Whole genome amplification from a single cell: a new era for preimplantation genetic diagnosis

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a technique used for determining the genetic status of a single cell biopsied from embryos or oocytes. Genetic analysis from a single cell is both rewarding and challenging, especially in PGD. The starting material is very limited and not replaceable, and the diagnosis has to be made in a very short time. Different whole genome amplification (WGA) techniques have been developed to specifically increase the DNA quantities originating from clinical samples with limited DNA contents. In this review, currently available WGA techniques are introduced and, among them, multiple displacement amplification (MDA) is discussed in detail. MDA generates abundant assay-ready DNA to perform broad panels of genetic assays through its ability to rapidly amplify genomes from single cells. The utilization of MDA for single-cell molecular analysis is expanding at a high rate, and MDA is expected to soon become an integral part of PGD. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The global solar radiation estimation and analysis of solar energy: Case study for Osmaniye,Turkey

This paper investigates the prediction of solar radiation model and actual solar energy in Osmaniye, Turkey. Four models were used to estimate using the parameters of sunshine duration and average temperature. In order to obtain the statistical performance analysis of models, the coefficient of determination (R²), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean absolute bias error (MABE), and root mean square error (RMSE) were used. Results obtained from the linear regression using the parameters of sunshine duration and average temperature showed a good prediction of the monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. In order to obtain solar energy, daily and monthly average solar radiation values were calculated from the five minute average recorded values by using meteorological measuring device. As a result of this measurement, the highest monthly and yearly mean solar radiation values were 698 (April in 2013) and 549 (2014 year) W/m² respectively. On an annual scale the maximum global solar radiation changes from 26.38 MJ/m²/day by June to 19.19 MJ/m²/day by September in 2013. Minimum global solar radiation changes from 14.05 MJ/m²/day by October to 7.20 MJ/m²/day by January in 2013. Yearly average energy potential during the measurement period was 16.53 MJ/m²/day (in 2013). The results show that Osmaniye has a considerable solar energy potential to produce electricity.     

Wind energy and Turkey

The global energy requirement for sustaining economic activities, meeting social needs and social development is increasing daily. Environmentally friendly, renewable energy resources are an alternative to the primary non-renewable energy resources, which devastate ecosystems in order to meet increasing demand. Among renewable energy sources such as hydropower, biopower, geothermal power and solar power, wind power offers distinct advantages to Turkey. There is an increasing tendency toward wind globally and the European Union adjusted its legal regulations in this regard. As a potential EU Member state, Turkey is going through a similar process. The number of institutional and legal regulations concerning wind power has increased in recent years; technical infrastructure studies were completed, and some important steps were taken in this regard. This study examines the way in which Turkey has developed support for wind power, presents a SWOT analysis of the wind power sector in Turkey and a projection was made for the concrete success expected to be accomplished in the future.     

Environmental modelling of Omerli catchment area in Istanbul, Turkey using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Omerli Reservoir is one of the major drinking water reservoirs of Greater Metropolis Istanbul, providing 40% of the overall water demand. Istanbul where is one of the greatest metropolitan areas of the world with a population over 10 million and a rate of population increase about twice that of Turkey. As a result of population growth and industrial development, Omerli watershed is highly affected by the wastewater discharges from the residential areas and industrial plants. The main objective of this study is to investigate the temporal assessment of the land-use/cover of the Omerli Watershed and the water quality changes in the Reservoir. It is not possible to adequately control urbanization and other pollution sources affecting the water quality. Responses of these detrimental effects are due to rapidly increasing population, unplanned and illegal housing, and irrelevant industries at the protection zones of the watershed, together with insufficient infrastructure. The study is focused on the assessment of urbanization in relation to land use and water quality using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques for all the four protection zones of the Reservoir and a time variant analyzing model is obtained. IRS-1C LISS and IRS-1C PAN, LANDSAT-5 TM satellite data of 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2006 are analyzed by confirmation through the ground truth data. RS data have been transferred into UTM coordinate system and image enhancement and classification techniques were used. Raster data were converted to vector data that belongs to study area to analyze in GIS for the purpose of planning and decision-making on protected watersheds.     

Local Air Quality Impacts due to Downwash Around Thermal Power Plants: Numerical Simulations of the Effect of Building Orientation

One of the primary adverse environmental impacts associated with power generation facilities and in particular thermal power plants is local air quality. When these plants are operated at inland areas the dry type cooling towers used may significantly increase ambient concentrations of air pollutants due to the building downwash effect. When one or more buildings in the vicinity of a point source interrupt wind flow, an area of turbulence known as a building wake is created. Pollutants emitted from relatively low level sources can be caught in this turbulence affecting their dispersion. In spite of the fact that natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plants have lower air emission levels compared to other power plants using alternative fossil fuel, they can still create significant local air pollution problems. In this paper, local air quality impacts of a natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant located in a coastal area are compared with those of another natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant having identical air emissions but located in an inland area taking into account differences in topography and meteorology. Additionally, a series of scenarios for the inland site have been envisaged to illustrate the importance of plant lay-out configurations paying particular attention to the building downwash effect. Model results showed that different geometrical configurations of the stacks and cooling towers will cause remarkable differences in ambient air pollutant concentrations; thus it is concluded that when selecting a plant site, a detailed site-specific investigation should be conducted in order to achieve the least possible ambient air pollution concentrations with the given emissions.     

Bacterial desulfurization of Turkish lignites

The applicability of bacterial coal desulfurization to Turkish lignites and Nalligan-Cayirhan lignites was investigated in shake-flask culture systems. Effect of various parameters such as pulp density, particle size, type of inoculum, media and temperature on the efficiency of desulfurization by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans were tested. A Thiobacillus related moderately thermophilic mixotroph was found to remove some of the organic sulfur as well.     

Genotoxicity study of high aspect ratio silver nanowires

The genotoxicity potential of silver nanowires synthesized via the solution-based polyol method has been investigated. They were found to be non-mutagenic in three Salmonella strains and were not genotoxic in a clastogenicity assay in mice. Residual surfactant was found to have an effect on the toxicological properties of the nanowires by increasing the rate of Ag⁺ release. Residual surfactant can be easily degraded via a UV treatment.     

Heavy metal deposition in moss samples from East and South Marmara Region, Turkey

A survey of atmospheric heavy metal deposition in the east and south Marmara region, Turkey was carried out in September 2004. For this purpose, moss samples (Hypnum cupressiforme) were collected in a systematic network of 125 sites. Concentrations of the elements (Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Fe, Co, Cr, Cu, K, Li, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, Mg, Ti, and Zn) in the moss were used as an indication of the level of air pollution in the region. Significant differences in heavy metal concentrations, especially for Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn, were recorded in the moss samples collected around industrialized and heavily populated cities (Istanbul, Bursa, Band?rma, Kocaeli, Biga-?an) and in an abandoned lead-mining area (Bal?kesir-Balya). A map of the spatial distribution of each element in the region was plotted, and enrichment factors were calculated. VARIMAX principal component analysis was applied to the data obtained, and five different components were obtained. The results showed that Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn derived from anthropogenic and industrial sources while other elements came mostly from natural sources.