Environmental Impact of Customs Union Agreement with EU on Turkey’s Trade in Manufacturing Industry

In this study, we analyze Turkey’s manufacturing industry trade by estimating sectoral import and export demand equations for 1980-2000. The study aims to understand whether the trade in the manufacturing industry complies with pollution haven hypothesis, and whether the free trade environment provided by the customs union (CU) agreement altered the trade pattern of the clean and dirty industries. Results of our econometric models have shown that while CU positively affects the import demand, it does not have any significant impact on the export demand of Turkish manufacturing industry. In terms of the environmental impact, distinction between clean and dirty industries turns out to be significant for both import and export demand. In general, our findings suggest that both clean and dirty industries’ import demand increase during the study period. In terms of export demand, clean industries’ export demand declines whereas dirty industries’ export demand increases compared to the total demand.Environmental impact analysis, EU, Turkey, manufacturing industry

CO2 Emissions vs. CO2 Responsibility: An Input-Output Approach for the Turkish Economy

Recently, global warming (greenhouse effect) and its effects have become one of the hottest topics in the world agenda. There have been several international attempts to reduce the negative effects of global warming. Kyoto Protocol can be cited as the most important agreement which tries to limit the countries’ emissions within a time horizon. For this reason it becomes important to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of countries. The aim of this study is to estimate the amount of CO2 -the most important greenhouse gas- emissions, for the Turkish economy. An extended input-output model is estimated by using 1996 data in order to identify the sources of CO2 emissions and to discuss the share of sectors in total emission. Besides ‘CO2 responsibility’, which takes into account the CO2 content of imports, is estimated for the Turkish economy. The sectoral CO2 emissions and CO2 responsibilities are compared and these two notions are linked to foreign trade volume. One of the main conclusions is that the manufacturing industry has the first place in both of the rankings for CO2 emissions and CO2 responsibilities; while agriculture and husbandry has the last place.CO2 responsibility, Turkey, input-output analysis

Label-Free Nanometer-Resolution Imaging of Biological Architectures through Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

Label free imaging of the chemical environment of biological specimens would readily bridge the supramolecular and the cellular scales, if a chemical fingerprint technique such as Raman scattering can be coupled with super resolution imaging. We demonst

Atributos de calidad del aceite extraído de avellanas tratadas con ozono gaseoso

In this study, the impact of ozonation on hazelnut oil quality was investigated. Hazelnuts were exposed to gaseous ozone at different concentrations (3.3 and 10 mg·L−1) and exposure times (30, 60, and 120 min). The fatty acid value and composition remained unchanged. β-sitosterol, campesterol, and ∆5-avenasterol contents were unaffected. With increasing ozone levels and exposure times, there was a slight rise in peroxide value and γ-tocopherol, and a decrease in α-tocopherol. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were lower in oil extracted from hazelnuts which had been ozonated for more than 60 min at both doses, compared to the control. Overall, the quality and composition of hazelnut oil remained stable with ozone treatments, depending on the treatment conditions.En este estudio, se investigó el impacto de la ozonización en la calidad del aceite de avellana. Las avellanas fueron expuestas a ozono gaseoso en diferentes concentraciones (3,3 y 10 mg·L-1) y tiempos de exposición (30, 60 y 120 min). El valor y la composición de los ácidos grasos se mantuvieron sin cambios. Los contenidos de β-sitosterol, campesterol y ∆5-avenasterol no se vieron afectados. Con el aumento de los niveles de ozono y los tiempos de exposición, hubo un ligero aumento en el valor de peróxidos y γ-tocoferol, y una disminución en el α-tocoferol. El contenido fenólico total y la actividad antioxidante fueron menores en el aceite extraído de avellanas ozonizadas durante más de 60 minutos en ambas dosis, en comparación con el control. En general, la calidad y composición del aceite de avellana se mantuvieron estables con los tratamientos con ozono, dependiendo de las condiciones del tratamiento

Polypeptide-grafted macroporous polyHIPE by surface-initiated N-Carboxyanhydride (NCA) polymerization as a platform for bioconjugation

