Assessment of DNA damage and cytotoxicity of palmatine on human skin epithelial carcinoma cells

The present investigation was carried out to examine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of a Tinospora cordifolia crude methanolic extract (palmatine) on human skin epithelial carcinoma cells (A431). T. cordifolia is one of the indispensable medicinal plants used in Ayurvedic medicine for treatment of various diseases and recommended for improving the immune system. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity evaluation was carried out using A431 cells treated with different concentrations of palmatine. The duration of the treatment was 24 and 48 hr. A cellular proliferative capacity test showed that palmatine produced cytotoxicity in concentration- and time-dependent manner. Further, palmatine induced significant intracellular reactive oxygen species generation and elevated lipid peroxidation, as well as activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase. DNA fragmentation analysis using the comet assay showed that palmatine induced genotoxicity in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Evidence indicates palmatine is capable of induction of oxidative stress resulting in cell death and genomic instability.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Removal of lead and cadmium ions from aqueous solutions using the macroalga Caulerpa racemosa

Sediment bulk parameters and fatty acid biomarkers were used to investigate the relative contribution of major sources of particulate organic matter during upwelling and non-upwelling conditions, at organic enriched sites on the south-eastern Brazilian coast. The degradation state of the organic material and its implications for benthic food webs were also evaluated. Temperature and salinity values indicate the intrusion of the South Atlantic Central Water in spring with a strong influence at station 4S. C:N ratios and fatty acid biomarkers suggest that sedimentary particulate organic matter is mainly autochthonous and originated from phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacteria, with a minor terrestrial contribution. Short-chain saturated fatty acids predominated, indicating the prevalence of partially degraded detritus. An exception was station 4S, where polyunsaturated fatty acids dominated, indicating the input of labile organic matter linked to upwelling of the South Atlantic Central Water. Fatty acid concentrations and the organic carbon content of the sediments suggest that food quantity is not a limiting factor for benthic fauna. Despite the high organic background of the sediments, the sporadic inputs of labile organic matter associated with South Atlantic Central Water intrusions may produce an important impact on benthic fauna and on the biogeochemistry of the sediments.     

Estimating willingness to pay for a hypothetical earthquake early warning systems

The development of reliable, accessible, and transparent earthquake early warning systems (EEWSs) for disaster reduction have been given increased priority at local, national, and international levels. Accurately quantifying the social and economic benefits accrued to households and businesses from EEWSs are a challenging and difficult task. In this paper, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is used to evaluate the benefits of a hypothetical EEWS to the citizens of Tehran Metropolitan. This study clarifies public willingness to pay (WTP) for EEWS in Tehran, and the dominant factors involved in WTP through a CVM analysis. The survey, completed by more than 504 households, showed that on average households are willing to pay 367,471 Rials (~38 US$) per month for the hypothetical EEWS. Those willing to pay the most for EEWS are households, which currently possess a fire alarm. Also the more educated the respondents and the more children the respondents have, the more willing they are to pay for EEWS. These results could be used by policy makers and technology firms in order to determine the optimal investments in early warning systems for earthquake disaster reduction.     

Heavy metals in water, sediments, plants and fish of Kali Nadi U.P. (India)

The distribution of heavy metals viz., Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in the water, sediments, plants and fish samples collected from the Kali Nadi (India) have been determined. The studies have shown that there was considerable variation in the concentration of heavy metals from one sampling station to the other which may be due to the variation in the quality of industrial and sewage wastes being added to the river at different places. The orders of the concentration of heavy metals in water, sediments, plants (Eicchornia crassipes) and fish (Heteropnuestes fossilis) were Fe > Zn > Cu > Mn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Co > Cd; Fe > Zn > Mn > Ni > Cr > Co > Cu > Pb > Cd; Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Ni > Co > Pb > Cr > Cd and Fe > Zn > Mn > Ni > Pb > Co > Cr > Cu > Cd, respectively.     

A better method for standardizing vitellogenin content of fish tissues

Vitellogenin (vtg) concentrations were measured in plasma and liver samples from 12 hybrid Tilapia oreochromis niloticus x O. aureus to compare concentrations in these tissues. The results were calculated under two different normalizations: volume per gram of sample used (similar to normalization usually published in the literature and typically used for ELISA) and volume per total protein (similar to normalization used in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; PAGE). It was observed that the normalization procedure used in PAGE (per gram total protein) minimized the method detection limit by about 1000 and 2500 times in plasma and liver respectively, compared to the normalization usually reported in the literature. It was also observed that normalizing per gram total protein makes it possible to eliminate a potential problem of accidental dilution of plasma samples during sample collection. Moreover, the normalization on a per gram of total protein makes it possible even to compare results from the two different methods namely PAGE and ELISA. It also allows comparison between different tissues. Using the normalization procedures as used in PAGE (per gram total protein) for liver and the normalization method as reported in literature for ELISA (per volume of sample used), it was observed that liver samples had higher vtg levels (mean: 62 microg vtg/g) compared to the corresponding plasma samples (mean: 0.24 microg vtg/ml). However, when both results were normalized per gram total protein all but one liver sample were lower (62 microg vtg/g) than the corresponding plasma concentrations (mean = 246 microg vtg/g).     

