In this study we consider an inventory routing problem in which a supplier distributes a single product to multiple retailers in a finite planning horizon. Retailers should satisfy the deterministic and dynamic demands of end customers in the planning horizon, but the retailers can backorder the demands of end customers considering the supply chain costs. In each period the supplier decides the retailers to be visited, and the amount of products to be supplied to each retailer by a fleet of vehicles. The decision problems of the supplier are about when, to whom and how much to deliver products, and in which order to visit retailers while minimizing system-wide costs. We propose a mixed integer programming model and a Lagrangian relaxation based solution approach in which both upper and lower bounds are computed. We test our solution approach with test instances taken from the literature and provide our computational results.

ABSTRACT AGRI-TOURISM: AS A NEW ELEMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DemirbaS Topcu, Elif MS., City and Regional Planning Department, Urban Design Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Baykan G&uuml / nay October 2007, 187 Pages This thesis study is developed under the lights of new developments related to rural tourism sector in the world. With the effects of emerging term &lsquo / sustainability&rsquo / in 1980s, sustainable tourism concept has found new implementation areas. The increasing demand on the tourism activities taking place in rural areas has lead the governments to find ways of benefiting from this tendency in a sustainable way. Since the early 1990s, a new type of rural tourism called as agri-tourism has been developed as a concept that integrates agriculture and tourism activities in the western world. Whether it is evaluated as a tourism or agriculture development element, it is a new element of country planning. Nowadays, it is seen that there is also a new tendency for agri-tourism at local level through local initiatives in Turkey. Although there is still no governmental regulation for agri-tourism activities, political and practical developments demonstrate that the sector should be evaluated as a planning element for Turkey. The main purpose of this study is examining the rural development element characteristic of agri-tourism concept as an element for enhancing the rural tourism activities in Turkey. To achieve the purpose, two examples from EU- Lublin and Tuscany Regions were examined to understand the dynamics of agri-tourism as a planning element. For these study interpretative-comparative-textual method is used. Accordingly, the present condition in Turkey is evaluated through the obtained data and SWOT Analysis method was employed for analyzing the data. Accordingly, some suggestions are presented for developing agri-tourism sector in Turkey.

In this thesis, hypothetical cases of in-situ walls, that are supported at one, two and four levels, as well as cantilever walls, are analyzed using plane strain and 3D finite element programs. A parametric study is performed by varying the soil stiffness. Deflection, moment, anchor loads and effective lateral earth pressures acting on the walls are examined to understand corner effect. Comparisons are made between plane strain and 3D without corner analysis results to confirm that two programs yield similar results. Moreover, two deep excavation case histories namely: i) Ankara &Ccedil / ankaya trade center and residence and, ii) Ekol construction are analyzed using calibrated models. Calibrations of the models are made using inclinometer data. In hypothetical models, it is found that corner effects on deflections diminish after 20m distance from the corner for excavations that are 8m and 12m deep. Corner effects on deflection decrease as elastic modulus of soil or stiffness of the system increase. Moment diagram pattern changes along the excavation side in cantilever case study. Moment diagram obtained around a corner in 3D analysis and diagrams obtained from the plane strain analyses by modeling the corner as a strut are quite similar. The anchor loads increase until 10-15m distance from the corner. After this distance they become nearly constant. In the analysis of case histories, a trial error solution is adopted to fit the deformed shape of piled wall obtained from 3D analysis to the deformations recorded by inclinometers. These results are compared with the results of plane strain analyses. Ankara-&Ccedil / ankaya project is solved by modeling the corner as strut in plane strain analyses. Results of this analyze agrees with field monitoring data, indicating that corner effects could be simulated by modeling the perpendicular pile wall as a strut in plane strain analysis.

