Thermal conductivity of limestone from Gaziantep (Turkey)

In this study, thermal conductivity (TC) of limestone from Gaziantep, Turkey, was investigated. The limestone samples were collected from different parts of the city representing Gaziantep and F?rat formation which are clay and chalky limestone. TC of the samples was measured for saturated, partially saturated and dried conditions. Water absorption, dry unit weight and apparent porosity of the samples were also measured to correlate with TC. Measurements showed that TC was increased with increasing the water content of samples. The TC of the samples decreased while the porosity increased. Relationships between TC and both dry unit weight and porosity were driven. There was a very good exponential relationship between TC and saturation degrees of sample, porosity and density. Moisture content increased TC up to 113%.     

Renal artery embolization in severe nephrotic syndrome

Introduction Severe nephrotic syndrome is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Renal artery embolization (RAE) has been used in a number of renal diseases such as renal tumors, arteriovenous fistulas etc. However, data regarding benefits of RAE in patients with symptomatic severe proteinuria is limited. We decided to evaluate role of RAE in the setting of severe symptomatic nephrotic syndrome. Methods Eight patients who had undergone transcatheter renal artery embolization with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were included. Clinico‐demographic characteristics as well as baseline laboratory data including level of proteinuria, serum albumin, C‐reactive protein and LDL cholesterol levels were recorded for each patient. After RAE, outpatient clinic control laboratory values were also assessed. Findings All patients except one underwent bilateral RAE (four simultaneous or three sequential). Two patients experienced postembolization syndrome characterized by flank pain, fever, and leukocytosis, which was self‐limited and responded to analgesics in all patients. There was no technical complications associated with RAE procedure. All patients became anuric except one. Serum albumin levels increased and serum LDL‐cholesterol levels decreased considerably in treated patients. Discussion Renal artery embolization with the purpose of amelioration in nephrotic syndrome complications was effective and free of major technical complications in our patients.     

Malicious code detection in android: the role of sequence characteristics and disassembling methods

The acceptance and widespread use of the Android operating system drew the attention of both legitimate developers and malware authors, which resulted in a significant number of benign and malicious applications available on various online markets. Since the signature-based methods fall short for detecting malicious software effectively considering the vast number of applications, machine learning techniques in this field have also become widespread. In this context, stating the acquired accuracy values in the contingency tables in malware detection studies has become a popular and efficient method and enabled researchers to evaluate their methodologies comparatively. In this study, we wanted to investigate and emphasize the factors that may affect the accuracy values of the models managed by researchers, particularly the disassembly method and the input data characteristics. Firstly, we developed a model that tackles the malware detection problem from a Natural Language Processing (NLP) perspective using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). Then, we experimented with different base units (instruction, basic block, method, and class) and representations of source code obtained from three commonly used disassembling tools (JEB, IDA, and Apktool) and examined the results. Our findings exhibit that the disassembly method and different input representations affect the model results. More specifically, the datasets collected by the Apktool achieved better results compared to the other two disassemblers.

     

Adaptive backstepping sliding mode control with tuning functions for nonlinear uncertain systems

An adaptive backstepping tuning functions sliding mode controller is proposed for a class of strict-feedback nonlinear uncertain systems. In this control design, adaptive backstepping is used to deal with unknown or uncertain parameters and the matching condition restricting the Lyapunov based design. The main drawback of the Lyapunov based adaptive backstepping which is the overparametrisation is eliminated by the tuning functions. The adaptive backstepping tuning functions design is combined with the sliding mode control in order to overcome quickly varying parametric and unstructured uncertainties, and to obtain chattering free control. The proposed controller not only provides robustness property against uncertainty but also copes with the overparametrisation problem. Experimental results of the proposed controller are compared with those of the standard sliding mode controller. The proposed controller exhibits satisfactory transient performance, good estimates of the uncertain parameters, and less chattering.     

The effect of computer-assisted teaching on remedying misconceptions: The case of the subject “probability”

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of computer-assisted teaching (CAT) on remedying misconceptions students often have regarding some probability concepts in mathematics. Toward this aim, computer-assisted teaching materials were developed and used in the process of teaching. Within the true-experimental research method, a pre- and post-test control group study was carried out with 37 seventh-grade students-18 in the experimental group (CAT) and 19 in the control group (traditional teaching). A 12-item instrument, made up of 4 items related to each of the concepts “Probability Comparisons (PC),” “Equiprobability (E),” and “Representativeness (R),” was developed and implemented with the participants. After the teaching intervention, the same instrument was again administered to both groups as a post-test. In light of the findings, it can be concluded that computer-assisted teaching was significantly more effective than traditional methods in terms of remedying students’ misconceptions.     

Copper/polypyrrole multilayer coating for 7075 aluminum alloy protection

The corrosion behavior of 7075 aluminum (Al), copper modified Al (Al/Cu), polypyrrole modified Al (Al/PPy) and copper (under layer)/polypyrrole (top layer) modified Al (Al/Cu/PPy) samples were investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution. The copper plating on aluminum was carried out from acidic copper sulphate solution by electroless method. Polypyrrole (PPy) was electrochemically synthesized on Al and Al/Cu electrodes from 0.1 M pyrrole containing 0.4 M oxalic acid solution using cyclic voltammetry technique. The films synthesized were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The thermal stability of PPy films was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The surface morphologies were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The corrosion behavior of samples was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and anodic polarization curves. The data obtained showed that the synthesis of PPy on top of the Cu layer significantly enhances the corrosion resistance of Al by exhibiting a barrier effect against the attack of corrosive environment.     

