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Characterization of copper tailings in Murgul Copper Plant, Turkey, and its utilization potential in cement mortar with nano- and micro-silica
No full textDue to the increasing demand for copper day by day, copper tailings (CT) are the wastes that mining and human-induced activities caused have become a problem all over the world due to the increasing demand for copper. This study evaluates the effect of using CT together with nano-silica (NS) and micro-silica (MS) in mortars as a partial substitution for cement on mechanical strength properties. Physical, morphological, chemical, and mineralogical thermogravimetric analyses of CT have been made. In addition, heavy metal concentrations were determined. The mechanical features of the mortars produced by replacing the weight with different proportions of (5%, 10%, 15%) CT and 2% NS and 10% MS cement were determined. As a result, it has been observed that the sum of SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 of the CT, which has a mostly crystalline structure, is 91.40% and its ignition loss is 4.04%. An improvement in compressive strength (compared to the reference mixture) was observed with the use of 5% CT. Up to 10% of CT has provided standard compressive strength values in both NS and MS combinations
Combined in silico approach and whole genome sequencing: Acinetobacter baumannii ST218 isolate harboring ADC-73 β-lactamase which has a similar C-loop with ADC-56 and ADC-68 β-lactamase
No full textPurpose: Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is a noteworthy nosocomial-pathogen and these pathogen-borne infections are difficult to treat. It is significant to make strain typing with WGS and to add new genome data to the literature. Therefore, in our study, we aimed to strain typing of the A. baumannii (A24) isolated from Turkey and reveal informations about ADC-73 β-lactamase. Methods: VITEK 2 system was used for the determination of antibiotic susceptibility. WGS was done on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. WGS results were analyzed with VFDB, ResFinder, PubMLST, IS Finder. Web-based bioinformatics software, homology modelling, molecular docking and dynamics simulations were used to determine all structural information about ADC-73 β-lactamase. Results: A24 was found to be multidrug-resistant. Various virulence factors were found in A24. The sequence type of the isolate was determined as ST218. Genes encoding β-lactamase and aminoglycoside modifying enzymes, and IS elements were present in the genome of A24. Besides, secondary and 3D structures of ADC-73 were analyzed. Following, cefepime and imipenem were docked to ADC-56, ADC-68, and ADC-73 and interactions and stability of substrates were simulated. The binding-energies of imipenem to ADC-68 and ADC-73 were calculated −9.44 and −5.98 kcal/mol, respectively. Likewise, binding-energies of cefepime to ADC-56 and ADC-73 were calculated as −19.84 and −36.54 kcal/mol. Conclusion: A. baumannii ST218 isolate containing ADC-73 was reported for the first time in Turkey by WGS, and the effect of G225S mutation in this β-lactamase on conformational change and possible interactions with cefepime and impinem were investigated in silico
Effects of sprouting and fermentation on the formation of Maillard reaction products in different cereals heated as wholemeal
No full textThe concentration and composition of reducing sugars and free amino acids as Maillard reaction (MR) precursors
change with grain sprouting. The formation of early and advanced glycation products, and α-dicarbonyl compounds as intermediates were monitored during heating native and sprouted wholemeals, as well as during
heating of yeast and sourdough fermented native and sprouted wholemeals. Sprouting increased the concentration of all MR products because of an increase in reducing sugar concentrations. Although reducing sugars
were lowered due to their consumption by yeasts, fermentation did not lower the furosine concentration.
