Astronomical Site Selection for Turkey Using GIS Techniques

A site selection of potential observatory locations in Turkey have been carried out by using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) coupled with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and satellite imagery which in turn reduced cost and time and increased the accuracy of the final outcome. The layers of cloud cover, digital elevation model, artificial lights, precipitable water vapor, aerosol optical thickness and wind speed were studied in the GIS system. In conclusion of MCDA, the most suitable regions were found to be located in a strip crossing from southwest to northeast including also a diverted region in southeast of Turkey. These regions are thus our prime candidate locations for future on-site testing. In addition to this major outcome, this study has also been applied to locations of major observatories sites. Since no goal is set for \textit{the best}, the results of this study is limited with a list of positions. Therefore, the list has to be further confirmed with on-site tests. A national funding has been awarded to produce a prototype of an on-site test unit (to measure both astronomical and meteorological parameters) which might be used in this list of locations.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Experimental Astronom

Una explicación para el desamargado natural de aceitunas Hurma durante su maduración en el árbol

Harvested olives require further processing to make them edible due to their content in the bitter substance oleuropein. However, some olives of the Erkence cultivar naturally de-bitter on the tree giving rise to the so-called Hurma olives. In this study, the evolution of the chemical characteristics of Erkence and Hurma olives harvested from the northeast and southwest area of trees located in the Karaburun Peninsula was assayed. It was confirmed that the oleuropein content in Hurma olives was much lower (< 2000 mg/kg fresh weight) than Erkence, which reached 35.000 mg/kg fresh weight at the beginning of the season. In addition, no free or polymerized anthocyanins were found in Hurma fruit in contrast to ripened Erkence fruit. The concentration of glucose was also lower in Hurma than Erkence olives. These results suggest that the enzymatic oxidation of oleuropein could be responsible for the natural de-bittering of Hurma olives during their ripening on the tree.Las aceitunas recién cogidas del árbol necesitan ser procesadas para hacerlas comestibles, debido a su contenido en el compuesto amargo oleuropeína. Sin embargo, algunas aceitunas de la variedad Erkence desamargan de forma natural en el árbol dando lugar a las aceitunas conocidas como Hurma. En este trabajo se han analizado las características químicas de aceitunas Erkence y Hurma recolectadas de la zona noreste y suroeste de árboles situados en la provincia de Karaburun. Se ha confirmado que el contenido en oleuropeína de aceitunas Hurma es muy inferior (< 2000 mg/kg) que Erkence, las cuales alcanzaron una concentración en dicha sustancia hasta de 35.000 mg/kg al principio del periodo de maduración. Además, no se encontraron en aceitunas Hurma antocianinas ni libres ni polimerizadas, a diferencia de Erkence. Estos resultados indican que la oxidación enzimática de la oleuropeína podría ser la responsable de la eliminación del amargor de forma natural en aceitunas Hurma durante su maduración en el árbol

Noises Cancelling Adaptive Methods in Control Telemetry Systems of Oil Electrical Submersible Pumps

The main ideas of this paper are that only some from more than 10 MATLAB Adaptive Methods library may be useful and can be recommended to filter out High-Noises in similar Control Telemetry Channels of Electric Power Components like ESP Systems: only four of applied have shown successfully good results in the early prediction of the ESP motor real insulation disruption (like Signerror, Sign-data and Sign-sign filters). The best among the ten analyzed adaptive filter algorithms was recognized to be, The Normalized LMS FIR filter algorithm — adaptfilt.nlms.Основная идея этой работы заключается в выборе наиболее эффективных адаптивных методов фильтрации сигналов, которые реализованы в MATLAB (из числа более десяти). Сигналы характеризуются высоким содержанием шумов, поскольку они передаются по каналам электропитания погружных электронасосов ПЭД. Исследования показали эффективность применения четырех библиотек адаптивных методов при решении задач прогнозирования состояния изоляции двигателя с целью предотвращения возможных разрушений. Наиболее эффективным адаптивным алгоритмом фильтрации для рассматриваемых задач является Normalized LMS FIR filter algorithm — adaptfilt.nlms

Properties of Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions

We solve the Einstein equations for the 2+1 dimensions with and without scalar fields. We calculate the entropy, Hawking temperature and the emission probabilities for these cases. We also compute the Newman-Penrose coefficients for different solutions and compare them.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figures, PlainTeX, Dedicated to Prof. Yavuz Nutku on his 60th birthday. References adde

