The microbial community in a green turtle nesting beach in the Mediterranean: application of the Biolog EcoPlate approach for beach pollution

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to characterize the microbial community and its relationship with heavy metal pollution in the beaches of Sugözü, an...     

Higher number of microplastics in tumoral colon tissues from patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Microplastics have been detected in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, yet the toxic effects of microplastics on living organisms are poorly known. In particular,...     

Determination of 7-ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD) induction in leaping mullet (Liza saliens) from the highly contaminated Aliaga Bay, Turkey

Pollution of the aquatic environment is a global concern owing to the devastating effects of contaminants whose levels are growing at an alarming rate, and it has become a major threat for marine organisms, as well as to humans as consumers. This study has been carried out on leaping mullet obtained from Aliaga Bay, which is located on the west coast of the Aegean Sea near Izmir and hosts the world’s fifth largest shipyard, plus a broad range of industrial activities, including an oil refinery and a paper factory. The waste from these industries, combined with municipal sewer discharges, is the main cause of pollution in this region. There is no national documentation or research on the determination of pollution resulting from the industrial activities in this area. In the present study, the degree of induction of CYP4501A-associated 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity and immunochemical detection of CYP1A1 in the liver of leaping mullet (Lisa saliens) were used as biomarkers for the assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-type organic pollutants in Aliaga Bay. Mullet caught from different locations of the bay had approximately 52 times more EROD activity than the feral fish sampled from a clean reference site near Foca, Izmir. The results of this study indicate that Aliaga Bay is highly contaminated with PAH-type organic pollutants.     

Integrated risk prioritization and action selection for cold chain

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cold chain, which affects human health and quality of life, is applied for temperature-sensitive and perishable products. Any problems occurring in...     

Buying price of event information in two-action decision problems

Being able to determine in advance whether certain events occur or not enables a decision maker to reduce the uncertainty of a two-action lottery, although the exact outcome of the lottery may still not be known with certainty. This paper studies the á priori value of information in such a decision making environment. Of interest to the decision maker is to compare the value of information about different events in advance of gathering the information. Using buying price as value of information, we show that when information about the occurrence of two different events are offered to a risk neutral decision maker, the event with a greater contribution in absolute value to the expected value of the lottery has higher value in terms of its buying price. For risk averse decision makers, a preference condition needs to be imposed on the set difference of two events to obtain a generic conclusion. We provide several examples that demonstrate the usefulness of these results.     

Prenatal sonographic features of esophageal and ileal duplications at 18 weeks of gestation

We present a case of esophageal and ileal duplications at 18 weeks of gestation. Transabdominal ultrasonography of the fetus showed multiple cystic masses of 12 to 17 mm in diameter and continuity with each other in the abdomen and a unilocular cystic mass of 15 mm in diameter in the posterior mediastinum. The cystic mass filled the abdominal cavity with signs of intestinal obstruction. The thoracic cystic mass was tubular, sausage-shaped and behind the heart, which was displaced to the antero-lateral wall of the chest. Amniocentesis revealed a normal fetal karyotype 46,XY. Peristaltic movements in the abdominal cystic structure at 30 weeks of gestation suggested dilated intestinal loops. Follow-up ultrasound examinations showed polyhydramnios with amniotic fluid index of 30 cm and gradual enlargement of the cystic structures to 50 mm in the abdomen and 30 mm in the posterior mediastinum at 38 weeks of gestation. A male infant weighing 3900 g was delivered. Postnatal ultrasonographic examination and the findings of magnetic resonance imaging also suggested enteric duplication cysts. Prenatal diagnosis allowed prompt neonatal evaluation and surgical treatment of the esophageal and the ileal duplications, which was confirmed by pathological examination. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CO2 capture,utilization, and storage (CCUS) storage site selection using DEMATEL-based Grey Relational Analysis and evaluation of carbon emissions with the ARIMA method

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Various systems are increasing gradually to reduce environmental concerns carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) systems are one of the most...     

Cytogenetic biomonitoring of primary school children exposed to air pollutants: micronuclei analysis of buccal epithelial cells

There is an increasing attempt in the world to determine the exposures of children to environmental chemicals. To analyze the genotoxic effect of air pollution, micronucleus (MN) assay was carried out in buccal epithelial cells (BECs) of children living in an urban city of Turkey. Children from two schools at urban-traffic and suburban sites were investigated in summer and winter seasons for the determination of BEC-MN frequency (per mille) and frequency of BEC with MN (per mille). The same children were also recruited for lung function measurements within a MATRA project (“Together Towards Clean Air in Eskisehir and Iskenderun”) Measured NO₂ and SO₂ concentrations did not exceed the European Union (EU) limit levels either in urban-traffic or suburban regions. Higher O₃ concentrations were measured in the suburban site especially in the summer period. Particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) levels which did not differ statistically between two regions were above the EU limits in general. Although BEC-MN frequencies of children living in the suburban sites were higher in general, the difference between two regions was not significant either in the summer or winter periods. BEC-MN frequencies of the urban-traffic children were found to be significantly higher in summer period (mean ± SD, 2.68?±?1.99) when compared to winter period (1.64?±?1.59; p?=?0.004). On the other hand, no seasonality was observed for the suburban children. Similar results have been obtained in the BEC frequency with MN in our study. In summer, BEC-MN frequencies were significantly increased with the decrease in pulmonary function levels based on forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75 % of vital capacity (FEF_25–75 %) levels (p?<?0.05). As a conclusion, children living in urban-traffic and suburban areas in the city of Eski?ehir exhibited similar genotoxicity. Seasonal variation in genotoxicity may be interpreted as relatively high ozone levels and increasing time spent at outdoors in the summer.     

Monitoring of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) and some derivatives in fish products in the Turkey market

The exposure to bisphenols and their derivatives was assessed in 33 fish products sold in Turkey using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). BADGE was determined in only four samples at concentrations ranging between 0.06 and 0.22 mg/kg. As the most abundant bisphenol groups, BADGE-hydrolyzed products such as BADGE·H₂O and BADGE·2H₂O were present in nine and fourteen samples in the range between 0.06–0.16 and 0.06–0.72 mg/kg, respectively. The total concentration of BADGE and hydrolyzed products was below the specific migration limit (SML) value of 9 mg/kg food, which in the European Union stated as tolerable. Chlorinated derivatives of BADGE were detected in fewer samples compared with hydrolyzed ones. BADGE·H₂O·HCl was the predominant migrant among chlorinated derivatives and was present in seven samples in a range between 0.02 and 0.06 mg/kg. All other samples contained less than or equal to 0.03 mg/kg of BADGE·HCl and BADGE·2HCl. The sum of these derivatives was lower than the SML value (1 mg/kg) of BADGE chlorohydrins legislated by the European Union. Besides these migrants, the analyzed samples did not contain any BFDGE and 3R-NOGE, which are prohibited in manufacturing food contact materials.