Effects of aqueous artichoke (cynara scolymus) leaf extract on hepatic damage generated by alpha-amanitine

Approximately 90% of mushroom poisoning deaths in the world is caused by types of Amanita phalloides. Alpha-amanitine has a bicyclic octapeptide structure, which is the main structure responsible for these poisoning cases. In the present study, it was aimed to investigate effects of leaf extracts with artichoke extract on this toxicity. In the study, 28 male rats of Sprague-Dawley species were randomized to 4 groups. The groups were designed as control; receiving serum physiological solution of 0.1 mL intraperitoneally (ip), alpha-amanitine; receiving 3 mg/kg single dose ip, artichoke leaf extract; receiving 1.5 g/kg orally for 14 d, and treatment group¸ receiving alpha-amanitine 3 mg/kg single dose ip+artichoke leaf extract 1.5 g/kg orally for 14 d. It was determined that alpha-amanitine increased hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and decrease superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT) activities with decreasing glutathione (GSH) levels. The supplementation with extract with artichoke, decreased MDA levels, it improved antioxidant parameters, and histopathological findings, so it was decided that extract with artichoke juice might be beneficial in alpha-amanitine related hepatic damage

The Earth: Plasma Sources, Losses, and Transport Processes

This paper reviews the state of knowledge concerning the source of magnetospheric plasma at Earth. Source of plasma, its acceleration and transport throughout the system, its consequences on system dynamics, and its loss are all discussed. Both observational and modeling advances since the last time this subject was covered in detail (Hultqvist et al., Magnetospheric Plasma Sources and Losses, 1999) are addressed

Cooperation between Russian research organizations and industrial companies: factors and problems

The study is focused on the cooperation of Russian companies with research organizations in implementing R&D projects during technological innovation. Taking into account behavioral changes, authors carry out a micro-level analysis based on empirical data of executive survey of over 600 Russian industrial firms (2011—2012) and about 350 research organizations and universities (2012). The authors emphasize the key factors of firms’ demand for outsourcing R&D reveal the main barriers to the development of university-industry cooperation and their particularities for different cooperation actors. The analysis shows that there is a positive relation between the size of a company and R&D outsourcing. As for the factor of age, the highest cooperation activity of Russian firms is observed among enterprises founded over 20 years ago. As far as concernes cooperation activity of research organizations, large ones are significantly more likely to cooperate with business. A common prerequisite for research organizations' R&D cooperation with business is sufficient academic ranking. Business and science evaluate differently various obstacles to effective cooperation. For firms, the main problems are the inflated costs of national R&Ds, insufficient research organizations’ orientation at company needs, and low quality of developments. As for representatives of research organizations, they mention as barriers primarily the lack of companies' receptivity to innovation and inadequate information about promising developments. Businesses are more optimistic about cooperation with science if they already have a relevant experience of interaction. In the case of research organizations we observe a different pattern: most problems seem more significant to organizations conducting R&D in business interests

Development, Quality, and Production Parameters of In Vitro Embryo in Anatolian Water Buffaloes

The aim of the study was to determine in vitro embryo development, embryo quality, and in vitro embryo production (IVEP) parameters by using Anatolian water buffaloes (AWB) oocytes. In this study, 184 ovaries of 92 AWB obtained from slaughterhouses were used. The tissue culture medium (TCM-199) was used for in vitro maturation (IVM), Brackett & Oliphant (BO) medium for in vitro fertilization (IVF), and Charles Rosencrans 1 amino acid (CR1aa) medium for in vitro culture (IVC). A total of 395 oocytes (2.15 per ovary) were obtained from the ovaries. Frozen AWB sperm was used for fertilization. The number of cleavages at the 24th hour was 93 out of 302 (30.79%), the number of morulae and compact morula at the 96th hour was 53 out of 302 (17.55%), the number of blastocysts at 7th day was 29 out of 302 (9.60%), and the number of hatched blastocysts were 12 out of 302 (3.97%) on the 8th and 9th days. In the quality assessment of 29 blastocysts recovered on day 7 in IVC, 7 of them (24.13%) were of the code 1 quality, 9 of them (31.03%) were of the code 2 quality, 8 of them (27.50%) were of the code 3 quality, and 5 of them (17.24%) were classified as the code 4 quality. This study provides the first data on in vitro embryo development, embryo quality classification, and embryo production in AWB. As a result, the potential of oocytes AWB for IVEP has been revealed, and a scientific background has been provided for future studies

A Conceptual Framework for Developing a Customized I 4.0 Education Scale: An Exploratory Research

19th International Symposium for Production Research, ISPR 2019 -- 28 August 2019 through 30 August 2019 -- -- 233539The fourth industrial revolution proposes digitization and networking by providing more productive, intelligent, controllable, and transparent factory environment. Although organizations have increasing attention to such a paradigm, changes in production and automation technologies led organizations to consider various areas. The necessity of individual qualifications and skills will eventually require more qualified managers. Furthermore, in a high technological environment which requires expertise on new materials, machines and information need more skilled labour. The increased complexity of workspaces eventually resulted in a need for a high level of education for the employees. The presented study contributes to research by providing a framework to structure an education scale in the context of Industry 4.0. Preliminary work for an I 4.0 education scale through an extensive literature review and academic reviews were provided. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Quantitative Analysis of Stakeholder Perspective on the University-Industry-Government Collaboration in İzmir, Turkey

International Symposium for Production Research, ISPR 2020 -- 24 September 2020 through 26 September 2020 -- -- 250869Industry 4.0 necessitates the transformation of businesses towards the use of digital technologies and become more competitive in a global market. The collaboration of businesses and academic institutions is a fundamental enabler to achieve innovation. The models, such as Triple Helix, emphasize this collaboration and have increasingly received a great deal of attention from government policies in Turkey. With this perspective, a workshop hosted by the Aegean Region Chamber of Industry has been organized with the participation of representatives from universities, industry, and public institutions. This study presents our findings obtained through the workshop and aims to propose insights for policymakers. In particular, our survey data consists of indicators that were organized into three focal themes: collaboration, digitalization, and innovation. The survey data have been clustered based on participants’ ranking on the indicators using the k-means technique. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

A Customized Web-Based Training Platform for Industry 4.0

22nd International Symposium for Production Research, ISPR 2022 -- 6 October 2022 through 8 October 2022 -- 291539The Industry 4.0 revolution paves the way for a radical transformation in production systems. This transformation also necessitates acquiring the required skills to accomplish new tasks and job descriptions. On the other hand, individuals have different skills, learning preferences, and requirements. In this sense, designing training programmes for Industry 4.0 requires considering the gap between job requirements and learners, individually. This study presents a customized web-based training platform developed as a part of CEPI 4.0 Project. The platform incorporates training modules developed as a result of need analyses conducted in Turkey, Austria, Slovakia, and Romania. The competency gap of an individual is determined through an initial assessment. Then, each individual is presented a customized set of contents from the Industry 4.0 training modules, which have been prepared through our project. Finally, the individual or group-level progress achieved through customized training is demonstrated using an Industry 4.0 Education Scale developed for the project. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Acknowledgment. This study presents the final research output obtained through the CEPI 4.0 project (A Customized Education Plan Based on Industry 4.0 Competency Gaps. Project-Identifier: 2019–1-TR01-KA202–077366) funded by the EU Commission within the ERASMUS+ Programme (KA202 - Strategic Partnership for Vocational Education and Training).European Commission, EC: KA20

in Chronic Kidney Disease

OBJECTIVE: Red-cell distribution width (RDW) is a parameter routinely used for diagnosis of different anemia types. Recent studies have shown the RDW relationship with mortality in general population and patients with cardiovascular disease. However, the number of studies on RDW in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is insufficient. We evaluated the relationship between RDW and carotid intima media thickness (IMT), which is a predictor of atherosclerosis, in patients with CKD