Similarities and differences of the spheroidal microstructure in Vertisols from Turkey and Israel

Vertisols formed on different parent materials from Turkey (Aslanpınarı and Begde soil series) and Israel (Akko soil series) were studied for their microstructure. The Aslanpınarı and Begde soils showed similar spheroidal microstructural development in the ABss horizons, whereas the spheres of Akko differed by being smaller and lacking granostriation. Micromorphometric analyses of the three soils revealed similar pore characteristics within and between the aggregates of the ABss horizons. Presence of the spheroidal microstructural units and increase of palygorskite and vermiculite in the ABss horizon of the Be de soil, which is in contrast with increasing smectite in the Aslanpınarı and Akko soils, links with an increase in the structural stability index and an increase in the hydraulic conductivity.     

Alternative Marketing Strategies for Honey and Other Bee Products in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Turkey is the fourth leading honey producing country in the world after China, the United States, and Argentina, with around 5.35% of the market. One of the most important problems facing the Turkish beekeeping sector is marketing. In general, the market structure for animal products in Turkey has a confusing chain, which causes great differences between producer and consumer prices. Beekeepers have several alternatives for marketing their honey in Turkey: they may sell directly to consumers (in local markets or roadside stands), to a honey cooperative, to a wholesaler, to a honey packer or dealer, and/or to the export market. This study examines the marketing channels for honey and other bee products in Turkey, discusses the problems and defects of the current system from the perspective of producers and other actors in the market, and suggests solutions that include an increased role for cooperatives and extension services.     

IMPACTS OF BOSPORUS BRIDGES oN THE ISTANBUL METROPOLITAN SETTLEMENT AREAS

Istanbul, one of the largest metropolitan cities in the world, experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization in the second‐half of the 20th century. The City grew at an average annual growth rate of 4.5 per cent between 1950 and 2000. Growth of settlements and the transportation system have damaged the natural environment. Istanbul is located on both sides of the Bosporus Strait that divides Europe from Asia. Recently an alternative to the planned third bridge for the Istanbul metropolitan area has been selected. The transportation infrastructure which has been constructed has drastically changed the land use profile and caused negative impacts on the environment. The proposed third bridge route threatens agricultural areas, forests, waterbodies and water collection areas that form the open‐space systems of Istanbul. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of existing Bosporus bridges on the spatial development and the natural resources of the metropolitan area of Istanbul. With the new transportation axis focused on the bridge route, the potential impacts on vital open spaces such as the northern forest regions, the existing agricultural lands and the waterbodies and catchments are evaluated. These changes are explored using a geographical information system and five sets of Landsat satellite images from 1975, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005. This should provide a better understanding of the main reasons for the effects and will support city administrators planning similar projects. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accumulation of Heavy Metals from Motor Vehicles in Transplanted Lichens in an Urban Area

Abstract

Thalli of the lichens Pseudevernia furfuracea, Usnea longissima, Lobaria pulmonaria, and Peltigera praetextata were taken from unpolluted areas and transplanted to a downtown site in Erzurum, Turkey. Heavy metals copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and iron (Fe) were measured after an 8 month exposure period. Changes in the heavy metal concentrations were observed during the exposure period in lichen species and in both locations. Heavy metal concentrations were significantly higher in Peltigera praetextata than the other species at the location nearest to the junction crossroads. Peltigera praetextata may be considered a good indicator. These results can be attributed to the effect of atmospheric pollutants on the transplanted lichens.     

A real-time automated system for monitoring individual feed intake and body weight of group housed turkeys

Feed conversion is an important production trait in turkey breeding; the measurement of an individual bird's feed efficiency is important in identifying the most genetically superior individual. The development of a real-time automated feed intake and body weight monitoring system is described in this paper. The system integrated multiple feed and body weight weighing stations consisting of electronic scales, radio frequency identification (RFID) devices and data communication modules. A distributed and client-server-based system architecture with multi-threading software design was developed. This system architecture allowed for a real-time data acquisition capability when a large number of stations were required. A structured query language (SQL) database management system was developed to record and manage the dynamic feed intake and body weight gain data of individual birds. The developed system also offers a powerful research tool for studying poultry feeding behavior under group housing conditions.     

