Norditerpenoid Alkaloids from Delphinium flexuosum Bieb.

Z. Naturforsch. 67c, 541-544 (2012); received November 30, 2011/March 29, 2012 Delphiniflexine, a new norditerpenoid alkaloid, together with the three known norditerpenoid alkaloids methyllycaconitine, ajadine, and acoseptrigenine were isolated from the aerial parts of Delphinium flexuosum. The structure of delphiniflexine was established on the basis of H-1, C-13, DEPT, homonuclear H-1 COSY, NOESY, HSQC, and HMBC NMR studies

Evaluation of Tc-99m-amoxicillin sodium as an infection imaging agent in bacterially infected and sterile inflamed rats

WOS: 000378410000026Bacterial infection is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to develop a new radiopharmaceutical for imaging infection. The labeling conditions were optimized, and lyophilized kits were developed for instant preparing. The stability of Tc-99m-AMOX in human serum was identified, sterility and pyrogenicity of the radiopharmaceutical were estimated, gamma scintigraphy and in vivo biodistribution with infected rats were investigated. The promising properties of Tc-99m-AMOX combined with the development of reliable and instant lyophilized kit afford the opportunity of inflammatory process imaging.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [Tubitak-110 S 229]; T.R. Prime Ministry State Planning Organization FoundationTurkiye Cumhuriyeti Kalkinma Bakanligi [09DPT001]This study was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tubitak-110 S 229). The authors would like to acknowledge the support of T.R. Prime Ministry State Planning Organization Foundation Grant Project Number: 09DPT001 for TLC Scanner. Also the authors thank to Ege University Nuclear Medicine Department technicians for their technical assistance for the animal experiments

Global and region-specific post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications of bisphenol A in human prostate cancer cells.

Bisphenol A (BPA), as synthetic monomer used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, has endocrine disruptor properties and high risk on human health. Epigenetic alterations could act an important role in BPA-induced toxicity, but its mechanism has not been fully understood. We investigated the effects of BPA on gene expression of chromatin modifying enzymes, promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes and histone modifications in human prostate carcinoma cells (PC-3). IC50 value of BPA was determined as 217 and 190 mu M in PC-3 cells by WIT and NRU tests, respectively. We revealed an increase in global levels of 5-methylcytocine and 5-hydroxymethylcytocine at 10 mu M of BPA for 96 h. We observed a significant increase on promoter DNA methylation and decrease on gene expression of p16 gene while no change was observed for Cyclin D2 and Rassf1. Significant changes were observed in global histone modifications (H3K9ac, H3K9me3, H3K27me3, and H4K20me3) in PC-3 cells. According to these results, we investigated wide-range epigenetic modifications using PCR arrays. After 96 h BPA exposure, chromatin modifying enzymes including KDM5B and NSD1 were significantly downregulated. Also, promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes including BCR, GSTP1, LOX, MGMT, NEUROG1, PDLIM4, PTGS2, PYCARD, TIMP3, TSC2 and ZMYDN10 altered significantly. ChIP results showed that H3K9ac, H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 modifications on p16 gene showed significant increases after 1 and 10 mu M of BPA exposure. In conclusion, epigenetic signatures such as DNA methylation and histone modifications could be proposed as molecular biomarkers of BPA-induced prostate cancer progression. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Convergence and dissimilarity: centralisation of power, but variationin practices in STEM in academia cross-nationally

This paper is concerned with providing an analytical understanding of the way decision-making power works in higher level education and research institutes cross-nationally. It draws on documentary and interview data from a purposive sample of twenty-five people involved in power structures in academic organizations in Ireland, Turkey and Italy. Drawing particularly on Lukes’ (2005, 1974) work it looks first at the centralization of power at the level of strategy and resource allocation. It then identifies three kinds of practices that obscure that centralization: ‘talking shops’; loyalty to positional power holders and the absence of alternatives. In contrast to the similarities existing cross-nationally in the centralization of power, there was evidence of some local variation in such practices. Local variation also existed in the perceived legitimacy of power in general, with Irish women being most likely to make visible gendered power in particular

Micro-political practices in Higher Education: A challenge to excellence as a rationalizing myth?

Excellence has become a ‘hoorah’ word which is widely used in higher education institutions to legitimate practices related to the recruitment/progression of staff. It can be seen as reflecting an institutionalised belief that such evaluative processes are unaffected by the social characteristics of those who work in them or their relationships with each other. Such views have been challenged by gender theorists and by those researching informal power in state structures. The purpose of this article is to raise the possibility that excellence is an ‘idealised cultural construct’ and a ‘rationalising myth’. Drawing on data from qualitative interviews with 67 men and women, who were candidates or evaluators in recruitment/progression processes in five higher educational institutions (in Ireland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Germany and Italy), it conceptualises and illustrates masculinist, relational and ‘local fit’ micro-political practices that are seen to affect such recruitment/progression. Variation exists by gender and by contextual positioning in the process (i.e. as evaluator/candidate). These practices illustrate the perceived importance of the enactment of informal power. The article suggests that the construct of excellence is used to obscure these practices and to maintain organisational legitimacy in the context of multiple stakeholders with conflicting expectations

Leadership practices by senior position holders in Higher Educational Research Institutes: Stealth power in action

Using the concept of stealth power and a critical realist perspective, this article identifies leadership practices that obscure the centralisation of power, drawing on data from interviews with 25 academic decision-makers in formal leadership positions in HERIs in Ireland, Italy and Turkey. Its key contribution is the innovative operationalisation of stealth power and the inductive identification of four practices which obscure that centralised power, i.e. rhetorical collegiality, agenda control, in-group loyalty and (at a deeper level) the invisibility of gendered power. The purpose of the article is emancipatory: by creating an awareness of these leadership practices, it challenges their persistence

Regional distribution of genetic mutation in lung cancer in Turkey (REDIGMA)

Introduction: The results of standard chemotherapy in lung cancer are not very satisfactory, so it is important to identify genetic mutations that provide targeted therapies. Recent reports have suggested influences of racial difference on the frequency of mutation in lung cancer. We aimed to determine the frequency and regional distribution of genetic mutations of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Turkey