BACKGROUNDTo examine the aluminum content of several commercially available enteral nutrition formulas and parenteral solutions.METHODSTwelve enteral nutrition formulas and 10 parenteral solutions were commonly used in routine clinical care of patients and obtained from different medical companies in Turkey. The aluminum contents were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry.RESULTSWe found that aluminum concentration in the enteral nutrition formulas and the parenteral solutions to range from 87.6 to 961.2 ng/mL and 58.4 to 1232.0 ng/mL, respectively.CONCLUSIONSCareful clinical and biochemical monitoring are warranted to determine whether it will be necessary to eliminate aluminum contamination of enteral and parenteral preparations used in patients, particularly infants, with reduced kidney function who may be at risk for aluminum intoxication.

Diabetes is a serious and rising global epidemic. The syndrome has neither a distinct etiology, nor a defined pathogenesis. Chromium (Cr) is an essential trace element which appears to be implicated in glucose metabolism. On the other hand, there are great metabolic and chemical similarities between Cr and aluminum (Al). It may seem to suggest a simple mechanism whereby Al might possibly help induce diabetes. Therefore, we have undertaken to assess Al/Cr ratio in plasma and urine samples of diabetics and healthy volunteers. In the present study it has been found that the ratio in diabetics was higher than those of the control group.

Fourty-three new benzoxazolinone derivatives having a piperazinomethyl group at the third position of the ring were synthesized by using appropriate benzoxazolinones and 4-substituted piperazines via a Mannich reaction. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by spectral data and microanalyses. Analgesic activities were evaluated by a modified Koster test. All compounds, except 7, 14, 21, 32, and 41, showed analgesic activity higher than that of acetylsalicylic acid. The compounds were also screened for their anti-inflammatory activity using a carrageenan paw edema test, and those exhibiting high anti-inflammatory activity were investigated for their ability to inhibit prostaglandin E2 induced paw edema. The results of anti-inflammatory testing indicated that most of the compounds were more active than indometacin. Ulcerogenic activities of the compounds were also studied and no gastrointestinal bleeding was observed at the 100 mg/kg dose level.

Behcet's Disease (ED) is a multisystem inflammatory disorder characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcerations with uveitis. Clinical features are the only diagnostic and follow up parameters and there is no unique laboratory test to indicate both diagnosis and disease activity. We studied urinary neopterin levels by using high performance liquid chromatography in 21 consecutive patients with Behcet's Disease in clinically active (n = 13) and inactive (n = 8) phase of the disease and in 14 healthy controls to investigate the correlation between this immunologic parameter and the disease status. In comparison to inactive phase, significantly higher urinary neopterin levels were found in active period(p<0.05). Mean urinary neopterin levels were 210.83 +/- 157.19 vs 138.85 +/- 56.99 mu mol neopterin/mol creatinine in active and inactive phase respectively (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between inactive phase and control values. In only 2 patients, both active and inactive phase urine neopterin levels could be measured in the same individual and increased neopterin levels were also determined in the active phase of disease. In conclusion, urinary neopterin levels were found to be elevated in active period and can be considered as an active phase marker in ED. Larger study groups with own controls of ED patients and other vasculitic disease controls are required before the final judgement.

There is a very important role in human resource management practices in educational institutions. In this study, human resource management practices of International SEBAT Educational Schools (ISES) which is one of the important educational institutions in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, will be examined. The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices of human resource management in the International Sebat Education Institutions. The research was carried out in International Sebat Education Institutions in Kyrgyzstan, with the managers by the use of in- depth interview method. In addition, information was obtained from the primary sources. In the first years of the organizations, said to be having the dominant ethnocentric policies. To do this, adequate technical and managerial knowledge of managers and teachers from Turkey had to be chosen. In the following years, Bishkek, Osh and Issyk-Kol schools administrators will be preferred in Kyrgyzstan. For this reason, polycentric policies began to be implemented. International SEBAT Educational Schools (ISES) periodically organizes seminars and meetings and teaching the Kyrgyz, English and Russian for the Turkish teachers and administrators. Successful teachers and students are rewarded with gifts and appreciation. If they are under the overall achievement levels, their lack of performance is being resolved by the consultations of the managers. In a globalized world, International Sebat Education Institutions are working efficiently, regardless of language, religion and ethnic discrimination. International Sebat Education Institutions are still investing in human resources in spite of the some deficiencies and were observed to have implemented successful policies.

