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Magnetic‐luminescent composite nanoparticles (Fe3O4@ZnO:RE) with a core/shell structure are produced by a simple process. Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) are coated with rare‐earth‐doped zinc oxide (ZnO). Core/shell structure is confirmed by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM) analysis. X‐ray diffraction analysis results show that cubic magnetite Fe3O4 and hexagonal ZnO phases originate from the core and the shell, respectively. Hexagonal ZnO and cubic magnetite Fe3O4 phases belonging all nanoparticles are confirmed by HR‐TEM benefiting the lattice fringe. All the nanoparticles present superparamagnetic behavior. Under 532 nm excitation, they release the emission in the visible and infrared regions. They exhibit blue–green emission attributed to 2H11/2–4I15/2, 4S3/2–4I15/2 transitions, red emission attributed to 4F9/2–4I15/2 transitions, and infrared emission ascribed to 4F9/2–4I15/2, 2F7/2–2F5/2 transitions. Above the 0.2mol% dopant ratio, the luminescence intensity starts to decrease because of the concentration quenching. The produced nanoparticles are promising for bioimaging and magnetic hyperthermia treatment, due to their magnetic and luminescent properties, orientation to the target area, and their presence in the target area can be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrast agents have been used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a radiological method. Gadolinium‐based contrast agents (GBCAs), because of their paramagnetic characteristics, are the ones mostly used in MRI to increase signal intensity. However, the use of contrast media has raised concerns on cellular toxic risks of these agents. Studies showed the accumulation of gadolinium after injection to humans with or without renal impairment. Also, there are findings obtained under in vitro and/or in vivo conditions that revealed conflicting results for their cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. Some of them declared damage in cells and genetic material; some others did not. Abnormal cell growth and genetic aberration are critical because they may lead to carcinogenesis in somatic cells or may be transferred to the next generations through germ cells. Therefore, understanding the effect of GBCAs on cells is important for their safer usage in clinical administrations to generate high‐quality contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance images. Because of all these reasons, cellular toxicities—mainly genotoxic and cytotoxic effects—of GBCAs were reviewed in this paper. Contrast agents have been used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a diagnostic method. Rapid growth of diagnostic imaging elevated using of gadolinium‐based contrast agents (GBCAs) used in MRI to increase signal intensity. However, the use of contrast media has raised concerns on cellular toxic risks of these agents because of the accumulation of gadolinium after injection to humans with or without renal impairment. Therefore, cellular toxicities—mainly genotoxic and cytotoxic effects—of GBCAs were reviewed in this paper for their safer usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amygdalin (AMY), a plant secondary metabolite containing nitrile, is a major component of the seeds of Rosaceae family plants. It is known that this compound has many pharmacological activities such as cancer prevention, antipyretic, and cough suppressant. In this study, the genotoxic and modulatory effects of amygdalin were assessed by chromosomal aberration (CA), sister chromatid exchange (SCE), and cytokinesis‐block micronucleus assay (CBMN) assays using human peripheral lymphocytes (HPLs) in the absence and presence of metabolic activator (S9 mix). Lymphocytes were exposed to various concentrations of amygdalin (0.86, 1.72, 3.43, 6.86, and 13.75 μg/mL) alone and in combination with mitomycin‐C (MMC, 0.20 μg/mL) or cyclophosphamide (CP, 12 μg/mL). The mitotic index (MI), replication index (RI), cytokinesis‐block proliferation index (CBPI), and cytostasis were also evaluated to determine cytotoxicity. Amygdalin alone did not exhibit genotoxic and cytotoxic effects at all the tested concentrations both in the absence and presence of the S9 mix. In contrast, amygdalin significantly reduced the frequencies of CA (especially at 48 h treatments), SCE, and MN (except 0.86 μg/mL in pre‐ and simultaneous treatment) induced by MMC in all the tested concentrations and treatment protocols. It has also considerably decreased CP‐induced CA and SCE frequencies at all the concentrations (except 0.86 μg/mL) in simultaneous treatment. This study demonstrated that amygdalin alone was not genotoxic, on the contrary, it has revealed modulatory effects against chemotherapy agents that induced genomic damage in human lymphocytes, suggesting its chemopreventive potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several antioxidant food additives are added to oils, soups, sauces, chewing gum, potato chips, and so on. One of them is octyl gallate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential genotoxicity of octyl gallate in human lymphocytes, using in vitro chromosomal abnormalities (CA), sister chromatid exchange (SCE), cytokinesis block micronucleus cytome (CBMN-Cyt), micronucleus-FISH (MN-FISH), and comet tests. Different concentrations (0.031, 0.063, 0.125, 0.25, and 0.50 μg/ml) of octyl gallate were used. A negative (distilled water), a positive (0.20 μg/ml Mitomycin-C), and a solvent control (8.77 μl/ml ethanol) were also applied for each treatment. Octyl gallate did not cause changes in chromosomal abnormalities, micronucleus, nuclear bud (NBUD), and nucleoplasmic bridge (NPB) frequency. Similarly, there was no significant difference in DNA damage (comet assay), percentage of centromere positive and negative cells (MN-FISH test) compared to the solvent control. Moreover, octyl gallate did not affect replication and nuclear division index. On the other hand, it significantly increased the SCE/cell ratio in three highest concentrations compared to solvent control at 24 h treatment. Similarly, at 48 h treatment, the frequency of SCE raised significantly compared to solvent controls at all the concentrations (except 0.031 μg/ml). An important reduction was detected in mitotic index values in the highest concentration at 24 h treatment and almost all concentrations (except 0.031 and 0.063 µg/ml) at 48 h treatment. The results obtained suggest that octyl gallate has no important genotoxicological action on human peripheral lymphocytes at the concentrations applied in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the most general sense children's rights can be defined as benefits which are protected by legal rules so that the child can grow up in a healthy, normal way and in freedom and dignity with the aspects of physical, cognitive, sensual, social and moral. The most important document regulating children's rights is the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" accepted by United Nations. In order to teach their rights to children, all the lessons in school curriculum, for example in life sciences, social studies and Turkish classes, should include the subject of rights and responsibilities. The aim of this study is to reveal to what extent the subject of children's rights is included in primary school in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade life sciences textbooks which were published and delivered to schools to be taught during the academic year of 2011 to 2012 by the Ministry of National Education. In the study, qualitative research method was preferred and the texts in all themes of life sciences textbooks of 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade were studied with content analysis. In analysing data, frequencies and percent were used. In the study, it was found that terms related to children's rights were used in the 2nd grade life sciences textbooks at most in parallel with the lesson curriculum. It was suggested that in the gains of life sciences classes children's rights should be taken into consideration and the textbooks should be rearranged.

Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease and is also known as high blood pressure. The large majority of hypertensive patients need long-term administration of antihypertensive agents. Indapamide is an orally administered diuretic antihypertensive drug. The present work aimed to assess the possible genotoxic effects of indapamide using four different assays: chromosomal aberration (CA), sister chromatid exchange (SCE), micronucleus (MN), and comet. Lymphocytes from three different donors were exposed to 18.75, 37.50, 75.00, and 100.00 μg/ml indapamide. Additionally, a negative, a positive (mitomycin C = MMC, 0.20 μg/ml), and a solvent control (5.4 μl/ml methanol) were also applied. As a result, it was seen that indapamide did not cause a significant change in CAs and MN frequencies compared to the control. It caused significant damage only at the highest concentration in the comet assay. Similarly, while it did not affect the number of SCEs in the 24-h treatment, it increased the SCE frequency at the two highest concentrations in the 48-h. Mitotic index (MI) decreased at almost all concentrations. Considering all these results, this study revealed that indapamide did not have a significant genotoxic effect in these conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation about the genotoxic effect of indapamide in human lymphocytes in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Eu:Y2O3 nanophosphors (NPs) with different Eu concentrations (3, 5, and 7 at%) were successfully synthesized via the sol–gel method. All synthesized powders had a cubic bixbyite‐type crystal structure with space group Ia‐3. It was observed they had agglomerated sphere‐like morphologies. In addition, a neck formation between the particles, which was the result of the sintering effect at the increasing calcination temperature, was also observed by scanning electron microscopy analysis. Raman and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses confirmed that the Eu dopant entered into the Y2O3 host. The XPS peak positions shifted to relatively higher binding energy values with increasing dopant concentration and calcination temperature. Increasing Eu dopant concentration in the host structure also increased the 3+ valence ions. The band gap values of the NPs varied between 4.30 and 4.54 eV. The powders doped with 5 at% Eu was active as photocatalysts and the powders that were synthesized at 800°C exhibited highly photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metformin (MET) is the first-choice antidiabetic drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment. In this study, the genotoxic potential of MET was evaluated by using chromosome aberrations (CAs), sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs), and micronucleus (MN) assays in human peripheral lymphocytes as well as comet assay in isolated lymphocytes. Human lymphocytes were treated with different concentrations of MET (12.5, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 125 µg/mL) for 24 h and 48 h. A negative and a positive control (Mitomycin-C-MMC, 0.20 μg/mL, for CA, SCE, and MN tests; hydrogen peroxide-H2O2, 100 µM, for comet assay) were also maintained. MET significantly increased the frequency of CAs at 48 h exposure (except 12.5 µg/mL) compared to the negative control. MET increased SCEs/cells in both treatment periods (except 12.5 µg/mL at 24 h). MET only increased the frequency of MN at 125 µg/mL. While MET significantly increased the comet tail length (CTL) at four concentrations (25, 75, 100, and 125 µg/mL), it did not affect comet tail intensity (CTI) (except 125 µg/mL) and comet tail moment (CTM) at all the treatments. All these data showed that MET had a mild genotoxic effect, especially at a long treatment period and higher concentrations in human lymphocytes in vitro. However, further in vitro and especially in vivo studies should be conducted to understand the detailed genotoxic potential of MET. Metformin increased the frequency of CAs and SCEs, especially at 48-h exposure time in human lymphocytes. This antidiabetic drug increased the frequency of MN only at the highest concentration tested (125 µg/mL). Metformin significantly increased the comet tail length in all treatments (except 50 µg/mL). The drug did not significantly affect the comet tail intensity (except 125 µg/mL) and comet tail moment in all treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]