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This paper proposes a new family of estimators for population mean with a non-response using a simple random sampling. It specifically applies this method to estimate the mean in Turkey's Education sector data sets, accounting for non-response. The study integrates additional information in the form of mean and cdf of the auxiliary variable which is highly positively correlated with the study variable to develop a general class of estimators tailored for the non-response using a simple random sampling scheme. Through numerical research, the characteristics of these estimators – namely, their biases and mean square errors – have been carefully investigated and deeply evaluated. The basic estimator of a population mean is under-performed by the suggested estimators. The empirical investigation validates the results, demonstrating the improved relative efficiency of the proposed estimator over the existing estimators, as demonstrated by theoretical and numerical comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common oral mucosal disease. Despite a variety of scientific articles have been available till date, merely a few scientometric analyses have been systematically carried out in this field. The objective of this study was to recognize the hotspots and research trends related to RAS via bibliometric approach. The Elsevier's Scopus database was searched to retrieve qualified literature through an advanced search strategy on 9 Feb 2023. The basic information was collected as following: article type, publication year, journals, impact factor, the count of citations, citation density, keywords, authors, contributing institutions and country. A list of 986 publications were identified from 1933 to 2022, and the number of citations for each paper varied from 0 to 283. A steady increasing trend in the number of documents could be observed each decade with the summit in 2010s. Controlled study (n = 334) and major clinical study (n = 192) were the most common types of study design. Scully C (n = 26) was identified as the most productive author. United States (n = 166) and Turkey (n = 101) top the list of dedicating countries. This report would offer profound insight into the current status of RAS research and serve as a reference source for anyone planning to enhance the quality of future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeastern Turkey perished by the M w 7.8, Kahramanmaras earthquake on February 6, 2023, at 01:17 UT (04:17 LT). The Kahramanmaras-centered event, hit by the break of the East Anatolian Fault Line, is felt in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Cyprus on the border of Turkey. Together with Syria, it causes loss of lives and severe damage in 10 cities. This work is dedicated to the people of the region. The study discusses the causality of anomalies by conducting ionospheric anomaly research via the interpolated TEC map obtained from the CODE according to the coordinates of the epicenter of the earthquake (latitude, longitude). The TEC amplitudes are observed by evolving the time-domain TEC map into the frequency-domain with the Fourier transform. The peaks of the amplitudes allow preliminary information for the anomaly days. For the anomaly, the TEC (TECU) boundaries are drawn by the statistical specification. The TEC map outside these boundaries is marked as an anomaly. The causality of abnormalities is tried to be read through the triad of the geomagnetic storm(s) , solar activity , and the earthquake effect. One can find seven anomaly days in the paper. January 30, February 2, 3, 11, 15, 16, and 21 are the anomaly days. The essay probably detects the anomaly before 3 days related to the Southeastern earthquake. • Reads the causality of the earthquake in southeast Turkey (Mw 7.8), through the ionosphere-earth crust relationship. • Notices potential anomalies by presenting the time-domain TEC atlas in the frequency domain with Fourier spectral analysis. • Considering all possible TEC anomaly essentials detect the precursors of the earthquake 3 days before the event day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Turkey, the transportation industry's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by 147.1% between 1990 and 2019. Today, this transportation industry (i.e., freight and passenger) is among the significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Turkey's megacities. Moreover, 65.43% of short-distance trips between home to work and home to school have been made by private automobiles in Istanbul and increasing concerns about environmental pollution have led practitioners to seek practical, robust, and effective solutions to reduce GHG emissions. Shared electric scooters have rapidly become popular for end-users and practitioners in megacities, depending on their valuable advantages. However, the rapid spread of micro-mobility, characterized by e-scooters, has also raised questions about this system's sustainability, suitability, and applicability. Thus, there are some critical and noteworthy gaps in this issue. This study investigates the factors affecting the suitable e-scooter selection for a sustainable urban transport system. Besides, it aims to develop a methodological framework for assessing the available e-scooter alternatives. For this purpose, a novel negotiation