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Ordu University

UniversityOrdu, Türkiye

Research output, citation impact, and the most-cited recent papers from Ordu University (Türkiye). Aggregated across the NobleBlocks index of 300M+ scholarly works.

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9.3K
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99.6K
h-index
89
i10-index
2.7K
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Ordu UniversityOrdu Üniversitesi

Top-cited papers from Ordu University

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access
Jens Kattge, Gerhard Bönisch, Sandra Dı́az, Sandra Lavorel +4 more
2019· Global Change Biology2.1Kdoi:10.1111/gcb.14904

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Sample size, power and effect size revisited: simplified and practical approaches in pre-clinical, clinical and laboratory studies
Ceyhan Ceran Serdar, Murat Cihan, Doğan Yücel, Muhittin A. Serdar
2020· Biochemia Medica1.5Kdoi:10.11613/bm.2021.010502

Calculating the sample size in scientific studies is one of the critical issues as regards the scientific contribution of the study. The sample size critically affects the hypothesis and the study design, and there is no straightforward way of calculating the effective sample size for reaching an accurate conclusion. Use of a statistically incorrect sample size may lead to inadequate results in both clinical and laboratory studies as well as resulting in time loss, cost, and ethical problems. This review holds two main aims. The first aim is to explain the importance of sample size and its relationship to effect size (ES) and statistical significance. The second aim is to assist researchers planning to perform sample size estimations by suggesting and elucidating available alternative software, guidelines and references that will serve different scientific purposes.

The effect of loneliness on depression: A meta-analysis
Evren Erzen, Özkan Çıkrıkçı
2018· International Journal of Social Psychiatry818doi:10.1177/0020764018776349

BACKGROUND: Negative emotions, which have a common, chronic and recurrent structure, play a vital role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. In this study, loneliness as a negative emotion was considered to be a predisposing factor in depression. AIM: The aim of this meta-analysis is to determine the effect of loneliness on depression. METHOD: Initially, a literature scan was performed and all related literature was pooled together ( n = 531). Based on scales determined by the researchers, it was decided to include 88 studies in the analysis. This study obtained a sampling group of 40,068 individuals. RESULTS: The results of using a random effects model for analysis showed that loneliness had a moderately significant effect on depression. None of the variables of study sampling group, type of publication and publication year were found to be moderator variables. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the research, loneliness may be said to be a significant variable affecting depression. The findings obtained are discussed in light of the literature.

Global maps of soil temperature
Jonas J. Lembrechts, Johan van den Hoogen, Juha Aalto, Michael B. Ashcroft +4 more
2021· Global Change Biology308doi:10.1111/gcb.16060

Abstract Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1‐km 2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1‐km 2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse‐grained air temperature estimates from ERA5‐Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome‐specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near‐surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil‐related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications.

Cadmium toxicity affects chlorophyll a and b content, antioxidant enzyme activities and mineral nutrient accumulation in strawberry
Ferhad Muradoğlu, Muttalip Gündoğdu, Sezai Erċışlı, Tarık ENCÜ +3 more
2015· Biological Research273doi:10.1186/s40659-015-0001-3

BACKGROUND: Cadmium (Cd) is well known as one of the most toxic metals affecting the environment and can severely restrict plant growth and development. In this study, Cd toxicities were studied in strawberry cv. Camarosa using pot experiment. Chlorophyll and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities and mineral nutrient concentrations were investigated in both roots and leaves of strawberry plant after exposure Cd. RESULTS: Cd content in both roots and leaves was increased with the application of increasing concentrations of Cd. We found higher Cd concentration in roots rather than in leaves. Chlorophyll a and b was decreased in leaves but MDA significantly increased under increased Cd concentration treatments in both roots and leaves. SOD and CAT activities was also increased with the increase Cd concentrations. K, Mn and Mg concentrations were found higher in leaves than roots under Cd stress. In general, increased Cd treatments increased K, Mg, Fe, Ca, Cu and Zn concentration in both roots and leaves. Excessive Cd treatments reduced chlorophyll contents, increased antioxidant enzyme activities and changes in plant nutrition concentrations in both roots and leaves. CONCLUSION: The results presented in this work suggested that Cd treatments have negative effect on chlorophyll content and nearly decreased 30% of plant growth in strawberry. Strawberry roots accumulated higher Cd than leaves. We found that MDA and antioxidant enzyme (CAT, SOD and APX) contents may have considered a good indicator in determining Cd tolerance in strawberry plant.

