May 2010
Diverse applications of biotechnology
The exciting discipline of biotechnology has drawn the interests of traditional biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, medical and agricultural scientists into applying mathematical and engineering models to understanding biology. Also, the biopharmaceutical, biochemical and agricultural industries are rapidly drawing from and applying the research results of biotechnology. Still, new industries relying on...
May 2010
How do village women determine foetal status and foetal pose in Malawi?
In Malawi, 80% of the population lives within 8 km radius of a health care facility. However, most facilities lack drugs, personnel and laboratory equipment. Due to poverty, people cannot afford private hospital services; hence resort to home-based healthcare. There is lack of information on how pregnancy-related issues are managed at home. The study aimed at documenting traditional methods used in...
May 2010
Applicable agricultural insurance models at the rural area: A case study from Turkey
The sector of agriculture needs protection for its critical role in responding to human needs as well as its vulnerability to various risks. This risk factor emanates from sector’s high dependence to natural conditions and it is mainly this factor, which necessitates protection. Insurance is one way to cope with natural risks involved in agricultural activities. The main theme of this insurance is...
May 2010
Distribution of lead in selected organs and tissues of albino rats exposed to acute lead toxicity
The study investigated the distribution of lead in the blood, liver, lung, kidney, heart and brain of albino rats, after oral administration of 1000, 1500 and 2000 ppm of lead solution for 7 consecutive days. The various organs were digested by standard procedures and lead concentrations in these organs were determined by Atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results showed that although lead...
May 2010
Tissue specific epigenetic silencing of the distinct tumor suppressor genes in lung cancer
The role of aberrant methylation of the cytosine-guanine dinucleotide islands in the promoter region of tumor suppressor genes in lung cancer development is increasingly recognized. DNAs extracted from cancer tissue biopsies of 40 patients with lung cancer were used. Methylated sites of tumor suppressor geneswere examined by bisulfate treatment and methylation-specific PCR method. Strip Assay...
May 2010
Performance evaluation of scalable encryption algorithm for wireless sensor networks
Developing effective security solutions for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are not easy due to limited supplies of WSNs and the hazardous nature of wireless medium. The implementation of encryption/decryption algorithms, which are the most essential part of the secure communication, can be very intricate in WSNs since, they incorporate routines, having very complex and intense computing procedures. Therefore,...
May 2010
Supply power factor and load current harmonic performance improvement of three phase AC voltage controller
AC voltage controllers as power converters used in many application between power ranges from few watts up to fractions of megawatts, such as light dimmers, induction motor soft starter, industrial heating and cycloconverters. Overall efficiency of power system controlled by some advanced methods in power converters is very important which covers supply and load power factor,...
May 2010
The effects of different land reallocation models applied in land consolidation projects on parcel transposition: Example of Karatepe village, Turkey
It is known that in agricultural countries, problems related to agricultural structure significantly affect agricultural production. One of the most serious of these problems involves the farming of fragmented, scattered and irregular shaped agricultural parcels. Land consolidation projects are one of the most important studies for the elimination of these problems. Enhancing the sustainability of land...
May 2010
Analysis of camera calibrations using direct linear transformation and bundle adjustment methods
Main feature of photogrammetry is the measurements which are made on photographic projection of the objects instead of making them directly on the object. Because of its indirect measurement feature, it has various application areas. Widespread use of photogrammetry increases the importance of calibration of cameras in the frame of photogrammetric principles. In this study, images of test fields shot by Nikon...
May 2010
Effect on enhancing physical strength and anti-stress activity of flavonoids from the Chinese medicinal plant Epimedium koreanum Nakai
Flavonoids from the Epimedium koreanum Nakai (FEN) were elucidated on enhancing physical strength and anti-stress effects on in vivo using mice and rats. Swimming time to exhaustion of mice administered with the FEN (15 and 30 mg/kg body weigh for 7 days) significantly prolonged. When the FEN (15 mg/kg) was given to the rats for 7 days, including the 48 h stress period, the FEN showed a...
May 2010
Designing the marketing strategies for ispir sugar bean as a local product using conjoint analysis
Local products have played an important role in rural development models by making it possible to make effective use of natural resources, and stimulating rural development potential. There is a close relationship between production and marketing departments of commercial farms to introduce local products to target consumer masses impressively. The aim of this study is to explore individual consumers’...
May 2010
Determination of thickness and stiffener locations for optimization of critical buckling load of stiffened plates
In this paper, buckling optimization of stiffened plates under uniform edge compression is considered. The locations of stiffeners are chosen as design variables and effects over critical buckling loads are observed. For this purpose, two types of conventional stiffened plates which are used in aerospace industry are investigated. The loaded sides of plates are simply supported and in order to reflect the...
May 2010
Deformation of Eastern Turkey from seismic and geodetic strain rates
Crustal deformation is the study of active geophysical processes that occur within the earth’s lithosphere. Geodesy provides facilities to investigate the earth’s crust movements and shares these data with the other disciplines. The various sources of geodetic data can be used to observe crustal deformation. Especially, GPS has gained wider acceptance worldwide for monitoring crustal dynamics for...
May 2010
Cloning and expression of tissue plasminogen activator (t-pa) gene in tobacco plants
Plants offer a promising alternative to microbial fermentation and animal cell cultures for production of recombinant proteins, the major advantages are safety, low cost, post-translation modifications and high volume of production. t-PA (tissue Plasminogen activator) is a trypsin-like serine proteinase and a superior thrombolytic agent. In this report, recombinant cDNA of tissue Plasminogen activator was...
