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Article Citation - WoS: 24Citation - Scopus: 27The Pimpled Gold Nanosphere: a Superior Candidate for Plasmonic Photothermal Therapy(Dove Medical Press Ltd, 2020) Nasseri, Behzad; Turk, Mustafa; Kosemehmetoglu, Kemal; Kaya, Murat; Piskin, Erhan; Rabiee, Navid; Webster, Thomas J.Background: The development of highly efficient nanoparticles to convert light to heat for anti-cancer applications is quite a challenging field of research. Methods: In this study, we synthesized unique pimpled gold nanospheres (PGNSs) for plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT). The light-to-heat conversion capability of PGNSs and PPTT damage at the cellular level were investigated using a tissue phantom model. The ability of PGNSs to induce robust cellular damage was studied during cytotoxicity tests on colorectal adenocarcinoma (DLD-1) and fibroblast cell lines. Further, a numerical model of plasmonic (COMSOL Multiphysics) properties was used with the PPTT experimental assays. Results: A low cytotoxic effect of thiolated polyethylene glycol (SH-PEG400-SH-) was observed which improved the biocompatibility of PGNSs to maintain 89.4% cell viability during cytometry assays (in terms of fibroblast cells for 24 hrs at a concentration of 300 mu g/mL). The heat generated from the nanoparticle-mediated phantom models resulted in Delta T=30 degrees C, Delta T=23.1 degrees C and Delta T=21 degrees C for the PGNSs, AuNRs, and AuNPs, respectively (at a 300 mu g/mL concentration and for 325 sec). For the in vitro assays of PPTT on cancer cells, the PGNS group induced a 68.78% lethality (apoptosis) on DLD-1 cells. Fluorescence microscopy results showed the destruction of cell membranes and nuclei for the PPTT group. Experiments further revealed a penetration depth of sufficient PPTT damage in a physical tumor model after hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining through pathological studies (at depths of 2, 3 and 4 cm). Severe structural damages were observed in the tissue model through an 808-nm laser exposed to the PGNSs. Conclusion: Collectively, such results show much promise for the use of the present PGNSs and photothermal therapy for numerous anti-cancer applications.Article Citation - WoS: 13Citation - Scopus: 16An Analytic Network Process Based Risk Assessment Model for Ppp Hydropower Investments(Vilnius Gediminas Tech Univ, 2021) Akcay, Emre CanerThe number of public-private partnership (PPP) projects has gone up especially in developing countries. The risk assessment of PPP projects is essential in ensuring project success. The objective of this study is to develop an Analytic Network Process (ANP) based risk assessment model for hydropower investments, and a tool to facilitate quantification of risk ratings based on this model. The results show that the three most important risk factors that affect the overall risk rating of a PPP hydropower investment are legal risks, contractor/subcontractor risks, and operator risks. In addition, the three most important risk clusters were identified as stakeholders, government requirements, and resources, whereas market was the least important cluster. The tool that measures the risk rating of a PPP of hydropower project was tested on ten real cases, and satisfactory results were obtained in terms of its predictive capability. The contributions of this research include (1) identification of the risk factors and clusters of factors associated with PPP hydropower investments; (2) determination of the priority of each risk factor and cluster; (3) development a tool that guides the investors through the risk assessment of PPP hydropower investments.Article Citation - WoS: 58Fast Neutron Imaging With Semiconductor Nanocrystal Scintillators(Amer Chemical Soc, 2020) McCall, Kyle M.; Sakhatskyi, Kostiantyn; Lehmann, Eberhard; Walfort, Bernhard; Losko, Adrian S.; Montanarella, Federico; Kovalenko, Maksym, VFast neutrons offer high penetration capabilities for both light and dense materials due to their comparatively low interaction cross sections, making them ideal for the imaging of large-scale objects such as large fossils or as-built plane turbines, for which X-rays or thermal neutrons do not provide sufficient penetration. However, inefficient fast neutron detection limits widespread application of this technique. Traditional phosphors such as ZnS:Cu embedded in plastics are utilized as scintillators in recoil proton detectors for fast neutron imaging. However, these scintillation plates exhibit significant light scattering due to the plastic-phosphor interface along with long-lived afterglow (on the order of minutes), and therefore alternative solutions are needed to increase the availability of this technique. Here, we utilize colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) in hydrogen-dense solvents for fast neutron imaging through the detection of recoil protons generated by neutron scattering, demonstrating the efficacy of nanomaterials as scintillators in this detection scheme. The light yield, spatial resolution, and neutron-vs-gamma sensitivity of several chalcogenide (CdSe and CuInS2)-based and perovskite halide-based NCs are determined, with only a short-lived afterglow (below the order of seconds) observed for all of these NCs. FAPbBr(3) NCs exhibit the brightest total light output at 19.3% of the commercial ZnS:Cu(PP) standard, while CsPbBrCl2:Mn NCs offer the best spatial resolution at similar to 2.6 mm. Colloidal NCs showed significantly lower gamma sensitivity than ZnS:Cu; for example, 79% of the FAPbBr(3) light yield results from neutron-induced radioluminescence