Bulut, Hüseyin; Yildirim, Fatih Serdar

Plants, due to their fixed locations, are susceptible targets to environmental stress. Among these stresses, heavy metal stress has increased since the Industrial Revolution. Thermal power plants that utilize fossil fuels play a significant role in the release of heavy metals into the environment. This study investigates the role of air currents in the transport of fly ash from thermal power plants and its genotoxic effects on wheat using molecular methods. The mobility of retrotransposons affecting genomic stability was assessed through IRAP (Inter-Retrotransposon Amplified Polymorphism) analysis. The IRAP analysis results indicate a polymorphism rate of 54.6% in wheat seedlings located 1 km northwest of the thermal power plant. The lowest polymorphism rate, 29.66%, was observed in wheat samples 10 km east of the plant. Physical damage in the nucleus caused by heavy metals was evaluated using the comet assay, which measures tail length, tail DNA percentage, and tail moment. Similar to the IRAP analysis, significant damage was observed in the northwest, southwest, and west directions across all three parameters. The findings of this study underscore the impact of heavy metal pollution and emphasize the importance of air currents in the dispersion of these pollutants.

Pоlаt, Tunсаy; Özеr, Mustаfа; Çеlik, Hаkаn; Bulut, Hüsеyin

Air pollution is a significant global public health issue, and pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3 adversely affect maternal and infant health. This study aims to contribute to environmental health policies by retrospectively analyzing the relationship between air quality index values and maternal and infant mortality in Turkey from 2020 to 2025 through time series analysis. Air quality data were obtained from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, while mortality statistics were sourced from the Turkish Statistical Institute. Annual averages of air pollutants, particularly PM10 and PM2.5, were calculated, and their relationship with mortality rates was evaluated using correlation and simple regression analyses. According to normality tests, infant mortality rate and the mortality rate among women of reproductive age were normally distributed, whereas under-five mortality and live birth rates were not. Accordingly, Pearson correlation was used for normally distributed variables, and non-parametric correlation methods were applied to non-normally distributed ones. Significant associations were found between PM10 and infant mortality in 2021 and 2023 (p < 0.05), and between PM2.5 and both infant mortality in 2023 and the five-year aggregate data (p < 0.05). Other pollutants, such as NO2, NOx, and NO, also showed significant associations with infant deaths and maternal mortality in women of reproductive age (p < 0.05). The study found that exposure to PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 may increase infant mortality, while exposure to NOx and NO may contribute to increased mortality in both infants and women of reproductive age. These findings highlight the severe health risks posed by air pollution to vulnerable populations, emphasizing the urgent need for preventive measures, particularly for infants and women of childbearing age.

Demirdogen, Filiz; Yesilyurt, Fatma; Savas, Aysenur Budak; Akcay, Guven; Hacimuftuoglu, Ahmet

Neocuproine is a free radical scavenger. Neuroblastoma cancer is seen mostly in children. It accounts for approximately 15% of all pediatric cancer deaths. Treatments against SH-SY5Y may be ineffective due to the development of drug resistance, resulting in poor survival in high-risk patients. The goal of this study was to find out how the anti-cancer concentration of Neocuproine affected the levels of oxidants, antioxidants, and cytokines in the SH-SY5Y cell line. Five different concentrations of Neocuproine (12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μM) were applied to the cell line for 24 h. MTT cytotoxicity tests, total oxidant status and total antioxidant capacity tests, and anti-inflammatory cytokine tests were used to look at the uses of Neocuproine. In our results, 100 μM Neocuproine application reduced cancer cell viability up to 69.76%. In addition, it was determined that 100 μM Neocuproine reduced oxidant activity, increased antioxidant capacity, and regulated anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in neuroblastoma cells, consistent with the cytotoxicity test. As a result, it was concluded that Neocuproine has an anti-cancer effect on the SH-SY5Y cell line.

Altunbas, Murat

In this paper, we investigate confonnal Yamabe solitons on tangent bundles with respect to the complete lifts a semi-symmetric metric connection and a projective semi-symmetric connection using vertical and complete lifts of torqued vector fields.

Sunar, Serap

In the present study, amaranth, which is a very important azo dye used in food, drug, paper, cosmetic and textile industries, was evaluated for its genotoxic potential by the plant model organism Triticum aestivum (wheat). The impacts of salicylic acid on genotoxic damage, and the alterations in DNA methylation due to amaranth stress in Triticum aestivum L. were also investigated. The marker techniques of Inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphisms (IRAP) and Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) were used to identify genotoxic damage. Amaranth at four different doses (50, 100, 250, 500 mg/l) and salicylic acid at two different doses (0.50 mM and 0.75 mM) were used. Amaranth at all doses caused genotoxic damage and reduced Genomic template stability (GTS %). It was found that there was an increase in genomic stability due to doses of salicylic acid in combination with Amaranth.

Sengul, Meryem; Yildirim, Nalan; Karadayi, Gokce Nardemir; Agar, Guleray

In this study, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) analysis were used to examine phenotypic and genetic relationships among 10 Silene species (S. vulgaris var. vulgaris, S. multifida, S. alba L. subsp. eriocalycina, S. alba L. subsp. divaricata, S. bu-pleuroides L. subsp. solanocalyx, S. compacta, S. ampullata, S. stenobotrys, S. dichotoma subsp. dichotoma, S. spergulifolia) growing wild in the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Sixteen RAPD primers and eight ISSR primers were used to examine polymorphism. According to the RAPD results, 120 amplicons in the size range of 250-4000 bp were produced from 16 primers in 10 Silene species. On the other hand, ISSR primers were produced total 70 amplicons in the size range of 300-2000 bp. The UPGMA cluster was constructed using a combination of data from RAPD and ISSR markers. Genetically, two major clusters were determined among the species of Si-lene. The greatest similarity was observed between the species S. vulgaris and S. multifida (0.098), and the greatest dissimilarity was observed between the species S. vulgaris and S. stenobotrys (0.931). High genetic variations among Silene species growing wildly in eastern Anatolia region of Turkey may imply the differences in their origins. The results in the present study suggested that both RAPD and ISSR analysis are useful for differentiation of Silene species.