Enhanced activated persulfate oxidation of ciprofloxacin using a low-grade titanium ore under sunlight: influence of the irradiation source on its transformation products

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, the activated persulfate oxidation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) using a low-grade titanium ore under sunlight or simulated sunlight were...     

Effect on plant growth parameters and secondary metabolite content of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), and chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) watered with disinfected water by Ag-TiO2 nanoparticles

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Nowadays, the use of different nanoscale structures has been introduced to a large number of research areas. One of these is the treatment and...     

Treatment of a clinical analysis laboratory wastewater from a hospital by photo-Fenton process at four radiation settings and toxicity response

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The photo-Fenton process was performed with four radiation settings to treat clinical analysis laboratory wastewater (CALWW) from a hospital, with the...     

Inflammation biomarkers associated with arsenic exposure by drinking water and respiratory outcomes in indigenous children from three Yaqui villages in southern Sonora,México

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Environmental arsenic exposure in adults and children has been associated with a reduction in the expression of club cell secretory protein (CC16) and...     

Antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibitory potential of Euphorbia resinifera and E. officinarum honeys from Morocco and plant aqueous extracts

Natural products may be applied in a wide range of domains, from agriculture to food and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, the antioxidant properties and the capacity to inhibit some enzymatic activities of Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia officinarum aqueous extracts and honeys were assessed. The physicochemical characteristics were also evaluated. Higher amounts of iron, copper and aluminium were detected in E. officinarum honey, which may indicate environmental pollution around the beehives or inadequate storage of honey samples. This honey sample showed higher amounts of total phenols and better capacity for scavenging superoxide anion free radicals and DPPH free radicals as compared with E. resinifera honey, but poorer capacity for inhibiting lipoxygenase, acetylcholinesterase, tyrosinase and xanthine oxidase. The ratio plant mass:solvent volume (1:100) and extraction time (1 - 2 h) were associated with higher total phenols and better antioxidant activities and lipoxygenase, acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitory activities, regardless of the plant species. The aqueous extracts had systematically higher in vitro activities than the respective honey samples.

     

Cholinesterase characterization and effects of the environmental contaminants chlorpyrifos and carbofuran on two species of marine crabs,Carcinus maenas and Pachygrapsus marmoratus

Among the most frequent targets for toxic effects of modern pesticides, namely organophosphates and carbamates, one may find cholinesterases (ChEs). ChEs exist in a wide variety of animals and have been used actively to discriminate among the environmental effects of different pollutant groups, including the aforementioned pesticides. This study had three purposes, namely (i) identifying the ChE forms present in tissues (eyes and walking legs muscle) of two crab species, Carcinus maenas and Pachygrapsus marmoratus; to (ii) determine the in vitro toxicological effects, and (iii) compare the sensitivity of such enzymatic forms towards commonly used anti-ChE pesticides, namely the organophosphate chlorpyrifos and the carbamate carbofuran. Our results showed that there was not a clear preference for any of the tested substrates in any of the tissues from both species. Furthermore, the ChE activity was almost completely suppressed following incubation with eserine and with the specific inhibitor BW284C51 in all tissues from both species. In vitro exposure to chlorpyrifos promoted a significant decrease in ChE activity in both species. Furthermore, the ChE activity was completely suppressed following incubation with carbofuran and chlorpyrifos. These results suggest that the major ChE forms present in tissues of both crab species show intermediate structural properties and activity patterns, halfway between classic acetylcholinesterase and pseudocholinesterases. However, the sensitivity of the found forms towards ChE inhibitors was established, and the responsiveness of such forms towards common anti-ChE chemicals was established. Both tested species seem to be promising test organisms to be used in marine and coastal scenarios of putative contaminations by anti-ChE chemicals, considering the here reported patterns of response.

     

Evaluating the technical efficiencies of fishing vessels to achieve effective management of overexploited fisheries

Global marine capture fisheries are undergoing serious stress, with overfishing as one of the major problems. In order to mitigate the overexploitation of capture fisheries, government regulation or fisheries management is necessary. Among various management approaches, vessel quantity control is being widely employed. To achieve effective governance of fisheries, the technical efficiency (TE) issue needs to be considered in the implementation of vessel quantity control. Using the Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) stick-held dip net fishery in Japan as a case study, this paper estimated the TE of sampled fishing vessels and explored the possible factors affecting the gap in efficiency. This paper aims to provide suggestions for a better implementation of vessel quantity control in global Pacific saury fishery, and also to serve as an empirical example of integrating TE analysis into management of overexploited fisheries for achieving satisfactory effects. Results show the TE score of the sampled fishery averaged around 0.7 from 2009 to 2014, and factors concerning owners/skippers’ motivation such as vessel ownership and specialization, vessel tonnage as well as skippers’ age show positive effects on the TE. Our findings in the present work provide important strategies for mitigating overexploitation in fisheries. Conducting technical efficiency analysis of targeted fisheries is a vital issue to be considered for designing and realizing an effective implementation of fisheries management approaches. The large vessels and the enthusiasm of vessel owners/skippers need to be particularly addressed when vessel quantity limit is considered to mitigate the problem of overfishing.     

