Search

We report an advanced method for the self-organization of an optomagnetic nanocomposite composed of both fluorescent clusters (ZnS quantum dots, QDs) and magnetic nanoparticles (CoFe2O4). ZnS nanocrystals were prepared via an aqueous method at different temperatures (25, 50, 75, and 100 °C). Their structural, optical and chemical properties were comprehensively characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The highest PL intensity was observed for the cubic ZnS nanoparticles synthesized at 75 °C which were then stabilized electrosterically using thioglycolic acid. The photophysical analysis of the capped QDs with a particle size in the range 9–25 nm revealed that the emission intensity and the optical band gap increases compared to uncapped nanocrystals (3.88 to 4.02 eV). These band gaps are wider than that of bulk ZnS resulting from the quantum confinement effect. Magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized via a co-precipitation route and a sol–gel process was used to form the functionalized, silica-coated CoFe2O4. Finally, thiol coordination was used for binding the QDs to the surface of the magnetic nanoparticles. The fluorescence intensity and magnetic properties of the nanocomposites are related to the ratio of ZnS and CoFe2O4. An optomagnetic nanocomposite with small size (12–45 nm), acceptable saturation magnetization (about 6.7 emu g−1), and satisfactory luminescence characteristics was successfully synthesized. These systems are promising candidates for biological and photocatalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aim: One of the key factors affecting the physical and mental health of fetus is peace. According to Quran, this factor is a fundamental Principle in different fields of Islamic Ethics and law and it also affects all orders and Prohibitions. That’s because of conditions that are ordained during Pregnancy Period and of course it affects the benefits and losses of the Person in next Periods of growth. This study assessed the fundamental role of peace during pregnancy and fetal life from the perspective of the holy Quran and its priority to other functions of marriage. Methods & Materials: This study is a retrospective review which was performed by searching library sources and 15 relevant sources were found. The concept of peace in holy Quran can be followed by keywords such as, Assurance / Etminan (Raad/28), tranquility/ Sakineh ( Fath/24), inhabitancy / Sakana (Tobeh/103), Security / Amniyat (Thein/3), Permanency / Sobat( Forghan/47). In addition, Keywords such as, Health, Pregnancy, and Sprit were studied too. Results: Meanwhile, the topic of marriage and finding a family (including matrimony, spousal time, pregnancy and reproduction) is a composition of religious orders and prohibitions. According to some studies based on the Quran's verses and his successor’s anecdote considerable results such as reproduction, correct sexual satisfactory, moral and psychological peace was achieved. Relaxation in pregnancy phase is very important and vital process for the embryonic formation particularly in view of his/her future corporeal and spiritual life. Such standpoint is firmly emphasized by Islamic orders due to healthy generation among the human being. Conclusion: Acquiring spiritual relaxation and developing it according to psychological guidelines and strategies of the holy Quran is necessary to achieve a peaceful and satisfactory condition during pregnancy and birth of a healthy and righteous child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we mainly focused on the micro-emulsion synthesis of biotinylated ZnS (zinc sulfide) nanocrystals for avidin recognition. Various samples of Zn1-xMnx {\rm S}, with x = 0.0001, 0.007, 0.02, 0.03, 0.055, 0.09 and 0.13, prepared by quaternary W/O (water-in-oil) microemulsion system. Cyclohexane was used as oil, Triton X-100 as surfactant, n-hexanol as a co-surfactant and mercaptoethanol and thioglycolic acid as linking agents. The obtained products were evaluated by commonly techniques such as: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta meter for measurement ZP (zeta potential) and fluorescence spectroscopy analyses. The above-experimental results indicated that the optimum doping concentration of Mn was \sim 5.5\%. The fluorescence spectra of the doped crystals consist of orange-red emissions. Eventually, this research showed with increasing more than 18~\mu l biotin to nanocrystals, no changes were observed in the emission intensity spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pro-oxidant reactive oxygen species(ROS's) synthesized in the body are essential for life with various functions(in signaling pathways, regulation of blood pressure, immune system control, memory, power generation, bimolecular synthesis, neurotransmitter, etc.). These reactive species may become harmful if production levels in the body exceed counteracting antioxidant levels indicating increased oxidative stress. This situation causes excessive oxidation of intracellular biomolecules leading to cell death by creating cell damage. Even though the ROS' s have important roles in cell hemostasis, they are held responsible for many diseases associated with oxidative stress such as cancer, Alzheimer\'s, Parkinson\'s, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington\'s and aging. Determination of the intracellular ROS's, measurement of their quantities and description of their pathophysiological effects are crucial. Electron Spin Resonance, Fluorescence, and Luminescence Spectroscopy are mostly used to determine ROS. Being excellent sensors, the fluorescence probes detect ROS's more specificly and sensitively. Although a specific probe was designed for each radical, these new probes are still not routinely used in contemporary studies so the former probes are still valid. Human dermal fibroblast cell line cultured in Dulbecco\' s Modified Eagle Medium(DMEM) medium with 10% fetal bovine serum(FBS) was used. Following the formation of OH• radicals with Fenton reaction, the newly synthesized