Determining the effects of black cumin seed oil on performance and meat fatty acid profile of broiler chickens

This study was designed to investigate the effects of adding black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) seed (BCS) oil to diets for broiler chickens on their performance and the meat fatty acid profile of the meat. Broiler chicks were assigned to three groups. The unsupplemented control did not receive BCS oil. The two treated groups received 0.5% and 1% BCS oil. The live weight and live weight gain of the experimental groups were generally greater for the treated groups than for the control group. Feed consumption did not differ among groups, and thus the group that was fed the diet supplemented with 1% BCS oil was most efficient. Total saturated fatty acids were lower, and polyunsaturated fatty acids were greater in the treated groups, but monounsaturated fatty acids were greater in meat from the control group. As a result, it can be concluded that the addition of 0.5–1% BCS oil into the diets of broiler may improve the performance of chicks and enrich the meat quality by creating meaningful changes in meat fatty acid profiles, especially in terms of total polyunsaturated fatty acids.Keywords: Ross broiler, fatty acids, nigella sativa, nutrition, yiel

Liquid-Phase Chemical Sensing Using Lateral Mode Resonant Cantilevers

Liquid-phase operation of resonant cantilevers vibrating in an out-of-plane flexural mode has to date been limited by the considerable fluid damping and the resulting low quality factors (Q factors). To reduce fluid damping in liquids and to improve the detection limit for liquid-phase sensing applications, resonant cantilever transducers vibrating in their in-plane rather than their out-of-plane flexural resonant mode have been fabricated and shown to have Q factors up to 67 in water (up to 4300 in air). In the present work, resonant cantilevers, thermally excited in an in-plane flexural mode, are investigated and applied as sensors for volatile organic compounds in water. The cantilevers are fabricated using a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication process based on bulk micromachining. The devices were coated with chemically sensitive polymers allowing for analyte sorption into the polymer. Poly(isobutylene) (PIB) and poly(ethylene-co-propylene) (EPCO) were investigated as sensitive layers with seven different analytes screened with PIB and 12 analytes tested with EPCO. Analyte concentrations in the range of 1−100 ppm have been measured in the present experiments, and detection limits in the parts per billion concentration range have been estimated for the polymer-coated cantilevers exposed to volatile organics in water. These results demonstrate significantly improved sensing properties in liquids and indicate the potential of cantilever-type mass-sensitive chemical sensors operating in their in-plane rather than out-of-plane flexural modes

Antibacterial activity and composition of the essential oils of two endemic Salvia sp. from Turkey

Water-distilled essential oils from dried aerial parts of Salvia cryptantha and Salvia heldreichiana (Lamiaceae), endemic in Turkey, were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS). Camphor (19.1%), 1,8-cineole (16.4%), borneol (11.9%), viridiflorol (11.5%) and bornyl acetate (2.4%) were found to be the major constituents in the oil of S. cryptantha. The major constituents in the oil of S. heldreichiana were linalool (9.4%), a-pinene (5.6%), 1,8-cineole (5.6%), borneol (5.6%), cryptone (5.3%), linalyl acetate (4.9%), a-terpineol (4.4%), camphor (3.9%), terpinen-4-ol (3.3%), trans-linalool oxide (Furanoid) (2.9%), trans-verbenol (2.2%), geranyl acetate (2.2%) and cis-linalool oxide (Furanoid) (2.1%). Essential oil of S. heldreichiana exhibited antimicrobial activity using the disc diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Sarcinia lutea and Salmonella typhimurium. The oil of S. cryptantha inhibited the growth of S. lutea

Soft tissue pathosis associated with asymptomatic impacted lower third molars

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of pathological changes in the pericoronal tissue of asymptomatic impacted lower third molars and to assess the correlation between pathological changes and patient demographic, radiographic and morphological characteristics. Study Design: Follicles associated with fully impacted lower third molars were submitted for histological examination after surgical extraction from 50 patients. The correlation between pathological changes in the dental follicle and age, gender, depth of impaction, angular position, and coverage and tooth development was analyzed. Results: Cystic changes were observed in 10% of specimens and inflammatory changes in 62%. Incidence of pathological changes was significantly higher in Class B impacted teeth when compared to Class C impacted teeth. A significant correlation was found between epithelial cell activity and the completion of tooth development. Conclusion: We recommend monitoring all third molars whether or not they are symptomatic and conducting histopathological analyses on all surgically extracted follicle tissue. © Medicina Oral S. L

