Cost Benefit Analysis Of The Structures Designed For Alternative Seismic Hazard Levels

In this study, multiple performance objectives under the various earthquake hazard levels are investigated. In case of well defined earthquake hazard, as an alternative of classical earthquake resistant design principles, it is possible to design structures at different performances depending on structure's initial cost and economic life. In this study, costs of the structure with different performance levels are discussed.Current study is carried out on the reinforced concrete structures that are designed and analyzed for various seismic hazard levels. The aim is to determine, if the risk is released, whether the economic losses can be acceptable or not. In the study, cost of reinforced concrete ductile frames and dual systems that are designed for various seismic performances, are also compared for the economical aspects.To that end, in the first step 3, 5 and 8 storey frames and dual systems of several structures at Life Safety and Immediate Occupancy performance levels was designed for the earthquake hazards of 2% and 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The study reveals that if both direct and indirect effects of earthquake such as retrofitting costs, cost of temporary moving, temporary accommodation costs, cost of demolition and reconstructing the building, cost of damage to household goods and business disruption, social disturbance, are be taken into consideration, initial design performance level can be accepted as Immediate Occupancy performance level rather than Life Safety performance which is proposed current earthquake codes. The cost due to injuries and cost due to loss of lives are not included

Non-Contact Smartphone-Based Monitoring of Thermally Stressed Structures

The in-situ measurement of thermal stress in beams or continuous welded rails may prevent structural anomalies such as buckling. This study proposed a non-contact monitoring/inspection approach based on the use of a smartphone and a computer vision algorithm to estimate the vibrating characteristics of beams subjected to thermal stress. It is hypothesized that the vibration of a beam can be captured using a smartphone operating at frame rates higher than conventional 30 Hz, and the first few natural frequencies of the beam can be extracted using a computer vision algorithm. In this study, the first mode of vibration was considered and compared to the information obtained with a conventional accelerometer attached to the two structures investigated, namely a thin beam and a thick beam. The results show excellent agreement between the conventional contact method and the non-contact sensing approach proposed here. In the future, these findings may be used to develop a monitoring/inspection smartphone application to assess the axial stress of slender structures, to predict the neutral temperature of continuous welded rails, or to prevent thermal buckling.The first author was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) 2214/A International Doctoral Research Fellowship Programme (Grant #1059B141600085). Support for the second author came from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Transit IDEA program, project T-86

Preliminary magnetostratigraphic results from the late Miocene Maragheh Formation, NW Iran

Maragheh in northwestern of Iran is a world famous Miocene fossil-bearing area. The area has yielded classical late Miocene Turolian age fauna that has been collected and studied sporadically over the last 150 years. However, the precise correlation of these sediments to the Global Time Scale (GTS) has remained ambiguous. To address this, 115 levels along an approximately 27-m-thick interval were collected from the middle Maragheh Formation at Dareh Gorg (Gort Daresi) section. Characteristic remanent magnetization directions obtained by alternating field demagnetization produce a polarity pattern that is supported by thermal demagnetization on a set of sister specimens. Three polarity intervals were recognised, the middle part of the section at around 15-21 m showing reversed polarity, bounded by normal polarities above and below. Based on the palaeontological constraints and recent K-Ar age determinations from the Maragheh Fm, three correlations to the geomagnetic polarity time scale appear likely. According to these correlations, recently discovered hominoid locality is correlated to C3Br.1n, C4n.1n, or to C4n.2n. For a unique correlation, however, additional palaeomagnetic data is required from the upper and lower parts of the section.Peer reviewe

Determination of Yield and Yield Components of Vetch and Cereal Mixture and Evaluation Using by GGE-Biplot Analysis

