Nowadays, the atrium is designed to provide more daylight to the interior and to reduce heating, cooling and total energy loads of buildings. Optimum atrium design can reduce the total energy consumption of a building by reducing artificial lighting loads that greatly affect the heating and cooling energy load. Many parameters are effective in optimum atrium design for building energy performance. These are atrium type, aspect ratio (length to width), height, and preferred glazing types and shading devices on atrium facades. The goal of the study is to assess the impact of these parameters on the building total energy loads and to identify the most energy-efficient atrium design. For this goal, a hypothetical reference office building model is designed. Three office building models were created with the addition of a central courtyard, a central atrium and a semi-closed atrium on the reference office building. It was tested five different double-glazing systems, two window-to-wall ratio, and horizontal louvre shading device on these four office models according to climate regions. All of the models were simulated in DesignBuilder energy simulation software using climatic data of İzmir (hot-humid), Trabzon (moderate-humid) and Ankara (cold) provinces representing primary climatic regions of Turkey. Obtained results were evaluated according to annual heating, cooling and total energy loads according to the climate regions. As a result, the office building model (Model 1) with the central courtyard showed the highest performance in terms of total energy loads in moderate-humid and hot-humid climates. As for the cold climate, Model 3 with semi-closed atrium shows the best performance.

In today’s environment, where technological advancement affects individuals of all ages, it is an important research topic to determine how much the values of teenagers who are in the learning and personal development stage are affected by this change. This research aims to determine the effects of students’ social media attitudes and social media use on values. A social media attitude scale, social media’s impact on values scale, and a semi-structured interview form had been utilized in the research conducted with a mixed method. Four hundred fifty-seven secondary and high school students had participated in the quantitative dimension of the study conducted in all regions of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and 45 students and 33 teachers had participated in the qualitative measurement. According to the research, both the social media attitudes of the students and their perception of social media’s impacts on values are high. there is a strong correlation between the student’s perception of social media and their beliefs that it influences values. Solidarity, sharing, patriotism, togetherness, sensitivity, and love of nature had been expressed as values that increased with social media usage. It had been stated that the importance of sociability, empathy, love, respect, honesty, responsibility, and diligence decreases with the use of social media. Rich content can be prepared, and individual and institutional studies can be increased, especially for the values aimed to be gained in terms of honesty, transparency, and privacy.

Objective: Lightning injuries can cause a variety of injuries including “integumentary system, cardiac system, central nervous system, eyes and ears, and blunt trauma”, in which some of them may cause death. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate crime scene findings, autopsy findings and histopathological findings by presenting 9 cases that died due to lightning strike. Material and Methods: The 9 cases (0.3%) included this study were obtained from the screening of a total 24.755 cases that were performed autopsy at the Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul between 2007 – 2012. All cases’ age, gender, crime scene, circumstances during the event, witness statement, skin lession, autopsy findings, histopathological findings were evaluated. Results: Three (33.3%) cases were female and six (66.7%)cases were male, and the mean age was 39,66±13,36 (min:18, max:56). Fatal lightning strike occurred between April and September, but mostly in May. At autopsy, an external examination was revealed an electrical exit wound in 4 cases, burn areas on the skin in 5 cases, a Lichtenberg figure on the skin in 2 cases, and a burn in the hair surface in 4 cases. Conclusion: As a result, nonspecific findings are frequently detected in autopsies performed due to lightning strikes. However, crime scene investigation and the testimony of the witness may be the crucial indicative evidence for forensic investigators in getting an accurate diagnosis in cases of suspected lightning strikes. In addition, examining the clothes worn by victims provides important clues in diagnosis.