The relationship between serum albumin levels and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring recordings in non-diabetic essential hypertensive patients

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum albumin levels and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24-h ABPM) recordings in non-diabetic essential hypertensive patients. METHODS: A total of 354 patients (mean [SD] age: 55.5 [14.3] years, 50% females) with essential hypertension and 24-h ABPM recordings were included. Patient 24-h nighttime and daytime ABPM values, systolic and diastolic dipping status and average nocturnal dipping were recorded. The correlations between serum albumin levels and nocturnal systolic and diastolic dipping were evaluated, and correlates of average nocturnal systolic dipping were determined via a linear regression model. RESULTS: Overall, 73.2% of patients were determined to be non-dippers. The mean (SD) levels of serum albumin (4.2 [0.3] g/dL vs. 4.4 [0.4] g/dL,

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) formation during subcritical water extraction

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of material type (artichoke leave, lemon peel, flaxseed meal), extraction temperature (50, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 C) and static extraction time (5, 15, 30, 45 min) on 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) formation during subcritical water extraction. 5-HMF content of artichoke leave and lemon peel extracts increased 7.2 and 26.1 times with the rise of extraction temperature from 160 to 180 C for 5 min during subcritical water extraction, respectively. Besides, 5-HMF content of artichoke leave, lemon peel and flaxseed meal extracts increased 1.4, 2.0 and 4.5 times as static extraction time increased from 15 to 45 min at 180 C during subcritical water extraction, respectively. The highest 5-HMF content of artichoke leave and lemon peel extracts were obtained as 58.83 and 231.21 mg/L at 180 C and 45 min, respectively. However, for flaxseed meal, the highest 5-HMF content (222.94 mg/L) was obtained at 200 C and 15 min during subcritical water extraction.Project Nos. 2014.M80.02.03, 2014.M80.02.04 by Artvin Coruh University Scientific Research Project Uni

Respiratory Health Symptoms among Students Exposed to Different Levels of Air Pollution in a Turkish City

In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency of respiratory health symptoms among high school students attending schools at industrial, urban and rural areas in a Turkish city. Three schools located in different zones of the city having different pollution characteristics were chosen based on the pollutant distribution maps using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software. A cross-sectional survey was performed among 667 high school students in the schools. Outdoor and indoor nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) concentrations were also measured by passive samplers in the same schools to investigate possible routes of exposure. Chronic pulmonary disease (OR = 1.49; 95%CI: 1.11–1.99; p = 0.008), tightness in the chest (OR = 1.57; 95%CI: 1.22–2.02; p = 0.001), morning cough (OR = 1.81 95%CI: 1.19–2.75; p = 0.006) were higher among students in the industrial zone where nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels were also highest. There were no indoor sources of nitrogen dioxide and ozone exists in the schools except for the dining hall. As a conclusion, this study has noticed that air pollution and respiratory health problems among high school students are high in industrial zones and the use of passive samplers combined with GIS is an effective tool that may be used by public health researchers to identify pollutant zones and persons at risk

Predictors of quality of life gains among people with type 1 diabetes participating in the Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE) structured education programme

Aims: To examine predictors of quality of life gains among people with type 1 diabetes following the Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE) self-management training programme. Methods: Clinical and questionnaire data were collected from 437 patients from 6 hospital centres before, and 18 months post-DAFNE intervention. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA ), weight, height, and blood pressure levels were recorded by clinicians during clinic appointments. Questionnaires included the Diabetes-Specific Quality of Life Scale (DSQOLS), the Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale (PAID) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Basic demographics were recorded at baseline. Linear mixed models were fitted to identify predictors of change in quality of life at an 18 month follow-up assessment. Results: Patients with high levels of diabetes-related distress experienced greatest improvement in DSQOLS quality of life scores (p = 0.001). Patients with poor glycaemic control (higher levels of HbA ; p = 0.03) and those with high levels of anxiety (p = 0.001) experienced the greatest reductions in diabetes-related distress. Conclusions: Patients with higher baseline levels of anxiety, higher levels of diabetes-related distress and higher baseline levels of HbA are most likely to experience quality of life gain from participation in self-management programmes such as DAFNE. © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved