A new lab-on-chip transmitter for the detection of proteins using RNA aptamers

A new RNA aptamer based affinity biosensor for CReactive Protein (CRP), a risk marker for cardiovascular disease was developed using interdigitated capacitor (IDC), integrated in Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) and output signal is amplified using Single Stage Power Amplifier (PA) for transmitting signal to receiver at Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. The Lab-on-Chip transmitter design includes IDC, VCO and PA. The design was implemented in IHP 0.25μm SiGe BiCMOS process; post-CMOS process was utilized to increase the sensitivity of biosensor. The CRP was incubated between or on interdigitated electrodes and the changes in capacitance of IDC occurred. In blank measurements, the oscillation frequency was 2.464GHz whereas after RNA aptamers were immobilized on open aluminum areas of IDC and followed by binding reaction processed with 500pg/ml CRP solution, the capacitance shifted to 2.428GHz. Phase noise is changed from -114.3dBc/Hz to -116.5dBc/Hz

Increased asymmetric dimethylarginine and nitric oxide levels in patients with migraine

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) has been found as correlated with endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress. There are few studies regarding ADMA and nitric oxide (NO) levels in patients with migraine and alterations of ADMA and NO levels during migraine attack are not well-known. Therefore, in present study, we aimed to measure NO and ADMA levels in patients with migraine and compare them with the control group to investigate the correlation between migraine, oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction. The migraine group consisted of 59 patients, including 22 suffering from migraine with aura and 37 suffering from migraine without aura. The control group consisted of 31 healthy volunteers without headache. The patients in migraine group were divided into subgroups based on whether attack period was present or not and whether it was migraine with or without aura. Plasma ADMA levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Migraine patients had higher concentrations of NO (35.6 ± 7.7, 31.0 ± 6.2 μmol/L, respectively, p = 0.005) and ADMA (0.409 ± 0.028, 0.381 ± 0.044 μmol/L, respectively, p = 0.001) levels when compared with the healthy controls. During migraine attack, NO and ADMA levels were found to be significantly higher in migraine group as compared to control group (respectively, p = 0.015, p = 0.014). Similarly, NO and ADMA levels in the patients with migraine in the interictal period were found to be significantly higher as compared to control group (p = 0.011, p = 0.003). In conclusion, higher ADMA and NO levels of patients with migraine supported that oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction may have a role in migraine pathogenesis

Canonical Wnt signaling is antagonized by noncanonical Wnt5a in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>β-catenin mutations that constitutively activate the canonical Wnt signaling have been observed in a subset of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). These mutations are associated with chromosomal stability, low histological grade, low tumor invasion and better patient survival. We hypothesized that canonical Wnt signaling is selectively activated in well-differentiated, but repressed in poorly differentiated HCCs. To this aim, we characterized differentiation status of HCC cell lines and compared their expression status of Wnt pathway genes, and explored their activity of canonical Wnt signaling.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We classified human HCC cell lines into "well-differentiated" and "poorly differentiated" subtypes, based on the expression of hepatocyte lineage, epithelial and mesenchymal markers. Poorly differentiated cell lines lost epithelial and hepatocyte lineage markers, and overexpressed mesenchymal markers. Also, they were highly motile and invasive. We compared the expression of 45 Wnt pathway genes between two subtypes. TCF1 and TCF4 factors, and LRP5 and LRP6 co-receptors were ubiquitously expressed. Likewise, six Frizzled receptors, and canonical Wnt3 ligand were expressed in both subtypes. In contrast, canonical ligand Wnt8b and noncanonical ligands Wnt4, Wnt5a, Wnt5b and Wnt7b were expressed selectively in well- and poorly differentiated cell lines, respectively. Canonical Wnt signaling activity, as tested by a TCF reporter assay was detected in 80% of well-differentiated, contrary to 14% of poorly differentiated cell lines. TCF activity generated by ectopic mutant β-catenin was weak in poorly differentiated SNU449 cell line, suggesting a repressive mechanism. We tested Wnt5a as a candidate antagonist. It strongly inhibited canonical Wnt signaling that is activated by mutant β-catenin in HCC cell lines.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Differential expression of Wnt ligands in HCC cells is associated with selective activation of canonical Wnt signaling in well-differentiated, and its repression in poorly differentiated cell lines. One potential mechanism of repression involved Wnt5a, acting as an antagonist of canonical Wnt signaling. Our observations support the hypothesis that Wnt pathway is selectively activated or repressed depending on differentiation status of HCC cells. We propose that canonical and noncanonical Wnt pathways have complementary roles in HCC, where the canonical signaling contributes to tumor initiation, and noncanonical signaling to tumor progression.</p

