Investigation of seroprevalence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Theileria equi</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Babesia caballi</Emphasis> in horses in Nigde province,Turkey

The prevalence of equine piroplasmosis caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in Nigde, in central Anatolia, Turkey has remained unknown. Serum samples were obtained from a total of 125 horses and were tested for antibodies to T. equi and B. caballi using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). Twenty-three (18.4%) horses were seropositive for equine piroplasmosis. Anti-T. equi was observed in 16 horses (12.8%) while anti-B. caballi was detected in 12 horses (9.6%). In addition, 5 serum samples were positive for both parasites. The prevalence rates of antibodies to T. equi and B. caballi for female and male horses were statistically indifferent (p = 0.19 and 0.90). The difference between the seropositivity rates to T. equi among age groups was statistically insignificant (p = 0.44) while the difference to B. caballi among age groups is statistically significant (p = 0.01). Seropositivity rates ranged from 2.9% to 25.7% for T. equi and 2.9% to 14.3% for B. caballi from the selected districts in Nigde. A statistically significant difference on seropositivity rates for the study sites was observed for only T.equi (p = 0.03). This study indicates that T. equi is higher than B. caballi in Nigde. This study was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Unit of Nigde University (FEB 2007/08).     

Thrombin immobilization to Poly(Methacrylicacid) graft polymerized PET and PAN fabrics

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(acrylonitrile) fabrics are the most produced synthetic fabrics in the world. Their production and usage increase at medical textile. There is no functional group in their structure for enzyme immobilization. Hence, they are not inclined to react. However, functional groups could be added to their structure using graft polymerization. In this study, methacrylic acid was graft polymerized to poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(acylonitrile) fabrics. Characterization of modified fabrics was carried out and thrombin was immobilized to poly(methacrylic acid) graft polymerized poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(acylonitrile) fabrics using 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimetylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide. Optimization studies were also performed for the immobilization of thrombin. Thrombin immobilized poly(methacrylic acid) graft polymerized poly(ethylene terephtalate) and poly(acrylonitrile) fabrics were reduced recalcification time 30 % and 25 %, respectively. It is the first time, an enzyme was immobilized to fabric and its in vitro applications were performed. Thrombin has not been immobilized to synthetic fabric, yet.     

Adaptive Grid Modeling with Direct Sensitivity Method for Predicting the Air Quality Impacts of Biomass Burning

The objective of this study was to improve the ability to model the air quality impacts of biomass burning on the surrounding environment. The focus is on prescribed burning emissions from a military reservation, Fort Benning in Georgia, and their impact on local and regional air quality. The approach taken in this study is to utilize two new techniques recently developed: (1) adaptive grid modeling and (2) direct sensitivity analysis. An advanced air quality model was equipped with these techniques, and regional-scale air quality simulations were conducted. Grid adaptation reduces the grid sizes in areas that have rapid changes in concentration gradients; consequently, the results are much more accurate than those of traditional static grid models. Direct sensitivity analysis calculates the rate of change of concentrations with respect to emissions. The adaptive grid simulation estimated large variations in O₃ concentrations within 4?×?4-km² cells for which the static grid estimates a single average concentration. The differences between adaptive average and static grid values of O₃ sensitivities were more pronounced. The sensitivity of O₃ to fire is difficult to estimate using the brute-force method with coarse scale (4?×?4 km²) static grid models.     

Potential Threats from a Likely Nuclear Power Plant Accident: a Climatological Trajectory Analysis and Tracer Study

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution - The present paper deals with an extensive review of literature concerning the platinum group elements (PGEs), and their impact on the environment. The increased...     

Prediction of various functional finishing treatments using artificial neural networks

In this study, in order to produce different water-oil repellent and wrinkle resistant fabrics, 21 different kinds of blended woven fabrics were treated (padded and transfered) with both classic and nano chemicals according to 4 different levels of concentrations. Afterwards, water, oil repellency and wrinkle angle recovery properties of the fabrics were measured. The purpose of this study is to predict these aforementioned functional properties of the fabrics before manufacturing based on the fabric blend, treatment method, used chemicals and chemical concentrations with the help of multi layer perceptron, one of the most popular network architecture. As a result of the study, it can be concluded that multi layer perceptron method can also be used for the classification problems successfully.     

Resistance to chlorpyrifos and lambda-cyhalothrin along with detoxifying enzyme activities in field-collected female populations of European red mite

The levels of susceptibility of populations of the European red mite Panonychus ulmi (Koch) (Acarina: Tetranychidae) collected from apple orchards in the Bursa region of Turkey to the insecticides chlorpyrifos and lambda-cyhalothrin, were determined by a petri leaf disk—Potter spray tower method. When compared with the susceptible population, resistance ratios at the LC₅₀ level ranged from 6.0- to 35.6-fold, and from 0.7- to 5.7-fold for chlorpyrifos and lambda-cyhalothrin, respectively. Kinetic parameters of general esterase activity with α-naphthyl acetate as substrate indicated that an increased activity was present in the resistant populations compared with the susceptible populations. In these strains, 1.5- and 2.2-fold higher Glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity was also detected with the substrate 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. General esterase activity gel profiles of these populations were studied by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but no relationship between resistance ratios and band patterns was detected. The results of this study document a decreased efficacy of chlorpyrifos and lambda-cyhalothrin in field populations of P. ulmi in Turkey, possibly linked to altered activities of esterases and GST.