Sourdough fermentation unexpectedly increased furosine because the low pH caused glucose release from
polysaccharides. Glyoxal, methylglyoxal and diacetyl were found to be formed as metabolites during yeast and
sourdough fermentation. Another factor affecting the MR in sprouted/fermented wholemeals was revealed to be
the increased amount of total free amino acids that compete with bound lysine to react with reducing sugars
The relationships between some site characteristics and site index of Caucasian fir (Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach. subsp. nordmanniana) stands: A case study from Şavşat Forest Enterprise Directorate
Full text linkBu çalışma ile Şavşat Orman İşletme Müdürlüğü sınırları içerisinde doğal yayılış gösteren değişik yaşlı
saf Doğu Karadeniz göknarı meşcerelerinin bonitet endeksi ve bazı ekolojik özelliklerinin belirlenmesi
ve aralarındaki ilişkilerin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Bu kapsamda Şavşat Orman İşletme Müdürlüğü
sınırları içerisindeki göknar meşcerelerinden bakı grupları ve yükselti basamakları da dikkate alınarak
toplam 60 adet alan örneklenmiştir. Örnek alanların bazı fizyografik özellikleri (enlem-boylam,
yamaçtaki konum, yükselti, bakı ve eğim) ve meşcere özellikleri (göğüs çapı ve boy) belirlenmiştir. Sonra
çap ve boy verileri kullanılarak her bir örnek alan için bonitet (meşcere verim gücü) endeksleri
hesaplanmıştır. Ayrıca her alanda bir adet toprak çukuru açılarak üst topraktan (0-20 cm) birer adet
bozulmuş ve bozulmamış (silindir) toprak örneği alınmıştır. Alınan toprak örnekleri üzerinde bazı fiziksel
(kum, kil, toz, hacim ağırlığı, iskelet miktarı) ve kimyasal (pH, elektriksel iletkenlik, organik madde)
özellikler belirlenmiştir. Sonuçlara göre bu yöredeki göknar meşcerelerinin bonitet endeksi ortalama
27.1 ile 31.1 m arasındadır. 1720-2228 m yükseltiler arasında yer alan araştırma alanında eğim oldukça
değişken olup örneklenen meşcerelerin %76.6’sı dik eğimli ve sarp (eğim>%36) yamaçlar üzerinde
bulunmaktadır. Örnek alan topraklarının %83.3’ü balçıklı kum ve kumlu balçık tekstüründe olup hafif
asidik (pH=6.1-6.8) topraklar sınıfında yer almaktadır. Toprakların organik madde içeriği oldukça iyi olup
%91.6’sı %4’ün üzerindedir. Araştırma alanı toprakları denizden yüksekliğin ve eğimin de etkisiyle
oldukça taşlı olup %68.3’ünün iskelet miktarı %40’tan fazladır. Ayrıca bu yetişme ortamı faktörleri ile
meşcerelerin bonitet endeksi arasındaki ilişki basit korelasyon analizi ile belirlenmiştir. Ancak anlamlı
bir ilişki bulunamamıştır (p>0.05). Çalışmadan elde edilen bulgu ve sonuçlar yöre ormanlarının
ekolojisinin daha iyi anlaşılmasına katkı sağlayacaktır.The present study aimed to determine the site index and site characteristics of pure and uneven-aged
Caucasian fir (Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach. subsp. nordmanniana) stands natively distributed in
Şavşat Forest District and investigate the relationships between them. Within this scope, 60-plot were
sampled from different aspects and altitude zones. Some physiographic features (e.g., latitudelongitude, distance to the ridge, elevation, aspect, and slope) and some stand characteristics (e.g.,
height and diameter at breast height) of each sample plot were determined. After that, the site index
was calculated using stand diameter-height data. A disturbed and undisturbed top-soil samples were
taken from a soil pit on each plot and analyzed for physical (sand, silt and clay, bulk density and soil
skeleton) and chemical (pH, EC, organic matter) soil properties. The results showed that the average
site index (SI) was 27.1 - 31.1 m, the fir stands mainly grow between 1720-2228 m a.s.l. and the slope
angle is highly variable. 76.6% of the studied stands were located at the steep and very steep slopes
(>36%) areas. 83.3% of the sample plots' soils were in loamy sand and sandy loam and slightly acidic
(pH=6.1-6.8). The mean soil organic matter content of the most studied stands (91.6%) was high with
over 4%. The soils were highly stony due to higher altitudes and steep slopes. The soil skeleton (>2 mm)
was over 40% in 68.3% of the most studied stands. In addition to the site characteristics, the
relationships between the site index and ecological variables were determined using simple correlation
analysis, but the results were not significant. We conclude that the findings and outcomes could
contribute to understanding the ecology of fir stands in the region
Evaluation of the pharmaceutical distribution and warehousing companies through an integrated Fermatean fuzzy entropyWASPAS approach
Full text linkPurpose – Pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs) need a well-operating and faultless logistics system to
successfully store and distribute their medicines. Hospitals, health institutes, and pharmacies must maintain
extra stock to respond requirements of the patients. Nevertheless, there is an inverse correlation between the
level of medicine stock and logistics service level. The high stock level held by health institutions indicates that
we have not sufficiently excellent logistics systems presently. As such, selecting appropriate logistics service
providers (drug distributors) is crucial and strategic for PSCs. However, this is difficult for decision-makers, as
highly complex situations and conflicting criteria influence such evaluation processes. So, a robust, applicable,
and strong methodological frame is required to solve these decision-making problems.
Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this challenging issue, the authors develop and apply an
integrated entropy-WASPAS methodology with Fermatean fuzzy sets for the first time in the literature. The
evaluation process takes place in two stages, as in traditional multi-criteria problems. In the first stage, the
importance levels of the criteria are determined by the FF-entropy method. Afterwards, the FF-WASPAS
approach ranks the alternatives.
Findings – The feasibility of the proposed model is also supported by a case study where six companies are
evaluated comprehensively regarding ten criteria. Herewith, total warehouse capacity, number of refrigerated
vehicles, and personnel are the top three criteria that significantly influence the evaluation of pharmaceutical distribution and warehousing companies. Further, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis proves the robustness
and effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Practical implications – The proposed multi-attribute decision model quantitatively aids managers in
selecting logistics service providers considering imprecisions in the multi-criteria decision-making process.
Originality/value – A new model has been developed to present a sound mathematical model for selecting
logistics service providers consisting of Fermatean fuzzy entropy and WASPAS methods. The paper’s main
contribution is presenting a comprehensive and more robust model for the ex ante evaluation and ranking of
providers
The role of Acinetobacter baumannii CarO outer membrane protein in carbapenems influx
No full textThe gram-negative strain Acinetobacter baumannii is a cocobacillus, non-motile and aerobic
organism that is often found in nosocomial infections. Many institutions worldwide such as
WHO are grappling with antibiotic resistance Acinetobacter baumannii. Therefore, in recent
years, there have been many studies in the literature about antibiotic resistance mechanisms.
We studied the specificity of carbapenems for CarO, an outer membrane protein associated with
Imipenem-resistance that was strongly related to a decrease in CarO expression level or changes
in protein structure. The specificity of five different Carbapenems, Imipenem, Biapenem,
Ertapenem, Faropenem, and Meropenem, against the Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC-17978
CarO protein, as well as the specificity of Imipenem for five different types Type-1, Type-2,
Type-3, Type-4, and ATCC-17978 CarO protein, were investigated using computational
methods. In this study, homology modelling, molecular docking, membrane-protein complex
building, and 800 ns long MD simulation methods were followed. The interactions of imipenem
with the extracellular region of five different forms of CarO protein were investigated in this
study, as well as five different antibiotic binding profiles to the model organism ATCC-17978
CarO protein. The mechanism of CarO influx has been revealed with this study at the molecular
level and this data is intended to be used in future research, mutagenesis, and clinical trials
Energy, environment, and sustainability: A multi-criteria evaluation of countries
No full textEnergy, the environment, and sustainability are all strongly intertwined concerns. While humanity aims to spread the comfort and welfare it has achieved on a global scale, as well as to achieve more development and comfort through technological advances, it is caught in a stalemate caused by the world's use of resources as if they are limitless, as well as irrevocable environmental damage. The major topic of this dilemma is energy. Using ARAT, CRITIC, SOWIA, CRADIS, and CODAS-Sort, this study aims to evaluate countries on the basis of energy, environment, and sustainability triangle. The results reveal that developed countries are in a better situation than developing and underdeveloped countries in terms of sustainable energy and environmental concerns. The Nordic countries notably lead the rankings and classification results. The primary reason for this is that Nordic countries have strong climate and energy policies. Given the limitations of fossil