Short communication: First report of thresher sharks (Alopiidae) in the Gulf of Antalya

Generally, Alopiidae family members are active, strong-swimming, pelagic, coastal and deep-water sharks. They are characterized by a very long upper caudal lobe. They have two dorsal fins; the second dorsal and anal fins are very small. They can be found in all warm oceans and mainly feed on small to moderately large schooling fishes and squids. Up to now, only three species have been described in family Alopiidae with two of them Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) and Alopias superciliosus (Lowe, 1839) reported from the Mediterranean Sea. The third species (A. pelagicus) is reported from the Pacific Ocean. ... This study aimed to improve the lack of data on these species in the Mediterranean Sea

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2016)

This contribution forms part of a series of collective articles published regularly in Mediterranean Marine Science that report on new biodiversity records from the Mediterranean basin. The current article presents 51 geographically distinct records for 21 taxa belonging to 6 Phyla, extending from the western Mediterranean to the Levantine. The new records, per country, are as follows: Spain: the cryptogenic calcareous sponge Paraleucilla magna is reported from a new location in the Alicante region. Algeria: the rare Atlanto-Mediterranean bivalve Cardium indicum is reported from Annaba. Tunisia: new distribution records for the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois miles from Zembra Island and Cape Bon. Italy: the ark clam Anadara transversa is reported from mussel cultures in the Gulf of Naples, while the amphipod Caprella scaura and the isopods Paracerceis sculpta and Paranthura japonica are reported as associated to the –also allochthonous–bryozoan Amathia verticillata in the Adriatic Sea; in the latter region, the cosmopolitan Atlantic tripletail Lobotes surinamensisis also reported, a rare finding for the Mediterranean. Slovenia: a new record of the non-indigenous nudibranch Polycera hedgpethi in the Adriatic. Greece: several new reports of the introduced scleractinian Oculina patagonica, the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina, the blunthead puffer Sphoeroides pachygaster (all Atlantic), and the lionfish Pterois miles (Indo-Pacific) suggest their ongoing establishment in the Aegean Sea; the deepest bathymetric record of the invasive alga Caulerpa cylindracea in the Mediterranean Sea is also registered in the Kyklades, at depths exceeding 70 m. Turkey: new distribution records for two non indigenous crustaceans, the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Atlantic origin) and the moon crab Matuta victor (Indo-Pacific origin) from the Bay of Izmir and Antalya, respectively; in the latter region, the Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali, is also reported. Lebanon: an array of records of 5 alien and one native Mediterranean species is reported by citizen-scientists; the Pacific jellyfish Phyllorhiza punctata and the Indo-Pacific teleosteans Tylerius spinosissimus, Ostracion cubicus, and Lutjanus argentimaculatus are reported from the Lebanese coast, the latter notably being the second record for the species in the Mediterranean Sea since 1977; the native sand snake-eel Ophisurus serpens, rare in the eastern Mediterranean, is reported for the first time from Lebanon, this being its easternmost distribution range; finally, a substantial number of sightings of the lionfish Pterois miles further confirm the current establishment of this lessepsian species in the Levantine

Z2\mathbb Z_2~Green's function topology of Majorana wires

We represent the $\mathbb Z_2$~topological invariant characterizing a one dimensional topological superconductor using a Wess-Zumino-Witten dimensional extension. The invariant is formulated in terms of the single particle Green's function which allows to classify interacting systems. Employing a recently proposed generalized Berry curvature method, the topological invariant is represented independent of the extra dimension requiring only the single particle Green's function at zero frequency of the interacting system. Furthermore, a modified twisted boundary conditions approach is used to rigorously define the topological invariant for disordered interacting systems.Comment: final versio

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April, 2019)

The Collective Article on “New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records” offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article presents new biodiversity data information on 18 taxa (14 alien, 3 native and 1 cryptogenic species) belonging to 5 Phyla that are reported for 11 different countries listed according to their geographic position from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Algeria: the alien green alga Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla and the heterobranchs Aplysia dactylomeda and Aplysia punctata are first reported from the entire country. France: a new record of the alien hydroid Porpita porpita is reported from the Corsican Sea, representing the second record of the species in the western Mediterranean Sea. Tunisia: the alien fish Scatophagus argus is reported from the Gulf of Gabès, probably representing an aquarium release. Italy: the well-established Mediterranean alien bivalve Malleus regula is first reported from the entire country. Slovenia: the alien marine bivalve Xenostrobus securis is reported for the first time from the entire country. Croatia: the alien gastropod Biuve fulvipunctata is reported for the first time from the country but also from the entire Adriatic Sea. Montenegro: the alien bivalve Rapana venosa is reported for the first time from the Montenegrin waters. Albania: the well-established alien fish Lagocephalus sceleratus and the rare native shark Rhizoprionodon acutus are reported for the first from the entire country. Greece: the rare native ray Leucoraja circularis is reported for the first time from the Argolikos Gulf and for the first time for the entire country its identification is confirmed morphologically and molecularly; additional records of the alien nomad jellyfish Rhopilema nomadic document its expanding distribution, while the occurrence and the alien fishes Sillago suezensis and Pomadasys stridens are reported for the first time from Hellenic waters. Turkey: additional records of the Egyptian Prawn Metapenaeopsis aegyptia are reported with some biological information. Cyprus: the alien fish Variola louti is reported for the first time for the entire Mediterranean Sea, probably released from an aquarium, while the alien moon crab Matuta victor is reported for the first time from the entire country

