Quercetin (QU) is a flavonoid found in different fruits and vegetables. Studies report that QU may have positive effects on neurological diseases. However, the effect of QU on 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)-induced neurodegeneration in neuronal cells is still not fully elucidated. In this study, the effects of QU on 4-AP-induced hippocampal neuron damage in vitro and the possible role of oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress in this effect were investigated. The study was carried out using the HT-22 hippocampal neuronal cell line. The effect of pre-treatment with QU on cell viability after 4-AP-induced neuronal damage was determined by the XTT test. Cells were evaluated histopathologically for apoptotic nuclear change (ANC) using DAPI staining. The effects of QU on oxidative stress (total oxidant state (TOS) and total antioxidant status (TAS)) occurring after neuronal damage were evaluated with colorimetric commercial kits and endoplasmic reticulum stress markers (activating transcription factor 4 (ATF-4) and C/EBP homologous protein). (CHOP) was measured with the ELISA kits. While the cell viability rate decreased in the cells treated with 4-AP, it was determined that pre-treatment with QU reversed this situation. In terms of histopathology, treatment with 4-AP increased the number of ANC, while QU pre-treatment reduced it. In addition, in terms of biochemical evaluations, TOS, ATF-4, and CHOP increased in neuronal cells after 4-AP, and QU was determined to suppress this increase. In addition, QU normalized the decreased TAS levels following the 4-AP application. As a result, in the HT-22 cell line, it was found that QU treatment had a neuroprotective effect by suppressing oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress in 4-AP-induced neuronal damage.

A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy farm of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Khumaltar, Lalitpur to evaluate the effect of sowing dates and seed rates on yield and yield attributes of wheat. The experiment was laid in a split-plot design with three replications treated with 4 sowing dates as the main plot factor (12th Nov, 27th Nov, 12th Dec, and 27th Dec) and 4 seed rates as subplot factor (100 kg ha-1, 120 kg ha-1, 140 kg ha-1 and 160 kg ha-1). Results revealed that the leaf area index was significantly affected by sowing dates and was comparatively superior in 2nd sowing date (27th Nov) wheat. Similarly, in the case of seed rates, the leaf area index was influenced significantly and was recorded to be increasing with an increase in seed rates. Phenological parameters like days to 50% heading, flowering, and maturity were observed maximum (116, 123, and 179 days, respectively) in early sown wheat and reduced with the subsequent delay in sowing. Maximum values of yield and yield attributes like effective tillers per meter square (635.6), spike length (9.56 cm), grains per spike (41.49), grain yield (7.59 Mt ha-1), and straw yield (9.58 Mt ha-1) were observed in the wheat sown in 2nd date (on 27th Nov) which differed significantly to wheat sown on other dates. Seed rates had no significant influence on grain yield and yield attributes. Thousand-grain weight was found maximum (46.26 g) in early sown wheat (on 12th Nov sown wheat, reduced with the subsequent delay in sowing, and the harvest index was observed as maximum (0.51) under December 27 sown wheat. Though the yield and its attributes were not influenced significantly by seed rate, the maximum yield (6.18 Mt ha-1) was observed in wheat sown at the rate of 120 kg ha-1. Considering seed yield and its parameters, 2nd date of sowing wheat (27th Nov) and seed rate of 100 kg ha-1 could be the best option to uplift the productivity of wheat in rainfed lowland conditions of Lalitpur, Nepal.

Functional foods are the name given to food groups that, when consumed, have beneficial effects such as promoting and maintaining metabolic health and preventing diseases, rather than just meeting nutritional needs. Rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum L.), is a plant that grows naturally in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey and on the coasts of Cyprus, has been consumed in these regions for many years. The consumption of the rock samphire, which draws attention with its high iodine and bioactive component content, has been limited to the regions where it grows. In this study, the local consumption habits, recipes of the rock samphire plant and the awareness of its functional properties were determined. In the study, six different recipes were obtained from the local people. Traditional products prepared according to the recipes were photographed by the authors. In addition, twenty local people were interviewed and it was determined that consumers were informed about the functional properties of the rock samphire and that these properties motivated consumers to consume the plant. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the integration of locally-consumed rock samphire into the daily diets by introducing them into non-regional cuisines would contribute positively to the general public health and the economy of the region.