In an area of interest- Sivas Basin, Turkey- where most of the units are sedimentary and show similar spectral characteristics, spectral settings of ASTER sensor may not be enough by itself. Therefore, considering other aspects, such as morphological variables, is reasonable in addition to spectral classifiers. The main objective of this study is to test usefulness of integration of spectral analysis and morphological information for geological mapping. Remotely sensed imagery obtained from ASTER sensor is used to classify different lithological units while DEM is used to characterize landforms related to these lithological units. Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) is used to integrate data streaming from different sources. The methodology involves integrating the surface properties of the classified geological units in addition to the spectral reflectances. Seven different classification trials were conducted: : 1. MLC using only nine ASTER bands, 2. MLC using ASTER bands and DEM, 3. MLC using ASTER bands and slope, 4. MLC using ASTER bands and plan curvature, 5. MLC using ASTER bands and profile curvature, 6. MLC using ASTER bands and drainage density and finally 7. MLC using ASTER bands and all ancillary data. The results revealed that integrating topographical parameters aid in improvement of classification where spectral information is not sufficient to discriminate between classes of interest. An increase of more than 5% is observed in overall accuracy for the all ancillary data integration case. Moreover more than 10% improvement for most of the classes was identified. However from the results it is evident that the areal extent of the classified units causes constraints on application of the methodology.

2-Dodecyl benzotriazole and 9,9-dioctylfluorene containing alternating copolymers poly((9,9-dioctylfluorene)-2,7-diyl-(2-dodecyl-benzo[1,2,3]triazole)) (P1), poly((9,9-dioc-tylfluorene)-2,7-diyl-(4,7-bis(thien-2-yl) 2-dodecyl benzo[1,2,3]triazole)) (P2), poly((9,9 dioctylfluorene)-2,7-diyl-(4,7-bis(3-hexylthien-5-yl) 2-dodecyl-benzo[1,2,3]triazole)) (P3) were synthesized via Suzuki polycondensation. Synthesized monomers and copolymers were characterized by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR). Optical and electronic properties of resulting alternating copolymers were investigated by means of Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Ultraviolet&ndash / Visible Spectroscopy and spectroelectrochemistry. All three polymers showed both p and n doping behaviors and multicolored electrochromic states. In order to learn switchingtimes and percent transmittance changes kinetic studies were also performed. Thermal properties of the polymers were investigated via Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Due to the convenient HOMO and LUMO levels, band gaps, strong absorptions in the visible region and thermal stability, polymers were tested in Organic Solar Cell (OSC) device applications. The preliminary investigation indicated that polymers had promising power conversion efficiencies.

2-Dodecyl benzotriazole (BTz) and benzothiadiazole (BTd) containing copolymers poly(4-(2-dodecyl-2H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-4-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (P1), poly(4-(5-(2-dodecyl-7-(thiophen-2yl)-2H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-4-yl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5] thiadiazole (P2) and poly(4-(5-(2-dodecyl-7-(4-hexylthiophen-2-yl)-2H-benzo[d] [1,2,3]triazol-4-yl) -3-hexylthiophen-2-yl) benzo[c][1,2,5] thiadiazole (P3) were synthesized via Suzuki polymerization. Electrochemical and optical properties of the polymers were analyzed. The fabrication of solar cells were carried out and current density-voltage (J-V) and incident photon to charge carrier efficiency (IPCE) measurements were done to characterize the solar cells.

Measurement and evaluation of academic performance is an highly debated research area and results of the studies in this area are closely followed by a large segment of the society. In general, researches conducted in this domain evaluate higher education institutions as a whole, but such an approach actually represents an average performance of the research fields, which are actively studied by the members of institutions. This may be misleading, because academic performance varies for each university depending on the field of research. However, people who are interested in the results of these studies require more detailed information about field based academic performances of institutions. One of these studies mentioned above have been implemented in 2011 by University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) research laboratory which was established in Middle East Technical University - Informatics Institute. In this study, 2000 universities around the world have been ranked according to multiple criteria in terms of overall academic performance. Interests shown to results of the system implemented by URAP revealed a need for a more comprehensive ranking system, which deals with the evaluation of field based academic performance. In this sense, within the scope of this study, universities ranked by URAP research laboratory were evaluated in terms of their academic performance in the following six research fields / Agriculture &amp / Environmental Sciences (AGE) Clinical Medicine (MED) Engineering, Computing &amp / Technology (ENG) Life Sciences (LIFE) Natural Sciences (SCI) Social Sciences (SOC) Institutions in this study has been evaluated according to data that have been collected from ISI - Web of Knowledge for the indicators listed below. Article Count (last year) Total Document Count (last 5 years) Cumulative Journal Impact (last 5 years) Total Citation Count (last 5 years) H-Index (average of last 5 years) The results indicate that status of universities from the point of academic performance varies according to the research field.

