{"title":"The situation of Covid-19 outbreak in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, during the time of pandemic fatigue","authors":"E. Evren, Hakan Evren","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has caused a massive impact on the entire world. Healthcare systems, economies, and social lives have already been overwhelmed. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), having been COVID-free for around two and a half months in the middle of the pandemic, is now facing a second wave of the infection after easing its preventive measures. Early implementation of precautions may dramatically reduce COVID-19 infections, but the virus is not eliminated. Additionally, the phenomenon \"pandemic fatigue\" introduced by the WHO is contributing to a significant decline in compliance with mitigation behaviors globally. With vaccines now rolling out, there is a reason to hope that there is an end in sight; however, it will most likely take a half year for widespread vaccinations to be in place. Decision-makers should analyze the effects of each intervention and pandemic fatigue to get ready for the further waves of infection.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48675520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IgA and IgG antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated health workers by a homemade ELISA diagnostic test","authors":"Tagliaferro Luigi, Menegazzi Paola, Cossa Luca Giulio, Maffia Michele","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has accelerated vaccine development and testing, an important step in its eradication. Health workers were included among the first subjects to be vaccinated, therefore it was necessary to check their immunological status after the first and second dose of vaccine. Serum samples belonging to 24 health workers undergoing vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) were analysed: for 2 of them it was also possible to obtain a serum sample prior to the first dose of vaccine (zero time); antibody dosing was performed in 18 out of 24 after the first and second vaccination dose; in the remaining 6 healthcare workers a serum sample was obtained only after the second dose. In each serum sample, IgA and IgG antibodies to \"Spike Receptor Binding Domain\" (RBD) and \"Nucleocapsid\" (N) proteins were searched by ELISA test. Except for the two subjects for whom it was possible to have a serum sample before vaccination, the others were collected on day 18 from the first dose of vaccine and on day 8 from the second dose. Serum samples collected after the first dose of vaccine showed reactivity to anti-RBD IgG in 11 out of 18 healthcare workers and to IgA in 2 subjects. After the second dose all 24 samples showed the presence of anti-S IgG, while 5 revealed a reactivity for anti-S IgA. Three samples showed reactivity towards anti-N IgG. The ELISA test has shown all its effectiveness in controlling post vaccine immunity and in discriminating natural immunity from vaccine induced immunity.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44087586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Ozsahin, Mehmet Ilker Gelisen, M. Taiwo, Yasemin Agachan, Dorrin Rahi, B. Uzun
{"title":"Decision Analysis of the COVID-19 Vaccines","authors":"D. Ozsahin, Mehmet Ilker Gelisen, M. Taiwo, Yasemin Agachan, Dorrin Rahi, B. Uzun","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The entire globe is struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March 11, 2020. There is still a large number of infected patients and death, and there is no proven treatment for the infection yet. This has led to the race in vaccine development to protect people from COVID-19 infection. As of February 3, 2021, there were 289 experimental COVID -19 vaccines in development, 66 of which were in clinical trials with different phases, and 20 of them were in phase 3. This study aims to evaluate 15 important vaccines based on criteria such as the dose number, dosing schedule, storage advantages, efficacy, and side effect. In this evaluation, we use the fuzzy PROMETHEE approach, which is an important Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique. The importance level of the criteria is determined based on expert opinion. The result shows that the EpiVacCorona vaccine is the most effective vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infections based on the selected criteria and the importance level of each criterion. The result obtained may change based on individual or expert’s priorities. Due to the use of different criteria for the ranking and different weightings of the criteria, the ranking result may differ. This study also shows the strengths and weaknesses of the selected vaccines and the applicability of the MCDM technique for the evaluation of COVID -19 vaccines.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43696374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
G. Tuncel, M. C. Ergoren, B. Baddal, P. Tulay, A. Arıkan, Emrah Guler, Cenk Serhan Ozverel, H. Kaya Suer, M. Sayan, T. Şanlıdağ
{"title":"Comparison of RT-qPCR results of different gene targets for SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic individuals during COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"G. Tuncel, M. C. Ergoren, B. Baddal, P. Tulay, A. Arıkan, Emrah Guler, Cenk Serhan Ozverel, H. Kaya Suer, M. Sayan, T. Şanlıdağ","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is regarded as the most sensitive method available and is being used for screening procedure for all incoming passengers to Northern Cyprus for SARS-CoV-2. This study investigated the compatibility of two different RT-qPCR methodologies Diagnovital® and Bio-Speedy® by re-analyzing the previously confirmed positive samples. A total of 43 previously confirmed positive samples were re-analyzed by two different commercially available SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR kits. Only 23.5% of positive samples detected by Diagnovital® RT-qPCR kit were detected by Bio-Speedy® detection kit. In conclusion, adoption of Diagnovital® RT-qPCR kit detecting two regions of SARS-CoV-2 genome in our laboratories enabled the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic cases with higher sensitivity and contributed to the prevention of viral transmission within the country. The timely detection of infection in asymptomatic individuals may be the key to a successful fight against the COVID- 19 pandemic.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42783970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Association Between Serum Carnitine Level, Glucose Regulation, Body Fat and Nutrient Intake in Diabetic Individuals","authors":"Ş. Özer, M. Karadağ","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Carnitine (β-hydroxy-γ-trimethyl amino butyrate) is, a vitamin-like substance carrying long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix. Due to its effect in energy metabolism, carnitine plays an important role in controlling diabetes and its complications. Studies on this topic have often focused on carnitine supplementation. This study was planned to investigate the relationship between serum carnitine level, glucose regulation and body fat in diabetic patients. A total of 64 people between the ages of 30-5, 32 patients with type 2 diabetes and 32 healthy subjects, were included in the study. Individual lipid profiles, glucose, insulin and serum carnitine levels were analyzed, anthropometric measurements were taken and 24-hour recall food consumption was recorded. As a result, blood glucose, insulin, triglyceride, VLDL-C, HDL-C and HOMA-IR were found to be higher in diabetic individuals than healthy group (p<0,05). Serum carnitine levels were found to be significantly lower in diabetic male (50,6±20,83 nmol/mL) than in healthy male (59,5±17,25 nmol/mL)(p<0,05). This difference was not statistically significant among female (p>0,05). It has been observed that intake of energy and macronutrients of diabetic individuals is generally lower than that of healthy individuals. Serum carnitine level was positively associated with polyunsaturated fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acid intake in male in the healthy group showed a negative correlation with fiber intake in female in the healthy group (p<0,05). There were negative correlations between serum carnitine level with body weight, body mass index and body fat mass in female in the healthy group (p<0,05). Individuals with diabetes are predisposed to dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. As a result; food consumption, and body fat affect individuals’ serum carnitine levels in type-2 diabetes. Since there is not enough study evaluating the relationship between anthropometric measurements of individuals and serum carnitine levels, it is thought that this result will guide future studies.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41824949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Munasinghe, S. Somaratne, S. Weerakoon, C. Ranasinghe
{"title":"In vitro production of sesquiterpenes by electro-elicitation in Gyrinops walla Gaetner calli and cell suspension cultures","authors":"D. Munasinghe, S. Somaratne, S. Weerakoon, C. Ranasinghe","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Aloeswood or Agarwood has long been perfumery commodity traded between Mediterranean Region and Southeast Asia since ancient times. Oil or chips are obtained by destructive harvesting of several Thymeleaceous genera includes Aquilaria and Gonystylus and are expensive and highly demanded ingredients in the global market. The recent recovery of Gyrinops walla as a potential producer of market-quality agarwood in mature damaged woods and branches, the intense illicit felling and exportation G. walla leading to the verge of extinction from Sri Lankan flora. The sustainable utilization of G. walla undoubtedly enhances the foreign exchange of the country and the non-destructive utilization G. walla through biotechnology is the only option available for sustainable exploitation and conservation of the vulnerable G. walla species. An electro-elicitation apparatuses were designed and built to stimulate calli and cell suspensions. The elicited and calli and cell suspensions were harvested at different time periods to extract sesquiterpenes. Current intensities of 10 mA and 50 mA, and 0.1 mA were the optimum values for the induction of sesquiterpenes; γ-selinene, β-caryophyllene, α-cadinol and α-guaiene, production in both calli and cell suspension after 8 weeks and 6 hours, respectively. The findings of the study led to conclude the possibility of induction of production of sesquiterpenes through electro-elicitation of G. walla calli and cell suspension in an in vitro system for sustainable utilization and conservation endeavours.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45703113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Yıldırım, F. Sevinc, Z. Onder, O. Duzlu, O. Ekici, N. Işik, A. Çiloğlu, E. Şimşek, Gamze Yetişmiş, A. Inci
{"title":"Comparison of three diagnostic methods in the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and gp60 subtyping of Cryptosporidium parvum in diarrheic calves in Central Anatolia Region of Turkey","authors":"A. Yıldırım, F. Sevinc, Z. Onder, O. Duzlu, O. Ekici, N. Işik, A. Çiloğlu, E. Şimşek, Gamze Yetişmiş, A. Inci","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The aim of this study was to compare three diagnostic methods for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and to detect subtypes ofCryptosporidium parvum by sequences analyses of gp60 gene in diarrheic calves in several herds in Konya province located in Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. Fecal samples were collected from a total of 194 pre-weaned calves (n=158, ≤15 days old, and n=36, 15 to 40 days old), with diarrhoea. For comparative diagnosis, all samples were examined by modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining of fecal smears for the presence of oocyst, nested PCR-RFLP of SSU rRNA and TaqMan qPCR for the detection of Cryptosporidium DNA. A total of 92 (47.4%) and 104 (53.6%) out of the examined samples were found positive by microscopic examination and molecular tools, respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of microscopic identification were determined as 88.5% and 100.0%, respectively compared to molecular assays. Cryptosporidium parvum was the only detected species in all positive samples by species-specific qPCR and nested PCR-RFLP assays. Species identifications were further confirmed by sequence analyses of the SSU rRNA PCR products. There was no statistically significant difference in C. parvum prevalence between early pre-weaned calves and calves older than 15 days. The sequence analyses of the gp60 gene of C. parvum isolates revealed a one subtype IIaA13G2R1 belonging to zoonotic family IIa in diarrheic calves","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69198774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Citric Acid Production of Yeasts: An Overview","authors":"Bilge Sayın Börekçi, G. Kaban, M. Kaya","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background Citric acid, an intermediate product of the Krebs cycle, has a wide usage area in the food industry since it has some functions such as acidulant, flavouring agent, preservative and antioxidant. Although molds are the most commonly used microorganisms in the citric acid production, it is known that there are significant advantages of using yeasts. Purpose and scope The microbial citric acid production mechanism needs to be well understood to make production more efficient. In this study, the yeasts used in the production, fermentation types and the factors affecting production were reviewed with studies. Methodology Although production of citric acid can be produced by chemical synthesis, the fermentation is preferred because of its low cost and ease of use. More than 90% of citric acid produced in the world is obtained by fermentation. Results Yarrowia lipolytica, Candida zeylanoides and Candida oleophila are evaluated for citric acid production with substrates such as molasses, glucose, sucrose and glycerol. On the other hand, there is great interest in developing processes with new substrates and/ or microorganisms. Conclusion Although the microbial strain is an important factor, the factors such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen sources, aeration, the presence of trace elements and pH are also parameters affecting the production.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48336077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Detection of Biological Activity of Curcuma longa Methanol Extract and Its Antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus","authors":"C. Ogbonna, Erkay Özgör","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Plants are known to possess enormous profound benefits, which if well incorporated in daily living have the potential to influence our health in ways unexpected. Significant progress has been made concerning the anti-oxidative and anti-cancerous effect of bioactive components in food products, worthy of note in the curcuminoids derived from turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes. Therefore, to this end, this research aims to describe succinctly the phytocomponents, antioxidant activity and anti-microbial activity of turmeric methanol extract. The zones of inhibition were measured after plating on a Mueller Hinton agar plate and compared to the standards penicillin G and chloramphenicol. Chloramphenicol used as a positive control was found to be most effective on Staphylococcus aureus while Curcuma longa methanol extract and penicillin G were found to have the same microbial inhibition due to the negative control. Compared to the IC50 values of Ascorbic acid which was 5 mg/ ml, Curcuma longa methanol extract had a lower IC50 value is 3.2 mg/ml which according to previous literature is a good one given that lower IC50 values indicate great antioxidant activity. It was gathered by the observation that the qualitative extraction of Curcuma longa using methanol shows the presence of varying chemical components such as AR-tumerone, arachinsaeure, alpha-tumerone amongst others. Research data suggest that ar-turmerone has the potential to promote the positive and negative proliferation of tumor cell lines. As a result, Curcuma longa has high potential to be developed into an antibiotic against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other clinically important bacterial strains in future.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47758815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are new genome variants detected in SARS-CoV-2 expected considering population dynamics in viruses?","authors":"M. C. Ergoren, P. Tulay, M. Dundar","doi":"10.2478/ebtj-2021-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The pandemic COVID-19 is caused by a highly transmissible severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which showed the highest morbidity and mortality rates among the other coronavirus infections such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. However, the numbers of infected cases as well as mortality rates are varying from population to population. Therefore, scientist has urged the SARS-CoV-2 genome and host genetic factors investigations. Recently, new SARS-CoV-2 variants has been detected and though to affect the diseases transmission from human to human. In this mini-review, we aimed to explained detected SARS-CoV-2 variants that thought to influence the COVID-19 severity and transmission using the literature.","PeriodicalId":22379,"journal":{"name":"The EuroBiotech Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46200249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}