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OBJECTIVE: Circadian rhythm disruption is commonly observed in bipolar disorder (BD). Daylight is the most powerful signal to entrain the human circadian clock system. This exploratory study investigated if solar insolation at the onset location was associated with the polarity of the first episode of BD I. Solar insolation is the amount of electromagnetic energy from the Sun striking a surface area of the Earth.METHODS: Data from 7488 patients with BD I were collected at 75 sites in 42 countries. The first episode occurred at 591 onset locations in 67 countries at a wide range of latitudes in both hemispheres. Solar insolation values were obtained for every onset location, and the ratio of the minimum mean monthly insolation to the maximum mean monthly insolation was calculated. This ratio is largest near the equator (with little change in solar insolation over the year), and smallest near the poles (where winter insolation is very small compared to summer insolation). This ratio also applies to tropical locations which may have a cloudy wet and clear dry season, rather than winter and summer.RESULTS: The larger the change in solar insolation throughout the year (smaller the ratio between the minimum monthly and maximum monthly values), the greater the likelihood the first episode polarity was depression. Other associated variables were being female and increasing percentage of gross domestic product spent on country health expenditures. (All coefficients: P ≤ 0.001).CONCLUSION: Increased awareness and research into circadian dysfunction throughout the course of BD is warranted.

Background Microfluidization can produce highly stable and homogenous aqueous media, even when the sample consists of hydrophobic and nonpolar components, due to its combined forces like ultra-high-pressure, high-velocity impact, cavitation, and intense shear rate. The forces during microfluidization lead to transformation in material structure and conformation which result in modifications in the material characteristics and can be a base for new application areas. Scope and approach Although microfluidization is commonly known with its effects on particle size reduction, this innovative technique is also highly successful for formation of emulsion-based systems. Recently, a few new application areas have emerged, such as nanoparticle formation and treatment of beverages. Despite increasing interest of using microfluidization in new areas, there is not a comprehensive review of these studies in the literature. Therefore, in this paper, these studies have been reviewed and discussed in three main categories: 1) emulsion-based systems, including dairy products and lab-created emulsions, 2) nanoparticles, and 3) beverages. Also, the processing factors that need to be taken into consideration are outlined in this review. Key Findings and Conclusions Homogenizing milk with microfluidization significantly improved the physical properties of milk-derived products, especially textural properties. Microfluidization also provided better stability compared to conventional techniques and enabled production of new functional emulsions. Its liposome applications showed great potential to extend specific activities of substances. Microfluidization also improved bioavailability of food grade nanoparticles and helped eliminating cloudiness in beverages by significantly reducing particle size.

Conference Name: Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium Date of Conference: 10-15 July 2022 Reconfiguring the pattern or operating frequency of antennas/resonators is an established field of research. However, until now, reconfiguration using living cells (bacterial or mammalian) has never been considered. In this study, a bio-hybrid implant antenna reconfigured by engineered bacteria or muscle tissue and a pair of on-body reader antennas, that monitors the bio-hybrid device (AntennAlive), is proposed. AntennAlive will enable gateways between living cells that communicate at the nanoscale and the electronic devices that operate at the human scale. It will be used to transform signals received from the living cells through Molecular Nano Communication Networks (MNCN) to Body Area Networks (BAN) that will be used to transfer information to machines and/or humans.

Hydroxyapatite (Hap) doped or embedded with silver has shown improved bactericidal properties, and its mechanical properties were greatly improved by doping or impregnating Hap with metals such as Magnesium or Zinc, or by impregnating Hap with metal oxides such as MgO, or ZnO. This work describes the preparation of Ag-ZnO-Hap nanocomposites with 4 different Ag-ZnO–Ca mole ratios. XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM analysis of all prepared materials identified Hap as the only crystalline phase present in all samples exhibiting a uniform rod-like morphology with particles in the 20–40 nm size range. Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy confirmed the presence of zinc and silver in all embedded Hap samples. The antibacterial activity was tested against two different strains; Escherichia coli (E. coli (MV10Nal), and Gram-negative Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A.a). The mechanical testing consisted of evaluating breaking force, work of fracture, and brittleness/ductility of Hap and Ag/ZnO/Hap composites. Our study clearly shows that reinforcing Hap with silver and zinc oxide yields superior bactericidal and mechanical properties.

