Macromol. Mater. Eng. 3/2018

Bacterial cellulose blended polymeric fibrous bandages made in a novel way, from a solution subjected to gyration under pressure to directly weave the bandages. The products show cellular attraction, mechanical and swelling properties in preliminary tests and heralds a very promising new route for the manufacture of wound care bandages. This is reported by Esra Altun, Mehmet Onur Aydogdu, Fatma Koc, Maryam Crabbe‐Mann, Francis Brako, Rupy Kaur‐Matharu, Gunes Ozen, Serap Erdem Kuruca, Ursula Edirisinghe, Oguzhan Gunduz, and Mohan Edirisinghein

Novel Making of Bacterial Cellulose Blended Polymeric Fiber Bandages

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a very promising biological material. However, at present its utilization is limited by difficulties in shape forming it. In this Communication, it is shown how this can be overcome by blending it with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) polymer. BC:PMMA fibers are produced by pressurized gyration of blended BC:PMMA solutions. Subsequently, BC:PMMA bandage‐like scaffolds are generated with different blends. The products are investigated to determine their morphological and chemical features. Cell culture and proliferation tests are performed to obtain information on biocompatibility of the scaffolds

Land Use Changes in Gediz Delta (Turkey) and Their Negative Impacts on Wetland Habitats

WOS: 000339366800009In this research, we investigate Izmir Bird Paradise, which is located on the coast of Gediz Delta (Turkey) and is protected via the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (International Ramsar Agreement). We determined land use changes in salty-alkali areas and changes in biological habitats by using remote sensing techniques and geographic information systems (GIS). We determined temporal changes in different types of land by using 1/20,000 scaled aerial photos of the research area from 1963 and 1996 and Quickbird satellite images with 61-cm resolution from 2005 and 2010. We noted existing biological changes in the same period by associating them with different land use types. At the end of the research, we studied changes to biological habitats in wetlands in coastal Gediz Delta due to the pressures of urban and industrial settlements and agricultural areas. According to the data, between 1963 and 2010 there was a similar to 84.40% increase in urban-industrial settlements, a similar to 13.74% increase in agricultural areas, and a similar to 65.59% increase in saltpan areas. On the other hand, there was a similar to 37.65% decrease in habitat and nutrition areas of biological variations (bird habitat, wetland flora, and fauna), a similar to 41.54% decrease in coastal-sand dune-salty alkali areas, and a similar to 30.63% decrease in swamp and wetland areas. As a result of these changes, numerous species in the wetlands have died or decreased

Photochemically prepared monodisperse gold nanoparticles as doxorubicin carrier and its cytotoxicity on leukemia cancer cells

In this study, a new thioxanthone derivative called 3,3 '-disulfanediylbis(1-hydroxy-9H-thioxanthen-9-one) was utilized in situ for the photochemical synthesis of monodisperse gold nanoparticles, and simple characterization was achieved by formation of a typical surface plasmon resonance band of gold nanoparticles at 535 nm accompanied by a nice pink color. Dynamic light scattering method was employed for determination of the size of the in situ-prepared gold nanoparticles and, with good polydispersity value at around 30 nm, it was in good agreement with the surface plasmon resonance band. After successful preparation of gold nanoparticles, a well-known cancer drug, doxorubicin, at different amounts was loaded onto prepared gold nanoparticles. The adsorbed and released doxorubicin amount onto the gold nanoparticles was calculated by a fluorescence spectrophotometer using a calibration curve. Doxorubicin-loaded gold nanoparticles were examined using a MTT assay for both HL-60 and K562 leukemia cancer cells and HUVEC cells, and 5 mu L doxorubicin-loaded gold nanoparticles significantly reduced cell viability. In normal HUVEC cells, 5 mu L doxorubicin-loaded gold nanoparticles were found less cytotoxic compared to doxorubicin alone. The data obtained in this study showed that gold nanoparticles loaded with 5 mu L doxorubicin are much more effective than doxorubicin used alone in cancer treatment

The frequency of MEFV gene mutation in patients admitted to hospital with preliminary diagnosis of familian mediterranean fever who undergone a prior appendectomy

OBJECTIVES, Familial mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by recurrent and self-limiting fever, peritonitis, arthritis, synovitis, pleuritis, carditis, and erysipelas-like lesions. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of the MEFV gene mutation in patients who admitted to hospital with preliminary diagnosis FMF and who had undergone a prior appendectomy

Awareness and Knowledge Levels of Adults related to Pest Control in Malatya City Center [Malatya Kent Merkezinde Yetiskinlerin Hasere Mucadelesine Iliskin Farkindaliklari ve Bilgi Duzeyleri]