and hence the neutron-specific light yield of FAPbBr(3) is 30.4% of that of ZnS:Cu(PP). Concentration and thickness-dependent measurements highlight the importance of increasing concentrations and reducing self-absorption, yielding design principles to optimize and foster an era of NC-based scintillators for fast neutron imaging.Article Citation - WoS: 39Citation - Scopus: 44A Novel Treatment Strategy for Preterm Birth: Intra-Vaginal Progesterone-Loaded Fibrous Patches(Elsevier, 2020) Cam, Muhammet Emin; Hazar-Yavuz, Ayse Nur; Cesur, Sumeyye; Ozkan, Ozan; Alenezi, Hussain; Sasmazel, Hilal Turkoglu; Edirisinghe, MohanProgesterone-loaded poly(lactic) acid fibrous polymeric patches were produced using electrospinning and pressurized gyration for infra-vaginal application to prevent preterm birth. The patches were intravaginally inserted into rats in the final week of their pregnancy, equivalent to the third trimester of human pregnancy. Maintenance tocolysis with progesterone-loaded patches was elucidated by recording the contractile response of uterine smooth muscle to noradrenaline in pregnant rats. Both progesterone-loaded patches indicated similar results from release and thermal studies, however, patches obtained by electrospinning had smaller average diameters and more uniform dispersion compared to pressurized gyration. Patches obtained by pressurized gyration had better results in production yield and tensile strength than electrospinning; thereby pressurized gyration is better suited for scaled-up production. The patches did not affect cell attachment, viability, and proliferation on Vero cells negatively. Consequently, progesterone-loaded patches are a novel and successful treatment strategy for preventing preterm birth.Article Citation - WoS: 11Citation - Scopus: 20The Taylor Series Method and Trapezoidal Rule on Time Scales(Elsevier Science inc, 2020) Georgiev, Svetlin G.; Erhan, Inci M.The Taylor series method for initial value problems associated with dynamic equations of first order on time scales with delta differentiable graininess function is introduced. The trapezoidal rule for the same types of problems is derived and applied to specific examples. Numerical results are presented and discussed. (c) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Article Citation - WoS: 18Citation - Scopus: 18Metagenomic and Chemical Analysis of Tarhana During Traditional Fermentation Process(Elsevier, 2021) Soyucok, Ali; Yurt, Mediha Nur Zafer; Altunbas, Osman; Ozalp, Veli Cengiz; Sudagidan, MertTarhana is one of the favourable traditional fermented food consumed as a soup. Different flour, vegetables, spices and yogurt are main constituents and they compose of microbiota of Tarhana. In this study, bacterial communities in each fermentation process and in their constituents were identified by metagenomic analysis. Also, chemical properties (pH, acidity, salt content and dry matter) were analysed in each step. The results showed that in the dough formation, mainly Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Enterococcus and Streptococcus were present and after Day 4, Clostridium and Bacillus became dominant, after drying Clostridium disappeared and in the final product bacterial communities from Bacillus and Streptococcus genus were observed. Chemical analysis showed that pH decreased from 4.94 to 4.46, acidity increased by time at the beginning of fermentation from 7.5% to 22.5% in first 6 days period, then, became stable at 14% in drying process. Salt content increased by time from 1.74 to 3.08 g salt/100 g Tarhana in first 8 days and in drying process salt content was recorded as 2.81-2.90 and dry matter was obtained as 94 g dry matter/100 g Tarhana in the final product. This study elucidated the effects of ingredients, raw materials and how microbiota and chemical properties changes during fermentation steps of home-made traditional Tarhana production and thus preparation methods could be developed to obtain standardized Tarhana products for industrial production in future.Article Queer Lives in the Social Media Prism: Precarious LGBTQIA Plus Visibility and Lateral Surveillance in Azerbaijan(Sage Publications Inc, 2025) Seyidov, Ilgar; Pentzold, ChristianIn countries where state institutions and the public largely reject LGBTQIA+ identities and issues, queer people struggle with visibility. Next to governments and technology providers, what queer people do, who they connect to, and how they express themselves is being watched and scrutinized by their families and proximate relations. This lateral surveillance is afforded by social media that establish, as we argue in this article, a prism. Here, LGBTQIA+ lives become refracted as extensive though incoherent patterns of digital traces. How queer people respond to this situation where the binary of visible versus invisible falls apart is poorly understood. To address that gap, we interrogate the precarious management of visibility attempted by LGBTQIA+ people in Azerbaijan with its heteropatriarchal, honor-driven culture. Based on our exploratory interview study, we find that queer Azerbaijanis were confronted with a highly ambivalent scopic setup where context collision loomed large. In effect, they supported LGBTQIA+ visibility but had personally decided not to live or promote it. Yet whilst their attempts to remain opaque may contradict their activistic compliancy, this was a logical reaction to too hard to handle terms of visibility.Article Citation - WoS: 4Citation - Scopus: 7Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Intraocular Lens Calcification After Pars Plana Vitrectomy(Mdpi, 2023) Bopp, Silvia; Ozdemir, Huseyin