Drying method is preferred in agricultural products since it provides advantages in many processes such as increasing the strength of products, transporting and storing. It is necessary to estimate the drying behavior of the products in order to achieve the best drying without reducing the product quality. For this reason, many numerical drying models have been developed to estimate the drying kinetics of the products. Recently, artificial neural networks have been widely used for the development of these models. Artificial neural networks are mathematical models that work in a similar way to natural neuron cells. Radial based artificial neural networks are radial based activation functions in the transition to the hidden layer unlike other networks. In this study, modeling of drying kinetics with radial based networks was investigated. For the experiment, red hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) was dipped in boiled water and microwave pretreatments and, then dried in the oven at 65°C. The absorbable moisture values were calculated during the drying period. The radial based artificial neural network models were trained with the drying time values as input and the absorbable moisture values as output. The study was carried out with two data sets including all data and only the average. In trainings with all data, R value of the best model was calculated as 0.9566. R was calculated as 0.9998 with average data.

Progesterone plays a key role in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in mammalian. Increasing levels of circulating progesterone in the post-conception period are associated with conceptus elongation and high pregnancy rates in cattle. Contradictory results are available on the direct role of progesterone in early embryo development. The objective of this study was to evaluate direct effects of progesterone on in vitro development of cattle embryos. Immature oocytes collected from slaughtered animals and cultured in the presence of different concentrations of progesterone (25, 50, 100 ng/mL) following in vitro fertilization. Cleavage rates in 25 and 50 ng/mL concentrations of progesterone were significantly higher than those in controls and 100 ng/mL. Rate of embryos that reached to the morula stage was similar in all groups. Supplementation of 25 and 50 ng/mL progesterone to the culture media significantly increased blastocyst yield while 100 ng/mL progesterone resulted in a decrease. As a conclusion, we can suggest that progesterone supplementation in in vitro culture may support embryo development at low levels.

This study aims to compare UV-C irradiation and conventional heat treatment to produce pasteurized onion juice used as a meat marinating agent. The process conditions maximizing the inactivation of target microorganism Escherichia coli K-12 were; 0.5 mm sample depth, 30 min irradiation, 7.5 mW/cm2 UV incident intensity for UV-C and, 74.5°C and 12 min for heat treatment. Except pH and non-enzymatic browning index, differences between physicochemical properties of raw, UV-C and heat-treated onion juices were significant. Springiness and chewiness of unmarinated beefsteaks were higher compared to the ones marinated with the fresh and pasteurized onion juice (UV-C and heat). Pasteurization of onion juice (UV-C and heat) did not significantly affect general liking scores compared to beefsteaks marinated in untreated onion juice.

While the use of pesticides in plant production has positive effects on yield and quality, it has negative effects on human and environmental health. The environment is polluted by the intense and unconscious use of chemicals in agriculture, and the absence of environmentally friendly agricultural methods. This causes problems in the long term, such as reduced biodiversity and disruption of natural balance. This study is important because there are many problems such as the producers' failure to effectively apply methods of combating diseases, pests, and weeds in agricultural production, the use of unnecessary and wrong doses of pesticides, and the methods other than chemical control are not preferred. The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes and behaviors of farmers towards use of pesticides in Çarşamba District of Samsun Province. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with 112 farmers determined by stratified sampling method. According to the findings, most of the farmers in the region do not prefer other methods different form chemical control methods. While farmers found the effectiveness of pesticides at a medium level, they found the price levels of pesticides high. While there is a perception that over-using pesticides adversely affects the environment, biological control methods are not known enough. Various research, education, and extension studies should be carried out for farmers to use pesticides more consciously, and to apply methods other than chemical control.

A survey and field experiment were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of commercial insecticides against tomato leaf miner [Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)] under farmer’s field condition in Palpa, Nepal from February 2018 to April 2018. It consists of seven treatments replicated three times. The treatments included: Abamectin 0.15% EC (dose: 0.3ml/liter), Imidachloprid 17.8% SL (dose: 0.3ml/liter), Spinosad 45% SC (0.3ml/liter), Azadirachtin 300 ppm (5ml/liter), Chlorantraniliprole 18.5% SC (0.3ml/liter), Emamectin benzoate 5% SC (2gm/liter) and control. Treatments were applied two times at 12 days interval. From the farmer survey, Tuta absoluta was identified as the major production problem of the study area. The field experiment revealed that there was a significant effect of insecticides in larval mortality and damage reduction. The lowest percentage of leaves damage was obtained in spinosad followed by chlorantraniliprole and emamectin benzoate and the lowest fruits damage was obtained in chlorantraniliprole followed by spinosad and emamectin benzoate. Similarly, the lowest larval population in both leaves and fruits was observed in chlorantraniliprole followed by spinosad and emamectin benzoate. Average mining in infested leaves and fruits was found non-significant at all days of observation. The rate of larval population reduction over control was found highest in chlorantraniliprole followed by spinosad and emamectin benzoate. Thus, chlorantraniliprole, spinosad and emamectin benzoate were superior insecticides for management of Tuta absoluta in the field condition.