SoilTemp: A global database of near‐surface temperature
Jonas J. Lembrechts, Juha Aalto, Michael B. Ashcroft, Pieter De Frenne +4 more
2020· Global Change Biology236doi:10.1111/gcb.15123

Current analyses and predictions of spatially explicit patterns and processes in ecology most often rely on climate data interpolated from standardized weather stations. This interpolated climate data represents long-term average thermal conditions at coarse spatial resolutions only. Hence, many climate-forcing factors that operate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions are overlooked. This is particularly important in relation to effects of observation height (e.g. vegetation, snow and soil characteristics) and in habitats varying in their exposure to radiation, moisture and wind (e.g. topography, radiative forcing or cold-air pooling). Since organisms living close to the ground relate more strongly to these microclimatic conditions than to free-air temperatures, microclimatic ground and near-surface data are needed to provide realistic forecasts of the fate of such organisms under anthropogenic climate change, as well as of the functioning of the ecosystems they live in. To fill this critical gap, we highlight a call for temperature time series submissions to SoilTemp, a geospatial database initiative compiling soil and near-surface temperature data from all over the world. Currently, this database contains time series from 7,538 temperature sensors from 51 countries across all key biomes. The database will pave the way toward an improved global understanding of microclimate and bridge the gap between the available climate data and the climate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions relevant to most organisms and ecosystem processes.

Gut microbiota modulation with long-chain corn bran arabinoxylan in adults with overweight and obesity is linked to an individualized temporal increase in fecal propionate
Nguyen K. Nguyen, Edward C. Deehan, Zhengxiao Zhang, Mingliang Jin +4 more
2020· Microbiome194doi:10.1186/s40168-020-00887-w

BACKGROUND: Variability in the health effects of dietary fiber might arise from inter-individual differences in the gut microbiota's ability to ferment these substrates into beneficial metabolites. Our understanding of what drives this individuality is vastly incomplete and will require an ecological perspective as microbiomes function as complex inter-connected communities. Here, we performed a parallel two-arm, exploratory randomized controlled trial in 31 adults with overweight and class-I obesity to characterize the effects of long-chain, complex arabinoxylan (n = 15) at high supplementation doses (female: 25 g/day; male: 35 g/day) on gut microbiota composition and short-chain fatty acid production as compared to microcrystalline cellulose (n = 16, non-fermentable control), and integrated the findings using an ecological framework. RESULTS: Arabinoxylan resulted in a global shift in fecal bacterial community composition, reduced α-diversity, and the promotion of specific taxa, including operational taxonomic units related to Bifidobacterium longum, Blautia obeum, and Prevotella copri. Arabinoxylan further increased fecal propionate concentrations (p = 0.012, Friedman's test), an effect that showed two distinct groupings of temporal responses in participants. The two groups showed differences in compositional shifts of the microbiota (p ≤ 0.025, PERMANOVA), and multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses revealed that the propionate response was predictable through shifts and, to a lesser degree, baseline composition of the microbiota. Principal components (PCs) derived from community data were better predictors in MLR models as compared to single taxa, indicating that arabinoxylan fermentation is the result of multi-species interactions within microbiomes. CONCLUSION: This study showed that long-chain arabinoxylan modulates both microbiota composition and the output of health-relevant SCFAs, providing information for a more targeted application of this fiber. Variation in propionate production was linked to both compositional shifts and baseline composition, with PCs derived from shifts of the global microbial community showing the strongest associations. These findings constitute a proof-of-concept for the merit of an ecological framework that considers features of the wider gut microbial community for the prediction of metabolic outcomes of dietary fiber fermentation. This provides a basis to personalize the use of dietary fiber in nutritional application and to stratify human populations by relevant gut microbiota features to account for the inconsistent health effects in human intervention studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02322112 , registered on July 3, 2015. Video Abstract.

The Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Turkish Society
Taşkın KILIÇ, Sedat Bostan, Ramazan Erdem, Yunus Emre Öztürk +1 more
2020· Electronic Journal of General Medicine184doi:10.29333/ejgm/7944

Pandemics leave significant marks on the memories of societies with their permanent impacts. Going beyond a cause of disease or death, they can have consequences in many aspects, psychological, social and economic ones being in the first place. The Covid-19 outbreak, which first emerged in China and has spread to the whole world as of the first months of 2020, has the potential to constitute a breaking the course of history, as well. Turkey is located on the transit point between Asia and Europe with its geographical position, and thus, received its share from the outbreak of Covid-19, which spreads through social contact. The first official case was recorded on 11 March 2020, and then the virus spread rapidly. This study aims to assess the attitude of the public towards Covid-19 at times when the impact of the disease reached maximum. To this end, data were collected from 1586 people with different socio-demographic features through Covid-19 Pandemic Community Scale. The impact of the pandemic on the society was measured in three dimensions as Sensitivity to Pandemic, Protection against Pandemic and Social Trust. The research results showed that the people had high levels of sensitivity to the pandemic, exerted the maximum effort for protection and social trust was above the average although it fell behind the other dimensions. As a consequence, it can be concluded that Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the Turkish people.

Neurological and Musculoskeletal Features of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Auwal Abdullahi, Sevim Acaröz Candan, Muhammad Aliyu Abba, Auwal Hassan Bello +4 more
2020· Frontiers in Neurology176doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00687

<bold>Importance:</bold> Some of the symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and breathing difficulty. However, the mechanism of the disease, including some of the symptoms such as the neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms, is still poorly understood. <bold>Objective:</bold> The aim of this review is to summarize the evidence on the neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms of the disease. This may help with early diagnosis, prevention of disease spread, and treatment planning. <bold>Data Sources:</bold> MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (first 100 hits) were searched until April 17, 2020. The key search terms used were “coronavirus” and “signs and symptoms.” Only studies written in English were included. <bold>Study Selection:</bold> The selection was performed by two independent reviewers using EndNote and Rayyan software. Any disagreement was resolved by consensus or by a third reviewer. <bold>Data Extraction and Synthesis:</bold> PRISMA guidelines were followed for abstracting data and assessing the quality of the studies. These were carried out by two and three independent reviewers, respectively. Any disagreement was resolved by consensus or by a third reviewer. The data were analyzed using qualitative synthesis and pooled using a random-effect model. Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s): The outcomes in the study include country, study design, participant details (sex, age, sample size), and neurological and musculoskeletal features. <bold>Result:</bold> Sixty studies (<italic>n</italic> = 11, 069) were included in the review, and 51 studies were used in the meta-analysis. The median or mean age ranged from 24 to 95 years. The prevalence of neurological and musculoskeletal manifestations was 35% for smell impairment (95% CI 0–94%; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 99.63%), 33% for taste impairment (95% CI 0–91%; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 99.58%), 19% for myalgia (95% CI 16–23; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 95%), 12% for headache (95% CI 9–15; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 93.12%), 10% for back pain (95% CI 1–23%; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 80.20%), 10% for dizziness (95% CI 3–19%; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 86.74%), 3% for acute cerebrovascular disease (95% CI 1–5%; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 0%), and 2% for impaired consciousness (95% CI 1–2%; <italic>I</italic><sup>2</sup> 0%). <bold>Conclusion and Relevance:</bold> Patients with COVID-19 present with neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms. Therefore, clinicians need to be vigilant in the diagnosis and treatment of these patients.

