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This study tested whether sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum [Ca.sup.2+]-ATPase regulates the ability of endothelin receptor antagonist to inhibit the endothelin-1 constriction. The endothelin A receptor antagonist BQ-123 (1 [micro]M) completely relaxed constriction to 10 nM endothelin-1 in endothelium- denuded rat aorta. Challenge with cyclopiazonic acid (10 [micro]M), a sarcoplasmicendoplasmic reticulum [Ca.sup.2+]-ATPase inhibitor, during the plateau of endothelin-1 constriction enhanced the constriction by ~30%. BQ-123 relaxed the endothelin-1 plus cyclopiazonic acid constriction by only ~10%. In contrast, prazosin (1 [micro]M), an [alpha]-adrenergic receptor antagonist, still completely relaxed the 0.3 [micro]M phenylephrine constriction in the presence of cyclopiazonic acid. Verapamil relaxed the endothelin-1 plus cyclopiazonic acid constriction by ~30%, whereas [Ni.sup.2+] and 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate, nonselective cation channel and store-operated channel blockers, respectively, completely relaxed the constriction. These results suggest that lowered sarcoplasmicendoplasmic reticulum [Ca.sup.2+]-ATPase activity selectively decreases the ability of endothelin receptor antagonist to inhibit the endothelin A receptor. The decreased antagonism may be related to the opening of store-operated channels and subsequent greater internalization of endothelin A receptor. BQ-123; vascular smooth muscle; store-operated calcium; caveola

Effect of differential trophic states on remote sensing-based monitoring and quantification of surface water quality is an important but understudied context. Landsat ETM+ data-based multiple linear regression models were conducted to quantify dynamics of lake surface water quality along oligotrophic-to-eutrophic gradient and to explore the influence of trophic state on the detection of water quality dynamics by the best multiple linear regression models. The best multiple linear regression models of dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, Secchi depth, water temperature, and turbidity had R²adjvalues ranging from 36.2 % in water temperature to 93.1% in dissolved oxygen for eutrophicYenicaga Lake and from 36.1 % in Secchi depth to 99.7 % in water temperature for oligotrophic Abant Lake. The difference in the trophic state between Lakes Abant and Yenicaga , significantly affected the composition of the nine Landsat ETM+ spectral bands included in the multiple linear regression models as well as the predictive power of the multiple linear regression models. Remote sensing-based monitoring of lake water quality variables appears to be promising in terms of devising adaptive management decisions towards sustainability of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested whether sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase regulates the ability of endothelin receptor antagonist to inhibit the endothelin- 1 constriction. The endothelin A receptor antagonist BQ-123 (1 µM) completely relaxed constriction to 10 nM endothelin- 1 in endothelium-denuded rat aorta. Challenge with cyclopiazonic acid (10 µM), a sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor, during the plateau of endothelin-1 constriction enhanced the constriction by ~30%. BQ-123 relaxed the endothelin-1 plus cyclopiazonic acid constriction by only ~10%. In contrast, prazosin (1 µM), an α-adrenergic receptor antagonist, still completely relaxed the 0.3 µM phenylephrine constriction in the presence of cyclopiazonic acid. Verapamil relaxed the endothelin-1 plus cyclopiazonic acid constriction by ~30%, whereas Ni2+ and 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate, nonselective cation channel and store-operated channel blockers, respectively, completely relaxed the constriction. These results suggest that lowered sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase activity selectively decreases the ability of endothelin receptor antagonist to inhibit the endothelin A receptor. The decreased antagonism may be related to the opening of store-operated channels and subsequent greater internalization of endothelin A receptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shallow lake ecosystems are particularly prone to disturbances such as pulsed dissolved organic matter (allochthonous-DOM; hereafter allo-DOM) loadings from catchments. However, the effects of allo-DOM with contrasting quality (in addition to quantity) on the planktonic communities of microbial loop are poorly