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The current status and annotated checklist of fresh- and brackish-water amphipod species inhabiting the inland waters (streams, lakes, ponds, lagoons, subterranean waters, etc.) of Turkey is presented. Totally, 171 papers, 3 books, 3 book chapters, 5 conference papers, 2 projects, 3 PhD and 3 MSc thesis were examined in the present study. As the result of the previous records, 201 taxa comprising 121 amphipods (16 families, 31 genera), 27 isopods (9 families, 13 genera), 9 mysids (1 family, 5 genera), 4 tanaids (3 families, 4 genera) and 40 decapods (16 families, 18 genera) were compiled. All the previously recorded localities of each taxon were listed in detail. The endemic taxa and the doubtful records were indicated and discussed. Twenty maps showing the distribution of reported species were also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explains the publication policy of the periodical 'Turkish Journal of Botany,'. Recommendations on delimiting and naming units; Suggestions for homogeneity and floristic quasi-completeness.

The development of carbon capture and storage techniques has become essential to reduce and mitigating CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. CarbFix1 and CarbFix2 projects carried out in Iceland demonstrated that the emissions of waste CO2 gas from geothermal power plants can be captured and mixed with the effluent geofluid and subsequently injected back into the geothermal reservoir. This experience gained in the CarbFix projects expanded into other geothermal fields around Europe, and one of the demonstration sites is the geothermal field in Turkey, Kızıldere. This paper focuses on the results of an updated study on early field evaluations with reactive transport simulations. In the new three-dimensional numerical model, the geological formations and fault zones were updated according to the well-logs data. Based on the tracer tests performed in the field, the anisotropic permeabilities between the wells were evaluated and imposed into the model. Geofluid chemistry, mineral components, and the volume fractions used as input in the simulations are modified depending on the performed laboratory experiments on the metamorphic schists taken from the geothermal site (i.e. X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), scanning-electron microscope (SEM), and batch reactor tests). Different thermodynamic databases such as Lawrance Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Thermoddem databases were tested using PHREEQC and TOUGHREACT programs for consistency with experiments. The thermodynamic conditions and the geofluid-rock-CO2 interactions prevent the mineralization of CO2 in the reservoir. This outcome differs from CarbFix projects in terms of the carbonization process, but the CO2 injection is still reliable with solubility-trapping in a geothermal reservoir to partially mitigate the emission. Roughly, 200 kt of CO2 in 10 years can be safely injected into the geothermal reservoir. According to the new analysis, the ratio of magnesium, sodium, and potassium varies in solid solution series of feldspars and clay minerals as albite end-member and montmorillonite/illite end-members, respectively. The evaluations of solid solution reactions are relatively limited in the law of mass action approach used by PHREEQC and TOUGHREACT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Turkish Cousinia species were examined in point of chromosome number and morphology. To our knowledge, this work is the first comprehensive chromosomal study regarding Turkish Cousinia as a whole, especially for endemics. As consistent with previous reports, the chromosome numbers are mostly 2n = 26 and have been determined also as 2n = 24 for only the members of Cynaroideae and Sphaerocephalae sections. An interesting result of this paper is that there is not any polyploid species in this taxonomic group and all of them are diploids. Concerning the chromosome evolution of the Cousinia species, we concluded that merely dysploidy is effective within the genus and evolutionally a unipolar reduction goes on in the basic chromosome number in speciation (from 13 to 12). In terms of general chromosomal information, the chromosomes of the genus consist of metacentric and submetacentric types and they could be categorized in small category according to Lima De Faria classification (0.67-3.43). According to chromosomal indices used in this paper, while most species have symmetrical chromosomes, fewer have asymmetrical ones. From this point, it could be said that Cousinia stapfiana could be assessed as the most evolved taxa in karyomorphology according to the average of all indexes used in here. Besides, Cousinia bicolor, Cousinia birandiana, and Cousinia sintenisii are species having the most primitive chromosome within the genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epilobium and Chamaenerion included 165 and 8 species over the world, respectively. The members of the genera are distributed particularly in moist habitats from subpolar to tropical regions. This paper aims to provide improvements in the phylogeny of the genera Epilobium and Chamaenerion using Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) of nuclear DNA and matK gene sequence data evaluation with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference criterations. A total of 188 individual accessions belonging to 28 taxa were newly generated and 110 sequences imported from GenBank (NCBI) were analysed. The nrDNA and plastid DNA gene trees supported to treat Epilobium and Chamaenerion as separate genera in two well-supported clades. The matK analyses revealed a better resolution than nrDNA ITS within the Chamaenerion clade and supported the inclusion of C. angustifolium in the sect. Chamaenerion. However, most of the examined species mostly fell into the polytomy in both trees excluding E. roseum subsp. consimile which should be considered a distinct species in the Epilobium contrary to morphological treatment in many national flora books. Both phylogenetic trees also support distinguishing E. prionophyllum from E. anatolicum previously treated as a subspecies of E. anatolicum. In conclusion, these preliminary phylogenetic analyses have contributed significantly to the determination of the limits of members belonging to Epilobium and Chamaenerion distributed in Türkiye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retail companies monitor inventory stock levels regularly and manage them based on forecasted sales to sustain their market position. Inventory accuracy, defined as the difference between the warehouse stock records and the actual inventory, is critical for preventing stockouts and shortages. The root causes of inventory inaccuracy are the employee or customer theft, product damage or spoilage, and wrong shipments. In this paper, we aim at detecting inaccurate stocks of one of Turkey's largest supermarket chain using the variational autoencoder (VAE), which is an unsupervised learning method. Based on the findings, we showed that VAE is able to model the underlying probability distribution of data, regenerate the pattern from time series data, and detect anomalies. Hence, it reduces time and effort to manually label the inaccuracy in data. Since the distribution of inventory data depends on selected product/product categories, we had to use a parametric approach to handle potential differences. For individual products, we built univariate time series, whereas for product categories we built multivariate time series. The experimental results show that the proposed approaches can detect anomalies both in the low and high inventory quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to determine the grey water footprint (GWF) of