New discoveries in the mechanisms of apoptosis and cell survival and novel potential therapeutic strategies

New discoveries in the mechanisms of apoptosis and cell survival have been a major breakthrough in biological sciences in recent years of the new millennium. Apoptosis is genetically programmed cell death in any nucleated cells of the organism. This type of cell death occurs through different mechanisms from those seen in necrosis and complement lysis of any cell, without affecting the neighboring cells. In the nature, apoptosis and cell survival are very important not only for the elimination of cells that acquire unstable features, became useless, and detrimental for the organism, but also for the mechanisms of numerous biological events and disorders seen during the lifespan of many organisms from the embryo-logical period to death. The discovery of mechanisms of apoptosis and cell survival has enabled the development of new therapeutic strategies in heart diseases, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, AIDS, and many disorders. Combination of opportunities afforded by degenerative medicine with those of new therapeutic approaches of regenerative medicine such as stem-cell therapy and somatic cell nuclear transfer will possibly introduce new horizons and rational therapeutic approaches in the foreseeable future

Phosphorylcholine-coated extracoporeal circulation systems affect coagulation factors during cardiopulmonary bypass insufficiently: a preliminary report

Background: This study aims to investigate the efficacy of the phosphorylcholine (PC)-coated extracorporeal circulation (ECC) circuits compared to the non-coated ECC circuits in patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)

Utilization of membrane separation processes for reclamation and reuse of geothermal water in agricultural irrigation of tomato plants-pilot membrane tests and economic analysis

The quality of irrigation water is critical for enhancing agricultural productivity. As a result, this research was carried out with the aim of treating spent geothermal water before it is used for agricultural irrigation. While doing that, cost analysis of the system was taken into consideration as well. The product water was targeted to suit irrigation water standards for tomato plants. Two commercially available pressure driven membranes (NF8040-70 as NF membrane and TM720D-400 as RO membrane) were employed for this task. A constant applied pressure of 15 bar and 60% of water recovery were kept constant during the product water production while mode of operation for the membrane system was continuous. According to Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization irrigation water standards and the results obtained from this study, it was clearly seen that both NF and RO product waters meet the quality I class irrigation water standards with respect total dissolved substances (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), concentrations of Na+ and Cl- ions. Quality 1 means that the produced water will not cause any environmental effect when employed for irrigation purpose. Nevertheless, the produced water was found not to obey the irrigation standards with respect to sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and boron concentration (quality III class). Quality III explains that the water will cause soil infiltration problems when employed for irrigation purpose. Since most of the minerals needed for plant growth were rejected by NF and RO membranes, an appropriate mixing ratio of the product water with well water for remineralization was determined. Mixing 50 and 60% of well water with the product waters of NF (50%) and RO (40%) membranes, respectively was found to be the optimum mixing ratios to produce the requested water quality for tomato irrigation. Quality II class irrigation water which can be applied with caution was targeted in terms of SAR as well as boron concentration (2-4 and 4-6 mg/L) while determining the mixing ratios. The cost of the product water was found as 0.76 and 1.56$/m(3) for NF and RO processes, respectively.A research grant from TUBITAK was used to provide financial assistance and scholarships to students working on this research project under the TuBITAK-NCBR international research project (Project No: 118Y490-POLTUR3/Geo4Food/4/2019) . We acknowledge TUBITAK for financing this project. The Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) awarded Y.A. Jarma for a PhD fellowship. We would like to express our gratitude to the Izmir Geothermal Energy Co. for allowing us to install our pilot system at the geothermal heating center. We also thank K. Bostanc for his assistance with several of the ICP-OES instrumental analyses.TUBITAK [118Y490-POLTUR3/Geo4Food/4/2019]; Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB

Assessment of different nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes for simultaneous removal of arsenic and boron from spent geothermal water

BOSTANCI, Kamil/0000-0002-8565-1851WOS:000616151300009PubMed: 33082019One of the factors that determine agricultural crops' yield is the quality of water used during irrigation. in this study, we assessed the usability of spent geothermal water for agricultural irrigation after membrane treatment. Preliminary membrane tests were conducted on a laboratory-scale set up followed by mini-pilot scale tests in a geothermal heating center. in part I, three commercially available membranes (XLE BWRO, NF90, and Osmonics CK- NF) were tested using a cross-flow flat-sheet membrane testing unit (Sepa CF II, GE-Osmonics) under constant applied pressure of 20 bar. in part II, different spiral wound membranes (TR-NE90-NF, TR-BE-BW, and BW30) other than the ones used in laboratory tests were employed for the mini-pilot scale studies in a continuous mode. Water recovery and applied pressure were maintained constant at 60% and 12 bar, respectively. Performances of the membranes were assessed in terms of the permeate flux, boron and arsenic removals. in laboratory tests, the permeate fluxes were measured as 94.3, 87.9, and 64.3 L m(-2) h(-1) for XLE BWRO, CK-NF and NF90 membranes, respectively. The arsenic removals were found as 99.0%, 87.5% and 83.6% while the boron removals were 56.8%, 54.2%, and 26.1% for XLE BWRO, NF90 and CK-NF membranes, respectively. in field tests, permeate fluxes were 49.9, 26.8 and 24.0 L m(-2) h(-1) for TR-NE90-NF, BW30-RO and TR-BE-BW membranes, respectively. Boron removals were calculated as 49.9%, 44.1% and 40.7% for TR-BE-BW, TR-NE90-NF and BW30-RO membranes, respectively. Removal efficiencies of arsenic in mini-pilot scale membrane tests were all over 90%. Quality of the permeate water produced was suitable for irrigation in terms of the electrical conductivity (EC) and the total dissolved solids (TDS) for all tested membranes with respect to guidelines set by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (TMEU). However, XLE BWRO, CK-NF and NF90 membranes failed to meet the required limits for irrigation in terms of boron and arsenic concentrations in the product water. The permeate streams of TR-BE-BW, TR-NE90-NF and BW30-RO membranes complied with the irrigation water standards in terms of EC, TDS and arsenic concentration while boron concentration remained above the allowable limit.TUBITAK-NCBR [118Y490-POLTUR3/Geo4Food/4/2019]; TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK); Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB)This study was supported by an international research project supported by TUBITAK-NCBR (Project No: 118Y490-POLTUR3/Geo4Food/4/2019). The authors would like to acknowledge TUBITAK for financial support and scholarships to our students working for the project. Y.A. Jarma would like to thank the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) for PhD scholarship. We are grateful to Izmir Geothermal Energy Co., Izmir, for allowing us to install our mini-pilot system in their field

Myocardial Protection with Simultaneous Antegrade/Vein Graft Cardioplegia Compared to Antegrade Cardioplegia Alone in Elective Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Patients

Objective: Cardioplegia distribution beyond a stenotic coronary artery may not be adequate. This problem can be overcome by direct delivery of cardioplegia via the vein grafts anastomosed during the operation. The aim of this study is to investigate the results of simultaneous antegrade/vein graft cardioplegia versus antegrade cardioplegia alone in elective CABG patients