understood. To determine the impact of different qualities of pulsed allo-DOM disturbance on the coupling between bacteria and ciliates, we conducted a mesocosm experiment with two different allo-DOM sources added to mesocosms in a single-pulse disturbance event: Alder tree leaf extract, a more labile (L) source and HuminFeed® (HF), a more recalcitrant source. Allo-DOM sources were used as separate treatments and in combination (HFL) relative to the control without allo-DOM additions (C). Our results indicate that the quality of allo-DOM was a major regulator of planktonic microbial community biomass and/or composition through which both bottom-up and top-down forces were involved. Bacteria biomass showed significant nonlinear responses in L and HFL with initial increases followed by decreases to pre-pulse conditions. Ciliate biomass was significantly higher in L compared to all other treatments. In terms of composition, bacterivore ciliate abundance was significantly higher in both L and HFL treatments, mainly driven by the bacterial biomass increase in the same treatments. GAMM models showed negative interaction between metazoan zooplankton biomass and ciliates, but only in the L treatment, indicating top-down control on ciliates. Ecosystem stability analyses revealed overperformance, high resilience and full recovery of bacteria in the HFL and L treatments, while ciliates showed significant shift in compositional stability in HFL and L with incomplete taxonomic recovery. Our study highlights the importance of allo-DOM quality shaping the response within the microbial loop not only through triggering different scenarios in biomass, but also the community composition, stability, and species interactions (top-down and bottom-up) in bacteria and plankton., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: SARS-CoV-2, a respiratory viral disease, is thought to have a more severe course in patients with malignancy and low immune systems., Methods: This prospective single-center study was conducted at the University of Health Sciences Dr Behçet Uz Children's Hospital from September 22 to December 31, 2021. Asymptomatic COVID-19 transmission rates were assessed using SARS-CoV-2 serology in patients with leukemia who had no history of COVID-19 infection., Results: Among the 54 patients, 19 (35.2%) were females and 35 (64.8%) were males. The median age was 5.5 years (min 6 months, max 17 years). Forty-nine (90.5%) of the leukemia patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, while 5 (9.5%) had acute myeloid leukemia. Five of the 54 patients had a history of COVID-19 or contact with a positive person. SARS-CoV-2 IgG positivity was detected in 18 (36.7%) of 49 patients with no history of COVID-19 infection., Discussion: Leukemia patients have a high seroconversion for SARS-CoV-2 without showing any symptoms supporting the asymptomatic course of COVID-19 infection in this risk group., Conclusion: As a result, patients with leukemia may have a high rate of COVID-19 seroconversion without showing symptoms., (Copyright © 2023 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The development of thermally conductive rubber nanocomposites for heat management poses a formidable challenge in numerous applications, notably within the realm of tire technology. Notably, rubber materials are characterized by their inherently low thermal conductivity. Consequently, it becomes imperative to incorporate diverse conductive fillers to mitigate the propensity for heat build-up. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), as reinforcement agents within the tire tread compounds, have gained considerable attention owing to their extraordinary attributes. The attainment of high-performance rubber nanocomposites hinges significantly on the uniform distribution of MWCNT. This study presents the influence of MWCNTs on the performance of carbon black (CB)-reinforced natural rubber (NR)/styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) tire compounds prepared via high shear melt mixing. Morphological analysis showed a good distribution of MWCNTs in the NR/SBR/CB compound. The vulcanization parameters, such as the maximum and minimum torque, cross-linking density, hardness, abrasion resistance, tensile strength, and Young modulus, exhibited a progressive improvement with the addition of MWCNT. Remarkably, adding MWCNT into CB improved the heat conductivity of the NR/SBR/CB compounds, hence decreasing the heat build-up. A percolation mode was also proposed for the hybrid carbon fillers based on the data obtained.

