Green plastics: Direct production from grocery wastes to bioplastics and structural characterization by using synchrotron FTIR.

Lignocellulosic bioplastics were produced using four different green wastes: hemp, parsley stem, pineapple leaves and walnut shell. Two different solutions were used to dissolve the green wastes: trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and pure water. The changes in their natural structures and the solvent effect during the regeneration in biofilm formation were investigated by using Synchrotron FTIR Microspectroscopy (SR-µFTIR). The presence of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin components in the water-based biofilms was confirmed. After dissolving in TFA, the spectra demonstrated some additional bands especially in the hemicellulose region. This is due to the hydrolysis of ester bonds and conversion to carboxylic acids. Principal component analysis showed grouping due to different solvents and polymer addition. Hemp-PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) composite biofilms were obtained by adding polyvinyl alcohol to the hemp solution to give extra strength to the hemp biofilms. It has been shown that water-based hemp-PVA biofilms do not cause any significant spectral changes, comparing with pure hemp and PVA spectra. However, after dissolving in TFA, unlike water-based biofilms, it appears that TFA molecules are retained by PVA through hydrogen bonds of TFA's carboxylic acid and hydroxyl groups and distinct spectral regions belong to TFA bands are clearly identified.

Evaluation of distance and face-to-face anatomy education from the perspective of students during the COVID-19 pandemic period / Evaluación de la educación anatomía a distancia y presencial desde la perspectiva de los estudiantes durante el período de pandemia del COVID-19

SUMMARY: During the COVID-19 pandemic, a questionnaire was administered to the students who took anatomy courses through distance education in the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry. Through the questionnaire, the aim was to figure out whether the infrastructure of Firat University was ready and adequate for distance education, how efficient the distance theoretical and practical anatomy classes were, and in what proportions the students would prefer to take face-to-face and distance anatomy classes when the pandemic is over. A questionnaire of 35 questions was applied to 555 students studying at the Medicine and Dentistry Faculties of Firat University. The students widely accepted the opinion that Firat University successfully implemented the distance education system, and distance education offered the opportunity to receive the lessons repeatedly regardless of time and place. In addition, it has been determined as a common opinion that anatomy classes given via distance education were equally beneficial as face-to-face education in terms of duration, content, and efficiency. Despite these advantages, the lack of face-to-face interaction and weak information permanence were reported as the negative aspects of distance education. The students emphasized that applied anatomy classes and especially cadaver studies should be conducted face to face. Anatomy education is quite substantial in the acquisition and development of professional skills. It is considered that distance anatomy education will be inadequate to provide this gain. The high demand for face-to-face practical classes by students also backs this up.

Durante la pandemia de COVID-19, se administró un cuestionario a los estudiantes que cursaban asignaturas de anatomía a distancia en las Facultades de Medicina y Odontología. A través del cuestionario, se pretendía conocer si la infraestructura de la Universidad de Firat estaba preparada y era adecuada para la educación a distancia, ¿qué tan eficientes eran las clases teóricas y prácticas de anatomía a distancia? y ¿en qué proporciones los estudiantes preferirían tomar clases presenciales? y clases de anatomía a distancia cuando termine la pandemia. Se aplicó un cuestionario de 35 preguntas a 555 estudiantes de las Facultades de Medicina y Odontología de la Universidad de Firat. Los estudiantes aceptaron ampliamente la opinión de que la Universidad de Firat implementó con éxito el sistema de educación a distancia, y la esta manera de enseñar ofreció la oportunidad de recibir lecciones repetidamente, independientemente de la hora y el lugar. Además, se ha determinado como opinión común que las clases de anatomía impartidas a distancia fueron igualmente beneficiosas que las presenciales en términos de duración, contenido y eficiencia. A pesar de estas ventajas, la falta de interacción cara a cara y la débil permanencia de la información fueron reportadas como los aspectos negativos de la educación a distancia. Los estudiantes enfatizaron que las clases de anatomía aplicada y en especial los estudios de cadáver deben ser presenciales. La educación en anatomía es bastante sustancial en la adquisición y desarrollo de habilidades profesionales. Se considera que la educación anatómica a distancia será inadecuada para proporcionar esta ganancia. La alta demanda de clases prácticas presenciales por parte de los estudiantes también lo avala.

Production of collagen micro- and nanofibers for potential drug-carrier systems.

Two different nano- and micro-collagen fiber production methods are introduced and discussed. First one is the electrospinning method, that is very common technique to produce nanofibers from different polymeric solutions and recently collagen solutions are employed to produce nanofibers for different biomedical applications. This technique is extremely versatile method to produce nanofibers in a relatively short time, easy to control the fiber diameter and orientation with small pore sizes and a high surface area. The second method is self-assembly of collagen micro-fibers by co-extrusion method. The collagen fibers are obtained without any cross-linker, by using mainly ionic interactions. We demonstrated that self-assembled collagen fibers have well preserved their native structure (0.90 PP-II fraction), when compared with electrospun collagen fibers (0.38 PP-II fraction). However, it was only possible to produce collagen fibers with nanodimensions by using electrospinning method.