coumarin-3-carboxylic acid(3-CCA) and 2-[6-(4V-Hydroxy) phenoxy-3H-xanthen-3-on-9-yl]benzoic acid(HPF) probes, were compared to each other regarding to specificity and sensitivity in detection of the OH • radical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vücutta sentezlenen ve pro-oksidan olan reaktif oksijen türleri (ROT) yaşam için son derece gereklidirler ve birçok işlevleri(sinyal yolakları, kan basıncının regülasyonu, immün sistemin kontrolü, hafıza, enerji üretiminde, biyomolekülerin sentezi, nörotransmitter...) vardır. Vücutta fazla miktarda üretildiklerinde ya da antioksidan seviyesi düştüğünde bu reaktif türler çok zararlı olabilirler ve oksidatif stresi artırırlar. Bu durum hücre içi biyomoleküllerin aşırı bir şekilde oksidasyonuna neden olur ve hücre hasarı yaratarak hücre ölümüne sebep olabilir. Her ne kadar ROT'lar hücre hemostazisinde önemli role sahip olsalar da, kanser, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, veya Huntington's gibi nörodejeneratif hastalıklar ve yaşlanma gibi oksidatif stres kaynaklı birçok durumda önemli risk faktörü sayılırlar. Hücre içi reaktif oksijen türlerini saptamak, miktarlarını ölçmek, fizyolojik ve patolojik etkilerini tanımlamak çok önemlidir. ROT'ların saptanması için en çok 'Elektron Spin Rezonans', 'Fluoresans', ve 'Lüminesans' spektroskopileri kullanılmaktadır. Bu amaçla hazırlanan 'fluoresans problar' mükemmel sensörler olarak ROT'ları daha özgül ve duyarlı olarak saptarlar. Her radikal için farklı bir fluoresans prob tasarlanmıştır. Ancak yeni üretilmiş olan probların pek çoğu rutin olarak araştırmalarda kullanılmadıkları için, ilgili çalışmalarda eski fluoresans probların kullanılmalarına devam edilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, insan dermal fibroblast hücre hattı, % 10 fötal bovin serum(FBS) içeren Dulbecco\'s Modified Eagle Medium(DMEM) ortamında kültüre edilmiş ve Fenton reaksiyonu ile OH• radikalleri oluşturulmuştur. OH• radikallerinin saptanması için son yıllarda kullanıma sunulmuş olan fluoresan problardan coumarin-3-carboxylic acid(3-CCA) ve 2-[6-(4V-Hydroxy)phenoxy-3H-xanthen-3-on-9-yl] benzoic acid(HPF) duyarlılık ve spesifite yönünden birbirleriyle karşılaştırılmıştır. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: Filamin A (FLNA) is the most abundant and widely expressed isoform of filamin in human tissues. It is cleaved by calpain at the hinge 1 and 2 domains, producing a 90-kDa carboxyl-terminal fragment (FLNA CT ). Recently, it has been shown that FLNA CT mediates cell signaling and transports transcription factors into the cell nucleus. However, the significance of cleavage of FLNA by calpain has not been studied in cancer cell growth. Calpeptin is a chemical inhibitor of both calpain 1 and 2 that cleaves FLNA. In this study, we questioned if inhibiting calpain using calpeptin would decrease tumor cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation., Materials and Methods: Human melanoma (A7), prostate cancer (PC3), mouse fibrosarcoma (T241) and endothelial (MS1) cells were assayed for proliferation, migration, invasion and colony formation after treatment with calpeptin. Cell lysates were immunoblotted for FLNA and FLNA CT Results: Calpeptin treatment of these cells resulted in a decreased production of FLNA CT Calpeptin-treated human and mouse tumor cells displayed impaired proliferation, migration, and colony formation., Conclusion: These data suggest that the cleavage of FLNA by calpain is an important cellular event in the regulation of tumor cell growth., (Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Calcium signaling is important for synaptic plasticity, generation of brain rhythms, regulating neuronal excitability, data processing and cognition. Impairment in calcium homeostasis contributed to the development of psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder (BP). MCU is the most important calcium transporter in mitochondria inner membrane responsible for influx of Ca[Formula: see text]. MICU1 is linked with MCU and has two canonical EF hands that are vital for its activity and regulates MCU-mediated Ca[Formula: see text] influx. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the role of genetic alteration of EF hand calcium binding motifs of MICU1 on the development of BP. We examined patients with BP, first degree relatives of these patients and healthy volunteers for mutations and polymorphisms in EF hand calcium binding motifs of MICU1. The result showed no SNP/mutation in BP patients, in healthy subjects and in first degree relatives. Additionally, alignment of the EF hand calcium binding regions among species (Gallus-gallus, Canis-lupus-familiaris, Bos-taurus, Mus-musculus, Rattus-norvegicus, Pan-troglodytes, Homosapiens and Danio-rerio) showed exactly the same amino acids (DLNGDGEVDMEE and DCDGNGELSNKE) except in one of the calcium binding domain of Danio-rerio that there was only one difference; leucine instead of Methionine. Our results showed that the SNP on EF-hand Ca[Formula: see text] binding domains of MICU1 gene had no effect in phenotypic characters of BP patients.

In this research, we mainly focused on the micro-emulsion synthesis of biotinylated ZnS (zinc sulfide) nanocrystals for avidin recognition. Various samples of Zn(1-x)Mn(x) S, with x = 0.0001, 0.007, 0.02, 0.03, 0.055, 0.09 and 0.13, prepared by quaternary W/O (water-in-oil) microemulsion system. Cyclohexane was used as oil, Triton X-100 as surfactant, n-hexanol as a co-surfactant and mercaptoethanol and thioglycolic acid as linking agents. The obtained products were evaluated by commonly techniques such as: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta meter for measurement ZP (zeta potential) and fluorescence spectroscopy analyses. The above-experimental results indicated that the optimum doping concentration of Mn was ~ 5.5% . The fluorescence spectra of the doped crystals consist of orange-red emissions. Eventually, this research showed with increasing more than 18 μl biotin to nanocrystals, no changes were observed in the emission intensity spectra.