Yield and quality criteria in organically and conventionally grown tomatoes in Turkey

The term 'organically grown food' denotes products that have been produced in accordance with the principles and practices of organic agriculture. The use of alternatives to synthetic fertilizers is an important issue in organic systems. A two-year field experiment to evaluate effects of organic fertilizers on the yield and quality of open field grown tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) was carried out in Southern Turkey in 2000 and 2001. Combinations of manure, blood flour and micronutrient preparations were used for fertilization, and conventional mineral fertilization was included as the control. Yield did not differ between the fertilization and the Conventional treatments in the first year of the study, but the highest yield was obtained from conventional in the second year. No differences were found between treatments in terms of fruit soluble sugar content or citric acid. The application of organic fertilizers positively affected the micronutritional element content of tomato fruits compared to the conventional treatment. Organic fertilization results in improved yield and fruit quality compared to conventional fertilization. In addition, organic fertilization should be supported in order to facilitate reuse and disposal of organic wastes and to maintain and/or increase soil fertility.O termo "alimentos cultivados organicamente" denota produtos que tenham sido produzidos em conformidade com os princípios e práticas da agricultura orgânica. O uso de alternativas para fertilizantes sintéticos é uma questão importante em sistemas orgânicos. Um experimento de campo foi conduzido no sul da Turquia em 2000 e 2001 para avaliar os efeitos da adubação orgânica na produtividade e na qualidade de tomates (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), cultivados em campo aberto. Combinações de esterco, farinha de sangue e preparações de micronutrientes foram utilizados para a fertilização, e adubações minerais convencionais foram incluídas como controle. A produção não diferiu entre a fertilização e os tratamentos convencionais no primeiro ano do estudo, porém uma maior produtividade foi obtida a partir do sistema convencional, no segundo ano. Não foram encontradas diferenças entre os tratamentos em termos de teor de açúcares solúveis ou ácido cítrico em frutos. A aplicação de fertilizantes orgânicos afetou positivamente o conteúdo dos elementos micronutritionais dos frutos do tomateiro em relação ao tratamento convencional. A adubação orgânica resultou em maior produtividade e qualidade dos frutos, quando comparada à adubação convencional, e deve ser apoiada, a fim de facilitar a reutilização e eliminação de resíduos orgânicos bem como para manter e/ou aumentar a fertilidade do solo

Strength and Durability Performance of Clayey Soil Stabilized with Lime and Marble Powder

This paper investigated the effect of freezing-thawing and wetting-drying cycles on the strength and durability of clay soil stabilized with lime and marble powder. The test samples were prepared by adding 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of marble powder, without and with 6% lime to the soil which is a high plasticity clay (CH) according to the Unified Soil Classification System. Unconfined compressive strength tests were performed after 7 and 28 days of curing periods. The durability behavior of the samples was examined by applying freezing-thawing and wetting-drying cycles to the prepared samples. The results of this study show that the presence of marble powder in the soil mixture has an important role in the improvement of strength. An increase in the number of wetting-drying cycles does not decrease the volumetric stability of the samples stabilized with marble powder. The use of lime and marble powder together increased the strength values compared to the natural soil and the use of lime only. It was concluded that the co-use of lime and marble powder had a positive effect on the strength and durability behavior of high plasticity clayey soil

The effects of treadmill exercise on oxidative stress in Mongolian gerbils with penicillin-induced epilepsy

Aim: To evaluate the role of treadmill exercise on the oxidative stress in Mongolian gerbils with penicillin-induced epilepsy. Methods: This experimental study included 18 male Mongolian gerbils which were divided into three groups; sham-control group, penicillin group (500 units) and exercise + penicillin (500 units) group. Each animal group was composed of six Mongolian gerbils. The epileptiform activity was verified by electrocorticographic recordings.  Results: The latency of the penicillin+exercise group was longer than the penicillin group, but this difference was not statistically significant. Following the penicillin administration, spike wave frequencies of epileptiform activity in the 10, 30, and 35 minutes were significantly lower in the penicillin+exercise group, compared with the penicillin group. There were generally significant decreases in the spike wave amplitude medians in the penicillin+exercise groups compared with the penicillin group in all time periods between 0 and 5 minutes. The serum superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase levels increased in the penicillin+exercise group compared with those in the penicillin group.  Conclusion: The results of present study indicate that regular exercise may contribute to the amelioration of epileptic activity by increasing the antioxidant effect. Keywords: Penicillin-induced epilepsy; treadmill exercise; oxidative stress; Mongolian gerbils.                  &nbsp

Electrochemical Applications for the Antioxidant Sensing in Food Samples Such as Citrus and Its Derivatives, Soft Drinks, Supplementary Food and Nutrients

