Measurements of indoor radon concentration levels in Kilis,Osmaniye and Antakya,Turkey during spring season

The fact that 50% of the natural radiation dose to which humans are exposed is caused by radon gas makes indoor radon measurements important. In this study, levels of indoor radon gas were measured in 204 houses in Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya using passive nuclear track detectors. Cr-39 radon detectors were left in the living rooms of participants’ houses, then analyzed at the Radon Laboratory of Health Physics Department in Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center (ÇANEM) of Atomic Energy Agency of Turkey (TAEK). Average indoor radon activity concentrations for Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya were 50 Bq/m³ (1.26 mSv/y), 51 Bq/m³ (1.29 mSv/y) and 40 Bq/m³ (1.01 mSv/y), respectively.     

Gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric analysis of volatiles obtained by four different techniques from Salvia rosifolia Sm., and evaluation for biological activity

Four different isolation techniques, conventional hydrodistillation (HD), microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MWHD), microdistillation (MD) and micro-steam distillation-solid-phase microextraction (MSD-SPME), have been used to analyze the volatile constituents from the aerial parts of Salvia rosifolia Sm. by gas chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. HD and MWHD techniques produced quantitatively (yield, 0.39% and 0.40%) and qualitatively (aromatic profile) similar essential oils. α-Pinene (15.7–34.8%), 1,8-cineole (16.6–25.1%), β-pinene (6.7–13.5%), β-caryophyllene (1.4–5.0%) and caryophyllene oxide (1.4–4.4%) were identified as major constituents of this Turkish endemic species. Besides, the hydrodistilled oil of S. rosifolia was evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. The hydrodistilled oil of S. rosifolia showed antibacterial activity against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with a MIC value of 125 μg/mL. Other human pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Candida albicans) were also inhibited within a moderate range (MIC = 125–1000 μg/mL). Antifungal activity of the oil was also observed against the strawberry anthracnose-causing fungal plant pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, C. fragariae and C. gloeosporioides. No cytotoxicity was observed for S. rosifolia oil up to 25 mg/mL against malignant melanoma, epidermal, ductal and ovary carcinoma.     

Thermal analysis of a white calcium bentonite

A white calcium bentonite (CaB) taken from Çaml?dere (Ankara, Turkey) region was heated at various temperatures between 100 and 1100 °C for 2 h. The mineralogy of the CaB was determined as calcium smectite (CaS), metahalloysite (MH), opal-A (OA), opal-CT (OCT), quartz (Q), feldspar (F), and calcite (C) using the X-ray diffraction patterns of the natural CaB and its heated samples. Besides the XRD patterns, the thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis, and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption (N₂-AD) data show that the CaS lose adsorbed and hydration water up to 300 °C, dehydroxylation takes place between 300 and 750 °C, and then the 2:1 layer structure completely collapses above 900 °C. The activation energies for the dehydration and dehydroxylation were calculated as 7636 and 48838 J mol^?1, respectively, from the TG data using Coats and Redfern method. The specific surface area (S) and specific micro–mesopore volume (V) obtained from N₂-AD data were 44 m² g^?1 and 0.100 cm³ g^?1 for the natural CaB. S and V reach their maxima of 105 m² g^?1 and 0.155 cm³ g^?1, respectively, at 300 °C, remain approximately constant as the temperature increases up to 700 °C and then decrease almost in parallel with each other, reaching their minima at 900 °C. This indicates that the S and V values increase gradually during dehydration and dehydroxylation of the CaS.     

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Achillea cretica L. (Asteraceae) from Turkey

Hydrodistilled volatile oil from the aerial parts of Achillea cretica L. (Asteraceae) was analysed by a combination of GC and GC/MS. Seventy-six components were identified, constituting 86.4% of the oil. The main constituents of the essential oil were caryophylladienol-II (13.4%), β-maaliene (6.1%), neo-intermedeol (6.0%), carvone (4.9%), spathulenol (4.5%), palmitic acid (3.3%) and selina-3,11-dien-6α-ol (3.2%). The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the broth-dilution method on nine microbial strains and showed to be quite strong against the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. The antibacterial properties of A. cretica justify its use in traditional medicine for the treatment of wounds, contaminated through bacterial infections.     

Dynamic phase transitions and dynamic phase diagrams in the kinetic spin-5/2 Blume-Capel model in an oscillating external magnetic field: Effective-field theory and the Glauber-type stochastic dynamics approach

Using an effective field theory with correlations, we study a kinetic spin-5/2 Blume-Capel model with bilinear exchange interaction and single-ion crystal field on a square lattice. The effective-field dynamic equation is derived by employing the Glauber transition rates. First, the phases in the kinetic system are obtained by solving this dynamic equation. Then, the thermal behavior of the dynamic magnetization, the hysteresis loop area and correlation are investigated in order to characterize the nature of the dynamic transitions and to obtain dynamic phase transition temperatures. Finally, we present the phase diagrams in two planes, namely (T/zJ, h₀/zJ) and (T/zJ, D/zJ), where T absolute temperature, h₀, the amplitude of the oscillating field, D, crystal field interaction or single-ion anisotropy constant and z denotes the nearest-neighbor sites of the central site. The phase diagrams exhibit four fundamental phases and ten mixed phases which are composed of binary, ternary and tetrad combination of fundamental phases, depending on the crystal field interaction parameter. Moreover, the phase diagrams contain a dynamic tricritical point (T), a double critical end point (B), a multicritical point (A) and zero-temperature critical point (Z).     

Determining the wettability of granular alumina by aluminum–magnesium alloys using the infiltration method

Wettability of the granular bed media influences the efficiency of aluminum filtration. This project was undertaken to develop a method for determining the wettability of the granular media in order to evaluate its suitability for filtration. The wetting characteristics of different granular alumina particles by aluminum–magnesium alloys were studied using the infiltration method. The contact angles for rough as well as smooth surfaces were determined, and alumina particles were classified according to their wetting characteristics. The results were consistent and showed that it is possible to differentiate the wetting characteristics of different alumina samples with the infiltration method. A capillary model based on the energy balance was developed to analyze the experimental data. The model uses an average capillary pore size. For one type of alumina, this model was extended to carry out the analysis using a capillary pore size distribution. Similar results were found in both cases. This paper describes the experimental and modeling work, and the results are presented and discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heating of magnetic fluid systems driven by circularly polarized magnetic field

A theory is presented to calculate the heat dissipation of a magnetic suspension, a ferrofluid, driven by circularly polarized magnetic field. Theory is tested by in vitro experiments and it is shown that, regardless of the character of the relaxation process, linearly and circularly polarized magnetic field excitations, having the same root-mean-square magnitude, are equivalent in terms of heating efficiency.     

Non-existence of Warped Product Semi-Slant Submanifolds of Kaehler Manifolds

In this paper, we show that there are no warped product semi-slant submanifolds of Kaehler manifolds. Contrary to this result,we provide an elementary example of a CR-warped product submanifold of a Kaehler manifold     

Design of a Gd‐DOTA‐Phthalocyanine Conjugate Combining MRI Contrast Imaging and Photosensitization Properties as a Potential Molecular Theranostic

The design and synthesis of a phthalocyanine – Gd‐DOTA conjugate is presented to open the way to novel molecular theranostics, combining the properties of MRI contrast imaging with photodynamic therapy. The rational design of the conjugate integrates isomeric purity of the phthalocyanine core substitution, suitable biocompatibility with the use of polyoxo water‐solubilizing substituents, and a convergent synthetic strategy ended by the use of click chemistry to graft the Gd‐DOTA moiety to the phthalocyanine. Photophysical and photochemical properties, contrast imaging experiments and preliminary in vitro investigations proved that such a combination is relevant and lead to a new type of potential theranostic agent.