Photonuclear reactions with Zinc: A case for clinical linacs

The use of bremsstrahlung photons produced by a linac to induce photonuclear reactions is wide spread. However, using a clinical linac to produce the photons is a new concept. We aimed to induce photonuclear reactions on zinc isotopes and measure the subsequent transition energies and half-lives. For this purpose, a bremsstrahlung photon beam of 18 MeV endpoint energy produced by the Philips SLI-25 linac has been used. The subsequent decay has been measured with a well-shielded single HPGe detector. The results obtained for transition energies are in good agreement with the literature data and in many cases surpass these in accuracy. For the half-lives, we are in agreement with the literature data, but do not achieve their precision. The obtained accuracy for the transition energies show what is achievable in an experiment such as ours. We demonstrate the usefulness and benefits of employing clinical linacs for nuclear physics experiments

The Confidence Database

Understanding how people rate their confidence is critical for the characterization of a wide range of perceptual, memory, motor and cognitive processes. To enable the continued exploration of these processes, we created a large database of confidence studies spanning a broad set of paradigms, participant populations and fields of study. The data from each study are structured in a common, easy-to-use format that can be easily imported and analysed using multiple software packages. Each dataset is accompanied by an explanation regarding the nature of the collected data. At the time of publication, the Confidence Database (which is available at https://osf.io/s46pr/) contained 145 datasets with data from more than 8,700 participants and almost 4 million trials. The database will remain open for new submissions indefinitely and is expected to continue to grow. Here we show the usefulness of this large collection of datasets in four different analyses that provide precise estimations of several foundational confidence-related effects

The association of hematologic inflammatory markers with atherogenic index in type 2 diabetic retinopathy patients

Müberra Akdoğan,1 Yasemin Ustundag-Budak,2 Kagan Huysal2 1Department of Ophtalmology, 2Department of Clinical Laboratory, Yüksek İhtisas Education and Research Hospital, Bursa, Turkey Background: Atherogenic dyslipidemia is particularly common in people with type 2 diabetes (DM2). Platelets from patients with DM2 have increased reactivity and baseline activation. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between atherogenic index and hematologic inflammatory markers and to evaluate the relationship between these parameters and associated variables in diabetic retinopathy (DR) patients. Methods: The medical records of all patients admitted to the eye clinic between January and December 2014 were evaluated systematically. Laboratory parameters of 278 outpatients with DM2 diagnosed after the age of 30 years and 107 healthy subjects were analyzed. Results: The DM2 + DR group consisted of 120 patients (47 males and 73 females; mean age 59.8±9.2 years). The DM2 without DR group consisted of 158 patients (59 males and 99 females; mean age 57.3±12.2 years). Mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width (PDW), platelet–lymphocyte (P/L) ratio, triglycerides, and atherogenic index were higher in DM2 patients than in control patients, but there was no difference between the DM2 + DR and the DM2 without DR groups. Only P/L ratio was different in the DM2 + DR patients compared to the DM2 without DR patients. Hemoglobin A1c levels correlated very weakly with the mean platelet volume, PDW, P/L ratio, and the red cell distribution width. The atherogenic index was very weakly correlated with the P/L ratio, PDW, and red cell distribution width. Conclusion: Dyslipidemia-induced inflammation contributes to pathological processes that lead to retinopathy in DR patients. Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, diabetes complications, platelets, erythrocyte indices, triglyceride

Determining the heavy metal pollution in Denizli (Turkey) by using Robinio pseudo-acacia L.

The leaves of Robinia pseudo-acacia L. (Fabaceae) were evaluated as a biomonitors of heavy metal contamination in Denizli city, Turkey. Concentrations of Fe, Zn, Pb, Cu, Mn and Cd were determined in washed and unwashed leaves and soils collected from a wide range of sites with different degrees of metal pollution (industry, urban roadside, suburban) and from a rural (control) site by atomic absorption spectrometry. All the elements that measured were found to be at high levels in samples collected at industrial sites, except for lead and copper which were found at high levels in samples collected from urban roadsides that associated with the road traffic. The strong correlation between the degree of contamination and concentrations in all plant leaves assessed display that the leaves of R. pseudo-acacia reflect the environmental changes accurately, and that they seem as an effective biomonitor of environmental quality in areas subjected to industrial and traffic pollutions

EPR studies of intermolecular interactions and competitive binding of drugs in a drug-BSA binding model

