5916 research outputs found
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Risk-driven deferral of distribution transformer investments in the E-mobility era
No full textThe recent increase in electric vehicles has introduced extra loads to existing distribution infrastructures. Residential charging solutions are one of the challenges that will be addressed in the e-mobility era. Traditionally, distribution system operators follow a conservative approach to ensure their customers have uninterruptable and high-quality access to electrical energy. Therefore, upgrading the grid infrastructure is not a new approach; however, the widespread distribution of EVs across the grid requires immediate infrastructure investments, necessitating a significant budget allocation. Therefore, this paper suggests a risk-driven distribution transformer investment deferral to gain time to plan and process investment decisions effectively. By focusing on overall and additional demand and not improbable peak scenarios, this study shows that one can delay infrastructure investments through sensible risk management without compromising grid reliability in the transition to widespread electric mobility
Grammar or crammer? The role of morphology in distinguishing orthographically similar but semantically unrelated words
No full textWe show that n-gram-based distributional models fail to distinguish unrelated words due to the noise in semantic spaces. This issue remains hidden in conventional benchmarks but becomes more pronounced when orthographic similarity is high. To highlight this problem, we introduce OSimUnr, a dataset of nearly one million English and Turkish word-pairs that are orthographically similar but semantically unrelated (e.g., grammar - crammer). These pairs are generated through a graph-based WordNet approach and morphological resources. We define two evaluation tasks-unrelatedness identification and relatedness classification-to test semantic models. Our experiments reveal that FastText, with default n-gram segmentation, performs poorly (below 5% accuracy) in identifying unrelated words. However, morphological segmentation overcomes this issue, boosting accuracy to 68% (English) and 71% (Turkish) without compromising performance on standard benchmarks (RareWords, MTurk771, MEN, AnlamVer). Furthermore, our results suggest that even state-of-the-art LLMs, including Llama 3.3 and GPT-4o-mini, may exhibit noise in their semantic spaces, particularly in highly synthetic languages such as Turkish. To ensure dataset quality, we leverage WordNet, MorphoLex, and NLTK, covering fully derivational morphology supporting atomic roots (e.g., '-co_here+ance+y' for 'coherency'), with 405 affixes in Turkish and 467 in English.Publisher versio
Legitimizing illiberalism: The construction of civilizational identity by the justice and development party in Türkiye
No full textSince its establishment, T & uuml;rkiye has equated modernization with Westernization. However, following the second AKP victory in the June 2007 parliamentary elections, relations with the West began to deteriorate. In 2016, the illiberal turn taken by the government on the grounds that T & uuml;rkiye was facing an existential threat after the failed coup attempt led to a serious rupture with Europe. The Turkish government began to counter criticism from Western actors by referring to historical antagonistic relations between the West and the East, signifying a firm estrangement from Western civilization. It highlighted T & uuml;rkiye's differences from the West by making frequent references to the glorious past of the country, the collective memory of the Ottoman legacy, religious identity, and strong ties with the Islamic civilization. This study investigates AKP's increased emphasis on civilizational identity by utilizing a two-step methodological approach that combines textual analysis and critical discourse analysis applied to President Erdo & gbreve;an's speeches. The time frame of the research covers the period between the June 2016 and May 2023 general elections. The study argues that AKP instrumentalizes civilizational discourse in its quest for legitimizing illiberal policies.Publisher versio
Success-efficient/failure-safe strategy for hierarchical reinforcement motor learning
No full textOur study explores how ecological aspects of motor learning enhance survival by improving movement efficiency and mitigating injury risks during task failures. Traditional motor control theories mainly address isolated body movements and often overlook these ecological factors. We introduce a novel computational motor control approach, incorporating ecological fitness and a strategy that alternates between success-driven movement efficiency and failure-driven safety, akin to win-stay/lose-shift tactics. In our experiments, participants performed squat-to-stand movements under novel force perturbations. They adapted effectively through various adaptive motor control mechanisms to avoid falls, reducing failure rates rapidly. The results indicate a high-level ecological controller in human motor learning that switches objectives between safety and movement efficiency, depending on failure or success. This approach is supported by policy learning, internal model adaptation, and adaptive feedback control. Our findings offer a comprehensive perspective on human motor control, integrating risk management in a hierarchical reinforcement learning framework for real-world environments.European Union's Horizon 2020 ; SPEXOR ; European Union's Horizon Europe through the project SWAG ; Slovenian Research Agency - Slovenia ; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) ; Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) ; Innovative Science and Technology Initiative for Security ; Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA), JapanPublisher versio
Hospital network resilience in hatay following the 2023 cascading earthquakes in Türkiye: Year-long investigation
No full textOn February 6, 2023, T & uuml;rkiye experienced two catastrophic earthquakes with significant magnitudes Mw 7.8 and 7.5, followed by a subsequent third event with a measured Mw 6.3 two weeks later. These events caused widespread devastation, predominantly in the province of Hatay, with a significant portion of its buildings and healthcare system being severely damaged. This paper presents the findings of a technical investigation into physical structural and nonstructural damages and the functional recovery of the hospital network in Hatay province. The study was conducted on 30 main hospitals through field visits immediately after the events and six months later, bolstered by extensive reviews of official sources for one year post-event. Overall, functionality losses reduced the total number of operational beds up to around 31% of pre-earthquake bed numbers after the first and second earthquakes and 14% after the third earthquake. One year after the events, with the support of seven newly built or converted hospitals and a continuing recovery process, the bed capacity for the network reached around 83%.University of Nebraska-Lincoln ; Özyeğin Universit
