The chemical composition of Salvia euphratica Montbret & Aucher ex Benth. essential oil from Sivas-Turkey

Previously, only the fatty-oil composition of Salvia euphratica Montbret & Aucher ex Benth. (syn. Salvia euphratica var. euphratica) was reported, however, there are no other studies on the chemistry of this species [1]. Up to now, there are no reports on the essential-oil composition of this taxon. In this study, we aimed to investigate the composition of three different samples of the essential oil of S. euphratica collected in June 2017 from two different sites in Sivas-Turkey. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation from air-dried aerial parts of the plant using a Clevenger-type apparatus for the duration of 3 h. The essential-oil yields for the three samples were determined to be: 0.25, 0.15, and 0.13% (v/v), for a sample with glandular hairs (1) and a sample without glandular hairs (2) from location 1 and for a sample with glandular hairs (3) from location 2, respectively. The oils were diluted with n-hexane 1:10 (v/v) and analyzed as such on an Agilent 5977 MSD GC-MS system operating in the EI mode injector and MS transfer line temperatures were set at 250 °C. Splitless injection was used in the analysis. Innowax FSC column (60 m x 0.25 mm, 0.25 µm film thickness) and helium, as the carrier gas (1 mL/min), were used in GC-MS analyses. The oven temperature program was: 60 °C for 10 min and then raised to 220 °C at a rate of 4 °C/min, afterwards the temperature was kept constant at 220 °C for 10 min and then raised to 240 °C at a rate of 1 °C/min. Mass spectra were recorded at 70 eV with the mass range m/z 35-425. Relative amounts of the separated compounds were calculated from the integration of the peaks in MS chromatograms. The main components of sample 1 essential oil were 1,8-cineole (20.7%), camphor (10.0%), nopinone (4.7%), trans-pinocarveol (4.3%), myrtenal (4.3%), β-pinene (3.3%), and camphene (2.2%). Sample 2 oil contained high amounts of 1,8-cineole (13.5%), camphor (7.6%), trans-pinocarveol (7.1%), myrtenal (5.7%), nopinone (4.6%), myrtenol (3.9%), borneol (3.4%), and pinocarvone (3.2%). Finally, the main components of sample 3 oil were: 1,8-cineole (16.8%), trans-pinocarveol (4.7%), camphor (4.0%), myrtenyl acetate (3.7%), myrtenal (3.6%), linalool (2.8%), trans-linalool oxide (furanoid) (2.6%), and myrtenol (2.6%). The highest noted AChE-inhibitory activity of the oils were 63±5%, 57±2%, and 63±1%, respectively

The composition of the essential oil of the aerial parts of an endemic new species Ferula mervynii Sağıroğlu & H.Duman from Turkey

In 2007, Ferula mervynii Sağıroğlu & H.Duman (Apiaceae) was reported as a new species from Turkey. This species finds a natural habitat in Artvin and Erzurum regions that are located in North-Eastern Anatolia [1]. Up to now, there are no reports on the chemistry of this species. However, there are many reports on the essential-oil composition of other Ferula species from Turkey. As an example, F. elaeochytris Korovin essential oil was reported to have nonane (27.1%), α‐pinene (12.7%), and germacrene B (10.3%) as the main components [2], whereas, F. szowitziana D.C. was reported to contain β-eudesmol (32.0-29.5%), α-eudesmol (18.2-16.6%), and α-pinene (8.6-6.4%) as the major components of the leaf and stem oils, respectively [3]. The current study aimed to provide information on the chemistry of the essential oil of F. mervynii collected from Erzurum, Turkey, in August 2017. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation from air-dried aerial parts of the plant using a Clevenger-type apparatus in the duration of 3 h. The essential-oil yield was determined to be 0.56% (v/w). The oil was diluted with n-hexane 1:10 (v/v) and analyzed as such on an Agilent 5977 MSD GC-MS system. Relative amounts of the separated compounds were calculated from the integration of the peaks in MS chromatograms. Identification of essential-oil components was carried out by comparison of their retention indices (RI), relative to a series of n-alkanes (C5 to C30), with the literature values, as well as by mass spectral comparison. The aerial parts essential oil of F. mervynii was rich in monoterpenes. The major components were α-pinene (48.1%), sabinene (20.0%), β-pinene (11.6%), and terpinen-4-ol (2.5%). The highest AChE-inhibitory activity of the oil was found to reach 51±1% of inhibition of the enzyme activity

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Identification of pituitary-specific transcription factor-1 (PIT-1) and leptin gene (LEP) polymorphism of Holstein cattle reared in Turkey

Purpose of this study was to examine leptin (LEP) and pituitary-specific transcription factor-1 (Pit-I) gene polymorphisms in Holstein cattle (n= 352) in Turkey. In order to determine the Pit-I-HinfI and LEP-Sau3AI polymorphisms, polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were performed. A 600 bp length fragment of Pit-I and a 422 bp length fragment of LEP were amplified. In this study, two types of alleles, A and B, for both of the Pit-I and LEP genes were observed. The highest frequencies of the alleles were estimated, and were the B allele (0.68) for the Pit-I gene and the A allele (0.87) for the LEP gene. According to the results of the chi-square test, a significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was determined for both of these genes in the investigated breed (in the same order; X-2: 40.75, p<0.001and X-2: 8.4, p< 0.01)

Allelic Frequency of Kappa-Casein, Growth Hormone and Prolactin Gene in Holstein, Brown Swiss and Simmental Cattle Breeds in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to examine the kappa-casein (kappa-CN), growth hormone (bGH) and prolactin hormone (PRL) gene polymorphisms in the Holstein (n=150), Simmental (n=50) and Brown Swiss (n=50) cattle breeds in Turkey. In order to determine the kappa-CN-HindIII, PRL-RsaI and bGH-AluI polymorphisms, polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were performed. A 443 bp fragment of kappa-CN, a 223 bp fragment of bGH and a 156 bp fragment of PRL were amplified. In this study, two types of alleles, A and B for kappa-CN, V and L for bGH, and A and B for PRL, were observed. The cattle breeds in which the highest frequencies of the alleles were estimated, were the HL breed (0.82) for kappa-CN-A, the BS breed (0.55) for kappa-CN-B, the HL breed (0.85) for bGH-L, the S breed (0.34) for bGH-V, the HL breed (0.87) for PRL-A, and the BS breed (0.24) for PRL-B. According to the results of the chi-square test, a significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was determined only for the bGH locus in the investigated breeds. The present study is the first report that examines three loci (kappa-CN, bGH and PRL) in three cattle breeds of European origin (Holstein, Simmental and Brown Swiss) raised in Turkey