Comparative Study of the Length-Weight Relationships of Some Fish Species along the Turkish Coasts

This study presents 738 length-weight relationships for 242 species found in Turkish seas. All length-weight relationships presented were collected from a total of 33 studies. These studies were all performed in Turkish coastal waters between 1997 and 2013. For all studies, the median of a value was calculated as 0.014 and the median of b value was calculated as 3.016

Imaging the effects of cognitive rehabilitation interventions: developing paradigms for the assessment and rehabilitation of prospective memory

Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to carry out future intentions and goals following a delay filled with other unrelated tasks is often compromised following brain injury and other psychological and psychiatric disorders affecting the frontal lobes. It has long been acknowledged that patients with frontal lobe lesions can show relatively intact performance in laboratory settings yet their everyday functioning in multitasking situations requiring PM may be severely impaired (Mesulam 1986). The last 15 years has seen a marked expansion into research and theoretical models of prospective memory and its neural basis with the findings from recent neuroimaging studies suggesting that Brodmann’s area 10 plays an important role in PM (Burgess et al., 2011). The aim of this thesis was to develop paradigms for assessing prospective memory that could be used to measure the behavioural and functional changes in the brain following brief cognitive rehabilitation interventions with the first part of the thesis (Chapters 2-4) investigating the convergent and ecological validity of computerised assessment measures of PM in a group of young and older neurologically healthy individuals, as well as in individuals with acquired brain injury. The second part of the thesis (Chapters 5 and 6) investigated the behavioural and neural changes associated with a brief PM intervention developed from the principles of Goal Management Training (Robertson 1996; Levine et al., 2000; 2012) and Implementation Intentions (Gollwitzer 1993; 1996). Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the assessment and rehabilitation of PM. Chapter 2 assessed age related changes in performance on the computerised PM tests and a modified version of the Hotel Test (Manly et al., 2002) in a group of young and older neurologically healthy individuals. Both the computerised tasks and the modified Hotel Test (mHT) were found to be sensitive to the effects of ageing. Chapter 3 investigated the effects of a brief break filled with an unrelated task on performance on computerised PM tasks. A brief break was found to have a negative effect on performance with the amount of performance decay correlating with self-reported memory functioning. Chapter 4 assessed the convergent and ecological validity of the computerised PM tasks and their sensitivity to brain injury. The tasks were found to have good convergent validity with the mHT and the CAMPROMPT. The informant- and self-ratings of everyday memory and goal management functioning correlated with task performance in the ABI sample. Chapter 5 investigated whether brief intervention aimed at reducing PM lapses would be successful in improving performance on computerised PM task compared with a control training intervention. Chapter 6 investigated the functional changes in brain activation associated with this brief training. Significant behavioural improvements on the computerised PM tasks were seen following brief training with some evidence of transfer of the effect to a novel task. Significant changes in neural activations within Brodmann’s area 10 were seen following brief training in the trained group compared to the control group. The findings have implications for the assessment and rehabilitation of individuals with PM problems and are discussed in relation to cognitive theories of PM

Use of oregano (Origanum onites L.) essential oil as hatching egg disinfectant

This study was carried out to determine whether oregano (Origanum onites) essential oil works as a disinfectant for hatching egg obtained from broiler breeder flock. Oregano essential oil was applied at two doses 0.55 and 0.75 ìl/cm3 and two exposure times, 3 and 6 h. The formaldehyde treated eggs were used as positive control and untreated eggs used as negative control. After chemical analysis, the main constituents of oregano essential oil were carvacrol, linalool, para-cymene and -terpinene. Thelowest microbial counts on eggs were obtained from oregano essential oil. Microbial inhibition increased with the increasing essential oil concentrations. Essential oil exposure times had no significant effects on microbial counts. Essential oil fumigation lowered middle embryonic mortality and discarded chick rate, but increased early and late embryonic mortalities compared to formaldehyde treatment. Essential oil doses significantly affected late embryonic mortality, discarded chicks rate,contamination rate, hatchability of fertile egg, body weight at 21 and 42 days, body weight gain and total feed consumption. But, early and middle embryonic mortality were not significantly affected by treatments. These results imply that oregano essential oil had great potential for hatching egg disinfectant and it could be used as natural egg disinfectant

The effectiveness of the behavioural components of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia in older adults:A systematic review

Insomnia is more prevalent in older adults (< 60 years) than in the general population. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is the gold-standard treatment; however, it may prove too cognitively taxing for some. This systematic review aimed to critically examine the literature exploring the effectiveness of explicitly behavioural interventions for insomnia in older adults, with secondary aims of investigating their effect on mood and daytime functioning. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE – Ovid, Embase – Ovid, CINAHL, and PsycINFO) were searched. All experimental, quasi-experimental and pre-experimental studies were included, provided they: (a) were published in English; (b) recruited older adults with insomnia; (c) used sleep restriction and/or stimulus control; (d) reported outcomes pre-and-post intervention. Database searches returned 1689 articles; 15 studies, summarising the results of 498 older adults, were included – three focused on stimulus control, four on sleep restriction, and eight adopted multicomponent treatments comprised of both interventions. All interventions brought about significant improvements in one or more subjectively measured facets of sleep although, overall, multicomponent therapies demonstrated larger effects (median Hedge's g = 0.55). Actigraphic or polysomnographic outcomes demonstrated smaller or no effects. Improvements in measures of depression were seen in multicomponent interventions, but no intervention demonstrated any statistically significant improvement in measures of anxiety. This corroborates with the existing consensus that multicomponent approaches confer the most benefit, and adds to the literature by demonstrating this to be the case in brief, explicitly behavioural interventions. This review guides future study of treatments for insomnia in populations where cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is not appropriate

