Samuel Huntington provoked great debate among international relations (IR) theorists with an article titled ¡¥The Clash of Civilizations?¡¦ and thus caused ¡¥civilizational turn¡¦ in international studies. While criticizing Huntington¡¦s mode of analysis, the IR theorists seek alternative ways of interpreting civilization. This civilizational turn has also emerged in the discussion of ¡¥non-western IR theories¡¦. Reflecting the Eurocentrism of the discipline, some of the IR theorists have kept searching alternative ways of theorizing the world through cultures and historical experiences originated in the non-western areas, which conceive of learning across different ways of being (ontology) and knowing (epistemology). This dissertation analyzes the possibility of an Asian school of international relations through civilizational analysis of non-western IR theories with Asian perspectives. While Asia is often regarded as a highly heterogeneous area both culturally and economically, this dissertation explores the compatibilities or even commonalities among discourses of Asian intellectual communities on civilization which may consist of a school of thought serving to enrich and dialogue with contemporary IR theories. The dissertation consists of three case studies: Confucian ¡¥Harmonious world¡¦, Nishida¡¦s philosophy on ¡¥nothingness¡¦ and postcolonial India with principles of non-violence, nonalignment and subaltern studies. Based on different ontologies and epistemologies, these three schools of thought contribute a common alternative way of interpreting world politics: the middle way, which provides the rationale for the possibility of an open Asian regionalism.

In this thesis, the lithium tantalite [LiTaO3, abbreviated to LT] thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by spin coating with sol-gel processing and rapid thermal processing. 1,3 propanediol was used as solvent to minimize the number of cycles of spin coating and drying processes to obtain the desired thickness of thin film. By changing the heating rate (600~3000¢J/min) and the heating temperature (500~800¢J), the effects of various processing parameters on the thin films growth are studied. In addition, the thermal isolation of detecting elements was achieved by the anisotropic wet etching of back silicon substrate. In order to reduce the thermal mass and thermal time constant of detector, the sensing element was built-up on a thin membrane. By changing the membrane thickness (20~350 £gm), the effects of various membrane thickness on the response of pyroelectric IR detector devices are studied also. Experimental results reveal that the heating rate will influence strongly on grain size, dielectricity, ferroelectricity and pyroelectricity of LT thin films. With the increase of heating rate, the grain size of LT thin film decreases slightly, and the c-axis orientation is enhanced. The relative dielectric constant (£`r ) of LT thin film increases from 28 up to 45.6, the dielectric loss (tan

Today, especially after various critical evaluations of mainstream theories of International Relations (IR), it is common place to observe that IR discipline is Eurocentric. Natural outcome of this Eurocentric character of IR discipline has been the privileging of modern identity (and thus, modernity) and the marginalization of different cultures and identities as &quot / others&quot / . This thesis analyzes the relationship between the concepts of modern identity, national interest and difference within the framework of IR theory. The thesis asserts that IR discipline should solve the problem of exclusion of the &quot / other&quot / or suppression of differences since International Relations means first and foremost interaction with the &quot / Other&quot / . In order to solve this contradiction, I argue that IR theory should be deconstructed on the basis of a treatment of differences and heterogeneity. However, criticizing the creation of the &quot / others&quot / necessitates also the critique of modern identity since &quot / heterophobia&quot / is the result of the homogenizing character of European identity. Therefore, a deconstruction of the hegemony of modern identity in IR is the main concern of this thesis. The thesis finally argues that &ldquo / other worlds&rdquo / which leave room for different identities and other &quot / truths&quot / are also possible.