Microsystems sensors are implemented on a fiber optics based platform towards use in magnetic resonance imaging assisted interventions. The presented platform offers real-time and in-situ pressure, temperature, and localization feedback during imaging assisted surgical procedures. This multi-sensor platform fits into an interventional medical device with a diameter of 2.5 mm. A polymer cap with perforation is utilized for circulation of blood in the vessel to allow correct monitoring of the temperature and pressure in real time. Graded Index (GRIN) lenses were utilized at the tip of the fiber cables improved optical signal collection efficiency. Three light sources having different wavelengths were utilized each for one sensor; a 637 nm laser, a 780 nm laser, and a 875 nm LED (50 nm bandwidth) for pressure, localization, and temperature sensors, respectively. Pressure sensing is performed by a released polymer-metal hybrid membrane having a diffraction grating interferometer readout scheme. Temperature sensing is accomplished based on the change of absorption and transmission in semiconductors (i.e. GaAs) due to variations of energy bandgap with temperature. Localization of the medical device is acquired based on magneto-optical Kerr effect where Iron Oxide magnetic material is employed. The sensor chip revealed a temperature precision of $\pm 0.22\;^{\circ }$ C, a pressure resolution of 1 mmHg and a localization resolution of 3 mm, where all values are relevant to medical practice. Integration of the sensors developed in this study helps medical devices such as catheters and stents, allow a new horizon in interventional surgery.

The structure-function relationships of plant-based proteins that give rise to desirable texture attributes in order to mimic meat products are generally unknown. In particular, it is not clear how to engineer viscoelasticity to impart cohesiveness and proper mouthfeel; however, it is known that intermolecular β-sheet structures have the potential to enhance the viscoelastic property. Here, we investigated the propensity of selected peptide segments within common corn α-zein variants to maintain stable aggregates and β-sheet structures. Simulations on dimer systems showed that stability was influenced by the initial orientation and the presence of contiguous small hydrophobic residues. Simulations using eight-peptide β-sheet oligomers revealed that peptide sequences without proline had higher levels of β-sheet structuring. Additionally, we identified that sequences with a dimer hydrogen-bonding density of >22% tended to have a larger percent β-sheet conformation. These results contribute to understanding how the viscoelasticity of zein can be increased for use in plant-based meat analogues.

Hydrogen production through hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) by using metal catalysts is promising for fuel cell applications. Nickel (Ni) and its alloys are favorable due to their high catalytic activity, relatively low cost and availability. In present study, the effects of temperature, pH, reduction rate and reducing agent concentration, which significantly affect the catalyst performance, were investigated using the response surface methodology (RSM). A mathematical model was derived according to results which were obtained from four-level orthogonal Taguchi L16 (44) experimental design used for the optimization of multiple parameters in the process. From the RSM analyses, that compatible with the predicted experimental results, maximum hydrogen generation rate (HGR) 49.81 L min(-1) gcat(-1) was obtained temperature of 278.12 K, pH of 5.52, reducing agent concentration of 85.96 NaBH4.water(-1) and reduction rate of 6.82 mL min(-1). Analysis of variance reveals that both pH and rate of reduction have significant effect than the temperature on the HGR. (c) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microfluidization is a unique high-pressure homogenization technique combining various forces such as high-velocity impact, high-frequency vibration, instantaneous pressure drop, intense shear rate, and hydrodynamic cavitation. Even though it is mainly used on emulsion-based systems and known for its effects on particle size and surface area, it also significantly alters physicochemical and functional properties of macromolecules including hydration properties, solubility, viscosity, cation-exchange capacity, rheological properties, and bioavailability. Besides, the transformation of structure and conformation due to the combined effects of microfluidization modifies the material characteristics that can be a base for new innovative food formulations. Therefore, microfluidization is being commonly used in the food industry for various purposes including the formation of micro- and nano-sized emulsions, encapsulation of easily degradable bioactive compounds, and improvement in functional properties of proteins, polysaccharides, and dietary fibers. Although the extent of modification through microfluidization depends on processing conditions (e.g., pressure, number of passes, solvent), the nature of the material to be processed also changes the outcomes significantly. Therefore, it is important to understand the effects of microfluidization on each food component. Overall, this review paper provides an overview of microfluidization treatment, summarizes the applications on macromolecules with specific examples, and presents the existing problems.

