Alchemilla genus, which belongs to the Rosaceae family, is a medicinal plant used for various purposes among the people. Species of this genus are known in Turkish folk medicine as lion claw or hazelnut grass. Especially, they are used mainly women’s illnesses, in gastritis, anti-inflammatory, as carminative, and in the treatment of wound. Besides the antimutagenic effect of Alchemilla alpina L., its above-ground parts are used for antimycotic purposes in the form of tea or oral care water. In this study, it has been aimed to determine the antimicrobial effect of the above-ground parts of Alchemilla alpina extracts obtained from methanol, ethanol and chloroform and the antioxidant activity of different concentrations of the extract obtained from methanol. The antimicrobial activity of methanol, ethanol and chloroform extracts of the above-ground parts of A. alpina has been determined according to disk disc diffusion method. In the results obtained have been showed that these extracts inhibited the growth of some bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, Escherichia coli ATCC25322, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC700603, Bacillus megaterium DSM32) and yeasts (Candida albicans FMC17 and Candida glabrata ATCC66032) at different rates (8-23 mm). The antioxidant activity of different concentrations (1.25, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/ml) of the above-ground parts of A. alpina extract obtained from methanol has been determined according to the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity method. In the results obtained, it has been observed that the effect of removing DPPH radical of A. alpina increased depending on increasing concentrations.

This study was conducted with the aim of determining the influence of tillage techniques on depth, furrow slice and water retention in Maugo Smallholder Rice Scheme in Kenya. Treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design with four replicates. Four tillage treatments were used. The first one was conventional ox plough practiced by farmers where they first flood the field with water before ploughing. The other three treatments were ox plough, hand hoe and tractor ploughing all with no flooding before ploughing. Data collected included depth of ploughing and harrowing during land preparation. Furrow slices during ploughing and harrowing as well as water retention were recorded. Tractor ploughing had the highest mean depth of ploughing of 42.00 ± 0.81 cm followed by conventional ox ploughing with 17.75 ± 0.75 cm, ox ploughing15.75 ± 0.62 cm and hand hoe ploughing had the lowest mean depth 15.50 ± 0.28 cm. Tractor ploughing had the largest mean furrow size of 62.00 ± 0.91cm followed by conventional ox ploughing 32.25 ± 0.85 cm, ox ploughing 30.25 ± 0.85 cm while hand hoe ploughing had the smallest mean furrow slice of 16.5 ± 0.50 cm. Highest mean of retained water was recorded in week 4 in paddy rice fields prepared using conventional ox ploughing (10.5 cm), ox ploughing (10 cm), hand hoe ploughing (11.5 cm) and tractor ploughing (11.5 cm) while the lowest was recorded in week 15 for conventional plots. There were significant differences in mean depths during both ploughing and harrowing. Tractor ploughing mean depths were significantly different from the other treatments. The weekly mean water depths retained in the plots were more than 6 cm for the entire growing period of rice.

Poverty is a major menace in Nigeria. Therefore, the research centered on the analysis of poverty status of farming households in Ebonyi State. Multi stage and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 450 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected using electronic data capturing instrument containing the questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbeecke (FGT), and Logit regression model. The result from the study shows that 54% of the farming households in Ebonyi state were poor while 46% of them were not poor. The result further reveals that household size, dependency ratio, sex, monthly household expenditure, and farm size were the significant factors that influenced poverty status of Ebonyi state farming households. Therefore, government at the federal, state and local levels should consider socioeconomic characteristics of the farming households in the design and implementation of any poverty driven projects in order to improve their standard of living. Also, government at the various level, should consider embarking on programs to address the youth unemployment and aged members of the Nigerian society for these will reduce the dependency burden which have continued to increase the poverty level in farming households in Ebonyi state.

Yapılan bu çalışmada, Türkiye’de yetişen iki farklı Maviyemiş (Brigitta ve Darrow) çeşidine ait sezonluk meyveler tüm yıl boyunca ulaşılabilirliğinin sağlanması amacıyla reçel ve marmelata işlenmiştir. Elde edilen ürünlerin depolama süresince toplam fenolik madde, toplam antosiyanin ve antioksidan kapasitesi gibi beslenme ve sağlık açısından son derece önemli fitokimyasal özelliklerindeki değişimlerin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Taze maviyemiş meyvelerinde başlangıçta, reçel ve marmelatlarda ise 6 aylık depolama sürecinin 0, 2, 4 ve 6. aylarında toplam fenolik madde, antioksidan kapasite (TEAC, FRAP), toplam antosiyanin, polimerik renk ve HMF analizleri yapılmıştır. Depolama süresince maviyemiş çeşitlerine ait reçel ve marmelat örneklerinde toplam fenolik madde miktarı 178,68-518,45 μg GAE/g; TEAC değerleri 1,16-11,60 μmol TE/g; FRAP değerleri 1.83-10,33 μmol TE/g ve antosiyanin miktarının 7,35-298,22 µg cy-3 glu/g arasında değiştiği ve en yüksek değerlere Darrow çeşidine ait örneklerin sahip olduğu belirlenmiştir. 6 aylık depolama süresi sonunda Polimerik renk değeri bakımından en fazla artışın (%124 ve %73) Darrow çeşidine ait reçel ve marmelat örneklerinde gerçekleştiği, HMF değeri bakımından ise en fazla artışın (%65 ve %87) Brigitta çeşidine ait reçel ve marmelat örneklerinde meydana geldiği gözlemlenmiştir.