Near-IR dyes that absorb and emit in the red visible or near-IR region have attracted great interest in the fields of medicinal chemistry and biochemistry for the last few decades. This interest is due to the multiple notes of metal ions in biological and enviromental processes. Therefore the development of cation selective and sensitive sensors have been a hot subject for many researchers. Consequently, fluorescence based sensors are the most efficient and favorable ones among its counterparts in the field of sensor research. In this study, we have targeted to synthesize BODIPY based near-IR dyes as a selective fluorophore for Zn (II) and Hg (II) cations. We have also demonstrated that the versatile BODIPY fluorophore can be functionalized for long wavelength emission on the 3 and 5 position of the BODIPY core with multiple and distinct functional groups in a stepwise manner. Thus we are able to link two BODIPY cores with a different absorption wavelengths to each other first time with click chemistry strategy to generate a chemosensor for Hg (II) cation.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common urogenital cancers worldwide. Two techniques commonly used for bladder cancer diagnosis are urine cytology and cystoscopy. Cytology is not sensitive for detecting tumors. Cystoscopy is an invasive technique which disturbs patient comfort. In the current study, we used Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy as a novel method which is rapid and non-invasive to investigate the bladder tumor recurrence using the bladder wash samples collected in the course of control cystoscopy. This study is unique since it is the first one to use the bladder wash sample in the diagnosis of the bladder tumor by using FT-IR spectroscopy. Molecular investigation of the FT-IR spectra revealed many differences between control and tumor samples such as a considerable increase in protein, carbohydrate and nucleic acids content, and changes in protein and carbohydrate structure. On the basis of the spectral differences, cluster analysis was performed to differentiate between the control and tumorous spectra and we reached to an overall sensitivity (including all individuals with tumor) of 91.8%, a PUNLMP sensitivity of 83.3% and a papilloma sensitivity of 77.8% in spectral range 1444-1457 cm-1. Other spectral ranges also gave similar results. Our results showed that FT-IR spectroscopy can be used to detect the bladder tumors in bladder wash sample with higher sensitivity compared to cytology. In summary, we propose the utilization of the FT-IR spectroscopy for the detection of bladder tumors since specific spectral regions might be used as effective markers for the diagnosis.

This thesis covers the synthesis and the characterization of sodium lanthanide oxide phosphates, rare earth added strontium pyrophosphates and the Rietveld structural analysis of rare earth orthoborates. Solid state and microwave-assisted synthesis method was employed for the synthesis of desired materials. The formation of the produced phases was confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Infrared FT-IR, Raman, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) methods. By using Rietveld Refinement method, structural analysis of rare earth orthoborates were done and three dimensional crystal structures were found. In the first part of the thesis, some new sodium lanthanide oxide phosphates were synthesized by solid state reaction method from Ln2O3 (where Ln= La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb), Na2CO3, NH4H2PO4 at 1100 oC. Na2LaOPO4, Na2NdOPO4, and Na2SmOPO4 produced with the space group is Pmm2. With the help of the same procedure new orthorhombic Na2DyOPO4, Na2HoOPO4, Na2ErOPO4, and Na2YbOPO4 were synthesized for the first time in the literature at 1100 oC with the same space group Pmm2. v In the second part of the thesis, Sr2P2O7 - ZrP2O7 solid solution was obtained by the solid state reaction and they were characterized for the first time in literature and subjected to thermoluminescence measurements showing Sr2P2O7 has glow curve around 100 oC. Then CuO and some rare earth oxides (Y2O3, La2O3, CeO2, Pr6O11, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3) 0.5-15% (by weight) were added to pure Sr2P2O7. After structural determinations by XRD, thermoluminescence studies showed two glow peaks of Pr, Ho, and Nd along with Cu-added samples, one of them is always at around 90 oC and the other TLthermoluminescence- peak around 180, 275, and 285 oC, respectively. This study showed that rare earth added Sr2P2O7 materials can be promising material for dosimetric applications. In the third part of this work, time saving microwave-assisted synthesis method was applied to produce pure LnBO3 (Ln=La, Nd, Dy, Ho) by using urea and sucrose as a microwave active organic additive. For LaBO3 and NdBO3, space group found as Pnma and for DyBO3 and HoBO3 powders crystallized in hexagonal unit cell with P-6c2 space group. All microwave-assisted products have particle sizes lower than 1 micrometer. In the final part of this study, pure LnBO3 (Ln=Y, La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) powder samples were produced by using solid state reactions of Ln2O3 and H3BO3 (ratio=1:2) heated at 900 oC for 10 hours and 1000 oC for 5 hours. The crystallographic studies conducted with rietveld structural refinement and unit cell parameters, background functions, profile parameters, zero shift, atomic positions, and unisotropic thermal parameters were refined. LaBO3 and NdBO3 were solved based on Pnma orthorhombic structure while the crystal structure of YBO3, DyBO3 and HoBO3 were monoclinic C2/c. SmBO3 showed triclinic P-1 structure.

