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Letter to the Editor: “Concurrent multi-session anodal trans-cranial direct current stimulation enhances pelvic floor muscle training effectiveness for female patients with multiple sclerosis suffering from urinary incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction: a randomized clinical trial study”
No full textLetter to edito
Correlation Between Daily PM10, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Ozone Measurements with the Stringency Index in 15 Different Districts of a Big Metropolis
No full textOBJECTIVE: Studies have investigated the effects of lockdowns on air quality around the world and found that fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide concentrations decreased due to reduced human activity, while ozone concentrations increased. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between daily stringency index values of our country and daily PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone measurements in different districts of Istanbul between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2022. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and National Air Quality Monitoring Network data on Istanbul air quality monitoring stations were used. The analysis included 15 stations that can monitor at least 75% of the days in a year. PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone were the main pollutants analyzed. RESULTS: There was negative correlation between daily PM10 measurements and daily stringency index values in 3 stations; there was positive correlation in 6 stations. Between daily stringency index values and daily nitrogen dioxide measurements, there was a negative correlation in 3 stations and a positive correlation in 1 station. The daily measurements of 1 station showed a negative correlation with the daily values of stringency index for both PM10 and nitrogen dioxide. In 1 station, while PM10 measures were negatively correlated with stringency index, nitrogen dioxide measurements were positively correlated. CONCLUSION: This study showed that pandemic limitations could not improve Istanbul’s air quality everywhere. For adequate evaluation of impact of the limitations on air quality, it may be more relevant to study the socioeconomic infrastructure of each living area, the sociospatial inequality, industrial employment, the number of households, the density of employee class, and so on with all influencing factors that could have contributed to these various changes
Bioactive molecules from Algerian propolis with therapeutic potential against the oral pathogen Enterococcus faecalis and Chromobacterium violaceum CV026
No full textThis research aims to analyse the richness of propolis ethanolic extract from Kherrata (EEPKh) in phenolic and flavonoid compounds and its antioxidant effects using different methods. Further investigations were conducted to evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm potential of propolis against Enterococcus faecalis strains originated from oral diseases. The antiquorum-sensing ability against Chromobacterium violaceum CV 026 was also investigated. The results revealed that ethanolic extract contains a high content of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, with an amount of 734.3 9± 11.54µg GAE.mg-1 of Extract and 224.30 ± 0µg QE.mg-1of extract respectively. Caffeic acid (23.79 mg.g-1), hesperetin (15.42 mg.g-1), cynarin (7.59 mg.g-1), apigenin (5.91 mg.g-1), naringenin (4.90 mg.g-1), and kaempferol (3.43 mg.g-1) were identified as the major compounds by the HPLC-DAD analysis. The antioxidant activity showed good scavenging and reducing abilities. Furthermore, EEPKh demonstrated high antibacterial potency against E. faecalis strain 2 at concentration 20 mg.mL-1 with an inhibition diameter of 20.33 ± 0.57 mm. The MIC and MBC values were found to range between 0.625 and 10 mg.mL-1. Biofilm formation by E. faecalis strains was inhibited at MIC with a percentage ranging from 65.93 ± 1.11 to 51.54 ± 0.81%. Quorum sensing mechanisms in CV 026 was inhibited by EEPKh, with diameter zone of 11.16 ± 0.29 mm at MIC. This study indicated that propolis extract is considered as a new source of natural medication with therapeutic potential against oral pathology caused by free radicals, E. faecalis, biofilm formation and quorum-sensing
Ecological characteristics of Caracal (Caracal caracal) in Türkiye: An isolated Feline population
No full textCaracal is an adaptive and generalist predator with high ecological tolerance on the other hand it has an isolated population in Türkiye. We investigated the ecological characteristics of caracal (Caracal caracal) in the Mediterranean ecosystems of Southwestern Anatolia (Türkiye) where its population is isolated from other Asian populations. We used field observations and camera trap methodology across a landscape covering 750 km2 to determine the population status, morphology, behavioural characteristics, the status of species in the community, diet and habitat preference of caracal in the region. Caracal density was estimated to be 0,18 caracals/km2. The female home range was estimated to be between 4,1 km2 and 25 km2 whereas the male home range was estimated to be between 5 km2 and 50 km2 or more. Species’ daily activity was determined as cathemeral. Annual activity patterns as well as home range sizes decreased during the dry season. During the wet season, caracal activity as well as home range sizes increased. Vegetation cover was found to be the most important factor affecting habitat use by caracal. A strong negative correlation of 0.7 between caracal occurrence and forest cover indicated that forest cover was the most important factor affecting habitat use by a caracal. Caracal occurrence was also positively correlated with 3 mammal species in the study area, wild boar, European hare and wild goat. Caracal was determined as the dominant carnivore species in the ecosystem. Wild herbivore populations in the study area seem to be influenced by caracal thus resulting in a conspicuous effect on grazing pressures. We conclude that caracal is a keystone species in our ecosystem and plays a vital role in maintaining their integrity. Thus, the conservation of the caracal population is crucial for the conservation of the whole Mediterranean ecosystem
