The heavy metal biomonitoring study using lichen Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr. in Ankara province (Turkey)

For the purpose of biomonitoring air pollution level in Ankara (capital of Turkey) in terms of heavy metals,  Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr. lichen samples were collected at 30 stations on different tree species, 29 of which are located in city center and 1 outside the city as a control station, between November 2020 and April 2021. After drying and cleaning dust and bark materials from the lichen thallus, the analysis of heavy metals  (Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb) was performed using ICP-MS and the amaount of chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b was measured with UV-Spectrophotometer. When mean of the heavy metal measurement results was compared with  lichen reference values of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the ranking was as follows: Cr˃Fe˃Al˃Co˃V˃Cu˃As˃Ni˃Zn˃Pb˃Cd˃Mn. As expected, the station in Çamlıdere district, which was selected as a control station 98 km from the city center of Ankara, has lower heavy metals concentration compared to the other stations. According to the results of heavy metals concentration from other stations, the main sources of air pollution in Ankara are motor vehicles, fossil fuels, and industrial activities, respectively

Biomonitoring of heavy metals by Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf in Aksaray city, Turkey

Mixed air pollutants are considered a major cause of damage in living organisms. Air pollution and associated heavy metal pollution is a serious environmental problem. One of the methods used to monitor heavy metal pollution is the method of transplanting lichen samples by the ‘bag technique’. The objective of this study was to determine the air pollution level of Aksaray and to generate the air pollution map of this city by using Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf as a bioindicator. The study area was characterized by the presence of numerous industrial, heating activities and traffic. Lichen samples were collected from unpolluted area at Yapraklı Mountains, Çankırı in November 2002 and transplanted to 7 different localities in Aksaray. They were retrieved following an exposure of 3 and 6 months. Heavy metal Cu, Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn contents were determined by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The chlorophyll a and b contents were determined by using DMSO method. According to the heavy metal analysis results of P. furfuracea, air pollution in Aksaray owing to industrial activities, heating and traffic showed various changes in different stations and periods studied. Heavy metal concentrations in various stations showed obvious differences according to determination methods applied in the experiments. The results indicated that lichens had a great potential of bioindicator capacity

BIOMONITORING OF HEAVY METALS DEPOSITION WITH PSEUDEVERNIA FURFURACEA (L.) ZOPF IN ÇORUM CITY, TURKEY

Heavy metal air pollution is an important environmental problem. One of the methods used to monitor pollution in air is the method of transplanting lichen samples by the "bag technique". In this study, Pseudevernia furfuracea was used as a bioindicator to determine the heavy metal level in the air of Çorum and to generate an air pollution map of the city. The lichen samples were collected from the Yapraklı Mountains in Çankırı in 2002 and transplanted to 8 different stations in Çorum. Lichen samples were retrieved at two different periods in three month intervals. Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) spectrometry (Varian Liberty ICP-OES Sequential) was used to identify the heavy metals, such as copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in the lichen samples. The chlorophyll a and b contents were determined by using the modified DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) method. With these values chlorophyll a+b, a/b and b/a were also calculated. According to the results of the heavy metal analysis by the use of P. furfuracea, air pollution levels in Çorum was detected. The reasons of pollution can be stated as heavy traffic, industrial activities and heating processes in the city. P. furfuracea can be used as a bioindicator for pollution studies

Isogeometric analysis using peridynamics and XFEM

This study presents an approach to couple IsoGeometric Analysis (IGA) with PeriDynamics (PD) and eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM). It removes the need for mapping from the parent space to the parametric space as part of IGA. The PD points in the parametric space are governed by the kinematics of control points in the physical space. Therefore, the total Degrees of Freedom (DoF) remains the same. The Jacobian and the strain components at each PD point in the parametric space are computed by employing the PD differential operator. Cracks are simply introduced by removing the interactions among the PD points. The appropriate enrichment functions are activated based on the crack position within the element in the parametric space. The capability of this approach is demonstrated by computing the displacement and stress fields in a curved plate with and without a pre-existing crack

Biomonitoring of heavy metals by Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf in Ankara (Turkey)

The objective of this study was to determine the air pollution level of Ankara and to generate the air pollution map of this city by using Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf as a biomonitor. Lichen samples were collected from unpolluted area at Yaprakli Mountains, Cankiri in November 2002 and transplanted to 27 localities in Ankara. Lichen samples were retrieved following an exposure of 3 and 6 months. Heavy metal, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, contents were determined by using inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP). The chlorophyll a and b contents were determined by using DMSO method. The increase in Ni, Pb, Zn and chlorophyll a content of the specimens were statistically important. All the increases and decreases in the variables could be explained by the environmental stress like pollution, but it is hard to say that this is the only reason of these changes, also climatic conditions, seasons, strength of the light and the physiological status of the plant itself effective on these changes. According to the results of heavy metal analysis Pseudevernia furfuracea continued to accumulate heavy metals and worked well as a biomonitor. The air pollution level of Ankara shows great variations because of the great area of the city

Synthesis and Characterization of Fe3O4-Mptms-Plga Nanocomposites for Anticancer Drug Loading and Release Studies

Magnetic nanocomposites (Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA) were synthesized by single oil emulsion method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Particle size of nanocomposites was between 117 nm and 246 nm. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to investigate drug loading (paclitaxel, PTX) and release from Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX nanocomposites. The percentages of drug loading and encapsulation efficiency onto nanocomposites were found as 7.35 and 68.58, respectively. Cytotoxities of free anticancer drug and anticancer drug-loaded nanocomposites were determined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. In vitro cell culture studies indicated that Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX had significant toxicity on MG-63 cancer cells.WoSScopu