The Place of Digital Marketing on Turkish Small Businesses

In the 21st century, technology develops rapidly and continuously and it affects every aspect of our lives. Marketing concept has been affected by these developments. What we want from marketing and reaching in an increasingly virtualized world is to be a lot faster than the past. Also, new marketing channels have emerged as well. Turkish small businesses, the building blocks of Turkish economy, have the chance of addressing the marketing problems and solving the problems with the digital marketing channels. Small businesses have time and cash money limitations and this restricts their development. It is aimed to inform Turkish small businesses about Turkish population’s digital channel usage and the benefits of using digital marketing channels. As a result, digital marketing is going to improve the speed of renewal process of the Turkish small businesses and competition between them will improve the economy of Turkey.In the 21st century, technology develops rapidly and continuously and it affects every aspect of our lives. Marketing concept has been affected by these developments. What we want from marketing and reaching in an increasingly virtualized world is to be a lot faster than the past. Also, new marketing channels have emerged as well. Turkish small businesses, the building blocks of Turkish economy, have the chance of addressing the marketing problems and solving the problems with the digital marketing channels. Small businesses have time and cash money limitations and this restricts their development. It is aimed to inform Turkish small businesses about Turkish population’s digital channel usage and the benefits of using digital marketing channels. As a result, digital marketing is going to improve the speed of renewal process of the Turkish small businesses and competition between them will improve the economy of Turkey

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2015. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of American 112 (2015): 13184-13189, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1511474112 .Hundreds of organic chemicals are utilized during natural gas extraction via high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). However, it is unclear if these chemicals, injected into deep shale horizons, reach shallow groundwater aquifers and impact local water quality, either from deep underground injection sites or from the surface or shallow subsurface. Here, we report detectable levels of organic compounds in shallow groundwater samples from private residential wells overlying the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. Analyses of purgeable and extractable organic compounds from 64 groundwater samples revealed trace levels of volatile organic compounds, well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels, and low levels of both gasoline range (GRO; 0-8 ppb) and diesel range organic compounds (DRO; 0-157 ppb). A compound-specific analysis revealed the presence of bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, which is a disclosed HVHF additive, that was notably absent in a representative geogenic water sample and field blanks. Pairing these analyses with 1) inorganic chemical fingerprinting of deep saline groundwater, 2) characteristic noble gas isotopes, and 3) spatial relationships between active shale gas extraction wells and wells with disclosed environmental health and safety (EHS) violations, we differentiate between a chemical signature associated with naturally occurring saline groundwater and a one associated with alternative anthropogenic routes from the surface (e.g., accidental spills or leaks). The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.The authors thank Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering and the National Science Foundation’s CBET Grant Number 1336702 and NSF EAGER (EAR-1249255) for financial support.2016-04-1

Nanoengineering InP Quantum Dot-Based Photoactive Biointerfaces for Optical Control of Neurons

Light-activated biointerfaces provide a non-genetic route for effective control of neural activity. InP quantum dots (QDs) have a high potential for such biomedical applications due to their uniquely tunable electronic properties, photostability, toxic-heavy-metal-free content, heterostructuring, and solution-processing ability. However, the effect of QD nanostructure and biointerface architecture on the photoelectrical cellular interfacing remained unexplored. Here, we unravel the control of the photoelectrical response of InP QD-based biointerfaces via nanoengineering from QD to device-level. At QD level, thin ZnS shell growth (∼0.65 nm) enhances the current level of biointerfaces over an order of magnitude with respect to only InP core QDs. At device-level, band alignment engineering allows for the bidirectional photoelectrochemical current generation, which enables light-induced temporally precise and rapidly reversible action potential generation and hyperpolarization on primary hippocampal neurons. Our findings show that nanoengineering QD-based biointerfaces hold great promise for next-generation neurostimulation devices