Impact of long-duration earthquakes on site response: comparison of 1d and 3d approaches
No full textThis study presents a comparative analysis of multidirectional site response modeling conducted for a well-instrumented downhole array in Alaska, examining seven long-duration earthquake events. While traditional one-dimensional (1D) analyses provide valuable insight into vertical wave propagation, they often simplify real conditions by neglecting the full range of seismic input components that may influence ground motion characteristics. By incorporating all three earthquake directions as East-West, North-South, and Vertical in a multidirectional site response approach, we aim to achieve a more accurate evaluation of site amplification. The results reveal distinct differences in modelled ground motions between three-dimensional and one-dimensional models across various soil depths, demonstrating the improved reliability provided by a multidirectional framework. These findings emphasize the necessity of employing more comprehensive modeling strategies, particularly in high-seismicity regions like Alaska
Evaluation of strength and electrical resistivity in cement mortars incorporating different biomass ashes
No full textThe high carbon emissions of cement production necessitate mitigation strategies. One approach is partial cement replacement, for which biomass ash, a waste of biomass combustion for energy production, could be a viable candidate. This study investigates the effects of hazelnut shell ash and sugar beet pulp ash as partial cement replacements. Biomass ash properties and effects on setting time, strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and electrical resistivity were evaluated. Electrical resistivity was measured by two methods, including a newly introduced DC-based technique utilizing an insulation resistance tester. While hazelnut shell ash accelerated final setting by 73 min, sugar beet pulp ash delayed final setting by 186 min at the same 15% replacement rate. Both ashes reduced compressive and flexural strength, with the degree of reduction increasing with replacement rate; this effect was more pronounced for hazelnut shell ash. At a 5% replacement, hazelnut shell ash reduced compressive strength by 17.2 MPa at 28 days and 22.8 MPa at 90 days, while sugar beet pulp ash caused a smaller decrease of 4.7 MPa and 9.5 MPa, respectively. These results suggest that sugar beet pulp ash has a greater potential for performance improvement after mechanical activation application. Hazelnut shell ash improved electrical resistivity by 7% to 10% at a 5% replacement for both measurement methods, respectively. The DC-based method showed a strong correlation with the conventional Wenner test, with a Spearman's correlation coefficient of 0.964. UPV results remained largely unaffected by partial replacement. While biomass ash replacement poses challenges due to strength reduction, it offers advantages for rapid setting and improved resistivity. Future studies should investigate biomass fly ash and mechanical-chemical activation techniques to improve cementitious performance.TÜBİTAKPublisher versio
What makes a space relatively memorable? A study on the recollection of spaces through space syntax and imageability theories
No full textSpace is a fundamental component of our existence, without which we cannot live or think. During our daily lives, we perceive various components of space concurrently and we build an understanding of the environment in our memories. The spatial properties/qualities of the environment have their own unique place in this context and have been studied in psychological and several non-psychological disciplines such as architecture, phenomenology, sociology and geography. In this frame, imageability theory focuses on the environment's visuo-spatial quality, whereas space syntax theory focuses on its spatial configuration, and they both enable the systematic evaluation of numerical data. Starting with the question "What makes a space memorable among all its different components/features?", the research aims to investigate the effect of certain spatial qualities on spatial memory through quantitative research on an architectural scale. Within a multidisciplinary framework, the methodology presents a unique approach that integrates space syntax with memory data. Firstly, content analysis was applied to cognitive maps, and the obtained data were redefined according to the configurational (syntactic) and imageability qualities of the real environment they represent. Secondly, the redefined data was tested to evaluate the effect of spatial qualities on memory. 77 participants (age 23-75; 52M/25F) attended the case study and drew the plan schemas of the school building they graduated from. The relation between memory and (1) spatial units' imageability categories is searched through ANOVA tests, and (2) spatial units' syntactic values is searched through correlation tests. The significant results reveal that configurational and visual qualities of spaces are essential factors on what will be stored in memory depending on their lead of participants' spatial experience routines via their formal qualities. Furthermore, the case study presents multidisciplinary data that contributes to architectural design, environment and behavior, and space syntax theories and provides new insight into cognitive research on memory.Publisher versio
Exploring newly-qualified English teachers’ experiences of a mentorship program through a situational mentoring framework
No full textWhen newly qualified English as foreign language teachers are appointed to state schools, they must engage in a mentoring relationship, a mandatory component of the teacher induction program. This qualitative descriptive case study aims to explore the current mentoring program through the lens of the Situational Mentoring Framework, focusing on four major components of a mentoring process: mentor selection; mentor and novice teacher preparation; support team, and accountability. Interview data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with six newly qualified in-service EFL teachers from various regions of Türkiye and analyzed using thematic and content analysis. The results indicated that teachers view the mentoring process primarily as burdensome and time-consuming paperwork, with little to no tangible benefits. Additionally, teachers identified problems with the current mentorship program and articulated features of their desired mentorship program