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Background & Aims: Vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem. The resulting data showed that vitamin D is associated not only with calcium homeostasis, skeletal muscle health, but also with some chronic diseases. The aim of the study was to investigate long-term effects of vitamin D deficiency on gait-balance parameters in older adults., Methods: 370 patients who applied to the geriatric outpatient clinic three times at six-months intervals and underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), were retrospectively screened. Patients, whose sociodemographic characteristics, systemic diseases and laboratory findings were reviewed, were divided into 3 groups according to basal serum 25-hydroxy D vitamin [25(OH)D] level: Group 1 (<10 ng/mL), Group 2 (10-20 ng/mL), Group 3 (≥20 ng/mL). The balance-gait performance of patients, the 25(OH)D level of whom reached to the sufficient level at the end of 12th month, was compared to other patients by the Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) scale., Results: Demographic characteristics and systemic diseases were similar in the groups except for education (p > 0.05). At baseline, Group 1 had lower Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADL), POMA balance and total score (p < 0.05). At the end of 12th month, POMA balance and total scores improved in the Group 1 patients who reached a sufficient 25(OH)D level, however these scores failed to catch Group 3 (p < 0.05). The basal, 6th and 12th month evaluations of three groups showed that mean POMA balance, gait and total scores were better in patients whose 25(OH)D level was ≥20 ng/mL., Conclusions: Vitamin D replacement, especially to severe deficient patients, may improve balance and gait functions in older adults. Therefore, vitamin D deficiency should be screened routinely and treated effectively., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the ability of the basal metabolic rate (BMR) to detect frailty and sarcopenia in older males., Setting and Participants: A total of 305 male patients undergoing comprehensive geriatric assessment were included in the study., Measures: The frailty status was assessed with the Fried criteria. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria. BMR is calculated by bioimpedance analysis. Areas under the curves (AUCs) of receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to test the predictive accuracy of BMR in detecting sarcopenia., Results: The mean age was 74.52 ± 7.51 years. Among the patients in the sample, 95 (31.1%) had sarcopenia and 55 (18%) had frailty. Patients who had a BMR <1612 kcal/d had a higher frequency of frailty than those who had a BMR ≥1612 kcal/d (67.3 vs 32.7, P < .001). Results were similar for sarcopenia (77.9 vs 22.1, P < .001). When BMR was divided by body surface area (BSA), BMR/BSA with a cut-off of 874 kcal/m 2 had a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 68%, and the AUC was 0.82 for BMR/BSA, in diagnosing sarcopenia (P < .01). The participants without sarcopenia had a higher BMR/BSA for the unadjusted (OR = 8.00, 95% CI 4.52-14.19, P < .001) and adjusted analyses (OR = 6.60, 95% CI 3.52-12.38, P < .001)., Conclusions: Older male patients with sarcopenia and frailty have a higher BMR reduction. Therefore, it should be kept in mind that patients with low BMR should alert us to screen sarcopenia and frailty. BMR/BSA may play a role in objective screening to detect sarcopenia in older males., (Copyright © 2018 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Since the discovery of chitin in skeletal structures of sponges (Porifera) in 2007, studies on search of novel species which possess this structural aminopolysaccharide continue up today. The most potential source of chitin is suggested to be localized in the four families of sponges related to the order Verongida (Demospongiae) which nevertheless require further clarification. Here, we report for the first time the isolation and identification of α-chitin from the Suberea clavata demosponge (Aplysinidae: Verongida). Raman spectroscopy, Calcofluor White staining, chitinase test and ESI-MS techniques were used to identify chitin. We suggest that the presence of chitin within fibrous skeletons of diverse species of Verongida order, and, especially in all species of the Aplysinidae family, may be useful for the identification of novel, previously unidentified marine demosponges., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Isolation of structurally intact chitin samples for biotechnological applications has gained much recent attention. So far, three-dimensional chitin isolates have been obtained from only diplopods and sponges. In this study, three-dimensional chitin isolates were obtained from the body parts of centipede Scolopendra sp. (antennae, head, forcipule, collum, trunk, trunk legs and last pair of legs) without leading to structural failure. FT-IR spectra of chitin isolates confirmed that chitin samples are in α allomorph. TGA, XRD and SEM analyses and lysozyme adsorption studies revealed that each chitin isolate had different thermal stability, crystallinity and surface characteristics. Among the chitin isolates, Cu(II)-immobilized forcipule chitin showed the highest affinity for lysozyme (54.1mg/g), whereas chitin from