This study was carried out to evaluate knowledge level and awareness of adults related to pest control in Malatya city center. This cross-sectional study was conducted between March and October alternately the struggle against larval and adult vectors was done every two weeks in the suburbs of city. The districts where to struggle against larvae constituted of this research universe. In health station -based 30 cluster sampling created, the 20-item questionnaire was applied randomly in 420 household with help of team chief of spraying under the supervision of researchers. 381 adult subjects answered the questionnaire. The study participation rate was 90.7%. In evaluation and analysis of research data the independent samples Student\'s t-test, Chi-square and ANOVA were used. The 44.9% were male and 55.1% female of 381 participants. Mean age was 38.4 ± 12.7, and 10.5% illiterate, 34.9% literate or primary school graduates, 46,4% were secondary or high school and 8.1% were in the higher education of the participants. 92.6% of the participants awareness about the mosquitoes, 76.9% the houseflies, 29.1% the midge, and also 36.5% of subcejts were announced that were made struggle against ticks with drugs. Approximately 1/3 of participants stated that the chemical agents used for pest control were harmful to human health (32.8%) and the environmental health (35.2%) also. The men who answered to the total 13 questions correctly average 6.1 ± 1.9, and for women average 6.2 ± 1.9 was similar to each other (p = 0.885). Average scores of the participants of those under the age of 30 was 6.4 ± 2.1, the ages between 40-49 was 6.1 ± 1.9 and the ages over 60 was 5.6 ± 1.7. There was no statistically significant difference with average knowledge scores although it decreased with age (p = 0.218). The mean scores of illiterates information was 5.8 ± 2.0, and with 7.3 ± 2.0 in the higher educated ones was difference statisticially (p=0.001). Although the people largely informed on the struggle against pests in the city center, the lower knowledge scores was held. It can be said that the people do not have enough awareness about the dangers of chemical agents to human and environmental health. As a result, to raise public awareness about the integrated pest management is needed. [Med-Science 2013; 2(4.000): 907-20

Does Sertraline Affect Hypothalamic Food Intake Peptides in the Rat Experimental Model of Chronic Mild Stress-Induced Depression?

Depression is a chronic, recurrent and life-threatening disease affecting approximately 15% of the world population. Depression is responsible for neuropathologies like decreased neurogenesis and increased dendritic atrophy. Antidepressant treatments increase hippocampal neurogenesis and neurotrophic factor expression. Based on this information, it was aimed to investigate effect of sertraline on depression in rats with chronic mild stress (CMS) model and to determine how it affects cell proliferation and hypothalamic peptide levels in hypothalamus. 56 adult male Wistar albino; control, depression(D), depression + sertraline, sertraline were divided into groups. Various stressors were applied to D for 30 days. Open field test (OFT) and forced swimming test (FST) were conducted to check whether the animals were depressed. On the 16th day osmotic minipump was placed subcutaneously and sertraline (10 mg/kg/day) was administered for 15 days. Behavior tests were done. Hypothalamic peptide gene expression levels were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. Statistical evaluations were made using ANOVA. It caused a decrease in the percentage of movement in the D and control groups in the OFT, an increase in the immobility time in the D group in the FST, and an increase in the swimming behavior in the DS group. Animals did not show any anxiological behavior based on the elevated plus maze test results. CMS caused a decrease in GLUT2 and NPY gene expression in the hypothalamus of animals, an increase in POMC and FGFR2, and an increase in IGFIR and GLUT2 gene expression in the DS group. Sertraline has been shown to ameliorate the effects of CMS-induced depression. Sertraline is thought to have a positive regulatory effect on both the formation of neural precursor cells and the survival of newly formed neurons in the hypothalamus. Newly formed neurons in the hypothalamus express food intake-related NPY, POMC, GLUT2 neurons, and thus hypothalamic tanycytes may play a key role in the control of energy metabolism

Vitamin D increases the efficacy of cisplatin on bladder cancer cell lines

Background 1,25(OH)2D3(Calcitriol), which is a broad regulatory molecule, plays a role in changing the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs. Cisplatin is one of a current standard chemotherapy regimen for bladder cancer. Increasing the effectiveness of the treatment and reducing the side effects to chemotherapeutics are of great importance in bladder cancer. We aimed to investigate the effect of the combination of cisplatin and calcitriol in order to create a possible advantage in treatment of bladder cancer. Methods T24, ECV-304 and HUVEC cell lines were treated with calcitriol and cisplatin individually and in combination. Dose determination and combination treatments of calcitriol and cisplatin were evaluated using the MTT assay for cytotoxicity analysis on the cells. Annexin V-PI staining method was used for apoptosis determination by flow cytometry. Also the P-gp expression levels were determined by flow cytometry. Results The combination treatment increased the anti-proliferative efficacy compared to the efficacy in cisplatin alone in T24 cells and reduced the cytotoxicity in the HUVEC healthy cells compared to cisplatin alone. Combination treatment achieved significantly higher apoptosis rate in T24 cells compared with the rates in treatment of cisplatin alone. However apoptosis decreased in HUVEC cell line. P-gp ratios were increased in HUVEC and decreased in T24 cells with combination treatment compared to the numbers in the control cells. The rate of apoptosis and P-gp levels showed no significant change in ECV-304 cells. Conclusion Our study revealed that the combination of calcitriol and cisplatin allows the use of cisplatin at lower doses in T24 bladder cancer cell line

TXNIP overexpression promotes aggressive phenotpe in HCC cell lines

WOS: 00038861450002