Antioxidant Activity, Acetylcholinesterase, and Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitory Properties of Novel Ureas Derived from Phenethylamines
Kadir Aksu, Bünyamin Özgeriş, Parham Taslımı, Ali Naderi +2 more
2016· Archiv der Pharmazie138doi:10.1002/ardp.201600183

A series of ureas derived from phenethylamines were synthesized and evaluated for human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) I and II, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) enzyme inhibitory activities and antioxidant properties. The ureas were synthesized from the reactions of substituted phenethylamines with N , N ‐dimethylcarbamoyl chloride; then, the synthesized compounds were converted to their corresponding phenolic derivatives via O ‐demethylation. hCA I and II were effectively inhibited by the newly synthesized compounds, with K i values in the range of 0.307–0.432 nM for hCA I and 0.149–0.278 nM for hCA II. On the other hand, the K i parameters of these compounds for AChE and BChE were determined in the range of 0.129–0.434 and 0.095–0.207 nM, respectively. Phenolic ureas also showed good antioxidant activities.

Proximate composition and fatty acid profile of three different fresh and dried commercial sea cucumbers from Turkey
Mehmet Aydın, Hüseyi̇n Sevgi̇li̇, Bekir Tufan, Yılmaz Emre +1 more
2011· International Journal of Food Science & Technology125doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2010.02512.x

Summary Proximate composition and fatty acid (FA) profile of three commercial sea cucumbers; Holothuria tubulosa , Holothuria polii and Holothuria mammata caught from Aegean Sea of Turkey were analysed. The effects of regional variation and drying process on FA composition were also investigated. Moisture, protein, fat and ash contents of the species ranged between 81.24% and 85.24%, 7.88% and 8.82%, 0.09% and 0.18%, and 5.13% and 7.85%, respectively, with a significant changes among species ( P &lt; 0.05) with some exceptions. Although FA values varied significantly ( P &lt; 0.05) among species and regions, the changes for most FA types representing the same region for different species were not significantly different. Total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were found to be higher than total saturated (SFA) and monosaturated FAs (MUFA) accounting for 53.0–62.12% for ∑PUFA, 13.28–16.41% for ∑MUFA and 13.99–19.21% for ∑SFA. While some individual SFAs and PUFAs decreased after drying process, various individual FAs of MUFA increased in their amounts ( P &lt; 0.05). Among PUFAs, the highest mean value of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid for all regions were determined for H. polii as 7.25% and H. tubulosa as 12.37% in fresh samples, respectively. This study represents new information relating to FA contents and drying effect on FA profile for these species.

The Effect of Water Stress on Some Morphological, Physiological, and Biochemical Characteristics and Bud Success on Apple and Quince Rootstocks
İbrahim Bolat, Murat Dikilitaş, Sezai Erċışlı, Ali İkinci +1 more
2014· The Scientific World JOURNAL122doi:10.1155/2014/769732

The effects of different water stress (control, medium, and severe) on some morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics and bud success of M9 apple and MA quince rootstocks were determined. The results showed that water stress significantly affected most morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics as well as budding success on the both rootstocks. The increasing water stress decreased the relative shoot length, diameter, and plant total fresh and dry weights. Leaf relative water content and chlorophyll index decreased while electrolyte leakage increased with the increase of water stress in both rootstocks. An increase in water stress also resulted in reduction in budding success in Vista Bella/M9 (79.33% and 46.67%) and Santa Maria/MA (70.33% and 15.33%) combinations. However, the water stress in Santa Maria/MA was more prominent. The increase in water stress resulted in higher peroxidase activities as well as phenol contents in both rootstocks. Although catalase activity, anthocyanin, and proline contents increased with the impact of stress, this was not statistically significant. The results suggest that the impact of stress increased with the increase of water stress; therefore, growers should be careful when using M9 and MA rootstocks in both nursery and orchards where water scarcity is present.

