Evaluation of the Technical and Economic Feasibility of Mixed Grade Cores in Transformer Design According to EN50588-1

Permissible maximum no-load and load losses of distribution transformers are given in EN50588-1 regulation. The main parameter in transformer design, which affects the core loss of a transformer, is core grade. Selecting the superior grades, which have better electromagnetic performance, transformer no-load losses could be minimized. However, such grades increase the cost of core. In this study, ability of designing distribution transformers, which correspond to the loss classes given in EN50588-1, is investigated using eleven different core steels. Then mixed graded core constructions are evaluated to minimize the core material cost, by means of technical and economical manner. Analytically calculated parameters of designed mixed graded transformer are investigated and verified by both electromagnetic simulations using finite element method and experimental tests of manufactured prototype transformer. Considering the current specific costs of different grades, core costs of mixed cores were calculated as 28,2%; 4,45% and 7,81% lower than the reference single graded cores for A0, AA0 and AAA0 loss classes, respectively

Assessment of Battery Storage Technologies for a Turkish Power Network

Population growth has brought an increase in energy demand and cost that has a meaningful impact on personal and government expenses. In this respect, governments attach importance to investments in renewable energy resources (RER), which are a sustainable and clean energy source. However, the unpredictable characteristics of RER are a major problem for these clean sources and RER need auxiliary assets. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are one of the promising solutions for these issues. Due to the high investment cost of BESS, governments act cautiously about accepting and implementing BESS in their power network. Recently, with the improvement of technology, the cost of BESS has been reduced, and therefore battery technologies have begun to be applied to conventional systems. In this study, first, we will review and discuss the current globally state-of-the-art BESS and their applications. Later, attention will be turned to a country-specific study for Turkey

ASSOCIATION OF NUMBER OF ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATIONS PER PREGNANCY IN HOLSTEIN DAIRY COWS WITH POLYMORPHISM IN LUTEINIZING HORMONE RECEPTOR AND FOLLICLE STIMULATING HORMONE RECEPTOR GENES

AKSEL, ESMA GAMZE/0000-0002-0040-8933WOS: 000408149800006Failure to become pregnant is the primary reason for a dairy cow to be culled from the production herd. A cow that is cycling normally, with no reproductive abnormalities, but has failed to conceive after at least three successive inseminations may cause economic losses in dairy farms. The present study aimed to examine the association between follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and luteinizing hormone receptor (LHCGR) genes polymorphisms and number of artificial inseminations in the Holstein cattle breed, raised in Turkey. A total of 264 Holstein cows were included in this study, consisting of 222 cows which had undergone a low number of artificial inseminations (two or less inseminations; LI) and 42 cows with a high number of artificial inseminations (three or more inseminations; HI). The polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism method was used to determine the FSHR-AluI and LHCGR-HhaI DNA variants. Three genotypes (CC, CG and GG) were observed for the FSHR gene in LI and HI cows. No statistical difference was found among LI and HI animals for the FSHR genotypes (P=0.934). However, only the CC genotype was detected in LI cows whereas the CC, CT and TT genotypes were detected in HI cows for the LHCGR gene. The genotype frequency of CC was found to be highest (93%) in the HI animals and an association between LHCGR genotypes and the number of artificial inseminations per pregnancy was identified (P<0.001). This is the first report to describes an association between FSHR and LHCGR polymorphisms and number of artificial inseminations in cows

Dost mu Düsman mi? COVID-19 Enfeksiyonu Tanili Hastalarda BCG Asisi ve Latent Tüberküloz Enfeksiyonu Etkisinin Degerlendirilmesi

While severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread rapidly worldwide, some issues such as the uncertainty of the disease progress, whether intensive care will be needed, and risk classification are still important for clinicians. It is notable that in countries where latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is common and participating in the national Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination program, the case-fatality rates are relatively low throughout the world. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of the BCG vaccine and LTBI status on the course of the disease in patients diagnosed with coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection and to compare the LTBI rate with people with and without COVID-19 infection. The patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection who were hospitalized during a period of seven months between May 1st to December 1st, 2020 were investigated by the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) test in the blood samples for the presence of LTBI. For the comparison of the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and people without COVID-19 infections in terms of LTBI rate retrospectively; all consecutive patients who were sent blood samples to the mycobacteriology laboratory for the QFT-Plus test between January 2016 and December 2019 were included in the study. Demographic, clinical, radiological, laboratory, and follow-up data of the patients were obtained from the electronic patient file. A total of 170 patients (n= 9 8 male [57.6%], n= 72 female [42.3%], mean age= 53.5 +/- 15.8 years) were enrolled. Twenty-five patients' (25/170 [14.7%]) QFT-plus tests were positive. When the cases with positive QFT-Plus test (n= 25) and the cases with negative QFT-Plus test (n = 145) were compared in terms of disease severity respectively; it was determined that mild/moderate patients were 18/25 (72%) and 108/145 (74.5%), severe patients were 7/25 (28%) and 37/145 (25.5%) (p= 0.988). When these two groups were compared in terms of the clinical course respectively; the need for intensive care was 6/25 (24%) and 34/145 (23.4%) (p= 1.00), oxygen therapy requirement was 13/25 (52%) and 49/145 (33.8%) (p= 0.128), and death was 5/25 (20%) and 18/145 (12.4%) (p= 0.341). QFT-Plus positivity was 25/170 (14.7%) in patients diagnosed with COVID-19, while in control group it was 198/496 (39.9%) (OR= 0.259, 95% CI [0.164-0.411], p< 0.001). When the values were evaluated quantitatively, in the COVID-19 patient group, QFT-Plus T1/T2 (IU/ml) interferon (IFN)-. was 0.87 +/- 1.52/0.62 +/- 1.53, while in the control group it was 1.52 +/- 3.69/1.50 +/- 3.33 (p= 0.032, p= 0.04). There was no significant difference in the parameters investigated between 82 (48.2%) patients with BCG vaccine and those 88 (51.8%) without BCG vaccine. Although it was not statistically significant in our study, increased oxygen therapy requirement and higher mortality rates in the QFT-Plus positive group were remarkable. The detection of statistically significantly lower LTBI rates and T1-T2/IFN-. values in the COVID-19 group supported that SARS-CoV-2 infection may suppress lymphocyte functions in patients and IFN-. response. We believe that the results of our study are remarkably valuable, but more clinical studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between BCG vaccine, LTBI, and COVID-19 infection

Demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics for differential diagnosis of peripheral lymphadenopathy (LAP) and the etiologic distribution of LAP in adults; a multicenter, nested case-control study including 1401 patients from Turkey

Peripheral lymphadenopathy (LAP) is an important and common abnormal finding of the physical exam in general medical practice. We aimed to reveal the LAP etiology and demographic, clinical and laboratory variables that may be useful in the differential evaluation of LAP. This multicenter, nested case-control study including 1401 patients between 2014 and 2019 was conducted in 19 tertiary teaching and research hospitals from different regions in Turkey. The ratio of infectious, malign and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases was 31.3%, 5% and 0.3%, respectively. In 870 (62%) of patients had nonspecific etiology. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (n: 235, 16.8%) was the most frequent cause of LAP. The ratio of infective etiology of LAP was significantly lower in patients older than 65 years-old compared to younger patients with the rate of 66.67% and 83.84%, respectively (p 0.016, OR 0.386, 95% Cl 0.186-0.803). The probability of malign etiology was higher both in patients who are older than 45 years-old (p < 0.001, OR 3.23, 95% Cl 1.99-5.26) and older than 65 years-old (p 0.002, OR 3.36, 95% Cl 1.69-6.68). Age, localization and duration of LAP, leukocytosis, anemia, thrombocytopenia, CRP and sedimentation rate were important parameters to differentiate infections. Size of lymph node and splenomegaly in addition to the parameters above were useful parameters for differentiating malign from benign etiology. Despite the improvements in diagnostic tools, reaching a definite differential diagnosis of lymphadenopathy is still challenging. Our results may help clinicians to decide in which cases they need an aggressive workup and set strategies on optimizing the diagnostic approach of adulthood lymphadenopathy

New Alien Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (August 2022)

In this Collective Article on alien and cryptogenic diversity in the Mediterranean Sea we report a total of 19 species belonging to nine Phyla and coming from nine countries. Several of these records concern fish species, and of particular interest are the first records of: Terapon puta for Italian waters; Pteragopus trispilus from Malta; Plotosus lineatus from Cyprus; and the northernmost Mediterranean record of Lagocephalus sceleratus. The northernmost Mediterranean record was also reported for the sea urchin Diadema setosum. The portunid crab Thalamita poissonii was recorded for the first time in Libya. The copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus was recorded for the first time in the Marmara Sea. The polychaete Branchiomma luctuosum was recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean coast of France. The alien anemone Diadumene lineata was recorded for the first time from Slovenia. The macroalgae Sargassum furcatum was recorded for the first time from Italy. The new Mediterranean records here reported help tracing abundance and distribution of alien and cryptic species in the Mediterranean Sea

Epileptic seizures in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: Subgroup analysis of VENOST study

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence and prognostic impact of early seizures in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis patients (CVST)

Behcet's disease as a causative factor of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: subgroup analysis of data from the VENOST study

Objective This study was performed to determine the rate of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) among cases of Behcet's disease (BD) included in a multicentre study of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (VENOST)

Behcet's disease as a causative factor of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: subgroup analysis of data from the VENOST study

karahan, ali yavuz/0000-0001-8142-913X; Kozak, Hasan Huseyin/0000-0001-6904-8545; Uzuner, Nevzat/0000-0002-4961-4332; Tascilar, Nida/0000-0003-0780-0783; Afsar, Nazire/0000-0001-8123-8560; Zeydan, Burcu/0000-0002-2270-9868; Batur Caglayan, Hale/0000-0002-3279-1842WOS: 000465130500010PubMed: 29992235Objective This study was performed to determine the rate of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) among cases of Behcet's disease (BD) included in a multicentre study of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (VENOST). Methods VENOST was a retrospective and prospective national multicentre observational study that included 1144 patients with CVST. The patients were classified according to aetiologic factors, time of CVST symptom onset, sinus involvement, treatment approach and prognosis. Results BD was shown to be a causative factor of CVST in 108 (9.4%) of 1144 patients. The mean age of patients in the BD group was 35.27 years and 68.5% were men, whereas in the non-BD CVST group, the mean age was 40.57 years and 28.3% were men (P < 0.001). Among the aetiologic factors for patients aged 18-36 years, BD was predominant for men, and puerperium was predominant for women. The onset of symptoms in the BD group was consistent with the subacute form. The transverse sinuses were the most common sites of thrombosis, followed by the superior sagittal sinuses. The most common symptom was headache (96.2%), followed by visual field defects (38%). Conclusions BD was found in 9.4% of patients in our VENOST series. Patients with BD were younger and showed a male predominance. The functional outcome of CVST in patients with BD was good; only 12% of patients presenting with cranial nerve involvement and altered consciousness at the beginning had a poor outcome (modified Rankin Score 2)