Regional Differences in Rice Hulls Supply for Bioethanol Production

Agricultural by-products are becoming an attractive substrate for bioethanol production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of regional differences in the rice hulls using Escherichia coli KO11 for bioethanol production. The rice hulls coded Edirne were obtained from Thrace Region, and the rice hulls coded Izmir were obtained from Aegean Region in Turkey. Rice hulls were treated by dilute acid before using them as substrates. The cells were incubated on an orbital shaker at 160 rpm under 30 °C during 96 h of the fermentation period. It was found that the maximum yield of ethanol from sugar (0.44 g ethanol/g reducing sugar) was obtained with the substrate C/N ratio of 29.16 in Izmir medium. The main difference was the dominant carbon source available as a substrate. It was detected that glucose concentration was about 2.5 times higher in Izmir medium, whereas xylose concentration was about two times higher in Edirne medium. The different results obtained with rice hulls from different origins could depend on the type of paddy as well as different cultivation conditions. These findings provide a valuable indicator for identifying suitable agricultural waste materials to be used as substrates for bioethanol production.     

Interaction between green tea extract and 99mTc-pertechnetate on in vivo distribution

People drink various types of tea without knowing the side effects of biological and chemical contents and radiopharmaceutical interactions. In current study, it is aimed to evaluate the effects of green tea extract in different extraction solvents on the radiolabeling of the blood constituents with ^99mTc and on the biodistribution of radiopharmaceutical sodium pertechnetate (Na^99mTcO₄) in male Wistar Albino rats. The extraction of green tea was performed in different solvents. Biodistribution studies were performed on male rats which were treated via gavage with green tea extract in different extraction solvents or saline (0.9 % NaCl) as a control group for 7 days. The radiolabeling of blood constituents performed incubating with SnCl₂ and ^99mTc. According to experimental results, radiolabeling blood components with ^99mTc were not modified in the usage of the different extraction solvents for green tea extraction, but a significant alteration (P < 0.05) of biodistribution of Na^99mTcO₄ was observed after treatment with green tea extract in distilled water. Although there is no considerable effect on radiolabeling of blood components, there is an outstanding change on the biodistribution studies especially with green tea extract in distilled water. The identified change monitored in this study may cause to reduce the risk of misdiagnosis and/or avoid the repetition of the examinations in nuclear medicine.     

Synthesis,characterization and biodistribution of 99mTc-Bioquin-HMPAO (99mTc-BH) as a novel brain imaging agent

Recently, the development of novel brain imaging agents has aroused much interest thanks to limited number of brain cancer or diseases diagnosis agents. It is aimed to synthesize a novel brain imaging agent including a promise for further studies on AD diagnosis potential and investigate its bioaffinity with biodistribution studies on healthy Balb/c mice. A novel radiolabeled agent was synthesized and characterized. Quality control of ^99mTc-BH was performed utilizing solvent extraction and chromatographic (Radio TLC and Radio HPLC) methods. Bioaffinity of the ^99mTc-BH was investigated on male Balb/c mice at various time points (5, 30, 60, 120 min post-injection). Paper electrophoresis showed that ^99mTc-BH has a neutral structure. Radiochemical purity of ^99mTc-BH was over 95 % with appropriate stability for imaging period. Selected brain regions have uptakes over 4 % ID/g following intravenous injection. Hippocampus has uptake approximately 10 % ID/g. ^99mTc-BH has shown brain uptake, so it may prove to be valuable for brain imaging as a novel technetium-labeled agent. Further investigations with AD animal model are our on going effort to show that this agent has AD diagnosis potential.     

Preparation of a 99mTc-labeled graft polymer and its in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The aim of this study is the synthesis of a novel 99mTc-labeld graft polymer and the biological evaluation of its in vitro and in vivo properties....     

On null isotropy in spacetimes

Null isotropy in a spacetime is defined. The relation of null isotropy to the constant curvature and infinitesimal spatial isotropy is investigated. The influence of null isotropy on conjugate points along null geodesics and curvature singularities is investigated.     

Semi-continuous Cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis for Commercial Production

The objectives of the present study on the growth of Haematococcus pluvialis were to indicate the effects of a long-term semi-continuous cultivation, sterilization, carbon dioxide, and different culture media by using artesian well water. This investigation was an enterprise in order to commercialize the production economically. When the effect of CO₂ was investigated in basal culture medium, the influence of sterilization was also researched in Rudic’s culture medium in vertical panel-type photobioreactors for 31 days of semi-continuous cultivation. The maximum cell concentration of 10.55?×?10⁵ cells ml^?1, which corresponds to the growth rate of 0.271 day^?1 with the areal productivity of 3.531 g m^?2 day^?1, was found in non-sterilized RM medium on the 24th day of the third run of semi-continuous cultivation at a renewal rate of 50% in a vertical panel-type photobioreactor.     

Degenerate Hermitian Manifolds

The geometry of almost complex manifolds with degenerate indefinite Hermitian metrics is studied.     

Investigation of therapeutic efficiency of phenytoin (PHT) labeled with radioactive 131I in the cancer cell lines

The aim of this study is to determine the incorporations of PHT radiolabeled with ¹³¹I (¹³¹I-PHT) on U-87 MG, Daoy and A549 cancerous cell lines. For this, cold and radio-labeling studies were carried out. The radio-labeling yield of ¹³¹I-PHT was obtained about 95 %. Subsequently, cell culture studies were carried out and radio-labeling yields of ¹³¹I, ¹³¹I-PHT on U-87 MG, Daoy and A549 cancerous cells were investigated. Cell culture studies demonstrated that the incorporation values of ¹³¹I-PHT on the three cell lines decreased with increasing radioactivity. Consequently, ¹³¹I-PHT may be a good radiopharmaceutical for targeting radionuclide therapy of Central Nervous System Tumors.     

Preparation of (99m)Tc labeled vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and biodistribution in rats

The aim of this study was to label ascorbic acid with (99m)Tc and to investigate its radiopharmaceutical potential in rats. Ascorbic acid was labeled with (99m)Tc using the stannous chloride method. The radiochemical purity of [(99m)Tc]ascorbic acid ((99m)Tc-AA) was determined by RTLC, paper electrophoresis, and RHPLC methods. The labeling yield was found to be 93+/-5.0%. The maximum labeling yield of (99m)Tc-AA was determined at pH 5 and 25 degrees C. The biodistribution studies related to (99m)Tc-AA were done in male albino Wistar rats. (99m)Tc-AA, which has a specific activity of 13.02 GBq/mmol, was administered into the tail vein of the rats. The rats were sacrificed at 15, 30, 60, and 120 min after the injection by heart puncture under ether anaesthesia. The organs were weighed after removal. Their activities were counted using a Cd(Te) detector equipped with a RAD 501 count system. The %ID/g (% of injected dose per gram of tissue weight) in each organ and in blood was calculated. Maximum uptake of (99m)Tc-AA was observed in prostate and kidneys at the 60th min. (99m)Tc-AA may be a promising radiopharmaceutical for the imaging of prostate and kidneys.     

A new approach to liquid penetrant inspection: radiolabeled QDots

Penetrant technique is a sensitive non-destructive testing (NDT) method for detecting and locating the presence of cracks in sample surface. Today, NDT is used in a wide range of industries including aerospace, biotechnology, defence, marine, oil–gas and energy plants. This work focuses on potential use of radiolabeled ZnS coated CdTe quantum dots (QDots) as a penetrant for liquid penetrant testing. The synthesized QDots as a precursor were tested for surface defects detection in welded joints. The experimental results show the highest activities were found in defects on the sample surface. These finding are consistent with the sample NDT inspection test report.