Arabinose biosynthesis is critical for salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis
Chunzhao Zhao, Omar Zayed, Fansuo Zeng, Chaoxian Liu +4 more
2019· New Phytologist119doi:10.1111/nph.15867

Summary The capability to maintain cell wall integrity is critical for plants to adapt to unfavourable conditions. l ‐Arabinose (Ara) is a constituent of several cell wall polysaccharides and many cell wall‐localised glycoproteins, but so far the contribution of Ara metabolism to abiotic stress tolerance is still poorly understood. Here, we report that mutations in the MUR 4 (also known as HSR 8 ) gene, which is required for the biosynthesis of UDP ‐Ara p in Arabidopsis, led to reduced root elongation under high concentrations of NaCl, KC l, Na NO 3 , or KNO 3 . The short root phenotype of the mur4 / hsr8 mutants under high salinity is rescued by exogenous Ara or gum arabic, a commercial product of arabinogalactan proteins ( AGP s) from Acacia senegal . Mutation of the MUR 4 gene led to abnormal cell−cell adhesion under salt stress. MUR 4 forms either a homodimer or heterodimers with its isoforms. Analysis of the higher order mutants of MUR 4 with its three paralogues, MURL , DUR , MEE 25 , reveals that the paralogues of MUR 4 also contribute to the biosynthesis of UDP ‐Ara and are critical for root elongation. Taken together, our work revealed the importance of the Ara metabolism in salt stress tolerance and also provides new insights into the enzymes involved in the UDP ‐Ara biosynthesis in plants.

Determination of land surface temperature and urban heat island effects with remote sensing capabilities: the case of Kayseri, Türkiye
Mehmet Çetin, Mehtap Özenen Kavlak, Müzeyyen Anıl Şenyel Kürkçüoğlu, Gülşah Bilge Öztürk +2 more
2024· Natural Hazards116doi:10.1007/s11069-024-06431-5

Abstract Kayseri, a densely urbanized province in Türkiye, grapples with pressing challenges of air pollution and limited green spaces, accentuating the need for strategic urban planning. This study, utilizing Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellite imagery, investigates the evolution of land surface temperatures (LST) and urban heat island (UHI) effects in key districts—Kocasinan, Melikgazi, Talas, and Hacılar—between 2013 and 2022. This research has been complemented with an analysis of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Built-Up Index (NDBI), exploring correlations among the LST, UHI, NDVI, and NDBI changes. The findings indicate that a significant portion (65% and 88%) of the study area remained unchanged with respect to the NDVI and NDBI differences. This research’s findings reveal that a substantial portion (65% and 88%) of the study area exhibited consistency in the NDVI and NDBI. Noteworthy increases in the NDVI were observed in 20% of the region, while only 4% exhibited higher NDBI. Strikingly, the UHI displayed strong negative correlations with the NDVI and robust positive correlations with the NDBI. The LST changes demonstrated a reduced temperature range, from 21 to 51 °C in 2013, to 18 to 40 °C in 2022. Localized environmental factors, notably at the National Garden site, showcased the most significant temperature variations. Notably, the UHI exhibited strong negative correlations with the NDVI and strong positive correlations with the NDBI. The study’s results emphasize the interplay among the NDBI, LST, and UHI and an inverse relationship with the NDVI and NDBI, LST, and UHI. These findings hold implications for urban planning and policymaking, particularly in the context of resilient and sustainable land use planning and the UHI mitigation. This research underscores the intricate interplay among the NDBI, LST, and UHI, highlighting an inverse relationship with the NDVI. These findings hold crucial implications for resilient and sustainable urban planning, particularly in mitigating the UHI effects. Despite limited vacant spaces in Kayseri, geospatial techniques for identifying potential green spaces can facilitate swift UHI mitigation measures. Acknowledging Kayseri’s complex dynamics, future research should delve into the UHI responses to urban morphology and design, extending this methodology to analyze the UHI effects in other Turkish cities. This research contributes to a broader understanding of UHI dynamics and sustainable urban planning practices, offering valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and researchers alike.