geothermal water resources and to investigate the effect of biochar adsorption on grey water footprint in Southeastern Turkey. In this paper, GWF has been calculated in terms of iron (Fe), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), boron (B), and chrome (Cr) concentrations for fifteen observation geothermal resources located in Southeastern Anatolia Region. In this study, a new approach based on the GWF was developed in order to determine the geothermal water pollution. Grey water footprints related to fifteen geothermal resources were investigated. In the second stage of the study, the effect of biochar adsorption on GWF was estimated using Monte Carlo simulation. The results revealed that arsenic led to higher GWF than other pollutant parameters in geothermal water resources. Biochar application could reduce the GWF according to Monte Carlo simulation. The total average reduction of GWF would be approximately 95, 93.1, 87.5, 96, and 90% respectively for Fe, As, Mn, B and Cr pollution if biochar adsorption is applied for geothermal water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avena sterilis L. subsp ludoviciana (Durieu) Gillet and Magne (AVELU) is among the most common and economically important grass weed species, especially in wheat fields of Turkey; therefore, the herbicides with the same mode of action (ACCase and ALS/AHAS inhibitors) are used to control have been successively applied without incessant by farmers. A study was conducted to find out the extent of wild oat problems throughout Turkey including herbicide resistance. This paper includes results of determining the herbicide resistance status of AVELU populations to ACCase and ALS inhibitors that are fenoxaprop (Fen), pinoxaden (Pin), tralkoxydim (Tra), mesosulfuron+iodosulfuron (MeI), and proxycarbazone+mesosulfuron (PrM). AVELU seeds were collected from 213 wheat fields throughout Turkey in 2014-2015 and the response to selected five herbicides was tested under screen-house. Dose-response tests showed that only 42 populations were controlled by all five herbicides. The number of populations that were not controlled varied by herbicides, which were 150, 48, 25, 100, and 100 populations for Fen, Pin, Tra, MeI, and PrM, respectively. Nine populations were resistant to all herbicides and 72 to four of herbicides out of 155 multiple resistance populations. The high number of multiple resistances and higher resistance indexes show the seriousness of the problem. Although resistance to MeI and Tra herbicides are still developing, Fen resistance seems completed and reached moderate and high resistance levels. Integrated weed management is an inevitable challenge to sustain wheat production, a staple crop for Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achillea alimeana Semiz & Uysal sp. nov. of sect. Santolinoidea DC. (Asteraceae), was described, diagnosed and illustrated as a new species. It was collected from Akdağ Mountains in Denizli Province. In this paper, the diagnostic characters of A. alimeana and its similar species were discussed in the morphological, palynological and molecular findings. As regards the new species, some notes on the ecology, conservation status, and distribution were submitted. A diagnostic key was given for related taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vespertilio murinus Linnaeus, 1758, has a wide distribution from France to Japan, and from Iran in the south to Scandinavia and Russia in the north. The only records of the parti-coloured bat, Vespertilio murinus known from Turkey so far were based on subfossils, remains from owl pellets, and ultrasound recordings. We present the first records of live individuals from two Turkish provinces, Ardahan and Bayburt. Additionally, based on echolocation call records, its known distribution in the Anatolian Peninsula was proved to be wider. The global distribution of the species has been mapped by using ecological niche modelling. The results revealed that its distribution is highly influenced by precipitation dynamics. Although no cases of domestic cat predation on bats have previously been documented in Turkey, this paper also provides the first case study of V. murinus predated by a domestic cat in Ardahan, in November 2003. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modal analysis of sandstones for conglomerate rich marine basins is useful for investigating the provenance types surrounded by plate tectonics. Different kinds of siliciclastic rocks are important indicators for defining the paleogeography and geotectonic conditions of the sedimentary basin by provenance analysis. This paper, which focuses on the petrography and provenance of conglomerate rich turbidite systems, is one of the rarest studies on the sedimentary characteristics in the scientific literature. In this context, the study was carried out in the western part of the Elazığ Basin. The Middle Eocene-Oligocene basin infill called the Kırkgeçit Formation is characterised by the conglomerate rich submarine channel deposits and coarse-grained turbidite sandstones. Petrographically, the coarse-grained sandstones of the Kırkgeçit Formation are composed of litharenite and rarely feldspathic litharenite, lithic arkose and rock fragments. Mostly the components are derived from volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Elazığ Magmatites. Fossils and fossil fragments are transported from the shallow part of the western Elazığ Basin. The components transported from metamorphic rock fragments, which are rarely observed in the sandstone samples, are composed of recrystallized limestones and derived from Keban Metamorphites in the northern part of the basin. The provenance studies and petrographic analyses indicated that the conglomerate rich channels and coarse-grained sediments of turbidite sandstones in the Kırkgeçit Formation were plotted mostly to the recycled orogenic and undissected arc type source rocks. Therefore, this type of source rocks has been reflected as a back-arc basin deposit during Middle-Upper Eocene. The geotectonic evolution of the western Elazığ Basin has also supported this remark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Turkey, Turkish Personal Data Protection Rule (PDPR) No. 6698, in force since 2016, provides protection to citizens for the legal existence of their personal data. Although the law provides excellent guidance, companies currently face challenges in complying with its regulations in terms of storing, sharing, or monitoring personal data. Since any specially designed software with wide industrial usage is not on the market, almost all of the companies have no other choice but to take expensive and error-prone operations manually to ensure their compliance. In this paper, we present an automated solution to facilitate and accelerate PDPR compliance. In a structured or unstructured document, words or phrases that could include personal data entities are tagged with the help of a Bi-LSTM based named entity recognition model and a rule-based matching component that employs contextual analysis. To find associations in personal data and obtain individual personal profiles, these entities are divided into categories according to their confidence levels. Personal profiles are constructed using an approach similar to clustering. It treats the personal data categories with high identification levels as separate clusters and finds related personal data entities at the left and/or right of its contexts. We evaluated the system on a data set formed of 70 documents of different types and personal data entities. We obtained 91.76 % micro-averaged F1-measure for personal data entity classification and 72.46 % accuracy for profile extraction. We also performed experiments related to the performance of the named entity recognition and