Baran; Aktas, Zeynep; Khoramnia, Ramin; Yildirim, Timur M.; Schickhardt, Sonja; Ozdek, SengulAim: To determine the clinical risk factors that may increase the occurrence of intraocular lens (IOL) calcification in patients who had undergone pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). Methods: The medical records of 14 patients who underwent IOL explantation due to clinically significant IOL opacification after PPV were reviewed. The date of primary cataract surgery, technique and implanted IOL characteristics; the time, cause and technique of PPV; tamponade used; additional surgeries; the time of IOL calcification and explantation; and IOL explantation technique were investigated. Results: PPV had been performed as a combined procedure with cataract surgery in eight eyes and solely in six pseudophakic eyes. The IOL material was hydrophilic in six eyes, hydrophilic with a hydrophobic surface in seven eyes and undetermined in one eye. The endotamponades used during primary PPV were C2F6 in eight eyes, C3F8 in one eye, air in two eyes and silicone oil in three eyes. Two of three eyes underwent subsequent silicone oil removal and gas tamponade exchange. Gas in the anterior chamber was detected in six eyes after PPV or silicone oil removal. The mean interval between PPV and IOL opacification was 20.5 +/- 18.6 months. The mean BCVA in logMAR was 0.43 +/- 0.42 after PPV, which significantly decreased to 0.67 +/- 0.68 before IOL explantation for IOL opacification (p = 0.007) and increased to 0.48 +/- 0.59 after the IOL exchange (p = 0.015). Conclusions: PPV with endotamponades in pseudophakic eyes, particularly gas, seems to increase the risk for secondary IOL calcification, especially in hydrophilic IOLs. IOL exchange seems to solve this problem when clinically significant vision loss occurs.Article Citation - WoS: 45Citation - Scopus: 49Recrystallization and Grain Growth Kinetics of In718 Manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion(Elsevier, 2022) Dogu, Merve Nur; Davut, Kemal; Obeidi, Muhannad Ahmed; Yalcin, Mustafa Alp; Gu, Hengfeng; Low, Thaddeus Song En; Brabazon, DermotThe recrystallization and grain growth behaviour of IN718 alloy additively manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is presented herein. The effects of three different temperatures (1050, 1150 and 1250 degrees C) and holding times (15, 45 and 90 min) were investigated. The texture evolution of the samples was recorded via electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The as-built sample is composed of bowl-shaped melt pools, a chessboard-like grain pattern and has a cube texture {100}<001>. Recrystallized grains were observed in the samples treated at 1150 degrees C for 15 min, as well as the samples treated for longer periods and at higher temperatures. Recrystallization was observed to start from high dislocation density regions, including the overlapping melt pools and the borders of the chessboard-like pattern. The initial cube texture transforms into a first-generation cube-twin texture {122}<212> via a twinning-assisted recrystallization mechanism. Then, those recrystallization nuclei sweep through the high defect density matrix; during which almost no new twins are formed. The samples treated at 1250 degrees C are almost completely recrystallized, which forms a weaker cube texture and a stronger P-orientation {011}<112>. However, the growth of recrystallized grains is very limited due to the presence of non-coherent precipitates. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.Article Citation - WoS: 22Citation - Scopus: 25Effect of Solution Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Crystallographic Texture of In939 Fabricated by Powder Bed Fusion-Laser Beam(Elsevier, 2023) Dogu, Merve Nur; Ozer, Seren; Yalcin, Mustafa Alp; Davut, Kemal; Bilgin, Guney Mert; Obeidi, Muhannad Ahmed; Brabazon, DermotThe effect of various solution heat treatment temperatures (i.e., 1120, 1160, 1200 and 1240 & DEG;C) on the microstructure, grain morphology and crystallographic texture of IN939 fabricated by powder bed fusion-laser beam (PBF-LB) was investigated. Microstructural analyses showed that the high-temperature gradient and rapid solidification of the PBF-LB processing caused different resulting microstructures compared to conventionally pro-duced counterparts. The melt pool morphologies and laser scanning paths were examined in the as-fabricated samples in the XZ-and XY-planes, respectively. After the application of solution heat treatment at 1120 & DEG;C, the as-fabricated PBF-LB initial microstructure was still apparent. For solution heat treatments of 1200 & DEG;C and above, the melt pool and scanning path morphologies disappeared and converted into a mixture of columnar grains in the XZ-plane and equiaxed grains in the XY-plane. On the other hand, large equiaxed grains were observed when the samples were solutionized at 1240 & DEG;C. Additionally, g' phase precipitated within the matrix after all solution heat treatment conditions, which led to increase in the microhardness values. According to electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses, both as-fabricated and solution heat-treated samples had intense texture with {001} plane normal parallel to the building direction. The first recrystallized grains began to appear when the samples were subjected to the solution heat treatment at 1160 & DEG;C and the fraction of the recrystallized grains increased with increasing temperature, as supported by kernel average misorientation (KAM) and grain spread orientation (GOS) analyses.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
