A Traditional Turkish Fermented Cereal Food: Tarhana

Tarhana has a long history. According to historical records, it was first produced by Turkish people in Middle Asia and afterwards it spread out to different parts of the world. It is a fermented cereal-based food and can be simply defined as a mixture of yoghurt, cereal flours, yeast, different vegetables, herbs, and spices. After the mixing process, tarhana dough is fermented for 1 to 5 days and immediately dried. Both lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast fermentations occur simultaneously during tarhana production. Therefore, tarhana has sour and acidic taste with yeast flavour as well. It is sun-dried at the home-made level or oven-dried of the commercial level. Several types of tarhana can be classified depending upon processing method or raw materials used. Low moisture (6-10%), low pH (3.5-5.0), and components (organic acids, bacteriosin, etc.) formed in fermentation have bacteriostatic effect on pathogens and spoilage microorganisms during long term storage (1-2 years) and enhance shelf life. Since tarhana is a good source of B vitamins, minerals, organic acids, and free amino acids, and since it is a product of LAB and yeast fermentation, it may be considered a functional and probiotic food.     

Congenital esophageal stenosis owing to tracheobronchial remnants: a case report

A 3.5-year-old girl who had congenital esophageal stenosis caused by tracheobronchial remnants without esophageal atresia or tracheoesophageal fistula is presented. The diagnostic difficulties are discussed.     

Inflationary effects of oil prices and domestic gasoline prices: Markov-switching-VAR analysis

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature by studying the effects of sudden changes both on crude oil import price and domestic gasoline price on inflation for Turkey,an emerging country.Since an inflation targeting regime is being carried out by the Central Bank of Turkey,determination of such effects is becoming more important.Therefore empirical evidence in this paper will serve as guidance for those countries,which have an inflation targeting regime.Analyses have been done in the period of October 2005-December 2012 by Markovswitching vector autoregressive(MS-VAR) models which are successful in capturing the nonlinear properties of variables.Using MS-VAR analysis,it is found that there are 2 regimes in the analysis period.Furthermore,regime changes can be dated and the turning points of economic cycles can be determined.In addition,it is found that the effect of the changes in crude oil and domestic gasoline prices on consumer prices and core inflation is not the same under different regimes.Moreover,the sudden increase in gasoline price is more important for consumer price inflation than crude oil price shocks.Another finding is the presence of a pass-through effect from oil price and gasoline price to core inflation.     

Biochemical Characterization of Turkish Extra Virgin Olive Oils from Six Different Olive Varieties of Identical Growing Conditions

Extra virgin olive oils were extracted from six different major olive cultivars (Gemlik, Ayvalik, Domat, Akhisar, Memecik, Arbequina) cultivated in the Aegean region of Turkey. Fatty acid, sterol and tocopherol compositions were analyzed and the results were compared by multivariate statistical analysis. Olive samples were collected from the same orchard in order to limit the contribution of parameters such as climate, soil quality and agricultural practices to the total variance of chemical composition of olive oils. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that cultivars can be clearly distinguished on the basis of fatty acid and sterol composition. It is of interest to note that palmitoleic acid content of Arbequina, a Spanish cultivar, is significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the local Turkish cultivars in question and it is the only olive sample whose palmitoleic acid concentration is higher than that of the stearic acid concentration, exhibiting a divergent composition from the local Turkish cultivars. β‐Sitosterol and Δ5‐avenasterol contents of the oils are significantly correlated (r = ?0.989, p < 0.05) and this results in a discriminative axis on the PCA loading plot. Tocopherol composition was relatively insufficient in discriminating the olive varieties. Regarding tocopherol compositions Gemlik cultivar is distinguished from other cultivars with its γ‐tocopherol content, which is in average two times higher than that of other cultivars. The result of the present compositional study provides important data which can be used for olive oil authenticity studies in Turkey.     

Dynamics of spatial correlation and implications on MIMO systems

The use of multiple antennas has found various applications in the area of wireless communications. One such application has recently become very popular and is referred to as the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system. The main idea behind MIMO is to establish independent parallel channels between multiple transmit and receive antennas. Each channel uses the same frequency, and the transmissions occur simultaneously. In such a configuration, the amount of data transmitted increases linearly with the number of parallel channels, which is what makes MIMO so popular in the wireless world. The enormous capacity offered by MIMO systems is not realizable when the parallel channels are highly correlated. The goal of this article is to highlight the correlation concept and its impact on MIMO systems. Although correlation can be defined in many dimensions, here we focus on spatial correlation, and specifically consider antenna correlations in mobile units. We provide an overview of spatial correlation and present its underlying parameters in detail. Special attention is given to mutual coupling since it has signal decorrelation and antenna gain reduction effects. We then present how correlation in a MIMO system affects the amount of data that can be transmitted (MIMO capacity) and briefly review how power should be distributed with the knowledge of correlation. Analyses indicate that in real propagation environments, the high capacity gain of MIMO systems can be realized with improved antenna selection algorithms and power allocation strategies.     