Background and aim: Psychiatric disorders and antidepressant usage rates have increased over the years. However, prejudice, self, and public stigma continue to impede patients from receiving appropriate treatment, especially in traditional societies. In this study, the views of first and sixth-year medical students were examined. We aimed to show the potential effect of public information and 6 years of medical education on knowledge and awareness. Method: Our target population was first and sixth-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, during the semester 2018–2019. For measurement, widely used scales such as the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory were administered. In addition, scales formed specifically by our research team: Sociodemographic information form and Depression and Antidepressant Awareness and Knowledge Scale were used. Results: Compared to first-year participants, sixth-year participants had significantly less stigmatizing views on individual statements. The overall stigma score of sixth-year participants was significantly lower ( p Discussion: Sixth-year participants had higher rates of diagnosed psychiatric illness and psychiatric drug usage. Interestingly, the score was not a predictor of the overall stigma score. However, in the responses to individual statements, we observed an overall increase in knowledge and decreased stigma among the sixth-year participants compared to first-year participants. The effects of medical education on knowledge are significant overall. On the other hand, the level of knowledge and beliefs of our first-year participants, which are similar to the public, show a worrisome situation indicating that broader public education efforts are needed. Our study shows an encouraging perspective, indicating that public awareness campaigns can be very effective in increasing knowledge and decreasing misconceptions.

Efficient hydrogen generation is a significant prerequisite of future hydrogen economy. Therefore, the development of efficient non-noble metal catalysts for hydrolysis reaction of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) under mild conditions has received extensive interest. Since the transition metal boride based materials are inexpensive and easy to prepare, it is feasible to use these catalysts in the construction of practical hydrogen generators. In this work, temperature, pH, reducing agent concentration, and reduction rate were selected as independent process parameters and their effects on dependent parameter, such as hydrogen generation rate, were investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). According to the obtained results of the RSM prediction, maximum hydrogen generation rate (53.69 L. min−1gcat-1) was obtained at temperature of 281.18 K, pH of 5.97, reducing agent concentration of 31.47 NaBH4/water and reduction rate of 7.16 ml min−1. Consequently, after validation studies it was observed that the RSM together with Taguchi methods are efficient experimental designs for parameter optimization.

Cotton straws are one of the most produced agricultural wastes in Turkey and getting attention by not being consumed as animal feed or an industrial stock and having a huge potential in clean energy production. In this study, different pretreatment methods for the conversion of cotton straw to sugar then biohydrogen and biomethane production from cotton straw were examined. The energy potential of cotton straw in case of an evaluation of these biomass residues was also determined using fuel cell technology. Acid pretreatment provided the highest yield in biogas formation as well as sugar extraction from the raw sample. The highest biohydrogen and biomethane production were obtained as 33 mL H2/g VS and 83 mL CH4/g VS, respectively. Concomitantly, the maximum power peaks in PEM fuel cell studies were observed as 0.45 W/cm2 and 0.23 W/cm2 with current densities of 1.086 A/cm2 and 0.522 A/cm2 when the fuel cell was fed with pure H2 and biogas, respectively. This suggested that acid pretreatment is more suitable for cotton straw management in sustainable and renewable ways and the results demonstrated that PEM fuel cell is a promising clean technology for energy generation from cotton straw.

Amide I and Amide III vibrational modes are frequently used to study protein secondary structure with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. However, for protein mixtures, neither the sole Amide I nor Amide III region provides sufficient information for structural quantitation because of overlapping peaks, especially in the Amide I region. Here, an improved quantitative approach is proposed to estimate secondary structure of protein systems using resolution enhancement and curve-fitting data processing techniques on a gluten model system to investigate structure-function relationships. Twelve different scenarios were prepared to assign bands in the Amide I region. Frequency ranges of 1660–1640 cm−1 and 1665–1660 cm−1 were found to highly contribute to variability in secondary structure contents of samples. Utilization of the Amide III region as a conducive tool to assign bands in the Amide I region led to a better differentiation of some secondary structural motifs and a more accurate quantitation of protein secondary structure. The study presents an understanding of FT-IR data analysis for a quick technique to assess secondary structures of protein mixtures.