The farm is an abstract category in Economic theory for describing agents managing farming activity, while the real governing structures are farms of different juridical types – physical persons, sole traders, cooperatives, ago=companies, etc. Most of the time, farm’s competitiveness is inadequately assessed through technical and accountancy efficiency, factors’ productivity, profitability, market shares, etc. because critical governance aspects are ignored. This article incorporates the interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics assumptions and principles and tries to give new insights on the real competitiveness of economic organizations in modern agriculture.  It suggests a holistic framework for assessing farm’ competitiveness taking into account economic, financial, and governance efficiency, and evaluates absolute and comparative competitiveness of governing structures of Bulgarian farming. The novel assessment system includes four pillars, four criteria, 17 particular, and 5 integral indicators. The first-in-kind evaluation, based on survey data, found that the competitiveness of Bulgarian farms is good. The competitiveness of cooperatives is highest, followed by corporations and associations, sole traders, and physical persons. Critical for competitive positions of farms are: low productivity, income, financial security, and adaptability to natural environment, where public support and farms’ management strategies should be directed. Large shares of the country’s farms have low competitiveness, and if measures are not taken to improve management, restructuring, state support, etc., many farms will cease to exist in the near future. In some cases, other characteristics of governing structures like size, specialization, market orientation, and ecological location, are critical for determining competitiveness level. The suggested and successfully tested framework for assessing the competitiveness of farms should be further improved and applied more widely and periodically in the country and internationally. The precision and representativeness of the information used should also be improved by increasing the number of surveyed farms and their important characteristics. The later requires close cooperation with producer organizations, national agricultural advisory service, and other interested parties as well as extending and improving the system for collecting agro-statistical information in the country and the EU.

This research was carried out within the scope of spatial evaluation of the land and soil properties of Edirne-Meriç district, located in the Thrace region (Türkiye) by using GIS. Arc GIS 10.3.1 software was used in the classification of soil and land features. Digital soil maps (1/25.000 scale) were used to determine soil and land properties. Alos Palsar (12.5m) satellite images were used to determine land elevation and aspect distributions. As a result of the research, it was seen that the soil class with the largest area in terms of large soil groups in Meriç district is lime-free brown forest soils (261.2 km2). III. It was determined that class lands (153.7 km2) cover the largest area. In general, it was observed that the soil depth was greater than 150 cm (261.9 km2). It was determined that 23.3 km2 of the Meriç district lands were exposed to severe water erosion. It was determined that the study area consists of lands with a steep slope of 12-20% (126.7 km2). It has been observed that the height distribution of Meriç district lands varies between 4.7-120.5 m. It was defined that the majority of the lands were in the southwestern direction group. It is thought that the soil and land information database created as a result of the research will make significant contributions to researchers and the public, institutions and organizations.

Hospital gardens, located within urban open-green areas, are places created for patients coming to the hospital, their relatives and the staff working in the hospital to spend time in an environment where they can renew themselves. The importance of these places is increasing day by day. The purpose of this study is to examine the landscape design of the Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine hospital garden located on the Selcuk University Alaeddin Keykubad Campus. The findings show that the hospital garden was generally not designed in accordance with landscape design principles. With the suggestions developed, this hospital garden can be redesigned in accordance with landscape design principles and made more comfortable for people using the hospital garden.

Telomeres are natural nucleoprotein structures that cover the ends of chromosomes. The phenomenon of telomere shortening, which plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of the genome, occurs gradually over time when cells undergo division due to the end replication issue. Multiple studies have demonstrated a correlation between telomere shortening and a range of illnesses, including diabetes, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. Diet and lifestyle can affect telomere length. There exists a beneficial association between telomere length and the Mediterranean diet, particularly with regards to the consumption of dietary fiber derived from whole grains and vegetables. Micronutrients such as vitamins and trace elements also play a role in cell metabolism.  Some micronutrients, such as vitamin D, folate, and vitamin B12, are associated with telomere biology and cellular aging. Vitamin B12 is essential for DNA synthesis and epigenetic methylation processes. The present systematic review examines the results from clinical trials conducted in humans evaluating the role of vitamin B12 on telomere length. Cellular senescence is a state characterized by inflammation, altered cellular metabolism, genomic instability, and telomere dysfunction, which can be induced by changes in methylation patterns and oxidative stress. Vitamin B12 maintains antioxidative defense. Through these pathways, sufficient amounts of vitamin B12 may potentially play a role in the restoration of DNA damage. Most of the evidence is based on very few randomized clinical trials. Therefore, more extensive prospective cohort studies and better-designed randomized clinical trials are required to validate the correlations outlined in this review.

