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The supplier selection decision, within the scope of supply chain management (SCM), is one of the key decisions that plays an important role in the success of the business. The supplier selection problem, which aims to determine the most suitable suppliers in line with the demands of the enterprises, can be defined as a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem that includes both quantitative and non-quantitative criteria. While there is a large body of literature on supplier selection studies using MCDM methods, the number of studies in the health sector is relatively low compared to other sectors. Although much research can be found regarding the application of MCDM techniques in clinical operations, less research has been conducted on the problem of supplier selection in healthcare services, which has a high complexity level. The main purpose of the study is to develop a holistic MCDM model as a decision support system for supplier selection in the health sector. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytical Network Process (ANP) methods were used together to analyze the model. The main criteria used in the study are price, quality, logistics, sustainability, and occupational health and safety (OHS). As sustainability and OHS rarely exist in supplier selection studies in the health sector, this holistic model can contribute to the literature in that aspect. According to the findings and the main criteria ranking, the most important criteria, emerged as price, quality, sustainability, OHS, technique, and logistics. The results indicate the importance of sustainability in supplier selection in the health sector. The method proposed in this study may help health managers as a support system for making purchasing decisions.

Bergama Festival, locally known as Bergama Kermesi, is an annual festival which dates back to 22 May 1937 in the city. It came into existence as a result of Atatürk’s intention to introduce this, an extraordinary town with its historical and cultural properties, and promote it internationally. The Festival is an important element in the collective memory of the city. Initially, it was a civic event, a device in the formation process of the Turkish Republic. However, now, it is a civil event for national and international representatives, and a festival that allows locals and guests from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds to mix freely and equally for a certain period. In the course of the Festival, the public buildings and the open spaces of the town become places of activity and entertainment. Parks, stadiums, the town square, and streets function as spaces for a variety of activities. Looking back at its 81-year history, one can notice some important changes in the Festival’s cultural and social practices, from an earlier state-dominated character into the current more publicly oriented one. This article studies the change of Bergama Festival as an ‘invented tradition’ into an element of the collective memory in town from the perspective of different public affairs that it introduces. In this regard, the article will also show how an urban ritual can maintain its sustainability by keeping itself fresh in the social life.

Biogas is one of the most attractive renewable resources due to its ability to convert waste into energy. Biogas is produced during an anaerobic digestion process from different organic waste resources with a combination of mainly CH4 (~50 mol/mol), CO2 (~15 mol/mol), and some trace gasses. The percentage of these trace gases is related to operating conditions and feedstocks. Due to the impurities of the trace gases, raw biogas has to be cleaned before use for many applications. Therefore, the cleaning, upgrading, and utilization of biogas has become an important topic that has been widely studied in recent years. In this review, raw biogas components are investigated in relation to feedstock resources. Then, using recent developments, it describes the cleaning methods that have been used to eliminate unwanted components in biogas. Additionally, the upgrading processes are systematically reviewed according to their technology, recovery range, and state of the art methods in this area, regarding obtaining biomethane from biogas. Furthermore, these upgrading methods have been comprehensively reviewed and compared with each other in terms of electricity consumption and methane losses. This comparison revealed that amine scrubbing is one the most promising methods in terms of methane losses and the energy demand of the system. In the section on biogas utilization, raw biogas and biomethane have been assessed with recently available data from the literature according to their usage areas and methods. It seems that biogas can be used as a biofuel to produce energy via CHP and fuel cells with high efficiency. Moreover, it is able to be utilized in an internal combustion engine which reduces exhaust emissions by using biofuels. Lastly, chemical production such as biomethanol, bioethanol, and higher alcohols are in the development stage for utilization of biogas and are discussed in depth. This review reveals that most biogas utilization approaches are in their early stages. The gaps that require further investigations in the field have been identified and highlighted for future research.

While it is of great importance to evaluate plastic waste within the framework of a circular economy today, it is also of great importance to evaluate flexible plastic packaging, which is increasingly used in order to prevent environmental problems. To avoid the disadvantages experienced in recycling due to its multilayer nature, in this study, a life cycle assessment was made for flexible packages consisting of PET/metallized PET/PE and PP/metallized PP/PP with the data provided by the R&D Center of Elif Plastik Ambalaj Sanayi ve Tic. A.Ş.-Huhtamaki Flexibles Istanbul. Within the scope of this evaluation, two types of flexible packaging were analyzed, and an optimal flexible packaging structure for Türkiye was revealed by comparing different scenarios based on different methods in SimaPro 8.1.1.16. LCA was performed for both packages with cumulative energy demand (CED) and CML-IA methods. Four scenarios with different amounts of recycled raw materials were compared against the existing system and a fifth scenario, where electricity is assumed to be obtained from solar energy. Overall, we found that the largest environmental impact was in the existing system. However, despite being a renewable energy source, we observed that the solar energy scenario had almost as significant an impact as the existing system. When scenarios involving recycled raw materials were examined, we clearly observed that as the amount of recycled raw materials increased, the environmental impact decreased. Therefore, it emerged that the scenario with the highest amount of recycled raw materials is the most optimal scenario in many respects. There are clear differences in the results due to differences in plastic types. This study, conducted with real data, is highly important for the flexible packaging literature. A table has been provided for changing the type of plastic, changing the source of electricity generation, and reducing waste by using recycled raw materials in order to make flexible packaging more environmentally beneficial.