Alüminyum matrisli kompozitler üzerine yapılan çalışmalar çoğunlukla farklı metalik veya seramik oksit katkılı yapıların ilavesinin mekaniksel ve tribolojik özelliklerini incelemek üzere kurgulanmasından dolayı bu tür yapıların farklı fonksiyonel özellikleri hakkında elde edilen bulgular oldukça sınırlı kalmaktadır. Bu kapsamda üstün elektriksel ve korozif direnç özelliği gösteren karbon türevi yapılardan biri olan grafen oksit yapısının AA1050 matrisi ile etkileşimi oldukça ilgi çekici bir hal almaktadır. Bu çalışmada, mekanik karıştırmalı döküm yöntemi ile üretilen grafen oksit katkılı AA1050 metal matris kompozitlerin mikroyapı, korozyon ve elektriksel özelliklerinin değişimleri incelenmiştir. Katı hal yöntemlerinin aksine, sıvı hal yöntemlerinden biri olarak bilinen yarı katı döküm tekniği ile yüksek yüzey alanına sahip grafen oksit yapısı, alüminyum matris içerisinde dağılımının sağlanması için seçilmiştir. Artan katkı miktarına bağlı olarak tane yapılarında uniform olarak dağılan grafen oksitlerin malzemenin elektriksel direncini 1kΩ’dan 60MΩ’a yükselttiği tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca, korozif özelliklerine olan etkisi zamana bağlı potansiyel (OCP), Tafel ve anodik polarizasyon eğrileriyle incelenmiş olup, korozif direncin artan grafen oksit miktarıyla artış gösterdiği belirlenmiştir., Since the studies on aluminum matrix composites are mostly designed to examine the mechanical and tribological properties of the addition of different metallic or ceramic oxide added structures, the findings about the different functional properties of such structures are quite limited. In this context, the interaction of the graphene oxide structure, which is one of the carbon-derived structures with superior electrical and corrosive resistance, with the AA1050 matrix becomes very interesting. In this study, changes in microstructure, corrosion and electrical properties of graphene oxide added AA1050 metal matrix composites produced by mechanical stir casting method were investigated. Contrary to solid-state methods, the semi-solid casting technique, known as one of the liquid-state methods, has been chosen to ensure its dispersion in the aluminum matrix of the graphene oxide structure with a high surface area. It has been determined that graphene oxides, which are uniformly dispersed in grain structures due to the increasing amount of additives, increase the electrical resistance of the material from 1kΩ to 60MΩ. In addition, the effect on the corrosive properties was investigated by time-dependent potential (OCP), Tafel and anodic polarization curves, and it was determined that the corrosive resistance increased with increasing graphene oxide content.

Metal deficiencies in synthetic hydroxyapatite (Hap), is one factor among others behind its poor mechanical reliability. Hence, compensating these deficiencies has been suggested as a possible way to improve these properties. Several studies have shown that the incorporation of metals or metal oxides appear to increase the fracture toughness and lower the brittleness of synthetic Hap. In this study, we examined the resultant effect of two different methods of incorporating metals into the Hap structure on its mechanical properties. The first method consisted of incorporating metals by replacing some calcium in the Hap structure via substitution. The second method consisted of modifying Hap by preparing (metal oxide)/Hap composites. Thus Nano powders of pure Hap, substituted Hap (Ca

Viscoelasticity of corn zein is associated with the formation of β-sheet secondary structures; however, studies of the fundamentals of this conformational change are limited due to zein insolubility and poor analytical resolution. Here, changes in soluble zein conformation were evaluated as the protein self-assembles in increasingly hydrophilic solvents to the concentration just before aggregation and precipitation. Circular dichroism spectra of zein showed that α-helix structures decrease in favor of random coil and β-sheets with increases in water content in an ethanol-water system, similar to observations of zein when it becomes viscoelastic in dough systems. This was further supported by changes in Thioflavin T fluorescence emission spectra and intrinsic viscosity measurements. Two widely recognized molecular models for α-zein (hairpin and superhelical conformations) were tested at 75 and 45% ethanol concentration using molecular dynamics simulation for agreement with experimental results. Increase in solvent hydrophilicity increased β-sheets and reduced distance between backbone anomeric carbons only for hairpin model, suggesting it to be the more valid of the two. These findings emphasize the importance of transformation to β-sheets during zein self-assembly and provide further insight into the mechanisms by which the protein is functionalized into viscoelastic systems.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether retinal neurovascular structural impairment in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) without clinical signs of diabetic retinopathy (DR) could be detected early via optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA). In the current prospective, cross-sectional, observational clinical study children and adolescents with T1D without DR were evaluated between December 2018 and May 2019. Retinal neurovascular structures in the macular and optic disc regions were examined in detail and quantitatively assessed using OCT and OCTA. Data from subjects with T1D were compared with data from healthy controls. Whether retinal neurovascular structural changes were significantly associated with puberty stage, diabetes duration, and HbA1c level was also investigated. The T1D group included 110 eyes and the control group included 84 eyes. In the T1D group the mean inside disc vessel density (VD) was significantly lower than that of the control group (p