Toscana virus (TOSV) exposure is confirmed in blood donors from Central, North and South/Southeast Anatolia, Turkey

Toscana virus (TOSV), a sandfly fever virus serotype of medical and public health importance, is a major pathogen involved in aseptic meningtis occurring in Mediterranean countries and poses a threat to the residents as well as travellers. Limited data on TOSV activity are present from Turkey despite being located in the endemic zone. We aimed to identify TOSV exposure in 1115 healthy blood donors at the Hacettepe University Hospital Blood Bank in Ankara, Turkey, using commercial indirect fluorescence assays (IFAs) and virus neutralization test (VNT) for antibody detection and specificity confirmation. A total of 199 samples (17.8%) were positive for anti-TOSV that include IgG reactivity in 10.4%, IgM reactivity in 8.2% and IgM + IgG reactivity in 0.7% of the sera. Anti-TOSV specificity could be confirmed via VNT in 56% of the IgG- and 43.6% of the IgM-positive sera, making up a total of 58 samples (5.2%). Risk factors associated with TOSV IgG reactivity were male gender, residing in rural areas, frequent sighting of mosquitoes/sandflies and working outdoors. TOSV-specific antibody prevalence increased significantly with age. Evidence of exposure to other sandfly fever viruses was noted. These data reveal that mild or asymptomatic infections with TOSV are frequent in central and northern Anatolia. TOSV exposure has also been identified in residents of 9 provinces in southern/southeastern Anatolia for the first time.     

Genetic variation among lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) landraces from Southeast Turkey

The molecular characterization of cultivated plant genepools is of foremost importance for germplasm utilization in plant breeding. However, no comprehensive genetic fingerprinting of Turkish lentil landraces existed so far. To overcome this gap, 38 lentil landraces from southeast Turkey, together with six commercial varieties, were molecularly characterized using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) molecular markers. The ISSR analysis, performed with 14 primers, yielded 105 polymorphic bands and the AFLP analysis, carried out with six primer combinations, amplified 119 polymorphic fragments. Even though the AFLP produced more bands per primer combinations, the ISSR detected more polymorphisms. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means dendrograms based on Jaccard similarities obtained from three data sets: (i) ISSR, (ii) AFLP and (iii) combined ISSR and AFLP data, were similar and separated the landraces into two main groups. Turkish lentil landraces exhibited considerable genetic diversity. One landrace from Karacadag/Diyarbakir region was significantly different from the rest of the germplasm analysed. Jaccard distances highlighted sharp differences among landraces over short geographic distances. The knowledge of regional differentiation has practical utility in the management of germplasm and in breeding programmes.     

Estimating Genetic Diversity in Durum and Bread Wheat Cultivars from Turkey using AFLP and SAMPL Markers

Since 1925, more than 100 wheat varieties were developed and released in Turkey, and many more were introduced from abroad, but no systematic analysis of their genetic diversity has been performed yet. In this research, a total of 34 domestic and foreign cultivars (12 durum and 22 bread wheats), released in Turkey between 1936 and 2000, were fingerprinted by means of five amplified fragment length polymorphism and three selective amplification of microsatellite polymorphic loci (SAMPL) primer combinations, to evaluate their genetic variation and to determine the existence of cultivar-specific bands. Among the 344 amplicons scored, 214 were polymorphic. The primer combination E_ACG/M_AGG yielded the highest number and the primer combination SAMPL–6/M _AGA produced the lowest number of polymorphic bands. Most cultivars were molecularly very similar, although a few distinct ones (the durum wheat 'Kunduru–1149' and the bread wheat 'İkizce–96') were also identified. Seven cultivar-specific markers for different bread wheat cultivars ('Golia', 'Seri–82', 'Adana–99', 'Pandas' and 'Sertak–52') and six cultivar-specific markers for durum wheat cv 'Kunduru' were observed. Our results show that genetic diversity among old and present–day wheat cultivar commonly grown in Turkey is limited.     

Effects of legal regulations on land use change: 2/B applications in Turkish forest law

For the countries struggling with climate change, sustainable forestry is one of the greatest challenges and is difficult to define, implement, and to measure. According to the scientific community’s consensus on climate change, forests are one of the major sinks and sustainable forest management (SFM) is needed to prevent deforestation and its negative effects on natural ecosystems. Despite being a party to many international treaties/agreements related to land use policies (LUP) that are promoting SFM to protect and develop forest resources, the 2/B application in Turkish forest legislation has been causing deforestation in Turkey since the 1970s.

In this study, 2/B applications–political and legal process–causing deforestation by land use change (LUC) are investigated by carrying out a legal analysis. About 500.000 ha of forests have been lost due to the 2/B application and as a LUP directly affects SFM, carbon sequestration capacities (CSC), and therefore, climate change. To exemplify this pre and post-LUC change and effect, the amount of carbon that was prevented from being absorbed as 176,7 tonnes/ha on average in a given forest area for the year 2016. There is a vital need to address the negative effects of ill-defined forest legislation to achieve SFM.     

土耳其烟草生产及公共卫生政策分析

土耳其得益于独特的地理位置和气候条件,成为全球重要的烟叶生产与供应国。随着外资烟草商的进入,该国内卷烟市场也趋向多元化,卷烟价格与档次也逐步拉开。在公共卫生政策方面,政府出台了多项较为严格的控烟措施。