fuels, the fact that they'll be exhausted in a few decades, and the environmental damage they cause, the development and effective use of renewable energy sources is considered a critical solution option. Because it appears that humanity will struggle to give up its existing level of comfort or lower its energy use. The importance of energy efficiency, diversification of renewable energy sources, raising societal awareness, unity in global sustainable environmental policies, aiding societies that are falling behind in achieving welfare and fighting poverty and focusing on energy savings emerge at this point. A strong will and community support will be necessary to adopt and implement these policies
Trend analysis method on vertical axis
Full text linkSera gazı miktarındaki ciddi artışla birlikte iklim değişikliği daha da hızlanmıştır. Meteorolojik ve hidrolojik veriler incelendiğinde bu değişikliğin etkisi net biçimde ortaya çıkmaktadır. Verilerin incelenmesi için de eğilim çözümleme yöntemleri sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. Son zamanlarda Şen’in geliştirdiği Yenilikçi eğilim çözümlemesi (YEÇ) yöntemi görselleştirme yaparak verilerin trend durumlarının açığa çıkarılmasına ve tanımlanmasına imkân tanımaktadır. Bu makalenin temel amacı farklı bir grafik gösterimine başvurarak YEÇ yönteminin bir türevini geliştirmektir ve eğilimleri alternatif bir yaklaşım ile ortaya çıkarmaktır. Türkiye'nin Akdeniz, AkdenizKaradeniz geçiş ve karasal iklim bölgelerinde ölçülmüş veriler için uygulanan bu alternatif yöntem klasik YEÇ yaklaşımına göre farklı eğilim bilgilerini ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Bu makalede önerilen dikey eksen trend analiz yaklaşımı YEÇ yönteminden farklı olarak grafik üzerinde veri sayısını göstermektedir ve ölçümlerin yüksek, orta ve düşük değer aralığında nasıl dağıldığını açığa çıkarmaktadır. Bu çalışmada yapılan uygulamalar Türkiye'nin farklı kısımlarında yer alan Kırklareli, Yalova ve Alanya istasyonlarındaki 50 yıllık yağış kayıtlarını içermektedir. Kırklareli verilerinde bütüncül artan trend tespit edilirken önerilen yöntem ile ayrıca ölçümlerin tüm veri aralıklarında homojen dağıldığı görülmüştür. Yalova ve Alanya ölçümlerinde ise bütüncül olmayan azalan trende rastlanırken verilerin dağılımında homojen olmayan durum belirlenmiştir.Climate change has accelerated with the significant increase in the amount of greenhouse gases. When the meteorological and hydrological data are examined, the effect of this change is clearly revealed. Trend test methods are frequently used to determine trends on the data. Recently, Şen-innovative trend analysis (ITA) method provides the ability to visualize inspection and identification of trend conditions. The main objective of this paper is to attempt determination and visualization of trends by means of a special graphical representation based on alternative illustration of ITA. The suggested methodology shows different trend information than classical ITA on the Mediterranean, Mediterranean-Black Sea transitional, and continental climate regions in Turkey. The vertical axis trend analysis approach proposed in this study, shows the number of data on the graph and reveals how the measurements are distributed in the high, medium and low value ranges unlike the ITA method. This research comprises 50-year rainfall records in Kırklareli, Yalova, and Alanya stations located in Turkey. The monotonic increasing trend is detected for Kırklareli data and also it is observed that the measurements are homogeneously distributed with the suggested method. In Yalova and Alanya measurements, there are non-monotonic decreasing trends and non-homogeneous distributions are determined
Determınants of Turkey's foreıgn trade wıth N11 countrıes: the gravıty model approach
Full text linkBu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’nin N11 ülkeleriyle olan dış ticaretin belirleyicilerini tahmin
etmek ve bu doğrultuda politika önerilerinde bulunmaktır. N11 (Next Eleven) ülkeleri Türkiye,
Bangladeş, Mısır, Endonezya, İran, Güney Kore, Meksika, Nijerya, Pakistan, Filipinler ve