This study was designed to investigate Plantago major leaves, which is widely used in ethnobotanical uses in Turkey as is the case in all over the world, for their antioxidant capacities and antimicrobial effect on two gram-positive and two gramnegative bacteria. Extracts of P. major leaves prepared in the methanol and fraction samples were collected in solvents in increasing polarity, from non-polar to polar, to separate bioactive compound in crude extract. Antioxidant capacities of the crude extracts and fractions were examined by radical scavenging methods, namely 2,2-azinobis(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) ABTS and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) / as well, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were determined. Furthermore, antimicrobial activities of crude extract and fractions were calculated in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods together with disc diffusion method. v Among the investigated samples, ethyl acetate phase had the highest radical scavenging capacity with the ABTS value of 2130.4&plusmn / 9.845 &mu / mol equivalents of trolox/ g of ethyl acetate fraction DW, and with EC50 value of 0.011&plusmn / 0.001 mg/mL / further, the highest phenolic content was found in ethyl acetate phase with values of 0.452 GAE mg/mg of ethyl acetate fraction DW and 0.434&plusmn / 0.0017 mg catechin equivalent in per mg of ethyl acetate fraction DW. In general, it was found that the crude extract and aqueous phase of Plantago major had a weak antimicrobial effect on S. aureus, P.mirabilis, S.pyogenes and E. coli, along with the highest bacteriostatic and bactericidal upshot on selected bacterial populations in ethyl acetate fraction.

In this thesis, RXTE observations of 4U 1907+09 are presented. Timing analysis of these data sets have yielded quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) at orbital phases corresponding to the two flares in every orbital period. Known continuous spin down trend and QPO behaviour at the flares strongly suggest that a transient accretion disk occurs at the flares. Our findings strongly suggested that neutron star passes through the equatorial wind of Be companion star. During these passages a transient disk forms around Be neutron star.

ABSTRACT AN ATTEMPT TO CLASSIFY TURKISH DISTRICT DATA: K-MEANS AND SELF-ORGANIZING MAP (SOM) ALGORITHMS Aksoy, Ece M.S., Department of Geodetic and Geographic Information Systems Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oguz ISik December 2004, 112 pages There is no universally applicable clustering technique in discovering the variety of structures display in data sets. Also, a single algorithm or approach is not adequate to solve every clustering problem. There are many methods available, the criteria used differ and hence different classifications may be obtained for the same data. While larger and larger amounts of data are collected and stored in databases, there is increasing the need for efficient and effective analysis methods. Grouping or classification of measurements is the key element in these data analysis procedures. There are lots of non-spatial clustering techniques in various areas. However, spatial clustering techniques and software are not so common. This thesis is an attempt to classify Turkish district data with the help of two clustering algorithms: K-means clustering and self organizing maps (SOM). With the help of these two common techniques it is expected that a clustering can be reached, which can be used for different aims such as regional politics, constructing statistical integrity or analyzing distribution of funds, for same data in GIS environment and putting forward the facilitative usage of GIS in regional and statistical studies. All districts of Turkey, which is 923 units, were chosen as an application area in this thesis. Some limitations such as population were specified for clustering of Turkey&rsquo / s districts. Firstly, different clustering techniques for spatial classification were researched. K-Means and SOM algorithms were chosen to compare different methods with Turkey&rsquo / s district data. Afterward, database of Turkey&rsquo / s statistical datum was formed and analyzed joining with geographical data in the GIS environment. Different clustering software, ArcGIS, CrimeStat and Matlab, were applied according to conclusion of clustering techniques research. Self Organizing Maps (SOM) algorithm, which is the best and most common spatial clustering algorithm in recent years, and CrimeStat K-Means clustering were used in this thesis as clustering methods.