Plants In Turkey Research Articles

Membrane autopsy study to characterize fouling type of RO membrane used in an industrial zone wastewater reuse plant

In recent years, it has become very important to reuse wastewater as an alternative water source in industrial zones. Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are the most used membrane technology for wastewater reuse due to their remarkable divalent and monovalent ions removal efficiencies. However, membrane fouling is a serious problem in RO plants which hinders the membrane performance and shortens the membrane lifespan. In this study, a detailed membrane autopsy study was carried out in fouled RO membrane to characterize the type of membrane fouling obtained from a full-scale industrial zone wastewater reuse plant in Turkey. The autopsy analysis results of the fouled membrane showed that the membrane surface was covered dominantly by inorganic scaling of CaCO3. Also, there was a remarkable amount of molybdenum (Mo) element on the membrane surface which was attributed to wastewater discharges of automotive industries. Lastly, an appropriate chemical cleaning protocol was proposed. More effective membrane cleaning efficiency was achieved for more acidic agents which was attributed to the presence of inorganic fouling. This study helps to understand the possible fouling formations on the membrane surface used in industrial zone wastewater reuse plants and gives an idea to take necessary precautions for fouling control strategies.

Determination of genetic diversity in european cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus L.) genotypes based on morphological, phytochemical and ISSR markers

Turkey has a high diversity of native and commercially grown plants. European cranberrybush, a fruit species grown commercially in the country, is of interest because of its health benefits. This study aimed to determine genetic diversity uisng morphological, molecular, and phytochemical markers in twenty-four different genotypes of European cranberrybush from Kayseri province, which is an important region in the production of plant in Turkey. The results show wide variations among genotypes in the morphological parameters. The G13 genotype was the prominent genotype compared to other genotypes in leaf length (130.69 mm), leaf width (135.76 mm) and fruit length (10.01 mm). The fruit weights of genotypes varied between 0.16 g and 0.80 g. In ISSR marker analysis, out of 73 scoreable bands obtained from 11 different primer sets, 44 were polymorphic. The average polymorphism rate in the study was 60.27%, and the similarity index of the genotypes varied between 0.77 and 0.95. Total flavonoid, phenolic and anthocyanin content ranged from 106.28 mg CAE/100 g to 318.87 mg CAE/100 g, 451.23 mg GAE/100 g to 679.57 mg GAE/100 g, and 16.48 mg cyn-3-gluc /100 g to 21.36 mg cyn-3-gluc /100 g, respectively. The results of this study can be useful to plant breeders interested in developing and conserving the species and provide a baseline for new studies on European cranberry.

Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Effect of Iris taochia Plant Extracts on Human Breast Cancer (MCF-7) Cells

Introduction: Iris taochia is an endemic plant in Turkey. Iris species has many biological effects such as antibacterial, antiinflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer properties. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death and this mechanism regulates the death of cancer cells. Purpose: The aim of our work is to investigate how the Iris taochia extracts affect the apoptotic activity in the MCF7 cells. Methods: Cytotoxic dose and cell viability is determined by the MTT assay. Bad, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl- W, Bid, Bim, Caspase 3, Caspase 8, CD40, CD40L, cIAP-2, CytoC, DR6, Fas, FasL, HSP27, HSP60, HSP70, HTRA, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, IGFBP-4, IGFBP-5, IGFBP-6, IGF-1sR, Livin, p21, p27, p53, SMAC, Survivin, sTNF-R1, sTNF-R2, TNF-α, TNF-β, TRAILR-1, TRAILR-2, TRAILR-3, TRAILR-4 and XIAP proteins were measured by the membrane array kit. Results: Iris taochia extracts exhibited significant cytotoxic effects on MCF7 cells and IC50 values ranging from 1.56 to 100 μg/mL. Our results indicate that MeOH extract of Iris taochia in MCF7 cells may be a regulator of cell death proteins, cell cycle and growth factors. DCM and EtOH extracts of Iris taochia have a limited effect on MCF7 cells, especially, HSPs, which play a significant role in chemoresistance, downregulating DCM and EtOH extracts of Iris taochia, whereas ligands and receptors of extrinsic apoptotic pathway are upregulated by these extracts. Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic effect of Iris taochia extracts on MCF7 cells. Results also showed that Iris taochia reduced cell viability and induced apoptotic pathways as a potential regulator of cancer cell death.

