Physicochemical properties of seeds of Capparis species growing wild in Turkey

While Capparis spinosa var. herbaceace (2009) seeds collected from the Mardin-midyat region contains the highest protein (22.25 %), C. spinosa var. spinosa seeds (2009) collected from the Mu?la-Milas region contained the lowest protein (18.25 %). In addition, oil contents of C. spinosa and Capparis ovata seeds changed between 27.74 to 31.09 and 28.66 to 31.40 %, respectively. Crude cellulose contents of C. spinosa and C. ovata seeds were found as 28.24 and 29.67 %, respectively. It was found that ash content of C. spinosa and C. ovata seeds were found between 2.13 and 2.23 %, respectively. Phenolic matter content of C. spinosa and C. ovata were found between 1.98 mg (GAE) and 1.76 mg (GAE), respectively. Radical activity values of C. spinosa and C. ovata were determined as 83.432 and 83.718 %, respectively.     

Transforming Pinus pinaster forest to recreation site: preliminary effects on LAI,some forest floor,and soil properties

This study investigates the effects of forest transformation into recreation site. A fragment of a Pinus pinaster plantation forest was transferred to a recreation site in the city of Bart?n located close to the Black Sea coast of northwestern Turkey. During the transformation, some of the trees were selectively removed from the forest to generate more open spaces for the recreationists. As a result, Leaf Area Index (LAI) decreased by 0.20 (about 11 %). Additionally, roads and pathways were introduced into the site together with some recreational equipment sealing parts of the soil surface. Consequently, forest environment was altered with a semi-natural landscape within the recreation site. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of forest transformation into recreation site particularly in terms of the LAI parameter, forest floor, and soil properties. Preliminary monitoring results indicate that forest floor biomass is reduced by 26 % in the recreation site compared to the control site. Soil temperature is increased by 15 % in the recreation site where selective removal of trees expanded the gaps allowing more light transmission. On the other hand, the soil bulk density which is an indicator of soil compaction is unexpectedly slightly lower in the recreation site. Organic carbon (C_org) and total nitrogen (N_total) together with the other physical and chemical parameter values indicate that forest floor and soil have not been exposed to much disturbance. However, subsequent removal of trees that would threaten the vegetation, forest floor, and soil should not be allowed. The activities of the recreationists are to be concentrated on the paved spaces rather than soil surfaces. Furthermore, long-term monitoring and management is necessary for both the observation and conservation of the site.     

Precipitation Modeling by Polyhedral RCMARS and Comparison with MARS and CMARS

Climate change is becoming an ever important issue due to the possibility that it may result in extreme weather events such as floods or droughts. Consequently, precipitation forecasting has similarly gained in significance as it is a useful tool in meeting the increasing need for the efficient management of water resources as well as in preventing disasters before they happen. In the literature, there are various statistical and computational methods used for this purpose, including linear and nonlinear regression, kriging, time series models, neural networks, and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS). Among them, MARS stands out as the better performing precipitation modeling method. In this article, we used a recently developed method called robust conic mars (RCMARS), based on MARS (also on CMARS), to forecast precipitation owing to its ability to model complex uncertain data. In CMARS, which was developed as a powerful alternative to MARS, the model complexity is penalized in the form of Tikhonov regularization and studied as a conic quadratic programming. In RCMARS, on the other hand, CMARS is refined further by including the existence of uncertainty in the future scenarios and robustifying it with a robust optimization technique. To evaluate the performance of the RCMARS method, it was applied to build a precipitation model constructed as an early warning system for the continental Central Anatolia Region of Turkey, where drought has been a recurrent phenomenon for the last few decades. Furthermore, the performance of the RCMARS precipitation model was also compared to that of MARS and CMARS. The results indicated that RCMARS builds more accurate, precise, and stable precipitation models compared to those of MARS and CMARS. In addition to these advantageous features of the RCMARS precipitation model, it also provided a good fit to the data. As a result, we propose its use in precipitation forecasting for the region studied.     

Ambient air quality and asthma cases in Niğde, Turkey

Urban air quality is one of the key factors affecting human health. Turkey has transformed itself into an urban society over the last 30 years. At the same time, air pollution has become a serious impairment to health in many urban areas in the country. This is due to many reasons. In this study, a nonparametric evaluation was conducted of health effects that are triggered by urban air pollution. Ni?de, the city which is the administrative centre of Nigde province was chosen of the effects of air pollution since, like many central Turkish cities, it is situated on a valley where atmospheric inversion occurs. In this paper, the relationship between ambient urban air quality, namely PM₁₀ and sulphur dioxide (SO₂), and human health, specifically asthma, during the winter season is examined. Air pollution data and asthma cases from 2006 to 2010 are covered in this study. The results of our study indicate that total asthma cases reported in Nigde between 2008 and 2010 were highly dependent on ambient SO₂ concentration. More asthma cases were recorded when 30 μg?m^?3 or higher SO₂ was present in the ambient air than those recorded under cleaner ambient air conditions. Moreover, it was determined that in Nigde in 2010, asthma cases reported in males aged between 45 and 64 were closely correlated with ambient SO₂ (α?=?0.05).     

