Protective effects of quercetin against sodium fluoride-induced oxidative stress in rat erythrocytes

Protective effects of quercetin against oxidative stress induced by sodium fluoride intoxication in rat erythrocytes were evaluated. Rats were divided into five groups consisting of 10 in each for this experiment. The animals of group I received water and standard diet to serve as control group, the animals of groups II and III were treated with quercetin (10 and 20?mg?kg^?1 body weight), administrated intraperitoneally for 7 days followed by sodium fluoride (600?ppm) in drinking water for the next 7 days. The animals of group IV were treated with vitamin C (10?mg?kg^?1) intraperitoneally for 7 days followed by sodium fluoride treatment for next 7 days serving as positive control group. The animals of group V were treated only with sodium fluoride (600?ppm) for the same time and were used as control group. Blood sample were collected via retro-orbital puncture. The antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, as well as the levels of reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidation end products were measured in erythrocytes. There was a significant increase in lipid peroxidation along with a decrease in superoxide dismutase activity in the erythrocytes of sodium fluoride-treated animals. Quercetin treatment prior to fluoride administration normalized the levels of all parameters measured in the rat erythrocytes.     

Foliar application of aspartic acid lowers cadmium uptake and Cd-induced oxidative stress in rice under Cd stress

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cadmium (Cd) contamination of farmland soils is a widespread problem around the globe, and rice (Oryza sativa L.) tends to accumulate more Cd and is...     

Potential harmful elements in coal dust and human health risk assessment near the mining areas in Cherat,Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study was aimed to investigate the potential harmful element (PHE) concentrations in coal dust and evaluate the human risk assessment and health...     

Should we Leave Nature Unattended or Assist through Enrichment to Foster Climate Change Mitigation? Exclosure Management in the Highlands of Ethiopia

Environmental Management - In order to foster the potential of exclosures to sequester carbon, it is understood that they are increasingly assisted through enrichment planting. To study the impact...     

Optimal water and waste-load allocations in rivers using a fuzzy transformation technique: a case study

In this paper, a new methodology is developed for integrated allocation of water and waste-loads in river basins utilizing a fuzzy transformation method (FTM). The fuzzy transformation method is used to incorporate the existing uncertainties in model inputs. In the proposed methodology, the FTM, as a simulation model, is utilized in an optimization framework for constructing a fuzzy water and waste-loads allocation model. In addition, economic as well as environmental impacts of water allocation to different water users are considered. For equitable water and waste load allocation, all possible coalition of water users are considered and total benefit of each coalition, which is a fuzzy number, is reallocated to water users who are participating in the coalition. The fuzzy cost savings are reallocated using a fuzzy nucleolus cooperative game and the FTM. As a case study, the Dez River system in south-west of Iran is modeled and analyzed using the methodology developed here. The results show the effectiveness of the methodology in optimal water and waste-loads allocations under uncertainty.     

Elemental composition of particulate matters around Urmia Lake,Iran

Atmospheric particulate matters and their elements were concurrently measured at two sites located in the north and southeast parts of Urmia Lake from January to September 2013. At both sampling sites, average concentrations of total suspended particulate, particles with the aerodynamic diameter of smaller than 10 µm, smaller than 2.5 µm, and smaller than 1 µm were 260 ± 106, 180 ± 73, 30 ± 8, and 25 ± 7 µg m^?3, respectively. The analyzed water soluble ions accounted for approximately 11%–13% mass concentrations of total suspended particulate and 8%–9% of particles smaller than 10 µm, and the sum of the concentrations of the analyzed elements associated with both ranged from 9 to 41 µg m^?3 (6.5%–9.6% in mass) and 7 to 26 µg m^?3 (5.5%–11.3% in mass), respectively. Thus, particulate matter was composed of a complex mixture of minerals such as halite, quartz, gypsum, hexahydrite, and Bassanite.     

