Biosorption of Basic Blue 7 by fungal cells immobilized on the green-type biomatrix of Phragmites australis spongy tissue.

Biosorption is an effective alternative method for the control of water pollution caused by different pollutants such as synthetic dyes and metals. A new and efficient biomass system was developed from the passively immobilized fungal cells. The spongy tissue of Phragmites australis was considered as the carrier for the immobilization of Neurospora sitophila cells employed for the biosorption of Basic Blue 7. This plant tissue was used for the first time as a carrier for fungal cells. The biosorption was examined through batch- and continuous-mode operations. The biosorption process conformed well to the Langmuir model. Maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of the biosorbent was recorded as 154.756 mg g-1. Kinetic findings showed a very good compliance with the pseudo-second-order model. The negative values of ΔG° indicated a spontaneous nature of the biosorption process and a positive value of ΔH° (14.69 kJ mol-1) concluded favorable decolorization at high temperature. The scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that a porous, rippled, and rough surface of biomass system was covered with BB7 molecular cloud. IR results revealed that functional groups like -OH, -NH, and CË­O participated to the decolorization. Breakthrough and exhausted points were found as 360 and 570 minutes, respectively. The biomass system was successfully applied to the treatment of real wastewater.

Periodontal Examination Profiles and Treatment Approaches of a Group of Turkish General Dentists.

PURPOSE: To investigate the periodontal examination profiles and treatment approaches of a group of Turkish general dentists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 457 general dentists were called and 173 dentists agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire comprised 10 questions including gender, years of experience, periodontal probing during examination, oral hygiene motivation methods (do you perform, yes/no; the oral hygiene motivation method; verbal expression or using visual materials), periodontal treatments (supragingival scaling, subgingival scaling and planing or surgery) and knowledge about diagnosis and treatment for aggressive and chronic periodontitis. The participants were grouped according to their years of clinical experience: group 1: 0 to 10 years of clinical practice (n = 58); group 2: 10 to 20 years (n = 68); group 3: >20 years (n = 47). RESULTS: The 'periodontal probing' performance percentages were 70.69%, 26.47% and 40.43% in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The oral hygiene motivation rate was high in the first 10 years of clinical practice (60.3%). In addition, 72.4% of the dentists in group 1 used visual materials in addition to verbal expression during oral hygiene motivation. 72.25% of the general dentists performed supragingival scaling. The knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of chronic periodontitis was present in >90% of the dentists surveyed. In contrast, >50% of the general dentists were not knowledgeable in the diagnosis and treatment of aggressive periodontitis. CONCLUSION: Periodontal probing is a gold standard for periodontal diagnosis, but as the dentists' clinical experience increases, the frequency of its performance decreases. The percentage of the knowledge and treatment of chronic periodontitis is higher than that of aggressive periodontitis. Postgraduate education in periodontology is important to keep general dentists up to date on current periodontal practice and improve awareness of periodontal diseases.