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is produced in large quantities in the production of olive oil with the three-phase method. This waste, which is not biodegradable and characterized by a heavy organic load containing toxic components (such as phenols), is usually given to aqueous receptors or soil, either directly (untreated) or treated inadequately. Biologically active phenolic compounds that inhibit biodegradation of this waste are toxic at high concentrations, especially for microorganisms, but have positive effects with strong antioxidant properties on human health when properly isolated and properly concentrated. Hydroxytyrosol (HT) is one of the most interesting and abundant compounds among the biophenols present in OMW. According to this study, a newly synthesized nanomaterial, graphene oxide (GO), has been utilized for the separation of HT and total biophenolic substance from OMW. Graphene oxide from graphite oxidation was synthesized using a modified Hummer’s method. In order to understand how GO behaves during thermal degradation, thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry analyses were performed. Two-parameter and three-parameter equilibrium isotherm models and kinetic models have been used to determine the mechanism of kinetic sorption and adsorption type. Thermodynamic data indicate that the adsorption process is exothermic, applicable and spontaneous.

Hybrid mixture theory-based multiscale fluid transport equations were solved for drying of strawberries and carrots to predict the moisture transport during the process. The fluid transport equatio...

With the discovery of graphene, the necessary synthesis studies have been carried out for the use of graphene oxide (GO) as an adsorbent to remove toxic materials. In this study, GO nanopowder was ...

Recent research has shown that it is possible to find interpretable directions in the latent spaces of pre-trained GANs. These directions enable controllable generation and support a variety of semantic editing operations. While previous work has focused on discovering a single direction that performs a desired editing operation such as zoom-in, limited work has been done on the discovery of multiple and diverse directions that can achieve the desired edit. In this work, we propose a novel framework that discovers multiple and diverse directions for a given property of interest. In particular, we focus on the manipulation of cognitive properties such as Memorability, Emotional Valence and Aesthetics. We show with extensive experiments that our method successfully manipulates these properties while producing diverse outputs. Our project page and source code can be found at http://catlab-team.github.io/latentcognitive.

Nowadays, fuel cells have attracted a lot of attention because of their unique efficiency, high -power density and zero gas emission, and many studies have been conducted to improve their efficiency. The difficulties that occur must be fully grasped and minimized to optimize the energy efficiency and the performance of the fuel cells. To increase the performance of Pt/C catalysts and ensure effective synthesis, precise control of the synthesis conditions is necessary. In the present study, the effect of the synthesis process parameters on the catalyst performance used in fuel cells was comprehensively investigated using statistical methods and machine learning algorithms. The polyol synthesis process was implemented to prepare efficient Pt/C electrocatalysts with reducing synthesis cost and time. The synthesis parameters including duration of reaction, pH and reaction temperature were experimentally studied to determine the optimal working conditions. This study also intended to create an adequate mathematical model with response surface methodology and a prediction model with machine learning algorithms to predict the amount of reduced Pt and the ECSA value depending on the synthesis parameters, and to understand the interaction of parameters. Various ML algorithms that are multilayer perceptron artificial neural network (MLP-ANN), support vector regression (SVR) and random forest (RF) model were used and each model's performance was evaluated using several performance indicators (R-2, mean absolute errors, mean squared error and root mean square errors). The results show that pH is the prominent parameter for both responses. To obtain maximum Pt/C electrocatalyst performance and reduction of Pt, the optimum parameters are determined as pH of 4, reaction temperature of 135 degrees C, and reaction duration of 1 hour. The validation results show a good agreement between predicted and experimental data is obtained with the developed model. Results have obviously shown that this approach can effective in optimizing the electrocatalyst performance with the multiple process parameters. Moreover, it was found that the MLP-ANN model was outperformed to predict electrocatalyst performance of Pt/C more precisely compared to SVR and RF model.

Background: Bipolar disorder is associated with circadian disruption and a high risk of suicidal behavior. In a previous exploratory study of patients with bipolar I disorder, we found that a history of suicide attempts was associated with differences between winter and summer levels of solar insolation. The purpose of this study was to confirm this finding using international data from 42% more collection sites and 25% more countries. Methods: Data analyzed were from 71 prior and new collection sites in 40 countries at a wide range of latitudes. The analysis included 4876 patients with bipolar I disorder, 45% more data than previously analyzed. Of the patients, 1496 (30.7%) had a history of suicide attempt. Solar insolation data, the amount of the sun’s electromagnetic energy striking the surface of the earth, was obtained for each onset location (479 locations in 64 countries). Results: This analysis confirmed the results of the exploratory study with the same best model and slightly better statistical significance. There was a significant inverse association between a history of suicide attempts and the ratio of mean winter insolation to mean summer insolation (mean winter insolation/mean summer insolation). This ratio is largest near the equator which has little change in solar insolation over the year, and smallest near the poles where the winter insolation is very small compared to the summer insolation. Other variables in the model associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts were a history of alcohol or substance abuse, female gender, and younger birth cohort. The winter/summer insolation ratio was also replaced with the ratio of minimum mean monthly insolation to the maximum mean monthly insolation to accommodate insolation patterns in the tropics, and nearly identical results were found. All estimated coefficients were significant at p