Vietnam’dan oluşmaktadır. Değişik makroekonomik ve demografik göstergeler eşliğinde
yapılan öngörülerde, N11 ülkelerinin birçoğunun (özellikle Türkiye, Nijerya, Güney Kore ve
Vietnam) 2050 yılında G7 ülkelerinin bazılarını geçebileceği tahmin edilmektedir. Çalışmada
Türkiye'nin N11 ülkeleriyle olan dış ticaret akımları çekim modeli ile açıklanmaya
çalışılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, ihracatta Türkiye’nin GSYİH’sının negatif etkili;
ithalatta ise pozitif etkili olduğu ortaya koyulmuştur. Ayrıca karşı ülke GSYİH’sının hem
ihracatta hem de ithalatta pozitif etkili olduğu; ülkeler arasındaki coğrafi uzaklığın ise her
durumda negatif etkili olduğu belirlenmiştir. Analizlerde elde edilen bir diğer sonuç ise ortak
sınır ve ortak din kukla değişkenlerinin dış ticaret üzerinde pozitif etki yaptığını
göstermektedir.The aim of this study is to predict the determinants of foreign trade of Turkey with N11
countries and to make policy recommendations in this direction. N11 (Next Eleven) countries
consist of Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam. In the projections made with different macroeconomic and
demographic indicators, it is estimated that most of the N11 countries (especially Turkey,
Nigeria, South Korea and Vietnam) will surpass some of the G7 countries in 2050. In the
study, the foreign trade flows of Turkey with the N11 countries were tried to be explained by
the gravity model. According to the findings, Turkey's GDP affects exports negatively.
However, it has a positive effect on imports. The opposite country's GDP has a positive effect
on both exports and imports; the geographical distance between countries is that there is a
negative effect. Another result obtained in the analysis shows that the common border and
common religion dummy variables have a positive effect on foreign trade
Complete mitochondrial genomes of Chionomys roberti and Chionomys nivalis (Mammalia: Rodentia) from Turkey: Insight into their phylogenetic position within Arvicolinae
No full textThe complete mitochondrial DNA (mitogenome) sequences of Chionomys nivalis and C. roberti were first presented as reference mitogenomes by the current study using Long-Range PCR and Next-Generation Sequencing. The structure and organization of the circular mitogenomes were similar for each species. Each mitogenome included 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), a control region (D-loop), and an origin of the light-strand region (OL), with the mitogenome lengths of 16.293 for C. nivalis and 16.300 for C. roberti. Phylogenetic analyses based on whole mitogenomes sequences allowed us to see better the relative position of the Chionomys within Arvicolinae. According to this, Chionomys was in a close phylogenetic relationship with Microtus rather than Arvicola. Contrary to the results of past studies, the relative positions of the species within Chionomys varied in the cytochrome b sequence-based phylogenetic analyses. Additionally, the presence of 10 genetic lineages determined by previous works within C. nivalis was approved. Among them, the Central Taurus lineage genetically was the lineage most distant from others. On the other hand, Turkish C. roberti specimens were clustered with the Transcaucasian specimens (Datvisi- Georgia and Alania-North Ossetia-Russia) splitting from other GenBank specimens of Russia and Georgia. Divergence-time analyses demonstrated that the first appearance of Arvicolinae dates back to the Early Pliocene (4.96 mya, 95% HPD: 4.09-5.82, BPP: 1), compatible with the past findings. Also, it was detected that the split of Arvicola / Chionomys + Microtus took place at the beginning of the Quaternary period (2.35 mya, 95% HPD: 1.97-2.75, BPP: 0.98). This corresponded to the Early Pleistocene divergence (approximately 2.4 mya) of these three genera suggested by the fossil record. In addition to this, molecular dating analyses demonstrated that the divergence between C. nivalis and C. roberti occurred in the Middle Pleistocene (1.06 mya, 95% HPD: 0.87-1.25, BPP: 1). Further studies using other molecular markers are needed to make definite judgments on the taxonomy and evolution of Chionomys