Contribution for the derivation of a soil screening value (SSV) for uranium, using a natural reference soil

In order to regulate the management of contaminated land, many countries have been deriving soil screening values (SSV). However, the ecotoxicological data available for uranium is still insufficient and incapable to generate SSVs for European soils. In this sense, and so as to make up for this shortcoming, a battery of ecotoxicological assays focusing on soil functions and organisms, and a wide range of endpoints was carried out, using a natural soil artificially spiked with uranium. In terrestrial ecotoxicology, it is widely recognized that soils have different properties that can influence the bioavailability and the toxicity of chemicals. In this context, SSVs derived for artificial soils or for other types of natural soils, may lead to unfeasible environmental risk assessment. Hence, the use of natural regional representative soils is of great importance in the derivation of SSVs. A Portuguese natural reference soil PTRS1, from a granitic region, was thereby applied as test substrate. This study allowed the determination of NOEC, LOEC, EC20 and EC50 values for uranium. Dehydrogenase and urease enzymes displayed the lowest values (34.9 and ,134.5 mg U Kg, respectively). Eisenia andrei and Enchytraeus crypticus revealed to be more sensitive to uranium than Folsomia candida. EC50 values of 631.00, 518.65 and 851.64 mg U Kg were recorded for the three species, respectively. Concerning plants, only Lactuca sativa was affected by U at concentrations up to 1000 mg U kg1. The outcomes of the study may in part be constrained by physical and chemical characteristics of soils, hence contributing to the discrepancy between the toxicity data generated in this study and that available in the literature. Following the assessment factor method, a predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) value of 15.5 mg kg21dw was obtained for U. This PNEC value is proposed as a SSV for soils similar to the PTRS1

Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Au/InGaAs/n-GaAs Schottky barrier diodes

In this study, the forward and reverse bias current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Au/InGaAs/n-GaAs Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) have been investigated at room temperature. InGaAs epilayer was grown on (100) oriented n-GaAs substrate using V80-H solid source Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) system. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) was used in order to study the surface properties of InGaAs epilayer. The AFM measurement was performed by using an Omicron variable temperature STM/AFM instrument. The electrical parameters such as barrier height (Phi(b)), ideality factor (n), series resistance (R-s) and interface states (N-ss) of Au/InGaAs/n-GaAs SBDs have been calculated by using forward and reverse bias I-V measurements. The energy distribution of interface states of the structure was obtained from the forward bias I-V measurements by taking the bias dependence of the effective barrier height (Phi(e)) into account. In addition, the values of R-s and Phi(b), were determined by using Cheung's methods and results have been compared with each other.State of Planning Organization of TurkeyTurkiye Cumhuriyeti Kalkinma Bakanligi [2011K120290]This work is supported by the State of Planning Organization of Turkey under Grant no. 2011K120290WOS:0003025803000742-s2.0-8486014571

The use of finite element method in the furniture industry

Sevim Korkut, Derya/0000-0002-0963-016X; Koc, Kucuk Huseyin/0000-0001-6370-2016; Erdinler, Emine Seda/0000-0002-7814-4333WOS: 000290682800022Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) techniques are getting more common everyday in the industry. The reason of this can be determined as the possibility of application of the CAE system besides the development of administration comprehension and industry with personal computers. In this study, Finite Element Method (FEM) application, which is an important engineering technique, was investigated with SolidWorks/CosmosWorks system. It is aimed to discuss the difficulties of FEM application based on the structure of the wood material and the conditions to transfer these to the Furniture Industry. For this purpose, proper analysis coefficient and virtual resistance values were developed with available standard, theoretic information and industrial application examples. At the second stage, the analysis was applied on a real product and the accuracy and applicability of the analysis approach have been evaluated by comparing the theoretic behavior of the product based on the software with the real results in practice

Effects of Thermal Annealing and Film Thickness on the Structural and Morphological Properties of Titanium Dioxide Films

1st International Congress on Advances in Applied Physics and Materials Science (APMAS) -- MAY 12-15, 2011 -- Antalya, TURKEY -- Istanbul Kultur Univ, Gebze Inst Technol, Doga Nanobiotech Inc, Terra Lab Inc, LOT Oriel Grp, PHYWE, Delta Elekt IncTitanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films having different thicknesses of 220, 260, and 300 nm were deposited onto well-cleaned n-type silicon substrates by reactive DC magnetron sputtering and annealed in the range of 200-1000 degrees C in steps of 200 degrees C. The effects of thermal annealing and thickness variation on the crystalline quality and surface morphology of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy measurements. It was found that the film quality and morphology depend on the annealing temperature. TiO2 films exhibit a grain-like surface morphology. The root-mean-square roughness and grain size on the surface increase as a result of increasing film thickness.WOS:0002996030000772-s2.0-8485610438

The use of finite element method in the furniture industry

Sevim Korkut, Derya/0000-0002-0963-016X; Koc, Kucuk Huseyin/0000-0001-6370-2016; Erdinler, Emine Seda/0000-0002-7814-4333WOS: 000290682800022Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) techniques are getting more common everyday in the industry. The reason of this can be determined as the possibility of application of the CAE system besides the development of administration comprehension and industry with personal computers. In this study, Finite Element Method (FEM) application, which is an important engineering technique, was investigated with SolidWorks/CosmosWorks system. It is aimed to discuss the difficulties of FEM application based on the structure of the wood material and the conditions to transfer these to the Furniture Industry. For this purpose, proper analysis coefficient and virtual resistance values were developed with available standard, theoretic information and industrial application examples. At the second stage, the analysis was applied on a real product and the accuracy and applicability of the analysis approach have been evaluated by comparing the theoretic behavior of the product based on the software with the real results in practice

Genomic Prediction Accuracies for Growth and Carcass Traits in a Brangus Heifer Population

The predictive abilities and accuracies of genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and the Bayesian (BayesA, BayesB, BayesC and Lasso) genomic selection (GS) methods for economically important growth (birth, weaning, and yearling weights) and carcass (depth of rib fat, apercent intramuscular fat and longissimus muscle area) traits were characterized by estimating the linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure in Brangus heifers using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) markers. Sharp declines in LD were observed as distance among SNP markers increased. The application of the GBLUP and the Bayesian methods to obtain the GEBV for growth and carcass traits within k-means and random clusters showed that k-means and random clustering had quite similar heritability estimates, but the Bayesian methods resulted in the lower estimates of heritability between 0.06 and 0.21 for growth and carcass traits compared with those between 0.21 and 0.35 from the GBLUP methodologies. Although the prediction ability of the GBLUP and the Bayesian methods were quite similar for growth and carcass traits, the Bayesian methods overestimated the accuracies of GEBV because of the lower estimates of heritability of growth and carcass traits. However, GBLUP resulted in accuracy of GEBV for growth and carcass traits that parallels previous reports