Composition of some apricot Prunus armeniaca kernels grown in Turkey

The 4 apricot kernel samples provided from Malatya province were evaluated for moisture, ash, crude protein, crude oil, crude fibre, crude energy, non-soluble HCl acid ash, mass of 100 pits and mass of 100 kernels. Contents of Na, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu were also determined in the samples

Evaluación química de algunas semillas de cítricos, un residuo agroindustrial como nueva fuente potencial de aceites vegetales

The seed oils from seven Turkish and ten Vietnamese varieties of Citrus fruits were examined for their fatty acid composition, tocopherols and sterol contents. The oil contents of the samples varied between 32.1 g/100 g and 58.8 g/100 g. The major fatty acid of the extracted seed oils was oleic (12.8-70.1%), followed by linoleic (19.5-58.8%) and palmitic (5.1-28.3%). Stearic, vaccenic, linolenic and arachidic acids were found at low levels. The total content of vitamin E active compounds in the oils ranged between 0.8 and 21.0 mg/100 g. The predominant isomers were α- and γ-tocopherol, with approximate equal amounts between about 0.4 and 17.5 mg/100 g. The total sterol contents of the oils were found between 1310.54 and 3986.58 mg/kg, with β -sitosterol as the predominant sterol that accounted for more than 70% of the total amount of sterols. Other sterols, campesterol (8.03-15.26%), stigmasterol (2.55-7.69%), ∆5-avenasterol (1.80-5.67%), cholesterol (0.83-2.70%) and chlerosterol (0.93-1.78%) were detected in most of the oils. The results of the present study indicate that the seed oils of Citrus fruits are considered to be a potential oil source due to their fatty acid composition and important tocopherol and sterol, and might be used for edible applications as well as the production of potential value-added products.Aceites de semillas de siete y diez variedades de frutas cítricas turcas y de Vietnam respectivamente, fueron examinadas por su composición en ácidos grasos, tocoferoles y esteroles. El contenido de aceite de las muestras varió entre 32.1 g/100 g y 58.8 g/100 g. El principal ácido graso de los aceites extraídos de las semillas fue oleico (12.8 a 70.1%), seguido por linoleico (19.5-58.8%) y palmítico (5.1 a 28.3%). Los ácidos esteárico, vacénico, linolénico y araquídico se encontraron en niveles bajos. El contenido total de compuestos de vitamina E activa en los aceites varió entre 0.8 y 21.0 mg/100 g. Los isómeros predominantes fueron α- y γ-tocoferol, con aproximadamente la misma cantidad, entre 0.4 y 17.5 mg/100 g. El contenido de esteroles totales de los aceites se encontró entre 1310.54 y 3986.58 mg/kg, con β-sitosterol como el esterol predominante representando más del 70% de la cantidad total de esteroles. Otros esteroles, campesterol (8.03-15.26%), estigmasterol (2.55-7.69%), ∆5-avenasterol (1.80-5.67%), colesterol (0.83 a 2.70%) y clerosterol (0.93-1.78%) se detectaron en la mayoría de los aceites. Los resultados del presente estudio indican que los aceites de semillas de cítricos se consideran una fuente potencial de aceite debido a la importante composición de ácidos grasos, tocoferoles y esteroles, y podría ser utilizado para aplicaciones alimenticias y para la producción de posibles productos de valor añadido

Symmetric Teleparallel Gravity: Some exact solutions and spinor couplings

In this paper we elaborate on the symmetric teleparallel gravity (STPG) written in a non-Riemannian spacetime with nonzero nonmetricity, but zero torsion and zero curvature. Firstly we give a prescription for obtaining the nonmetricity from the metric in a peculiar gauge. Then we state that under a novel prescription of parallel transportation of a tangent vector in this non-Riemannian geometry the autoparallel curves coincides with those of the Riemannian spacetimes. Subsequently we represent the symmetric teleparallel theory of gravity by the most general quadratic and parity conserving lagrangian with lagrange multipliers for vanishing torsion and curvature. We show that our lagrangian is equivalent to the Einstein-Hilbert lagrangian for certain values of coupling coefficients. Thus we arrive at calculating the field equations via independent variations. Then we obtain in turn conformal, spherically symmetric static, cosmological and pp-wave solutions exactly. Finally we discuss a minimal coupling of a spin-1/2 field to STPG.Comment: Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Modern Physics

Glimepiride Administered in Chow Reversibly Impairs Glucose Tolerance in Mice

Sulfonylureas are a class of antidiabetes medications prescribed to millions of individuals worldwide. Rodents have been used extensively to study sulfonylureas in the laboratory. Here, we report the results of studies treating mice with a sulfonylurea (glimepiride) in order to understand how the drug affects glucose homeostasis and tolerance. We tested the effect of glimepiride on fasting blood glucose, glucose tolerance, and insulin secretion, using glimepiride sourced from a local pharmacy. We also examined the effect on glucagon, gluconeogenesis, and insulin sensitivity. Unexpectedly, glimepiride exposure in mice was associated with fasting hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, and decreased insulin. There was no change in circulating glucagon levels or gluconeogenesis. The effect was dose-dependent, took effect by two weeks, and was reversed within three weeks after removal. Glimepiride elicited the same effects in all strains evaluated: four wild-type strains, as well as the transgenic Grn−/− and diabetic db/db mice. Our findings suggest that the use of glimepiride as a hypoglycemic agent in mice should proceed with caution and may have broader implications about mouse models as a proxy to study the human pharmacopeia

