Purification and characterization of a thermostable cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Thermoanaerobacter sp. P4

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.19) from a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium, Thermoanaerobacter sp. P4, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by α-cyclodextrin epoxy activated-sepharose 6B column chromatography. Enzyme was purified 141 fold and had the specific activity of 143.8 U/mg proteins. Purification yields after ammonium sulfate precipitation and affinity chromatography were 25.8 and 17.8%, respectively. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that enzyme was purified successfully and had a single band. Molecular weight of the enzyme was determined as 68.7 kDa. The enzyme had optimum cyclization activity at 80 to 90°C and hydrolyzing activity at 90°C and maintained 87 and 95% of these activities at 95°C, respectively. Optimal pH was found as 7.0. It retained full activity at 80°C for 4 h. Enzyme was strongly inhibited by HgSO4 and AgNO3. Addition of 1 mM CaCl2 increased the enzymatic activity up to 7%. This novel enzyme could be a good candidate for industrial applications according to its characteristic found in the current study.Key words: Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase, cyclodextrin production, Thermoanaerobacter sp. P4, thermophilic, enzyme purification, enzyme characterization

Metabolic and Endocrine Side Effects of Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs in Children and Adolescents

omorbid psychiatric disorders, frequent hospitalization, multiple outpatient treatment, prior history of hypertension, obesity and lipid dysregulation are associated with higher risk of metabolic syndrome in children. Side effects of antipsychotic drugs and their management have recently become a major subject of research due to enhanced antipsychotic drug usage in child and adolescents. Prevention strategies are usually preferred to secondary or tertiary strategies in the management of metabolic syndrome associated with antipsychotic drugs. Clinicians should present multidisciplinary approach to endocrine and metabolic side effects due to antipsychotic use in pediatric patient groups and avoid multiple drug use in such patients. In this paper, we briefly reviewed metabolic side effects of second generation antipsychotic drugs in child and adolescent population, possible mechanisms of susceptibility to metabolic syndrome and pharmacological and non pharmacological treatment approach to prevention of weight gain

Comparison of psychopathology in the mothers of autistic and mentally retarded children.

The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and general psychological symptoms in the mothers of autistic children in comparison with those in the mothers of mentally retarded children. Forty mothers of autistic children and 38 mothers of mentally retarded children were included in the study. After a clinical interview, psychometric tests were performed for depression, anxiety, alexithymia, and Symptom Distress Check List (SCL-90) for general psychological symptoms. Non-depression rates was 27.5% in the mothers of autistic children whereas the rate was 55.3% in the mothers of mentally retarded children. There was no difference regarding anxiety and alexithymia between the two groups. The psychopathology in the mothers of autistic children was more frequent than in those of mentally retarded children in all sub-scales of SCL-90 (somatization obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, anger-hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thought, psychotism, and extra scale). The mothers of autistic children experienced more psychological distress than those of mentally retarded children. Our findings indicates that the assessment of autistic and mentally retarded children should include psychological assessment of their mothers

Production of freeze-dried flaxseed oil powders by using rocket seed gum as an alternative novel encapsulation agent to improve oxidative stability

Flaxseed oil rich in α-linolenic acid (ALA) has many health beneficial properties, but suffers from oxidation degradation due to its unsaturated nature, and may need a protective delivery system to apply to different food formulations. In this study, the rocket seed gum was used as a novel encapsulation agent to produce freeze-dried powders. The rocket seed gum (RSG), gum arabic (GA), and their combination were used at two different oil: wall material ratios. Replacing GA with RSG changed the flow behavior of emulsions from Newtonian to shear-thinning, also RSG addition improved the rheological properties of flaxseed emulsion and provided viscoelastic solid characteristics. The encapsulation efficiency (EE %) of flaxseed oil was changed between 38.14 and 52.37%. The effect of wall material type was not significant while the ratio of wall material to oil was significant (p<0.05). The FT-IR image of powders showed that flaxseed oil was successfully encapsulated by the RSG. The flaxseed oil powders prepared by RSG showed 3.12 to 5.73 times higher oxidative stability than the flaxseed oil and the powder prepared only with GA. The more amount of air voids observed in SEM images of powders produced with GA might also be related to their lower oxidative stability. Our study showed that rocket seed gum can be successfully used as a new encapsulation agent to produce oxidatively stable microencapsulated flaxseed oil powders