approach, a new form of the Delphi technique, was developed with the help of Fermatean fuzzy sets to identify the influential criteria. Also, the current paper presents a consensus-based MULTIMOORA (Multiple Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis plus Full Multiplicative Form) decision-making model based on Fermatean fuzzy sets to address the appraisal problem concerning e-scooter selection. The current paper indicated that economic measures such as acquisition price and upkeep costs affect the e-scooter selection processes. In addition, an optimization model based on cross-entropy and dispersion measures is utilized to compute criteria weights. It highlighted that the costs of e-scooters are still high, and operators consider these criteria instead of the technical and operational features of the e-scooters. Finally, the validity check executed to test the robustness and trustworthiness of the model affirms the model's firmness and trustworthiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the use of deep learning methods in railway defect detection has expanded rapidly due to the technology's ability to improve accuracy and efficiency in fault diagnosis. However, modeling deep learning applications requires a large amount of data, and the labeling process for such datasets demands significant manpower. To address this gap this paper introduces a semi-supervised learning approach using a student–teacher model with YOLOv4 for automatically labeling images, aiming to reduce the manual effort required for image classification. We also present a novel dataset generated from images provided by the TCDD (The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey), which includes five distinct railway defects. Results of the experiments on the same test dataset show that the proposed student–teacher model not only improves YOLOv4's detection performance according to several decision metrics but also extends the training set with high-confidence pseudo-labeled images. • A novel dataset is generated for five common railway defects. • Student–teacher model effectively generates accurate labels for railway defects. • Automated image labeling process via student–teacher model minimizes manual effort. • Significant increase is achieved in mAP and F1-score in defect detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) has recently attracted significant interest in building timber or hybrid structures owing to the rapidly growing demand for low-carbon construction materials with excellent mechanical properties. To investigate the seismic performance of CLT structures adopting novel dissipative angle brackets and hold-downs with soft-steel and rubber (i.e., SRD-ABs and SRD-HDs), a series of shaking table tests were performed on two full-scale specimens, i.e., a benchmark specimen (Specimen Ⅰ) and a specimen with a multi-doorway at the ground (Specimen Ⅱ). Several representative ground motions, including the Turkey wave, El Centro wave, Wenchuan wave, and Shanghai artificial wave, were selected as excitations, whose peak acceleration increased gradually from 0.035 g to 0.80 g. The damage patterns of the structures were revealed, and the dynamic characteristics and responses were obtained and analyzed. The results show that the fundamental frequencies of Specimen Ⅰ and Specimen Ⅱ were 4.125 Hz and 3.625 Hz, respectively. The mode shapes of each specimen remained similar before tests with peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.51 g, with only a slight decrease of approximately 5 % in the fundamental frequency, indicating that the specimens only suffered minor damage because of the great energy-dissipating capacity of the SRD-ABs and SRD-HDs. After experiencing tests with PGA of 0.80 g, the specimen exhibited a maximum inter-story drift of 1/60 with a structural damping ratio of 13 %, and the damage was mainly exhibited at the SRD-ABs and SRD-HDs, which realized the performance objective of replaceability of dissipative connections and repairability of structures under the 9-degree rare earthquakes. Furthermore, non-linear numerical models were developed to duplicate the dynamic characteristics and responses of the test specimen, and the analytical results from the models show satisfactory agreement with the test results. Overall, the outcomes of this paper can provide valuable references for future research and applications of CLT structures with the SRD-ABs and SRD-HDs. • Full-scale shaking table tests on two CLT structures with novel dissipative connections. • Damage patterns, dynamic characteristics and responses were obtained and analyzed. • A non-linear numerical model was developed to duplicate the seismic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate the failure probability of buried pipelines under pulse-like ground motions based on the seismic records detected during the Kahramanmaraş earthquake in Turkey. The incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method was used to evaluate the vulnerability of continuous and segmented steel pipes, taking into account the corrosion effect in alkaline and near-neutral soil environments. The results show that pulse-like ground motion can significantly impact the fragility of buried pipelines, particularly segment steel pipelines. Moreover, the failure probability of buried pipelines tends to increase with