflammatory cytokine production. A P. gingivalis mgl knockout strain was constructed using insertion mutagenesis from wild type W50 with gas chromatographic head space analysis confirming lack of methanethiol production. 10-species biofilms consisting of Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus intermedius, Fusobacterium nucleatum ssp polymorphum, Fusobacterium nucleatum ssp vincentii, Veillonella dispar, Actinomyces naeslundii, Prevotella intermedia and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans with either the wild type or mutant P. gingivalis were grown on Thermanox cover slips and used to stimulate oral keratinocytes (OKF6-TERT2), under anaerobic conditions for 4 and 24 hours. Biofilms were analysed by quantitative PCR with SYBR Green for changes in microbial ecology. Keratinocyte culture supernatants were analysed using a multiplex bead immunoassay for cytokines. Significant population differences were observed between mutant and wild type biofilms; V. dispar proportions increased (p<0.001), whilst A. naeslundii (p<0.01) and Streptococcus spp. (p<0.05) decreased in mutant biofilms. Keratinocytes produced less IL-8, IL-6 and IL-1α when stimulated with the mutant biofilms compared to wild type. Lack of mgl in P. gingivalis has been shown to affect microbial ecology in vitro, giving rise to a markedly different biofilm composition, with a more pro-inflammatory cytokine response from the keratinocytes observed. A possible role for methanethiol in biofilm formation and cytokine response with subsequent effects on oral malodor and periodontitis is suggested

Kent siluetlerine ilişkin tasarım niteliklerinin, entropi yaklaşımı ile değerlendirilmesi

