Physical and antimicrobial properties of biofilms containing natural antimicrobial agents

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Biotechnology, Izmir, 2008Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 83-94)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxii, 94 leavesThe goal of this study is to evaluate physical and antimicrobial properties of biopolymers prepared from gluten (WG) and methyl cellulose (MC) with incorporation of activated lactoferrin (ALF), rosemary extract (RE) and natamycin (NA). The effectiveness of agents and antimicrobial films were investigated by agar disc diffusion method. Mechanical and water vapor permeability (WVP) of antimicrobial films were also examined. Film structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Application of films was studied on Kashar cheese inoculated with target molds during 30 days storage at 10oC.ALF and RE did not show inhibitory activity against tested microorganisms.Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of NA was found 750 ppm against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium roquefortii. Both films containing NA showed antifungal activity concentrations at and above 2 and 1 mg NA/10 g film solution (fs) against A. niger and P. roquefortii, respectively. RE in combination with NA reduced MIC of NA against A. niger to 1.5 mg NA/10g fs in both films. FTIR spectroscopy did not indicate any interaction between NA and both films. SEM observations showed that NA crystallizes at high concentrations in biopolymers. There was no significant change in WVP of films containing NA. Incorporation of NA to WG film did not cause major changes in its mechanical properties. Reduction in tensile strength of MC films was observed at high NA concentration. Application studies demonstrated the efficacy of WG and MC films including NA against A. niger and P.roquefortii inoculated on Kashar cheese

Microsurgical management of midbrain gliomas: surgical results and long-term outcome in a large, single-surgeon, consecutive series

OBJECTIVE The authors report on a large, consecutive, single-surgeon series of patients undergoing microsurgical removal of midbrain gliomas. Emphasis is put on surgical indications, technique, and results as well as long-term oncological follow-up. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed of prospectively collected data from a consecutive series of patients undergoing microneurosurgery for midbrain gliomas from March 2006 through June 2022 at the authors' institution. According to the growth pattern and location of the lesion in the midbrain (tegmentum, central mesencephalic structures, and tectum), one of the following approaches was chosen: transsylvian (TS), extreme anterior interhemispheric transcallosal (eAIT), posterior interhemispheric transtentorial subsplenial (PITS), paramedian supracerebellar transtentorial (PST), perimedian supracerebellar (PeS), perimedian contralateral supracerebellar (PeCS), and transuvulotonsillar fissure (TUTF). Clinical and radiological data were gathered according to a standard protocol and reported according to common descriptive statistics. The main outcomes were rate of gross-total resection; extent of resection; occurrence of any complications; variation in Karnofsky Performance Status score at discharge, 3 months, and last follow-up; progression-free survival (PFS); and overall survival (OS). RESULTS Fifty-four patients (28 of them pediatric) met the inclusion criteria (6 with high-grade and 48 with low-grade gliomas [LGGs]). Twenty-two tumors were in the tegmentum, 7 in the central mesencephalic structures, and 25 in the tectum. In no instance did the glioma originate in the cerebral peduncle. TS was performed in 2 patients, eAIT in 6, PITS in 23, PST in 16, PeS in 4, PeCS in 1, and TUTF in 2 patients. Gross-total resection was achieved in 39 patients (72%). The average extent of resection was 98.0% (median 100%, range 82%-100%). There were no deaths due to surgery. Nine patients experienced transient and 2 patients experienced permanent new neurological deficits. At a mean follow-up of 72 months (median 62, range 3-193 months), 49 of the 54 patients were still alive. All patients with LGGs (48/54) were alive with no decrease in their KPS score, whereas 42 showed improvement compared with their preoperative status. CONCLUSIONS Microneurosurgical removal of midbrain gliomas is feasible with good surgical results and long-term clinical outcomes, particularly in patients with LGGs. As such, microneurosurgery should be considered as the first therapeutic option. Adequate microsurgical technique and anesthesiological management, along with an accurate preoperative understanding of the tumor's exact topographic origin and growth pattern, is crucial for a good surgical outcome

Diyetle alınan kalsiyum ve hormon replasman tedavisi kadınların kemik mineral yoğunluğunu etkiler mi?