In this study, antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial effect values of honeydew honey obtained from Ida Mountains region being rich in biodiversity were determined. According to the results of electrical conductivity and pollen analyses; 25 honeydew honey samples collected from the Ida Mountains region of the towns of Çanakkale province; Ayvacık, Bayramiç, Çan and Yenice. DPPH% antioxidant capacity values of honeydew honeys were found out to vary between 41.50% - 78.98%. It was also determined that some honeydew honey samples have high antioxidant capacity values such as 74.83%- 78.27%, 78.69% and 78.98%. It was determined that honeydew honey samples have antimicrobial effect on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC 1301 microorganisms. It was found out that the samples have no antimicrobial effect on Bacillus cereus ATCC 6633, Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 9763 microorganisms.

In this research, herbivorous plants and fungus samples, naturally grown and consumed as a nutrition by the local people, were collected from Gülpınar village and Gülpınar plateau of Mesudiye district and Turnalık plateau of Ordu province. In the collected samples, the elemental analysis for Ca, K and Fe elements that are highly crucial for physiology of human being were carried out as a percentage level by using Energy Dispersive X- Ray Spectroscopy (EDXRF). According to the obtained results from the plant samples; The highest Fe content was found to be 0.01% and 0.006%, respectively, in the Ferrula communis and the Amaranthus retraflexus. In terms of the amount of Ca, the Rumex crispus and the Mentha sp. were the species with the highest values of 1.09% and 1.39%, respectively. Finally, the importance of the results obtained in terms of these elements examined and their effects on human health are discussed.

The tomato plant exhibiting leaf rolling, witches’ broom, distorted and elongated flower’s sepals in Iğdır province, Turkey, was observed. Total DNA extraction was performed from the symtomatic fresh tomato sample. All DNAs were subjected to Direct and Nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with universal primer sets that amplified the 16S rRNA of phytoplasmas. PCR products were purified from agarose gel and cloned into the pGEM T-Easy cloning vector. Recombinant plasmids were introduced into the prokaryotic cloning bacteria by electroporation. Plasmid isolation was performed by selecting one of the positive clones randomly and sequencing was performed by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). Sequencing results revealed that the 16S rRNA gene associated with phytoplasma was 1251 nucleotides in size, and this sequence was denominated as ‘Iğdır 10’ isolates and recorded in the GenBank under the MT344968 accession number. The virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (V-RFLP) and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence confirmed that the cause of disease in infected tomato plants was 'Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii' ('Ca. P. trifolii') (16SrVI-A, Clover proliferation group), with a 1.00 similarity coefficient. This present study is the first report of ‘Ca. P. trifolii’ and its nucleotide sequence analysis in naturally infected tomato in Iğdır province.

The primary purpose of this study is whether gender, which is a culturally and socially defined concept, affects the perception of landscape architecture. Secondly, it is aimed to determine the preferences of the designs created in landscape architecture studies according to gender and to guide the questionnaire results in the creation of areas suitable for user requests during the design phase. The concept of admiration, preference and accompanying beauty, the effect it has on people according to gender, show various differences. These differences lead to perceptual selectivity in terms of colour, texture, form, functional and aesthetically depending on gender. Therefore, tastes and preferences are not expected to be a single judgment but to vary. Since there is no possibility of face-to-face surveys due to the current Covid-19 outbreak, online surveys were conducted on 220 people who can be reached in professional groups on social media. In the content of the questionnaire, the landscape design criteria and design elements were handled, and the visuals and preferences selected for each definition were directed to the participants as questions. According to the evaluated results, differences occurred in perceptual preferences depending on gender. In addition to the fact that there was no statistically significant difference between the preferences of women and men in terms of design criteria and elements, the preferences of both groups were combined in natural or close to nature forms. Considering the proportions, there was no obvious difference in design perceptions preferred by gender.

Plants are important antioxidant sources. In our study, total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS) and oxidative stress index (OSI) of endemic Helleborus vesicarius Aucher ex Boiss.were determined. The aerial parts of the plant samples were dried and extracted with ethanol (EtOH). TAS and TOS values of plant extract were determined using Rel Assay Diagnostics kits. As a result of the studies, the TAS value of H. vesicarius was determined 5.548±0.23, the TOS value was 13.778±0.119 and the OSI value was 0.249±0.009. In this context, the plant has been shown to have significant antioxidant potential.