Glycopolymer decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes for dual targeted breast cancer therapy

Carbon-based nanomaterials (CNMs) have attracted great attention in biomedical applications such as cancer imaging and therapy. CNMs, which are currently used in a wide range of applications, suffer from drawbacks of toxicity and low biocompatibility. Either noncovalent or covalent functionalization of CNMs with hydrophilic and biocompatible polymers which help to block hydrophobic interactivity between CNMs and cells can greatly increase their biocompatibility by eliminating their probable toxicity towards living organisms. In this report, we present a comparison of both noncovalent and covalent functionalization approaches in order to introduce a biocompatible glycoblock copolymer onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in order to enhance their potential in therapies. An anticancer drug (doxorubicin, Dox) was conjugated with two different end functionalized poly(1-O-methacryloyl-beta-d-fructopyranose-b-(2-methacryloxyethoxy))benzaldehyde glycoblock copolymers, which were synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, by either noncovalent or covalent tethering. CNTs were coated separately with the synthesized drug-conjugated glycoblock copolymers and folic acid (FA) to obtain an efficient drug delivery platform for dual-targeting of glucose transporter protein (GLUT5) and folic acid receptors (FR) in breast cancer. A library of synthesized monomers, polymers and prepared glycoblock copolymer coated CNTs (hybrid-CNTs) using both approaches were comprehensively characterized by various techniques. Transmission electron microscopy measurements showed the homogeneous, smooth morphology of the prepared Dox-conjugated glycoblock copolymer coating of CNTs and confocal laser scanning microscopy images displayed successful cellular internalization of hybrid-CNTs in the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines. This research demonstrates the potential of hybrid-CNTs as a biocompatible drug delivery system as well as in vitro use of Dox-conjugated vehicles for dual receptor mediated breast cancer therapy

The Role of Parental Education in the Dental Health Behavior of Turkish Secondary School Children

Background/Aim: Parents are usually the major factor influencing children’s development of routine oral health behavior. A higher education level of the parents is generally associated with having a more positive influence on their children’s health habits and motivation to maintain healthy dentition. From this perspective, the aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency of certain habits influencing dental health, such as toothbrushing, regular visits to the dentist, and changing toothbrushes, in a group of Turkish secondary school children, and to explore its relation to the education level of their mothers and fathers

Diş hekimlerinin implant uygulamaları ve periimplantitis vakalarında klinik yaklaşımlarının değerlendirilmesi

Amaç: Günümüzde diş çürüğü, periodontal hastalıklar, pulpal hastalıklar, travma, ortodontik ya da protetik restorasyonlar amacıyla dişlerin çekimi gerçekleştirilmektedir. Geçmişte dişsizlik yaşlılığın bir sonucu olarak görülse de artık bu durum değişmiştir. Hastalar sosyolojik, psikolojik, fonetik ve fonksiyona bağlı nedenlerle bu diş eksikliklerini kabullenmemekte ve yeni arayışlar içine girmektedir. Bu durum sonucunda dental implant yapımında ve talebinde artış meydana gelmektedir. Dental implantlara olan talebin artması implant çevresi doku hastalıklarının insidansındaki artışı beraberinde getirmiştir. Yapılan çalışmalarda kötü ağız bakımı, periodontitis geçmişi, sigara kullanımı, kontrol altında olmayan sistemik hastalık, ağız içi bakım eksikliği gibi durumların implant çevresi hastalıkların gelişiminde etkili olduğu belirtilmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı; hekimlerin implant uyGülamalarında kullandıkları teknikleri, tedavi planlarını ve yaşadıkları komplikasyonlar karşısındaki çözüm yollarını değerlendirmektir. Yöntemler: Bu çalışmaya 234 diş hekimi katılmış ve implant uyGülamaları ve periimplantitis hakkında 30 sorudan oluşan anket uyGülanmıştır. İmplant uyGülamalarında kullandıkları teknik, malzeme, planlama, hasta kontrolü ve periimplantitis vakaları hakkındaki bilgi ve tedavi yöntemleri sorGülanmıştır. BulGülar: Katılımcıların %46’sının 0-5 yıllık ve %50’sinin genel diş hekimi olduğu öğrenilmiştir. Katılımcıların %58’i 0-5 yıldır implant yaptığı ve %43’ünün yıllık uyGüladıkları implant sayısının 50’den az olduğu öğrenilmiştir. İmplant planlamasında panoromik ve konik ışınlı bilgisayarlı tomografinin birlikte kullanımı %53 bulunmuştur. İmplantın başarısı için en önemli faktörün yüzey özellikleri olduğunu düşünenlerin oranı %66 bulunmuştur. Periimplantitis için en önemli risk faktörünün implant-protez bağlantısı olduğunu düşünen hekimlerin oranı %73’tür. Periimplantitisin tedavisinde %46 oranında mekanik debridman ve medikasyon tedavisi birlikte tercih edilmiştir. Sonuç: Çalışmamızda hekimlerin farklı planlama şekli ve tedavi seçeneklerini seçtikleri görülmüştür. Hekimlerin periimplantitise yaklaşımları ve tedavi şekilleri de farklı olmakla birlikte genellikle mekanik debridmana ağırlık verdikleri görülmektedir