Understanding intermolecular interactions between drugs and proteins is very important in drug delivery studies. Here, we studied different binding interactions between salicylic acid and bovine serum albumin (BSA) using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Salicylic acid was labeled with a stable radical (spin label) in order to monitor its mobilized (free) or immobilized (bound to BSA) states. In addition to spin labeled salicylic acid (SL-salicylic acid), its derivatives including SL-benzoic acid, SL-phenol, SL-benzene, SL-cyclohexane and SL-hexane were synthesized to reveal the effects of various drug binding interactions. EPR results of these SL-molecules showed that hydrophobic interaction is the main driving force. Whereas each of the two functional groups (-COOH and -OH) on the benzene ring has a minute but detectable effect on the drug-protein complex formation. In order to investigate the effect of electrostatic interaction on drug binding, cationic BSA (cBSA) was synthesized, altering the negative net charge of BSA to positive. The salicylic acid loading capacity of cBSA is significantly higher compared to that of BSA, indicating the importance of electrostatic interaction in drug binding. Moreover, the competitive binding properties of salicylic acid, ibuprofen and aspirin to BSA were studied. The combined EPR results of SL-salicylic acid/ibuprofen and SL-ibuprofen/salicylic acid showed that ibuprofen is able to replace up to similar to 83% of bound SL-salicylic acid, and salicylic acid can replace only similar to 14% of the bound SL-ibuprofen. This indicates that similar to 97% of all salicylic acid and ibuprofen binding sites are shared. On the other hand, aspirin replaces only similar to 23% of bound SL-salicylic acid, and salicylic acid replaces similar to 50% of bound SL-aspirin, indicating that similar to 73% of all salicylic acid and aspirin binding sites are shared. These results show that EPR spectroscopy in combination with the spin labeling technique is a very powerful method to investigate drug binding dynamics in detail

Determination of Pesticides in Soil by Mechanical Stirring-Assisted Extraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

This work describes the development of an analytical method for determining the mobility of some organophosphorus and azole group pesticides. The chromatographic and mass spectrophotometric parameters were optimized. The target pesticides were recovered quantitatively (79.3-95.6%) with a relative standard deviation less than 8.5% at the optimum conditions of the extraction. The limits of detection of the target pesticides were found to be in the range of 0.16 to 1. 14 μ g kg -1 with a correlation coefficient (r) > 0. 9955. The method was validated in the target environmental matrices by the analysis of a spiked soil sample. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of pesticides in vineyard soil samples and statistically evaluated. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Grape seed extract has superior beneficial effects than vitamin E on oxidative stress and apoptosis in the hippocampus of streptozotocin induced diabetic rats

We aimed to investigate the effects of grape seed extract (GSE) and vitamin E (Vit E) on oxidative stress and apoptosis in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In Control, Diabetic, and Diabetic treated with GSE (Diabetic. +. GSE) and vitamin E (Diabetic. +. Vit E) groups, oxidative stress index (OSI), TUNEL staining and Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bax, caspase-3, -9, and -8, Cyt-c, TNF-α, and NF-κB gene expressions were evaluated. OSI was significantly increased in the plasma and hippocampus of the Diabetic compared to Control group and decreased in Diabetic. +. GSE and Diabetic. +. Vit E groups compared to Diabetic. TUNEL positive neurons significantly increased in the hippocampus of the Diabetic group compared to Control and decreased in Diabetic. +. GSE (more prominently) and Diabetic. +. Vit E groups compared to Diabetic. In the hippocampus of the Diabetic group, Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL gene expressions were significantly decreased; Bax, caspase-3, -9, and -8, Cyt-c, TNF-α, and NF-κB gene expressions were significantly increased compared to Control. In Diabetic. +. GSE and Diabetic. +. Vit E groups, Bcl-2 gene expressions were significantly increased; Bcl-XL gene expressions did not differ compared to the Diabetic group. The expression of Bax, caspase-3, -9, and -8, Cyt-c, TNF-α, and NF-κB genes in the Diabetic. +. GSE group and the expression of caspase-3 and -9, TNF-α, and NF-κB genes in the Diabetic. +. Vit E group were significantly decreased compared to Diabetic. In conclusion, GSE (more prominently) and vitamin E decreased oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis occurring in the hippocampus of diabetic rats. © 2014 Elsevier B.V