Amaç: Bu çalışmada, kadınların diyetle kalsiyum alım düzeylerinin ve hormon replasman tedavisi (HRT) alma durumlarının menopoz sonrası kemik mineral yoğunluğu (KMY) ile ilişkisi araştırıldı. Hastalar ve Yöntemler: İki yüz menopoz sonrası kadın (ort. yaş 58.89±8.51; dağılım 42-83) geriye dönük olarak değerlendirildi. Menopoz yaşı, menopoz süresi, HRT alıp almadığı ve diyetle kalsiyum alım düzeyleri kaydedildi. Kemik mineral yoğunluğu değerlendirmesi, lomber omurga ve femurdan Dual enerji X-ray absorbsiyometri (DEXA) cihazı kullanılarak yapıldı ve T skorları belirlendi. Bulgular: Hastaların yaşı ve menopoz süresi ile KMY arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı düzeyde negatif ilişki vardı. Hormon replasman tedavisi alanlarda, almayanlara göre KMY değerleri daha yüksekti. Diyetle kalsiyum alımı günlük 1000 mg’dan daha fazla olan kadınlarda omurga ve femur KMY değerleri, kalsiyum alımı 600 mg/gün ve 600-1000 mg/gün olan kadınlardan anlamlı derecede daha yüksekti. Sonuç: Menopoz sonrası kadınlarda diyetle alınan kalsiyum düzeyi ve HRT alım durumunun KMY açısından bir belirteç olabileceği düşünüldü.Objectives: In this study, the relationship between postmenopausal bone mineral density (BMD), and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and the level of dietary calcium intake in women was investigated. Patients and Methods: Two hundred postmenopausal women (mean age 58.89±8.51 years; range 42 to 83 years) were evaluated retrospectively. Menopausal age and duration, HRT status, and daily dietary calcium intake of all patients were recorded. Evaluation of BMD was made with Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) from lumbar spine and femur and the T scores were obtained. Results: There was a significant negative correlation between the patients’ age and duration of menopause, and BMD. The BMD values of the patients not receiving HRT were significantly lower than those of the patients receiving HRT. In women with dietary calcium intake above 1000 mg/day, spine and femur BMD values were significantly higher than in those with an intake below 600 mg/ day and between 600-1000 mg/day. Conclusion: We think that dietary calcium intake and HRT status can be an indicator for BMD in postmenopausal women

Antimicrobial effect of natural antimicrobial agents against foodborne pathogens

Risk Assessment of Microbial Problems and Preventive Actions in Food Industry - 2nd Open Seminar Arranged by SAFOODNET - Food Safety and Hygiene Networking Within New Member States and Associated Candidate Countries; Istanbul; Turkey; 22 October 2007 through 23 October 2007Besides that foodborne infections and intoxications cause great danger for human health they have also adverse impact on the economics. Alternative food preservation techniques to produce safer foods e.g. systems containing natural antimicrobial agents have recently gained popularity. The consumers prefer foods with no chemical additives without shortened shelf-life. In this sense, natural antimicrobials have become promising alternatives for hurdle technology. However, most of the natural antimicrobials have limited spectrum of activity

Value-in-disposition: Exploring how consumers derive value from disposition of possessions

This study explores value-in-disposition: the reflective ways consumers use disposition process and prospects to enhance the value obtained from their possessions. Data from in-depth interviews and student essays highlight disposition as a process of revaluation of possessions and emphasize the significance of transferable value. The study elucidates the ways disposition conduits turn possessions into gifts, sacrifices, or commodities through which consumers transfer and create value by forming new relations and maintaining and strengthening their social connections. A darker side of disposition also emerges. In controlling the flow of their possessions, consumers reproduce a social order that favors and accentuates their own position. Finally, the study identifies various value enhancement and protection strategies through which consumers deal with nontransferable value and negotiate disposition. In doing so, it shows that the disposition process can trigger attachment to objects. © The Author(s) 2013

Negotiating the norms of consumption : an exploration of ordinary practices of disposing

Ankara : The Department of Management, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent Univ., 2013.Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Bilkent University, 2013.Includes bibliographical refences.Recently, disposing has attracted lots of research attention. While some researchers frame disposing as a practice of ordering, identity management, and psychological relief, others associate it with overconsumption, waste of usable resources, and environmental hazard. Although disposing is related to such seemingly conflicting meanings and consumption practices, consumer researchers mostly bypass the broader structures, grand practices, and ideological and discursive meaning systems underlying disposing practices. Using ethnographic methods, this study explores disposing as a mundane practice, embedded in contexts with socio-cultural, economic, historical, and political dimensions. The research aims to reveal when and how consumers practice disposing by highlighting the normative and ideological structures that help constructing these practices. It also aims to shed light on how disposing might relate to other consumption practices. The results depict disposing as embedded in four meta-practices at the intersection of various tensions and ideologies feeding these. Steeped in these grand discourses of consumption, disposing helps moralizing consumption and allows consumers to experience morality without standing against consumerism or adopting new lifestyles. Rather than just facilitating consumer resistance, disposing also helps consumers to compromise with the market. The results complicate the linear framing of consuming as acquiring-using-disposing by highlighting how disposing reflects on the object’s consumption and is constructive of its value. The study also reveals new practices through which consumers negotiate disposing and highlight a new dimension of object attachment. The results have important implications for the disposition, moral consumption, and value research.Türe, MeltemPh.D