It is essential to understand the physical and mechanical properties of a product since these properties affect the structure, texture, and ultimately consumer acceptance. The effect of drying conditions on dynamic viscoelastic properties, stress relaxation function and creep compliance, and physical properties, such as moisture distribution, color parameters, and shrinkage, was studied. An increase in drying temperature and duration resulted in a decrease in moisture content and volume, which were highly correlated (R = .988). Water evaporation followed the falling rate period, demonstrating that the water transport was limited by internal resistances. The decomposition of carotenoids led to a decrease in magnitude of color parameters (L, a, and b), between 30.1% and 51.6% with 4 hr drying. It was observed that the material shrinkage and moisture content highly affected the mechanical properties; increased stress relaxation modulus and decreased creep compliance values of the sample. The creep behavior, expressed with Burger's model (R2 ≥ .986), was highly dependent on moisture content. The linear viscoelastic region of carrots was found to be at strains lower than 3%. The three-element Maxwell model well fitted to describe the viscoelastic behavior of carrots (R2 ≥ .999, RMSE ≤ 2.08 × 10-4 ). The storage moduli (G') were higher than loss moduli (G″), indicating that samples presented solid-like behavior. The findings can be used to improve the textural attributes of carrots and carrot-based products.

In this study, a novel nanomaterial, graphene oxide (GO), which has never been used as an adsorbent in the separation of hydroxytyrosol (HT), has been utilized. GO nanosheets were synthesized by graphite oxidation naturally, which is known as modified Hummer's method. Then, the material obtained was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Adsorption of HT from aqueous media onto synthesized GO was found to be >85% under optimum conditions (with 0.01 mg GO in 10 mL of solution at 150 rpm for 1440 min, where pH is 9). On the other hand, equilibrium (Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin-Radushkevich and Redlich-Peterson) and kinetic (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, Elovich and intra-particle diffusion) models have been applied for analysis and representation of data. Thermodynamic findings point out that the related adsorption system is exothermic, applicable and spontaneous. © 2019 117M848 The authors thank The Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for financial support for this research project (Grant number: 117M848 ).

Biohydrogen production from dairy wastewater with subsequent biogas purification by hollow fiber membrane module was investigated in this study. The purified and not purified (raw) biohydrogen were used as fuel in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Furthermore, the effect of CO2 on the performance of PEM fuel cell was evaluated considering cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization curves. The maximum H2 production rate was 0.015 mmol H2/mol glucose and the biohydrogen concentration in biogas was ranged 33%–60% (v/v). CO2/H2 selectivity decreased with increasing pressure and maximum selectivity was obtained as 4.4 at feed pressure of 1.5 bar. The electrochemical active surface (EASA) areas were decreased with increasing CO2 ratio. The maximum power densities were 0.2, 0.08 and 0.045 W cm−2 for 100%, 80% and 60% (v/v) H2, respectively. The results indicated that integrated PEM fuel cell/biogas purification system can be used as a potential clean energy sources during acidogenic biohydrogen production from dairy wastewater.

This study presents a potential application for adding value to corn gluten meal, which is often used as animal feed and underutilized in food industry. This study is aimed to improve water holding ability of zein-rich by product corn gluten and investigate possibility of using it as an emulsifier. The potential use of microfluidization (500–1250 bar and 25 °C) and pH shifting (to pH6, 8, and 10) as a modification process for corn gluten meal and their effects on emulsifying properties were investigated. The formulations used for CGM(g):corn oil (mL) mixtures were 5:15, 5:30, 5:50, 10:15, 10:30, 10:50, 15:15, 15:30, and 15:50. Microfluidization and pH modification decreased the particle size of emulsions, resulting in the formation of tissues and micropores, and a consequent increase in surface area and water-holding capacity. pH shifting in dispersions around neutrality (pH6 and pH8) provided improvements in emulsion properties; however, excessive shifting (pH10) caused protein denaturation. Herschel-Bulkley model was well-fitted to explain flow behaviors. Flow and viscoelastic measurements showed that all formulations exhibited shear thinning and elastic gel-like behavior. The sedimentation rate, measured using LUMiSizer, was decreased by microfluidization and pH modifications. This study showed that these treatments can be used to convert an underutilized material into a valuable one in food industry.

