Utilization of near ir absorbing gold nanocolloids by green synthesis

10th Japanese-Mediterranean Workshop on Applied Electromagnetic Engineering for Magnetic, Superconducting, Multifunctional and Nano Materials, JAPMED’10 2017; Izmir; Turkey; 4 July 2017 through 8 July 2017The rapid developments in nanoscience, and its applications on biomedical areas have a large impact on drug delivery, tissue engineering, sensing, and diagnosis. Gold is widely investigated nanomaterial for the last couple of decades, since it has unique surface properties and very low toxicity to biological environment. In this work, we present a novel synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) exhibiting both visible and near-IR absorbance without agglomeration. The surface of GNPs were analyzed by routine methods and the binding kinetics were investigated by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Spectroscopy. The unique optical properties of near-IR asorbing GNP colloids hold promise for biological applications.Izmir Institute of Technology Scientific Research Project (BAP) 2016İYTE7

Biofabrication of in situ self assembled 3D cell cultures in a weightlessness environment generated using magnetic levitation

Magnetic levitation though negative magnetophoresis is a novel technology to simulate weightlessness and has recently found applications in material and biological sciences. Yet little is known about the ability of the magnetic levitation system to facilitate biofabrication of in situ three dimensional (3D) cellular structures. Here, we optimized a magnetic levitation though negative magnetophoresis protocol appropriate for long term levitated cell culture and developed an in situ 3D cellular assembly model with controlled cluster size and cellular pattern under simulated weightlessness. The developed strategy outlines a potential basis for the study of weightlessness on 3D living structures and with the opportunity for real-time imaging that is not possible with current ground-based simulated weightlessness techniques. The low-cost technique presented here may offer a wide range of biomedical applications in several research fields, including mechanobiology, drug discovery and developmental biology.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (215S862

Recent advances in magnetic levitation: A biological approach from diagnostics to tissue engineering

The magnetic levitation technique has been utilized to orientate and manipulate objects both in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) to form complex structures by combining various types of materials. Magnetic manipulation holds great promise for several applications such as self-assembly of soft substances and biological building blocks, manipulated tissue engineering, as well as cell or biological molecule sorting for diagnostic purposes. Recent studies are proving the potential of magnetic levitation as an emerging tool in biotechnology. This review outlines the advances of newly developing magnetic levitation technology on biological applications in aqueous environment from the biotechnology perspective

Polymer based extracellular matrix mimetics for 3D cell culture

20th National Biomedical Engineering Meeting, BIYOMUT 2016; Izmir; Turkey; 3 December 2016 through 5 December 2016Elektro-eğirme metodu gelişmiş üretim teknolojilerindendir ve biyomedikal uygulamalarında yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır. Özellikle doku mühendisliğinde amaç, çalışılacak doku üzerine doğal veya sentetik destek materyali (iskele) üreterek hücrenin uyum sağlayabileceği bir ortam oluşturmaktır. Bu projenin amacı üç boyutlu (3D) hücre kültürü çalışmaları için elektro-eğirme-metodu ile poli(L-laktik-co-epsilon-kaprolakton) (PLLCL) kullanılarak iskele üretilmesidir. Homojen lifler ve uygun gözenek boyutu elde etmek amacıyla optimizasyon çalışmaları yapılmıştır. Elde edilen liflerin çapı, akış hızı ve voltajın artmasıyla azalmaktadır. Taramalı uç elektron mikroskop incelemeleri (SEM) lif morfolojik yapılarının doku iskelesi fabrikasyonu için ideale yakın olduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır.Electrospinning method is one of the advanced manufacturing technologies that widely used in biomedical applications. Especially the aim of tissue engineering is to fabricate naturally or synthetic support material (scaffold) for a tissue which is studied to provide suitable environment for cells. The aim of the project is producing poly (L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) (PLLCL) nanofibers as a scaffold by using electrospinning method in order to three dimensional (3D) cell cultures studies. Optimization studies were made in order to obtain homogeneous fibers and suitable pore size. The obtained fibers diameter decreases by increasing flow rate and voltage. By scanning electron microscopy (SEM) morphological structures of fibers examined that exhibiting nearly perfect conditions for scaffold.Bilimsel Araştırma Proje Fonu (İYTE BAP 2015-05