This study was carried out to determine forage and seed yield and its effecting component in different vetch and cereal mixtures, ecological condition of Tekirdağ-Thrace region of Turkey. The study was conducted using a total 5 vetch and cereals varieties includes three different vetch species orakefe, Hungarian vetch species sarıefe, narbon vetch candidate variety 570, two different cereals (barley variety scarpia, oat variety sebat) and their mixture combinations, each species were sown as sole, double and triple mixtures (8 combinations for each genotype) a randomized complete block design with 3 replications was laid out on 2013-2015 growing season. Eight mixture combinations for each genotype (common vetch, Hungarian vetch, Narbon vetch, barley and oat) were evaluated for yield and major plant structural characteristics. Genotype-Trait (GT) biplot analyses were used. Applying type of analyses to the multiple trait data revealed that GT biplot graphically displayed the interrelationships among traits and facilitated visual comparison of mixtures and selection for each genotype. Wide variation was observed for traits plant structure and components (plant height, branch number and pod number/plant, 1000 seed weight, individual genotype ratio). It was found that; seed yield, 1000 seed weight, plant height, branch and pod number /plant were the highest value in pure stand NV570. In addition (570+sebat) had maximum dry forage yield, sarıefe as pure stand has the maximum plant height and seed yield value. On the other had sarıefe+scarpia combination showed very high value for pod number/plant, branch number/plant and fresh and dry forage yield. Pure stand scarpia was the best performer in seed yield. CV+NV+scarpia had the highest 1000 seed weight, fresh and dry forage yield. Maximum planth height was determined from sebat+scarpia, CV+O+B and CV+HV+B combinations. Favorable seed yield and 1000 seed weight value was produced under pure stand sebat seeding. Intercrop NV570+O combination had the higher fresh and dry forage yield. CV+HV+O, CV+NV+O and CV+B+O combination had the highest plant height of sebat

Alcohol Consumption among Turkish Adolescents: A Test of General Strain Theory

The current study examined alcohol consumption among Turkish adolescents through the lens of Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) using data drawn from the 2008 Youth in Europe Survey. Although considerable attention has been paid to problematic alcohol consumption among adolescents, extant research has remained limited to western countries. Similarly, much of the support for GST was derived from research conducted in United States. The current study explores factors associated with alcohol consumption in Turkey and tests the generalizability of GST to countries with sociocultural and religious values differing from those in western countries. Results from ordinal logistic regression analyses indicate that school strain, economic strain, and peer strain were significantly associated with drinking behavior, while family strain was not associated with drinking behavior. Although students’ negative affective states were significantly associated with drinking behavior, they did not mediate the relationships between the strain variables and alcohol consumption as would be expected given the logic of GST. Implications for future research were discussed

Antioxidant Potential and Phenolic Compounds of Some Widely Consumed Turkish White Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Varieties

The antioxidant potential and phenolic compounds content were investigated in ten white bean varieties widely consumed in Turkey. Total phenolic contents of seeds varied between 0.33 and 0.63 mg GAE/g. The Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) determined by the ABTS assay and the Ferric-Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) of bean varieties ranged from 3.50 to 5.17 mu mol Trolox/g seed and from 7.99 to 11.20 mu mol Fe2+-/g seed, respectively. Strong correlations were found between total phenolic content and FRAP (r=0.850) and between TEAC and FRAP (r=0.734). The antioxidant activity was investigated in a beta-carotene-linoleic acid model system, as well. Differences in the inhibition of emulsion oxidation by extracts of white bean varieties were slight. The RP-HPLC fingerprint analysis of extracts showed the presence of five dominant phenolic compounds which were described as ferulic or caffeic acids derivatives. Four of them significantly contributed to reducing power and antiradical activity against ABTS(center dot+) of extracts

Preliminary magnetostratigraphic results from the late Miocene Maragheh Formation, NW Iran

