Cellular evaluation of the toxicity of combustion derived particulate matter: influence of particle grinding and washing on cellular response

There is increasing interest in continual monitoring of air for the presence of inhalation health hazards, such as particulate matter, produced through combustion of fossil fuels. Currently there are no means to rapidly evaluate the relative toxicity of materials or to reliably predict potential health impact due to the complexity of the composition, size, and physical properties of particulate matter. This research evaluates the feasibility of utilizing cell cultures as the biological recognition element of an inhalation health monitoring system. The response of rat lung type II epithelial (RLE-6TN) cells to a variety of combustion derived particulates and their components has been evaluated. The focus of the current work is an evaluation of how particles are delivered to a cellular sensing array and to what degree does washing or grinding of the particles impacts the cellular response. There were significant differences in the response of these lung cells to PM's of varying sources. Mechanical grinding or washing was found to alter the toxicity of some of these particulates; however these effects were strongly dependent on the fuel source. Washing reduced toxicity of oil PM's, but had little effect on those from diesel or coal. Mechanical grinding could significantly increase the toxicity of coal PM's, but not for oil or diesel.     

Mineral contents and proximate composition of Pistacia vera kernels

The mineral contents of Pistacia vera kernels were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The minimum and maximum values of K, P, Ca, Mg, and S elements ranged from 6,333 to 8,064 mg/kg, 3,630 to 5,228 mg/kg, 1,614 to 3,226 mg/kg, 1,716 to 2,402 mg/kg, and 1,417 to 1,825 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, the mean values of Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, B, Mo, Cr and Ni elements were determined as 42.48, 20.52, 12.81, 7.48, 11.31, 0.106, 0.511 and 1.67 mg/kg, respectively. Ash levels of kernels were found between 2.28 % (Urfa) and 2.79 % (Halebi). In addition, crude oil and protein contents were determined between 48.8 % (Halebi) to 55.3 % (Siirt) and 23.33 % (Uzun) to 27.16 % (Halebi), respectively.     

A study on the arsenic concentration in groundwater of a coastal aquifer in south-east India: an integrated approach

The occurrence of arsenic in drinking water and its detrimental effects have drawn much attention in recent years. Several studies have been conducted in the deltaic plains of River Ganga, NE part of the India, and in other countries, but no systematic study was conducted in South India on occurrence of arsenic in groundwater. The main aim of this study is to determine the level of arsenic in groundwater and to understand the relation with other geochemical parameters of groundwater in the south-eastern coastal aquifer at Kalpakkam region, India. This region is represented by three different lithologies, viz. charnockites, flood plain alluvium and marine alluvium. Twenty-nine representative samples of groundwater were collected and analysed for major ions, metals and isotopes such as ²H and ¹⁸O. In addition, geophysical method was also attempted to understand the subsurface condition. The spatial variation in arsenic (As) indicates that higher concentration was observed around the landfill sites and irrigated regions, which was supported by geochemical, statistical and isotopic inferences. The variation in the As with depth, lithology and sources has been clearly brought out. Though the values of As does not exceed the drinking water permissible limit (10 mg/l), it has reached a near permissible level of 8.7 ppb. Hence, it is essential to understand the geochemical behaviour of As for a proper future management of the water resource in the study area.     

Conservation implications of physiological carry‐over effects in bats recovering from white‐nose syndrome

Although it is well documented that infectious diseases can pose threats to biodiversity, the potential long‐term consequences of pathogen exposure on individual fitness and its effects on population viability have rarely been studied. We tested the hypothesis that pathogen exposure causes physiological carry‐over effects with a pathogen that is uniquely suited to this question because the infection period is specific and time limited. The fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans causes white‐nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating bats, which either die due to the infection while hibernating or recover following emergence from hibernation. The fungus infects all exposed individuals in an overwintering site simultaneously, and bats that survive infection during hibernation clear the pathogen within a few weeks following emergence. We quantified chronic stress during the active season, when bats are not infected, by measuring cortisol in bat claws. Free‐ranging Myotis lucifugus who survived previous exposure to P. destructans had significantly higher levels of claw cortisol than naïve individuals. Thus, cryptic physiological carry‐over effects of pathogen exposure may persist in asymptomatic, recovered individuals. If these effects result in reduced survival or reproductive success, they could also affect population viability and even act as a third stream in the extinction vortex. For example, significant increases in chronic stress, such as those indicated here, are correlated with reduced reproductive success in a number of species. Future research should directly explore the link between pathogen exposure and the viability of apparently recovered populations to improve understanding of the true impacts of infectious diseases on threatened populations.     