Forecasting of Suspended Sediment in Rivers Using Artificial Neural Networks Approach

Suspended sediment estimation is important to the water resources management and water quality problem. In this article, artificial neural networks (ANN), M5tree (M5T) approaches and statistical approaches such as Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Sediment Rating Curves (SRC) are used for estimation daily suspended sediment concentration from daily temperature of water and streamflow in river. These daily datas were measured at Iowa station in US. These prediction aproaches are compared to each other according to three statistical criteria, namely, mean square errors (MSE), mean absolute relative error (MAE) and correlation coefficient (R). When the results are compared ANN approach have better forecasts suspended sediment than the other estimation methods

Methods of cognitive status research in patients with glioblastoma

Introduction: Glioblastoma is a high-grade, aggressive central nervous system tumor with predominantly astrocytic differentiation, characterized by fast invasive growth into the surrounding brain parenchyma and aggressive clinical course. The short life expectancy of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma necessitates the need to maximize their quality of remaining life. One of the most common reasons for quality of life impairment in these patients is the cognitive deficit accompanying the disease. There is a lack of a unified and standardized method for the assessment of cognitive functions in these patients, which meets all the necessary criteria to be convenient and usable in the wide clinical practice.Aim: The aim of the present study is to compare the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) brief screening test with an extended neuropsychological examination to determine its applicability in patients diagnosed with glioblastoma. Material and methods: The study includes 27 patients undergoing neurosurgical intervention for histologically proven IDH-wildtype glioblastoma in the Department of Neurosurgery, “St. Marina” University Hospital – a tertiary healthcare center, for the period January 2019 to December 2022. Preoperatively, patients were examined with the short MoCA screening test and an extended neuropsychological examination including the following subtests: Issac set test, Trail making test A and B, Luria test, Raven‘s color matrices, Stroop test and Bender test.Results: Of all the patients studied, those with a MoCA score below 26 points present at least one negative test of the extended neuropsychological examination. MoCA patients with scores of 26 or more do not demonstrate cognitive impairment in the extended neuropsychological impairment.Conclusion: The obtained results support the claim that the MoCA short screening test is applicable for preoperative diagnosis of cognitive disorders in patients with glioblastoma. Due to the study‘s small sample size, further research is needed to definitively prove this claim

Age as a factor for cognitive decline in patients with glial tumors

Introduction: Cognitive impairment appears in almost all patients with glial tumors during the course of this neuro-oncological disease. There are various reasons for this in regards to the glial tumor: grade of malignancy, rate of growth, molecular nature, mass effect, and presence of perifocal edema. But these factors do not always correlate with the degree of patient’s cognitive impairment. The present study’s aim is to account for age as a factor in the occurrence of cognitive decline in patients with glial tumors.Materials and methods: The study includes thirty two patients diagnosed with a glial tumor, treated operatively in the Neurosurgery Clinic of University hospital „St. Marina“ in Varna between 2019 and 2022 year. Twenty nine of those patients are diagnosed with glioblastoma, two are diagnosed with diffuse astrocytoma and one with astrocytoma grade 3 according to WHO. The mean age of the patients is 58.4 ± 11.4 years. The youngest patient is 25 years old and the oldest is 78 years old. Preoperatively, all patients are subjected to a series of cognitive tests.Results: From the studied sample, patients diagnosed with glioblastoma showed lower cognitive scores compared to the patients diagnosed with other glial tumors. Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma are significantly older than the patients diagnosed with other glial tumors.Conclusion: The older age of patients affected by glioblastoma may be an additional reason beside tumor factors for lower cognitive test outcome compared to patients affected by lower-grade gliomas