Urban skylines present references that enable catchy visual effects of the urban scene to be clearly visible. They also reflect the urban identity in a compositional entirety. The design values constitute both the natural and the planned forms of cities. Design qualities are evaluated by the total impacts exercised by esthetic evaluation criteria that are analyzable in a visual environment. The concepts such as, diversity, clarity, harmony, meaning are composed design qualities. These design qualities are evaluated by the sum of total effects of esthetic evaluation criteria which can be analyzed in the visual environment. The characteristics of design properties that possess universally accepted standards and used in aesthetical evaluation studies for different dimensions and aspects are called esthetic evaluation criteria. For the impact evaluation, methodologies used can be differentiated as objective and subjective and they show diversity among themselves. Day by day, objective methodologies used for studies of design and aesthetics are becoming increasingly important. That is mostly because, they are able to present more precise approaches and innovations to the evaluation of properties based on interpretation. This research contains evaluation of diversity. The aim of the research is being investigated the design-value relation from an objective standpoint among the historic city skylines that represent cities' identity properties. In accordance with this aim, it is purposed to digitize the design values which defined the balanced diversity relations. Therefore objectivity and measurability of the design properties related to diversity are studied by the entropy approach which is among objective methodologies of design issues. The preliminary description of Entropy is in the law of thermodynamics whereas its second description is found in the information theory and the concept used in this research is related to the information theory. In its second description, entropy is defined as measuring the amount of information. Measuring the entropy is related to the distribution of positional figures of a message or information from the probabilities standpoint. Esthetic evaluation criteria are valuated as the visual codes of the urban skylines. Thus information values for the design qualities that rely upon the power of visual communications are obtained. Relations between design values are analyzed depending on the balanced diversity of the visual environment. The effect of diversity in a balanced relation of esthetic evaluation criteria made visual richness in the urban environment. In this study, historic urban skylines that reflect the identities of different cities that are doubtlessly possessing positive aesthetical values are considered. These samples are, Istanbul (Turkey), Cologne - Bavaria and Dresden (Germany), Mostar (Bosnia Herzegovina), Budapest (Hungary), Cordova (Spain), Liverpool (England), Rome (Italy) and Prague (Czech Republic). Harmony with the nature and shoreline relations is noted as a common feature in the formation of all these examples. Setting out from these similarities, it is thought that relations can also be observed between the design values of the urban skylines. Impressive urban skylines, though they have come to life in different geographies, through cultural build up and historical processes, have become permanent in time change processes because they have had the right design principles and criteria whether attained naturally or through a planning. When it is thought that these lasting visual qualities are gained through universal design properties, it is arrived at the conclusion that a relation can be set up between them. In order to represent this relation in digital figures, the entropy method that is capable of making an impact evaluation between estetic evaluation criteria is opted. By the use of  entropy method, contour effect that makes up skyline, mass unit, vertical and horizontal elements, elements of form, elements of color, hierarchical phasing, elements of dominant effect, elements of repetition, elements of continuity and  balanced distribution relations in terms of diversity between time layers that were analyzed. In the research study, applications that are made from the historic skylines representing the identities of ten different cities, visual qualities of which are comparable to each other. At the end, the entropy results for the examples are found to be identical to each other. Thus, in applications made by research methodology, a numerical proximity is determined in terms of design relations. This result points to a design value relation between the historic skylines representing the urban identity that can also be expressed in numerical values. Keywords: Urban Skylines, entropy, design quality, diversity.Kent siluetleri, kentsel çevrenin, akılda kalıcı görsel etkisinin yaratılması için referanslar sunmaktadır. Kentlerin, doğal ya da planlanmış biçimlerini oluşturan tasarım nitelikleri bulunmaktadır. Çeşitlilik, belirginlik, uyum, anlam gibi kavramlar tasarım niteliklerini oluşturmaktadır. Bu tasarım nitelikleri, görsel çevrede analiz edilebilen estetik değerlendirme ölçütlerinin toplam etkileri ile incelenmektedir. Araştırmanın amacı, tarihi kentlerin kimlik özelliklerini yansıtan siluetleri arasında, çeşitliliğe bağlı tasarım değer ilişkisini sorgulamaktır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda dengeli çeşitlilik ilişkisini tanımlayan özelliklerin, ölçülebilir hale getirilmesi gerekmektedir. Çeşitlilik ilişkisini tanımlayan estetik değerlendirme ölçütlerinin, sayısal olarak entropi yaklaşımı ile ölçülebileceği bir yöntem geliştirilmiştir. Entropi, ilk olarak termodinamik kanunları içinde, ikinci olarak enformasyon kuramı içinde tanımlanmış olup, kavram bu araştırmada, enformasyon kuramı içindeki anlamıyla, kullanılmaktadır. İkinci tanımında entropi, bir mesajın iletilmesindeki enformasyon miktarının ölçümüdür. Estetik değerlendirme ölçütleri, kent siluetlerinin, görsel kodları olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Böylece, tasarım niteliklerinin, görsel iletişim gücüne bağlı enformasyon değerleri, elde edilmektedir. Tasarım nitelikleri arasındaki ilişkiler, görsel çevrenin çeşitlilik özelliğine bağlı olarak incelenmektedir. Dengeli bir ilişki içinde çeşitlilik etkisi yaratan estetik değerlendirme ölçütleri, kentsel çevrede görsel açıdan zenginlik yaratmaktadır. Bu araştırmada, tarihi kentlerin kimlik özelliklerini yansıtan ve görsel niteliklerinin birbirleri ile karşılaştırılabileceği on siluet üzerinden uygulama yapılmıştır. Entropi yönteminin uygulandığı örneklerde, tasarım ilişkisi açısından sayısal bir yakınlık saptanmıştır. Bu sonuç, kentsel kimliği yansıtan tarihi siluetler arasında, çeşitlilik açısından sayısal olarak ifade edilebilen tasarım değer ilişkisini göstermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kent siluetleri, entropi, tasarım nitelikleri, çeşitlilik

Usage of health-themed public service announcements as a social marketing communication tool: A content analysis related to public service announcements in the republic of Turkey, ministry of health’s web site

