Enhancement of hybrid sol–gel coating and industrial application on polished porcelain stoneware tiles and investigation of the performance

The aim of this study was to improve stain resistance and cleanability of polished porcelain tiles by sealing the micro-pores on the tile surface with hybrid sol–gel solution. For this purpose, solutions of a hybrid system based on sol–gel technology were prepared. The obtained solution were applied to polished unglazed tiles and subsequently spread with soft tissue thereon. To achieve complete sealing, both organic and inorganic particles of different sizes were mixed with obtained sol–gel hybrid systems. Coated surfaces were investigated by means of a scanning electron microscope. The stain resistance and the cleanability of the tile surface were tested according to ISO-10545-2014 standard. It has been shown that prepared sealing material permanently prevents formation of stains such as olive oil, green staining paste, iodine solution on the surface of polished porcelain tiles. The remains of stains on the surface can easily be removed from it with a cleaning agent.     

Construction of quality control charts by using probability and fuzzy approaches and an application in a textile company

A method that uses statistical techniques to monitor and control product quality is called statistical process control (SPC), where control charts are test tools frequently used for monitoring the manufacturing process. In this study, statistical quality control and the fuzzy set theory are aimed to combine. As known, fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic are powerful mathematical tools for modeling uncertain systems in industry, nature and humanity; and facilitators for common-sense reasoning in decision making in the absence of complete and precise information. In this basis for a textile firm for monitoring the yarn quality, control charts proposed by Wang and Raz are constructed according to fuzzy theory by considering the quality in terms of grades of conformance as opposed to absolute conformance and nonconformance. And then with the same data for textile company, the control chart based on probability theory is constructed. The results of control charts based on two different approaches are compared. It’s seen that fuzzy theory performs better than probability theory in monitoring the product quality.     

South-eastern Anatolia Integrated Development Project (GAP), Turkey: An Overview of Issues of Sustainability

The Republic of Turkey has initiated a comprehensivesocioeconomic development project in its less developed south-east region. The South-eastern Anatolia Project, or GAP to use its Turkish acronym, aims at improving the living standards of some 6 million residents of this 75 000 km2 region by mobilizing the natural resources of this area for integrated development on a regional scale. GAP is planned, designed, coordinated and implemented in an integrated manner taking into account interactions among different sectors as well as activities within individual sectors. The South-eastern Anatolia Project, in its historical context, was formulated as a packageof water and land resources development projects in the 1970s, which was later transformed, in the early 1980s, to a multi-sectoral, socioeconomic regional developmentprogramme.A Regional Administration (GAP-RDA) was established in 1989 for the management of the programme.Sectors covered in the development programmesinclude irrigation, hydropower, agriculture, urban infrastructure, rural development, forestry, healthcare and education among others. The water resources programme of the US$32 billion project includes 22 dams, 19 hydropowerplants and irrigation of 1.7 million ha of land. This paper describes, in brief, the size, main features, financial aspects and the status of the integrated socioeconomic project in its general context thus forming the basis for operational as well as specific issues. It then attempts to provide an overall discussion of the sustainability framework for development in its different but highly interrelated facets. After establishing the main, global benefits the paper comments on the adverse, undesired impacts along with the measures adapted to mitigate them. The paper later describes, in more detail, environmental impact studies, their main findings and proposals related to watersheds and irrigation development with an emphasis on management and environmental health matters together with the measures taken. The paper concludes by emphasizing the commitment to sustainable development and to planning ahead rather than damage reduction, and the effort to integrate relevant and sometimes conflicting aspects rather than compromise.     

Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP)

The recognition of the great water potential of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in south-east Turkey led to plans for their sustainable development for irrigation and hydropower generation and to control floods and droughts. This integrated socioeconomic developmentproject, called the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), is one of the largest of its kind in the world. The water resources development programme includes 22 dams, 19 hydropower plants and the irrigation network for 1.7 million ha of land. The US$32 billion project comprises not only water resources development projects, but also investments in all development-relatedsectors.     

An ISA-95-based manufacturing intelligence system in support of lean initiatives

Increasingly, lean manufacturing is being applied by leading manufacturers throughout the world. As continuous improvement cycles of many lean initiatives focus on cost control and improving quality of product, turbulence in world markets demand more agility and responsiveness without compromising cost and quality. In order to attain more agility, information and communication technologies are utilized by many manufacturers, both at shop floor systems and enterprise resource planning (ERP) layer. This increasing trend created a disconnect that presents an opportunity for manufacturing intelligence (MI) systems. Bridging this gap, MI can enhance responsiveness by providing visibility into operations and improve quality by tracking long-term data, hence support the continuous improvement philosophy of lean manufacturing. This paper presents an ISA-95-based MI framework that can support lean manufacturing by contextualizing low-level shop floor data using production operation information from ERP systems. Processed data is presented on dashboards via Key Performance Indicators, which managers can use to determine appropriate action for their lean initiatives, timely and effectively.     

Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the distribution of the first moment of crossing the level a(a > 0) by a semi-Markovian random walk with positive drift and negative jumps

Using a sequence of independent equally distributed two-dimensional random variables, the process of a semi-Markovian random walk with positive drift and negative jumps is constructed. The Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the distribution of the first moment of crossing the level a(a > 0) is found.