Bridging the gap in African biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics:Open Institute of the African BioGenome Project:

The Open Institute of the African BioGenome Project empowers African scientists and institutions with the skill sets, capacity and infrastructure to advance scientific knowledge and innovation and drive economic growth

Evaluation of patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease: Preliminary results from the Turk-UIP study

OBJECTIVE: Differential diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is important among fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILD). This study aimed to evaluate the rate of IPF in patients with fibrotic ILD and to determine the clinical-laboratory features of patients with and without IPF that would provide the differential diagnosis of IPF. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included the patients with the usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern or possible UIP pattern on thorax high-resolution computed tomography, and/or UIP pattern, probable UIP or possible UIP pattern at lung biopsy according to the 2011 ATS/ERSARS/ALAT guidelines. Demographics and clinical and radiological data of the patients were recorded. All data recorded by researchers was evaluated by radiology and the clinical decision board. RESULTS: A total of 336 patients (253 men, 83 women, age 65.8 +/- 9.0 years) were evaluated. Of the patients with sufficient data for diag-nosis (n=300), the diagnosis was IPF in 121 (40.3%), unclassified idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in 50 (16.7%), combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in 40 (13.3%), and lung involvement of connective tissue disease (CTD) in 16 (5.3%). When 29 patients with definite IPF features were added to the patients with CPFE, the total number of IPF patients reached 150 (50%). Rate of male sex (p<0.001), smoking history (p<0.001), and the presence of clubbing (p=0.001) were significantly high in patients with IPE None of the women <50 years and none of the men <50 years of age without a smoking history were diagnosed with IPE Presence of at least 1 of the symptoms suggestive of CTD, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and antinuclear antibody (FANA) positivity rates were significantly higher in the non-IPF group (p<0.001, p=0.029, p=0.009, respectively). CONCLUSION: The rate of IPF among patients with fibrotic ILD was 50%. In the differential diagnosis of IPF, sex, smoking habits, and the presence of clubbing are important. The presence of symptoms related to CTD, ESR elevation, and EANA positivity reduce the likelihood of IPF

A study on monitoring of frying performance and oxidative stability of cottonseed and palm oil blends in comparison with original oils

WOS:000395169000020Blending polyunsaturated oils with highly saturated or monounsaturated oils has been studied extensively; however, in literature there is negligible information available on the blending of refined cottonseed oil with palm olein oil. Blending could enhance the stability and quality of cottonseed oil during the frying process. In the present study, the effects of frying conditions on physicochemical properties of the palm olein-cottonseed oil blends (1:0, 3:2, 1:1, 2:3, and 0:1, w/w) were determined and compared to the pure oils. The frying process of frozen French fries was performed in duplicate at 170 +/- 5 degrees C for 10 h without interruption. The oil degradations were characterized during deep-frying applications; peroxide, free fatty acid, and iodine value by standardized methods, fatty acid profile by using a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector, polar and polymeric compounds by using the high-performance size exclusion chromatography/evaporative light scattering detector technique. The present study clearly indicated that the oxidative and frying performances of pure palm olein oil and cottonseed oil significantly improved by blending application. Results clearly indicated that the frying performance of cottonseed oil significantly improved by the blending with palm olein oil. Except that free fatty acid content, all the physicochemical variables were significantly influenced by type of pure and blend oils. By increasing the proportion of palm olein oil in cottonseed oil, the levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased, while saturated fatty acid content increased. The progression of oxidation was basically followed by detecting polar and polymeric compounds. The fastest increments for polar and polymeric compounds were found as 6.30% level in pure cottonseed oil and as 7.07% level in 40% cottonseed oil:60% palm olein oil blend. The least increments were detected as 5.40% level in 40% cottonseed oil:60% palm olein oil blend and 2.27% level in 50% cottonseed oil:50% palm olein oil blend. These levels were considerably below the acceptable levels recommended by the official codex. Therefore, the present study suggested that blending of cottonseed oil with palm olein oil provided the oil blends (50% cottonseed oil:50% palm olein oil and 40% cottonseed oil:60% palm olein oil, w/w) with more desirable properties for human nutrition.Selcuk University Coordinators of Scientific Research ProjectSelcuk University [11401121]The research was supported by Selcuk University Coordinators of Scientific Research Project entitled "Development of The Frying Oil Production Technologies by Formation of the Blend Oils Based on The Palm/Cottonseed Oils" with 11401121 project number

The effects of inquiry-based laboratory applications to preservice science teachers’ laboratory environment perceptions

Bilginin yapılanması ve anlamlandırılması bireyin kendi deneyimleri aracılığı ile oluşmaktadır. Laboratuvar çalışmaları, özellikle sorgulamaya dayalı laboratuvar uygulamaları bu açıdan önemlidir. Bu çalışmada, Fen ve Teknoloji Laboratuvar Uygulamaları dersinde rehbersiz sorgulama temelli laboratuvar uygulamasının fen ve teknoloji öğretmen adaylarının laboratuvar çevresini algılamalarına, laboratuvara karşı tutumlarına ve deneysel süreçleri kullanma becerilerine etkisinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır

Antioxidant activity of stem and root extracts of Rhubarb (Rheum ribes): An edible medicinal plant

The antioxidant activity of chloroform and methanol extract of roots and stems of Rhubarb (Rheum ribes L.), which are used for medicinal purposes and also its fresh stems and petioles are consumed as vegetable, was studied. The antioxidant potential of both extracts of roots and stems were evaluated using different antioxidant tests, namely total antioxidant (lipid peroxidation inhibition activity), DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, ferric reducing power, and cupric reducing power (CUPRAC), and metal chelating activities. Total antioxidant activity was also measured according to the beta-carotene bleaching method, and all four extracts exhibited stronger activity than known standards, namely butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and alpha-tocopherol. Particularly, higher activity was exhibited by roots with 93.1% and 84.1% inhibitions of chloroform and methanol extracts, while 82.2% and 82.0% inhibitions by stem extracts, respectively. However, both methanol extracts exhibited higher DPPH radical scavenging activity than the corresponding chloroform extracts, moreover, methanol extract of the stems showed better activity than BHT. In addition, both root extracts showed more potent superoxide anion radical scavenging activity than BHT, and comparable with well known radical scavenger L-ascorbic acid. Except chloroform extract of the roots, the other three extracts exhibited better metal chelating activity than quercetin. Also, total phenolic and flavonoid contents in both extracts of the roots and stems of R. ribes were determined as pyrocatechol and quercetin equivalents, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The Cooking Effect on Two Edible Mushrooms in Anatolia: Fatty Acid Composition, Total Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant and Anticholinesterase Activities

The effects of baking practices on the fatty acid and bioactivity of edible mushrooms; namely, Lactarius delicious and Ramaria flava, naturally growing in Anatolia were investigated. Each mushroom species was divided into two parts and one of the parts was baked. Both baked and unbaked materials were extracted with hexane and methanol, successively. The fatty acid contents of baked and unbaked extracts of both species were carried out by GC and GC-MS analytical techniques. In the unbaked extracts palmitic acid (9.7-14.43%), stearic acid (41.41-6.68%), oleic acid (25.94-47.12%) and linoleic acid (22.85-9.78%) were identified as major fatty acids, respectively. In the baked extracts, however, palmitic acid (7.92-19.12%), stearic acid (49.94-6.23%), oleic acid (18.07-45.13%) and linoleic acid (23.36-9.25%) were identified as major fatty acids, as well. The antioxidative effect of the extracts of baked and unbaked mushroom species was also determined by using four complimentary assays. In addition, the extracts and the major fatty acids were also evaluated for anticholinesterase activity against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) which are the chief enzymes of Alzheimer's disease. The baked methanol extract of R. flava showed the highest activity in DPPH scavenging, ABTS scavenging and BChE assays, while the unbaked hexane extract of R. flava exhibited the best lipid peroxidation inhibition activity. In conclusion, baking proved to have influence in nutritional values and bioactivity properties of L. delicious and R. flava. The nutrient concentration and bioactivities of L. delicious were decreased when baked; however, baked R. flava proved to have higher nutrient concentrations and higher bioactivities than unbaked samples

Effect of Sideritis leptoclada against HT-144 human malignant melanoma

Sideritis leptoclada O. Schwarz et P.H. Davis extracts were evaluated for its singlet oxygen production capacity using spectrophotometric method. The extracts producing singlet oxygen were then evaluated for cytotoxicity against malignant melanoma cancer (HT-144) and fibroblast (3T3) cell lines using the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The photocytotoxicity against the HT-144 human melanoma cell line in the presence of illumination (similar to >= 400 nm) was also evaluated. In the standard MTT assay, the ethanol extract of S. leptoclada (100 mu g/ml) showed 83.49 +/- 3.33% inhibition of HT-144 cancer cells, whereas in the illuminated MTT assay, it showed 77.46 +/- 1.97% inhibition of HT-144 cancer cells. The effects of ethanol extract on reactive oxygen species production, apoptosis, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha secretion were also evaluated on HT-144 cell lines. The extract triggered an increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species production and tumor necrosis factor-alpha secretion compared with the respective controls. Thus, the ethanol extract may cause apoptosis. The LC-MS/MS analyses of S. leptoclada ethanolic extract showed that it has quinic acid (137213 +/- 11.25 mu g/g extract), malic acid (1468 +/- 0.16 mu g/g extract), chlorogenic acid (881.7 +/- 0.06 mu g/g extract), and apigetrin (223.2 +/- 0.13 mu g/g extract) as major constituents. The ethanolic extract of S. leptoclada should be further investigated as a potential treatment for malignant melanoma cancer. (C) 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved