Using Lipid Profiles for the Characterization of Turkish Monocultivar Olive Oils Produced by Different Systems

The aim of this study was to characterize the biochemical profiles of the virgin olive oils produced in various districts of Aegean and South East Anatolia regions of Turkey over two growing seasons (2001–2002). The olive oils were extracted by classic hydraulic pressing, three phase continuous system, Abencor oil method at laboratory scale, and foot oil process from monocultivar Turkish olives, including Ayvalik, Memecik, Nizip Yaglik, Gemlik, Domat, and Uslu. Total phenolics, ortho-diphenols, oxidative stability, and total chlorophylls of the oils differed by location. The cis-trans fatty acids, triacylglycerols, and the actual versus theoretical equivalent carbon number of 42 (ECN 42) triglycerol content (ΔECN42) were within national and international averages. Oil samples from the three phase continuous system had higher total phenolic contents than those of the hydraulic pressure system. Turkish monocultivar virgin olive oil samples were classified by biochemical profiles using the principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses multivariate statistical methods. Clustering analysis defined groups according to growing location. Triacylglycerols and fatty acid profiles can be used for identification of monocultivar olive oils with regard to authenticity and classification.     

Optimization of temperature and light intensity for improved photofermentative hydrogen production using Rhodobacter capsulatus DSM 1710

Photofermentative hydrogen production is influenced by several parameters, including feed composition, pH levels, temperature and light intensity. In this study, experimental results obtained from batch cultures of Rhodobacter capsulatus DSM 1710 were analyzed to locate the maximum levels for the rate and yield of hydrogen production with respect to temperature and light intensity. For this purpose, a 3^k general full factorial design was employed, using temperatures of 20, 30 and 38 °C and light intensities of 100, 200 and 340 W/m². ANOVA results confirmed that these two parameters significantly affect hydrogen production. Surface and contour plots of the regression models revealed a maximum hydrogen production rate of 0.566 mmol H₂/L/h at 27.5 °C and 287 W/m² and a maximum hydrogen yield of 0.326 mol H₂/mol substrate at 26.8 °C and 285 W/m². Validation experiments at the calculated optima supported these findings.     

Classification of three Turkish olive cultivars from Aegean region based on their fatty acid composition

In this study, fatty acid compositions of three olive cultivars oils (Ayvalik, Memecik, and Erkence) grown in Aegean region, the major olive production zone of Turkey, were classified by chemometric methods: principal component analysis and discriminant analysis (DA). A total of 187 oil samples were examined over the course of two harvest years (2001–2002 and 2002–2003). The samples were divided into three subgroups according to olive-growing zones: North Aegean (Ayvalik cultivar), South Aegean (Memecik), and İzmir Peninsula (Erkence cultivar). Consistent with discriminant analysis, the predicted groupings in terms of the two harvest years were correctly separated as 98.50 and 96.60%, respectively. In addition to oleic, linoleic, linolenic, margoleic, palmitic/linoleic and linoleic/linolenic were determined to be the best describing components for the oil samples.     

Evaluation of various additives on the preparation of rice husk ash (RHA)/CaO-based sorbent for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) at low temperature

This paper examines the effectiveness of 10 additives toward improving SO2 sorption capacities (SSC) of rice husk ash (RHA)/lime (CaO) sorbent. The additives examined are NaOH, CaCl2, LiCl, NaHCO3, NaBr, BaCl2, KOH, K2HPO4, FeCl3 and MgCl2. Most of the additives tested increased the SSC of RHA/CaO sorbent, whereby NaOH gave highest SSC (30mg SO2/g sorbent) at optimum concentration (0.25mol/l) compared to other additives examined. The SSC of RHA/CaO sorbent prepared with NaOH addition was also increases from 17.2 to 39.5mg SO2/g sorbent as the water vapor increases from 0% RH to 80% RH. This is probably due to the fact that most of additives tested act as deliquescent material, and its existence increases the amount of water collected on the surface of the sorbent, which played an important role in the reaction between the dry-type sorbent and SO2. Although most of the additives were shown to have positive effect on the SSC of the RHA/CaO sorbent, some were found to have negative or insignificant effect. Thus, this study demonstrates that proper selection of additives can improve the SSC of RHA/CaO sorbent significantly.     

Development of Cutting Tool Through Superplastic Boronizing of Duplex Stainless Steel

In this study, a cutting tool is developed from duplex stainless steel (DSS) using the superplastic boronizing technique. The feasibility of the development process is studied, and the cutting performances of the cutting tool are evaluated and compared with commercially available carbide and high-speed steel (HSS) tools. The superplastically boronized (SPB) cutting tool yielded a dense boronized layer of 50.5 µm with a surface hardness of 3956 HV. A coefficient of friction value of 0.62 is obtained, which is lower than 1.02 and 0.8 of the carbide and HSS tools. When tested on an aluminum 6061 surface under dry condition, the SPB cutting tool is also able to produce turning finishing below 0.4 µm, beyond the travel distance of 3000 m, which is comparable to the carbide tool, but produces much better results than HSS tool. Through superplastic boronizing of DSS, it is possible to produce a high-quality metal-based cutting tool that is comparable to the conventional carbide tool.     

