The impact of increasing natural gas use on the environment and population in Ankara, Turkey

This paper presents an evaluation of the improvement of air quality due to the use of natural gas in the city of Ankara. A comparison of air quality before and after conversion of a great part of the city to natural gas was made using regional ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM-10 less than 10 µm diameter) concentrations. Also, there is an overview of construction works that have been carried out, and an explanation of how Geographical Information System (GIS) activities are used to monitor the construction, design and routes of gas pipelines. It is concluded that the long-term project to spread the use of natural gas in Ankara has reduced air pollution to national standards thus improving the quality of life for the city's inhabitants. The changes in the air quality have also brought positive changes in vital fields, such as health, the environment, economy and social life in the city of Ankara, once famous for its seriously polluted air

POTATO TUBER SPROUT ROT CAUSED BY Fusarium sambucinum IN TURKEY

Fusarium dry rot is one of the most important diseases of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), affecting the tubers in storage and the seed pieces after planting. Fusarium sambucinum Fuckel - teleomorph Gibberella pulicaris (Fr.) Sacc. - is a common pathogen causing dry rot of stored tubers in temperate areas. To establish strategies for the control of this disease it should be made primarily a correct diagnosis and detection symptoms of disease caused by fungus on potato tuber. Natural infected tubers was exemined macroscopically and incubated in controlled environment chamber. Pathogenicity study carried out in vitro condition that showed both tubers and sprout were diseased and decayed by F. sambucinum. Consequently, the same symptoms were observed both on natural infected and artificially infected tubers. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. sambucinum causing a sprout rot of developing sprouts on seed tubers in Turkey

Assessment of cardiac autonomic activity in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria by heart rate variability

Amaç: Kronik idiyopatik ürtikerli (KİÜ) hastalarda kalp hız değişkenliği kullanılarak kardiyak otonomik aktivitenin araştırılması amaçlandı. Metot: Çalışmaya 24 KİÜ’li hasta (18 kadın ve 6 erkek, yaş ortalaması 29±12 yıl) ve 18 sağlıklı birey (15 kadın ve 3 erkek, yaş ortalaması 28±10 yıl) dahil edildi. Her iki gruba 24 saat süreyle holter elektrokardiyografi uygulanarak zaman ve frekans bağımlı kalp hız değişkenliği parametreleri hesaplandı. Frekans bağımlı analiz parametrelerinden çok düşük frekans komponenti (VLF), düşük frekans komponenti (LF), yüksek frekans komponenti (HF) ve LF/HF, zaman bağımlı değişkenlerden 24 saat içindeki tüm normal sinus R-R intervallerinin standart deviasyonu (SDNN), 24 saatlik kayıt boyunca her 5 dakikalık segmentlerde normal sinus R-R intervallerinin ortalamasının standart deviasyonu (SDANN), normal sinus RR intervallerinde ardışık değişimlerin ortalama karekökü (RMS-SD) kullanıldı. Bulgular: KİÜ grubunda SDANN kontrole göre anlamlı düzeyde artmış olarak izlendi. Buna karşın HF, LF ve LF/HF, ve SDNN değerlerinde anlamlı değişim izlenmedi. Sonuç: Elde edilen sonuçlar KİÜ’li hastalarda dengelenmiş sempatik/parasempatik aktiviteye işaret etmektedir.Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate cardiac autonomic nervous system functions in chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) by using 24- hour Holter electrocardiogram. Method: The study group consisted of 24 patients with CIU (18 female and 6 male, 29±12 years) and the control group consisted 18 healthy participitants (15 female, and 3 male, 28±10 years). In these two groups, we assessed cardiac autonomic regulation by power spectral analysis and time dependent analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) using 24-hour Holter electrocardiogram. Frequency components of the power spectra consist of high frequency component (HF), low frequency component (LF), very low frequency component (VLF), and the ratio of low frequency component and high frequency component (LF/HF). Time dependent HRV consists the standard deviation of all normal sinus RR intervals over 24 h (SDNN), standard deviation of all averaged normal sinus intervals for each 5-min segment in the 24-h recording (SDANN) and the root mean square of successive differences between normal sinus RR intervals (RMS-SD). Results: SDANN increased significantly in the CIU group compared to controls. Contrary to this HF, LF, LF/HF and SDNN values were similar to controls. Conclusion: In the CIU group, power spectral analysis and time dependent variable reflecting balanced cardiac autonomic activity

The Relationship Between Methylation Defects and Different Genetic Disorders: Two Case Reports

5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a coding gene, for a key enzyme in methionine-homocysteine and folate metabolism. This pathway has been associated with gene specific DNA hypo and hypermethylation as a result of gene switching on or off. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T and A1298C gene polymorphisms are associated with folate metabolism disorders; such as, it results in an impaired DNA methylation and chromosomal abnormalities, gene deficiencies and structural anomalies. Here, we reported two cases of compound heterozygote and homozygote MTHFR gene mutation association with genetical disorders during the pregnancies

Automatic Pipeline Route Design with Multi-Criteria Evaluation Based on Least-Cost Path Analysis and Line-Based Cartographic Simplification: A Case Study of the Mus Project in Turkey

The design of a natural gas pipeline route is a very important stage in Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline projects. It is a very complicated process requiring many different criteria for various areas to be evaluated simultaneously. These criteria include geographical, social, economic, and environmental aspects with their obstacles. In the classical approach, the optimum route design is usually determined manually with gathering the spatial references for suitable places and obstructions from the ground. This traditional method is not effective because it does not consider all the factors that affect the route of the pipeline. Today, the powerful tools incorporated in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can be used to automatically determine the optimum route. An automatic pipeline route finder algorithm can calculate the best convenient route avoiding geographic and topological obstructs and selecting suitable places depending on their weights. In this study, an automatic natural gas pipeline design study was carried out in the east western region of Turkey. At the end of the study, an automatic natural gas pipeline route was determined using GIS and a least cost path algorithm, and an alternative study was conducted using a traditional method. In addition, a cartographic line simplification process with a point removal algorithm was used to eliminate the high vertex points and a simplified route was determined. The results were compared with the results of a finished Muş natural gas project constructed by The Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) and the negative and positive effects were evaluated. It was concluded that the use of GIS capabilities and the lowest cost path distance algorithm resulted in a 20% reduction of the cost through the simplification

Nonclassical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Pregnancy

Objective. The most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is 21-hydroxylase (21-OH) deficiency due to mutation of the CYP21A2 gene. Patients with nonclassical CAH (NC-CAH) are usually asymptomatic at birth and typically present in late childhood, adolescence, or adulthood with symptoms of excessive androgen secretion. Subfertility is relative in NC-CAH, but the incidence of spontaneous miscarriage is higher. Here, we report a previously undiagnosed female who gave birth to a normal male child and is planning to become pregnant again. Case Report. A 32-year-old female was referred to our clinic for obesity. Her medical history revealed that she had had three pregnancies. She was planning to become pregnant again. Her laboratory results revealed that she had NC-CAH. Since her husband is the son of her aunt and she had miscarriages and intrauterin exitus in her history, their genetic analyses were performed. Conclusion. Since most patients with NC-CAH have a severe mutation, these patients may give birth to a child with the classical CAH (C-CAH) if their partner is also carrying a severe mutation. Females with NC-CAH who desire pregnancy must be aware of the risk of having an infant with C-CAH