Artistic Labour: Seeking a Utopian Dimension

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from OpenEdition via http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/cadernosaa.1053This article investigates the notion of artistic labour by elucidating how artists can create ethical social relations to perform “a new, possible world” by reinserting labour and advocacy into their practice. An examination of contemporary works by Ahmet Öğüt and Cevdet Erek who attempt to create micro-utopias by situating artistic labour at their core or by emphasising the power of networks and the “commons” to foster social integration are juxtaposed with the discussion of a possible genealogy of such utopian artistic attempts from the late 1960s and 1970s. The historical trajectory delineates the common denominators of artistic practices that proceed from utopian ideals such as anti-isolation, anti social division, anti self-reflexivity, process instead of object-based work, and investment in human value rather than materialistic value

Development of chemometric multivariate calibration models for spectroscopic quality analysis of biodiesel blends

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology, Chemistry, İzmir, 2011Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 128-132)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxiii, 132 leavesThe fact that the biodiesel is produced from renewable resources and environmentally friendly when compared to the fossil-based petroleum diesel, biodiesel has gained an increasing interest. It is mainly produced from a variety of different animal fat and vegetable oil combined with an alcohol in the presence of a homogeneous catalyst and the determination of the quality of the produced biodiesel is as important as its production. Industrial scale biodiesel production plants have been adopted the chromatographic analysis protocols some of which are standard reference methods proposed by official bodies of the governments and international organizations. However, analysis of multi component mixtures by chromatographic procedures can become time consuming and may require a lot of chemical consumption. For this reason, as an alternative, spectroscopic methods combined with chemometrics offer several advantages over classical chromatographic procedures in terms of time and chemical consumption. With the immense development of computer technology and reliable fast spectrometers, new chemometric methods have been developed and opened up a new era for processing of complex spectral data. In this study, laboratory scale produced biodiesel was mixed with methanol, commercial diesel and several different vegetable oils that are used to prepare biodiesels and then several different ternary mixture systems such as diesel-vegetable oil-biodiesel and methanol-vegetable oil-biodiesel were prepared and gas chromatographic analysis of these samples were performed. Then, near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (FTIR) spectra of the same samples were collected and multivariate calibration models were constructed for each component for all the infrared spectroscopic techniques. Chemometric multivariate calibration models were proposed as genetic inverse least square (GILS) and artificial neural networks (ANN). The results indicate that determination of biodiesel blends quality with respect to chemometric modeling gives reasonable consequences when combined with infrared spectroscopic techniques

Bazı steroidlerin cephalosprium aphidicola küfü ile biyotransformasyonu

06.03.2018 tarihli ve 30352 sayılı Resmi Gazetede yayımlanan “Yükseköğretim Kanunu İle Bazı Kanun Ve Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerde Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun” ile 18.06.2018 tarihli “Lisansüstü Tezlerin Elektronik Ortamda Toplanması, Düzenlenmesi ve Erişime Açılmasına İlişkin Yönerge” gereğince tam metin erişime açılmıştır.Steroidlerin 3-OH grubu bu maddelerin hidroksilaz enzimlerine bağlanmasındaönemlidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı aynı karbona (C-3) bağlı olan bir metil grubununsteroidlerin biyotransformasyonuna olabilecek etkilerini incelemektir. Bu amaçla3β, 20-dihidroksi-3α, 20-dimetilpregn-4-en ve 3α, 17β-dihidroksi-3β-metilestr-4-enbileşiklerinin Cephalosporium aphidicola küfü ile 10 gün süren inkübasyonlarıgerçekleştirildi. Her inkübasyondan bir bileşik elde edildi.İnkübasyonlar sonrasında başlangıç maddeleri ve bileşiklerin erime noktaları ile 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 13C APT NMR ve IR spektrumları alındı. Başlangıç maddeleri vebileşiklere ait erime noktaları ve spektrumlar karşılaştırıldığında 3β, 20-dihidroksi-3α, 20-dimetilpregn-4-en ve 3α, 17β-dihidroksi-3β-metilestr-4-en bileşiklerinininkübasyonu neticesinde herhangi bir değişim gerçekleşmediği anlaşıldı.Bu sonuç C-3 atomuna bağlı bir hidroksil grubuna ilaveten aynı karbona bağlı olanbir metil grubunun steroidlerin biyotransformasyonunu inhibe edebileceğini gösterdi.The 3-OH group of steroids is important in the binding of these subtances to thehydroxylase enzymes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a methylgroup bounded to the same carbon atom (C-3) on the microbial hydroxylations ofsteroids. 3β, 20-Dihydroxy-3α, 20-dimethylpregn-4-ene and 3α, 17β-dihydroxy-3β-methylestr-4-ene were incubated with Cephalosporium aphidicola for 10 days inorder to investigate the possible effects. Only one compound was captured from eachincubation.The melting points and 1H- NMR, 13C-NMR, 13C APT NMR and IR spectra weretaken from both starting materials and the compounds after the incubations. Whenthe melting points and 1H- NMR, 13C-NMR, 13C APT NMR and IR spectra of thestarting materials and compounds were compared with each other, it followed that3β, 20-dihydroxy-3α, 20-dimethylpregn-4-ene and 3α, 17β-dihydroxy-3β-methylestr-4-ene were not changed during their incubations.This result showed that a methyl group which is bounded to the same carbon atom(C-3) with a hydroxyl group may inhibit the microbial hydroxylations of steroids