to the time complexity of the overall system on a data set formed of 33K documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noncondensable gases in most geothermal resources include CO2 and smaller amounts of other gases. Currently, the worldwide geothermal power is a small sector within the energy industry, and CO2 emissions related to the utilisation of geothermal resources are consequently small. In some countries, however, such as Turkey and Iceland, geothermal energy production contributes significantly to their energy budget, and their CO2 emissions are relatively significant. SUCCEED is a targeted innovation and research project, which aims to investigate the reinjection of CO2 produced at geothermal power production sites and develop, test, and demonstrate at field scale innovative measurement, monitoring and verification (MMV) technologies that can be used in most CO2 geological storage projects. The project is carried out at two operating geothermal energy production sites, the Kızıldere geothermal field in Turkey and the CarbFix project site at the Hellisheiði geothermal field in Iceland. Together with a brief description of the project, this paper presents the details of the two field sites and the progress made in seismic velocity characterisation and modelling relevant to the Kızıldere geothermal field in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the correlation of two different marble units from an approximately 3,900 m deep geothermal exploration well (GP-1) in western Turkey by petrographical and geochemical data. Future geothermal exploration drilling in that area will benefit from a better (tectono) stratigraphic correlation and a better definition of the reservoir geometry in the basin. It is an innovative approximation in many settings to correctly correlate marble units without clear stratigraphic markers or fossil record, in particular, when sample material is restricted to cuttings. The most distinctive petrographical and geochemical properties in this study are colour, light transmission along with rare-earth element + yttrium (REY) geochemistry, and stable carbon and oxygen isotope data. Two stratigraphic correlations can be maintained for two different marble horizons of the GP-1 well to different stratigraphic horizons outcropping in the study area. Additional Rb-Sr geochronology yields an age of the last metamorphic overprint of the marbles of approximately 30 Ma. This study shows that a multiproxy approach is required to yield a reliable stratigraphic correlation as an important component of geothermal exploration, which supports the conceptual geological model prior to further geothermal drilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study which utilizes deep learning for automated detection of the symptoms of diseases on vine leaves. Vine fruits or grapes are very important and have existed in Syria and surrounding areas (e.g., Turkey) for many years. Quality of vine fruits is also very important in grape production as it is consumed in these areas every day. The aim of this study is to improve diseasedetection accuracy in vine leaves and to develop a system to help Syrian and Turkish farmers and agricultural engineers to maintain the quality of grape production. In this study, over 1000 images of vine leaves have been collected from vine yards in Syria and the internet. These images are processed using MATLAB 2018B, Deep Learning Toolbox including convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with AlexNet, GoogleNet and ResNet-18. A standard transfer learning (TL) algorithm is also used with CNNs, whereas a multiclass support vector machine (SVM) is used with AlexNet, whilst GPU and CUDA are used for accelerating the process of the disease detection for vine leaves. A software system has been created that enables the automatic and efficient detection of nine types of leaf diseases and the identification of healthy leaves. Experimental studies showed that the total detection accuracy of this system reaches 92.5%, 87.4% and 85.0%, 85.1% when AlexNet+TL, ResNet-18+TL, GoogleNet+TL and AlexNet+SVM are used respectively. This smart agricultural application can provide early identification of the symptoms of grape diseases on leaves and thus help maintain the quality of vine fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper includes the result of the first study of the chemical composition, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antidiabetic activities of the essential oils of Glebionis coronaria (L.) Cass. ex Spach and Glebionis segetum (L.) Fourr. from Turkey. In the current study, nine and twenty-eight constituents were determined in the essential oils of aerial parts of G. coronaria (GCE) (92.1%) and G. segetum (GSE) (90.0%), respectively. The main components were capillin (65.9%) in GCE, capillene (53.4%) in GSE. The essential oil compositions were evaluated and compared with previous researches. In the current study, the plants are classified as chemotypes of Glebionis species. GCE and GSE showed poor and very poor DPPH radical scavenging activity, respectively. GCE and GSE exhibited significant and strong antiinflammatory activity against the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme, respectively. Also, GCE and GSE displayed moderate and weak antidiabetic activity against the α-glucosidase enzyme, respectively. Polyacetylenes were determined as the main class of compounds in GCE and GSE and had a notable antiinflammatory activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal studies have become increasingly recognised as a valuable source of information on the use and possible pharmacological activity of many plant species. There is no study presenting traditional herbal remedies used for kidney diseases in Turkey. The purpose of the paper is to compile herbal remedies used in kidney diseases in Turkey with detailed usage information and chemical constituents. The botanical names, families, and local names; used parts; preparation methods; administration/dosage; kidney problems and chemical constituents were presented by screening ethnobotanical, ethnomedicinaland phytochemical studies. The most cited plant families, the most cited genera, and the most frequently used plant parts were determined and presented in graphics. In total, 300 taxa belonging to 70 families were determined as being traditional herbal remedies used in kidney diseases. Asteraceae (57), Lamiaceae (33), Rosaceae (30), Fabaceae (16), Malvaceae (15), Apiaceae (13) and Poaceae (10) were found as the most cited plant families. The most cited genera were Helichrysum (44), Equisetum (27), Tribulus (23), Urtica (23), Rosa (17), Alcea (14), Hypericum (14) and Paliurus (14), respectively. It was found that the aerial parts were the most frequently used part of theplant, accounting for 28%. Following in this category are leaves (19%), flowers (14%), fruits (14%), underground parts (13%), seeds (5%), stem (3%), and other parts (4%). The pharmacological studies of the most cited genera were also reviewed to confirm the efficacy of these plants inthe treatment of kidney diseases. It is concluded that a number of pharmacological and phytochemical research support the traditional usage of plants, but further studies are needed. Our findings are expected to be the basis for candidate pharmaceutical products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: The aim of this paper was to determine the general tendencies of urology patients and effect of COVID-19 pandemic on daily urological practice at tertiary centers located in the most affected area in Turkey. Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 39,677 patients (group 1) that applied to 6 different large-volume tertiary centers in İstanbul for outpatient consultation, surgery, or other procedures in the 3-month period between March 16 and June 14, 2020. The distribution of the number of patients who applied to subspecialty sections of urology outpatient clinics and inpatient services were recorded by weeks. That data was compared to data obtained from 145,247 patients that applied to the same centers in the same period of the previous year (group 2). The reflection of worldwide and Turkish COVID-19 case distribution on the daily urological practice was analyzed. Results: There was a decrease in the number of patients in all subspecialty sections the in group 1 compared to group 2; however, there was a significant proportional increase in urooncology and general urology admissions. A decrease of approximately 75% was observed in the total number of surgeries (p < 0.001). We detected a negative correlation between the numbers of admission to all outpatient clinics and COVID-19 cases or deaths in Turkey (p < 0.05). The same negative correlation was present for all surgical procedures and consultations (p < 0.05). The multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that the number of cases in Turkey, and the number of deaths worldwide affect the number of outpatient clinic admissions (R2 = 0.38, p = 0.028) and urological surgery (R2 = 0.33, p = 0.020) in Turkey negatively. Conclusion: This novel pandemic has implications even for urology practice. Urological surgical procedures were more affected by COVID-19-related deaths in Turkey and worldwide. Outpatient admissions and urological surgeries decreased significantly by increasing COVID-19 case numbers in Turkey and worldwide deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: The aim of this descriptive article is to share the experience in Ege University, Turkey with favipiravir in the treatment of severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Materials and methods: This retrospective descriptive study included patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who presented with or developed severe pneumonia. Results: Forty patients who completed a full course (at least 5 days) of favipiravir were included in the study. At baseline, 30 (75%) patients required treatment for respiratory distress. Thirty-three patients (82.5%) were discharged from the hospital with full recovery, 6 patients (15%) died and 1 case (2.5%) was still at the intensive care unit (ICU) when this paper was written. Conclusion: This study provides relevant information for the treatment of COVID-19, suggesting that favipiravir was associated with significant clinical and laboratory improvements in the majority of the patients, is a safe drug with no serious side effects and would merit further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak poses a major global threat to the public health worldwide. The infectious disease caused by the virus that affected the entire world was named as the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The knowledge regarding the wide clinico-biological aspects of the COVID-19 continues to evolve very rapidly, given the growing data from all over the world. During this complicated process, healthcare professionals have benefited from each other's experiences in combatting against the COVID-19 syndrome. COVID-19 related studies have been performed by a wide variety of research groups in Turkey as well as the rest of the world. The aim of this paper is to outline Turkish COVID-19 research indexed in the LitCovid system. LitCovid is a curated literature hub for tracking up-to-date scientific data about the SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19's first case was detected in Turkey, on March 11th, 2020. Six months after the first case was observed, the total number of COVID-19 patients was reported to be as 286,455, and the total number of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 6895. The genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus showed significant identity to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Numerous drugs including lopinavir/ritonavir, favipiravir, neuraminidase inhibitors, remdesivir, umifenovir, azithromycin, and chloroquine have been suggested for the management of COVID-19 although the exact treatment is yet to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the physical parameters such as magnetization intensity distribution, the volume and the shape of the magnetized material, directions of the magnetization and the ambient field, the distance between the observation surface and the causative sources significantly affects the shape and the amplitudes of the magnetic anomalies. Aeromagnetic surveys are performed using either a draped surface or a constant elevation plane above sea level. These surveys can easily reconnoiter large territories in a short time. However, the magnetic anomalies may be attenuated resulting in some losses in the data resolution based on the flight height of the survey. In this paper, these effects were investigated in a detailed manner through some synthetic anomalies generated from 2D and 3D hypothetical subsurface models. Besides, magnetic terrain effects were also examined in the synthetic simulations which were produced for different scenarios. Real aeromagnetic anomalies obtained using a drape flying survey mode over the rugged high topographic relief of the Mount Nemrut stratovolcano (Bitlis, eastern Turkey) and its close vicinity were also investigated. Numerical simulations show that although both data acquisition modes have some weak sides, the level flying mode is more advantageous than the drape flying mode in general. Better anomaly interpretation can be achieved by reducing the draped data set into the one observed over a horizontal plane or vice versa and comparing these two data sets. Lastly, a simple computational process which can be performed in the Fourier wavenumber domain is proposed for data reduction procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isotopic and thermochronological data were recently obtained from the footwall of the Büyük Menderes detachment ranges from 29.0 ± 1.9 Ma (ZFT) to 1.6 ± 0.2 Ma (Ap U - Th / He), and they can be grouped in three different time intervals. These results are well explained by the Alaşehir type-rolling hinge mechanism, which suggests active rotated initial normal fault during successive normal fault development of the graben formation. This paper suggests that the Alaşehir type-rolling hinge mechanism is applicable to the Büyük Menderes graben by using field observations, published isotopic / thermochronological and subsurface data. It also contributes to the long-lasting discussion about the activation problem on the low-angle normal faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the coverage and eliminating the poor performance is key to balance end-user experience and future network investments for mobile network operators (MNOs). Although vast amounts of infrastructure investments are provided by MNOs, there are still coverage and capacity planning problems at remote locations. This is because, in most cases, the population density and return-of-investments are low in those areas. In this paper, radio access network (RAN) sharing paradigm is utilized on experimental sites in Turkey to accommodate user equipment of multiple network operators under the same cell sites. We first investigate characteristics, benefits, and limitations of two different RAN sharing deployment scenarios. Then, a city-wide experimental RAN sharing study is conducted on live long-term evolution (LTE) networks between two MNOs in Turkey. Through experimental tests, we show overall performance gains of enabling RAN sharing feature in terms of observing various key performance indicators that are obtained from shared base stations. Our experimental results