Estimation of radon concentrations in coal mines using a hybrid technique calibration curve

The results of epidemiological studies in various countries show that radon and its progeny cause carcinogenic effects on mine workers. Therefore, it becomes of paramount importance to monitor radon concentrations and consequently determine the radon dose rates in coal mines for the protection of coal miners. A new calibration curve was obtained for radon concentration estimation using hybrid techniques. A calibration curve was generated using 226Ra activity concentration measured by a HPGe detector-based gamma-ray spectrometer versus alpha-track-density rate due to radon and its progeny on CR-39 track detector. Using the slope of the experimentally determined curve in the units of Becqueral per kilogram (Bq kg-1) per unit alpha-track-density per hour (cm-2 h-1), radon concentrations (Bq m-3) were estimated using coal samples from various coal mines in two provinces of Pakistan, Punjab and Balochistan. Consequently, radon dose rates were computed in the simulated environment of the coal mines. Results of these computations may be considered with a caveat that the method developed in this paper provides only a screening method to indicate the radon dose in coal mines. It has been shown that the actual measurements of radon concentrations in the coal mines are in agreement with the estimated radon concentrations using the hybrid-technique calibration curve.     

Pregnancy after preimplantation genetic diagnosis for Sanjad–Sakati syndrome

Sanjad–Sakati syndrome (SSS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by congenital hypoparathyroidism, growth and mental retardation. In Saudi Arabia, the disease is caused by a deletion of 12 bp (155-166nt) in the tubulin-specific chaperone E gene. In a family with two affected siblings with SSS, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was performed. Fluorescent PCR (F-PCR) was utilized to check the heterozygosity and the homozygosity status of the parents and the affected children, respectively. F-PCR was then optimized for single-cell analysis by using peripheral blood lymphocytes. The patient underwent a cycle with intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection. A total of 11 embryos were obtained and biopsied. There were five heterozygous, three homozygous affected and three normal embryos. One heterozygous and one normal embryo were transferred because of their very good quality (morula). A singleton pregnancy was obtained, and amniosynthesis confirmed the presence of the heterozygous fetus. These results show for the first time, the feasibility of PGD for SSS. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lead accumulation in edible portions of crops grown near Egyptian traffic roads

Accumulation of lead in different parts of vegetables growing around six Egyptian traffic roads was investigated. Results of this work showed that leafy vegetables such as lettuce and cabbages accumulated lead up to 78.4 p.p.m. in their edible portions while the least lead accumulators were carrots and radish. The highest concentration of lead found in carrots sampled from locations adjacent to the busiest traffic road was 10.2 p.p.m. with an average concentration of 3.8 p.p.m. Lead concentrations in fruits of pepper and tomato were in the range of 0.7–18.6 p.p.m. depending on several factors such as traffic densities and distances from the road. The average ratio between lead in soil to lead in fruit of tomatoes at the first 10 m from roads was about 15 compared with a ratio of 50 at distances more than 100 m. These findings suggest that lead was accumulated in plants through both foliage and root systems, but lead absorption through foliage is more pronounced at locations close to the emission source of lead vapour and fine particles. The concentration of lead in fruit was dependent on its concentration in the leaf rather than in the roots or soil.     

Classification and ordination of understory vegetation using multivariate techniques in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus wallichiana</Emphasis> forests of Swat Valley,northern Pakistan

An understory vegetation survey of the Pinus wallichiana-dominated temperate forests of Swat District was carried out to inspect the structure, composition and ecological associations of the forest vegetation. A quadrat method of sampling was used to record the floristic and phytosociological data necessary for the analysis using 300 quadrats of 10 × 10 m each. Some vegetation parameters viz. frequency and density for trees (overstory vegetation) as well as for the understory vegetation were recorded. The results revealed that in total, 92 species belonging to 77 different genera and 45 families existed in the area. The largest families were Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Lamiaceae with 12, ten and nine species, respectively. Ward’s agglomerative cluster analysis for tree species resulted in three floristically and ecologically distinct community types along different topographic and soil variables. Importance value indices (IVI) were also calculated for understory vegetation and were subjected to ordination techniques, i.e. canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). DCA bi-plots for stands show that most of the stands were scattered around the centre of the DCA bi-plot, identified by two slightly scattered clusters. DCA for species bi-plot clearly identified three clusters of species revealing three types of understory communities in the study area. Results of the CCA were somewhat different from the DCA showing the impact of environmental variables on the understory species. CCA results reveal that three environmental variables, i.e. altitude, slope and P (mg/kg), have a strong influence on distribution of stands and species. Impact of tree species on the understory vegetation was also tested by CCA which showed that four tree species, i.e. P. wallichiana A.B. Jackson, Juglans regia Linn., Quercus dilatata Lindl. ex Royle and Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex Lamb.) G. Don, have strong influences on associated understory vegetation. It is therefore concluded that Swat District has various microclimatic zones with suitable environmental variables to support distinct flora.     

In vitro conservation and sustained production of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae): modern technologies for a traditional tropical crop

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae) is a traditionally cultivated, high-energy, high-yield crop, but widespread use of the plant for food is limited by poor quality and poor storage properties of the fruit. A unique field genebank of breadfruit species and cultivars exists at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in the Hawaiian Islands and is an important global resource for conservation and sustainable use of breadfruit. However, this plant collection could be damaged by a random natural disaster such as a hurricane. We have developed a highly efficient in vitro plant propagation system to maintain, conserve, mass propagate, and distribute elite varieties of this important tree species. Mature axillary shoot buds were collected from three different cultivars of breadfruit and proliferated using a cytokinin-supplemented medium. The multiple shoots were maintained as stock cultures and repeatedly used to develop whole plants after root differentiation on a basal or an auxin-containing medium. The plantlets were successfully grown under greenhouse conditions and were reused to initiate additional shoot cultures for sustained production of plants. Flow cytometry was used to determine the nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid content and the ploidy status of the in vitro grown population. The efficacy of the micropropagation protocols developed in this study represents a significant advancement in the conservation and sustained mass propagation of breadfruit germplasm in a controlled environment free from contamination.