service age, although the rate of failure gradually decreases. Empirical models notably underestimate the failure probability of buried pipelines under pulse-like ground motion, so they should be used cautiously in engineering application. These insights contribute to advancing our understanding of the seismic fragility of buried pipelines. • Studied the influence of pulse-like ground motion form the Kahramanmaraş earthquake on buried pipelines failure probability. • Considered seismic fragility and failure probability of buried pipelines based on geological environments and pipeline type. • Revealed experiential model underestimates failure probability of buried pipelines under pulsating seismic motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of trends in drought variables at 29 stations across the Euphrates-Tigris Basin over the period 1965–2022. Drought variables were calculated using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) for 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month scales. The drought values have been decomposed for these time scales through application of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The components are defined as short, medium and long periodicities. DWT-based trend analysis was computed using Mann-Kendall (MK) and Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) methods. As the time scale and the periodicity of drought increase, a strong increase in drought occurs. It was revealed that drought increased significantly at all time scales in almost all stations, especially in the long periodicity, according to both MK and ITA. The droughts and the serious increasing trend of droughts in this basin constitute a significant threat to water resources. • Drought in the largest basin of Turkey, the Euphrates-Tigris Basin, was scrutinized through an assessment of the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI). • Short, medium, and long periodicities acquired by decomposing Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) time series have been introduced. • The trends of SPI time series and short, medium and long periodicity series were analysed by MK and ITA tests. • The most severe droughts began after 2020 throughout the basin and the drought intensified significantly during the long periodicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waste management subject is a very important issue today and in the future. Therefore, lots of scholars are endeavoring to investigate the valorization of wastes from different sources, such as paper, metal, glass, and vegetables. In this study, the pistachio soft and hard shells, as an industrial waste material, were used as natural dye sources. For this purpose, waste were collected from Gaziantep province in the south of Türkiye. Then, the soft and hard pistachio shells that had been dried in the shadow were investigated in terms of FTIR analysis and then used as a dyestuff source in the dyeing of cotton fabrics with the help of bio-mordants and metal mordants. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity of the soft and hard shell of pistachio was assessed through the DPPH and FRAP assay methods, and the antibacterial activities were tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli for selected dyed samples. A spectrophotometer was used to determine the CIE L*a*b* color values and (K/S) of cotton fabrics that had been dyed. The results exhibited that the tested wastes could be useful for the coloration of the cotton fabrics, and depending on the used natural dye source, mordanting agent, and mordanting method, the colors were found to have changed, but in general, light brown-ecru-brown colors were observed in the dyed samples. Meanwhile, the fastness of the samples was examined, and the sources were found to exhibit limited light fastness values but good or perfect washing, rubbing, and perspiration fastness. In conclusion, the evaluated conditions were found to be useful for the coloration of cotton, and even more importantly, the pistachio soft and hard shells were observed to reveal great potential for use in textile dye houses as a natural dye source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On February 6, 2023, two heavy earthquakes with moment magnitudes (M W) of 7.7 and 7.6 hit the Kahramanmaraş region in southeast Türkiye. Aftershocks of moment magnitude of 6 occurred consequently. These earthquakes affected more than 14 million people, and caused severe damage to civil infrastructure including buildings, government offices, religious buildings, dams, bridges, airports, and roads. After the earthquakes, a group of researchers visited the Hatay province to assess the response of buildings. Hatay was one of the most heavily affected cities in the region. The researchers gathered data on damaged reinforced concrete buildings, steel structures, as well as masonry buildings. This paper focuses on discussing the findings and analyzing the gathered data from reinforced concrete buildings and steel structures. A wide variety of issues that resulted in heavy damage or, in some cases, complete collapse of the buildings are discussed. These problems include construction mistakes such as insufficient shear reinforcements, neglected corrosion, utilizing low-quality concrete, insufficient development length in flexural reinforcements, and strong beam- weak