Current Near‐to‐Nature Forest Management Effects on Functional Trait Composition of Saproxylic Beetles in Beech Forests

With the aim of wood production with negligible negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes, a silvicultural practice of selective logging with natural regeneration has been implemented in European beech forests (Fagus sylvatica) during the last decades. Despite this near‐to‐nature strategy, species richness of various taxa is lower in these forests than in unmanaged forests. To develop guidelines to minimize the fundamental weaknesses in the current practice, we linked functional traits of saproxylic beetle species to ecosystem characteristics. We used continental‐scale data from 8 European countries and regional‐scale data from a large forest in southern Germany and forest‐stand variables that represented a gradient of intensity of forest use to evaluate the effect of current near‐to‐nature management strategies on the functional diversity of saproxylic beetles. Forest‐stand variables did not have a statistically significant effect on overall functional diversity, but they did significantly affect community mean and diversity of single functional traits. As the amount of dead wood increased the composition of assemblages shifted toward dominance of larger species and species preferring dead wood of large diameter and in advanced stages of decay. The mean amount of dead wood across plots in which most species occurred was from 20 to 60 m³/ha. Species occurring in plots with mean dead wood >60 m³/ha were consistently those inhabiting dead wood of large diameter and in advanced stages of decay. On the basis of our results, to make current wood‐production practices in beech forests throughout Europe more conservation oriented (i.e., promoting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning), we recommend increasing the amount of dead wood to >20 m³/ha; not removing dead wood of large diameter (50 cm) and allowing more dead wood in advanced stages of decomposition to develop; and designating strict forest reserves, with their exceptionally high amounts of dead wood, that would serve as refuges for and sources of saproxylic habitat specialists. Efectos Actuales del Manejo Casi Natural de Bosques sobre la Composición de Atributos Funcionales de Escarabajos Saproxílicos en Bosques de Haya     

Encouraging sustainable clothing disposal: consumers’ social recycling motivations in Turkey

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Nowadays, textile waste arising from increasing clothing production, consumption, and disposal activities has led to environmental, social, and...     

Spatial and seasonal variations of atmospheric BTEX,sulfur dioxide,nitrogen dioxide,and ozone concentrations in Istanbul,and health risk assessment of BTEX

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) along with inorganic gases such as sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and ozone (O₃) levels were found in the atmosphere of the Kemerburgaz region where environmental issues became a major concern due to nearby incineration plant and waste disposal facility in Istanbul. Ten sampling locations were selected considering possible sources in the study area. The sampling areas were classified as suburban, industrial, rural, and background regions. Sampling campaigns were carried out for four-week periods from March 2011 to August 2012 in all locations. Elevated concentrations of BTEX around roads and the industrial locations indicated that vehicle exhaust and industrial activities were the main sources of these pollutants in the region. Concentrations of NO₂ were also high around roads. A much more uniform distribution was observed for SO₂ during sampling periods. However higher levels were observed at suburban locations due to the use of coal for local heating especially during winter. Ozone concentrations were low at the industrial locations and roadsides, but high in suburban and rural locations downwind from the sources. The results of these organic and inorganic gases meet the national limit values. Furthermore, a lifetime risk assessment methodology was used to evaluate the potential adverse health effects of BTEX. The mean cancer risk level for benzene was estimated to be 7.71E-07 that is lower than assigned acceptable risk level of 1.0E-04. Toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes were lower than the specified level of 1.0 with respect to mean non-carcinogenic risks. The findings reveal that determined BTEX emissions do not pose a health threat to residents in the studied region.     

Pesticide residues in liquid pekmez (grape molasses)

In this investigation properties of organic semiconductor copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) capacitive humidity and illumination sensors were studied. Organic thin film was deposited by vacuum evaporation on a glass substrate with silver surface-type electrodes to form the Ag/CuPc/Ag sensor. The capacitance of the samples was evaluated at room temperature in the relative humidity range of 35–92%. It was observed that capacitance of the Ag/CuPc/Ag sensor increases with increase in humidity. The ratio of the relative capacitance to relative humidity was about 200. It is assumed that in general the capacitive response of the sensor is associated with polarization due to absorption of water molecules and transfer of charges (electrons and holes). It was observed that under filament lamp illumination of up to 1,000 lx the capacitance of the Ag/CuPc/Ag photo capacitive detectors increased continuously by 20% as compared to dark condition. It is assumed that photo capacitive response of the sensor is associated with polarization due to transfer of photo-generated electrons and holes. An equivalent circuit of the Ag/CuPc/Ag capacitive humidity and illumination sensor was developed. Humidity and illumination dependent capacitance properties of this sensor make it attractive for use in humidity and illumination multi-meters. The sensor may be used in instruments for environmental monitoring of humidity and illumination.     

Product life-cycle implications for remanufacturing strategies

For remanufacturing to be successful, there is a need to gain information on future market needs of remanufactured products, and match this to information on the magnitude of return flows. One of the major issues impacting remanufacturing is in the difficulty of obtaining used products (cores) that are suitable for remanufacturing. The timing and quantity of product returns is dependent on the type of product. Factors such as the mean product lifetime, rate of technical innovation, and failure rate of components all influence the return rate of products from end-of-use and end-of-life. The balance between product returns and demand for remanufactured products is a function of many variables, where the rate of technological innovation and the expected life of a product are the major influencing characteristics. The main contribution of this paper is the support that is provided in different supply and demand situations. By using a product life-cycle perspective, the supply and demand situations can be foreseen, and support given regarding possible strategies in these situations.