The Local Strategies of Global Brands in Turkey： Cultural Signs and Advertisement Messages

In advertisements directed at consumers within a society or others ocieties, brands employ cultural signs （values, beliefs, rituals, and heroes and symbols） and in accordance, it can be observed that they consciously make use of the terms ＂locality＂ and ＂globality＂. In this study, four global food brands＇ advertisements including cultural codes, locality, and globality have been randomly selected and analyzed. These advertising messages have been analyzed at an intercultural level from visual semiotics perspective. It has been tried to determine the ＂local＂ approaches of global brands by revealing the ＂intercultural＂ dimension transferred through visual and linguistic signs in the advertisements which we reselected with an eclectic method.

Soil-Structure Interaction under the Effect of High Groundwater Table

This paper gives an account of a study performed for the raft foundation of a commercial building of considerable height and area. A raft 175?m long was designed without due consideration to the buoyancy effect due to high groundwater table as the building is near the sea. Although the raft was designed as an uninterrupted system, the designer used different, and insufficient, thicknesses for the foundation in order to lower costs. A 3D study was subsequently undertaken to analyze the settlements of the raft using finite elements. There was reasonable agreement between the computed and the measured settlements. However, the front block of the raft was observed to float as soon as pumping for?lowering of the groundwater table was halted. This instigated the analyzers to tie this portion of the raft to the surrounding piled curtain that was used for excavation of the foundation pit, by means of reinforced concrete beams. The computations show that?the?heave of the floor was restrained at acceptable levels. It is planned to stop pumping in the near future and compare the computed and measured vertical movements.

Surface Modification of Nanoclays with Styrene-Maleic Anhydride Copolymers

This study presents the modification of surfaces of nanoclays, halloysite nanotubes (HNT) and sepiolite (SEP), with styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers (SMA) via esterification reaction between hydroxyl groups of the nanoclays and anhydride groups of SMA. The structural, thermal, and morphological analyses of the modified nanoclays were performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). All of these results suggested that the expected modification of HNT and SEP surfaces were performed. Although XRD patterns of HNT containing samples showed that the basal spacing shifted to higher distances, it was found that those of the crystalline structure of SEP remained unchanged. Thermal gravimetric analysis exhibited that SMA copolymers were grafted onto the surfaces of nanoclays varying amounts between 15 and 43 wt. % depending on the types of nanoclays and SMA copolymers. This modification indicates that these nanoclays can be added to the polystyrene matrix without any compatibilizers.

Fourier Coefficients of a Class of Eta Quotients of Weight 16 with Level 12

Recently, Williams [1] and then Yao, Xia and Jin [2] discovered explicit formulas for the coefficients of the Fourier series expansions of a class of eta quotients. Williams expressed all coefficients of 126 eta quotients in terms of and and Yao, Xia and Jin, following the method of proof of Williams, expressed only even coefficients of 104 eta quotients in terms of and . Here, by using the method of proof of Williams, we will express the even Fourier coefficients of 360 eta quotients i.e., the Fourier coefficients of the sum, f(q) + f(?q), of 360 eta quotients in terms of and .

Assessing the efficacy of a novel sperm-washing medium enriched with serotonin,L-carnitine,and coenzyme Q10:an observational cohort study

This observational cohort study investigated the potential of a novel sperm-washing medium(SWM)enriched with serotonin(5-HT),L-carnitine(L-C),and coenzyme Q10(CoQ10)to enhance sperm motility and reduce DNA damage.It compared this innovative medium(5-HT/L-C/CoQ10 SWM)with two widely used commercial media(SWM 1 and SWM 2).Ninety-eight volunteers from an infertility clinic provided semen samples,which were divided into three aliquots for analysis in different SWMs:group 1,SWM was composed of hydroxyethyl piperazineethanesulfonic acid(HEPES),sodium bicarbonate,human serum albumin(HSA),taurine,and gentamicin sulfate(SWM 1);group 2,SWM was composed of HEPES,sodium bicarbonate,and HSA(SWM 2);and group 3,SWM was composed of HEPES-buffered human tubal fluid supplemented with 5-HT,L-C,and CoQ10(5-HT/L-C/CoQ10 SWM).Sperm motility was categorized as progressive,nonprogressive,or immotile.Apoptosis,reactive oxygen species(ROS)production,and DNA fragmentation were also assessed.There were no significant differences in total or progressive sperm motility among the groups.Spermatozoa in group 3 exhibited reduced apoptosis,necrosis,and ROS levels and increased viability.No significant differences were observed in the DNA fragmentation index among groups.The 5-HT/L-C/CoQ10 SWM reduced sperm oxidative stress and apoptosis compared with those of the two commercially available SWMs,suggesting that 5-HT/L-C/CoQ10 SWM could be useful for enhancing in vitro fertilization success rates.