The influence of lipid content and pretreatment methods on protein conformation in fish (capelin, Mallotus villosus ) during smoking and drying

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)The influence of lipid content and pretreatment methods (blanching and brining) on proteins conformation in fish (Capelin, Mallotus villosus) during drying and smoking were assessed. Soluble protein fractions were examined through changes in salt-soluble proteins, sulfhydryl groups, and disulfide bonds contents. The salt level and moisture content were also evaluated. Conformational changes in muscle protein were significant (p < 0.05) after blanching and during initial drying when moisture content and dryness rates were high. Salt-soluble proteins and total sulfhydryl groups contents reduced, whereas available sulfhydryl group and disulfide bonds contents intensified. The conformational changes were explained by muscle protein denaturation and aggregation ascribed to high temperature and dehydration during processing. The study reports fish protein denaturation to have reduced protein solubility as well as the nutritional value (loss of thermolabile compounds) and yield after smoking. More so, protein aggregation that was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in dried blanched fish could have reduced the dried fish sensory quality. Blanching pretreatment is thus not suitable for commercial capelin drying. Lipids were found to have protective effect against fish protein conformation.The authors acknowledge the United Nations University‐Fisheries Training Programme (UNU‐FTP, Reykjavik, Iceland) and Kenya coastal development project (KCDP, Kenya) for the financial support. The authors are also thankful to HB Grandi fishing company (Reykjavik, Iceland) for fish contribution. The Managers of Vestfirska Hardfisksalan fish drying company (Iceland) and Vigfus Asbjornsson (Matis Hornarfordur, Iceland) acknowledged for the drying and smoking facilities, respectively.Peer Reviewe

Effects of propolis and pollen supplementations on growth performance and body components of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Abstract The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of honey bee propolis and pollen supplementation on growth performance and body components in quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, propolis ethanolic extract (30%, PEE) was supplemented in diets at levels of 0, 5 and 10 ml PEE kg-1 while in the second experiment, pollen was supplemented in diets at four levels (0, 5, 10 and 20 g pollen kg-1). In both experiments, chicks were fed with diet containing 240 g crude protein and 3100 kcal ME per kg diet. During the experimental period, body weight, feed consumption and feed efficiency were determined weekly. At the end of the experiments, 3 female and 3 male quail from each subgroup were killed humanely to determine body components. Experimental results showed that supplementation of PEE and pollen did not significantly affect body weight gain, feed efficiency or body components (P &gt; 0.05). It was concluded that propolis and pollen had no effect at the levels investigated on performance and body components of quail

Comparing the cochlear spiral modiolar artery in type-1 and type-2 diabetes mellitus:a human temporal bone study

This study examined whether pathological findings were present in cochlear vessels for patients with diabetes mellitus. Twenty-six temporal bones from 13 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 40 temporal bones from 20 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were examined. Type 2 diabetic temporal bones were divided into 2 groups according to diabetic management (22 temporal bones with insulin therapy, and 18 with oral hypoglycemic drugs). Age-matched normal control temporal bones were also selected. The vessel wall thickness in the cochlear spiral modiolar artery was measured under a light microscope, and the vessel wall ratio (vessel wall thickness/outer diameter of the vessel×100) was calculated. The vessel wall thickness and vessel wall ratio in type 1 diabetes mellitus were significantly greater than in normal controls. Type 2 diabetic patients with insulin therapy showed significantly greater vessel wall thickness and vessel wall ratios than controls. In type 2 diabetes mellitus, the vessel wall thickness and vessel wall ratio were greater in patients treated with insulin therapy than in those treated with oral hypoglycemic agents. Type 2 diabetic patients with insulin therapy showed an increased vessel wall thickness and vessel wall ratio compared to patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. In conclusion, the cochlea in patients with diabetes mellitus shows circulatory disturbance compared to age-matched normal controls

Dications of 3-Phenyl-indenylidene Dibenzo[ a.d ]cycloheptene: The Role of Charge in the Antiaromaticity of Cationic Systems

Dications of 9-(3-phenyl-1H-inden-1-ylidene)-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptene, 52+, were prepared by oxidation with SbF5 in SO2ClF, and their magnetic behavior was compared to dications of 9-(3-phenyl-1H-inden-1-ylidene)-9H-fluorene, 22+. The good correlation between the experimental 1H NMR shifts for the dications that were oxidized cleanly and the chemical shifts calculated by the GAIO method supported the use of the nucleus independent chemical shifts, NICS, to evaluate the antiaromaticity of the indenyl systems of 22+/52+ and their unsubstituted parent compounds, 62+ and 72+, as well as the antiaromaticity of the fluorenyl system of 22+/72+ and the aromaticity of the dibenzotropylium system of 52+/62+. Antiaromaticity was shown to be directly related to the amount of charge in the antiaromatic systems, with the antiaromatic systems more responsive to changes in the calculated NBO charge than the aromatic systems. The antiaromaticity was also shown to be directly related to the amount of delocalization in the ring system. The aromaticity of the dibenzotropylium system was much less responsive to changes in the amount of charge in the tropylium system, because the aromatic system was much more completely delocalized. Thus, antiaromatic species are more sensitive probes of delocalization than aromatic ones