The 2005 - 2007 Bala (Ankara, central Turkey) earthquakes: a case study for strike-slip fault terminations

An intense seismic activity has been observed after the Bala (Ankara, NW central Turkey) earthquakes (30 July 2005: Mw=5.3, 20 December 2007: Mw=5.4, and 26 December 2007: Mw=5.3), continuing up to the present. The epicenters and the focal mechanism solutions of the earthquakes indicate that the right lateral strike-slip Afşar fault, trending N55-60°W, is responsible for the main shocks. The Afşar fault is thought to be the NW continuation of the Tuzgölü fault zone, which is one of the main neotectonic elements in central Anatolia. On the other hand, the aftershock distributions of the 2005 event have a NNE trend, and those of the 2007 event show a NW trending. Some focal mechanism solutions of the 2005 Bala earthquake aftershocks indicate normal and oblique normal faulting that corresponds to the NNE-trending Karakeçili fault. It seems that seismic activation of the NNE-trending Karakeçili fault was triggered by the 2005 main shock (Mw=5.3) that occurred on the NW trending right lateral strike-slip Afşar fault. The overall neotectonic framework is that the northwestern edge of the Tuzgölü fault zone, represented by the Afşar fault in Bala, terminates in an extensional system represented by the oblique-slip Karakeçili fault

Designing an intracellular fluorescent probe for glutathione: Two modulation sites for selective signal transduction

A selective probe for glutathione was designed and synthesized. The design incorporates spatial and photophysical constraints for the maximal emission signal. Thus, pHs, as well as the intracellular thiol concentrations, determine the emission signal intensity through a tight control of charge-transfer and PeT processes. The probe works satisfactorily inside the human breast adenocarcinoma cells, highlighting GSH distribution in the cytosol. © 2014 American Chemical Society

European Vegetation Archive (EVA): An integrated database of European vegetation plots

© 2016 International Association for Vegetation Science. The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional vegetation- plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management of multiple databases that use different species lists. This is facilitated by the SynBioSys Taxon Database, a system of taxon names and concepts used in the individual European databases and their corresponding names on a unified list of European flora. TURBOVEG 3 also includes procedures for handling data requests, selections and provisions according to the approved EVA Data Property and Governance Rules. By 30 June 2015, 61 databases from all European regions have joined EVA, contributing in total 1 027 376 vegetation plots, 82% of them with geographic coordinates, from 57 countries. EVA provides a unique data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer disease

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in elderly people. Patients with AD appear to be particularly at risk for cognitive deterioration following anesthesia. Some in vitro studies suggest that exposure to general anesthesia (GA) promotes the AD process. On the other hand, there are no clinical studies that clearly demonstrate that GA is a cause of cognitive dysfunction in patients with probable AD. The aim of this research was to discuss the relation between postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and AD according to the literature. In vivo studies examining AD biomarkers postoperatively and in vitro studies exploring amyloid-beta (A beta) converge to indicate that anesthetics could affect AD pathogenesis, either directly or indirectly. Careful evaluation of the mental state should be mandatory for all elderly patients undergoing GA. Long-term prospective, randomized clinical studies are required to examine the relationship between POCD and AD

Experimental investigations of surface roughness in orthogonal turning of unidirectional glass-fiber reinforced plastic composites

Cutting parameters and the resulting cutting forces have a great effect on the machinability of materials during the turning process. The effects of cutting parameters on machinability have been examined by many researchers and studies on determination of suitable cutting conditions for various materials are still under investigation. In this study, surface roughness of unidirectional glass-fiber reinforced plastic composite was examined on the basis of cutting parameters such as depth of cut, feed rate, tool geometry, and cutting speed. The surface quality was found to relate closely to the feed rate, cutting speed, and cutting tool. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited

The prediction of surface temperature in drilling of Ti6Al4V

Titanium and its alloys are attractive materials due to their unique high strength-weight ratio that is maintained at elevated temperatures and their exceptional corrosion resistance. The major application of titanium has been in the aerospace industry. However, the focus shift of market trends from military to commercial and aerospace to industry also been reported. On the other hand, titanium and its alloys are notorious for their poor thermal properties and are classified as difficult-to-machine materials. These properties limit the use of these materials especially in the markets where cost is much more of a factor than in aerospace. Machining is an important manufacturing process because it is almost always involved if precision is required and is the most effective process for small volume production. Due to the low machinability of the alloys under study, selecting the machining conditions and parameters is crucial. The range of feeds and cutting speeds, which provide a satisfactory tool life, is very limited. On the other hand, adequate tool, coating, geometry and cutting flow materials should be used: otherwise, the high wear of the tool, and the possible tolerance errors, would introduce unacceptable flaws in parts that require a high degree of precision. In this study, heat changes of Ti6Al4V has been examined on the basis of cutting parameters such as depth of cut, feedrate and cutting speed during drilling. Heat changes of the material and tool was monitored by a thermal camera. Maximum temperatures of the experiments were taken to examine optimum cutting parameters. Obtained results have been used to generate a regression analysis and it is seen that regression has given accurate data.Tytan i jego stopy to atrakcyjne materiały ze względu na ich unikalnie wysoki stosunek wytrzymałości do ciężaru właściwego, utrzymywany w podwyższonej temperaturze i ich wyjątkową odporność na korozję. Głównym zastosowaniem tytanu jest przemysł lotniczy. Jednak zmiana trendów na rynku z wojskowego na cywilny i z przemysłu lotniczego na inne gałęzie przemysłu jest również obserwowana. Z drugiej strony tytan i jego stopy są znane z ich słabych właściwości termicznych i są klasyfikowane jako materiały trudne w obróbce. Właściwości te ograniczają wykorzystywanie tych materiałów zwłaszcza na rynkach, na których koszt jest znacznie większym czynnikiem niż w przemyśle lotniczym. Obróbka mechaniczna jest ważnym procesem wytwarzania, ponieważ prawie zawsze ma miejsce, jeżeli wymagana jest precyzja i jest to najbardziej skuteczny sposób wytwarzania małych objętości. Ze względu na niską obrabialność stopów badanych, dobór warunków obróbki i parametrów jest krytyczny. Zakres posuwów i prędkości skrawania, które zapewniają zadowalającą trwałość narzędzia, jest bardzo ograniczony. Z drugiej strony, należy stosować odpowiedni materiał narzędzia, powłoki, geometrię, w przeciwnym razie wysokie zużycie narzędzia i ewentualne błędy tolerancji wprowadzą niedopuszczalne błędy w częściach które wymagają wysokiego stopnia precyzji. W pracy badano zmiany cieplne w stopach Ti6A14V wynikające z parametrów cięcia takich jak głębokość skrawania, posuw i prędkość skrawania podczas wiercenia. Zmiany cieplne materiału i narzędzia monitorowano za pomocą kamery termicznej. Maksymalne wartości temperatury eksperymentów zostały dobrane w celu zbadania optymalnych parametrów skrawania. Otrzymane wyniki wykorzystano do analizy regresji i jest widoczne, że regresja daje dokładne dane