Advanced Aerogel Composites for Oil Remediation and Recovery

<p>Oil spills in marine environments often damage marine and coastal life if not remediated rapidly and efficiently. In spite of the strict enforcement of environmental legislations (i.e., Oil Pollution Act 1990) following the Exxon Valdez oil spill (June 1989; the second biggest oil spill in U.S. history), the Macondo well blowout disaster (April 2010) released 18 times more oil. Strikingly, the response methods used to contain and capture spilled oil after both accidents were nearly identical, note that more than two decades separate Exxon Valdez (1989) and Macondo well (2010) accidents. </p><p>The goal of this dissertation was to investigate new advanced materials (mechanically strong aerogel composite blankets-Cabot® Thermal Wrap™ (TW) and Aspen Aerogels® Spaceloft® (SL)), and their applications for oil capture and recovery to overcome the current material limitations in oil spill response methods. First, uptake of different solvents and oils were studied to answer the following question: do these blanket aerogel composites have competitive oil uptake compared to state-of-the-art oil sorbents (i.e., polyurethane foam-PUF)? In addition to their competitive mechanical strength (766, 380, 92 kPa for Spaceloft, Thermal Wrap, and PUF, respectively), our results showed that aerogel composites have three critical advantages over PUF: rapid (3-5 min.) and high (more than two times of PUF’s uptake) oil uptake, reusability (over 10 cycles), and oil recoverability (up to 60%) via mechanical extraction. Chemical-specific sorption experiments showed that the dominant uptake mechanism of aerogels is adsorption to the internal surface, with some contribution of absorption into the pore space. </p><p>Second, we investigated the potential environmental impacts (energy and chemical burdens) associated with manufacturing, use, and disposal of SL aerogel and PUF to remove the oil (i.e., 1 m3 oil) from a location (i.e., Macondo well). Different use (single and multiple use) and end of life (landfill, incinerator, and waste-to-energy) scenarios were assessed, and our results demonstrated that multiple use, and waste-to-energy choices minimize the energy and material use of SL aerogel. Nevertheless, using SL once and disposing via landfill still offers environmental and cost savings benefits relative to PUF, and so these benefits are preserved irrespective of the oil-spill-response operator choices. </p><p>To inform future aerogel manufacture, we investigated the different laboratory-scale aerogel fabrication technologies (rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE), CO2 supercritical extraction (CSCE), alcohol supercritical extraction (ASCE)). Our results from anticipatory LCA for laboratory-scaled aerogel fabrication demonstrated that RSCE method offers lower cumulative energy and ecotoxicity impacts compared to conventional aerogel fabrication methods (CSCE and ASCE). </p><p>The final objective of this study was to investigate different surface coating techniques to enhance oil recovery by modifying the existing aerogel surface chemistries to develop chemically responsive materials (switchable hydrophobicity in response to a CO2 stimulus). Our results showed that studied surface coating methods (drop casting, dip coating, and physical vapor deposition) were partially successful to modify surface with CO2 switchable chemical (tributylpentanamidine), likely because of the heterogeneous fiber structure of the aerogel blankets. A possible solution to these non-uniform coatings would be to include switchable chemical as a precursor during the gel preparation to chemically attach the switchable chemical to the pores of the aerogel. </p><p>Taken as a whole, the implications of this work are that mechanical deployment and recovery of aerogel composite blankets is a viable oil spill response strategy that can be deployed today. This will ultimately enable better oil uptake without the uptake of water, potential reuse of the collected oil, reduced material and energy burdens compared to competitive sorbents (e.g., PUF), and reduced occupational exposure to oiled sorbents. In addition, sorbent blankets and booms could be deployed in coastal and open-ocean settings, respectively, which was previously impossible.</p>Dissertatio

The Place of Digital Marketing on Turkish Small Businesses

In the 21st century, technology develops rapidly and continuously and it affects every aspect of our lives. Marketing concept has been affected by these developments. What we want from marketing and reaching in an increasingly virtualized world is to be a lot faster than the past. Also, new marketing channels have emerged as well. Turkish small businesses, the building blocks of Turkish economy, have the chance of addressing the marketing problems and solving the problems with the digital marketing channels. Small businesses have time and cash money limitations and this restricts their development. It is aimed to inform Turkish small businesses about Turkish population’s digital channel usage and the benefits of using digital marketing channels. As a result, digital marketing is going to improve the speed of renewal process of the Turkish small businesses and competition between them will improve the economy of Turkey. In the 21st century, technology develops rapidly and continuously and it affects every aspect of our lives. Marketing concept has been affected by these developments. What we want from marketing and reaching in an increasingly virtualized world is to be a lot faster than the past. Also, new marketing channels have emerged as well. Turkish small businesses, the building blocks of Turkish economy, have the chance of addressing the marketing problems and solving the problems with the digital marketing channels. Small businesses have time and cash money limitations and this restricts their development. It is aimed to inform Turkish small businesses about Turkish population’s digital channel usage and the benefits of using digital marketing channels. As a result, digital marketing is going to improve the speed of renewal process of the Turkish small businesses and competition between them will improve the economy of Turkey

Treatment of Low Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds by Non-thermal Plasma