Pulsating flow and heat transfer of power-law fluid in a circular pipe

In this study, the pulsating flow of a non-Newtonian fluid and heat transfer in a pipe with uniform heat flux at its wall is examined analytically. The flow is assumed to be both hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed. The perturbation method based on the series expansion is used in the analysis. The periodic change and period-averaged values of the friction factor and Nusselt number as well as velocity and temperature profiles are obtained at varying values of dimensionless frequency and amplitude for shear-thinning, Newtonian and shear-thickening fluids. It is shown that the frequency is effective on the friction factor for a specific range of the dimensionless frequency. For some specific cases, excellent agreements are obtained with the literature. It is disclosed that the dimensionless frequency, the amplitude and the power-law index are interactively effective on the friction and heat transfer

Examination of Knowledge and Fear Levels of Breast Cancer With the Spiritual Characteristics of Nurses

Introduction: Breast cancer is a common problem and it is important to understand the beliefs that increase awareness of breast cancer and guide early diagnosis behaviors. This research is planned to examine the knowledge and fear levels of breast cancer along with the spiritual characteristics of nurses.Methods: This is a descriptive type research. The domain of the research consists of women nurses working in Health Sciences University Samsun Education and Research Hospital. Sampling was not undertaken, rather 327 nurses who were on duty between January and May of 2016 and were willing to cooperate were incorporated into the study. Data was collected by use of the survey forms, “Breast Cancer Fear Scale” and “Comprehensive Breast Cancer Knowledge Test (GKMBT).” Data were analyzed with SPSS 21 Software.Results: Nurses who participated in the research had an average of age of 32.27 ± 1.04 years, 60.6% of whom were married, and had an average duration of nursing practice of 12.49 ± 9.92. The nurses' breast cancer fear level point average was 26.11 ± 6.58, the GMKBT scale general information sub-dimension point average was 7.20 ± 2.81, the treatability sub-dimension point average was 5.80 ± 1.68, and the total point average was found out to be 12.87 ± 2.81. It was determined that nurses' knowledge levels of breast cancer were not related to fear levels.Conclusion: It was concluded that the nurses' breast cancer fear level was high and their knowledge level was moderate. In line with the results obtained, it might be recommended that studies should be made to increase the nurses' knowledge and awareness on breast cancer

Long‐term care facilities' response to the COVID ‐19 pandemic: An international, cross‐sectional survey

Aims To (i) assess the adherence of long‐term care (LTC) facilities to the COVID‐19 prevention and control recommendations, (ii) identify predictors of this adherence and (iii) examine the association between the adherence level and the impact of the pandemic on selected unfavourable conditions. Design Cross‐sectional survey. Methods Managers (n = 212) and staff (n = 2143) of LTC facilities (n = 223) in 13 countries/regions (Brazil, Egypt, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Turkey) evaluated the adherence of LTC facilities to COVID‐19 prevention and control recommendations and the impact of the pandemic on unfavourable conditions related to staff, residents and residents' families. The characteristics of participants and LTC facilities were also gathered. Data were collected from April to October 2021. The study was reported following the STROBE guidelines. Results The adherence was significantly higher among facilities with more pre‐pandemic in‐service education on infection control and easier access to information early in the pandemic. Residents' feelings of loneliness and feeling down were the most affected conditions by the pandemic. More psychological support to residents was associated with fewer residents' aggressive behaviours, and more psychological support to staff was associated with less work–life imbalance. Conclusions Pre‐pandemic preparedness significantly shaped LTC facilities' response to the pandemic. Adequate psychological support to residents and staff might help mitigate the negative impacts of infection outbreaks. Impact This is the first study to comprehensively examine the adherence of LTC facilities to COVID‐19 prevention and control recommendations. The results demonstrated that the adherence level was significantly related to pre‐pandemic preparedness and that adequate psychological support to staff and residents was significantly associated with less negative impacts of the pandemic on LTC facilities' staff and residents. The results would help LTC facilities prepare for and respond to future infection outbreaks. Patient or public contribution No Patient or Public Contribution

EFFECT OF SEEDING RATE ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF NONCHEMICAL FENNEL (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) CULTIVATION

WOS: 000321807000005study was conducted to determine the effects of different seeding rates on yield and quality characteristics of fennel without using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides, in Atabey-Isparta ecological conditions during 2010 and 2011 vegetation periods. The experiment was established as randomized blocks design with three replications and three seeding rates (10, 15 and 20 kg ha(-1)) were applied. Plant height, fruit yield and biological yield were significantly affected by seeding rate. Fruit yields ranged between 230.35 and 790.96 kg ha(-1) and the highest yield was obtained from 15 kg ha(-1) seeding rate. Essential oil contents ranged between 1.60 and 2.46%. The main constituent of the essential oil was identified as trans-anethole ranged between 84.48% and 97.79%