Vapor-Phase Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol Using Manganese Oxide Octahedral Molecular Sieves (OMS-2)

Vapor-phase selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol has been accomplished using cryptomelane-type manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) catalysts. A conversion of 92% and a selectivity to benzaldehyde of 99% were achieved using OMS-2. The role played by the oxidant in this system was probed by studying the reaction in the absence of oxidant. The natures of framework transformations occurring during the oxidation reaction were fully studied using temperature-programmed techniques, as well as in situ X-ray diffraction under different atmospheres

The cost of COPD exacerbations managed in hospital [Hastanede tedavi edilen KOAH alevlenmelerinin maliyeti]

OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease that has severe health and economic consequences. In this study we estimated the economic cost of COPD exacerbations requiring hospital stay in our hospital. Material and Methods: The direct cost of 376 hospitalizations during one year with the diagnosis of COPD exacerbations were evaluated retrospectively in our hospital's chest diseases department. Results: Three hundred and eleven of the patients enrolled in the study were men while only 65 were women. The mean age of patients was 65.31 and median hospitalization time was 8 (mean: 9.86) days. The average medication cost per exacerbation was 526.55 Turkish Lira (TL) ($392.94, €333.25), the average hospital care cost per exacerbation was 1271.94 TL ($949.20, €805.02) and the average total cost per exacerbation was 1833.8537 TL ($1368.54, €1160.66). The hospitalization time for patients with lung malignancy and sequelae of lung tuberculosis were found to be statistically longer. Antibiotic treatment increased the costs and hospitalization time. Treatment in intensive care units, nosocomial infections and necessity of long term oxygen treatment all increased the costs and hospital stay time. Conclusion: This study shows that the cost of intensive care unit treatment, long term oxygen treatment, treatment of hospital acquried infections and use of antibiotics were higher than usual in COPD exacerbations requiring hospitalisations

Detecting the limit of slab break-off in central Turkey: new high-resolution Pn tomography results

Inversion of Pn traveltime residuals from a 39-station broad-band array provides a high-resolution image of the velocity structure in the uppermost mantle beneath central Turkey. Individually picked Pn phase arrivals from events recorded by the North Anatolian Fault Passive Seismic Experiment and the Kandilli Observatory were combined with additional events associated with the Eastern Turkey Seismic Experiment. Tomography results show no change in Pn velocity across the North Anatolian Fault, although longitudinal variations are evident. A region of very low Pn velocities ( 7.8 kms(-1)) is imaged east of the Central Anatolian Fault Zone (CAFZ), with a transition to faster velocities (> 8.1 kms(-1)) west of the fault. The sharp transition along the CAFZ, which follows the palaeotectonic Inner-Tauride Suture, may represent the location of the edge of the slab window, created when the oceanic slab broke off along the Bitlis-Zagros Suture around 11 Ma, as the Arabian plate collided with the Eurasian plate

Shear wave splitting along a nascent plate boundary: the North Anatolian Fault Zone

P>The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is a transform structure that constitutes the boundary between the Anatolian Plate to the south and the Eurasia Plate to the north. We analysed the properties of the upper-mantle strain field and mantle anisotropy in the vicinity of NAFZ via splitting of SKS and SKKS phases. We used data from the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) passive seismic experiment. This is the first study that analyses the upper-mantle anisotropy in this region and our results indicate that the observed upper-mantle strain field is uniform underneath the array with consistent NE-SW polarization directions for fast split waves. The measured lag times between the arrivals of the fast and slow split waves varies from 0.5 to 1.6 s for the study area. Smaller lag times are obtained consistently in the eastern part of the array. However, we do not observe any significant variation in either the polarization directions or the delay times across the plate boundary (NAFZ)