demonstrate that both downlink and uplink average user throughput values increased by 17.8% and 42.85%, respectively. After RAN sharing was enabled between MNOs, increase in the number of user equipment due to higher 4G coverage yielded a higher number of interradio access technology (inter-RAT) handover attempts. This caused inter-RAT handover out success rate to decrease by 70.66%. Intrafrequency handover out success rate, which indicates if the subscriber is using the same RAT type, increased by 358.33% and service drop rates dropped by 86.1%, respectively, after RAN sharing was enabled. Finally, we discuss and summarize the main takeaways of the outcome of the considered large-scale RAN sharing experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper includes the results of the first study about the phenolic characteristics and antimicrobial analyses of Geranium ibericum subsp. jubatum species found in Turkey. In the present work, the phenolic contents of different parts of the G. ibericum (flower, root, leaf) were determined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)--DAD (diode-array detector) and liquid chromatography (LC)--MS/MS (mass spectrometry). The following phenolic compounds were investigated: catechin, protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, ellagic acid, chlorogenic acid, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, p-coumaric acid, rutin, naringenin, kaempferol. Based on the results obtained, the roots and flowers of the plant are found to be very rich in ellagic acid (3473.57 µg g-1 dry plant) and catechin (2228.76 µg g--1 dry plant). The amount of chlorogenic acid (54.570 µg g--1 dry plant) is also high in the roots. The amounts of protocatechuic acid (122.5 µg g-1 dry plant) and gallic acid (725.34 µg g--1 dry plant) are high in the leaves. In addition, the total extract of G. ibericum obtained from leaf, flower, and root was tested against 6 gram-negative bacteria and Candida albicans. The G. ibericum extract was nearly as effective as commercial antibiotics at some concentrations (500-750 µg µL-1) for Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus mirabilis, and Bacillus cereus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As fifth generation (5G) networks are starting to become commercial, user expectations in terms of new services become high as well. This signifies that mobile communications service providers need to build robust 5G new services as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible. Many new technologies rely on closed-loop (CL) and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technologies due to emerging cooperation between nodes in next generation networks. In this paper, we first compare different multiantenna transmission modes namely: transmit diversity, open-loop (OL), and CL MIMO spatial multiplexing strategies to provide mobile network operator (MNO) services in terms of their characteristics, limitations and benefits. Later we investigate how launching a large-scale CL MIMO deployment strategy can affect the various key performance indicators (KPIs) of the existing services provided by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in real-operational network infrastructure in Turkey. Our practical experimental results indicate that, compared to OL MIMO system, CL MIMO can achieve large performance on a practical setup, where up to 3% improvement in cell average throughput, 9% in user throughput, 6% in spectrum efficiency, and 9% in channel quality indicator (CQI) and modulation coding scheme (MCS) are obtained, while reduction by 25% and 17% on sum delay and initial block error rates (IBLER) are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two species are newly recognized in Turkey. One is new to science, described as Zodarion kunti sp. n. (♂, ♀) from southeast Anatolian region. The other, Zodarion christae Bosmans, 2009 is found for the first time in Denizli, Antalya, and Muğla provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The productive performance and egg quality traits of hens in an organic production system in Turkey were executed in this paper. A total of 6000 hens were reared in an organic system for 72 weeks. Two organic certified houses each with a capacity of 3000 hens were used in the study. Mean egg production during the laying period was 303 eggs per hen. Laying rate was 80.24% for 72 weeks, while mortality was 8.85%. The internal and external egg quality traits were determined between 25 and 72 weeks. Mean egg weight was 63.03 g and shell thickness was 0.35 mm. Shape index was significantly decreased with age (P < 0.01). Mean shape index value was 76.34%. Shell breaking strength was highest (3.60 kg/cm2) at peak production and decreased with age (P < 0.01). Haugh unit was 98.19 and highest at 25 weeks and significantly decreased with age (P < 0.01). Mean Haugh unit was 80.39. Albumen index was highest at 25 weeks and significantly decreased (P < 0.01). Conversely, yolk index significantly increased with age (P < 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Palaearctic material of the genus Lobrathium Mulsant & Rey from many museums was studied. Lobrathium azizsancari sp. nov. from Turkey was described, illustrated, and distinguished from related congeners. Additional records of 14 Lobrathium species, among them four new country records, were reported. These were L. anale (Lucas) from Libya, L. multipunctum (Fauvel) from Montenegro, L. lederi (Eppelsheim) from Armenia, and L. rugipenne (Hochhuth) from Azerbaijan. Distributional map and a checklist of the Lobrathium species of Turkey were presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tragopogon porrifolius occurs in Turkey with 3 taxonomically confused subspecies: T. porrifolius subsp. eriospermus, T. porrifolius subsp. longirostris, and T. porrifolius subsp. abbreviatus. In the present paper, T. porrifolius subsp. abbreviatus endemic to Turkey is raised at specific level based on morphological and molecular analysis. After detailed assessment of original herbarium specimens and literature studies, we found that this name is not typified yet. Thus, a lectotype is provided together with an emended diagnosis; synonym, distribution map, and conservation status for the first time. Additionally, a preliminary phylogenetic position of this little-known taxon is given on several newly sequenced data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great interest for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to know how well their network infrastructure performance behaves in different geographical regions of their operating country compared to their horizontal competitors. However, traditional network monitoring and measurement methods of network infrastructure use limited numbers of measurement points that are insufficient for detailed analysis and expensive to scale using an internal workforce. On the other hand, the abundance of crowdsourced content can engender various unforeseen opportunities for MNOs to cope with this scaling problem. This paper investigates end-to-end reliability and packet loss (PL) performance comparisons of MNOs using a previously collected real-world proprietary crowdsourced dataset from a user application for 13 months' duration in Turkey. More particularly, a unified crowdsourced data-aided statistical MNO comparison framework is proposed, which consists of data collection and network performance analysis steps. Our results are statistically supported using confidence interval analysis for the mean difference of PL ratios and reliability levels of MNOs using unpaired number of observations statistical analysis. The network performance results indicate that significant performance differences in MNOs depending on different regions of the country exist. Moreover, we