Biosensing by Densely Packed and Optically Coupled Plasmonic Particle Arrays

Densely packed plasmonic particle arrays are investigated for biosensing applications. Such particle arrays exhibit interparticle optical coupling creating a strong field between the particles, which is useful for sensing purposes. The sensor properties, such as bulk sensitivity, layer sensitivity, and the depth of sensitivity are investigated with the aid of a multiple multipole program. Sensitivity to the analyte with low concentration is also examined by a dynamic adsorption processes. The detectable concentration limit of streptavidin within 3000 s in the detection system is expected from the signal‐to‐noise to be less than 150 pM .     

Quantum coherence effects in a Raman amplifier

We have studied optical pulse propagation in a Raman fiber amplifier doped with a three-level medium and driven by a control laser pulse. We analyze the spatial-temporal dynamics of pulse propagation for different atomic initial conditions. The propagation of an optical pulse through the amplifier can be sustained by a control laser that induces transparency via quantum coherence, which is useful for extending the distance between optical repeaters. Under certain conditions, amplification is achieved without population inversion. The results could be useful for laser control of optical pulses in amplifiers and waveguides.     

Vanadium pentoxide film for microsecond pulse generation in 1.5-μm region

Q-switched erbium doped fiber laser(EDFL) was passively realized using vanadium pentoxide(V₂O₅) embedded into polyethylene glycol(PEG) film as saturable absorber(SA). The laser could successfully generate stable self-starting pulses when the V₂O₅ film was placed in an EDFL cavity. It operated at 1 562.4 nm wavelength. The repetition rate can be varied from 91.7 kHz to 128.2 kHz while the pulse width shrank from 10.90 μs to 7.81 μs with rising pump powe...     

Rational Design of All Resistive Multifunctional Sensors with Stimulus Discriminability

A rational approach is proposed to design soft multifunctional sensors capable of detection and discrimination of different physical stimuli. Herein, a flexible multifunctional sensor concurrently detecting and distinguishing minute temperature and pressure stimuli in real time is developed using electrospun carbon nanofiber (CNF) films as the sole sensing material and electrical resistance as the only output signal. The stimuli sensitivity and discriminability are coordinated by tailoring the atomic- and device-level structures of CNF films to deliver outstanding pressure and temperature sensitivities of ? 0.96 kPa^?1 and ? 2.44%  ° C^?1, respectively, enabling mutually exclusive sensing performance without signal cross-interference. The CNF multifunctional sensor is considered the first of its kind to accomplish the stimulus discriminability using only the electrical resistance as the output signal, which is most convenient to monitor and process for device applications. As such, it has distinct advantages over other reported sensors in its simple, cost-effective fabrication and readout system. It also possesses other invaluable traits, including good bending stability, fast response time, and long-term durability. Importantly, the ability to simultaneously detect and decouple temperature and pressure stimuli is demonstrated through novel applications as a skin-mountable device and a flexible game controller.     

Influence of molar mass on the thermal properties,conductivity and intermolecular interaction of poly(ethylene oxide) solid polymer electrolytes

The sample preparation pathway of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs ) influences their thermal properties, which in turn governs the ionic conductivity of the materials especially for systems consisting of a crystallizable constituent. Majority of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)‐based SPEs with molar masses of PEO well above 10⁴ g mol^?1 (where PEO is crystallizable and should reach an asymptote in thermal behaviour) display molar mass dependence of the thermal properties and ionic conductivities in non‐equilibrium conditions, as reported in the literature. In this study, PEO of different viscosity‐molar masses (M _η = 3 × 10⁵, 6 × 10⁵, 1 × 10⁶, 4 × 10⁶ g mol^?1) and LiClO₄ salt (0 to 16.7 wt%) were used. The SPEs were thermally treated under inert atmosphere above the melting temperature of PEO and then cooled down for subsequent isothermal crystallization for sufficient experimental time to develop morphology close to equilibrium conditions. The thermal properties (e.g. glass transition temperature, melting temperature, crystallinity) according to differential scanning calorimetry and the ionic conductivity obtained from impedance spectroscopy at room temperature (σ _DC ～ 10^?6 S cm^?1) demonstrate insignificant variation with respect to the molar mass of PEO at constant salt concentration. These findings are in agreement with the PEO crystalline structures using X‐ray diffraction and ion ? dipole interaction by Fourier transform infrared results. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry