Münevver Arisoy

Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Bioaerosols in Indoor Urban Environments, Ankara, Turkey

Seasonal and spatial variations of both levels and characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in various types of non-complaint indoor environments and their outdoors were investigated. Bioaerosol samples were collected by the single-stage Andersen sampler during the winter and summer seasons in Ankara, Turkey. Indoor and outdoor temperature, relative humidity (RH) and CO2 concentrations were also monitored online during the sampling. Bacteria levels in apartments were found to be considerably elevated when people were present. Significant relationships between bioaerosol levels and RH and CO2 concentrations (p<0.05) were found. Bacteria levels exhibited a seasonal variation, while fungi levels did not, probably due to lower fungi concentrations occurrence as a result of lower RH values (median: 30%). Measured low levels of fungi in this study may be due to geographical conditions, climatic factors, and other environmental conditions. The indoor to outdoor (I/O) ratio for bacteria levels were found to be significantly higher than 1.0, while indoor and outdoor fungi levels were similar. Winter to summer (W/S) ratios in the sampling site groups varied on a large scale for both culturable fungi concentrations (0.24–19.59) and total bacteria count (0.16–6.59). The most prominent bacteria were Micrococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Bacillus spp., while the most predominant fungi were Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp. and Cladosporium spp.

Age-related enzyme activity in different genotypes of alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) in Drosophila melanogaster.

Ageing is a complex phenomenon with possibly a multitude of contributions from many genes. In our study, we tested the degree of contribution of alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) polymorphism (as specific enzyme activities) to ageing in Drosophila melanogaster. Our results indicate an overdominance of FS genotypes on ageing flies, with the two homozygotes, i.e., FF and SS, having significantly lower mean longevities. However, that kind of life-span–genotype relationship was not detected when the genotypes were observed for the immediate function of the Adhlocus, ADH enzyme activity in which mean ADH-FF activity was the highest as compared to those of ADH-FS and ADH-SS. This irrelevancy of the ADH enzyme function to ageing, with an obvious overdominance effect of Adh locus, is discussed considering Adhs known relation to other life history traits.

Biosorption of cadmium(II) and lead(II) from aqueous solutions using Pleurotus ostreatus immobilized on bentonite

ABSTRACT The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential of a white rot fungi (P. ostreatus) immobilized on bentonite, in a continuous flow removal of trace heavy metals. The procedure is based on the biosorption of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions on a column of bentonite loaded with dried, dead fungi components prior to their determination by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Cd(II) and Pb(II) were determined with a relative error of less than 5%. Various parameters such as “pH, amount of adsorbent, eluent type and volume, flow rate of the solution and matrix interference effect” on the retention of the metal ions were investigated. This procedure was applied to Cd(II) and Pb(II) determination in aqueous solutions, including tap water system. The optimum experimental parameters were determined to be pH 5, concentration of 10 mg/L, contact time of 30 min and 0.2 g of adsorbent for a quantitative adsorption of the metals. The optimum flow rate was found to be 2.5 mL/min for all metal ions. Each column can be used up to 20 successive analyses without considerable change in recoveries of metal ions. The proposed method is excellent as regards simplicity, sensitivity, selectivity, precision, accuracy and column stability.

Presence of Enterobius vermicularis infections and food hygiene knowledge levels among catering industry personnel

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the presence of Enterobius vermicularis in workers in hospital kitchens in Ankara, Turkey and the levels of their food hygiene knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – The study included 270 employees of six catering companies that cater to hospitals in Ankara who agreed to participate in the study. Two-part questionnaires were used. The first part solicited demographic information, and the second part’s questions determined the workers’ personal hygiene knowledge. Samples taken from the participants to determine the presence of Enterobius vermicularis were collected using the cellophane application method. Findings – The parasite was found in 78.1 percent of the personnel. The average hygiene knowledge scores were 58.94+18.1 on a 100-point scale. The changes introduced by the new “Food Hygiene Regulation” should be implemented without abolishing the food handler (FH) examination. Originality/value – Food safety is an important issue that can affect lots...