Prediction of Damping Capacity Demand in Seismic Base Isolators via Machine Learning

Base isolators used in buildings provide both a good acceleration reduction and structural vibration control structures.The base isolators may lose their damping capacity over time due to environmental or dynamic effects.This deterioration of them requires the determination of the maintenance and repair needs and is important for the long-termisolator life.In this study,an artificial intelligence prediction model has been developed to determine the damage and maintenance-repair requirements of isolators as a result of environmental effects and dynamic factors over time.With the developed model,the required damping capacity of the isolator structure was estimated and compared with the previously placed isolator capacity,and the decrease in the damping property was tried to be determined.For this purpose,a data set was created by collecting the behavior of structures with single degrees of freedom(SDOF),different stiffness,damping ratio and natural period isolated from the foundation under far fault earthquakes.The data is divided into 5 different damping classes varying between 10%and 50%.Machine learning model was trained in damping classes with the data on the structure’s response to random seismic vibrations.As a result of the isolator behavior under randomly selected earthquakes,the recorded motion and structural acceleration of the structure against any seismic vibration were examined,and the decrease in the damping capacity was estimated on a class basis.The performance loss of the isolators,which are separated according to their damping properties,has been tried to be determined,and the reductions in the amounts to be taken into account have been determined by class.In the developed prediction model,using various supervised machine learning classification algorithms,the classification algorithm providing the highest precision for the model has been decided.When the results are examined,it has been determined that the damping of the isolator structure with the machine learning method is predicted successfully at a level exceeding 96%,and it is an effective method in deciding whether there is a decrease in the damping capacity.

Estimating Construction Material Indices with ARIMA and Optimized NARNETs

Construction Industry operates relying on various key economic indicators.One of these indicators is material prices.On the other hand,cost is a key concern in all operations of the construction industry.In the uncertain conditions,reliable cost forecasts become an important source of information.Material cost is one of the key components of the overall cost of construction.In addition,cost overrun is a common problem in the construction industry,where nine out of ten construction projects face cost overrun.In order to carry out a successful cost management strategy and prevent cost overruns,it is very important to find reliable methods for the estimation of construction material prices.Material prices have a time dependent nature.In order to increase the foreseeability of the costs of construction materials,this study focuses on estimation of construction material indices through time series analysis.Two different types of analysis are implemented for estimation of the future values of construction material indices.The first method implemented was Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA),which is known to be successful in estimation of time series having a linear nature.The second method implementedwas Non-LinearAutoregressive Neural Network(NARNET)which is known to be successful in modeling and estimating of series with non-linear components.The results have shown that depending on the nature of the series,both these methods can successfully and accurately estimate the future values of the indices.In addition,we found out that Optimal NARNET architectures which provide better accuracy in estimation of the series can be identified/discovered as result of grid search on NARNET hyperparameters.

Correlation of neutrophil/lymphocyte and platelet/lymphocyte ratio with visual acuity and macular thickness in age-related macular degeneration

AIM：To investigate the place of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio（NLR） and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio（PLR） in the diagnosis of and prognosis for neovascular age-related macular degeneration（AMD）. METHODS：One hundred AMD patients and 100 healthy controls were included in the study. Blood samples were obtained from the venous blood, which is used for routine analysis, and these samples were subjected to complete blood count. NLR was defined as the neutrophil count divided by the number of lymphocytes, and PLR was defined as the platelet count divided by the number of lymphocytes. RESULTS：No statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups under consideration in terms of demographic features（P〉0.05）. The average NLR in the patient group was found to be significantly higher than that in the healthy control group（P〈0.05）. The average PLR was significantly higher in the patient group as compared to the control group（P〈0.05）. As best corrected visual acuity（BCVA） increased, both NLR and PLR decreased（significant negative correlations at 49.8% and 63.0%, respectively）, whereas as central macular thickness（CMT） increased, both NLR and PLR increased（significant positive correlations at 59.3% and 70.0%, respectively）.CONCLUSION：NLR and PLR levels are higher among neovascular AMD patients as compared to healthy control group. NLR and PLR levels were found to be inversely proportional to BCVA and directly proportional to CMT.

Clues for Architectural Education： Flexibility in Traditional and Modern Turkish House

Traditional Turkish house which characterized with its original shape of the room, plan layout, construction and roof forms has two main spaces as ＂sofa＂ （common space） and the ＂room＂ differentiate it from the houses in different geographies. The flexibility of the room in traditional Turkish house is characterized with its fixed-in-furniture, which supplies all necessities of a person in a house. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences in use of space between traditional Turkish houses and today＇s flats in apartments. The comprehensions will be made through the field works on traditional houses and with the projects of architecture students in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanhul. The concept of the students＇ projects is redesigning their own houses. Since the students come from different regions of Turkey, their houses have both similar and different spatial characteristics. Whether the cultural identity of the user plays a role in use of living space will be discussed. The aim of this study is to put the relation between the past and today＇s use of interior spaces of Turkish houses.

Differences Description of the Two Different Squares of Taksim Turkey and Vatican Rome in View of Architectural Design Criteria

Principles applied to the elements of design that bring them together into one design. This research distinguishes about the architectural design criteria and the comparisonal methods of two squares; one is Taksim in Turkey and in Vatican Sen Petro Square in Rome.

The Efficiency and Productivity Analyses of the Turkish Banking Sector After the Restructuring Program

After the 2001 economic crisis, the banking sector restructuring program （BSRP） has been designed for the establishment of a stronger financial framework and the improvement of competition in the Turkish banking sector. The program constitutes the policies for solving specific problems such as the mismanaged assets of some banks and the recovery of regulating and supervising of the sector. This study aims to analyze the efficiency and productivity changes in the Turkish banking sector during 2002-2009. During this period the Banking Sector Restructuring Program has been applied. The data envolepment analysis （DEA） is conducted for the efficiency measurement under the production and intermediation approaches and it is observed that the efficiency of banks increased for both approaches. The mean efficiency values for the intermediation approach are higher than the values for the production approach, indicating a better functioning in financial intermediation as compared to their operational performance. The Malmquist index based on the intermediation approach is calculated to determine the productivity of the banking sector. It is observed that the productivity of banks increased during the period and the increase resulted mainly from investments in technology.

Wooden Structures within the Context of Parametric Design: Pavilions and Seatings in Urban Landscape

Today,on the one hand,while the traditional design process continues,on the other hand,digital design systems along with advances in computer technologies continue to present designers with new and effective ideas.Parametric design is preferred by designers for its relationality,contributing toward versatility,ensuring flexibility,simplifying diversification,and for presenting programmatic solutions.As is seen in a number of areas,we have also begun to encounter the use of parametric designs produced with parametric design systems and wooden materials in urban landscaping.The purpose of this study is to examine the upper cover application and seating elements generated by taking advantage of parametric designs from wooden construction materials in urban landscaping areas,and examine the impact of wooden material characteristics while generating behavior and parametric structures of technologies.After researching parametric design and wooden material concepts,an attempt was made to reach conclusions through analyses conducted by examining parametric wooden designed pavilion and seating element specimens applied in various regions of the world.