Aim/objections: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a central line maintenance bundle in preventing catheter-related (implanted venous access devices, port) Candida bloodstream infections., Methods: The study encompassed two distinct time periods, namely, pre-bundle and bundle. The number of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) episodes per catheter days for each timeframe was determined., Findings/results: Upon implementation of the central line bundle, the rate of CRBSI reduced significantly from 4.27 per 1000 central line days in the pre-bundle period to 1.0 per 1000 central line days in the bundle period ( p < .001)., Discussion: Using a central line bundle to avoid CRBSIs in pediatric cancer patients with ports led to a significant decrease in Candida species-related CRBSIs., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

The consumption of pharmaceuticals has rapidly increased on a global scale due to the serious increase in Covid-19, influenza and respiratuar sinsityal virus, which is called "triple epidemic" in the world. The use of non-prescription analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs (AAIDs), especially paracetamol, is higher compared to pre-pandemic. This increased the AAIDs load discharged to the aqueous media through sewerage treatment plant (STP). Therefore, simple and effective treatment options for removing AAIDs from STP effluents are needed. The aim of the study was to remove AAIDs (paracetamol, acetylsalicylic acid, codeine, diclofenac, ibuprofen, indomethacin, ketoprofen, mefenamic acid, naproxen, and phenylbutazone) from STP effluents by nearly pure natural clay Na-montmorillonite. The Na-montmorillonite taken from the Ordu region in the northern part of Turkey. Surface area of the Na-montmorillonite is 99.58 m 2 /g and CEC is 92.40 meq/100 g. The removal efficiencies of AAIDs using Na-montmorillonite were between 82 ± 5% (ibuprofen) and 94 ± 4% (naproxen). Paracetamol was used as a model compound in kinetic and isotherm model studies. Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo second order kinetic model were the best-fit using the obtained experimental data. Film diffusion governed its rate mechanism. The paracetamol adsorption capacity was acquired as 244 mg/g at 120 min contact time at pH 6.5 at 25 °C. With this study, it could be shown that montmorillonite can be used effectively to eliminate paracetamol from STP effluent. Natural clay can be used as a simple, inexpensive and effective adsorbent for removing AAIDs from STP effluents., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13201-023-01930-5., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Objectives: The risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 is high among the health care workers (HCW). The comparison between the antibody response to an inactivated Covid19 vaccine and the antibodies that developed during Covid-19 infection has not been elucidated. In this study, vaccine-induced antibody levels were compared with the antibodies developed in naturally infected HCWs., Methods: Eighty vaccinated individuals and 80 Covid-19 patients enrolled to the study. Both groups were matched on age, gender and antibody testing time. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total Ig (Roche) and Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA (IgG) (Euroimmun, Germany) were used to detect antibodies., Results: The anti-S positivity were determined to be 96.2% and 92.5% in vaccinated and patient groups (p=0.303) while the anti-N positivity was 51.2% and 98.8%, respectively (p=<0,0001). The median values for anti-S and anti-N antibodies were statistically significant between both groups. When the vaccinated group was compared with the severe and non-severe patient groups, statistically significant differences were found for both regarding anti-S1 and anti-N antibody titers (p=0,012, p=<0,0001, respectively). For the patient group, there was a positive correlation between the age and anti-S1 antibody titers (r=0.333; p=0.003) and there was also a statistically significant increase in anti-N antibody titers in time (r=0.505; p=0.0001)., Conclusion: The anti-S seroconversion ratio in vaccinated individuals were higher than what was reported by the vaccine manufacturer. The antibody titers in the vaccinated group were lower than the patients group. The decrease in anti-S1 antibody titers in time were considered to be a disadvantage and an undesired phenomenon., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

According to the water framework directive (WFD), the chemical status should be determined for each water body in a basin through monitoring and evaluation studies, and the gap between the status of water bodies and good water status should be revealed in river basin management plans. In this context, the methodology starting with the evaluation of the monitoring results of the priority substances (PSs) until the end of determining the measures to achieve good condition in surface waters was given in this study. The key aim was to provide a useful methodology defined as a matrix for determining the sources of pollutants that caused this gap. This matrix was applied to the most polluted sub-basin of Küçük Menderes Basin located on the western part of the Turkey. Monitoring studies were carried out in 21 water bodies for a 1-year period for 45 PSs and monitoring results were compared with environmental quality standards (EQS). It was determined that 13 of 45 PSs in 15 water bodies exceeded the EQS. The common PSs in the basin were lead, nickel, fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, C10-13 chloroalkanes, and 4-nonylphenols and average rates of exceeding the EQS were 58.3%, 36.4%, 91.5%, 99.9%, 74.8%, and 49.4%, respectively. The detailed emission inventory of each water body in the basin has been made. Potential sources of PSs were searched via the matrix formed and a total number of 420 basic and supplementary measures were proposed to improve the water quality of the sub-basin., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Soil organic carbon and nitrogen (SOC-N) dynamics are indicative of the human-induced disturbances of the terrestrial ecosystems the quantification of which provides insights into interactions among drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses in a changing environment. In this study, a process-based model was developed to simulate the eight monthly outputs of net primary productivity (NPP), SOC-N pools, soil C:N ratio, soil respiration, total N emission, and sediment C-N transport effluxes for cropland, grassland, and forest on a hectare basis. The interaction effect of the climate change drivers of aridity, CO 2 fertilization, land-use and land-cover change, and best management practices was simulated on high altitude ecosystems from 2018 to 2070. The best management practices were developed into a spatiotemporally composite index based on SOC-N stock saturation, 4/1000 initiative, and RUCLE-C factor. Our model predictions differed from the remotely sensed data in the range of - 64% (underestimation) for the cropland NPP to 142% (overestimation) for the grassland SOC pool as well as from the global mean values in the range of - 97% for the sediment C and N effluxes to 60% for the total N emission from the grassland. The interaction exerted the greatest negative impact on the monthly sediment N efflux, total N emission, and soil respiration from forest by - 90.5, - 82.7, and - 80.3% and the greatest positive impact on the monthly sediment C effluxes from cropland, grassland, and forest by 139.3, 137.1, and 133.3%, respectively, relative to the currently prevailing conditions.

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The study aims to determine the radioactivity levels of thermal waters which have been used seasonally or permanently in spas for therapeutic intentions. Samples were collected from spas in different regions of Turkey. Some radionuclides ( 40 K, 232 Th, 226 Ra, 137 Cs), gross alpha (GA) and gross beta (GB) activities, and physical and some chemical parameters were measured. Gamma radiation measurements for 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K radionuclides were performed by using a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The results of the gamma spectrometry ranged from 1.385 to 11.025 Bql -1 for 226 Ra, -1 for 232 Th and 9.679 to 36.989 Bql -1 for 40 K. GA and GB activity concentrations were detected by using ultra-low level α/β counter. The GA and GB activity ranged from 43 to 3,182 mBql -1 and 54 to 1,950 mBql -1 , respectively. Based on calculated annual effective dose equivalent, the total dose originated mostly from 226 Ra and slightly from 40 K. Furthermore, waters with high Cl content were enriched with 40 K, 226 Ra isotopes, and the source of GA and GB activity in these waters was mostly 226 Ra. Strong high positive correlation between Cl, 226 Ra and total dissolved solids in Cl-enriched samples indicated that the nuclides formed from dissolved minerals in these waters.

Peatland ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle as significant C sinks. However, human-induced disturbances can turn these sinks into sources of atmospheric CO2. Long-term measurements are needed to understand seasonal and interannual variability of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and effects of hydrological conditions and their disturbances on C fluxes. Continuous eddy-covariance measurements of NEE were conducted between August 2010 and April 2014 at Yenicaga temperate peatland (Turkey), which was drained for agricultural usage and for peat mining until 2009. Annual NEE during the three full years of measurement indicated that the peatland acted as a CO2 source with large interannual variability, at rates of 246, 244 and 663 g Cm(-2)yr(-1) for 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively, except for June 2011, and May to July 2012. The emission strengths were comparable to those found for severely disturbed tropical peatlands. The peak CO2 emissions occurred in the dry summer of 2013 when water table level (WTL) was below a threshold value of -60 cm and soil water content (SCW) below a threshold value of 70% by volume. Water availability index was found to have a stronger explanatory power for variations in monthly ecosystem respiration (ER) than the traditional water status indicators (SCW and WTL). Air temperature, evapotranspiration and vapor pressure deficient were the most significant variables strongly correlated with NEE and its component fluxes of gross primary production and ER., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Western Mediterranean Region of Turkey is subject to considerable impacts of climate change that may adversely affect the water resources. Decrease in annual precipitation and winter precipitation as well as increase in temperatures are observed since 1960s. In this study, the impact of climate change on groundwater resources in part of Köyceğiz-Dalyan Watershed was evaluated. Evaluation was done by quantifying the impacts of climate change on the water budget components. Hydrological modeling was conducted with SWAT model which was calibrated and validated successfully. Climate change and land use scenarios were used to calculate the present and future climate change impacts on water budgets. According to the simulation results, almost all water budget components have decreased. SWAT was able to allocate less irrigation water because of the decrease of overall water due to the climate change. This resulted in an increase of water stressed days and temperature stressed days whereas crop yields have decreased according to the simulation results. The results indicated that lack of water is expected to be a problem in the future. In this manner, investigations on switching to more efficient irrigation methods and to crops with less water consumption are recommended as adaptation measures to climate change impacts., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Diel dissolved oxygen (DO) time series measured continuously using proximal sensors in situ for a temperate lake were denoised using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) with the orthogonal wavelet families of coiflet, daubechies, and symmlet with order of 10. Diel DO time series denoised were modeled using nine temporal artificial neural networks (ANNs) as a function of water level, water temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, day of year, and hour. Our results showed that time-lag recurrent network (TLRN) using denoised data emulated diel DO dynamics better than the best-performing TLRN using the original data, time-delay neural network (TDNN), and recurrent network (RNN). Daubechies basis dealt with diel DO data slightly better than the other bases given its coefficient of determination (r (2) = 87.1 %), while symmlet performed slightly better than the other bases in terms of root mean square error (RMSE = 1.2 ppm) and mean absolute error (MAE = 0.9 ppm).

Concentrations of outdoor radon-222 ((222)Rn) in temperate grazed peatland and deciduous forest in northwestern Turkey were measured, compared, and modeled using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and multiple nonlinear regression (MNLR) models. The best-performing multilayer perceptron model selected out of 28 ANNs considerably enhanced accuracy metrics in emulating (222)Rn concentrations relative to the MNLR model. The two ecosystems had similar diel patterns with the lowest (222)Rn concentrations in the afternoon and the highest ones near dawn. Mean level (5.1 + 2.5 Bq m(-3) h(-1)) of (222)Rn in the forest was three times smaller than that (15.8 + 9.7 Bq m(-3)) of (222)Rn in the peatland. Mean (222)Rn level had negative and positive relationships with air temperature and relative humidity, respectively.