last pair of legs exhibited the lowest affinity (3.7mg/g). This study demonstrated that structurally intact chitin isolates can be obtained from the body parts of centipede Scolopendra sp. (antennae, head, forcipule, collum, trunk, trunk legs and last pair of legs) by using a simple chemical procedure. Also, it gives a biotechnological perspective to the organisms in the group of Chilipoda., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Physicochemical characterization of new chitin isolates can provide valuable insights into designing of biomimetic materials. Chitin isolates with a definite three-dimensional (3D) structure can exhibit characteristics that distinguish them from other chitin specimens that are in form of powder or flakes without a definite and uniform shape. Herein, 3D chitin rings were produced from body segments of a diplopod (Archispirostreptus gigas) inhabiting tropical regions. This organism is cultured easily and can reach 38cm in length, which makes it a suitable source for isolation of chitin. The chitin rings were characterized via TGA, FT-IR, SEM and XRD analyses. Enzymatic digestion test with chitinase demonstrated that chitin isolates had high purity (digestion rate: 97.4%). The source organism had high chitin content; 21.02±2.23% on dry weight. Interactions of the chitin rings with bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein were studied under different conditions (pH: 4.0-8.0, chitin amount: 6-14mg, contact time: 30-360min, protein concentration: 0.2-1mg/mL). The highest BSA adsorption was observed at pH5.0 at 20°C. The adsorption equilibrium data exhibited a better fit to Langmuir adsorption and the pseudo-first order kinetic models. The findings presented here can be useful for further studies aiming to develop biocompatible and nontoxic biomaterials., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Drosophila melanogaster is one of the important test organisms in genetics thanks to its fast growth rate in a culture. This study demonstrates that the fly D. melanogaster can also be exploited as a source for nanofiber production in biotechnical applications. First, its chitin content was determined (7.85%) and then high molecular weight chitosan (141.4kDa) was synthesized through deacetylation of chitin isolates. Chitosan nanofibers with the diameter of 40.0073±12.347nm were produced by electrospinning of Drosophila chitosan. The physicochemical properties of obtained chitin and chitosan from D. melanogaster were determined by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The study demonstrated that the fly D. melanogaster can be utilized for production of chitosan nanofiber concerning its cultivability and low-cost culture requirements., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This is the first study to produce three-dimensional (3D) cellulose from any plant up to now. This 3D cellulose was produced from Astragalus gummifer(Fabaceae) trunk by using a modified method in which original the shape of cellulose was kept as natural. This novel 3D cellulose was characterized by SEM, TGA, FT-IR, XRD and elemental analysis to evidence the purity and to compare it with commercially available cellulose from cotton. Results from these characterizations were found convincing because almost the same physicochemical properties were observed for both newly obtained 3D cellulose and commercial one. Both fibers and pores on the surface of 3D cellulose were observed. Thanks to its diversified surface morphology, this novel 3D cellulose was tested for its protein adsorption performance and the results were compared with commercial cellulose as follows: maximum adsorption capacity at pH 8.0 was recorded as 59.2 mg/g for 3D cellulose while 29.6 mg/g for commercial cellulose. According to this result, it is clear to say that this sorbent has high affinity for lysozyme. Also this 3D cellulose could be useful for the other areas of separation science., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chitin immediately suggests the representatives of the kingdom Fungi, as well as such phyla as Annelida, Mollusca, Porifera, Cnidaria and, mostly, Arthropoda. Although Bryozoa also represents a chitin-containing phylum, no study has been developed yet on the isolation or characterization of the chitin from it. In this study, physiochemical properties of the chitin isolated from Plumatella repens belonging to the phylum Bryozoa was determined for the first time. The chitin structure was also studied comparatively by isolating chitin from an insect species (Palomena prasina) of the phylum Arthropoda, and Fomes fomentarius belonging to the kingdom Fungi. It was observed that the bryozoan chitin was in the α form, as in the arthropod and fungal chitins. The chitin contents in the dry weight of the bryozoan, fungal and insect species were observed to be 13.3%, 2.4%, and 10.8%, respectively. The insect chitin exhibited the highest thermal stability followed by that of the bryozoan and then the fungal chitins. Surface morphologies reveal that the insect and bryozoan chitins were composed of nano fibre and pore structures, whereas the fungal chitin had no pores or fibres. The crystallinity of the insect chitin (CrI=84.9%) was higher than the bryozoan (CrI=60.1%) and fungal chitins (CrI=58.5%)., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)