A new class of functional macroporous monoliths from polymerized high internal phase emulsion (polyHIPE) with tunable surface functional groups was developed by direct polypeptide surface grafting. In the first step, amino-functional polyHIPEs were obtained by the addition of 4-vinylbenzyl or 4-vinylbenzylphthalimide to the styrenic emulsion and thermal radical polymerization. The obtained monoliths present the expected open-cell morphology and a high surface area. The incorporated amino group was successfully utilized to initiate the ring-opening polymer- ization of benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG NCA) and benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine (Lys(Z)) NCA, which resulted in a dense homogeneous coating of polypeptides throughout the internal polyHIPE surfaces as confirmed by SEM and FTIR analysis. The amount of polypeptide grafted to the polyHIPE surfaces could be modulated by varying the initial ratio of amino acid NCA to amino-functional polyHIPE. Subsequent removal of the polypeptide protecting groups yielded highly functional polyHIPE-g-poly(glutamic acid) and polyHIPE-g- poly(lysine). Both types of polypeptide-grafted monoliths responded to pH by changes in their hydrohilicity. The possibility to use the high density of function (−COOH or −NH2) for secondary reaction was demonstrated by the successful bioconjugation of enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) and fluorescein isocyanate (FITC) on the polymer 3D-scaffold surface. The amount of eGFP and FITC conjugated to the polypeptide-grafted polyHIPE was significantly higher than to the amino- functional polyHIPE, signifying the advantage of polypeptide grafting to achieve highly functional polyHIPEs

Composite Films of Arabinoxylan and Fibrous Sepiolite: Morphological, Mechanical, and Barrier Properties

Hemicelluloses represent a largely unutilized resource for future bioderived films in packaging and other applications. However, improvement of film properties is needed in order to transfer this potential into reality. In this context, sepiolite, a fibrous clay, was investigated as an additive to enhance the properties of rye flour arabinoxylan. Composite films cast from arabinoxylan solutions and sepiolite suspensions in water were transparent or semitransparent at additive loadings in the 2.5-10 wt % range. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the sepiolite was well dispersed in the arabinoxylan films and sepiolite fiber aggregation was not found. FT-IR spectroscopy provided some evidence for hydrogen bonding between sepiolite and arabinoxylan. Consistent with these findings, mechanical testing showed increases in film stiffness and strength with sepiolite addition and the effect of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (mPEG) plasticizer addition. Incorporation of sepiolite did not significantly influence the thermal degradation or the gas barrier properties of arabinoxylan films, which is likely a consequence of sepiolite fiber morphology. In summary, sepiolite was shown to have potential as an additive to obtain stronger hemicellulose films although other approaches, possibly in combination with the use of sepiolite, would be needed if enhanced film barrier properties are required for specific applications.</p

VPS26 Moonlights as a β‑Arrestin-like Adapter for a 7‑Transmembrane RGS Protein in Arabidopsis thaliana

Extracellular signals perceived by 7-transmembrane (7TM)-spanning receptors initiate desensitization that involves the removal of these receptors from the plasma membrane. Agonist binding often evokes phosphorylation in the flexible C-terminal region and/or intracellular loop 3 of many 7TM G-protein-coupled receptors in animal cells, which consequently recruits a cytoplasmic intermediate adaptor, β-arrestin, resulting in clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) and downstream signaling such as transcriptional changes. Some 7TM receptors undergo CME without recruiting β-arrestin, but it is not clear how. Arrestins are not encoded in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome, yet Arabidopsis cells have a well-characterized signal-induced CME of a 7TM protein, designated Regulator of G Signaling 1 (AtRGS1). Here we show that a component of the retromer complex, Vacuolar Protein Sorting-Associated 26 (VPS26), binds the phosphorylated C-terminal region of AtRGS1 as a VPS26A/B heterodimer to form a complex that is required for downstream signaling. We propose that VPS26 moonlights as an arrestin-like adaptor in the CME of AtRGS1