Crossing the line: migratory and homing behaviors of Atlantic bluefin tuna
Jay R. Rooker, Haritz Arrizabalaga, Igaratza Fraile, David H. Secor +4 more
2014· Marine Ecology Progress Series113doi:10.3354/meps10781

Assessment and management of Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus populations is hindered by our lack of knowledge regarding trans-Atlantic movement and connectivity of eastern and western populations. Here, we evaluated migratory and homing behaviors of bluefin tuna in several regions of the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea using chemical tags (δ13C and δ18O) in otoliths. Significant emigration of bluefin tuna from their place of origin was inferred from otolith δ13C and δ18O, with both eastern and western bluefin tuna commonly ‘crossing the line’ (45° W management boundary) in the Central North Atlantic Ocean and mixing with the other population. Several western migrants were also detected in Moroccan traps off the coast of Africa, indicating that trans-Atlantic movement occurs for members of the western population; however, the degree of mixing declined with proximity to the eastern spawning area (Mediterranean Sea). The origin of bluefin tuna collected at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar and from several regions within the Mediterranean Sea (Balearic Islands, Malta, and Sardinia) was essentially 100% eastern fish, demonstrating that natal homing is well developed by the eastern population, with western migrants rarely entering the Mediterranean Sea.

Differences in use without deficiencies in competence: passives in the Turkish and German of Turkish heritage speakers in Germany
Fatih Bayram, Jason Rothman, Michael Iverson, Tanja Kupisch +3 more
2017· International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism113doi:10.1080/13670050.2017.1324403

Determining how and why adult outcomes of heritage speaker (HS) bilingualism differ from monolinguals is difficult because it requires the reconstruction of developmental paths from end-state data. In an effort to address this issue, we examine HSs of Turkish in Germany at an early age of development (10–15 years old, n = 22), as well as age-matched monolingual controls in Turkey (n = 20) and Germany (n = 20), using a structured elicitation task for production of passives. The goal is to see whether HSs have the representation of passives in their mental grammars and to better understand the relative weight of factors (age at time of testing, immigration status of the Turkish parents (first or second generation), and literacy in the L1) that potentially contribute to the formation of HSs’ grammatical competence. The results show that all HSs have the underlying representation for passives in both Turkish and German. There was a significant effect of only literacy; high level of L1 literacy has a positive effect on monolingual-like production as compared to those with no literacy. We discuss these results pertaining to explicating ultimate attainment outcomes in heritage language acquisition in relation to larger debates in the field.

Interspecific Nematode Signals Regulate Dispersal Behavior
Fatma Kaplan, Hans T. Alborn, Stephan H. von Reuß, Ramadan Ajredini +4 more
2012· PLoS ONE113doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038735

BACKGROUND: Dispersal is an important nematode behavior. Upon crowding or food depletion, the free living bacteriovorus nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces stress resistant dispersal larvae, called dauer, which are analogous to second stage juveniles (J2) of plant parasitic Meloidogyne spp. and infective juveniles (IJ)s of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), e.g., Steinernema feltiae. Regulation of dispersal behavior has not been thoroughly investigated for C. elegans or any other nematode species. Based on the fact that ascarosides regulate entry in dauer stage as well as multiple behaviors in C. elegans adults including mating, avoidance and aggregation, we hypothesized that ascarosides might also be involved in regulation of dispersal behavior in C. elegans and for other nematodes such as IJ of phylogenetically related EPNs. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of C. elegans dauer conditioned media, which shows strong dispersing activity, revealed four known ascarosides (ascr#2, ascr#3, ascr#8, icas#9). A synthetic blend of these ascarosides at physiologically relevant concentrations dispersed C. elegans dauer in the presence of food and also caused dispersion of IJs of S. feltiae and J2s of plant parasitic Meloidogyne spp. Assay guided fractionation revealed structural analogs as major active components of the S. feltiae (ascr#9) and C. elegans (ascr#2) dispersal blends. Further analysis revealed ascr#9 in all Steinernema spp. and Heterorhabditis spp. infected insect host cadavers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Ascaroside blends represent evolutionarily conserved, fundamentally important communication systems for nematodes from diverse habitats, and thus may provide sustainable means for control of parasitic nematodes.