Public service announcements are informative short films that are made with the purpose of increasing the awareness of the society and/or creating behavioral changes. Also, they are communication tools used within the context of social marketing. One of the main themes of public service announcements which may have a substantial impact on masses is “health theme”. Tobacco, blood donation, breast milk, obesity, and diabetes themed public service announcements which aimed to protect and improve health are examples of health communication as a part of social marketing. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate all the public service announcements in the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health’s web site with a content analysis. Within this scope, characteristics of 52 health-themed public service announcements are analyzed according to nine main categories which include primary health issue, primary goal, target audience, role of the message source/ spokesperson, sex of the message source/ spokesperson, estimated age of the message source/ spokesperson, message appeal, message frame, and type of the PSA. Because of the increased importance of social marketing, it is estimated that the findings of this study will be beneficial for both public and private sectors besides non-governmental organizations

Impact of aging on TREM-1 responses in the periodontium: a cross-sectional study in an elderly population

BACKGROUND: Aging is associated with altered immune response, which increases susceptibility to infections. sTREM-1 is involved in the amplification of the inflammatory response to bacterial infection. The present cross-sectional study aims to investigate local sTREM-1 levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) as well as key periodontal pathogen levels in the subgingival plaque in an elderly cohort with periodontal health, gingivitis, and chronic periodontitis (CP). METHODS: Subjects were 51 systemically healthy, elderly individuals (mean age, 68 ± 4.5 years) who had undergone full-mouth periodontal examinations. Subgingival plaque and GCF samples were collected from the healthy sites of participants without periodontal disease (n = 17), the sites with gingival inflammation from patients with gingivitis (n = 19), and the periodontitis sites of patients with CP (n = 15). GCF volumes were measured by an electronic impedance device, and total protein levels were assessed by a flouremetric assay. sTREM-1 levels in GCF were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The subgingival plaque total bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Prevotella intermedia levels were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analysis was performed using nonparametric methods. RESULTS: GCF volume, total protein concentrations, and sTREM-1 levels in GCF were similar among the groups (p > 0.05). Significantly higher T. forsythia levels were observed in subgingival plaque samples harvested from patients with gingivitis and CP, than in those from healthy participants (p < 0.05). However, the subgingival levels of the other four periodontal pathogens and total bacteria were not statistically different among the groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that there are no differences in GCF volume, total protein, and sTREM-1 levels between healthy and periodontally diseased elderly adults. We found only limited differences in the studied subgingival microbial profile. This finding indicates an already deregulated, local inflammatory response in this elderly cohort, on which bacterial biofilm challenge may have a limited further impact

The relationship between oral diseases and infectious complications in patients under dialysis

Objectives Association was investigated between oral health before dialysis and the incidence of systemic infections during dialysis. We hypothesized that low-grade systemic inflammation caused by poor oral health associates with infectious episodes in patients on dialysis, despite earlier eradication of oral infection foci. Subjects and methods A total of 117 patients (46 with peritoneal and 71 with hemodialysis) were examined and treated at predialysis stage and followed up during dialysis. Number of infection episodes and microorganisms cultured from blood and peritoneal fluid were analyzed. Number of teeth, periodontal inflammatory burden, and total dental index scores were assessed, and salivary matrix metalloproteinase 8, triggering receptor on myeloid cells 1, peptidoglycan recognition protein 1 (PGLYRP1), and interleukin-1 beta were measured. Results In hemodialysis, 134 infection episodes were recorded, while peritoneal dialysis group had 77 peritonitis episodes. Culture-negative samples were 69% in hemodialysis and 23% in peritoneal dialysis group. Staphylococci were the most frequently associated microorganisms. Infections during dialysis did neither associate with oral health parameters nor associate with salivary inflammatory biomarkers, except for PGLYRP1, which associated with number of infection episodes during hemodialysis (p = .046). Conclusions A number of infection episodes during hemodialysis were associated with salivary PGLYRP1 but not the other salivary markers or oral infection markers.Peer reviewe