The validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the psychological preparedness for disaster threat scale.

The aim of this research was to investigate the validity and reliability of a Turkish version of the 26-item Australian Psychological Preparedness for Disaster Threat Scale (PPDTS). A cross-sectional study involving 530 university students and staff at Giresun University was conducted to establish the psychometric properties of the PPDTS. Content analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha values for reliability were used to analyse the data. Content analysis showed that one item needed to be dropped as it was not related to environmental threats to Turkish communities. The exploratory factor analysis indicated that 66% of the total variance was explained by three factors: (i) knowledge and management of the external situational environment, (ii) management of one's emotional and psychological response, and (iii) management of one's social environment. The confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable overall goodness of fit for the three-factor model: CFI (0.908), RMSEA (0.074) for the 21 item scale. Cronbach's α coefficients of the subscales were 0.91, 0.93, and 0.83, respectively, while for the whole scale, it was 0.95. Four items from the original PPDTS were deleted in the course of the analyses. It was concluded that the Turkish version (PPDTS-T21) is a valid and reliable assessment tool for the evaluation of levels of psychological readiness for disaster threats to Turkish communities and will be useful in policy making for community preparedness for disaster events. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11069-023-06006-w.

Combination of visible and mid-infrared spectra for the prediction of chemical parameters of wines.

Rapid and environmentally friendly methods for the prediction of chemical compositions have been an interest in the wine industry. The objective of the study was to show the potentials of combined use of visible and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopies to improve the prediction of various chemical compounds of wine as opposed to using mid-infrared range only. Wine samples of twelve grape varieties from two harvest years were analyzed. The chemical composition of wine samples was related to MIR and visible spectra using orthogonal partial least square (OPLS) regression technique. The prediction abilities were tested with crossvalidation and independent validation sets. The coefficient of determination of validation (R2val) for anthocyanin compounds of red wines were between 0.76 and 0.90, and that for total phenol content was 0.90. Range of R2val for glycerol, glycerol/ethanol ratio, malic acid, o-coumaric acid and °Brix were between 0.77 and 0.96. The spectral ranges that played significant roles in the predictions were also determined. The validations with independent data sets showed that the combination of visible and MIR ranges with multivariate methods improved the prediction of anthocyanin compounds and total phenols; produced comparable results for the rest of the parameters as MIR. This is the first study in the literature that shows the practical use of visible spectra along MIR. The combined use of these spectral ranges with multivariate models can be applied for the rapid, on-line determination of quality parameters and chemical profiles of wines.

Comparison of some chemical parameters of a naturally debittered olive (Olea europaea L.) type with regular olive varieties.

Some olives grown in Karaburun peninsula in the west part of Turkey and mostly coming from Erkence variety lose their bitterness while still on the tree and are called Hurma among locals. This olive type does not require further processing to remove the bitter compounds. In this study, sugar, organic acid and fatty acid profiles of Hurma, Erkence (not naturally debittered) and Gemlik (commonly consumed as table olive) olives were determined throughout 8weeks of maturation period for two consecutive harvest seasons, and the results were analysed by principal component analysis (PCA). PCA of sugar and organic acid data revealed a differentiation in terms of harvest year but not on variety. Hurma olive is separated from others due to its fatty acid profile, and it has higher linoleic acid content compared to others. This might be an indication of increased desaturase enzyme activity for Hurma olives during natural debittering phase.

Phenolics profile of a naturally debittering olive in comparison to regular olive varieties.

BACKGROUND: Hurma, an olive variety that grows in a specific area in Turkey, loses its bitterness before harvesting, and therefore does not need further processing steps for the production of table olives. The total phenol content and phenolic profiles of (1) this naturally debittered olive type, Hurma; (2) the same olive variety, but not a naturally debittered type, Erkence; and (3) another variety, Gemlik, which is commonly consumed as table olive, were determined during their maturation period for two harvest years. RESULTS: The total phenol content of Hurma is the lowest compared to the other types regardless of harvest year, which has a significant effect on the phenolic content and composition of individual components for all olive types. All three olive types can be differentiated from each other especially during the late phase of maturation using the phenolics profile in combination with principal component analysis. CONCLUSION: The natural debittering phenomenon of Hurma olive on the tree involves a decrease in phenol content and a change in phenol composition. The differentiation in phenol composition especially becomes very significant in the late of period of maturation.