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Complex geology and tectonics of the NW Iran, the Caucasus region, and Eastern Turkey, are responsible for the present‐day landscapes of the region. The Aras drainage basin located in Iran, Azerbaijan and Armenia borders, provides an appropriate geographical environment for systematically studying the landforms produced or modified by active tectonic processes. Several morphometric indices were calculated for 114 sub‐basins to assess relative tectonic activity levels. Results were evaluated using two different methods; Index of Active Tectonics (IAT) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods. IAT results show that 2% of the sub‐basins belong to very high, 25% to high, 46% to moderate and 27% to low tectonic activity classes. AHP results, display that 12% of the sub‐basins belong to very high, 25% to high, 43% to moderate, and 20% to low tectonic activity classes. Results of both methods show approximate consistency and indicate that the tectonic activity along the Aras drainage basin is moderate to high and decreases from southwest to the northwest which is probably due to terminating fault branches in young unconsolidated deposits or strain partitioning processes. The major fault zones (e.g., Aras, Pambak–Sevan–Sunik, Akera, and Moghan fault zones) include areas with very high and high tectonic activity classes. Accordingly, the uplift rates have been estimated as >0.5 mm/yr for central and western parts, whereas the uplift rates are relatively less in the eastern part (<0.5 mm/yr). The Aras fault zone includes five active structural segments that the main Aras and Horadiz segments of them show relatively higher tectonic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent years, enhanced functionality of treatment systems based on nanostructures has attracted a lot of interest. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one such treatment method. Here, the authors report the results of the investigations on synthesis and characterisation of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and their application in PDT along with 5‐aminolevolenic acid (5‐ALA) (as photosensitiser) with no conjugation. Three sizes of GNPs were synthesised and their cytotoxicity was investigated by using MTT (3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay on epidermal carcinoma cell line. The results showed that the PDT efficiency of ALA increased in presence of GNPs. This effect was more considerable for 4 nm particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of rod‐shaped gold nanoparticles as probes and carriers in biological systems have recently attracted great interest. UV–vis spectroscopy, circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to study optical and structural properties of rod‐shaped gold nanoparticles when interacting with DNA oligomers in phosphate sodium salt buffer. The morphological transformation process of rod‐shaped gold nanoparticles resulting from the interaction with single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA) showed the role of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in nanostructures as the main interacting agent. The obtained results confirmed that the CTAB coat of rod‐shaped gold nanoparticles have powerful positive charges for conjugations with surface negative charges of phosphate groups on ssDNA oligomers. The CTAB also inhibit the formation of covalent sulphide bonds between the gold core of rod‐shaped nanoparticles and alkanethiol oligonucleotides. The authors found that when the nanorods were exposed to ssDNA oligonucleotides, the gold nanorods changed their shapes and sizes, and exposed some microscopic malformations which could be used in the development of colorimetric assays of nucleic acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]