There are about 68 types of mulberry fruit with a wide ecological production area. Different mulberry species are grown in large fields in Turkey. Mulberries are largely dried-consumed, but sometimes they are used as fruit juice. In this study, black mulberry fruit was collected in two different ripening levels (semi-ripe and full-ripe) and oven-dried at 50, 60 and 70°C drying temperatures. Initial moisture contents of semi-ripe and full-ripe fruits were determined as 86.74% and 82.95%, respectively. Fruits were dried to have final moisture levels of 10-15%. Drying duration, drying models, effective diffusion, activation energy, specific energy consumption, color parameters and chemical properties of dried fruits were examined and the effect of ripening levels and drying temperatures were investigated. In terms of drying duration, while full-ripe fruits dried in a shorter time, effective diffusion, activation energy and specific energy consumption values were found to be higher than semi-ripe fruits. In terms of color parameters, semi-ripe fruits are recommended to be dried at 50 or 60°C drying temperatures and full-ripe fruits should be dried at 50°C drying temperature for better preservation of color parameters. On the other hand, a common proper drying temperature could not be identified for acidity (pH), water soluble dry matter and titratable acidity.

Kuru kaymak, geleneksel kaymağın tandırda ve/veya gölgede kurutulması ile üretilen bir süt ürünüdür. Bu çalışmada, Erzurum ve Nevşehir piyasalarından toplanan Kuru kaymak örneklerinde (10 adet) bazı fiziksel, kimyasal, tekstürel, mikrobiyolojik ve duyusal özelliklerin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Ayrıca örneklerin görüntüleri, OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library) görüntü işleme kütüphanesi ve C++ dili kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Kuru kaymak örneklerinde laktik asit (%) değerinin %0,46-1,21 aralığında ve pH değerinin 6,19-6,83 aralığında değiştiği saptanmıştır. Örneklerin ortalama kurumadde, yağ ve kül içerikleri sırasıyla %71,44, %42,25 ve %2,70 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Yapılan renk ölçümleri ile ortalama L* değerinin 77,42, a* değerinin 2,13 ve b* değerinin 17,44 olduğu belirlenmiştir. Kuru kaymak örneklerinin ortalama sertlik değerinin 1761,37 N, esneklik değerinin 4,30, iç yapışkanlık değerinin 0,64, sakızımsılık değerinin 689,41 N, çiğnenebilirlik değerinin 1212,00 N ve elastikiyet değerinin 0,60 olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Görüntü işleme analizi sonucuna göre örneklerin gözeneklilik durumu %12,27-29,84 aralığında değişmektedir. Mikrobiyolojik değerlendirme sonucunda örneklerde ortalama 3,94 log kob/g maya-küf ve 3,97 log kob/g koliform grubu bakterilerin bulunduğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca 4 örnekte Escherichia coli tespit edilmiştir. Görünüş, yapı ve koku parametreleri örneklerde sırasıyla ortalama 5,77, 5,75 ve 5,49 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, birbirinden farklı özelliklerde Kuru kaymak örneklerinin olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Unutulmak üzere olan bu geleneksel süt ürününün özelliklerinin optimize edilmesi, standart ve hijyenik koşullarda üretilmesinin gerekli olduğu düşünülmektedir.

Oat is an important cereal used as human food, animal feed and medicinal plant. This study was conducted to determined yield and some physical quality characteristics of 22 oat genotypes in Turkey in rainfall and supplemented irrigation conditions during 2016-2017 growing season at Yozgat/Yerköy, Turkey. Experiments were carried out in randomized complete block design with three replications. In the trials, plant height, panicle length, grain yield, biological yield, thousand grain weight, hectoliter weight and groat percentage were investigated. İn non-irrigated conditions, plant height, panicle length, grain yield, biological yield, thousand grain weight, hectolitre weight and groat percentage were between 54.2-86.2 cm, 14.1-23.3 cm, 116.9-288.1 kg da-1, 593.1-938.9 kg da-1, 24.1- 38.5 g, 40.4-48.4 kg and 63.5-73.6% whereas in supplemented irrigation conditions, plant height, panicle length, grain yield, biological yield, thousand grain weight, hectolitre weight and groat percentage were 65.0-98.7 cm, 15.3-25.7 cm, 226.1-439.6 kg da-1, 979.2-1381.9 kg da-1, 24.2-39.3 g, 43.5-51.0 kg and 62.5-73.0%, respectively. Supplemented irrigation application increased both grain yield and biological yield approximately 1.5 times compared to application based on rainfall. Genotypes G9, G10, G12, G13, G14, G17, G18, G21 and G22 had the highest grain yield in experiments irrigated with both rainfall and supplemented irrigation.