observe that the overall comparative ordered list of MNOs' reliability performance does not differ when both PL and latency requirements vary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the range extension of Kyphosus vaigiensis in the northeastern (NE) Mediterranean. On 18 November, 2018, a single specimen of K. vaigiensis was caught in İskenderun Bay (36°45.6′ N, 35°40.8′ E) by a recreational fisherman and reported through a social media application. The specimen was identified using morphological and molecular methods. Its occurrence and distribution in the NE Mediterranean were investigated based on interviews with fishers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the zooarchaeological observations on animal remains of Alaybeyi Höyük unearthed from 2016 and 2017 excavation sessions. Dated to 4721-4553 cal. BC, Alaybeyi stands so far as the oldest archaeological settlement discovered in northeast Anatolia. Therefore, the faunal assemblage at Alaybeyi offers great opportunity to study the status of animals and their relationships with humans in the largely unexplored Kars-Erzurum plateau covering a period from the Chalcolithic to Late Iron Age. Taxonomic and osteometric analyses show that, like the present day, cattle were dominant over caprines, revealing extensive cattle pastoralism in the region for at least about 7 millennia. While caprines too were significant in the subsistence strategy of local humans, there was not any sign of raising pigs. Significant numbers of wild species including carnivores, aquatic mammals, and rodents, as well as resident and migratory birds, were also hunted by Alaybeyi people. Additionally, horse burials, horse cult, dog burials, and a rich number of dog bones present animals as versatile actors in various ritual and symbolic practices at the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper includes the morphological and anatomical characters of the nutlets of 7 endemic species of the subsection Fragiles of the genus Stachys (Lamiaceae) from Turkey and the systematic significance of these characteristics, using one-way analysis of variance and cluster and principal component analyses. Morphological characters such as the dimensions, shapes, colors, and surfaces of the nutlets were studied using light and scanning electron microscopes. The structures and thicknesses of the pericarp and endosperm layers, as well as the sizes of the cotyledon in the nutlets, were anatomically studied. The outcomes revealed that the taxa vary from each other in terms of nutlet shape and color. The nutlet dimensions range from 1.31 mm to 3.49 mm in length and from 0.84 mm to 1.95 mm in width. While Stachys longiflora and S. pseudopinardii have the largest nutlets, S. chasmosericea has the smallest. The nutlet surface ornamentation was recorded as 5 types: reticulate, scalariform, reticulate-foveate, ruminate, and rugose. The most common type is reticulate; however, the other ornamentation types are specific for the studied taxa. Anatomically, the structure and thickness of the pericarp parts and the endosperm and the size of the cotyledon are very important characteristics that disclose interspecific relations within the studied taxa. A key is presented for the identification of the examined taxa based on the nutlet properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an experimental performance comparison of a 2-axis tracking system with a fixed panel in a solar renewable energy system is conducted. The paper mainly focuses on a cost-benefit analysis of fixed and tracking modules. For this aim, an experimental setup was built and periodical measurements were then obtained from the setup. To provide a better comparison, the panels were exposed to the same conditions during the measurements. By considering the real-time experimental results, the paper provides a quantitative analysis of the feasibility of tracking panels for domestic applications as well as an analysis of payback period if a tracking system is used for a home-building application instead of using a conventional fixed module. The study is restricted to the geographical region of Duzce, Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study multiple linear regression, multilayer perceptron (MLP) regression, and support vector regression (SVR) are used to make multivariate tourism forecasting for Turkey. This paper is a comparative study of data mining techniques based on multivariate regression modelling with monthly data points to forecast tourism demand; it focuses on Turkey. Both MLP and SVR methods are widely employed in the variety forecasting problems. Most of the previous research on tourism forecasting used univariate time series or a limited number of variables with mostly yearly or quarterly, and rarely monthly frequencies. However, the application of data mining techniques for multivariate forecasting in the context of tourism demand has not been widely explored. This paper differs from earlier research in two ways: 1) it proposes multivariate regression modelling with monthly data points to forecast tourism demand; and 2) it focuses on Turkey by using a dataset with the most recently accumulated (between January 1996 and Dec 2013) 67 time series with respect to Turkey and its top 26 major tourism clients. Comparison of forecasting performances in terms of relative absolute error (RAE) and root relative squared error (RRSE) measurements shows that the SVR model, with RAE = 12.34% and RRSE = 14.02%, gives a better performance. The results obtained in this study provide information for researchers interested in applying data mining techniques to tourism demand forecasting and help policy makers, government bodies, investors, and managers for their regularization, planning, and investments by way of accurate tourism demand forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eastern Anatolian Basins (EABs) started to develop on a mosaic, made up of forearc deposits of the Eastern Pontide Arc (EPA), continental metamorphic rocks of the Anatolian-Iranian Platform (AIP), and obducted ophiolitic units of the North Anatolian Ophiolitic Belt (NAOB) and Southeastern Anatolian Ophiolitic Belt (SAOB). The basement rocks of the East Anatolian Region represent a continental fragment positioned between the EPA to the north and the Arabian Platform to the south. In appearance, it can be said that there are many different basins in the Eastern Anatolian Region. This paper reports on three of them that were studied as a part of the work, defining the setting and structural evolution of the EABs as a whole. These are, from north to south, the Oltu-Balkaya Basin, the Tekman-Karayazı Basin, and the Muş Basin. The EABs started to develop in the beginning of the Maastrichtian age with tectonic subsidence. They then evolved as collisional foreland basins on the AIP and ophiolitic units of the NAOB and SAOB during the Paleocene and Early Eocene period, as well. The fill of these basins is represented by basal conglomerate, shallow marine limestone, and clastic rock units. During deposition of this fill, syncollisional Paleocene peraluminous leucogranitic magmatism developed along the Eastern Pontides. From the Middle Eocene to the Quaternary age, different superimposed postcollisional basins developed over the collisional foreland basin fill. In this time interval, a shallow marine-continental molasse deposition was accompanied with high-K calc-alkaline volcanism, which may be attributed to postcollisional magmatism in the Eastern Anatolian Region. As a result, for the structural evolution of EABs, it can be said that the EABs represent a foreland basin in the Maastrichtian-Early Eocene and superimposed postcollisional basins in the Middle Eocene-Quaternary interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power has become one of the cost-effective options for improving the energy mix, while the wind farm installations reach higher shares by new capacity additions in Turkey, similar to many other countries, in order to support the sustainable development targets. Various methodologies are implemented and applied for planning and optimizing energy systems of countries, taking into consideration the energy, economy, and ecology aspects as a whole. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the implications of "2023 energy targets" policy in terms of wind power. A futuristic scenario was tailored and applied to a comprehensive energy model for the energy system of Turkey. The official wind energy vision and goal of Turkey were analyzed by applying a scenario based on 20,000 MW wind power capacity installation by the year 2023. The results indicated that, if applied, this action will increase the share of wind power utilization to the level of 16% in the total renewables while the installed wind capacity will reach 18%. Finally, the total cost of this strategic target which doubles the installed capacity and electricity generation by wind power, including the respective investment costs and subsidizations results, were calculated as $24.78 billion on the analysis horizon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the number of algological studies in Turkish inland waters has increased remarkably. However, taxonomic and floristic studies on algae in the Euphrates basin are still scarce. This study contributes new information to the knowledge of the Turkish freshwater algal flora. Phytoplankton samples were collected from the Tatar Dam Reservoir in the Euphrates Basin between January 2016 and December 2016. Two taxa were recorded for first time and 14 rare taxa for the freshwater algae of Turkey were identified in this study. The new records belong to the phylum Bacillariophyta, whereas taxa considered as rare belong to the phyla Chlorophyta, Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Charophyta, Euglenophyta, and Bacillariophyta. The morphology and taxonomy of these taxa are briefly described in the paper and original light microscopy illustrations are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings on performance benchmarking of cellular network operators in Turkey. Benchmarking is based on measurements of standard key performance indicators (KPIs) in one of the metropolitan cities of Turkey, Ankara. Performance benchmarking is formulated by incorporating customer perception by conducting surveys on how important KPIs are from the user's point of view. KPIs are measured, with standard test equipment, by drive test method on specified routes. According to the performance benchmarking results, the GSM and UMTS network operators achieving the best performance were determined in Ankara. Speech qualities of network operators, as the most popular service, were also evaluated by several statistical methods including pdf/cdf analysis and chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. The network operator providing the highest speech quality in Ankara was determined with the methods applied. Overall, the results and approaches on benchmarking of cellular networks in Turkey are reported for the first time in this paper. The approaches proposed in this paper could be adapted to wide-scale benchmarking of services in cellular networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the history of phthalocyanines in Turkey. Phthalocyanines are chemical compounds that were accidently discovered nearly a century ago. The relevant research and articles have grown dramatically in Turkey since our first paper on them containing four [15]crown[5] published in 1986. The ball-type phthalocyanines were produced and published as a new concept in phthalocyanine chemistry for the first time by our group in Turkey in 2006. Unfortunately, with the exception of our work on this subject, almost no papers have been published in Turkey or in other countries since then. We strongly urge scientists to consider working on this new type of phthalocyanine, which shows interesting development potential in electrical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic applications as well as oxygen reduction for fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper provides an updated taxonomic list of sipunculan species known from the coasts of Turkey. A total of 21 species belonging to 5 families have been reported from the region. Eighteen species were determined in the Levantine Sea, 17 species in the Aegean Sea, 6 species in the Sea of Marmara, and a single species in the Black Sea. The family Golfingiidae had the majority of species (8 species, 38%), followed by Phascolosomatidae (5 species, 24%), Aspidosiphonidae (4 species, 19%), Phascolionidae (3 species, 14%), and Sipunculidae (1 species, 5%), respectively. The hotspot areas for the sipunculan species richness were Anamur (12 species) and the Fethiye-Göcek Specially Protected Area (11 species) in the Levantine Sea, and İzmir Bay (10 species) in the Aegean Sea. Four alien species [Nephasoma (N.) eremita, Apionsoma (A.) misakianum, Aspidosiphon (A.) mexicanus, and Aspidosiphon (A.) elegans] have been encountered from the region, of which A. (A.) misakianum was the most common species. This paper also gives a brief description of all species together with figures and distributional features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diatoms are one of the most important groups of organisms for biomonitoring studies. In Turkey, most previous applications of diatoms to water quality monitoring have focused on the pennate diatoms, with almost no attention given to the centric forms. The paper presents the centric diatoms in some river catchments in Central Anatolia (Konya closed catchment and Kızılırmak) and Western Anatolia (Marmara, Sakarya, Susurluk, Akarçay, Küçük Menderes, and Meriç-Ergene in the Marmara and Aegean regions). The survey of these catchments is based on samples collected between 2009 and 2013 from 33 different locations, including some springs from Türkmen Mountain and Domaniç forest, as well as small streams and big rivers of the Anatolian Peninsula. Altogether 30 taxa were found, of which 14 are new records for the freshwater diatom flora of Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the current knowledge on earthworm diversity and zoogeography of Yıldız (Strandja) Mountain in Bulgaria and Turkey. During the investigation in 2015 and 2016, 8 earthworm species altogether were registered. Murchieona minuscula proved to be new to the earthworm fauna of Bulgaria. In addition, there were 4 taxa recorded for the first time from Yıldız (Strandja) Mountain: Aporrectodea jassyensis, Aporrectodea rosea, Octolasion lacteum, and Proctodrilus tuberculatus. Using all existing information on the earthworms from Yıldız (Strandja) Mountain, we summarized our and previously published data and established a list for the whole territory of the mountain from both Bulgaria and Turkey. The list provides information about earthworm diversity, distribution, and zoogeographical position. Currently, 16 taxa belonging to 11 genera are known from the investigation area. According to the zoogeographic position, the largest number of earthworms belong to peregrine, endemic to Bulgaria, Mediterranean, and Trans-Aegean species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anatrachyntis badia (Hodges, 1962) (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae) is an opportunistic species native to the southern part of North America. This species was given from several dozens of plants therein from many cultivable plants, such as limes, grapefruits, bananas, peaches, cabbage, blossoms of coconut, Cycas spp., and even pine cones. Thus, it was accidentally introduced to many other countries with appropriate climate with some plants. It can be considered as a plant pest in some cases (e.g., sorghum). The species quite often occurs conjointly with other pest insects, such as mealybug or honeydew moth Cryptoblabes gnidiella (Millière, 1867) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). This paper presents the first report of this North American species from Turkey and a case of its importation to Poland by pomegranates deriving from Spain and Turkey. The mentioned data simultaneously constitute the first records about the species in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of sustainable development and energy efficiency efforts has increased in the construction sector. Energy-saving efforts for buildings have become more important due to the global energy crisis, and energy rating systems have been developed globally for assessment of energy performance. In this study, international green building certificate and energy performance certificate (EPC) systems are presented. The official EPC system for buildings in Turkey is illustrated with case studies. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from residential buildings are calculated using the official national software, which is called BEP-TR. The impact of lighting on the total energy performance of residential buildings is also examined. Changes in energy performance values are discussed for various cases. As a result of this study, it was determined that residential buildings constructed before 2000 consume more energy than those constructed after 2000; they are a lower energy performance class of buildings. Use of energy-saving lamps has also had a positive impact on both lighting and total energy performance classes. This paper aims to contribute to the promotion of building energy certification systems and energy efficiency issues for the construction sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study area is a strike-slip basin of approximately 1-9 km wide, 66 km long and N65°W trending, located between the historical Kesikköprü in the west and the Sarıhıdır settlement in the east along the northern side of the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province. It was evolved on a regional erosional surface of a pre-Quaternary volcanosedimentary sequence during Quaternary. This is evidenced by the stratigraphical, structural, and seismic data. The total amounts of throw and dextral strike-slip displacement accumulated on the basin-boundary faults during the evolutionary history of the basin are 178 m and 5 km, respectively. The average slip rate on the Salanda master fault is approximately 4 mm/year since the late early Pleistocene based on the total dextral strike-slip offset accumulated on it. The throw amount is small compared with the dextral strike-slip offset, which implies a strike-slip regime rather than a tensional tectonic regime in the basin. This is also supported by the combination of both the contractional and extensional structures such as reverse faults, fissure-ridge travertines, and a series of stepped terraces of late Quaternary age. Finally, it would be useful to take this paper into account in new works to be carried out in other sections of the Cappadocia region, because a new neotectonic regime (strike-slip tectonic regime) is first introduced here for this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to contribute to the Pediciidae (Diptera) fauna in Afyonkarahisar, Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bursa, Çanakkale, Eskişehir, Kırklareli, Kütahya, Kocaeli, Sakarya, and Uşak provinces of Turkey between 2008 and 2014. It was reported that 12 pediciid species belonging to 4 genera have been recorded in Turkey. Six of these species were recorded for the first time for the Turkish Pediciidae fauna. These species are Dicranota (Paradicranota) flammatra Starý, 1981; Dicranota (Paradicranota) fuscipennis Lackschewitz, 1940; Dicronata (Paradicronata) landrocki Czizek, 1931; Dicranota (Paradicranota) schistacea Lackschewitz, 1940; Dicronata (Paradicronata) subtilis Loew, 1871; and Tricyphona (Tricyphona) unicolor (Schummel, 1829). All pediciid species known in Turkey, and their provinces of collection, are given in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To assess quantitatively the cumulative and genuine contribution of Turkish universities to science in the main fields over the past 30 years. Materials and methods: In the Citation Reports section of the Web of Science, over 70 main scientific institutions were searched; and publications that received 60 or more citations by May 2010 were selected. Papers having more than a minor share by international authors were excluded. Results: Only 47 universities and 6 institutions generated articles that were cited ≥60 times. These publications, numbering 541, received a total of 51.215 citations. Eight universities (İstanbul University, İstanbul Technical University, Hacettepe University, Bilkent University, Middle-East Technical University, Boğaziçi University, Ankara University, and Ege University) acquired 62% of these citations. Primary authors were 335 individuals among whom 121 generated 70% of these citations. It is estimated that Turkish scientists produce about 1 per mil of the global scientific output, which indicates that about 40 such papers are produced annually in Turkey. A substantial variance was recorded across major universities in terms of the ratio of citations to highly-cited papers to the total citations. Engineering and geology had higher relative contributions, followed by agricultural sciences, ecology, pharmacy, chemistry and medicine, while physics, mathematics, and biology had less contributions. Conclusion: Along with research in general, research potentially to contribute to science needs specifically to be supported with a coherence, milieu creation and consistent long-term policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isophya rizeensis Sevgili, 2003 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) is a color polymorphic bush cricket endemic to the Fırtına Valley in the northeast of Turkey. This paper describes the local population size and dynamics of the species distributed in 13 different habitat patches within the Fırtına Valley. Local population size varied greatly between sites, and a 1-week delay in nymph emergence and maturation was recorded at the highest habitat patch relative to all habitat patches located at lower altitudes. The results given in this paper suggest that the I. rizeensis population in the Fırtına Valley constitutes a metapopulation made up of several local populations under partially different ecological pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generalized Pareto distribution, which is a special case of both exponential and Wakeby distribution, has good potential for the analysis of flood peaks because of its inherent properties. In this paper, the parameter estimation methods of the moments, probability-weighted moments, maximum likelihood, principle of maximum entropy, and least squares to estimate the parameters in the three-parameter generalized Pareto distribution are compared. The usefulness and applicability of each method is discussed by application to observed annual discharge data for 50 different rivers, most of them in Turkey. The comparisons are based on the ability of each method to predict the elements of the sample series whose non-exceedence probabilities were determined by the Cunnane plotting position formula. Altogether the results demonstrate that for the annual discharge time series considered in this paper the moments method is superior to all the other parameter estimation methods employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]