Rat hippocampal pyramidal cells were studied for their response to serotonin applied iontophoretically and to stimulation of the midbrain raphe nuclei. Ninety-two per cent of the cells studied were inhibited by serotonin. Fourty-eight per cent of the cells responded by inhibition to dorsal and median raphe stimulation. The inhibitory response to raphe stimulation was absent when the rats were pretreated with p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), a serotonin synthesis inhibitor; PCPA effects were alleviated by 5-HTP or 5-HT administration. The response to raphe stimulation was blocked by methysergide and cyproheptadine. The responses to raphe stimulation were potentiated by chlorimipramine, a serotonin reuptake blocker. These data satisfy several of the criteria required to identify serotonin as the inhibitory neuro-transmitter for the raphe-hippocampal pathway.

6-Acyl-2(3H)-benzoxazolone derivatives were reacted with 4-substituted phenacyl bromide in ethanol to give the corresponding 6-acyl-3-[(4-substitutedbenzoyl)methyl]-2(3H)-benzoxazolones . The compounds were screened for their analgesic, antiinflammatory activities. The eight compounds synthesized showed high analgesic activities and further investigation revealed compounds 3, 6 and 7 to be potent inhibitors of carrageenan- and arachidonic acid-induced paw edema. The PGE2 isolated from the carrageenan paw edema fluid was also significantly low in mice treated with compounds 3, 6 and 7.

In the present study, aluminum (Al) accumulation has been examined after aluminum loading in mice. The kidney, liver, and brain aluminum levels for mice that had been treated orally with aluminum hydroxide for 105 d and for the control group were determined using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GFAAS) following an acid digestion. Matrix modifier consisted of 2% Triton X-100 and 2% Mg (NO3)2. Al loaded mice showed a significant increase in tissue aluminum levels, relative to the control group.

Sucralfate has been described as a cytoprotective agent and successfully used in the treatment of peptic ulcer, mucositis, and various types of mucosal ulcerations. In a double-blind randomized study, 35 patients with Behqet's disease having oral aphthous ulcerations were treated with topical sucralfate application or placebo. Oral aphthous ulcers were evaluated according to their number, duration, size and painfulness throughout a 12-week period. No statistically significant difference was found between the periods with and without sucralfate or placebo treatment. In conclusion, sucralfate was found to have no therapeutic or preventive effect on major or minor oral aphthous ulcers seen in patients with Behqet's disease.

Fourteen new 3-[2-(2- and/or 4-pyridyl)ethyl]benzoxazolinone derivatives have been synthesized by reacting 2- and/or 4-vinylpyridine and appropriate benzoxazolinones. Their chemical structures have been proven by IR, 1H-NMR, and elemental analysis. Analgesic activities of these compounds were investigated by a "Modified Koster's Test". Except for compounds 10 and 11, all the new derivatives showed higher analgesic activities than aspirin. Therefore the compounds were screened for their antiinflammatory activities using the carrageenan hind paw edema test. The compounds (6, 7, 8, 9, 14, and 17) that showed high antiinflammatory activity were then further screened for their ability to inhibit prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) induced paw edema. Although all the benzoxazolinone derivatives synthesized in this study showed higher antiinflammatory activity compared to indomethacin, those without a substituent at the 6-position of the ring were significantly more active than the rest of the group, and their ulcerogenic activities and ED50 values indicate them as promising derivatives for further study.

Cadmium is one of the metals which is not normally found in the pure form in nature. It is also widely used in various fields of industry. The most important toxicological feature of cadmium, on human body, is known to be its very long half-life (Fleisher 1974; Yost 1974; Bernard 1986; Page 1973). Cadmium originates from various sources, and reaches human body by food, beverages, drinks, air, and tobacco (Sherlock 1984).