Spiders are one of the groups that best adapted to terrestrial life among in invertebrates and are represented by approximately 48,000 species in the world. Although all spiders do not weave webs, the webs of spiders are literally a work of art. The main reason for spider web weaving is hunting. Some spider species live in the nature dependent on the own web, while others continue to live without being dependent on the own web. Although basic taxonomic features generally remain unchanged, some spider-silk weaving apparatus may undergo adaptive variations. In this study, the web structure of the weaving web spider, Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli, 1772) and the structural organization of the web weaving apparatus was observed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The web structure of A. bruennichi, spinnerets especially posterior spinneret and arrangement of its spigots are shown and discussed in the light of the literature.

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, bitkinin polifenolik profilinde etkin önemli bir bileşen olan ve antioksidan, antibakteriyel ve antiviral özellikleri ile öne çıkan rosmarinik asit (RA) ile diğer antioksidan bileşenlerin hidroalkolik çözücü ekstraksiyonuna dayalı bir yöntem geliştirmek ve optimize etmektir. Ekstraksiyon gibi karmaşık süreçleri modellemek ve optimize etmek için yumuşak bilgi işlem tabanlı kemometrik çalışmalara ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Bu sebeple yapılan çalışmada, değerli bir tıbbi aromatik bitki kaynağı olan Ocimum bacilicum L.’den biyoaktif RA’in yeşil ve basit bir teknikle ekstraksiyon koşullarını, kemometrik yöntemler kullanılarak modellenmesi ve optimizasyonu sağlanmıştır. Bunun yanı sıra O. basilicum’ da bulunan RA’in potansiyelini, Toplam fenolik madde (TFM) miktarı ve Toplam antioksidan aktivite (TAA) ile değerlendirmek de hedeflenmektedir. Yapılan çalışmada RSM-CCD/dar faktöriyel tasarım kullanılmış, çok yanıtlı optimizasyon Pareto çözümleri yardımıyla çözülmüş ve optimum girdi değişkeni değerlerini belirlemek için İstenebilirlik fonksiyonu kullanılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, O. basilicum L. ekstraksiyonun optimum koşulları; %47,7 EtOH konsantrasyonu, 30,0°C sıcaklık, 77,6 dk ekstraksiyon süresi ve 10 mL/g çözücü/katı oranı bulunmuştur. Optimum koşullar altında elde edilen deneysel sonuçlar TFM, TAA ve RA için sırasıyla 171,46±1,87 mg GAE/g, 4,76±0,32 mg Troloks/mL ve 8,93±0,65 mg/g’dır. Matematiksel modelden tahmin edilen sonuçlar sırasıyla (172,26 mg GAE/g), (4,13 mg Troloks/mL) ve (8,89 mg/g) olarak bulunmuştur.

To improve hen welfare, several studies have investigated various environmental enrichments that suit different laying hen production systems. The positive results of these studies can enable such environmental enrichments to be utilized in commercial laying hen production. This paper reviewed the effects of environmental enrichments in different laying hen production systems on hen welfare and egg quality. The successfully proven environmental enrichments in free-range production system include forage, shelterbelt, and artificial shade in outdoor area and novel objects and H-shaped perching structures in indoor. These are associated with increased range use that positively affects hen welfare. In aviary system, perches, and litter materials (e.g., straw, sand) as environmental enrichments are linked to improved behavioral expression, reduced stress, and enhanced immune system. Under the litter system, environmental enrichment with substrates (e.g., pecking stones, alfalfa blocks, silage, straw, barley) has been found to increase the foraging behavior of laying hens. This reduces severe feather pecking thus, improving the plumage condition of hens. Although the effects of environmental enrichments on hen welfare have been assessed and scientifically proven in the reviewed studies, significant progress of their impact on egg quality traits has not been reported. The studies have shown that environmental enrichments have no significant effect on egg quality traits. Also, appropriate pasture or plant species as environmental enrichments in free-range production system in relation to hen welfare and egg quality have not been identified. Therefore, it is important to continue studies on environmental enrichments while emphasizing their influence on egg quality since it is a major performance trait in the egg industry. In addition, there is a need for studies to identify ideal pasture or plant species for free-range production system that positively affects hen welfare and egg quality.