Maragheh in northwestern of Iran is a world famous Miocene fossil-bearing area. The area has yielded classical late Miocene Turolian age fauna that has been collected and studied sporadically over the last 150 years. However, the precise correlation of these sediments to the Global Time Scale (GTS) has remained ambiguous. To address this, 115 levels along an approximately 27-m-thick interval were collected from the middle Maragheh Formation at Dareh Gorg (Gort Daresi) section. Characteristic remanent magnetization directions obtained by alternating field demagnetization produce a polarity pattern that is supported by thermal demagnetization on a set of sister specimens. Three polarity intervals were recognised, the middle part of the section at around 15-21 m showing reversed polarity, bounded by normal polarities above and below. Based on the palaeontological constraints and recent K-Ar age determinations from the Maragheh Fm, three correlations to the geomagnetic polarity time scale appear likely. According to these correlations, recently discovered hominoid locality is correlated to C3Br.1n, C4n.1n, or to C4n.2n. For a unique correlation, however, additional palaeomagnetic data is required from the upper and lower parts of the section.Peer reviewe

Bridging gaps between in vitro and in vivo data in pulmonary aerosol delivery with focus on pharmacokinetics

Pulmonary aerosolized delivery of drugs incorporated into nanocarriers (nanodrugs) by inhalation is a promising route for the prolonged treatment of lung diseases such as pulmonary hypertension or lung rejection after transplantation. Due to the lack of validated in vitro testing systems, the PK and efficacy of nanodrugs during the preclinical phase of drug testing has to be measured in animal models. This work investigates the particokinetics of two nanodrugs, Ptx-NP and L-CsA, which incorporate the active drug Paclitaxel (Ptx) and Cyclosporine A (CsA) into polymeric or liposomal nanocarriers, respectively. The goal of the study was to evaluate the potential of aerosolized drug delivery combined with physiological in vitro cell culture models of the lung to predict the clinical outcome with a focus on PK. The VITROCELL® Cloud 6 system was used to deliver the nanodrugs in aerosolized form to in vitro models of the healthy and diseased human alveolar air-blood barrier cultured at air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions, and to analyze the transbarrier transport of the incorporated drugs. ALI conditions showed a direct cell-nanodrug interaction, which allowed clarifying cellular uptake mechanisms (caveolae-mediated endocytosis and passive diffusion) and mirroring real cellular transport rates. In a direct comparison between the healthy and diseased models, no significant differences in the transbarrier transport rates were found, which highlight the prolonged tissue-association of drugs incorporated in nanocarriers. The obtained particokinetics were further combined with physiological-based PK (PBPK) modeling to predict the PK profile of CsA and Ptx (e.g. maximum drug concentration cmax in the blood; time until cmax is reached (tmax)) after inhalation. This confirmed that cmax levels after inhalation were achieved fast (< 0.25 h). Moreover, the modeling revealed that cmax levels after inhalation are typically low, which highlights the advantage of targeting lung diseases by inhalation therapy as this avoids high drug levels in the blood that could lead to systemic toxicities. Besides the PK, the efficacy of Ptx-NP was investigated. The analysis of Ptx doses in different compartments of the in vitro model demonstrated a cell-association of 30% of the initial dose 24 h after the aerosolized delivery of Ptx-NP. Accordingly, the potential of prolonged drug interaction with the diseased tissue in vitro could be highlighted. Moreover, a dose of 0.7 μg Ptx/cm² increased FoxO1 transcription – a hallmark of pulmonary hypertension - by a factor of 3 as compared to untreated control. Consequently, the aerosolized drug delivery to ALI cell culture models of the alveolar tissue barrier combined with PBPK modeling can support the development of drug formulations with a beneficial PK profile in the clinical settings. Moreover, these types of in vitro models are well suited to study cellular uptake and transport mechanisms

Comparison of individual differences and Hofstede’s culture layers in the SLA process

