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Introduction Salivary gland tumors (SGTs) are rare head and neck malignancies consisting of a spectrum of tumors with different biological behaviors. Objective In this study we aimed to find out differential expression of microRNA profiles between benign and malignant SGTs. Methods We investigated the possible role of 95 microRNAs in the 20 patients with salivary gland tumors with comparison of 17 patients without malignancy or salivary gland diseases. Sixteen of the tumors were benign (seven pleomorphic adenomas, nine Warthin tumors), four of them were malignant (two squamous cell carcinomas, one high grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma, one adenocarcinoma). Serum and saliva samples were collected from both patients and control group. Tissue samples of tumor masses were also collected from patient group. Results Among studied microRNAs miR-21, miR-23a, miR-27a, miR-223, miR-125b, miR-126, miR-146a, miR-30e were down regulated in the benign group compared to control group in the serum samples (p-values are 0.04, 0.00005, 0.00005, 0.0022, 0.031, 0.00008, 0.044, and 0.0007, respectively). When tissue samples were studied miR-21, miR-31, miR-199a-5p, miR-146b, miR-345 were up-regulated in the malignant group compared to benign group (p values are 0.006, 0.02, 0.013, 0.013, 0.041, respectively). miR-30e showed statistically significant up-regulation in malignant tumor group's plasma samples compared to benign group (p = 0.034). There was no statistically significant difference in saliva samples between groups. Conclusion Our results showed that different microRNAs may play role in salivary tumor pathogenesis according to biological behavior. Although there was no difference in saliva samples between groups, according to tissue and serum samples miR-21 and 30e may have an important role; since they were down-regulated in benign tumors whereas up-regulated in malignant ones.

All living things and inanimate objects, i.e., humans, animals, plants, air, water and soil, both emit and are exposed to natural and artificial radiation. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the use of industrial egg shell waste for the protection of buildings against external radiation effects. Towards this end, the radiation absorbing property of mortars made of cement, Rilem sand and egg shells was extensively studied. During this investigation, the possible decrease in the quality of mortars like 90-day sulfate resistance and the 7, 28 and 90 day compressive and flexural strengths were also investigated. The results showed that egg shells as an additive decreased the compressive and flexural strengths of the mortars for all the samples with different additive percentages of egg shells for all ages. However, the mix proposed satisfies the minimum compressive strength requirements of the Turkish standards. The linear absorption coefficient increased in the samples with increasing egg shell ratio, i.e., mortars with egg shells had low radioactive permeability. Hence, egg shells may be used in regions where radiation is effective. Such concrete can easily be used in walls for radiation shielding.