Bu çalışma, Türkiye’nin Göller Bölgesi’nde farklı lokasyonlarda yabani olarak yetişen Prangos platychlaena (endemik) bitkisinin meyvelerinin uçucu yağ oranını ve bileşenlerini belirlemek amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Türe ait meyve örnekleri iki farklı lokasyondan (Isparta, Sütçüler/Çandır ve Burdur, Bucak/Kızılkaya) sarı olum döneminde toplanmış, meyvelerin uçucu yağları hidrodistilasyon cihazı ile elde edilirken, uçucu yağ bileşenleri ise GC-MS cihazı kullanılarak belirlenmiştir. Çandır lokasyonunda yetişen bitkilerde meyve uçucu yağ oranı%0,16±0,02, Kızılkaya lokasyonunda ise%0,25±0,06 olarak belirlenmiştir. Çandır lokasyonundan alınan meyvelerin 54 bileşenden, Kızılkaya lokasyonundan alınan meyvelerin ise 44 bileşenden oluştuğu belirlenmiş, türün meyvelerinde toplam 73 farklı bileşen tespit edilmiştir. Uçucu yağı oluşturan bileşenler ve oranları lokasyonlara göre kalitatif ve kantitatif varyasyonlar göstermiştir. Her iki lokasyonda da uçucu yağı oluşturan ana bileşenler germacrene-D (%17,08-%20,24), β-bisabolene (%7,53-%17,83), β-copaene (%0,92-%11,70), caryophyllene oxide (%6,23-%6,30), β-farnesene (%3,21-%5,66), δ-cadinene (%3,50-%3,87) ve ledane (%3,35-%3,22) olarak tespit edilmiştir. Çalışmada türün yetiştiği bölgenin ekolojik faktörlerinin, özellikle rakımın uçucu yağ oranı ve bileşenleri üzerinde önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğu anlaşılmıştır.

Bu çalışma Çukurova Bölgesinde yetiştirilen mandaların süt yağ asit bileşimini ortaya koymak ve fonksiyonel bir gıda olarak önemini vurgulamak amacıyla yapılmıştır. Çalışmamızın materyalini oluşturan mandaların süt yağında en yüksek oranlara sahip yağ asitleri C14:0 (miristik asit) yaz mevsiminde %11,22 ve kış mevsiminde %11,34, C16:0 (palmitik asit) yaz mevsiminde %36,07 ve kış mevsiminde %35,77, C18:0 (stearik asit) yaz mevsiminde %11,23 ve kış mevsiminde %11,20 ve C18:1n9c (oleik asit) yaz mevsiminde %24,63 ve kış mevsiminde %24,77 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Yapılan analiz sonucunda mevsimin etkisi istatistiki olarak önemsiz çıkmıştır (P>0,01). Süt yağında doymuş yağ asitlerinin oranları (SFA) (%67,9 ila 68,09), tekli doymamış yağ asitlerinin (MUFA) (%28,87 ila 29,04) ve çoklu doymamış yağ asitlerinin (PUFA) (%3,04 ila 3,06) arasındadır. Çukurova Bölgesinde yetiştirilen mandalarda süt yağ asitlerinin belirlenmesi konusunda yapılan çalışma yok denecek kadar azdır. Bu noktada manda süt yağ asit kompozisyonuna ilişkin genel bir veri elde edilmesi amacı ile yapılan bu çalışma sonuçlarının mevcut durumun tespiti ve gelecekte muhtemel gelişmeler yönünde katkı sağlayacak kapsamlı araştırmalara veri oluşturabileceği öngörülmektedir.

In this study, 34 molds showing pectin degradation activity were isolated from the soil of orchards, by several tests.  By using these isolates, pectinase group enzymes; studies on pectin lyase and polygalacturonase production were performed in the batch system and under non-sterile culture conditions. 5 isolates denoting polygalacturonase activity were coded as: T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and the best polygalacturonase activity among these isolates was determined as 354.4 U/L in T4 isolate. Thus, optimization analyses continued by the use of this isolate. Initial apricot pulp concentration, temperature, pH and incubation period were tested as optimization parameters. The effects on enzyme activities were investigated by changing the initial apricot pulp concentration in the range of 5-100 (g/L), and in this regard, polygalacturonase activity was determined as 397.4 U/L at 50 g/L. In addition, the pH parameter was analyzed in each unit between pH = 3 – 8, and the temperature was tested by increasing 5 units in the range of 5-25°C. Consequently, the maximum polygalacturonase activity was determined as 405.7 U/L at pH 5 and 406.3 U/L at 15°C. Besides, the effect of the incubation period was studied within 1-5 days and the maximum polygalacturonase activity was determined as 429.0 U/L on the 4th day (after 96 hours). As a result, the above-mentioned T4 isolate, with which the optimization studies were conducted, was identified as Sarocladium strictum (Top ekinküfü) T4 by molecular methods.