Comprehensive transient analysis on control system in a photovoltaic power plant under lightning strike

Solar power plants are installed in high and open places to receive high solar radiation. However, this leaves them vulnerable to lightning strike. Lightning strike affects power plants in two ways, directly and indirectly. Direct lightning strikes can be prevented by using lightning protection systems. However, under the indirect effect of a lightning strike, the surrounding electronic devices may be damaged due to the induced voltage. In a solar power plant with a lightning protection system in Turkey, it was stated that the bypass diodes failed after a lightning strike. In this study, it is aimed to examine the effects of indirect lightning strike on the PV module. For this reason, different lightning pulse amplitudes were injected into the system and the effects of three parameters on the induced voltage were investigated with an EMT type program. These parameters were the cable lengths, cable cross-sections and the number of PV arrays. Four different panel configurations were performed in the EMT type program. Data was taken from the solar power plant in Turkey was used in fourth configuration. It was concluded that when the lightning strike fell on the air termination bar, bypass diodes in the nearest PV array were affected, and this effect decreased as the array distance increased. However, as the amplitude of the lightning strike increased, arrays in the far-distance were also affected. It has been seen that the results obtained were compatible with the malfunction information received from the solar power plant.

Preliminarna istraživanja artropoda kao potencijalnih bioagenasa u kontroli alohtonih ukrasnih invazivnih biljaka u Turskoj

Alien ornamental plants have the potential to become invasive and biological control is considered a promising method for managing them. Global literature was searched to reveal the potential biological control agents for 56 ornamental plants which have invasion potential in Turkey. Out of the biological agents, we compiled the list of species already in Turkey which could be utilised in managing invasive species. Moreover, succesfull biological control agents for these plants from other parts of the world have also been listed. As a result, 128 species of arthropods were found as natural enemies and 27 of them were established in the released areas in the world. In Turkey, out of these 128 species, 58 were noted as present in Turkey, however, their impacts on plants have not been studied in detail. Potential biological agents for controlling invasive plants in Turkey are: Carpomyia vesuviana (Costa) for Ziziphus mauritiana Lam., Rhizaspidiotus donacis (Leonardi) for Arundo donax L., Unaspis euonymi (Comstock) for Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz., Diaspis echinocacti (Bouché) for Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, Eulecanium ciliatum (Douglas), Lepidosaphes ulmi (Linnaeus), Melanaspis inopinata (Leonardi) and Phenacoccus aceris (Signoret) for Acer negundo L. There is a possibility to use these biological agents for controlling the alien ornamental plants in Turkey, although there is a need for conducting further Pest Risk Assesment to assess the invasiveness of alien plants in Turkey, and studies are also required for safe release of beneficial insects.

Determination ARIMA Model for the Discharge Acid Concentration in Pressure Oxidation Autoclave at A Gold Processing Plant

During industrial production, many quality parameters of products are measured to evaluate the quality of final products. These investigations are also applied for the machine parameters to control if they work properly. A huge amount of data is collected, recorded, and evaluated for these aims. Time series analyses are often a useful tool to evaluate the industrial data to analyze the products quality parameters or machine performances. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time series models are the most known and used method. One of the most important advantages of ARIMA models is its capability of near future estimation for the monitored process variable. For this aim, current research is carried out at a gold processing plant data. The plant gains the gold by applying the modern pressure oxide leaching in autoclave and cyanide leaching. Since the gold ore characteristics can be changed even, they are mined in the same mining area, monitoring the product quality and machine performances during production stages are needed. In this research, the data set, which was recorded at equal sampling time intervals and obtained in a month, is supplied from a gold processing plant in Turkey. During the gold production, the ground gold ore is subjected to the desulphurization process by pressure oxide (POX) in the autoclave. Discharge acid concentration is critical in this process and it is followed regularly by taking samples in 2 hours’ time intervals in 24 hours. Using discharge acid concentration data set, the ARIMA (1,0,1) time series model was determined to monitor it. Also, near-future values of acid concentration were estimated by the ARIMA (1,0,1) model and compared with the real discharge acid concentrations. It was determined that there was a very good agreement between the estimated values obtained by the ARIMA (1,0,1) model and real values.