May 2010
A method for the cost estimation in strengthening school buildings in Turkey
Major damage and collapse occured, especially, in the public buildings, due to the earthquakes in Turkey. According to evaluations carried out after the earthquake, the main reason of damage situation is seen to originate from the structural deficiency. As is in the whole world, the building sector also requires costly investments in Turkey. Six percent of the Gross National Product is spent to building...
May 2010
Determination of economic value of Göreme Historical National Park via contingent valuation method
The Göreme National Historical Park with its natural and cultural values is one of the distinguished potential areas where recreation and tourism activities can be carried out. This study has been undertaken with the aims of determining the recreational and tourism use value of Göreme Historical National Park with the contingent valuation method, examining effective factors of users’...
May 2010
Towards the pedestrian delay estimation at intersections under vehicular platoon caused conflicts
This paper attempts to develop a pedestrian delay estimation model for intersections considering automobile-pedestrian conflicts induced by driver’s bad behaviour of not giving way to pedestrians. Firstly, level of service (LOS) divisions for signalized and unsignalized intersection crosswalks for pedestrians in China are proposed and 6 levels are ranked using the pedestrians' perceptions of...
May 2010
Evaluation of 3D environments and virtual realities in science teaching and learning: The need to go beyond perception referents
There is a raging debate in literature about the effectiveness of 3D environments and virtual realities. The debate seems an unending one with both the advocates and critiques striving to justify their various positions. A survey of literature, however, revealed the absence of sufficient data to justify taking a position. This led the authors to hypothesize that most of the evaluation carried out in this area...
May 2010
Urination function reconstruction of atonic bladder with Finetech-Brindley sacral anterior root stimulator: A preliminary study in a Canine model
This study aimed to explore effects of Finetech-Brindley stimulator acting on a new reflex pathway of atonic bladder after medullary cone injury and to stimulate bladder urination. Intradural microanastomosis was performed between the proximal L6 anterior root and distal S2 anterior root of Beagle dogs, and a new reflex pathway was established after a period of axon regeneration. 8 months after neurosuture...
May 2010
Genetic variation in growth traits and morphological characteristics of Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) hybrids at nursery stage
Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) clones obtained from intraspecific and interspecific crosses were tested at Ä°zmit nursery in Turkey. Growth traits and various morphological characteristics were assessed after two growing seasons. Significant clonal differences were observed regarding height, diameter, volume index and survival rate. Ten intraspecific crosses had significantly better growth...
May 2010
GIS based fire analysis and production of fire-risk maps: The Trabzon experience
Globally, fire causes considerable losses that can be alleviated by taking appropriate precautions facilitated by sophisticated systems supported by information technologies. To eliminate or reduce the destructive effects of fires, fire risk management is a vital element for those who make the decisions (e.g. local governments and municipalities) concerning fire. For this purpose, geographical information...
May 2010
Application of Neural Network models on analysis of prismatic structures
A Neural Network based design system is presented in this paper for preliminary analysis and design of prismatic structures. Because of the broad diversity of prismatic structures encountered in practice, it becomes clear that this study is concentrated on fundamental frequencies of single cell box girder bridge with straight planform. To provide a wide range of dataset for neural network training,...
May 2010
A study on the effect of fly ash and silica fume substituted cement paste and mortars
Nowadays, mineral additives due to the advantages such as evaluation of waste for ecological balance, improving the physical and mechanical properties of cement or concrete a wide field of use are found. Two of the waste materials are silica fume and fly ash. This study aims to determine mutual influence of fly ash and silica fume with Portland cement. For this purpose, physical, chemical,...
May 2010
Chronic use of phenytoin reversibly suppresses fertility in male Sprague-Dawley rats
This study investigates the effect of chronic use of Phenytoin on male reproductive functions. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. They were divided into five groups of 12 rats each (A, B, C, D and E). Group A served as the control and was given 0.1 ml of normal saline. Group B and C received 50 mg/Kg of Phenytoin. Group D and E were given 100 mg/Kg of Phenytoin. Administration of the drug was orally...
May 2010
A field bioassay of the biocidal potential of some plant extracts against a millipede species (Spirostreptus assiniensis) infesting cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)
A field bioassay was conducted at Ndashi Etche, Rivers State, Nigeria to evaluate the biocidal potential of selected plant extracts against a millipede species(Spirostreptus assiniensis (Diplopoda: Spirostreptidae), infesting cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). The treatments comprised plant extracts from neem (Azadirachata indica), uziza (Piper guineense) and dragon tree (Dracenea...
May 2010
Biochemical and haematological changes in pregnant malaria patients and pregnant non-malaria women
Malaria has been known to alter hematological and biochemical parameters during pregnancy and is one of the causes of anemia in pregnancy. In a cross sectional study, changes in hematological and selected biochemical parameters were investigated in pregnant malarial patients (17) compared with 20 healthy pregnant non-malarial women (controls). Assay for transferrin (TF), total iron binding capacity (TIBC),...
May 2010
Screening of Theileria parva apicomplexan antigen homologs for induction of MHC CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses
Theileria parva, an intracellular apicomplexan pathogen transmitted byRhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks, infects and transforms lymphocytes of cattle and African buffalo causing the disease called East Coast fever (ECF). The genome of of T. parva was sequenced in order to facilitate research on parasite biology, assist the identification of schizont antigens for vaccine...
May 2010
The solution of Euler-Bernoulli beams using variational derivative method
Finite difference methods are often used for analyzing structures governed by complex differential equations. The finite difference method, well known as an efficient numerical method, was formerly applied to the case of beam and plate problems. The basic disadvantages of this method are the requirement of out-of-region points during the solution process and the difficulty of implementing the boundary...
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