The effect of drying conditions on physical and viscoelastic properties of strawberries was investigated. Drying followed falling rate drying period, indicating that internal resistances limited th...

This study presents a Fenton digestion method for milk samples based on UV irradiation for cadmium determination using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The method was developed as an alternative to microwave digesters, using very basic apparatus and easy to acquire chemicals. Fenton digestion process was performed by the help of citric acid coated magnetic nanoparticles. Optimum conditions of the digestion process were applied to milk samples to evaluate analytical performance of the method. Limit of detection and limit of quantification values calculated for cadmium in milk were 0.53 and 1.8 mg/L, respectively. The method was applied to three different milk samples to validate the method's suitability and accuracy. Percent recovery values calculated for the samples spiked at two different concentrations ranged between 86 and 111%. Due to differences in the content of the spiked and control/standard milk samples, exact matrix matching calibration strategy using the same brand of milk sample in the preparation of calibration standard was employed and the accuracy of cadmium quantification was greatly enhanced (≈100%).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate vascular changes in the early period after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and at 6-month follow-up. METHODS: This study included 50 eyes of 25 patients who had been hospitalized for polymerase chain reaction-positive COVID-19 infection and 50 eyes of 25 healthy individuals. All subjects underwent optical coherence tomography angiography using a 6 × 6 macular protocol in the early period after hospital discharge and 6 months later. Foveal vessel density (VD) and parafoveal VD values were measured from 4 quadrants (superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal) of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and the deep capillary plexus (DCP). The choriocapillaris (CC) flow area and the foveal avascular zone area also were measured. The OCTA measurements of the patient group were compared both between time points and with the control group at each time point. RESULTS: COVID-19 patients showed lower VD values than control subjects in all parafoveal quadrants of both the SCP (superior, p = 0.01; inferior, p = 0.048; nasal, p = 0.003; temporal, p = 0.048) and the DCP (superior, p = 0.001; inferior, p = 0.011; nasal, p = 0.012; temporal, p = 0.018) at the initial checkup and in all parafoveal quadrants of the SCP (superior, p = 0.0001; inferior, p = 0.007; nasal, p = 0.001; temporal, p = 0.017) and in 2 of the parafoveal quadrants of the DCP (superior, p = 0.003; inferior, p = 0.016) at 6-month follow-up. CC flow area values were significantly lower at the 6-month follow-up than at the initial examination (p = 0.044). CONCLUSION: It is important to perform appropriate follow-up for COVID-19 patients because retinal vascular flow changes may persist in the long term.

A series of thin Pt-Co films with different metal ratios were deposited by using the sequential cosputtering directly on a commercial hydrophobic carbon paper substrate at room temperature and in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. Their electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction reaction were investigated in 0.5 M $H_2 SO_4$ solution by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) on rotating disc electrode (RDE). The results showed that Pt particles, deposited by dc-magnetron gun, surround the large Co-clusters deposited by rf-magnetron gun. In addition, the increase of Co content led to an increase in the electrochemical active surface area $(EASA) from 23.75 m_2 /gPt to 47.54 m_2 /gPt for pure Pt and Pt:Co (1:3),$ respectively, which corresponded the improvement of the utilization of Pt by a factor of 1.91. This improvement indicated that the sequential magnetron cosputtering was one of the essential technique to deposit homogeneous metal clusters with desirable size on the gas diffusion layer by adjustment plasma parameters.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-2-isp-10.1177_0020764020985545 for Antidepressant awareness and stigmatizing attitudes toward depression and antidepressants, a comparison between first and sixth-year medical students by Ayşe Derin Nalçakan, Ezgi Aysu Şahin, Oguz Kaan Yalcinkaya and Sertac Ak in International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-2-isp-10.1177_0020764020985545 for Antidepressant awareness and stigmatizing attitudes toward depression and antidepressants, a comparison between first and sixth-year medical students by Ayşe Derin Nalçakan, Ezgi Aysu Şahin, Oguz Kaan Yalcinkaya and Sertac Ak in International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Background Bipolar disorder is associated with circadian disruption and a high risk of suicidal behavior. In a previous exploratory study of patients with bipolar I disorder, we found that a history of suicide attempts was associated with differences between winter and summer levels of solar insolation. The purpose of this study was to confirm this finding using international data from 42% more collection sites and 25% more countries. Methods Data analyzed were from 71 prior and new collection sites in 40 countries at a wide range of latitudes. The analysis included 4876 patients with bipolar I disorder, 45% more data than previously analyzed. Of the patients, 1496 (30.7%) had a history of suicide attempt. Solar insolation data, the amount of the sun’s electromagnetic energy striking the surface of the earth, was obtained for each onset location (479 locations in 64 countries). Results This analysis confirmed the results of the exploratory study with the same best model and slightly better statistical significance. There was a significant inverse association between a history of suicide attempts and the ratio of mean winter insolation to mean summer insolation (mean winter insolation/mean summer insolation). This ratio is largest near the equator which has little change in solar insolation over the year, and smallest near the poles where the winter insolation is very small compared to the summer insolation. Other variables in the model associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts were a history of alcohol or substance abuse, female gender, and younger birth cohort. The winter/summer insolation ratio was also replaced with the ratio of minimum mean monthly insolation to the maximum mean monthly insolation to accommodate insolation patterns in the tropics, and nearly identical results were found. All estimated coefficients were significant at p