Identification and Antimicrobial Activity of Actinobacteria Isolated from Rhizosphere of the Local Endemic Plants

The search for novel antimicrobial compounds from the environment has been gaining momentum with the increase in resistance of pathogens. In the present study, the antimicrobial potential of 11 local isolates of Actinobacteria which were isolated from rhizosphere soils of the three local endemic plants in Turkey was evaluated against different pathogenic bacteria and Candida albicans. Antimicrobial activity was investigated by the disk diffusion agar method using the organic extracts obtained from the isolates grown in the modified Bennett's medium and Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB). Eight isolates were revealed to show remarkable antimicrobial activity against to pathogens. Study of the production of bioactive metabolites in two different culture media indicated that the higher antimicrobial activity was observed in modified Bennett's medium when compared to TSB. Also, partial 16S rDNA sequence analyses revealed that 10 of these local isolates belong to member of Streptomyces and one of them to member Promicromonospora genera.

The effects of GA3 treatments and nutrient media on in vitro seed germination of Allium tuncelianum (Kollman), Özhatay, Matthew, Şiraneci

In this study, the effects of GA3 and nutrient media on in vitro seed germination of Allium tuncelianum (Kollman), N. Özhatay, D. Matthew, Şiraneci, which is one of the endemic plants in Turkey, were investigated. In order to promote seed germination, GA3 was applied to seeds under sterile conditions for 48 hours at different concentrations (2 mgL-1, 3 mgL-1 and 4 mgL-1). Then the seeds were cultured in BDS and MS medium in a sterile cabinet. The results showed that the germination rate decreased with the increase of the applied concentrations of GA3. The highest germination rate (17.73%) was obtained from seeds treated with 2 mgL-1 GA3. It was determined that the effects of nutrient media on the germination of Allium tuncelianum seeds were important, and the highest germination values were obtained from the BDS medium.

Translocation of clothianidin to guttation fluid and its potential impact on honey bee, Apis mellifera anatoliaca Maa, 1953 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Honey bees, Apis mellifera anatoliaca Maa, 1953 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) forage water from guttation fluid so transported neonicotinoid insecticides in guttation fluid poses a risk to the bees. The first aim of this study was to determine the toxicity and risk of clothianidin to honey bees. In addition, the changes of clothianidin residue in the guttation fluid of maize plants in Turkey were determined in 2018 and 2019. Also, the toxicity of guttation fluid collected from the maize plants to bees was determined in ecotoxicological tests. The acute oral LD50 of clothianidin to honey bees in the first 24 h was 1.80 ng bee-1 and residue analysis demonstrated that honey bees were exposed to clothianidin concentration in guttation fluid ranging from 0.02 to 6.0 mg L-1 with mortality ranging between 80 and 100%. As the measured concentration of clothianidin in guttation fluid can lead to the mortality of honey bees, present study indicates that clothianidin, and possibly related pesticides in treated maize seed poses a risk to honey bees. Future studies are needed to determine the scale and distribution of this risk in Turkey.

Actinorhizal plants of Turkey: formation of nodules, cluster roots and ectomycorrhizal roots

None of the known native actinorhizal species in Turkey, Alnus glutinosa and A. orientalis (Betulaceae), Datisca cannabina (Datiscaceae), Elaeagnus angustifolia and Hippophae rhamnoides (Elaeagnaceae), and the widely-planted exotic Casuarina cunninghamiana (Casuarinaceae), have confirmed records of actinorhizae in Turkey. This study determined the capacity of representative actinorhizal plants in Turkey to form nodules, cluster roots and ectomycorrhizal roots in a typical central Anatolian soil with and without amendment of soil and nodule extracts, as well as in soil from Adana and Izmir. Nodulation was confirmed experimentally for E. angustifolia and C. cunninghamiana in Niğde soil (the latter only with addition Adana or Izmir soil), but only observationally for A. glutinosa during sample collection in Rize. Cluster roots developed strongly in C. cunninghamiana, and likewise ectomycorrhizal roots in Allocasuarina verticillata (included as a reference species) but only to a lesser extent in C. cunninghamiana. The nodulation status of the natives, D. cannabina and H. rhamnoides, remains to be investigated.

The life history, distribution and morphological updates of horned poppy feeder Acentrus histrio (Schoenherr, 1837) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Curculioninae)

The augmented morphological description of the weevil species Acentrus histrio (Schoenherr, 1837) is provided and supplied with photographs of the terminalia and genitalia of both sexes. Female genitalia are described for the first time. Glaucium grandiflorum Boiss. & A. Huett and Glaucium corniculatum (L.) Rudolph (Papaveraceae) are reported as the host plants in Turkey. The adults emerge from the soil in very early spring, locate the host plant, feed on young leaves and buds, mate on the host plant, and females deposit eggs inside the seed capsules. The larvae feed with seeds, mature larvae leave capsules entering soil to pupate, and adults of the new generation hibernate in the soil at the root base of the host plant. This species is univoltine and produced one generation annually in eastern Turkey. Acentrus histrio is newly recorded for Azerbaijan, and A. boroveci Košťál, 2014, for Tajikistan.

Site selection for radioactive waste disposal facility by GIS based multi criteria decision making

Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (RWDF) site selection is critical due to its significant impact on ecology and regional environmental health. Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) systems have a wide range of uses in applications such as urban and regional planning, land suitability mapping, and site selection. With the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), various MCDM methods have been applied in spatial dimensions. The present study aimed to achieve suitable site selection for the storage of radioactive wastes produced in the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey using GIS-based MCDM methods. For this purpose, 12 data layers were used to determine the most suitable sites. In the result map produced, suitable areas were determined for RWDF. The results indicate that GIS-based MCDM is an effective evaluation tool in RWDF site selection.

Wind Power Forecasting with Deep Learning Networks: Time-Series Forecasting

Studies have demonstrated that changes in the climate affect wind power forecasting under different weather conditions. Theoretically, accurate prediction of both wind power output and weather changes using statistics-based prediction models is difficult. In practice, traditional machine learning models can perform long-term wind power forecasting with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 10% to 17%, which does not meet the engineering requirements for our renewable energy project. Deep learning networks (DLNs) have been employed to obtain the correlations between meteorological features and power generation using a multilayer neural convolutional architecture with gradient descent algorithms to minimize estimation errors. This has wide applicability to the field of wind power forecasting. Therefore, this study aimed at the long-term (24–72-h ahead) prediction of wind power with an MAPE of less than 10% by using the Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) algorithm of DLNs. In our experiment, we performed TCN model pretraining using historical weather data and the power generation outputs of a wind turbine from a Scada wind power plant in Turkey. The experimental results indicated an MAPE of 5.13% for 72-h wind power prediction, which is adequate within the constraints of our project. Finally, we compared the performance of four DLN-based prediction models for power forecasting, namely, the TCN, long short-term memory (LSTM), recurrent neural network (RNN), and gated recurrence unit (GRU) models. We validated that the TCN outperforms the other three models for wind power prediction in terms of data input volume, stability of error reduction, and forecast accuracy.

Phenolic contents and biological activities of two endemic plants in Turkey

In the paper, the phenolic compounds and biological activity of Corydalis oppositifolia DC. and Senecio cilicius Boiss., the endemic plants growing in Turkey, were investigated for the first time. The ethanol extract of C. oppositifolia exhibited more potent antimicrobial activity while the ethanol extract of S. cilicius exhibited the highest radical scavenging activity on ABTS (81.4±1.1a mg TE g−1 extract) and DPPH (23.4±0.2a mg TE g−1 extract). In C. oppositifolia, the highest total flavonoid and phenolic acid contents were found to be in the ethanol (94.2±3.5a mg QE g−1 extract) and methanol (320.5±3.3c mg GAE g−1 extract) extracts, respectively. In S. cilicius, the highest total flavonoid and phenolic acid contents were found to be in the methanol (56.9±0.9c mg QE g−1 extract) and ethanol (568.0±3.3a mg GAE g−1 extract) extracts, respectively. The ethanol extract of C. oppositifolia has the most prominent activity against α-amylase, AChE and BChE whereas the methanol extract of this plant displayed the highest inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase. HPLC analysis of the ethanol extracts revealed that the major flavonoids were kaempferol and quercetin whereas the major phenolic acids were protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, gentistic acid and 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. The findings suggested that the plants and their extracts have the potential to be used in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's diseases.

The Species and Intensities of Weed Seeds Obtained from Wheat Flour Mill Plants in Turkey

Wheat production is more than 10% is in first place with potential in Konya plain of Turkey. Weed seeds mixed crop seeds cause quality and yield losses on production. This research was carried out to determine the species, intensity and frequency of weed seeds obtained from flour mill plants operating in Konya. Samples were taken from the 15 flour mill plants with working high capacity in the region. Identification of the weed seeds species in the sample was made. Comparison was made with live materials and reference documents by examining the seeds under a binocular while diagnosis of species. Also, the intensity and frequency of the species contaminated in wheat were determined. As a result of the study, 79 weed seed species belonging to 19 different families were identified. The species of families the most inclusive were Poaceae with 14 species and Leguminosae with 13 species. In order to determine intensity and frequency of species, weed seeds counted by hand, weighed in scale were recorded in laboratory. The highest weed seeds intensity as number and weight among the species were determined Galium tricornutum (rough bedstraw) with 16.16% and Aegilops cylindrica (jointed goatgrass) with 21.22% respectively. About the frequency of species, the most frequent species was Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed) with 100%.

Characterization of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ associated with a maize leaf reddening disease in Turkey

AbstractIn recent years, empty or poor grain bearing corn plants with leaf reddening symptoms have been observed in some commercial maize production areas in the Adana province of Turkey. The disease is increasing and causing economic losses. To verify the possible presence of phytoplasmas, leaf samples were tested with P1/Tint and R16F2n/R2 phytoplasma‐specific primer pairs after DNA extraction. The 16S ribosomal gene sequence analysis followed by sequence in silico enzyme digestions and phylogenetic analyses allowed the identification of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’, subgroup of 16SrXII‐A related‐strain in all symptomatic samples. The positive samples were characterized using tuf and vmp1 genes. In silico restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequence analyses allowed the inclusion of all the positive samples into tuf‐type b and V15 molecular types. The sequence analysis indicated the presence of a single genotype in all the tested samples (n = 12). This is the first molecular characterization of a ‘Ca. P. solani’ strain infecting maize plants in Turkey. The identified pathogen is listed in the EPPO A2 list.

Environmental and economic life cycle assessment of a run‐of‐the‐river type hydroelectricity power plant in Turkey

AbstractThe environmental and economic life cycle assessment of a real‐life run‐of‐the‐river type hydroelectricity power plant in Turkey has been performed by considering the following stages: raw material acquisition, construction (including waste management), and transportation. CCaLC2 software and CML2001 methodology were used to calculate six different environmental impacts, whereas the economic impact was chosen as the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). Functional unit was 1 MWh of electricity generated. The environmental impacts were found to be on average 95% lower than those of the Turkish grid, and the LCOE was calculated as $58.4/MWh. This outcome is understandable considering the high share of fossil fuels, especially low‐quality lignite, in Turkish electricity grid. The results were compared to those of a similar study conducted abroad and all the impacts were found to have the same order of magnitude, proving that this study is methodologically consistent with the literature. The main conclusion is that hydroelectricity produced by run‐of‐the‐river type plants in Turkey is environmentally friendly and economically viable compared to grid electricity. This is the first study in Turkey on the life cycle impact analysis of hydroelectricity and one of the few studies that consider economic and environmental factors simultaneously.

Population growth performance of Panonychus ulmi Koch (Acarina: Tetranychidae) on different fruit trees

The European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Acari: Tetranychidae) is an important pest species on deciduous plants in Turkey, especially on apple. In this study, development, survival, and reproduction of European red mite, P. ulmi were studied on different host plants under laboratory conditions (25±2 °C,% 60±10 RH and16:8 L:D photoperiod). Population performance of P. ulmi was obtained on its different host plants including apple (Malus communis L.), quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.), cherry (Prunus avium L.), and sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L). The life history raw data of P. ulmi were analyzed by using the age-stage, two-sex life table. Results indicated that the highest net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of increase, and finite rate of increase as well as the longest mean generation time, were obtained on apple cv. Starking delicious. The population projection simulated by using life tables based on the 0.025th and 0.975th bootstrap results of the finite rate of increase displayed the same trend with population growth parameters. Results suggested that apple cv. Starking Delicious was the favorable host for P. ulmi, however, there is potential for the pest to become a serious pest on other host plants tested under favorable conditions.

Nonlinear static analysis of thermal power plant buildings

When steel structure is adopted in the main building of domestic thermal power plant, steel frame-center support structure is often adopted. The main building of a 2×660MW thermal power plant in Turkey is located in a high-intensity area, the earthquake area is Zone 1, and the building site category is Z2. In order to make the structure have better ductility and energy dissipation capacity under rare earthquakes, the structure adopts the form of steel frame-eccentric support structure. Through the nonlinear static analysis of the structure, the performance of the structure under the action of rare earthquakes is studied, which provides reference experience for future engineering design. The analysis results show that the energy dissipating beam has played a good role in dissipating energy under the action of rare earthquakes, effectively protecting the main structure, and the structure has not entered a collapsed state.

Assessment of different hazard indices around coal-fired power plants in Turkey

Assessment of different hazard indices around coal-fired power plants in Turkey