Browsing by Author "Küçük Ö."

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An Overview on Nature Function in Relation with Spread of Omicron-Covid-19: Where Will the Next Pandemic Begin and Why the Amazon Forest Offers Troubling Clues
(2023-06-15) Monajjemi M.; Kandemirli F.; Mollaamin F.; Küçük Ö.
The effect of COVID-19 vaccination also depends on the population that accepts vaccines. Improving the COVID-19 vaccination methods will be tremendous to human health and the world economy. So, in this work, we use an interdisciplinary knowledge from climates, social sciences, geography, jungle, forestry and wood industry, genetic analysis, and computational biophysics, including artificial intelligence and docking simulation. The emergence of the omicron variant raises serious concerns because of the initial observation of a significant growth advantage compared to the Delta, lambda, beta, and gamma variants. Although the omicron variant preliminary observed in the EU/EEA and Asian countries depend on travel, several are now observed as parts of pandemic clustering in this zoon. Since, even if the severity of the disease is lower compared with other variants, particularly Delta, the fast transmissibility and resulting exponential growth of cases will soon outweigh any benefits of a potentially reduced severity. This research showed that though omicron covid-19 death cases are less severe than Delta, Omicron will be an important base for the emergence of new further variants through huge mutations in the future, which some are so dangerous. Due to the wet climate, the Amazon jungle is a suitable substrate for emerging any further corona variants.
Biodiversity of gavurdag wildlife development area
(2017-07-01) Güney K.; Küçük Ö.; Aktürk E.; Evcin Ö.
Natural resources are depleting due to detrimental effects of human interventations. The preservation and rehablitation of these areas are critical. It is very important to identify existing floristic and faunistic elements of these sites for management and future studies. The main purpose of these strategies is to protect and develop the target species and other resource values of the protected area. Besides this, it is also aimed to protect the floristic and faunistic value of the conservation area, in other words protecting the biodiversity. It is aimed to investigate and document the floristic and faunistic values in Gavurdag Wildlife Development Area in this study. According to floristic results, 618 plant taxa were found and 97 of them were detected as endemic in the study field (Endemism ratio: 15.7%). Moreover, when the IUCN categories are examined; 7 species are found to be in En category and 10 species are found to be in the Vu category. In addition, 15 mammal and 64 bird species were detected with faunal research in the field.
Burn severity evaluation in black pine forests with topographical factors using Sentinel-2 in Kastamonu, Turkiye
(2023-03-27) Genç Ç.Ö.; Küçük Ö.; Keleş S.Ö.; Ünal S.
Modeling forest fire risk based on GIS-based analytical hierarchy process and statistical analysis in Mediterranean region
(2022-05-01) Sivrikaya F.; Küçük Ö.
This study proposed an integrated approach to generating a forest fire risk map. It used geographic information system–based multiple criteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and a statistical index (SI). The research was carried out at the Mersin Regional Directorate of Forestry (RDF) in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. Four main criteria, the forest structure, topography, environment, and climate, and 16 subcriteria were used to create the fire risk map. The weight of each criterion was determined using the AHP. The AHP model revealed that environmental factors are the most influential in igniting forest fires, followed by the forest structure. In order to evaluate the results, 990 historical forest fire ignition points were obtained from the Mersin RDF. According to the forest fire risk map, more than 85% of the ignition points were in areas classified as having an extreme or high risk for forest fires. The findings show that the study area is highly prone to forest fires. The relative operating characteristic curve and area under the curve were used to validate the accuracy of the fire risk map. This validation revealed a very high accuracy of 0.775 for the AHP model, indicating a high accuracy in forest fire risk mapping, and the map produced was consistent and reliable. The AHP model and its results will assist decision makers in taking necessary precautions to prevent forest fires and to minimize fire damage, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean region.
Optimization by using taguchi method of the production of magnesium-matrix carbide reinforced composites by powder metallurgy method
(2017-09-06) Küçük Ö.; Elfarah T.T.K.; Islak S.; Özorak C.