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-isp-10.1177_0020764020985545 for Antidepressant awareness and stigmatizing attitudes toward depression and antidepressants, a comparison between first and sixth-year medical students by Ayşe Derin Nalçakan, Ezgi Aysu Şahin, Oguz Kaan Yalcinkaya and Sertac Ak in International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Deep neural networks have been successful in various domains, such as computer vision and natural language processing. On the other hand, researchers have discovered a vulnerability of convolutional neural networks to the samples with imperceptible perturbations, also known as, adversarial perturbations. It has been observed that adversarial perturbations can alter the predictions of a deep model. One of the most common approaches to increase the robustness of deep models is adversarial training. However, adversarial training often suffers from a degradation in generalization performance. In this study, orthogonal regularization is used along with adversarial training to facilitate both generalizability and adversarial robustness in deep models. According to the experiments on MNIST and CIFAR10 datasets, imposing orthogonality in weights improves both the generalization performance and adversarial robustness.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the changes in choriocapillaris and retina caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by comparing optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) findings of COVID-19 patients and healthy controls. METHODS: The study and control groups consisted of 54 eyes of 27 participants, each. Patients and controls underwent OCTA examination. Foveal zone vessel density and parafoveal zone vessel density (for 4 quadrants: nasal, temporal, superior, inferior) were calculated for both superficial and deep capillary plexuses. Additionally, choriocapillaris flow and foveal avascular zone areas were calculated. RESULTS: For the parafoveal area in the study group, vessel density was significantly lower in the superior and nasal quadrants of the superficial capillary plexus and in all quadrants of the deep capillary plexus compared with controls (p < 0.05 for all). The study group had significantly higher choriocapillaris flow area values compared with controls (p = 0.042). CONCLUSION: Reduced vessel density of the retinal capillary plexus was detected in COVID-19 patients who may be at risk for retinal vascular complications.

Recent studies show that carbonaceous materials have gained interest because of their superior features over the alternative adsorbents. Therefore, it is of great value to synthesize novel carbonaceous adsorbents. In the present study, graphene oxide nanopowders (GON) were synthesized through a modified Hummer’s method. The material has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods. Naproxen has been selected as the model pharmaceutical to investigate the adsorption performance of GON. The highest adsorption removal was found to be 65.28% under the optimum conditions (0.03 g of GON for the adsorption of 10 mg/L naproxen solution at 100 rpm mixing the speed of shaking bath). The relevant adsorption system was an exothermic, spontaneous, and chemisorption process depending on the kinetic (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, intraparticular, and Elovich models), equilibrium (Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Harkin-Jura, and Halsey isotherm equations), and thermodynamic parameters.

To understand the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and take measures to contain it, we look into a similar case from the last century, the 1918 influenza pandemic. Our methodology is the derive conclusions from the 1918 influenza pandemic, using the data from the work of James G. Cumming. We test the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in the number of infections dependent on the dishwashing method. The findings indicate that, at the 0.01 significance level, there exists a substantial difference in the rate of infection between machine-washed dishes and hand-washed dishes. Machine-washed dishes have shown to decrease the rate of infection. Hence, we may expect to reduce the coronavirus’s infection rate by using automated steam-machines instead of hands when it comes to cleaning dishes.