Certain Hermite-Hadamard type inequalities via generalized k-fractional integrals
Praveen Agarwal, Mohamed Jleli, Muharrem Tomar
2017· Journal of Inequalities and Applications112doi:10.1186/s13660-017-1318-y

Some Hermite-Hadamard type inequalities for generalized k-fractional integrals (which are also named $(k,s)$ -Riemann-Liouville fractional integrals) are obtained for a fractional integral, and an important identity is established. Also, by using the obtained identity, we get a Hermite-Hadamard type inequality.

Aneurysmal bone cysts of the spine
Mehmet Zileli, Hasan Serdar Işık, Fatih Ersay Ogut, Merih İş +2 more
2012· European Spine Journal111doi:10.1007/s00586-012-2510-x

PURPOSE: Aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign, relatively uncommon lesion, representing 1.4 % of primary bone tumors. The vertebral column is involved in 3-30 % of cases. This report describes clinical characteristics and treatment results of 18 patients with aneurysmal bone cyst of the spine. METHODS: Between 1991 and 2008, 18 patients with aneurysmal bone cyst of the spine were surgically treated in our department. The clinical records, radiographs, histologic sections, and operative reports were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 11 male and 7 female patients; mean age was 22.1 years (range 7-46 years). Localizations were cervical (3), cervicothoracic (2), thoracic (3), lumbar (4), and sacrum (6). Tumor was localized on the left side in 11 cases, on the right side in 2 and at midline in 5 patients. The two most common clinical features were axial pain (14 patients) and radicular pain (8 patients). Neurological signs were paraparesis in 3, monoparesis in 6. Mean duration of symptoms was 9 months (range 3 months-3 years). All patients underwent surgery: total removal was performed in 13 patients and subtotal resection in 5. Posterior (11), anterolateral (1), or combined anterior-posterior (6) approaches were used. Mean follow-up duration was 112.3 months (range 4-21 years). We detected four recurrences in subtotal excision group (4/5), and one recurrence in total excision group (1/13). CONCLUSION: Treatment options for aneurysmal bone cysts are simple curettage with or without bone grafting, complete excision, embolization, radiation therapy, or a combination of these modalities. Radical surgical excision should be the goal of surgery to decrease the recurrence rate. Recurrence rate is significantly lower in case of total excision.

Properties of Phenolic Composition and Biological Activity of Propolis from Turkey
Rezzan Aliyazıcıoğlu, Hüseyin Şahin, Ömer Ertürk, Esra Ulusoy +1 more
2012· International Journal of Food Properties108doi:10.1080/10942912.2010.551312

Propolis has highly biologically active natural substances. Propolis is rich in phenolic compounds, and is becoming increasingly popular because of its components' potential role in contributing to human health. Its composition is variable and depends on several factors. In this study, some individual phenolic compounds were analyzed and investigated in vitro biological activities of ten different Turkish propolis samples. Seventeen different phenolic constituents were measured by reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography. Total phenolic compounds and ferric reducing antioxidant power were used as antioxidant capacity determinants. The antimicrobial activity was studied by agar diffusion method using six bacteria and two yeasts. All propolis showed strong antioxidant and antimicrobial activity and contained large amounts of antioxidant compounds. Quercetin, benzoic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and coumaric acid were detected in all propolis samples in high amounts, while vanillic acid, chlorogenic acid, epicathecin, rutin, syringic acid, and o-coumaric acid were found in very small quantities and cathecin was not found in any of them. The methanolic extracts were active against all bacteria and yeasts. They were especially effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC®27853. The propolis extracts proved to be a good source of antioxidants and antimicrobial agents that might serve to protect health and fight against several diseases.