Spiders in mountain habitats of the Giant Mountains

Ground-living spiders were studied using modified pitfall traps during several years in four characteristic habitats in Giant Mountains (Krkono?e Mts.), the High Sudetes, Czech Republic: alpine tundra, subalpine mire, tall-herb stand at the bottom of a glacial corrie, and decaying mountain spruce forest. Ecological and zoogeographical aspects of spider communities were analysed. The spider communities of alpine tundra, subalpine mire, and glacial corrie exhibited long-term stability, whereas the community of decaying mountain forest changed during observations. Small linyphiid spiders, dominating in mature forest, were gradually replaced by larger Iycosid and gnaphosid species. Zoogeographic characterization of mountain habitats was made based on species exhibiting disjunctive area. In contrast to plants, for spiders of boreal origin alpine tundra is the most important habitat for survival, followed by screes, mires, spruce forests, and corries.     

Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination of the Southern Black Sea Shelf, Turkey

Introduction  

In this study, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contents and some aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations were analysed in coastal sediments of hot points collected from along the Southern Black Sea Shelf.     

Effects of environmental illiteracy and environmental awareness among middle school students on environmental behavior

This study proposes and employs a structural model to examine the effects of environmental literacy, environmental awareness, environmental attitudes, and environmental behavior among middle school students in Eski?ehir on their purchase of environmentally friendly products. In the proposed structural model, environmental illiteracy and environmental awareness were the exogenous latent variables, while pro-environmental attitude, pro-environmental behavior, and the purchase of environmentally friendly products were the endogenous latent variables. The latent variable of environmental illiteracy did not have a statistically significant effect on environmental attitudes and purchase of environmentally friendly products, whereas environmental awareness had a positive effect on pro-environmental attitudes and the purchase of environmentally friendly products. These findings indicate that students with environmental awareness also develop positive attitudes toward the environment, and the presence of a positive attitude toward the environment leads them to display pro-environmental behaviors and adopt a positive attitude toward environmentally friendly products.     

Preparation, Thermal Properties and Thermal Reliability of Form-Stable Paraffin/Polypropylene Composite for Thermal Energy Storage

This study is focused on the preparation, characterization, and determination of thermal properties and thermal reliability of paraffin/polypropylene (PP) composite as a novel form-stable phase change material (PCM) for thermal energy storage applications. In the composite, paraffin acts as a PCM when PP is operated as supporting material. The composites prepared at different mass fractions of paraffin (50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 w/w%) by solution casting method were subjected to leakage test by heating the composites over the melting temperature of the PCM. The paraffin/PP composite (70/30 w/w%) is found as the maximum paraffin containing composite and was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, optic microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. DSC analysis indicated that the form-stable paraffin/PP composite melts at 44.77–45.52 °C and crystallizes at 53.55–54.80 °C. It has latent heats of 136.16 and −136.59 J/g for melting and crystallization, respectively. These thermal properties make it potential PCM for latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) purposes such as solar space heating applications. Accelerated thermal cycling tests indicated that the form-stable PCM had good thermal reliability. TGA also showed that the form-stable PCM degrades in two distinguishable steps and had good chemical stability.     

Gender (in)difference in private offices: A holistic approach for assessing satisfaction and personalization

This research is a combination of gender studies, which highlights differences between men and women, and workplace research, which focuses on the performances that are assumed to affect employee satisfaction. The study proposes a multi-dimensional assessment model that enables consideration of several workplace issues in tandem. Focusing on user satisfaction, the first part of the study is a holistic approach concerned with technical, functional and behavioral variables that provides a broad understanding about gender (in)differences. Personalization, the core issue of the second part of the study, is measured through personal display items, autonomous behavior and office layout preferences of men and women employees. The findings indicate the presence of significant gender differences in terms of satisfaction felt with regard to the behavioral variables. The results also support previous findings indicating that men and women use different personal display items in order to personalize their offices. More women were diagnosed to be changing their room layout on a temporary basis whereas men and women were evidenced for having similar attitudes in making permanent changes and in preferring an office layout for themselves. The findings suggest that gender difference is still a valid subject in workplace research although the differences may not be as sharp as the conventional gender difference myth claims, implying a better understanding of the issues that differently satisfy men and women.     

Effects of Alkali Treatment on the Properties of Short Flax Fiber–Poly(Lactic Acid) Eco-Composites

In this study, the influence of alkali (NaOH) treatment on the mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of eco-composites of short flax fiber/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was investigated. SEM analysis conducted on alkali treated flax fibers showed that the packed structure of the fibrils was deformed by the removal non-cellulosic materials. The fibrils were separated from each other and the surface roughness of the alkali treated flax fibers was improved. The mechanical tests indicated that the modulus of the untreated fiber/PLA composites was higher than that of PLA; on the other hand the modulus of alkali treated flax fiber/PLA was lower than PLA. Thermal properties of the PLA in the treated flax fiber composites were also affected. T_g values of treated flax fiber composites were lowered by nearly 10 °C for 10% NaOH treatment and 15 °C for 30% NaOH treatment. A bimodal melting behavior was observed for treated fiber composites different than both of neat PLA and untreated fiber composites. Furthermore, wide angle X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the crystalline structure of cellulose of flax fibers changed from cellulose-I structure to cellulose-II.     