The use of GA-ANNs in the modelling of compressive strength of cement mortar

In this paper, results of a project aimed at modelling the compressive strength of cement mortar under standard curing conditions are reported. Plant data were collected for 6 months for the chemical and physical properties of the cement that were used in model construction and testing. The training and testing data were separated from the complete original data set by the use of genetic algorithms (GAs). A GA-artificial neural network (ANN) model based on the training data of the cement strength was created. Testing of the model was also done within low average error levels (2.24%). The model was subjected to sensitivity analysis to predict the response of the system to different values of the factors affecting the strength. The plots obtained after sensitivity analysis indicated that increasing the amount of C₃S, SO₃ and surface area led to increased strength within the limits of the model. C₂S decreased the strength whereas C₃A decreased or increased the strength depending on the SO₃ level. Because of the limited data range used for training, the prediction results were good only within the same range. The utility of the model is in the potential ability to control processing parameters to yield the desired strength levels and in providing information regarding the most favourable experimental conditions to obtain maximum compressive strength.     

A relationship between the bubble-particle attachment time and the mineralogy of a copper-sulphide ore

Flotation performance depends on bubble-particle attachment which is controlled by the particle surface properties which include the particle composition and the surface liberation of valuable minerals. This paper discusses the contribution of liberation of valuable minerals to bubble-particle attachment time measurements, under constant chemical conditions. The bubble-particle attachment time measurements were performed using a sized fraction from concentrates obtained at different times and tails by flotation of a copper-gold sulphide ore (Northparkes Mine, Australia) in a mechanically agitated batch flotation cell. All products and tails were analyzed using quantitative mineral liberation analysis. The results showed that there was a relationship between the time of the concentrate collected, the Cu grade of the sample and the bubble-particle attachment time, and that the measurements were most sensitive to the amount of unliberated material. The fast floating material was higher grade, with a lower attachment time indicating that the measured bubble-particle attachment time could be used to characterize flotation performance of an ore.     

Effect of different ozone treatments on aflatoxin degradation and physicochemical properties of pistachios

This study evaluated the efficiency of ozone for the degradation of aflatoxins in pistachio kernels and ground pistachios. Pistachios were contaminated with known concentrations of aflatoxin (AF) B₁, B₂, G₁ and G₂. Pistachio samples were exposed to gaseous ozone in a chamber at 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0 mg L^?1 ozone concentrations for 140 and 420 min at 20 °C and 70% RH. Aflatoxin degradation was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The efficiency of ozone for aflatoxin degradation in pistachios increased with increasing exposure time and ozone concentration. The results indicated that AFB₁ and total aflatoxins could be reduced by 23 and 24%, respectively, when pistachio kernels were ozonated at 9.0 mg L^?1 ozone concentration for 420 min. Only a 5% reduction in AFB₁ and total aflatoxin levels could be achieved for ground pistachios under the same conditions. No significant changes occurred in pH, color, moisture content and free fatty acid values of pistachio kernels and ground pistachios. Fatty acid compositions of pistachios did not change significantly after the ozonation treatments. No significant changes were found between sweetness, rancidity, flavor, appearance and overall palatability of ozonated and non‐ozonated pistachio kernels. Significant changes were observed in the organoleptic properties of ground pistachios, except rancidity, after 5.0 mg L^?1 ozone treatment for 140 min. Ozonation was found to be more effective for degrading aflatoxins in pistachio kernels than ground pistachios. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Film Composition Effects on Diffusion of Potassium Sorbate Through Whey Protein Films

ABSTRACT: The effect of film composition on potassium sorbate diffusion in whey protein films was studied using mixture response surface methodology. The model developed for potassium sorbate diffusivity was statistically significant ( P < 0.01) with no significant lack of fit. The diffusivities of potassium sorbate in the films at 25 °C varied between 5.4 and 9.8 × 10⁻¹¹ m²/s. Amounts of protein, sorbitol, beeswax, and potassium sorbate in the films significantly affected potassium sorbate diffusion coefficients. Increasing the relative amounts of protein and beeswax in the films decreased potassium sorbate diffusivity, while increasing the relative amounts of sorbitol and initial potassium sorbate in the films increased the diffusion of potassium sorbate. Strong interactions were observed between protein and beeswax, and potassium sorbate and beeswax. Keywords: edible films, whey protein, potassium sorbate, diffusivity, mixture design     

A Mathematical Model for Potassium Sorbate Diffusion Through Whey Protein Films

A mathematical model was constructed and solved to quantitatively describe the dynamic behavior of the potassium sorbate diffusion through whey protein films. The model results were compared with the experimental data of the potassium sorbate diffusion through whey protein films, and excellent agreements between the experimental data and the model results are observed. The experimental data for potassium sorbate diffusion through whey protein films were used for mathematical model of potassium sorbate diffusion through whey protein films and the determination of both potassium sorbate and solvent diffusion coefficients. The diffusivities of potassium sorbate at 25°C ranged from 4.12 to 9.34 × 10^?11 m²/s, while that of the solvent was between 1.38 and 8.74 × 10^?10 m²/s, depending on the film composition.