Recent Advances in Health Biotechnology During Pandemic

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in 2019, cut the epoch that will make profound fluctuates in the history of the world in social, economic, and scientific fields. Urgent needs in public health have brought with them innovative approaches, including diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. To exceed the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, various scientific authorities in the world have procreated advances in real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based diagnostic tests, rapid diagnostic kits, the development of vaccines for immunization, and the purposing pharmaceuticals for treatment. Diagnosis, treatment, and immunization approaches put for- ward by scientific communities are cross-fed from the accrued knowledge of multidisciplinary sciences in health biotechnology. So much so that the pandemic, urgently prioritized in the world, is not only viral infections but also has been the pulsion in the development of novel approaches in many fields such as diagnosis, treatment, translational medicine, virology, mi- crobiology, immunology, functional nano- and bio-materials, bioinformatics, molecular biol- ogy, genetics, tissue engineering, biomedical devices, and artificial intelligence technologies. In this review, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of various scientific areas of health biotechnology are discussed

Diagnosis of comorbid migraine without aura in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy based on the gray zone approach to the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3 criteria

BackgroundMigraine without aura (MwoA) is a very frequent and remarkable comorbidity in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy (I/GE). Frequently in clinical practice, diagnosis of MwoA may be challenging despite the guidance of current diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3 (ICHD-3). In this study, we aimed to disclose the diagnostic gaps in the diagnosis of comorbid MwoA, using a zone concept, in patients with I/GEs with headaches who were diagnosed by an experienced headache expert.MethodsIn this multicenter study including 809 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of I/GE with or without headache, 163 patients who were diagnosed by an experienced headache expert as having a comorbid MwoA were reevaluated. Eligible patients were divided into three subgroups, namely, full diagnosis, zone I, and zone II according to their status of fulfilling the ICHD-3 criteria. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis was performed to bring out the meaningful predictors when evaluating patients with I/GEs for MwoA comorbidity, using the variables that were significant in the univariate analysis.ResultsLonger headache duration (<4 h) followed by throbbing pain, higher visual analog scale (VAS) scores, increase of pain by physical activity, nausea/vomiting, and photophobia and/or phonophobia are the main distinguishing clinical characteristics of comorbid MwoA in patients with I/GE, for being classified in the full diagnosis group. Despite being not a part of the main ICHD-3 criteria, the presence of associated symptoms mainly osmophobia and also vertigo/dizziness had the distinguishing capability of being classified into zone subgroups. The most common epilepsy syndromes fulfilling full diagnosis criteria (n = 62) in the CART analysis were 48.39% Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy followed by 25.81% epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures alone.ConclusionLonger headache duration, throbbing pain, increase of pain by physical activity, photophobia and/or phonophobia, presence of vertigo/dizziness, osmophobia, and higher VAS scores are the main supportive associated factors when applying the ICHD-3 criteria for the comorbid MwoA diagnosis in patients with I/GEs. Evaluating these characteristics could be helpful to close the diagnostic gaps in everyday clinical practice and fasten the diagnostic process of comorbid MwoA in patients with I/GEs

Saimbeyli “haçin” in the national struggle era (1918-1921)