Scaffold-free three-dimensional cell culturing using magnetic levitation

Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture has emerged as a pioneering methodology and is increasingly utilized for tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting, cancer model studies and drug development studies. The 3D cell culture methodology provides artificial and functional cellular constructs serving as a modular playground prior to animal model studies, which saves substantial efforts, time and experimental costs. The major drawback of current 3D cell culture methods is their dependency on biocompatible scaffolds, which often require tedious syntheses and fabrication steps. Herein, we report an easy-to-use methodology for the formation of scaffold-free 3D cell culture and cellular assembly via magnetic levitation in the presence of paramagnetic agents. To paramagnetize the cell culture environment, three different Gadolinium(iii) chelates were utilized, which led to levitation and assembly of cells at a certain levitation height. The assembly and close interaction of cells at the levitation height where the magnetic force was equilibrated with gravitational force triggered the formation of complex 3D cellular structures. It was shown that Gd(iii) chelates provided an optimal levitation that induced intercellular interactions in scaffold-free format without compromising cell viability. NIH 3T3 mouse fibroblasts and HCC827 non-small-cell lung cancer cells were evaluated via the magnetic levitation system, and the formation of 3D cell culture models was validated for both cell lines. Hereby, the developed magnetic levitation system holds promises for complex cellular assemblies and 3D cell culture studies.IYTE BAP; 2016IYTE7

Extracellular vesicle capture assay by plasmonic methodology for cancer early detection

20th National Biomedical Engineering Meeting, BIYOMUT 2016; Izmir; Turkey; 3 December 2016 through 5 December 2016Son yıllarda, vücut sıvılarında bulunan hücredışı veziküller kanserde tanı biyobelirteci olarak kullanılmaktadır. Veziküllerin içeriği kanserin türünü ve seviyesini belirlemede rol oynayabilmektedir. Bu vezikülleri yakalama işleminde, genel olarak, Akış Sitometrisi (Flow cytometry), Western Blot, Enzime-bağlı İmmunosorbent Deneyi (ELISA) ve Yüzey Plazmon Rezonansı (SPR) metodolojileri kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada vezikülleri yakalamaya yönelik plazmon temelli bir deney platformu üretilmesi önerilmiştir. Bu plazmonik platform, yüzeyde yapılacak modifikasyonlarla, yüksek hassasiyet oluşturabileceğimiz Lokalize Yüzey Plazmon Resonansı temellidir.Extracellular vesicles in the body fluids recently has been used as a diagnostic biomarker in cancer. The contain of vesicles can play a role to determine the type and level of a cancer. In general, Flow Cytometry, Western Blot, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) ve Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) methodologies have been used to capture the vesicles. In these project, an experimental platform based on plasmon will be tried to produce to capture the vesicles. This plasmonic platform is based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance, where can produce high sensitivity with modifications on the surface

Estimation of low sucrose concentrations by UV-Vis spectroscopy and artificial neural networks

25th Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference, SIU 2017; Antalya; Turkey; 15 May 2017 through 18 May 2017Çalışmamızda, immobilize altın nanoparçacıkların lokalize plazmon rezonans özelliği kullanılarak görünür bölge spektroskopisi ile düşük sükroz derişimli çözeltilerde hassas derişim kestirimi amaçlanmıştır. Elde edilen spektrum verisi ile çeşitli yapay sinir ağları (YSA) eğitilerek çözelti sükroz derişimi kestirilmiştir. MATLAB YSA araç kutusu kullanılmış, farklı girdi boyutları ve farklı gizli katman sayılarının sonuca etkisi irdelenmiştir. Spektrumların tepe noktası yerine tüm spektrumu kullanmanın sonuçları iyileştirdiği görülmüştür.Low sucrose concentrations in solutions is estimated by means of localized surface plasmon resonance of immobilized gold nanoparticles. The ultraviolet-visible spectra (UV-Vis) of samples with different sucrose concentrations were prepared and used to train artificial neural networks. In our study, MATLAB Neural Networks Toolbox was used and effect of different input sizes and network structures on the estimation accuracy is investigated. It is observed that using complete spectrum instead of peak point results in higher accuracy

Can Serum 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Levels Predict the Severity of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children and COVID-19?

INTRODUCTION: To determine the clinical significance of serum 25-hydroxy (OH) vitamin D levels in pediatric patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and compare the vitamin D levels of these patients with those patients with Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and healthy controls. METHODS: This study was designed for pediatric patients aged 1 month to 18 years and conducted between July 14 and December 25, 2021. Fifty-one patients with MIS-C, 57 who were hospitalized with COVID-19, and 60 controls were enrolled in the study. Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as a serum 25 (OH) vitamin D level of less than 20 ng/mL. Severe MIS-C was classified as necessitating intensive care due to cardiovascular instability, the necessity for non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, and/or a diminishing Glasgow coma scale. World Health Organization definition criteria were used to describe the clinical stages of COVID-19 in children and patients were divided into four groups according to the clinical severity of COVID-19: asymptomatic, mild, moderate, and severe/critical. RESULTS: The median serum 25 (OH) vitamin D was 14.6 ng/mL in patients with MIS-C, 16 ng/mL in patients with COVID-19, and 21.1 ng/mL in the control group (p<0.001). Vitamin D insufficiency was present in 74.5% (n=38) of patients with MIS-C, 66.7% (n=38) of patients with COVID-19, and 41.7% (n=25) of the controls (p=0.001). The percentage of four or more affected organ systems was 39.2% in patients with MIS-C. The correlation between the number of affected organ systems and serum 25 (OH) vitamin D levels was evaluated in patients with MIS-C and there was a moderate negative correlation (r=-0.310; p=0.027). A weak negative correlation was found between the severity of COVID-19 and serum 25 (OH) vitamin D (r=-0.320, p=0.015). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Vitamin D levels were insufficient in both the MIS-C and COVID groups. Furthermore, vitamin D levels correlated with the number of affected organ systems in MIS-C and the severity of COVID-19

Attitudes of parents with children aged 12-18 to covid-19 vaccines for themselves and their children

Background. The incidence of vaccine hesitancy is increasing in many countries. This study aims to determine parents’ attitudes and related factors regarding COVID-19 vaccine acceptance for themselves and their children aged 12-18. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on parents between 16th November and 31st December 2021, after COVID-19 vaccines were initiated for children in Türkiye. In the survey, the sociodemographic characteristics of the parents, whether they and their children were vaccinated against COVID-19, and if not, the reasons for this were asked. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the factors affecting parents’ refusal to vaccinate their children for COVID-19. Results. Three hundred and ninety-six mothers and fathers were included in the final analysis. Overall, 41.7% of parents reported vaccine refusal for their children. COVID-19 vaccine refusal was higher in mothers younger than 35 (β = 6.5, p = 0.002, 95% CI: 2.0-23.1), children aged 15 and younger (β = 2.3, p = 0.001, 95% CI: 1.4-3.7). Concerns about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine (29.7%) and their children not wanting to be vaccinated (29.0%) were the most common causes of COVID-19 vaccine refusal. Conclusions. In the present study, the rate of children not vaccinated due to COVID-19 vaccine refusal was relatively high. Parents’ concerns about vaccine side effects, as well as their children’s unwillingness to be vaccinated, suggest that both parents and adolescents should be informed about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines

Factors affecting survival in elderly patients with diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma

Introduction: Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has an increasing incidence in elderly patients with poorer prognosis than in younger patients. Clinicians should clearly identify the characteristics and prognostic factors of elderly patients. We analyzed the outcome of elderly DLBCL patients, especially factors affecting survival in real-life clinical practice. Materials and Methods: The data of 330 DLBCL patients at our center were retrospectively evaluated by dividing three groups; younger than 65 years, between 65–79 years, and 80 years and older. We examined the factors affecting survival in DLBCL patients ≥ 65 years old. Results: The median age of the patients was 61 years (range 16–87). 192 (58.2 %) of our patients were younger than 65 years old, 112 (33.9 %) were between 65−79 years, and 26 (7.9 %) patients were 80 years old or older. The median follow-up was 15 (1–120) months. Median PFS was 38 months in the 65−79 years group, ten months in the ≥ 80 years group; meanwhile, median OS was 43 months in the 65−79 years group, 25 months in the ≥80 years group. The number of patients who relapsed within 12 months of the first-line treatment was 69 (35.9 %) in the <65 years group, it was 60 (53.6 %) in 65−79 years group, and 22 (84.6 %) in ≥80 years group (p < 0.001). The median OS was 9 (7.1–10.9) months in DLBCL patients older than 65 years old who relapsed within 12 months. Early relapse, failure to achieve CR after first-line chemotherapy, and high IPI score were associated with poor survival in patients ≥ 65 years old (p:0.001). Conclusion: Advancing age was a poor prognostic factor for survival of DLBCL. Relapsing within the first year, or failure to achieve complete remission were associated with poorer survival of the elderly DLBCL patients. R−CHOP is the standard treatment in DLBCL, and the best responses are obtained regardless of age. Due to difficulty in receiving standard treatments, novel treatment modalities are needed for better outcomes in elderly patients with DLBCL