The effect of intranasal Medetomidine/Ketamine and Diazepam/Ketamine combinations on tear production and intraocular pressure in dogs
No full textTo determine the effect of intranasal medetomidine/ketamine and diazepam/ketamine combinations on tear production and intraocular pressure in dogs. The animal material included 28 dogs of different breeds, ages, weights and genders that were brought to the surgery department of the Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for simple anesthesia indications but were otherwise healthy ocularly. In a crossover design, the dogs were randomly assigned to 4 groups of 7 dogs. Animals in the first group were given 50 mu g/kg of medetomidine and 10 mg/kg of ketamine intramuscularly (MEK-IM). The second group of animals was given 50 mu g/kg of medetomidine and 10 mg/kg of ketamine intranasally (MEK-IN). The third group received 10 mg/kg of ketamine and 0.3 mg/kg of diazepam intramuscularly (DK-IM). The fourth group received 10 mg/kg of ketamine and 0.3 mg/kg of diazepam intanasally (DK-IN). Comparison of the data of more than two groups was done by ANOVA one-way test. The results of the study showed that MEK-IN and DK-IN combinations significantly decreased tear secretion and intraocular pressure in dogs. The decrease in tear secretion was more pronounced with the MEK-IN combination than with the DK-IN. The decrease in intraocular pressure was more pronounced with the MEK-IN combination than with the DKIN. These results suggest that MEK-IN and DK-IN combinations can be used as pre-anesthetics in dogs to reduce tear secretion and intraocular pressure. Further studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these combinations in clinical settings
Life Cycle Assessment and Cumulative Energy Demand Analyses of a Photovoltaic/Thermal System with MWCNT/Water and GNP/Water Nanofluids
No full textThe global climate crisis has led society toward cleaner energy sources. Another reason is the limited reserves of fossil energy resources. Efforts to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic modules (PVs) have gained momentum. The high temperature is the biggest factor causing a decrease in the efficiency of PVs. In this study, a commercial PV was cooled with distilled water, a multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/water mixture, and a graphene nanoplatelets (GNP)/water mixture. The environmental impact of electricity, total energetic efficiency, energy payback time, energy return on investment, and embodied energy of the PV/thermal (PV/T) system were compared using life cycle assessment and cumulative energy demand. The electrical efficiency of the PV/T changed between 13.5% and 14.4%. The total efficiency of PV/T changed between 39.5% and 45.7%. The energy returns on investment were 1.76, 1.80, and 1.85 for PV/T-distilled water, the PV/T-MWCNT/water mixture, and the PV/T-GNP/water mixture, respectively. Moreover, the embodied energy evaluation values were 3975.88 MJ for PV/T-distilled water, 4081.06 MJ for the PV/T-MWCNT/water mixture, and 4077.86 MJ for the PV/T-GNP/water mixture. The main objective of this research was to study the energy and environmental performances of PVs cooled with different nanofluids and draw general conclusions about the applicability of these systems
Promoting the use of non-lethal sample collection for analysing the trophic relationships of inshore flatfish populations using stable isotope analysis
No full textTrophic studies on inshore flatfish populations usually rely on stomach content analyses and/or stable isotope analysis (SIA) of dorsal white muscle that involves the collection of samples from euthanised fishes. To promote the use of non-lethal sampling methods in inshore flatfish populations of relatively high intrinsic angling and/or ecological value, the applicability of using fin tissue and/or epidermal mucus as non-lethal alternatives to muscle in SIA studies was assessed for European flounder Platichthys flesus, plaice Pleuronectes platessa and common sole Solea solea. In all species, the results indicated that there were significant differences in the δ13C and δ15N values of dorsal muscle versus their fin and mucus samples. These significant differences were, however, predictable by linear regression, with regression coefficients produced for converting fin and mucus SI values to the equivalent muscle SI values. The use of combined data across the species also provided regression coefficients for converting fin and mucus SI to equivalent muscle values for flatfish populations more generally. These results indicated that there are tissue alternatives to dorsal muscle that can be applied to the SIA of flatfish populations, with these tissues able to be collected using non-lethal sampling methods
Assessing the current and future effects of Covid-19 on energy related-CO2 emissions in the United States using seasonal fractional grey model
No full textAccurate CO2 forecasting plays an important role in energy planning. However, in the annual forecasting studies
on CO2 emissions, the seasonal effects cannot be predicted. To overcome this problem, this study proposed a
novel prediction model based on the seasonally optimised fractional nonlinear grey Bernoulli model
(SOFANGBM(1,1)), combining the seasonal fluctuation technique with optimisation of the background, power
index, and fractional order values. The proposed novel model offers two important improvements in prediction
performance: (1) This model combined optimised fractional nonlinear grey Bernoulli model (OFANGBM(1,1))
with the seasonal fluctuation technique to enable monthly and quarterly predictions (2) The seasonally optimised
fractional nonlinear grey Bernoulli model (SFANGBM(1,1)) was improved by optimising the background value.
CO2 emissions had the largest share in global GHG emissions, and the United States was the second largest CO2
emission emitter worldwide after China in 2019. However, cases and deaths from Covid-19 continue in the
United States, and important questions arise: How has Covid-19 affected CO2 emissions by fossil fuel type in the
past, and how will it reshape them in the future? This study aimed to analyse how Covid-19 affects CO2 emissions
from fossil fuels in the U.S., how it will reshape its future, and also contribute to Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). Quarterly CO2 emissions from coal, natural gas, petroleum, and total CO2 emissions in the U.S. were
forecasted using a novel grey prediction model under pandemic and pandemic-free scenarios. The pandemic-free
scenario determined the CO2 emissions gap due to Covid-19, and the pandemic scenario presented forecasted
results of quarterly and annual CO2 emissions by 2025. The prediction performance was tested from 2022-Q1 to
2022-Q4 by simulated from 2015-Q1 to 2021-Q4. Using the SOFANGBM(1,1), Covid-19 caused 2 %, 2 %, 16 %,
and 12 % reductions in CO2 emissions from coal, natural gas, petroleum, and total CO2 emissions, respectively, in
2020. SOFANGBM(1,1) also forecasts that total CO2 emissions will reach 4520.6 Mt by 2025
Prevalence and related factors of eating disorders in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textPurpose: To reveal the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) and related factors in pregnancy. Methods: The search was performed in PubMed, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Ovid databases search up to April 3, 2022, using the keywords combination of "(eating disorders OR anorexia nervosa OR bulimia nervosa OR binge eating disorder) AND (pregnancy OR pregnant)". Two researchers independently extracted data from the articles using a standard form. We evaluated the quality of the studies according to the Joanna Briggs Institute assessment tools. Results: The prevalence of EDs in pregnant women in the 11 studies involving 2,369,520 pregnant women was ranging between 0.5 and 10.6%. The prevalence of EDs in pregnant women was 4.3% (95% confidence interval 2%–9%; I 2 = 99.5%). The prevalence of anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder during pregnancy shows a statistically significant increase compared to pre-pregnancy, and the prevalence of bulimia nervosa during pregnancy decreases. The prevalence of EDs is higher in pregnant women under 30 years of age, secondary school graduates, married, and with normal BMI. Half of the pregnant women with EDs had anxiety and about one-third of pregnant women had depression. Excessive exercise is observed in 0.7% of pregnant women, fasting in 0.3%, laxative or diuretic use in 0.1%, and self-induced vomiting in 0.6%. Conclusions: This study is important as it is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to reveal the global prevalence of EDs in pregnant women and related factors. Continuing routine screening tests to detect EDs during pregnancy may contribute to taking special preventive measures for risk groups and protecting mother–child health. Trial registration: PROSPERO registration number (CRD42022324721), date of registration: 10/05/2022
Polymer-mediated nanoformulations: a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy
No full textEngineering polymer-based nano-systems have attracted many researchers owing to their unique qualities like shape, size, porosity, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Both natural and synthetic polymers can be tuned to get desired surface chemistry and functionalization to improve the efficacy of cancer therapy by promoting targeted delivery to the tumor site. Recent advancements in cancer immunoediting have been able to manage both primary tumor and metastatic lesions via activation of the immune system. The combinations of nano-biotechnology and immunotherapeutic agents have provided positive outcomes by enhancing the host immune response in cancer therapy. The nanoparticles have been functionalized using antibodies, targeted antigens, small molecule ligands, and other novel agents that can interact with biological systems at nanoscale levels. Several polymers, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), and chitosan, have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical use in biomedicine. The polymeric nanoformulations such as polymers-antibody/antigen conjugates and polymeric drug conjugates are currently being explored as nanomedicines that can target cancer cells directly or target immune cells to promote anti-cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we focus on scientific developments and advancements on engineered polymeric nano-systems in conjugation with immunotherapeutic agents targeting the tumor microenvironment to improve their efficacy and the safety for better clinical outcomes