The aim of this study was to determine the optimum production parameters in the production of magnesium matrix carbide-reinforced composites by using the powder metallurgy method. The parameter levels maximizing density (%), hardness (HB10), and bending strength (MPa) values were found by using the Taguchi method. The type of reinforcement, the amount of reinforcement, the sintering time, the sintering temperature, additive type, and additive rate were selected as the production parameters. Since the production of Mg and its alloys by using casting methods is problematic, the hot pressing method, a powder metallurgy method, was preferred in this study. Ceramic-based carbide particles were used as reinforcing materials in Mg matrix composite materials. B4C, SiC, Mo2C, and TiC carbides were preferred as the carbide. Microstructure and phase composition of the produced materials was examined with scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractogram (XRD) and X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The hardness of the materials was measured by using a Universal Hardness device. The relative densities of the materials were determined according to Archimedes’ principle. The bending strength properties of the materials were determined by using the three-point bending test. The optimum conditions were a sintering temperature of 500 °C, sintering duration of 5 min, additive type of B4C and additive rate of 2.5%, and the results obtained at these conditions were found to be as follows; relative density of 98.74 (%), hardness of 87.16 HB10 and bending strength of 193.65 MPa. SEM images taken from the fracture surfaces showed that the carbides added to the matrix had a relatively homogeneous distribution. XRD analyses revealed that the matrix was oxidized very little, and no phase formation occurred between the matrix and the carbides. Carbide addition caused a distinct hardness increase by showing the effect of distribution strengthening in the matrix.
Polymer Materials & Waste Industrial Products might be Dangerous for Destroying the Forests in Türkiye: An Overview of Climate Changing in Viewpoint of Bio Thermochemical Analysis
(2023-12-15) Mollaamin F.; Monajjemi M.; Küçük Ö.
Cleaning and saving the forest is related to managing and utilizing forests' biodiversity, productivity, and considering the relevant environment. Plastic waste management is now seen as an important goal for sustainable forest use as well as incorporating recycled plastics into products. Another way that industries impact wildlife and forests is by releasing additives such as industrial gases, organic & inorganics materials, plastic & resins, fertilizers & alkalies, and chlorine. Polymer wastes manage to enter into and harm numerous biological functions of animals. In this work, the concept of sustainable Türkiye's forest practices and addressing the impact of plastic waste on the forests and environment before and during the COVID-19 epidemic are discussed along with current sources of those mentioned materials wastes that manage to enter the environment. Through this work, the data of bio thermochemistry and thermodynamics calculations of such polymers have been investigated to exhibit the range of sustainability and unsustainability of those mentioned polymers and resins in the environment due to forest climate change. Since the Türkiye chemical industry is one of the most important industrial factors, their production contributes in similar proportions to greenhouse gas emissions. Interestingly, low data on energy usage in the factories and chemical industry is available in the public domain. Ethylene production is the major product in terms of the production volume of the petrochemical industry. Nitrogenous fertilizer production is a very energy-intensive industry, producing a variety of fertilizers and other nitrogen compounds. In addition, ammonia, chlorine, and caustic soda are the most important mediator chemical material used as the main compound for almost all products.
Removing Non-Biodegradable Toxic Ions via Bio-Oxidation Analysis in Anzali Lagoon: A Usage of Seaweed in Biodiversity
(2023-06-15) Monajjemi M.; Mollaamin F.; Küçük Ö.
Seaweed has been considered a treatment with the possibility of saving the environment in Anzali Lagoon in Iran due to its eco-potential, accessibility, and anti-toxic metal ion. Mostly, transition metals are toxic to human organs. Due to these problems and concerns, this study exhibits suitable adsorption materials for several native materials. Using the seaweeds of Anzali Lagoon in Iran for treatment has shown prominent results compared with other materials. The adsorption of transition metals by dead seaweed biomass offers a comparative advantage over other natural adsorption materials. This work describes the situation of heavy metals on the environment and why dead seaweed biomass is considered for remediation, among other materials. This work provides general ways to remove dissolved metals and toxic ions from Anzali Lagoon. Each of the various stages of operations of this lagoon will be discussed with their role in the metals removal process. The described treatment is general for metals and ion oxides removal. Some variations will exist among different systems. In layman's terms, these methods are intended to provide a suitable understanding of the precipitation process for toxic water treatment application. This investigation also provides a general method on how to remove dissolved metals (third and fourth-row elements of Mendeleyev tables) from toxic waters for discharge into sanitary systems.
Sulphur removal from Artvin-Yusufeli lignite with acidic hydrogen peroxide solutions
(2016-01-01) Levent M.; Kaya Ö.; Kocakerim M.M.; Küçük Ö.