Half-lives of tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta-, and octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in rats,monkeys, and humans--a critical review

The elimination half-lives (t1/2) in Sprague-Dawley rats for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), 1,2, 3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (PeCDD), 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (HxCDD), 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (HpCDD) and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) were estimated in long-term studies by Schlatter, Poiger and others. Furthermore, there are some published half-lives of TCDD in adult humans. The average half-life of TCDD in adult humans is approximately 2840 days, while in Sprague-Dawley rats the average t1/2 of TCDD is 19 days. The t1/2 of TCDD in humans is about 150 times that of rats. This factor was used to calculate the t1/2 values of the other polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) in humans from the rat data. Furthermore, the terminal t1/2 values of PCDDs in adult humans were calculated from the regression equation: logt1/2H = 1.34 logt1/2R + 1.25 which was recently established for 50 xenobiotics (t1/2H = terminal half-lives in days for humans, t1/2R = terminal half-lives in days for rats). The following terminal half-lives in adult humans were obtained: 12.6 years for 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 26-45 years for 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDD, 80-102 years for 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD and ca. 112-132 years for OCDD. These half-lives of PCDDs are critically compared with measured t1/2 values of PCDDs and other persistent organic pollutants in rats, monkeys and humans.     

Predicting impacts of major projects on housing prices in resource based towns with a case study application to Gladstone,Australia

The resources sector in Australia makes a major contribution to the national economy, and underpins employment and population in the mining and mineral processing towns. For those towns, rapid growth in employment can generate particular pressures in local housing markets because of the relatively large size of the industry and the small housing stocks involved. Through a case study of Gladstone, the study provides a dynamic five-step population and housing model, to estimate short to medium term mining impacts of major resource developments. The model includes both the direct and indirect labour force generated by new resource sector developments and their flow-on effects on population increases. Sensitivity testing has allowed for different levels of resource development, employment multipliers and labour inflows. Three different approaches have then been applied to predict the housing price impacts of the expected population growth.     

Flow injection online spectrophotometric determination of uranium after preconcentration on XAD-4 resin impregnated with nalidixic acid

In this work, spectrophotometer was used as a detector for the determination of uranium from water, biological, and ore samples with a flow injection system coupled with solid phase extraction. In order to promote the online preconcentration of uranium, a minicolumn packed with XAD-4 resin impregnated with nalidixic acid was utilized. The system operation was based on U(VI) ion retention at pH 6 in the minicolumn at flow rate of 15.2 mL min^?1. The uranium complex was removed from the resin by 0.1 mol dm^?3 HCl at flow rate of 3.2 mL min^?1 and was mixed with arsenazo III solution (0.05 % solution in 0.1 mol dm^?3 HCl, 3.2 mL min^?1) and driven to flow through cell of spectrophotometer where its absorbance was measured at 651 nm. The influence of chemical (pH and HCl (as eluent and reagent medium) concentration) and flow (sample and eluent flow rate and preconcentration time) parameters that could affect the performance of the system as well as the possible interferents was investigated. At the optimum conditions for 60 s preconcentration time (15.2 mL of sample volume), the method presented a detection limit of 1.1 μg L^?1, a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.8 % at 100 μg L^?1, enrichment factor of 30, and a sample throughput of 42 h^?1, whereas for 300 s of the preconcentration time (76 mL of sample volume), a detection limit of 0.22 μg L^?1, a RSD of 1.32 % at 10 μg L^?1, enrichment factor of 150, and a sampling frequency of 11 h^?1 were reported.     

Improvement of digestibility of sunflower and corn residues by some saprophytic fungi

The in vitro degradation of fiber from two agricultural residues (Helianthus annuus and Zea mays) was studied using four saprophytic fungi. The changes in cellulolytic enzyme and phosphatase activities, the C/N ratio, the dry weight, the crude fiber (CF) content, and the protein and fiber digestibility coefficients were investigated in solid-state culture during a 45-day period of biodegradation. The FPase activity of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and the endoglucanase activities of P. chrysosporium and Trichoderma reesei compared to those of the other fungi were significantly (P < 0.05) high on both crop resides. Both acid and alkaline phosphatases were produced in greater amounts by P. chrysosporium than by the other fungi. The organic carbon contents of both residues were reduced more by T. reesei than by the other fungi. The fiber digestibility coefficient of untreated corn residue was higher than that of sunflower residue, but after treatment with fungi, the sunflower fiber digestibility increased more than that of corn did. Although the CF contents of both residues were decreased more by P. chrysosporium than by T. reesei, the fiber digestibility coefficients of both residues were increased more by T. reesei than by P. chrysosporium. The treatment of both crop residues increased their protein digestibility coefficients significantly compared to the control. The protein digestibility coefficients of both residues were increased more by T. reesei and P. chrysosporium than by the other fungi. In all treatments, the protein digestibility coefficient of sunflower residue was higher than that of corn residue.