Meşrutiyetin vermiş olduğu özgürlük ortamı Ermeniler arasında milliyetçi fikirleri güçlendirmiştir. Ermeniler, batılı devletlerden almış oldukları destek ve güç ile Çukurova bölgesinde Büyük Kilikya Devleti’ni kurma çabasına girmişlerdir. 1909 yılında Adana’da Ermenilerin başlattığı olaylar kısa sürede büyüyerek tüm Çukurova’yı sarmış ve çevre bölgelere de yayılmıştır. Özellikle Saimbeyli (Haçin) merkezli kurulmak istenen Ermeni Devleti uğruna yıllarca bölgeye silah ve cephane stoklayan Ermeniler; Adana olaylarını fırsat bilerek misyonerlerin yönlendirmesi ile katliamlara başlamışlardır. Fransızların Adana’yı işgalinden sonra bölgeye gönderilen Kaymakam Arminek, Ermeni anarşizmini önleyemediği için daha fazla dayanamayarak istifa etmiş yerine Çalyan Karabet geliştir. Ancak Çalyan Karabet’i de ciddiye almayan Ermeniler, yapmış oldukları terör faaliyetleriyle Haçin’i kana bulamışlardır. Bölge halkına türlü işkenceler, soykırımlar, insanlık dışı uygulamalar yaparak, şehri defalarca yakmışlardır. Gizik Duran, Arap Ali gibi çete liderlerinin desteğini alan milli kuvvetler Doğan Bey ve Osman Tufan Paşa önderliğinde birleşerek Haçin’i Ermenilerden kurtarmışlardır. Bölgeye 14/05/1925 tarihinde, Haçin’in kurtuluşunda önemli rol oynayan ve Mamure istasyonunda şehit düşen Saim Bey’in adı verilmiştir.The environment of freedom given by the Constitutional Monarchy strengthened the Nationalist ideas among the Armenians. The Armenians tried to form the Great Cilician State in the Çukurova region with the support and power they received from the Western States. The events initiated by the Armenians in Adana in 1909 grew in a short period of time and spread all over Çukurova and spread to the surrounding regions. Especially, the Armenians who stocked arms and ammunition for years for the sake of the Armenian State, which is intended to be based in Saimbeyli (Haçin); They started the massacres with the guidance of the missionaries by knowing the events of Adana. Arminek, who was sent to the region after the French occupation of Adana, could not stand more because he could not prevent the Armenian anarchism and instead he developed Çalyan Karabet. However, Armenians, who did not take Çalyan Karabent seriously, have found Haçin into the blood through their terrorist activities. They tortured the city many times by making torture, genocide and inhuman practices. Gizik Duran, Arap Ali, such as the support of the gang leaders of the National Forces Doğan Bey and Osman Tufan Pasha led by the leadership of Haçin'i rescued from the Armenians. On 14/05/1925 the region was named after Saim Bey, who played an important role in the liberation of Haçin and died in the Mamure station

Synthesis, characterization, biological activities and molecular docking of Epilobium parviflorum aqueous extract loaded chitosan nanoparticles

Epilobium is a medicinal plant; its extracts are widely used traditional medicine due to their broad range of pharmacological and therapeutic properties. Its most prominent feature is its therapeutic effects on prostatic diseases. The aim of this study is preparation of controlled release system of Epilobium parviflorum, and determination of its potential of anticancer applications. For this purpose, Epilobium parviflorum extract (EPE) loaded chitosan nano particles were prepared with ionic gelation method to increase the bioavailability of the extract. The nanoparticles were investigated in terms of size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity and release profile. Besides, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of the nanoparticles. Moreover, Ames/Salmonella test was used to determine the mutagenicity of EPE, and it was shown that it had no mutagenic effect. It was found that EPE loaded chitosan nanoparticles were with 64.47 nm in average size, 0.168 PdI and 15.2 mV zeta potential. Encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity were found as 92.46% and 8%, respectively. Finally, DNA binding assay and in silico molecular docking studies were performed between EPE and DNA in order to contribute to design of plant based controlled release system for use in cancer therapy. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Laurus nobilis L. Essential Oil-Loaded PLGA as a Nanoformulation Candidate for Cancer Treatment

The aim of this study was to obtain essential oil (LNEO) from the Laurus nobilis L. plant, and to prepare LNEO-loaded poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) as an approach in cancer treatment. The components of the obtained LNEO were analyzed using GC-MS. The LNEO-NPs were synthesized by the single-emulsion method. The LNEO-NPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectrometry, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and a DNA binding assay, which was performed via the UV-Vis titration method. According to the results, the LNEO-NPs had a 211.4 ± 4.031 nm average particle size, 0.068 ± 0.016 PdI, and −7.87 ± 1.15 mV zeta potential. The encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity were calculated as 59.25% and 25.65%, respectively, and the in vitro drug release study showed an LNEO release of 93.97 ± 3.78% over the 72 h period. Moreover, the LNEO was intercalatively bound to CT-DNA. In addition, the mechanism of action of LNEO on a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor was predicted, and its antiproliferative activity and mechanism were determined using molecular docking analysis. It was concluded that LNEO-loaded PLGA NPs may be used for cancer treatment as a novel phytotherapeutic agent-based controlled-release system