Hilmi Yavuz'un öğrenim hayatı ve BBC Türkçe dönemi

Ankara : İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent Üniversitesi İktisadi, İdari ve Sosyal Bilimler Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, 2014.This work is a student project of the The Department of History, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University.by Özer, Abdürrahim

Clinical tissue engineering approach and biotechnological advances to improve athlete healthcare

Sports activities have continued for centuries and have become essential to daily life. Professional athletes participating in various sports competitions have many advantages, such as a promising career and high income. On the other hand, being a professional athlete also has some disadvantages. The most dramatic one is the risk of injury. Even though injuries are a part of sports, they have become a significant problem today due to the long recovery period which in turn overshadows sports competitions. In addition, the performance loss is an extra handicap for the athletes compared to the pre-injury levels. In this case, biomedical and biotechnological sciences are a glimmer of hope for shortening the treatment process and minimizing performance loss in returning to professional sports life. Combinations of scaffolds, biological factors, and cells are utilized based on mentioned approaches to treat such injuries, which are frequently seen nowadays and have become the nightmare of professional athletes. This review discusses various regenerative medicine and biotechnology-based therapeutic methods used in the treatment of spinal cord, cartilage, tendon, and musculoskeletal injuries in athletes. Additionally, wearable technologies, which are used to evaluate physiological signals, monitor health, prevent possible injuries, and create personalized training programs are mentioned, as well

Crystallization Kinetics: Relationship between Crystal Morphology and the Cooling Rate—Applications for Different Geological Materials

Crystal morphology is controlled by several physicochemical parameters such as the temperature, pressure, cooling rate, nucleation, diffusion, volatile composition, and viscosity. The development of different crystal morphologies is observed as a function of the cooling rate in many different rock types (i.e., glassy volcanic rocks, and archeometallurgical slags). Crystallization is a two-stage kinetic process that begins with the formation of a nucleus and then continues with the accumulation of ions on it. The shapes of the crystals depend on the degree of undercooling (DT), and euhedral crystals, having characteristic forms that reflect their crystallographic internal structure, that grow just below their liquidus temperature. In this study, crystal morphologies in different minerals (e.g., quartz, sanidine, olivine, pyroxene, magnetite, etc.) that had developed in silicic volcanic rocks (spherulites) and slags from ancient mining were investigated and characterized using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), Raman, and scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (SEM-EDX) spectroscopic techniques. Depending on the increase in the cooling rate, quartz, feldspar, olivine, pyroxene, and magnetite minerals were found to crystallize in subhedral, skeletal, dendritic, spherical, bow-tie and fibrous forms in glassy volcanic rocks and archeometallurgical slags