An aerobiological study on pollen grains in the atmosphere of North-West Turkey

A continuous aerobiological survey of the atmosphere of Bursa was carried out from 1st January 2003 to 31st December 2004 by means of the volumetric method using a Lanzoni trap. During 2 years, a total of 57,124 pollen grains/m(3), which belonged to 66 taxa and 869 unidentified pollen grains, were recorded. In the region investigated, Pinus sp., Olea sp., Platanus sp., Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, Quercus sp., Poaceae, Moraceae, Urticaceae, and Castanea sp. were responsible for the greatest amounts of pollen. During the study period, the pollen concentration reached the highest level in May. A correlation analyses was made between the daily fluctuations of the main pollen types and meteorological parameters.     

Modeling of adsorption kinetics and equilibria of acid dyes onto activated carbon in single- and binary-component systems

Adsorptive removal of Acid Blue 127 and Acid Yellow 17 from their single and binary solutions has been studied using powdered activated carbon (PAC). The dyes used extensively for dying of nylon fiber in textile industry are known as Nylomine Blue P-B (NB) and Nylomine Yellow P-4G (NY), respectively. Time-dependent results obtained from single-component system have been better predicted by two resistance diffusion model rather than homogeneous surface diffusion. The magnitudes of film- and intraparticle diffusion coefficients calculated from McKay equation are ～10^?9 and ～10^?15 m² s^?1, whereas surface diffusion coefficients have been estimated as ～10^?13 m² s^?1 using Vermeulen approximation. Experimental equilibrium isotherms have been evaluated by changing initial dye concentrations in the range of 0.02–1.00 of mmol L^?1. Freundlich isotherm parameters for individual solutions of the dyes have been used to predict their equilibrium behaviors in binary solutions by applying extended Freundlich model. Langmuir isotherm model and its extended form have also been fitted to the data for single- and binary-dye solutions, respectively. Thermodynamic functions derived from the temperature dependence of adsorption equilibrium constants in 298–318 K range show that adsorption processes are endothermic but spontaneous.     

Retro-techno-economic evaluation of acetic acid production using cotton stalk as feedstock

In value-added chemical industries, use of agricultural wastes as raw materials remains to be a major challenge in commercialization due to lack of competitiveness with respect to petrochemical processes. This work presents the techno-economic analysis of a novel bioprocessing plant converting 356,400 MT/year cotton stalks into 147,000 MT/year acetic acid. A production scheme integrating lignin separation with the main bioconversion stages has been proposed. Techno-economic assessment was performed through economic feasibility and retro-techno-economic analysis (RTEA) methods. The RTEA method has been extended to include the estimation of research and development funding for improving economic feasibility. Carbon offset of the proposed technology has been estimated and carbon credit results have been incorporated into the economic feasibility metrics.     

Monitoring the changing position of coastlines using aerial and satellite image data: an example from the eastern coast of Trabzon, Turkey

Coastline mapping and coastline change detection are critical issues for safe navigation, coastal resource management, coastal environmental protection, and sustainable coastal development and planning. Changes in the shape of coastline may fundamentally affect the environment of the coastal zone. This may be caused by natural processes and/or human activities. Over the past 30 years, the coastal sites in Turkey have been under an intensive restraint associated with a population press due to the internal and external touristic demand. In addition, urbanization on the filled up areas, settlements, and the highways constructed to overcome the traffic problems and the other applications in the coastal region clearly confirm an intensive restraint. Aerial photos with medium spatial resolution and high resolution satellite imagery are ideal data sources for mapping coastal land use and monitoring their changes for a large area. This study introduces an efficient method to monitor coastline and coastal land use changes using time series aerial photos (1973 and 2002) and satellite imagery (2005) covering the same geographical area. Results show the effectiveness of the use of digital photogrammetry and remote sensing data on monitoring large area of coastal land use status. This study also showed that over 161 ha areas were filled up in the research area and along the coastal land 12.2 ha of coastal erosion is determined for the period of 1973 to 2005. Consequently, monitoring of coastal land use is thus necessary for coastal area planning in order to protecting the coastal areas from climate changes and other coastal processes.     

Modification of wood with environmentally friendly chemicals to improve decay resistance

Turkish pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) solid wood was chemically modified to various weight percent gains (WPG) using either acetic, methacrylic, hexanoic and succinic anhydrides. Laboratory soil block decay testing using the brown rot fungus C. puteana and G. trabeum was performed and weight loss calculated. All high degree of modified samples showed good biological resistance and severely reduced degradation. Chemical modification of wood is very important for the prevention of biodeterioration which are environmentally friendly and also not hazardous to human beings.     

Determination of potential allergenic fungal flora and its clinical reflection in suburban elementary schools in Izmir

In this research, in order to determine mean fungus counts, indoor and outdoor air samples were taken in five elementary school buildings located in the city center of Seferihisar, Izmir (45 km from Izmir) within a 1-year period between March and April 2004, and between January and February 2005 representing similar climatic characteristics. Five samples, three from three classes where 5–8, 10–12, and 12–15 age group students attended, one from the corridors, and one from outside the buildings in all the schools, were taken for each period. Within the period of the study, in indoor and outdoor air samples, 7,122 microfungus colonies were counted. Sixty-four species were identified that belong to 17 genera as a result of the identification of isolates obtained. Skin prick tests were applied to 55 out of a total of 117 teachers by the clinicians. According to these test results, 24 teachers were sensitive to at least one agent. Results revealed that, in terms of mold counts, the difference between the schools and the difference between the times (periods) were statistically significant (p?< 0.05).     

The trace metal levels in milk and dairy products consumed in middle Anatolia—Turkey

In this study, aluminium (Al), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), selenium (Se) and arsenic (As) contents in milk and different dairy product samples were measured. Pb, Cd, As, Al and Se contents in the milk and different dairy products ranged from 0.054 mg/kg (milk powder)?1.100 mg/kg (Ka?ar cheese), 0.009 mg/kg (whey powder and yogurt)?1.051 mg/kg (Tulum cheese), 0.010 mg/kg (whey powder)?0.146 mg/kg (butter), 2.848 mg/kg (ice cream)?8.778 (drained yogurt) and n.d. (ice cream, milk and whey powder, yogurt, ayran and Lor cheese)?0.434 mg/kg (Tulum cheese), respectively. The 75% of White and Ka?ar cheeses, 50% of Lor and 12.5% of Tulum cheese samples contained higher Pb according to the legal limits established by the Turkish Food Codex and European Communities regulation and 12.5% of Tulum cheese sample contained Cd. It was concluded that Pb contents of milk and dairy products from this region might be highly hazardous to human     

Cationic dye adsorption onto natural and synthetic zeolites in the presence of Cs+ and Sr2+ ions

Adsorption of diazine dye safranine O (SO) in the presence of Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ ions was investigated onto natural and synthetic zeolites in order to predict competition of cationic organic species with their radionuclides, which are the main fission products released into the environment. Adsorption of SO was measured up to the 40th day and the surface-diffusion coefficients (D_s) were estimated by applying Nernst–Planck approximation based on a homogeneous-surface-diffusion model. The values of D_s were 10 times higher on natural zeolite than those of synthesized zeolite from fly ash (FA) under hydrothermal conditions. Similarly, distribution coefficients (K_D) were considerably higher on the clinoptilolite-type natural zeolite. The zeolitized product of FA is mainly composed of analcime and sodalite. SO adsorption on natural zeolite was not influenced by Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ ions, but it decreased at high concentrations on synthetic zeolite. The higher influence of the Sr²⁺ ions on SO⁺ adsorption showed that they compete with each other for the same adsorption sites. These results suggested that natural zeolite cannot be used for remediation of wastewater polluted with Cs and Sr radionuclides in the presence of organic cations, whilst FA zeolite has a potential for Sr removal.     

Adsorption and transport of arsenate in carbonate-rich soils: coupled effects of nonlinear and rate-limited sorption

The transport and fate of arsenate in carbonate-rich soil under alkaline conditions was investigated with multiple approaches combining batch, sequential extraction and column experiments as well as transport modeling studies. Batch experiments indicated that sorption isotherm was nonlinear over a wide range of concentration (0.1-200 mg L(-1)) examined. As(V) adsorption to the calcareous soil was initially fast but then continued at a slower rate, indicating the potential effect of rate-limited sorption on transport. Column experiments illustrated that transport of As(V) was significantly retarded compared to a non-reactive tracer. The degree of retardation decreased with increasing As(V) concentration. As(V) breakthrough curves exhibited nonideal transport behavior due to the coupled effects of nonlinear and rate-limited sorption on arsenate transport, which is consistent with the results of modeling studies. The contribution of nonlinear sorption to the arsenate retardation was negligible at low concentration but increased with increasing As(V) concentration. Sequential extraction results showed that nonspecifically sorbed (easily exchangeable, outer sphere complexes) fraction of arsenate is dominant with respect to the inner-sphere surface bound complexes of arsenate in the carbonate soil fraction, indicating high bioavailability and transport for arsenate in the carbonate-rich soils of which Fe and Al oxyhydroxide fractions are limited.     

Assessment of different carbon and salinity level on growth kinetics,lipid, and starch composition of Chlorella vulgaris SAG 211-12

ABSTRACT

The quality of microalgal biofuel depends on the fatty acid (FA) distribution. A high ratio of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) favors better biofuel characteristics. Palmitic acid (C16:0) and stearic acid (C18:0) are essential FAs for required biodiesel quality. In this study, combined effects of growth medium concentrations of NaCl, glucose and glycerol on cell composition and FA profile of the Chlorella vulgaris SAG 211–12 were investigated. A central composite design (CCD) based design of experiments (DoE) was used for experimental setup. According to experimental results, the maximum mass fraction for palmitic acid (C16:0), 40.67% of total fatty acids, was obtained in the medium supplemented with 0.9% (w/v) NaCl, 0.3% (w/v) glucose, and 0.3% (w/v) glycerol, whereas stearic acid (C18:0) percentage reached the highest value of 22.16% of total fatty acids in the presence of 2.5% NaCl, 0.6% glucose, and 0.6% glycerol. According to the same set of designed experiments, best starch content was found as 22.08% of dry cell weight in a medium containing 2.0% NaCl, 0.3% glucose, and 0.3% glycerol. C16:0 mass fraction as a function of three medium ingredient concentrations was modeled using a Kriging model. Optimum concentrations of NaCl, glucose and glycerol to reach maximum C16:0 fraction were predicted as 0.5, 1, and 1%, respectively.