Inhibitory effects of selected pesticides on peroxidases purified by affinity chromatography

The objective of this study was to determine the in vitro inhibition effects of seven commonly used pesticides including 2,4-d-acid dimethylamine, fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, glyphosate isopropylamine, haloxyfop-p-methyl, cypermethrin, λ-cyhalothrin, and dichlorvos on the peroxidase purified from turnip (Brassica rapa L.) and black radish (Raphanus sativus L.) using 4-amino benzohydrazide affinity column chromatography. The purification factors for the turnip and black radish peroxidases were found to be 263.29-fold (with a yield of 12.89%) and 36.20-fold (with a yield of 6.90%), respectively. Among these compounds, λ-cyhalothrin showed the strongest inhibitory effect against turnip peroxidase (K_i: 1.23 × 10^?2 ± 0.21 × 10^?2 mM) as noncompetitive inhibition. On the other hand, cypermethrin demonstrated the highest inhibition effect against black radish peroxidase (K_i: 2.14 × 10^?2 ± 0.08 × 10^?2 mM) as competitive inhibition.     

Catalytic-kinetic spectrophotometric determination of vanadium （V） based on the Celestine blue-bromate-vanadium （V）-citric acid reaction

A novel sensitive and relatively selective kinetic method is presented for the determination of V(V) based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation reaction of Celestine blue by potassium bromate in the presence of citric acid as an activator.The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in absorbance of Celestine blue at a maximum absorption wavelength of 540 nm between 0.5 and 9 min(the fixed-time method) in an H3PO4 medium at 45°C.The effect of various parameters such as con...     

Catalytic-kinetic spectrophotometric determination of vanadium (Ⅴ) based on the Celestine blue-bromate-vanadium (Ⅴ)-citric acid reaction

A novel sensitive and relatively selective kinetic method is presented for the determination of V(Ⅴ) based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation reaction of Celestine blue by potassium bromate in the presence of citric acid as an activator.The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in absorbance of Celestine blue at a maximum absorption wavelength of 540 nm between 0.5 and 9 min (the fixed-time method) in an H3PO4 medium at 45℃.The effect of various parameters such as concentrations of H3PO4,citric acid,potassium bromate and Celestine blue,ionic strength,reaction temperature and time on the rate of V(Ⅴ) catalyzed reaction was studied.The method is free from the most interferences,especially from large amounts of V(Ⅳ).The decrease in absorbance is proportional to the concentration of V(Ⅴ) over the entire concentration range tested (0.025-1.25 μg·mL-1) with a detection limit of 6.80 μg·L-1 (according to statistical 3Sblank/k criterion) and a coefficient of variation (CV) of 1.78％ (for ten replicate measurements at 95％ confidence level).The proposed method suffers from a few interferences such as Cr(Ⅵ) and Hg(Ⅱ) ions.The method was successfully applied to the determination of V(Ⅴ) in river water,lake water,tap water,natural drinking water samples and a certified standard reference material such as SRM-1640 with satisfactory results.The vanadium contents of natural water samples were detected by using both linear calibration curve and standard addition curve methods.The recoveries of spiked vanadium (Ⅴ) into the certified standard water sample were found to be quantitative,and the reproducibility was satisfactory.It was observed that the results of the SRM 1640 were in good agreement with the certified value.     

Erythrocyte folate status and serum iron levels in patients undergoing hemodialysis

The present study was aimed to evaluate erythrocyte folate and the iron levels in diabetes and hypertension patients treated with/without hemodialysis. The effects of erythropoietin and iron treatment as well as vitamin supplementation on measured parameters were considered. The 67 controls consisted of healthy subjects (n = 22), hypertensive subjects (n = 22), and diabetic subjects (n = 23) without any renal disorder. According to primary renal disorders, the patients undergoing hemodialysis (n = 68) were classified into four groups as diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy, reflux nephropathy or interstitial nephritis, and renal insufficiency depending on other causative factors. The mean value of erythrocyte folate levels of all patients undergoing hemodialysis was higher than the healthy control group (P < 0.05). Erythrocyte folate levels in hypertensive and diabetic nephropathy patients were higher than their own hypertensive or diabetic controls and also healthy controls (both, P < 0.05). Serum iron levels of all subgroups in hemodialysis patients were found to be similar with healthy controls (all, P > 0.05). The only significance observed within the subgroups was between diabetic controls and diabetic nephropathy patients (P < 0.05). None of the treatment or supplementation of erythropoietin, iron and vitamin affected erythrocyte folate levels (all, P > 0.05). The increase in erythrocyte folate status of patients with end stage renal diseases might be the result of sum or individual effects of causative factors such as renal pathology, compensation mechanism against renal anemia, or routine folate supplementation.