Assessment of inherent vulnerability of forests at landscape level: a case study from Western Ghats in India

Assessment of vulnerability is an important step in building long-term resilience in the forestry sector. The objective of this paper is to present a methodological approach to assess inherent vulnerability of forests at landscape level. The approach involves use of vulnerability indicators, the pairwise comparison method, and geographic information system (GIS) tools. We apply this approach to assess the inherent vulnerability of forests of the Western Ghats Karnataka (WGK) landscape, which is a part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India. Four vulnerability indicators, namely biological richness, disturbance index, canopy cover, and slope, are selected. We find that forests in 30, 36, 19, and 15 % grid points in this region show low, medium, high, and very high inherent vulnerability, respectively. The forest showing high and very high inherent vulnerability are mostly dry deciduous forests and plantations located largely on the eastern side of the landscape. We also find that canopy cover is one of the key indicators that determine the inherent vulnerability of forests, and natural forests are inherently less vulnerable than man-made plantations. Spatial assessment of inherent vulnerability of forests at landscape level is particularly useful for developing strategies to build resilience to current stressors and climate change in future.     

Climate change implications for the nest site selection process and subsequent hatching success of a green turtle population

Sandy beach habitat where sea turtles nest will be affected by multiple climate change impacts. Before these impacts occur, knowledge of how nest site selection and hatching success vary with beach microhabitats is needed to inform managers on how to protect suitable habitats and prepare for scientifically valid mitigation measures at beaches around the world. At a highly successful green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookery at Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, we measured microhabitat characteristics along the beach crawl (rejected sites) and related nest site conditions (selected sites) to subsequent hatching success rates for 64 nesting events. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report environmental data along the nesting crawl for a green turtle population and the first to use natural breaks in the data to describe their preferred habitat ranges. Our results indicate that turtles were likely using a combination of cues to find nest sites, mainly higher elevations and lower sand surface temperatures (Kruskal-Wallis test, H?=?19.84, p?<?0.001; H?=?10.78, p?<?0.001). Hatching success was significantly and negatively correlated to sand temperature at cloaca depth (Spearman’s ρ?=??0.27, p?=?0.04). Indeed, the preferred range for cloaca sand temperatures at the nest site (26.3–27.5 °C) had significantly higher hatching success rates compared to the highest temperature range (Tukey HSD?=?0.47, p?=?0.05). Sand temperatures at various depths were intercorrelated, and surface and cloaca depth sand temperatures were correlated to air temperature (ρ?=?0.70, p?=?0.00; ρ?=?0.26, p?=?0.04). Therefore, rising air temperatures could alter sand temperature cues for suitable nest sites, preferred nest site ranges, and produce uneven sex ratios or lethal incubating temperatures. Elevation cues and preferred ranges (1.4–2.5 m) may also be affected by sea level rise, risking inundation of nests.     

Vulnerability of agro-ecological zones in India under the earth system climate model scenarios

India being a developing economy dependent on climate-sensitive sector like agriculture is highly vulnerable to impacts of global climate change. Vulnerability to climate change, however, differs spatially within the country owing to regional differences in exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The study uses the Hadley Centre Global Environment Model version 2-Earth System (HadGEM-ES) climate projections to assess the dynamics in vulnerability across four climate change exposure scenarios developed using Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The analysis was carried out at subnational (district) level; the results were interpreted and reported for their corresponding agro-ecological zones. Vulnerability of each district was quantified using indicators capturing climatic variability, ecological and demographic sensitivity, and socio-economic capacity. Our analysis further assigns probabilities to vulnerability classes of all the 579 districts falling under different agro-ecological zones. The results of the vulnerability profile show that Western plains, Northern plains, and central highlands of the arid and semi-arid agro-ecological zones are the most vulnerable regions in the current scenario (1950–2000). In the future scenario (2050), it extends along districts falling within Deccan plateau and Central (Malwa) highlands, lying in the arid and semi-arid zones, along with regions vulnerable in the current scenario, recording the highest vulnerability score across all exposure scenarios. These regions exhibit highest degree of variation in climatic parameters, ecological fragility, socio-economic marginality, and limited accessibility to resources, generating conditions of high vulnerability. The study emphasizes on the priority to take up adaptive management actions in the identified vulnerable districts to not only reduce risks of climate change, but also enhance their inherent capacity to withstand any future changes in climate. It provides a systematic approach to explicitly identify vulnerable regions, where regional planners and policy makers can build on existing adaptation decision-making by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach in the context of global change scenario.