Integrating building information modeling (BIM) technology into historical and cultural heritage structures has resulted in historic building information modeling (H-BIM), an effective method for managing and documenting invaluable historical artifacts. H-BIM has the potential to aid with the design, restoration, and maintenance activities of historical buildings by properly integrating parametric data and deliberately assessing semantic information, thus progressing the 3D model’s performance. H-BIM also aims to conduct cultural heritage (CH) studies in a systematic manner by combining 3D modeling techniques and information management. The first step in this process is to conduct a suitable geomatic survey to build accurate 3D models. The most efficient modeling method is to employ 3D point cloud data that are acquired using the terrestrial laser scanning method. This study proposes a manual modeling strategy for urban historical buildings that falls within the scope of the H-BIM methodology. The proposed modeling strategy follows a workflow that inserts point cloud data into the BIM environment in order to create a 3D urban cultural heritage model using ontologies applied with the H-BIM methodology. With this objective in mind, the H-BIM model development platform Revit was used to model the object elements of the inheritance structure in 3D and save them in the BIM library. It is very important to model building elements separately in 3D modeling studies. The resulting BIM product sheds light on fundamental data for the future planning, design, operation, and maintenance processes of the building. Users can obtain data suitable for H-BIM by adding graphical and non-graphical data.

This study addressed the intricate interplay between meteorological droughts and groundwater level fluctuations in the vicinity of Mount Uludag in Bursa, Turkey. To achieve this, an exhaustive analysis encompassing monthly precipitation records and groundwater level data sourced from three meteorological stations and eight groundwater observation points spanning the period from 2007 to 2018 was performed. Subsequently, this study employed the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standard Groundwater Level (SGL) metrics, meticulously calculating the temporal extents of drought events for each respective time series. Following this, a judicious application of both the Thiessen and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methodologies was undertaken to ascertain the optimal groundwater observation wells and their corresponding SGL durations, aligning them with SPI durations tied to the selected meteorological stations. The SVM technique, in particular, excelled in the identification of the most pertinent observation wells. Additionally, the Elman Neural Network (ENN) and its optimized version through the Firefly Algorithm (ENN-FA), demonstrated their prowess in accurately predicting SPI durations based on SGL durations. The results were favorable, as evidenced by the commendable performance metrics of the Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE), the Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), the product of the coefficient of determination and the slope of the regression line (bR2), and the Kling–Gupta Efficiency (KGE). Consequently, the favorable simulation results were construed as evidence supporting the presence of a discernible association between SGL and the duration of the SPI. As we substantiate the concordance between the temporal extent of meteorological droughts and the perturbations in groundwater levels, this unmistakably underscores the fact that the historical fluctuations in groundwater levels within the region were predominantly attributable to climatic influences, rather than being instigated by anthropogenic activities. Nevertheless, it is imperative to underscore that this revelation should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of future heedless exploitation of groundwater resources.

Global environmental problems are both the cause and outcome of human actions. Even though families contribute significantly to the problem, little is known about the reasons for household climate change behavior. Prior research has shown that household intentions and behavior play an essential role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The goal of this exploratory study was to see how climate change-related factors influenced climate change-related intentions and behaviors. In terms of climate change, Turkey is a vulnerable country in Mediterranean Europe. As a result, the goal of this study is to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior to simulate Turkish households’ climate change-related behavior. Using a random sampling method, an online self-reported questionnaire of 400 Turkish households assessed the impact of practices to adapt and mitigate climate change. Within the context of the Theory of Planned Behavior, Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine household attitudes and behaviors about climate change. The findings imply that household intentions are important predictors of climate change-related behavior in Turkey. In addition, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control influence the goals of Turkish households. As a result, efforts should be undertaken to provide households with the subjective and perceptual abilities and tools they need to manage their climate-related activities.

The unwanted changes in valuable historic calcareous stone monuments due to exposure to many physical and chemical effects may lead to its deterioration. The growing interest in the field of conservation of stone monuments encourages the development of consolidation and water-repellent materials. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of CaCO3 nanoparticles as a consolidation and protection material for calcareous stone monuments, when those nanoparticles used are dispersed in acrylic copolymer; polyethylmethacrylate (EMA)/methylacrylate (MA) (70/30), respectively. Samples were subjected to artificial aging by relative humidity/temperature to show the optimum conditions of durability and the effectiveness of the nano-mixture in improving the physical and mechanical properties of the stone material. The synthesis process of CaCO3 nanoparticles/polymer nanocomposite has been prepared by in situ emulsion polymerization system. The prepared nanocomposites with 0.15 g CaCO3 nanoparticles showed obvious transparency features and represent nanocomposites coating technology with hydrophobic, consolidating and good protection properties. Some tests were performed in order to estimate the superficial consolidating and protective effect of the treatment. The obtained nanocomposites have been characterized by TEM, while the surface morphology before and after treatment and homogeneous distribution of used consolidation materials on stone surface were examined by SEM. Improvement of stone mechanical properties was evaluated by compressive strength tests. Change in water-interaction properties was evaluated by water absorption capillarity measurements, and colorimetric measurements were used to evaluate the optical appearance. Taken together, the results indicate that CaCO3/polymer nanocomposite is a completely compatible, efficient material for the consolidation of artistic and architectural limestone monuments capable of enhancing the durability of limestone toward artificial aging and improving the stone mechanical properties compared to the samples treated with pure acrylic copolymer without Calcium carbonate nanoparticles.