The preliminary idea of incorporating culture into language teaching has not been thoroughly framed from the Sociopragmatic and Pragmalinguistic dimensions, whereas second/foreign language learning was the focal point of attention in the various contexts.  At this point, Hofstede defines the term "culture," and its six dimensions: Masculinity/Femininity, Indulgence/Restraint, Power Distance, Individualism/Collectivism, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long/Short Term Orientation. It is helpful to remember that each of the six culture layers that Hofstede established may help us to comprehend individual differences, which is the fundamental idea behind the SLA (Second Language Acquisition) process. The relationship between language and culture is examined in the present narrative study by using the lens of Sociolinguistics and SLA principles to understand the role of culture in the SLA process via unrevealing the similarities between Hofstede’s culture layers’ and the principle of individual differences in SLA (Dörnyei, 2007). Depending upon the results of the present narrative literature review study, the process of learning a language is culture-specific, which is also supported by the idea of "culture" being homogenized. There is undoubtedly no objective tool for assessing culture inside a certain society. Nonetheless, during the SLA process, taking into account the unique characteristics of EFL environments could aid in the development of both large- and small-scale policies and initiatives that will further the process

Maş Fasulyesinin (Vigna radiata L.) Fenolik Bileşikleri ve Antioksidan Kapasitesi

Mung bean (Vigna radiata) is a summer growing legume and widely consumed in the Asian cuisine.In recent years, the functional properties of mung bean have received attention, particularly with respect toantioxidant, antitumor, anti-diabetic effects. In this research investigated the antioxidant capacity and phenoliccompound profiles of dried mung bean seeds. The total phenolic content, DPPH• scavenging activity, ferricreducingantioxidant power (FRAP), ABTS•+ scavenging activity were determined after methanol and acetoneextractions. HPLC analyse was used to identification mung bean phenolic compounds. The total phenoliccontent of mung bean seed was determined as 47.16 mg GA eq / g extract (504.65 mg / 100 g seed) and 66.05mg GA eq / g extract (526.41 mg / 100 g seed) after methanol and acetoneuse as extractans, respectively. Thedominant phenolic compounds of seeds were hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives. The radical scavenging activityof mung bean extracts against ABTS•+ was 1.093 mmol Trolox / g acetone extract. This study compared theantioxidant capacity of mung bean with literature data of antioxidant properties widely consumed different beanvarieties such as red and white beans. Obtained results suggest that mung bean can be evaluated as functionalingredient with high antioxidant activity in several foods therefore larger field productions can be achieved forthis legume.Maş fasulyesi (Vigna radiata) Asya mutfağında yaygın tüketilen yazlık bir baklagil çeşididir. Son yıllarda maş fasulyesi özellikle antioksidan, antitumor, antidiyabetik gibi fonksiyonel özellikleri açısından dikkat çekmektedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı kurutulmuş maş fasulyesi tohumlarının antioksidan kapasitesini ve fenolik bileşik profilini araştırmaktır. Bu amaçla metanol ve aseton extratlarında toplam fenolik madde, DPPH• radikal giderim aktivitesi, ferrik iyon indirgeme kapasiteleri, ABTS•+ katyon radikali giderim aktivitesi belirlenmiştir. Maş fasulyesinin fenolik bileşiklerini belirlemek amacıyla HPLC analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Maş fasulyesinin toplam fenolik madde miktarı metanol ve aseton ektratlarında sırasıyla 47.16 mg GA eq / g ekstrat (504.65 mg / 100 g tane) and 66.05 mg GA eq / g ekstrat (526.41 mg / 100 g tane) olarak belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada, dominat fenolik bileşiklerin hidroksibenzoik asit ve türevleri olduğu bulunmuştur. Maş fasulyesinin aseton ekstresinde ABTS•+ katyon radikali giderim aktivitesi 1.093 mmol Trolox / g extract olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu çalışmada ayrıca maş fasulyesinin antioksidan kapasitesi, literetürde kırmızı ve beyaz fasulye gibi yaygın tüketilen fasulye çeşitlerinin antioksidan kapasiteleri ile karşılaştırılarak değerlendirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular sonucunda maş fasulyesinin yüksek antioksidan kapasitesi gibi çeşitli gıdalarda fonksiyonel ingredient olarak değerlendirilebileceği ve bu nedenle bu baklagilin daha geniş alanlarda üretilebileceği düşünülmektedir