<p>Non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology is an emerging method to degrade otherwise recalcitrant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air. Here, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) NTP was used to evaluate the degradation efficiency of several VOCs (toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene, MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), MTBE (methyl-tert-butyl ether) 3-pentanone and n-hexane) under constant experimental conditions (6.6 L/min, 95 and 100 ppm average inlet concentrations). The efficiency with which toluene, ethylbenzene, benzene, MEK, MTBE, 3-pentanone, and n-hexane were removed was 74.03 ± 0.30%, 80.94 ± 0.07%, 57.82 ± 0.06%, 50.00 ± 0.20%, 80.00 ± 1.40%, 76.00 ± 1.4%, and 90.00 ± 0.30 %, respectively, at an inlet concentration 95 ppm, gas flow rate 6.6 L/min, and a specific input energy (SIE) of 350 J/L. The effects of various operating conditions on pollutant removal were investigated. Interestingly, the highest removal efficiencies were observed for compounds that have the highest percentage of hydrogen in the molecular structure. </p><p>During treatment of toluene and ethylbenzene, a deposit was formed inside the plasma reactor. This deposit was dark brown in color and gave off an oil-like odor, suggesting the formation of higher-order hydrocarbon compounds. The deposit mass was quantified and the impact of the deposit on the DBD reactor performance was discussed. It was noted that the time required for the deposit to clog the reactor depended on the experimental conditions. The clogging time when treating toluene in dry air conditions was more than 1.5 times greater than under humidified conditions (30% RH), suggesting that attention to the treated air relative humidity is critical. The quantity and structure of the deposits depended on both input VOC molecular structure as well as the experimental conditions. Thus, this study provides recommendations for the current applications of this technology.</p>Thesi

Natural Aerogels with Interesting Environmental Features: C-Sequestration and Pesticides Trapping

International audienceThis chapter discusses the emerging and promising field of environmental applications of aerogels. Due to their large pore volume, specific surface area, and diverse range of tailorable solid-phase and surface chemistries, aerogel materials are interesting candidates for addressing many challenging environmental remediation objectives. Herein we review the use of silicate, nonsilicate, and allophane-clay-based aerogels in several challenging environmental remediation applications including the removal of air pollutants, water remediation, oil spill reclamation, heavy metal capture, CO2 sequestration, trapping of pesticides, immobilization of nuclear waste, and capture of orbital space debris

A Retina‐Inspired Optoelectronic Synapse Using Quantum Dots for Neuromorphic Photostimulation of Neurons

Abstract Neuromorphic electronics, inspired by the functions of neurons, have the potential to enable biomimetic communication with cells. Such systems require operation in aqueous environments, generation of sufficient levels of ionic currents for neurostimulation, and plasticity. However, their implementation requires a combination of separate devices, such as sensors, organic synaptic transistors, and stimulation electrodes. Here, a compact neuromorphic synapse that combines photodetection, memory, and neurostimulation functionalities all‐in‐one is presented. The artificial photoreception is facilitated by a photovoltaic device based on cell‐interfacing InP/ZnS quantum dots, which induces photo‐faradaic charge‐transfer mediated plasticity. The device sends excitatory post‐synaptic currents exhibiting paired‐pulse facilitation and post‐tetanic potentiation to the hippocampal neurons via the biohybrid synapse. The electrophysiological recordings indicate modulation of the probability of action potential firing due to biomimetic temporal summation of excitatory post‐synaptic currents. These results pave the way for the development of novel bioinspired neuroprosthetics and soft robotics, and highlight the potential of quantum dots for achieving versatile neuromorphic functionality in aqueous environments

MnO2 Nanoflower Integrated Optoelectronic Biointerfaces for Photostimulation of Neurons

Abstract Optoelectronic biointerfaces have gained significant interest for wireless and electrical control of neurons. Three–dimentional (3D) pseudocapacitive nanomaterials with large surface areas and interconnected porous structures have great potential for optoelectronic biointerfaces that can fulfill the requirement of high electrode‐electrolyte capacitance to effectively transduce light into stimulating ionic currents. In this study, the integration of 3D manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoflowers into flexible optoelectronic biointerfaces for safe and efficient photostimulation of neurons is demonstrated. MnO2 nanoflowers are grown via chemical bath deposition on the return electrode, which has a MnO2 seed layer deposited via cyclic voltammetry. They facilitate a high interfacial capacitance (larger than 10 mF cm−2) and photogenerated charge density (over 20 µC cm−2) under low light intensity (1 mW mm−2). MnO2 nanoflowers induce safe capacitive currents with reversible Faradaic reactions and do not cause any toxicity on hippocampal neurons in vitro, making them a promising material for biointerfacing with electrogenic cells. Patch‐clamp electrophysiology is recorded in the whole‐cell configuration of hippocampal neurons, and the optoelectronic biointerfaces trigger repetitive and rapid firing of action potentials in response to light pulse trains. This study points out the potential of electrochemically‐deposited 3D pseudocapacitive nanomaterials as a robust building block for optoelectronic control of neurons