Scalar Casimir effect between two concentric D-dimensional spheres

The Casimir energy for a massless scalar field between the closely spaced two concentric D-dimensional (for D>3) spheres is calculated by using the mode summation with contour integration in the complex plane of eigenfrequencies and the generalized Abel-Plana formula for evenly spaced eigenfrequency at large argument. The sign of the Casimir energy between closely spaced two concentric D-dimensional spheres for a massless scalar field satisfying the Dirichlet boundary conditions is strictly negative. The Casimir energy between D-1 dimensional surfaces close to each other is regarded as interesting both by itself and as the key to describing of stability of the attractive Casimir force. PACS number(s): 03.70.+k, 11.10.Kk, 11.10.Gh, 03.65.GeComment: 14 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1207.418

Comparison of the calculated absorption and the measured field strength of HF waves reflected from the ionosphere

The absorption (L) of the wave in the ionosphere has been calculated. The 5.47MHz wave is transmitted from Ercis, Turkey (39.03°N, 43.37°E)and received at Elazıg, Turkey (38.70°N, 39.20°E). The field strength of this wave is measured by ITU-Compliant HF Field Strength Monitoring Terminal, and the absorption L in the ionosphere has been calculated. It is observed that the field strength of the wave is least around noon time and it increases at night times at all seasons. The diurnal and seasonal variations of the calculated absorption L shows that the maximum absorption in the wave occurs around noon time. The behaviour of the diurnal and seasonal variations of the field strength of the wave can be explained with the diurnal and seasonal variations of the calculated absorption L in the ionosphere. Equation (22) in this paper can be used to obtain the imaginary part (β) of the refractive index of the ionospheric plasma, and it can be applied to the HF radio waves propagations in the ionosphere for absorption L

Antioxidant activity of seafennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) essential oil and rose (Rosa canina) extract on antioxidant activity of seafennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) essential oil and rose (Rosa canina) extract on natural olive oilnatural olive oil

The antioxidant effects of seafennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) essential oil and rose (Rosa canina) methanol extract at different concentrations were tested in natural olive oil stored at 60 °C, by measuring peroxide values and free oil acidity after regular intervals. All concentrations of both plant extracts showed antioxidant effect compared with control in experiments. The most effective extracts were 0.4% level of rose. The 0.2% concentrations of rose extract and seafennel oil and 0.4% level of seafennel oil followed in a decreasing order, respectively. The 0.2% level of seafennel oil in olive oil had more effect than those of only 0.02% concentrations of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Acidity values of seafennel oil at the 0.4% concentration were high compared with its 0.2% level. Acidity values of both rose concentrations were found partly similar

Effect of surface conditioning methods on the bond strength of luting cement to ceramics

Objectives. This study evaluated the effect of three different surface conditioning methods on the bond strength of a Bis-GMA based luting cement to six commercial dental ceramics. Methods. Six disc shaped ceramic specimens (glass ceramics, glass infiltrated alumina, glass infiltrated zirconium dioxide reinforced alumina) were used for each test group yielding a total number of 216 specimens. The specimens in each group were randomly assigned to one of the each following treatment conditions: (1) hydrofluoric acid etching, (2) airborne particle abrasion, (3) tribochemical silica coating. The resin composite luting cement was bonded to the conditioned and silanized ceramics using polyethylene molds. All specimens were tested at dry and thermocycled (6.000, 5-55degreesC, 30 s) conditions. The shear bond strength of luting cement to ceramics was measured in a universal testing machine (2 mm/min). Results. In dry conditions, acid etched glass ceramics exhibited significantly higher results (26.4-29.4 MPa) than those of glass infiltrated alumina ceramics (5.3-18.1 MPa) or zirconium dioxide (8.1 MPa) (ANOVA, P <0.001). Silica coating with silanization increased the bond strength significantly for high-alumina ceramics (8.5-21.8 MPa) and glass infiltrated zirconium dioxide ceramic (17.4 MPa) compared to that of airborne particle abrasion (ANOVA, P <0.001). Thermocycling decreased the bond strengths significantly after all of the conditioning methods tested. Significance. Bond strengths of the luting cement tested on the dental ceramics following surface conditioning methods varied in accordance with the ceramic types. Hydrofluoric acid gel was effective mostly on the ceramics having glassy matrix in their structures. Roughening the ceramic surfaces with air particle abrasion provided higher bond strengths for high-alumina ceramics and the values increased more significantly after silica coating/silanization. 2003 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Antifungal effects of micromeria myrtifolia Boiss. & Hohen. in Boiss. and Prangos uechtritzii Boiss. Hawsskn decoctions

Antifungal effect of Micromeria myrtifolia Boiss. & Hohen. in Boiss. and Prangos uechtritzii Boiss. Hawsskn decoctions was tested against Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis and Penicillium digitatum. Of the 2 substances tested Pr. uechtritzii, being present at 75 to 80% concentration in potato dextrose agar, partly inhibited growth of A. alternata, B. cinerea and P. digitatum. Pr. uechtritzii had higher antifungal effect than M. myrtifolia on mycelial growth during incubation. M. myrtifolia partly affected mycelial growth of A. alternata and A. niger at the beginning of incubation. But the mycelial growth of F. oxysporum was not inhibited by M. myrtifolia concentrations during incubation. Also, Pr. uechtritzii did not have any affect on mycelial growth of A. niger during incubation P. digitatum, the most sensitive microorganism to both decoctions. Higher decoction concentrations of plants used in study will be probably inhibit mycelial growth of microorganisms