This thesis aims to design and develop camera electronics and image enhancement software for infrared detector arrays. It first discusses the camera electronics suitable for infrared detector arrays, then it concentrates on image enhancement software that are implemented including defective pixel correction, contrast enhancement, noise reduction and pseudo coloring. After that, testing and results of the implemented algorithms were presented. Camera electronics and circuit operation frequency are selected considering the available standard programmable devices and the output rate of the detector readout circuitry. The target device for implementation of algorithms was Xilinx Spartan &ndash / 3 XC3S1500 which is used in the camera tests at METU-MEMS Research and Applications Center. Considering the real time operation, the target clocking frequency for operation of the circuitry was selected as 2MHz. Image enhancement algorithms primarily aim to be implemented for 320 x 240 resolution detectors, however with parametric implementation, they aim to support other resolutions, including 160 x 120 and 640 x 512. In addition, all implementations aim to be modular and reusable. Various different approaches are used for image enhancement software: (i) defective pixel correction is achieved by using a selective median filtering approach, (ii) contrast enhancement is achieved by employing contrast stretching and histogram based methods, and (iii) noise reduction is achieved by implementing a spatial filter. In addition to these, four types of pseudo coloring methods were applied and tested. Test results show that defective pixel correction algorithm operates at 20.0 MHz, with 0.0 x 10-3 RMS error from its MATLAB prototype, and contrast enhancement algorithms are able to operate at 3.3 MHz, with an average of 545.0 x 10-3 RMS error. Spatial filtering for noise reduction operates at 20.0 MHz, with a 2.6 x 10-3 RMS. Pseudo-coloring operates at 125.0 MHz, with a 0.0 x 10-3 RMS deviation from its MATLAB prototype,

No description available.

Abstract Aqueous solution containing tin chloride as precusor was traditionally added with NH3(aq) to promote hydrolysis and hence condensation. This results in a particulate sol which possesses little viscosity and the aggregation of precusor particles makes the subsequcently spin-coated thin film very rough in the surface and poorly-adhered with the substrate. One objective of this work is to improve the film quality by refluxing the sol to reduce precursor aggregation, enhance hydrolysis and promote HCl(g) evaporation. Experimtntal results show that, after refluxing the sol with DI-water or methanol as solvent, one obtains better films when basic sol (NH3(aq) added) and SnCl2 precursor is used instead of acidic sol (HCl(aq)added) and SnCl4 precursor. Moreover, to further reduce the effect of Cl¡Ð ion in aggregation and increase viscosity, ethylene glycol was used as solvent and two-stage heating-stirring of the sol in 80 oC and 130 oC ~150 oC was carried out to promote generation of H2O(g) and HCl(g). The evaporation of H2O(g) and HCl(g) enhances the polymerization of precursor and increase the viscosity of the sol. The aggregation caused by Cl¡Ð ions is thus reduced due to the steric effect present in the polymerical sol. XRD, SEM, FT-IR , TGA and DSC were used to examine the evolution from sol to films. FT-IR results show that absorbtion peaks of the xerogel appear at 636 cm-1(O-Sn-O) and 500 cm-1 (Sn-O). XRD results of the calcined (4 hr) powders show that rutile (SnO2) crystallization starts at 200 oC for that derived from the SnCl2-containing sol while powder derived from the SnCl4-containing sol starts crystallization at 250 oC. However, grain growth is faster in powder derived from SnCl4-containing sol as their XRD peaks become sharper than that corresponding to SnCl2 precursor as calcination temperature is raised. Based on the examination of the evolution process, it is concluded that SnCl2 polymerizes in ethylene glycol as a one dimensional chain while SnCl4 forming a 3-D network after polymerizing in ethylene glycol.

The protection of aircraft against shoulder fired heat seeking missiles is of growing concern in the aviation community. This thesis presents a simple method for shielding the infrared signature of a jet engine from heat seeking missiles. The research efforts investigated two approaches to shield the thermal signature of the Noel Penny Type 401 turbojet at the Texas A&M University Propulsion Lab Test Cell. First, liquid nitrogen was injected through a manifold at a flow rate equivalent to the flow rate of exhaust gases, producing a small temperature reduction in the exhaust but no infrared shielding. Second, water was injected at a flow rate of 13% of the flow of exhaust gases, producing a greater temperature reduction and some shielding. Water was then injected through a manifold at a flow rate of 118% of the flow rate of exhaust gases, producing a substantial reduction in temperature and complete shielding of the infrared signature. Additionally, numerical simulations were performed using FLUENT to support these experiments. Results are presented in the form of thermocouple data and thermal images from the experiments, and in the form of temperature contours and streamtraces from the simulations.