Economical assessment of different HVAC systems for an operating room: Case study for different Turkish climate regions

In this study, the annual energy consumptions of four different heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems serving to operation rooms (ORs) located at five different cities (Izmir, Antalya, Istanbul, Ankara and, Erzurum) in Turkey are analyzed. The study is performed for four different HVAC systems: (a) 100% fresh air system (System I), (b) 100% fresh air with half air volume rate at night period (System II), (c) 100% fresh air with half air volume rate at night period and heat recovery unit (System III), (d) 50% fresh air with half air volume rate at night period and with heat recovery and mixing units (System IV). Life cycle cost (LCC) for 20 years life span is calculated for the considered systems. It is found that System IV considerably reduces energy consumption and it is economically proper for the considered cities. The rate of energy consumption and LCC reductions are greater for the cities with extreme climate condition having relatively low specific humidity ratio. Using System IV instead of System I reduces OR energy consumption by 74% for the city of Erzurum which has a cold and dry climate.     

Elemental sulfur‐based polymeric materials: Synthesis and characterization

New elemental sulfur‐based polymeric materials called poly(sulfur‐random‐divinylbenzene) [poly(S‐r‐DVB)] were synthesized by ring opening polymerization via inverse vulcanization technique in the presence of a mixture of o‐, m‐, and p‐diviniylbenzene (DVB) as a cross‐linker. A clear yellow/orange colored liquid was obtained from the elemental sulfur melted at 160 °C and then by adding various amounts of DVB to this liquid directly via a syringe at 200 °C viscous reddish brown polymeric materials were obtained. The copolymers are soluble in common solvents like tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, and chloroform, and they can be coated on any surface as a thin film by a spray coating technique. The characterization of the materials was performed by using nuclear magnetic resonance, fourier transform infrared, and Raman spectroscopies. The morphological properties were monitored via scanning electron microscope technique. Thermal analysis showed that an increase in the amount of DVB in the copolymers resulted in an increase in the thermal decomposition temperature. On the other hand, poly(S‐r‐DVB) copolymers exhibited good percent transmittance as 50% T between 1500 and 13,000 nm in electromagnetic radiation spectrum, which makes them good candidates to be amenable use in military and surveillance cameras. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43655.     

Assessment of small hydropower (SHP) development in Turkey: Laws,regulations and EU policy perspective

This paper aims to evaluate the development of small hydropower (SHP) in Turkey and discusses the current situation of SHP plants in terms of government policy, economical aspects and environmental impacts taking EU policy into account. The laws published in recent years in Turkey succeeded in promoting the utilization of renewable energy for electricity generation, but it is considered that those laws are not fully compatible with EU policy. After the publication of Renewable Energy Law (Law No. 5346) there occurred a boost in SHP project along with hydropower development. Thus, the hydropower potential of Turkey increased 15% and the construction of hydropower plants also increased by a factor of four in 2007 as compared to 2006. Investment and operating costs are in favor of SHP development in Turkey as having the lowest costs among European countries (300–1000 €/kW as investment cost and 1 €cent/kWh as operating cost). Turkish governments have taken precautions for environmental issues resulted from renewable energy utilization but these are obviously not adequate. It is concluded that more attention must be paid on environmental issues and monitoring of the facilities must be enabled with further laws or regulations.     

The Assessment of Irrigation Efficiency in Buyuk Menderes Basin

While extending irrigated areas to augment agricultural production, irrigation efficiency should be increased not only to improve the agricultural production but also to obtain the sustainable use of valuable and limited water resources. Through the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is a linear programming technique to determine the relative efficiency of a decision-making unit, it is possible to decide whether the use of water in an irrigation district is efficient or not. In this study, an input oriented DEA model is constituted to focus on the efficient use of inputs, and the method is applied to the irrigation districts having similar types of agriculture in the Buyuk Menderes Basin, Turkey. This paper aims to determine the efficient irrigation district(s), in other words where the application of water is the most profitable, considering two inputs; water volume supplied and the total irrigated area, and one output, the total value of agricultural production. The weight restrictions consistent with decision makers’ value judgements are added as constraints into the DEA models to prevent excessive weight flexibility assigned to inputs and outputs. The results have provided the efficiency scores of the irrigation districts and numerically delineated desired features of the irrigation districts for maximum efficiency. The analyses for three study years have inferred the robustness of the results. It is concluded that DEA is a practical tool for detecting local inefficiencies and proposing possible improvements for irrigation districts that could offer the greatest potential for growth.     

Coronary artery bypass grafting versus percutaneous coronary intervention in end-stage kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies

The most significant complication of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is cardiovascular disease, mainly coronary artery disease (CAD). Although the effective treatment of CAD is an important prognostic factor, whether percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is better for treating CAD in this group of patients is still controversial. We searched Pubmed/Medline, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials articles that compared the outcomes of CABG versus PCI in patients with ESKD requiring dialysis. A total of 10 observational studies with 39,666 patients were included. Our analysis showed that when compared to PCI, CABG had lower risk of need for repeat revascularization (relative risk [RR] = 2.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1–2.42, p < 0.00001) and cardiovascular death (RR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.14–1.23, p < 0.00001) and higher risk for short-term mortality (RR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.38–0.48, p < 0.00001). There was no statistically significant difference between the PCI and CABG groups in the risk for late mortality (RR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.97–1.14, p = 0.25), myocardial infarction (RR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.46–2.36, p = 0.91) or stroke (RR = 1.02, 95% CI 0.64–1.61, p = 0.95). This meta-analysis showed that in ESKD patients requiring dialysis, CABG was superior to PCI in regard to cardiovascular death and need for repeat revascularization and inferior to PCI in regard to short term mortality. However, this meta-analysis has limitations and needs confirmation with large randomized controlled trials.     

Melamine‐based microporous polymer for highly efficient removal of copper(II) from aqueous solution

In this study, we investigated the ability of a melamine‐based microporous polymer network as an adsorbent for removal of copper(II) species from aqueous solutions. A designed Schiff based network (SNW) with high specific surface area was synthesized using melamine and terephthalaldehyde monomers at 180 °C for 3 days followed by a freeze‐drying process. The porous structure of the material was confirmed by SEM analysis and CO₂ adsorption/desorption studies at 77.3 K. The adsorption character of the SNW polymer for various metal salts, namely Pb(II), Fe(II), Hg(II), Zn(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II), was investigated and a specific sorption behaviour against Cu(II) salts was observed. The role of pH and contact time was examined and the highest adsorption capacity for Cu(II) was found as 92% with pH 3.5 at the end of 300 min. As evidenced by XRD and Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis, the sorption mechanism is attributed to the coordination system formed between amino groups in the porous structure and Cu(II) ions. Reusability of the system was also demonstrated by applying four cycles without any significant loss of activity. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry