Assessment of Probiotic Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Traditional Sourdoughs for Bread-Making in Turkey against Some Gut Conditions

This study aims to assess the probiotic properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria isolated from the traditional sourdoughs used for bread making in Turkey against some gut conditions. A total number of 29 samples from twelve provinces of Turkey were collected, and screened for the presence of lactic acid bacteria using microbiological methods. The microbiological screening yielded 148 presumptive isolates. Of them, 62.8% were characterized as lactic acid strains by VITEK® MS. Following that, the characterized isolates were subjected to probiotic property testing, including gastric acid resistance, bile resistance and hydrophobic ability. The results showed that 44.1% exceeded gastric pH resistance, 33.3% survived under gastrointestinal system bile salt conditions, and 10.8% exhibited high hydrophobicity ability. In conclusion, our study revealed that only 4.3% (1 Enterococcus faecium, 1 Lactobacillus brevis, 1 Lactobacillus pentosus, and 1 Lactobacillus plantarum) out of 93 lactic acid bacteria isolated from the traditional sourdoughs could meet all probiotic requirements against some gut conditions.

An investigation on determining optimum wall ratio–cost relationship of shear walled reinforced concrete buildings

Reinforced concrete walls are very efficient structural elements in terms of carrying the lateral loads that are expected to affect the structures during the service of the buildings. These elements, which are not used for economic reasons in buildings designed in areas with low seismic hazard, can actually provide a significant increase in performance with a very small increase in construction cost. In this study, a total of 9 building models have been created and the relationship between optimum reinforced concrete wall ratio and cost on these buildings has been investigated. The design and analysis of the models were carried out according to the criteria specified in TSC 2018. Three different structural systems specified in TSC 2018 were used in the designed models. These structural systems used; RC frame structures, RC wall-frame structures and RC wall structures. These structures were analyzed by Response Spectrum Method which is linear analysis method and base shear forces were obtained. Then, push-over analysis, which is a nonlinear analysis method, was applied to obtain the base shear forces that the structure can actually carry. After the analysis, the quantities of materials to be used for the construction of the structural systems of the models were calculated and current manufacturing prices and rough costs were calculated. In order to compare the obtained costs with the structural performances, nonlinear shear forces and linear shear forces ratios were calculated and the over strength factors were calculated for each model. In the light of the data obtained from the studies in the literature, when the over strength factors and cost values are examined together, it is concluded that the optimum design for the conditions specified in TSC 2018 will be provided with the RC wall ratio between 0.001 - 0.0016. It is concluded that lateral load carrying capacity of construction increases up to 650% by increasing the construction cost by 17% for the designed models

Comparison of equivalent seismic load and response spectrum methods according to TSC 2018 and TSC 2007

In this study, two different analysis methods were compared; the first is a linear static analysis method and the second is a linear dynamic analysis method. First one is the Equivalent Seismic Load Method, which is a linear static method where seismic loads can be obtained by applying a simple calculation. The second method, the Response Spectrum method, is a linear dynamic analysis method which obtains the seismic loads using more complex statistical calculations. For this analysis study, 18 structural models with 3 different building heights were analyzed according to the conditions of Equivalent Seismic Load Method and Response Spectrum Method specified in both TSC 2007 and TSC 2018 and base shear forces obtained as a result of these analyzes were compared. As a result of analysis; compared to the results obtained from TSC 2007, due to the effective stiffness coefficients specified in TSC 2018, it was observed that the base shear forces obtained for both methods were lower and the modal period values were longer in the analyzes applied according to TSC 2018. This means that the structural systems created with the designs according to TSC 2018 are more ductile than the structural systems created with the designs made according to TSC 2007. Base shear forces obtained by 2 different analysis methods applied according to regulations stated in both TSC 2018 and TSC 2007; it was observed that the base shear forces obtained by the Equivalent Seismic Load Method were higher than the results of the Response Spectrum Method

The effectiveness of occlusion treatment on anisometric amblyopia in different age groups

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of occlusion treatment on different age group patients with anisometropic amblyopia. Occlusion treatment was applied to 34 patients, 15 preschool children (age between 4-6 years), and 19 school age children (7-11 years). Daily duration of occlusion was minimum 6 hours. Best corrected visual acuity of patients was measured initially, at the end of 1st, 3rd and 6th months. Data belonging to amblyopia groups was compared with one another and with the controls. Initial visual acuity of two amblyopia groups were similar, however there was a significant difference between the amblyopia groups and the controls (P<0.05). Compared to the initial levels, statistically significant recovery was observed in the visual acuity of amblyopia groups measured at the 1st, 3rd and 6th months of treatment (P<0.05). Although no significant difference was found in visual acuity of two amblyopia subgroups 6 months after the completion of treatment, at post-treatment 6th month, amblyopia groups had better visual acuity compared to the controls. In conclusion, occlusion treatment improved the visual acuity in anisometropic amblyopia without a difference between preschool and school age groups