The protective effects of red ginseng and amifostine against renal damage caused by ionizing radiation

This study aimed to elucidate the effects of amifostine (ethyol) (AM), a synthetic radioprotector, and red ginseng (RG), a natural radioprotective agent, against the toxic effect of ionizing radiation (IR) on kidney tissues through changes in biochemical and histopathological parameters in addition to contributions to the use of amifostine and RG in clinical studies. Five groups were established: Group I (control, receiving only saline by gavage), Group II (IR only), and Group III (IR+AM, 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.). Group IV (IR + RG, 200 mg/kg orally once a day for 4 weeks), and Group V (IR+RG+AM, 200 mg/kg orally once/day for 4 weeks before IR and 200 mg/kg AM administered (i.p.) 30 min before IR). All groups, except for the control group, were subject to 6-Gy whole-body IR in a single fraction. 24 h after irradiation, all animals were sacrificed under anesthesia. IR enhanced MDA, 8-OHdG, and caspase-3 expression while decreasing renal tissue GSH levels (p < .05). Significant numbers of necrotic tubules together with diffuse vacuolization in proximal and distal tubule epithelial cells were also observed. The examination also revealed substantial brush boundary loss in proximal tubules as well as relatively unusual glomerular structures. While GSH levels significantly increased in the AM, RG, and AM+RG groups, a decrease in KHDS, MDA, 8-OHdG, and caspase-3 expression was observed, compared to the group subject to IR only (p < .05). Therefore, reactive oxygen species-scavenging antioxidants may represent a promising treatment for avoiding kidney damage in patients receiving radiation

The frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy and Pompe disease in children with isolated transaminase elevation: results from the observational VICTORIA study

IntroductionElevated transaminases and/or creatine phosphokinase can indicate underlying muscle disease. Therefore, this study aims to determine the frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) in male children and Pompe disease (PD) in male and female children with isolated hypertransaminasemia.MethodsThis multi-center, prospective study enrolled patients aged 3–216 months with serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and/or aspartate transaminase (AST) levels &gt;2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) for ≥3 months. Patients with a known history of liver or muscle disease or physical examination findings suggestive of liver disease were excluded. Patients were screened for creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels, and molecular genetic tests for DMD/BMD in male patients and enzyme analysis for PD in male and female patients with elevated CPK levels were performed. Genetic analyses confirmed PD. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the patients were analyzed.ResultsOverall, 589 patients [66.8% male, mean age of 63.4 months (standard deviation: 60.5)] were included. In total, 251 patients (188 male and 63 female) had CPK levels above the ULN. Of the patients assessed, 47% (85/182) of male patients were diagnosed with DMD/BMD and 1% (3/228) of male and female patients were diagnosed with PD. The median ALT, AST, and CPK levels were statistically significantly higher, and the questioned neurological symptoms and previously unnoticed examination findings were more common in DMD/BMD patients than those without DMD/BMD or PD (p &lt; 0.001).DiscussionQuestioning neurological symptoms, conducting a complete physical examination, and testing for CPK levels in patients with isolated hypertransaminasemia will prevent costly and time-consuming investigations for liver diseases and will lead to the diagnosis of occult neuromuscular diseases. Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT04120168

The Role of Volunteered Geographic Information Applications in Disaster Management

In times of crisis, it is a priority to get help as soon as possible and any kind of help can be accepted. Especially, all kinds of support by volunteers, is a great help in crisis resolution. Crisis locations can be developed or less developed regions. It is sometimes difficult to reach help and support in less developed regions. To create Geographic data, which is an important requirement in crisis situations, is time-consuming and costly when attempted to be produced by conventional methods. When the data is produced by volunteers, it is faster and less costly because experts try to reach and support the region. Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is spatial data that has been contributed for free by volunteers. In our work, that is review, the examples of Volunteered Geographic Information applications in crisis management will be shown on the poster

Investigation of GIS based mobile route planning-navigation applications for tourism activities

Mobile devices can be used in many areas such as shopping, entertainment and education. The number of mobile applications which provides information about a city or region, helps to find route by navigation and makes accommodation plans with food and beverage suggestions, is also increasing. Since these devices are portable and have access to internet, they emerges as a new and important potential for tourism sector. In particular, the increase in the use of route planning and navigation applications, which are location based services within the scope of Geographic Information Systems, has also affected the tourism sector. Which route planning and navigation applications are used extensively by tour operators, tourist guides and individual visitors ? What are the strengths and weaknesses about these applications? Answers to such questions were sought in this study

Electrochemical glucose biosensing via new generation DTP type conducting polymers/gold nanoparticles/glucose oxidase modified electrodes

WOS:000375498000013The synthesis of derivatives of dithionepyrrole is a hot subject that has been studied extensively. In this study, a novel approach for constructing different glucose biosensors using conducting polymers of 4-(4H-dithyinol[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyro11-4-yl)aniline and 4-(4H-dithyinol[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyroll-4-yl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-amine is proposed. After the synthesis and characterizations of the dithionepyrrole type monomers, they were used in glucose biosensing applications. The surface of gold electrode was modified with mercaptoethane sulfonic acid and paminothiophenol functionalized gold nanoparticles and aniline modified GOx. Electrochemical measurements were carried out by following the consumed oxygen due to the enzymatic reaction of glucose oxidase. DTP-PhNH2/AuNP/GOx and DTP-Ph-Ph-NH2/AuNP/GOx biosensors showed very good linearity between 0.1 and 2.5 mM, and 0.05 and 1 mM for glucose, respectively. LOD value was obtained for pDTP-Ph-NH2/AuNP/GOx as 5.00 x 10(-2) mM and for pDTP-Ph-Ph-NH2/AuNP/GOx as 9.86 x 10(-5) mM using S/N ratio. Optimization of molar ratio amount of AuNP/GOx, cycles amount to immobilize AuNP/GOx, conducting polymer thickness were examined. Finally, under optimized conditions, the amount of glucose in spiked human serum samples and recovery experiments were conducted. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.European UnionEuropean Union (EU) [CM1104]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [112T622, 111T135]The authors would like to thank the European Union through the COST Action CM1104 "Reducible Oxide Chemistry, Structure and Functions" and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK Grant Numbers 112T622 and 111T135) for the financial support of this research