Aquatic biomonitoring of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in peninsular Malaysia

An aquatic biomonitoring of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in river water corresponding to five villages situated in three states in peninsular Malaysia was determined. There were 51.3 % (20/39) and 23.1 % (9/39) samples positive for Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts, respectively. Overall mean concentration between villages for Giardia cysts ranged from 0.10 to 25.80 cysts/l whilst Cryptosporidium oocysts ranged from 0.10 to 0.90 oocysts/l. Detailed results of the river samples from five villages indicated that Kuala Pangsun 100 % (9/9), Kemensah 77.8 % (7/9), Pos Piah 33.3 % (3/9) and Paya Lebar 33.3 % (1/3) were contaminated with Giardia cysts whilst Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts were only detected in Kemensah (100 %; 9/9) and Kuala Pangsun (66.6 %; 6/9). However, the water samples from Bentong were all negative for these waterborne parasites. Samples were collected from lower point, midpoint and upper point. Midpoint refers to the section of the river where the studied communities are highly populated. Meanwhile, the position of the lower point is at least 2 km southward of the midpoint and upper point is at least 2 km northward of the midpoint. The highest mean concentration for (oo)cysts was found at the lower points [3.15?±?6.09 (oo)cysts/l], followed by midpoints [0.66?±?1.10 (oo)cysts/l] and upper points [0.66?±?0.92 (oo)cysts/l]. The mean concentration of Giardia cysts was highest at Kuala Pangsun (i.e. 5.97?±?7.0 cysts/l), followed by Kemensah (0.83?±?0.81 cysts/l), Pos Piah (0.20?±?0.35 cysts/l) and Paya Lebar (0.10?±?0.19 cysts/l). On the other hand, the mean concentration of Cryptosporidium oocysts was higher at Kemensah (0.31?±?0.19 cysts/l) compared to Kuala Pangsun (0.03?±?0.03cysts/l). All the physical and chemical parameters did not show significant correlation with both protozoa. In future, viability status and molecular characterisation of Giardia and Cryptosporidium should be applied to identify species and genotypes/subgenotypes for better understanding of the epidemiology of these waterborne parasites.     

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF POINT SOIL MOISTURE ESTIMATES USING LANDSAT TM DATA AND FUZZY-C CLASSIFICATION1

ABSTRACT: Many hydrologic models have input data requirements that are difficult to satisfy for all but a few well-instrumented, experimental watersheds. In this study, point soil moisture in a mountain watershed with various types of vegetative cover was modeled using a generalized regression model. Information on sur-ficial characteristics of the watershed was obtained by applying fuzzy set theory to a database consisting of only satellite and a digital elevation model (DEM). The fuzzy-c algorithm separated the watershed into distinguishable classes and provided regression coefficients for each ground pixel. The regression model used the coefficients to estimate distributed soil moisture over the entire watershed. A soil moisture accounting model was used to resolve temporal differences between measurements at prototypical measurement sites and validation sites. The results were reasonably accurate for all classes in the watershed. The spatial distribution of soil moisture estimates corresponded accurately with soil moisture measurements at validation sites on the watershed. It was concluded that use of the regression model to distribute soil moisture from a specified number of points can be combined with satellite and DEM information to provide a reasonable estimation of the spatial distribution of soil moisture for a watershed.     

Study on the hydrogeochemical characteristics in groundwater, post- and pre-tsunami scenario, from Portnova to Pumpuhar, southeast coast of India

Natural hazards cause great damage to humankind and the surrounding ecosystem. They can cast certain indelible changes on the natural system. One such tsunami event occurred on 26 December 2004 and caused serious damage to the environment, including deterioration of groundwater quality. This study addresses the groundwater quality variation before and after the tsunami from Pumpuhar to Portnova in Tamil Nadu coast using geochemical methods. As a part of a separate Ph.D. study on the salinity of groundwater from Pondicherry to Velankanni, water quality of this region was studied with the collection of samples during November 2004, which indicated that shallow aquifers were not contaminated by sea water in certain locations. These locations were targeted for post-tsunami sample collection during the months of January, March and August 2005 from shallow aquifers. Significant physical mixing (confirmed with mixing models) within the aquifer occurred during January 2005, followed by precipitation of salts in March and complete leaching and dissolution of these salts in the post-monsoon season of August. As a result, maximum impact of tsunami water was observed in August after the onset of monsoon. Tsunami water inundated inland water bodies and topographic lows where it remained stagnant, especially in the near-shore regions. Maximum tsunami inundation occurred along the fluvial distributary channels, and it was accelerated by topography to a certain extent where the southern part of the study area has a gentler bathymetry than the north.