The metamorphosis of a historical city: From the Byzantine city Argyropolis to the Ottoman neighborhood Süleymaniye

Anatolia, which has hosted many civilizations since the early ages, is historically very important. While the majority of the settlements of these civilizations are still present where they were founded, there are some historical cities that have disappeared or moved to another place; while some are known with their names only in old sources, the ruins of some of them are found, and some continue to exist in other places because the original places of foundation of the cities were deserted. One of the cities which sought its continuity in another place is Argyropolis. The city which was founded on a sloping area with rich silver mines and which was spread along heights of 1400–1500 m, moved to a valley of a height of 1150 m and some 4 km away from its original place of foundation because of the loss of its socio-economic power. In its original place of foundation, the city was called as Argyropolis and Canca, respectively. After the city was left it was called Eski?ehir (Old City) and Eski Gümü?hane (Old Gümü?hane), respectively; and when it lost its status as a city and reduced to the status of a neighborhood it was called Süleymaniye (The City of Suleiman). The names given to the old city before it reduced to the status of a neighborhood and to the new city refer to the ‘silver mines’, which were an indication of the economic condition of the city. The closure of these mines was to the desertion of the city what the running of these mines was to its foundation and development.     

Sorption isotherms and isosteric heat of sorption for grapes, apricots, apples and potatoes

Moisture sorption isotherms of grapes, apricots, apples and potatoes were determined at 30°C, 45°C, and 60°C using the standard, static-gravimetric method. Six two-parameter and five three-parameter sorption models were tested to fit the experimental data. A nonlinear regression analysis method was used to evaluate the constants of the sorption equations. The Halsey equation gave the best fit to the experimental sorption data for all materials tested over the range of temperatures and water activities investigated. The GAB model gave also the closest fit to the sorption data for potatoes and grapes. The agreement between experimental and predicted values of these models was found to be satisfactory. The isosteric heat of desorption and adsorption of water determined from the equilibrium data using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation.     

Application of ultrasonic method in asphalt concrete testing for fatigue life estimation

This paper presents the possibilities of applying ultrasonic methods in asphalt concrete specimen testing in order to estimate fatigue life using ultrasonic characteristics of specimens. The procedures and results of testing cylinder shaped samples of both ultrasonic analysis and fatigue life testing are described. The ultrasonic method was first used in order to obtain the seismic characteristics of specimens. Then, the specimens were tested for fatigue lives using the repeated-loading indirect tensile test equipment (SDU-Asphalt Tester). To be able to model the fatigue lives, in addition to conventional fatigue model parameters new parameters from this ultrasonic analysis were taken into consideration. These additional parameters are acquired from the seismic measurements. Hence, only by examining the ultrasonic method, it will be possible to predict the fatigue lives of the specimens non-destructively.