column failure. In addition, various design errors including excessive torsional response of buildings, rigidity difference in two orthogonal directions of east–west and north–south of the building plan, pounding effect, short column failure, and development of weak and soft stories are described using gathered pictorial data. Finally, recommendations were made, and conclusions were drawn based on previous experimental and numerical studies of the seismic behavior of buildings as well as Turkish Building Earthquake Code (TBEC- 2018) requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The most profitable system is on-grid PV-Wind Turbine system with an NPC of $52.8 M. • For 0% and 25% sale constrained systems low penetration systems are optimal. • For 50% sale constrained and unconstrained systems high penetration systems are preferred. • Fire hawk Optimizer, Grey Wolf Optimizer and Particle Swarm Optimizer are used to size the system by power flow analysis. Fire Hawk Optimizer is found to be usable in optimal power flow analysis and system sizing. • Increase in penetrations leads to enlargement of the system in the region with high load demand because of optimizations. Today, with a human population of 7.5 billion, increasing power consumption, and widespread use of high-technology equipment, the need for energy in the world is increasing day by day. The damage to nature caused by non-renewable energy resources and the economic and political disadvantages they cause in countries that must import these resources have led the world to search for alternative energy sources. One of the most important benefits of renewable energy sources is that they can create hybrid energy systems with other energy sources. Hybrid energy systems are structures in that more than one energy generation unit works together to feed the electrical load. In this paper, a hybrid system will be designed by using Homer PRO, to supply the energy consumed in the residential areas of Karaburun and Urla districts of Izmir province in Turkey with hybrid renewable energy systems. Systems of different sizes are designed for 50%, 75%, and 100% penetration rates, and sales to the grid are constrained to 0%, 25%, 50%, and no constraint on sales. Sensitivity analyses have been performed for 10% and 20% more power required by the load. Techno-economic analyses were done for the systems and the optimal system has been identified. The power flow of the optimal system is inspected by defining the network in Python and Fire Hawk Optimizer (FHO), Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are used for optimal sizing of the system. The optimal system has a Net Present Cost (NPC) of $52.3 M, 34 wind turbines, and 954 kW PV with conditions of 100% penetration and no restrictions on sales to the grid. FHO proposed 26 wind turbines and 780 kW PVs for Urla and 8 wind turbines, and 174 kW PVs for Karaburun. GWO proposed 25 wind turbines and 747 kW PVs for Urla, 9 wind turbines, and 165 PVs for Karaburun. PSO offered 24 wind turbines and 708 kW PVs for Urla, 10 wind turbines, and 246 kW PVs for Karaburun. When there is no sale to and 25% sales to the grid, it is seen that the optimal scenario is the system with a 50% penetration rate. In fully sale-constrained systems, NPCs are higher than the base system and they can never pay for themselves compared to the base system. It is concluded that smaller-sized systems are more suitable for systems with high constraints. The proposed FHO algorithm and GWO algorithm react to increasing penetration ratios by enlarging the system size in the regions with high load demand. PSO sizes the system like predictions by load demand. FHO reacts quicker to increasing penetrations than PSO and GWO. FHO algorithm is found to be usable to solve optimal power flow problems and optimal system sizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranking Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS) using distance-based methods involves calculating the distance between an IFS and a reference point which represents either maximum (positive ideal solution) or minimum (negative ideal solution) value. These methods assume that similarity of an IFSs to the reference point increases as its distance from it decreases. While it is a common practice to use nonlinear distance functions for ranking IFSs, this paper proves that no nonlinear IF distance function can be robust. In this study, the shortcomings of the conventional procedure are demonstrated by providing a mathematical proof and an alternative ranking method based on the hypervolume metric is proposed. In addition, the suggested ranking approach is extended as a new multi-criteria decision making method called Hypervolume-based Evaluation and Ranking Technique (HEART). HEART is applied for multi-criteria assessment of Turkey's energy alternatives. Results are compared with three distance based multi-criteria decision making methods: TOPSIS, VIKOR, and CODAS. • The study uncovers the critical shortcomings of distance-based methods in ranking Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS). • An alternative ranking method to distance based approaches, based on the hypervolume metric is proposed. • The hypervolume based ranking approach is extended for use in multi-criteria decision making problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]