Detection and Identification of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus cytotoxicus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus mycoides and Bacillus weihenstephanensis via Machine Learning Based FTIR Spectroscopy

The Bacillus cereus group comprises genetical closely related species with variable toxigenic characteristics. However, detection and differentiation of the B. cereus group species in routine diagnostics can be difficult, expensive and laborious since current species designation is linked to specific phenotypic characteristic or the presence of species-specific genes. Especially the differentiation of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis, the identification of psychrotolerant Bacillus mycoides and Bacillus weihenstephanensis, as well as the identification of emetic B. cereus and Bacillus cytotoxicus, which are both producing highly potent toxins, is of high importance in food microbiology. Thus, we investigated the use of a machine learning approach, based on artificial neural network (ANN) assisted Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, for discrimination of B. cereus group members. The deep learning tool box of Matlab was employed to construct a one-level ANN, allowing the discrimination of the aforementioned B. cereus group members. This model resulted in 100% correct identification for the training set and 99.5% correct identification overall. The established ANN was applied to investigate the composition of B. cereus group members in soil, as a natural habitat of B. cereus, and in food samples originating from foodborne outbreaks. These analyses revealed a high complexity of B. cereus group populations, not only in soil samples but also in the samples from the foodborne outbreaks, highlighting the importance of taking multiple isolates from samples implicated in food poisonings. Notable, in contrast to the soil samples, no bacteria belonging to the psychrotolerant B. cereus group members were detected in the food samples linked to foodborne outbreaks, while the overall abundancy of B. thuringiensis did not significantly differ between the sample categories. None of the isolates was classified as B. cytotoxicus, fostering the hypothesis that the latter species is linked to very specific ecological niches. Overall, our work shows that machine learning assisted (FTIR) spectroscopy is suitable for identification of B. cereus group members in routine diagnostics and outbreak investigations. In addition, it is a promising tool to explore the natural habitats of B. cereus group, such as soil

The CFA Franc: French monetary imperialism in Africa

Ndongo Samba Sylla argues that the CFA franc - officially created on 26 December 1945 by a decree of General de Gaulle - used across much of Africa today is a colonial relic. For those hoping to export competitive products, obtain affordable credit, work for the integration of continental trade, or fight for an Africa free from imperialist control, the CFA franc is an anachronism demanding orderly and methodical eliminatio

Ultrastructural Analysis of Urinary Stones by Microfocus Computed Tomography and Comparison with Chemical Analysis

Objective: To investigate the ultra-structure of urinary system stones using micro-focus computed tomography (MCT), which makes non-destructive analysis and to compare with wet chemical analysis. Methods: This study was carried out at the Ankara Train­ing and Research hospital. Renal stones, removed from 30 patients during percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) surgery, were included in the study. The stones were blindly evaluated by the specialists with MCT and chemi­cal analysis. Results: The comparison of the stone components be­tween chemical analysis and MCT, showed that the rate of consistence was very low (p0.05). It was also seen that there was no significant relation between its 3D structure being heterogeneous or homogenous. Conclusion: The stone analysis with MCT is a time con­suming and costly method. This method is useful to un­derstand the mechanisms of stone formation and an im­portant guide to develop the future treatment modalities

Shedding light on sporopollenin chemistry, with reference to UV reconstructions

Sporopollenin, which forms the outer wall of pollen and spores, contains a chemical signature of ultraviolet-B flux via concentrations of UV-B absorbing compounds (UACs), providing a proxy for reconstructing UV irradiance through time. Although Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy provides an efficient means of measuring UAC concentrations, nitrogen-containing compounds have the potential to bias the aromatic and hydroxyl bands used to quantify and standardise UAC abundances. Here, we explore the presence and possible influence of nitrogen in UV reconstruction via an FTIR study of Lycopodium spores from a natural shading gradient. We show that the UV-sensitive aromatic peak at 1510 cm− 1 is clearly distinguishable from the amide II peak at 1550 cm− 1, and the decrease in aromatic content with increased shading can be reconstructed using standardisation approaches that do not rely on the 3300 cm− 1 hydroxyl band. Isolation of the sporopollenin results in the loss of nitrogen-related peaks from the FTIR spectra, while the aromatic gradient remains. This confirms the lack of nitrogen in sporopollenin and its limited potential for impacting on palaeo-UV reconstructions. FTIR is therefore an appropriate tool for quantifying UACs in spores and pollen, and information on UV flux should be obtainable from fossil or processed samples