Applicability of pressure retarded osmosis power generation technology in Istanbul

In this study, the applicability of pressure retarded osmosis power generation was investigated in order to meet the electricity demand in Turkey. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a method that converting salinity gradients to power using a semi-permeable membrane against an applied pressure and PRO is one of the promising candidates to reduce fossil fuel dependency. In PRO, water is transported from a low concentrated feed solution to a high-concentrated draw solution. According to the literature findings, in order to produce 1MW of electricity 1m3/s fresh water flow is needed. Turkey is surrounded on three sides by water and has a big potential to develop this technology. Riva River is investigated in the scope this study. Currently Turkey’s total installed power capacity reached 85.200 MW at the end of 2017.Calculations of PRO power generation reveals that it is possible to generate 25,45 MW, If using 5% of total river flow

A STUDY ON SUMMER TERM AND REGULAR TERM TEACHING APPLICATIONS

WOS: 000308389500038The aim of the study is to find out if the academic achievements of students differ in regular and summer courses and reveal the perceptions of them on intensive courses. A study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of a 7 week summer course versus 14 weeks regular course, and to gather student opinions about summer course in 2007-2008 term. A type of post-test equivalent group design was used in this research for performance comparison, and a survey was used to gather student's opinions. Results indicated that regular courses are more effective than summer course. Hence, students thought that they would like summer courses in the other semesters since they felt better themselves and would pass their courses earlier

THE EFFECTS OF THE REAP READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUE ON STUDENTS' SUCCESS

WOS: 000278677100012In this study written materials such as school textbooks were used to find out if the Read, Encode, Annotate, and Ponder (REAP) technique can create a significant difference in learning success compared to the classical method. A pretest-posttest equivalent control group research model was used. The study sample was composed of 59 students enrolled in an elementary school teacher-training program in 2008-2009 fall term Data were obtained qualitatively. According to findings, students' learning success levels were significantly higher in the group in which REAP techniques were used, compared to the classical method grou

Evaluation Of Pre-Service Teachers' Academic Self-Efficacy Levels In Terms Of Some Certain Variables

4th World Conference on Learning, Teaching and Educational Leadership (WCLTA) -- OCT 27-29, 2013 -- Univ Barcelona, Barcelona, SPAINWOS: 000345351800115One of the important concepts in Bandura's Social Learning Theory is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy: A person's own judgement about achieving behaviours that will allow that person to reach a desired performance. This perception is also very important for the success of teachers. Because, people with high self-efficacy will also have a high persistence rate and will keep struggling in cases of failure. In this respect, aim of the study is to determine the self-efficacy levels of senior students in Ahi Evran University Faculty of Education (n=315) and to present the differences caused by gender, department and average academic scores. In this research, survey model is used and as the data collecting tool Self-efficacy Scale which was developed by Owen and Froman (1988) and adapted to Turkish by Ekici (2012) is used. Validity and reliability tests of this data collecting tool were also carried out by Ekici (2012). Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient for the general of the scale was found as .904; it is found as .780 for social status dimension, .863 for cognitive applications dimension and .619 for technical skills dimension. Results of the research showed that the self-efficacy level of the senior students in Ahi Evran University Faculty of Education is above average for cognitive applications and technical skills; on the other hand, it is below average for social status. For social status and technical skills, gender has no effect on the academic self-efficacy level, however; it is seen that for cognitive applications, gender has a significant effect favouring female students. In accordance with the findings of the study, improving students' academic self-efficacy levels by regulation of teaching-learning environment is recommended. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Effects of low and high doses of acetylsalicylic acid on penicillin-induced epileptiform activity

Background: The most common headache associated with epilepsy occurs after seizure activity and is called a postictal headache. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of low and high doses acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) on a penicillin-induced experimental epilepsy model