Economic value added performances of publicly owned banks: Evidence from Turkey

Economic Valued Added (EVA) is a recent financial tool that helps to determine the true shareholder wealth contribution of a bank. Although return on equity (ROE), net profit margin and capital adequacy ratio are widely used as proxies to measure the banking performance, inclusion of a cost of capital employed sets EVA method apart from other popular measures of bank performance. The EVA application in banks is relatively new. It was first implemented in 1994, and it is not as well known as other measures of bank performance. EVA is computed as the difference between net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT) and the cost of capital invested. The purpose of this study is to employ EVA measuremets as a performance indicators for Turkish banks listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange. The data cover the period of 2006-2010. EVA value of each bank per year is computed and ranked. EVA values of banks simply refer economic profits of banks since economic profits creates true value for investors rather than accounting profits. Hence, EVA results and ranking of banks convey critical information for decision makers. © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011

Single source fabrication of SiC nanowires and FTIR spectroscopy

Silicon carbide (SiC) nanostructures continue to attract interest due to their applications in optoelectronic devices, sensors, and high-power/high temperature electronics. SiC nanowires have been fabricated by chemical vapor deposition using hexamethyldisilane (HMDS) as the source material with various catalysts including iron, nickel, and cobalt at temperatures between 900 and 1100oC under H2. The SiC nanowire diameters are in the range of 8 nm to 90 nm. High density of SiC nanowires have been successfully grown even at a low temperature of 900oC. SiC nanowire growth mechanism (VLS) and a reaction scheme for the low temperature growth have been discussed. A comprehensive FTIR spectroscopy investigation of the SiC nanowires grown with various catalyst materials at different temperatures has been provided. Further, the differences of phonon states of SiC nanowires compared to the bulk SiC have been studied. The SiC TO mode absorption shifted significantly towards the low wavenumber region compared to bulk SiC. Moreover, the FWHM values of the TO mode absorption of the SiC nanowires (12cm-1) are significantly lower than that of bulk SiC (59cm-1). These results suggest that FTIR provides valuable and practical information about the chemical bond states and crystal quality of the nanostructured materials

Pressacademia Procedia

As mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets have become important tools for communication and entertainment, especially among young generation, these mobile devices have also provided new opportunities for business and commerce. In this study, the use of mobile phones for shopping on the Internet among university students was investigated. The data of this study was collected with a survey instrument from participants of Business students at Bilecik Seyh Edebali University. Based on the analysis of 278 Business students' data, we found that smart phone ownership is very common (97%), students intensively use mobile phones (most of them use it at least 3 hours in a day) and it was found that 53% of the participants used their mobile phones to make purchases on the Internet. The majority of students who did not shop from the Internet using a mobile phone stated that the most important reason was the security risk

Pressacademia Procedia

In order to keep up with the next generation of technology and accommodate ever-increasing consumer demands for options, convenience, and, of course, the lowest prices, businesses must build their strategies on appropriate technology that can answer those demands. This paper will discuss the benefits, challenges, and implications of SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, cloud) technology and the effects of SMAC implementation on a business's enterprise architecture and IT.The research supports the utilization of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) technology to respond to consumer demands based on a review of the literature. Real-world considerations are offered to the reader on implementation and application of SMAC technology into today's business world.SMAC technology offers a state-of-the-art, adaptable enterprise solution that addresses these needs and can project a business's enterprise platform into today's modern economy. Although incorporating SMAC technology into an enterprise presents challenges, namely with security and high user expectations, the SMAC technology also offers a multitude of benefits. Effective change management, including assimilation of SMAC technology into an organization's culture, and communication at all levels of an organization are key to the successful implementation of the SMAC stack. Hurbean and Fotache's (2013) research concludes that businesses are wise to adopt "the third platform" of social media, mobility, big data, and cloud computing, and the authors of this paper agree with these findings based on the research conducted