Although there are many definitions of antioxidants, the most general description; antioxidants are carried a phenolic function in their structure and prevent the formation of free radicals or intercept from damage to the cell by scavenging existing radicals. Moreover, they are one of the most effective substances that contain essential nutrients for healthy individuals. The importance of these antioxidants, which have an incredible effect on the body and increase the body’s resistance, is increasing day by day for healthy individuals. Numerous studies have been carried out for antioxidants with excellent properties and however new, reliable, selective, sensitive and green analytical methods are sought for their determination at trace levels in food samples. Along with the latest developments, electrochemical methods are of great interest in the world of science because they are fast, reliable, sensitive and environmentally friendly. Electrochemical methods have been frequently applied to analyze antioxidant capacity in many nutrients samples found in different forms such as solid, liquid without any pretreatment applications in the last decade. Furthermore, these methods are preferred because of the short analysis time, the ability to lower detection limits, reduction in a solvent, high sensitivity, portability, low sample consumption, wide working range, and more economical than existing other traditional analytical methods. The antioxidant sensing applications by modern electrochemical methods such as cyclic, square wave, differential pulse, and combined with stripping voltammetric techniques were used to deduce antioxidant capacity (AC) in critical nutrients. Moreover, this chapter includes a description of the classification of electrochemical methods according to the working electrode type, dynamic working range, limit of determination (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), sample type, and using standard analyte and so forth for each voltammetric methods. While many articles applied for the determination of antioxidant sensing by electrochemistry have gained momentum in the last two decades, we focused on the studies conducted over the last 4 years in this chapter

Vibration analysis of sandwich beams with variable cross section on variable Winkler elastic foundation

In this study, free vibration behavior of a multilayered symmetric sandwich beam made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) with variable cross section resting on variable Winkler elastic foundation are investigated. The elasticity and density of the functionally graded (FG) sandwich beam vary through the thickness according to the power law. This law is related to mixture rules and laminate theory. In order to provide this, a 50-layered beam is considered. Each layer is isotropic and homogeneous, although the volume fractions of the constituents of each layer are different. Furthermore, the width of the beam varies exponentially along the length of the beam, and also the beam is resting on an elastic foundation whose coefficient is variable along the length of the beam. The natural frequencies are computed for conventional boundary conditions of the FG sandwich beam using a theoretical procedure. The effects of material, geometric, elastic foundation indexes and slenderness ratio on natural frequencies and mode shapes of the beam are also computed and discussed. Finally, the results obtained are compared with a finite-element-based commercial program, ANSYS®, and found to be consistent with each other

Free vibration and buckling analysis of the laminated composite beams by using GDQM

In this study, effects of stacking sequences of composite laminated beams on natural frequencies and buckling behaviour have been analyzed by Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM) and Finite Element Method (FEM). Mode shapes were also investigated for one mode of buckling and three modes of free vibration analyses. In addition, variations of mode shapes for different boundary conditions were presented in details. Numerical results show that the effective stiffness of the laminated composite beam can be altered through an adjustment in the stacking sequence. Thus, such an adjustment in stacking sequences allows operations in desired natural frequencies and load carrying capacity without changing its geometry drastically or without changing its weight

Phytochemistry and biological activity of Onosma rascheyana extracts (Boiss.)

In recent years, it has been determined that Onosma species exhibit interesting biological/pharmacological activities. The aim of this study was to analyze the chemical composition, antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities of the methanol (MeOH), water and ethyl acetate extracts obtained from the aerials parts of Onosma rascheyana (Boiss.). The chemical compositions of the extracts were determined using spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods. Biological activities of the extracts were determined using antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory test systems. The MeOH extract was found to be rich in both phenolics and flavonoids (31.55 mg GAEs/g and 15.20 mg REs/g, respectively). The MeOH extract also contained higher amounts of 4-hydroxybenzoic and p-coumaric acids compared to other phytochemicals. The MeOH extract exhibited remarkable activity in all antioxidant test systems. However, 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) radical cation (ABTS) scavenging assay resulted in superiority of water extract (88.90 mg TEs/g). The relative antioxidant capacity indices (RACI) of the extracts and the correlations between these values and antioxidant activities confirmed the high activity of the MeOH extract. In the α-amylase, α-glucosidase, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activity tests, the ethyl acetate extract showed high activity, while the tyrosinase inhibitory activity assay resulted in the superiority of the MeOH extract (59.72 mg KAEs/g). It was concluded that the extracts of O. rascheyana could be used as alternative agents in the food, cosmetic and medical industries due to their antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities

Evaluation of Using Prenatalcare Services in Outpatients Applying to Gynecology and Obstetric Polyclinic

Purpose: Antenatal care, one of the strategies aimed at protecting maternal and child health, is to monitor the mother by trained health personnel at regular intervals throughout pregnancy. This study aimed to evaluate the prenatal care service use of pregnant women who attend Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital Gynecology and Obstetrics Polyclinics. Materials and Methods: The sample universe of this cross-sectional study was pregnant women attending Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital Gynecology and Obstetrics Polyclinic between 01.08.2020-01.09.2020. The questionnaire developed by the researchers was applied to the participants by face-to-face interview technique. Results: All the participants (n=403) received at least one prenatal care service from a health institution. 73.4% (n=296) of the pregnant women received prenatal care, which is required according to their weeks of gestation quantitatively. The highest rate of physical examination in antenatal care follow-ups was fetal heart rate, while the lowest rate was the cardiac auscultation and edema examination rates of the pregnant woman. Conclusion: It was seen that all of the pregnant women received antenatal care at least once, but the number of prenatal care follow-ups required in accordance with their gestational weeks was still not at the desired level. For this reason, there is a need for a study to determine the factors that prevent compliance with the follow-ups and to carry out the ideal four follow-ups of all pregnant women