In this study, the optimisation of sulphur removal by H2O2/H2SO4 solutions, and a limited kinetic measurements by H2O2/HCl solutions have been carried over Artvin/Yusufeli lignite. In kinetic measurements, only the effect of temperature on removal of sulphur has been investigated. By keeping all other parameters constant, with increments in temperature at different times, it has been seen that removal of sulphur is increased. A statistical experimental arrangement which has six parameters and for each parameter there is twenty five experiments with five levels. In generally, pyritic sulphur, total sulphur, organic sulphur and ash removal rates have been determined. According to carried out variance analysis, in removal of pyritic and total sulphur, all parameters are effective, but, in removal of organic sulphur, acid concentration and particle size are not effective, and in removal of ash, only, acid concentration is not effective, however, all other parameters are effective.
The effect of CNT content and sintering temperature on some properties of CNT-reinforced MgAl composites
(2017-01-01) Islak S.; Küçük Ö.; Eski Ö.; Özorak C.; Akkaş M.
Magnesium and its alloys are considered as an important material for modern light structures at the present time and therefore they have a wide area of usage especially in electronics, aircraft, and automotive industries. Its popularity increases further as a result of its production as a composite material. In this study, carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced MgAl matrix composite materials were produced by using the hot pressing method. While 0.25 wt%, 0.50 wt%, 0.75 wt%, and 1.00 wt% CNT were added, 450°C, 500°C, and 550°C was selected as sintering temperatures. The effect of sintering temperature and amount of CNT on some properties of the composites was examined. Microstructure and phase composition of the materials were examined by using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The hardness of the composites was measured in Brinell. Relative densities of the materials were determined in accordance with Archimedes’ principle. A dense and slightly porous structure was obtained based on both SEM images and density measurements. XRD analyses showed that there were Mg, Mg17Al12, and MgO phases in the composites. The reason for the absence of Al in graphics was that Al formed the solid solution by being dissolved in Mg. Also, the C peak could not be determined for CNT. The hardness of the composites increased with the increasing sintering temperature and CNT addition. The highest hardness value was measured as 88.45 HB10 with the addition of 1.00 wt% CNT at 550°C. Free distribution of CNT in the matrix caused this hardness increase.
The effects of the CNF ratio on the microstructure, corrosion, and mechanical properties of CNF-reinforced diamond cutting tool
(2021-11-01) Islak S.; Özorak C.; Abouacha N.M.E.; Çalıgülü U.; Koç V.; Küçük Ö.
This study sets out to investigate the effects of CNF on the microstructure, corrosion, and mechanical properties of a carbon nanofiber (CNF)-reinforced diamond cutting tool matrix. First, CNF was added to bronze (i.e. the matrix) at different ratios (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 wt%). Hot pressing was selected as the preferred method of production as it allows producing a larger number of compact samples. Next, the manufactured samples' microstructure, hardness, density, transverse rupture strength (TRS), corrosion, and wear properties were analysed. Then, their microstructures and phase compositions were examined using optical microscopy and XRD. Their hardness was measured using a microhardness device. Their TRS values were calculated using a three-point bending test. Their fractured surfaces were examined using SEM-EDS. Wear properties were examined using the reciprocating wear test. Their corrosion behaviours were analysed using potentiodynamic measurements. Optical microscope images showed that CNF exhibited flocculation in several areas along the bronze matrix. The samples' hardness increased significantly with higher CNF ratios, whereas their relative densities dropped slightly. The TRS reached its maximum value at 0.25% CNF. Beyond that, a significant drop was observed in TRS. The higher the samples' CNF ratios were, the less corrosion resistance they got due to the microgalvanic effect. The results of wear test showed that as the samples' CNF ratios rose, their wear rates and their friction coefficients incrementally dropped.
Threat analysis and proposed solutions for elekdag wildlife development area
(2017-07-01) Küçük Ö.; Güney K.; Evcin Ö.; Aktürk E.
Natural Wildlife Development Area is a protection status declared in accordance with the Land Hunting Act No. 4915. Within this scope, there are 80 Wildlife Development Areas in our country. The aim of this study was to observe possible threats in the Elekdag wildlife development area and to suggest solutionsfor the area. Elekdag Wildlife Development Area is located in Kastamonu province within the boundaries of Tasköprü county. The administrative responsibility of Elekdag Wildlife Development Area belongs to the General Directorate of National Parks and Nature Conservation, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kastamonu Provincial Environment and Forestry Directorate. As a result of the study, it was found that the wildlife habitats for deer populations (target species) and water resources in the area at risk. The identification of the risks on habitats and biological resources and proposed solutions have great importance on ecosystem integrity of the protected area. Therefore, we proposed some solutions to eliminate these risks. The most important factor is the arranging on-site management to ensure sustainable protection-use balance.