Multiple comparisons of organic,microbial, and fine particulate pollutants in typical indoor environments: Diurnal and seasonal variations

This study was performed to investigate the possible sources as well as seasonal and diurnal variations of indoor air pollutants in widely used four different environments (house, office, kindergarten, and primary school) in which people spend most of their time. Bioaerosol levels and species, volatile organic compound (VOC) levels, and PM_2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm) levels were determined in different parts of these environments in parallel with outdoor sampling. Air pollution samplings were carried out in each microenvironment during five subsequent days in both winter and summer in Ankara, Turkey. The results indicated that bioaerosol, VOC, and PM_2.5 levels were higher in the winter than in the summer. Moreover, PM_2.5 and bioaerosol levels showed remarkable daily and diurnal variations, whereas a good correlation was found between the VOC levels measured in the morning and in the afternoon. Bacteria levels were, in general, higher than fungi levels. Among the VOCs, toluene was the most predominant, whereas elevated n-hexane levels were also observed in the kindergarten and the primary school, probably due to the frequent wet cleaning during school days. According to factor analysis, several factors were found to be significantly influencing the indoor air quality (IAQ), and amongst them, VOC-based products used indoors ranked first. The overall results indicate that grab sampling in naturally ventilated places may overestimate or underestimate the IAQ due to the inhomogeneous composition of indoor air caused by irregular exchanges with the outdoor air according to the season and/or occupants' habits.

Implications Seasonal and diurnal variations of VOCs, PM_2.5, bioaerosols in house, office, and schools were observed, in which PM_2.5 and bioaeorosols showed marked both intra- and interday variability, but VOCs did not. VOC-containing products were the most common source of air pollutants affecting the indoor air quality. External factors affecting the indoor air quality were season and indirectly ventilation. A grab sample cannot be representative in evaluating the air quality of a naturally ventilated environment precisely.     

Amygdalin in bitter and sweet seeds of apricots

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) poisoning due to amygdalin (AMY) in apricot seeds is one of the public health issues in Turkey. The aim of this study was to investigate the AMY content of 13 different apricot seeds including bitter and sweet ones, and which are either sulfurized or roasted. The AMY content was determined by a high-performance liquid chromatography. Release of HCN was predicted and total amount of seeds which can cause poisoning was calculated. The mean AMY content of bitter seeds was 26 ± 14 mg g^?1 and that of sweet seeds was 0.16 ± 0.09 mg g^?1. The consumption of small amounts of bitter seeds may cause cyanide poisoning.     

The 210Po and 210Pb levels in surface sediment samples in the Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea-Turkey)

Bottom sediments reflect in general the relative contamination of a sea area. Therefore, a great deal of monitoring work has been dedicated to the analysis of bottom sediments. Izmir Bay is a very important pollution centre in Turkish Aegean coast region due to a densely populated community, industrial complex and maritime transportation, and there are many streams flowing into the bay that pass through a number of industrial and agricultural areas. It had received the majority of domestic and industrial wastewaters until the wastewater treatment plant was constructed. It is well known that sediments play an important role as reservoirs of a fraction of the pollution in aquatic systems. Therefore, sediment samples were collected monthly from three stations which are located in the inner part of the bay during the period January to December 2003. Temporal variations and seasonal changes on their ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb contents were examined, and the activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were found to vary from 43±6 to 132±12 and 27±5 to 91±9 Bq kg^???1 dry wt, respectively. The highest values of those natural radionuclides were measured at Kar??yaka Station because of the current systems of the bay. Seasonally, the ²¹⁰Pb levels were found to increase during the winter time for all the stations.     

Evaluation of heavy metal content in digestate from batch anaerobic co-digestion of sunflower hulls and poultry manure

In this experimental study, the biogas digestate from mesophilic batch anaerobic co-digestion of poultry manure and an agricultural residue, sunflower hulls, was characterized, particularly in terms of heavy metal content, in order to evaluate whether the biogas digestate was suitable for land applications. Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd, and Hg were detected in the biogas digestate in each trial, however, their concentrations were always lower than the limit values stated in Turkish regulations. The main source of heavy metals in the biogas digestate seemed to be the poultry manure, not the agricultural residue. The commercial feedstuffs that are frequently supplemented with various essential elements to promote optimum nutrient supply and optimum growth rates may have contributed to heavy metals presence in the biogas digestate. The results indicated that the biogas digestate from anaerobic co-digestion of manure and agricultural residue could be utilized as fertilizer in agricultural applications.