Non-depleting energy in the museum.

The present study aimed to uncover whether the renewable energy education carried out in a museum has an impact on awareness of renewable energy and the environment among children and their parents. The study was carried out with two groups of 65 children aged 6 years and their parents (n = 47). The findings revealed significant differences between the pretest and posttest in favor of the pretest and between pretest and follow-up test in favor of follow-up test, but there was no significant difference between posttest and follow-up test. We determined It was observed that the children had a considerable willingness to participate in the sessions and used the names of renewable energy sources in their follow-up drawings or their remarks on the drawings. Moreover, given the parents' statements, we discovered that the children acquired considerable awareness of the environment and efficient energy consumption and became acting more consciously toward renewable energy sources.

Soil to plant transfer of 226Ra, 232Th and 137Cs to some medicinal and aromatic plants growing in Bitlis (Turkey).

Medicinal plants consumed in Bitlis were analysed for 226Ra, 232Th and 137Cs using HPGe gamma spectroscopy system. Both plant samples and the corresponding soils were analysed. Using these values, the transfer factors for 226Ra, 232Th and 137Cs were calculated in the ranges of (0.09-2.18), (0.01-0.19) and (0.01-2.8), respectively. Based on the plant concentrations observed, unless consumed in excessive amounts, these medicinal plants do not have any radiological harm to health.

The evaluation of potential global impact of the N501Y mutation in SARS-COV-2 positive patients.

Rapid and reliable detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 mutations are significant to control the contagion and spread rate of the virus. We aimed to evaluate the N501Y mutation rate in randomly chosen positive patients with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The evaluation and analysis of the data with a retrospective approach in cases with mutations, in terms of public health, will contribute to the literature on the global pandemic that affects our society. Public health authorities will take the necessary precautions and evaluate the current situation. The N501Y mutation was detected in patients with positive Covid-19 PCR test results. The positive samples were examined based on the 6-carboxy-fluorescein (FAM) channel in reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) quantitation cycle (Cq) values as low Cq (<25), medium Cq (25-32), and high Cq (32-38) groups. In the study, 2757 (19.7%) of 13 972 cases were detected as mutation suspects and 159 (5.8%) of them were found to have mutations. The ages of the cases with mutations ranged from 1 to 88 years (mean age of 40.99 ± 17.55). 49.7% (n = 79) of the cases with mutations were male, and 50.3% (n = 80) were female. When the RT-PCR-Cq results were examined, it was seen that it varied between 11.3 and 35.03, with an average of 20.75 ± 3.32.

Presence of vancomycin, aminoglycosides, and erythromycin resistance genes in enterococci isolated from clinical samples in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Emergence of high-level aminoglycoside and glycopeptide resistance causes more severe prognosis, higher mortality, and recurrence in enterococcal infections. The present study was conducted to investigate the antimicrobial resistance patterns, prevalence of AMEs, erm and van genes of enterococci isolated from various clinical samples at Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical School hospital. METHODS: During the period of 2012-2013, a total of 128 enterococcal isolates collected from various clinical samples were typed with the API 20 strep test, and antibiotic sensibilities were analysed with the disc diffusion and E-test methods. The detection of resistant genes was determined by a multiplex PCR method. RESULTS: Forty-nine percent E. faecalis, 46% E. faecium, 4 E. avium and 2 E. durans were detected. E. faecium resistance rates were significantly higher than E. faecalis (p < 0.001). The resistant genes were analysed in 50 enterococcus strains. The vanA gene was found in 29 of the 30 VRE strains. The most prevalent AMEs genes were aac (6')-Ie-aph (2")-Ia gene (72%), followed by aph (3')-IIIa gene (30%). The ermB gene was found in 49 of a total of 50 strains. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that aac (6')-Ie-aph (2")-Ia, ermB, and vanA genes are common among enterococci isolates in our hospital and spread of VRE along with acquisition of resistance to most of the antibiotics used in therapy.