Studies on oxidative stress induced nerve conduction deficits in cigarette smokers

An important role of oxidative stress for the development of vascular and neurological complications has encouraged us to undertake a study to assess the oxidative stress induced nerve conduction deficits among cigarette smokers. Eighteen regular male cigarette smokers and twenty nine male non-smokers were diagnosed for clinical neuro-physiological tests viz., motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity (MNCV and SNCV) and redox status. Significant depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH) level (p < 0.05) and significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) level (p < 0.01) was found in smokers compared to non-smokers. Motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity showed no significant difference among smokers compared to non-smokers. The present study shows that smoking can induce oxidative stress among smokers but could not exacerbate to nerve conduction deficits.     

The influence of diesel—truck exhaust particles on the kinetics of the atmospheric oxidation of dissolved sulfur dioxide by oxygen

The automobile exhausts are one of the major sources of particulate matter in urban areas and these particles are known to influence the atmospheric chemistry in a variety of ways. Because of this, the oxidation of dissolved sulfur dioxide by oxygen was studied in aqueous suspensions of particulates, obtained by scraping the particles deposited inside a diesel truck exhaust pipe (DEP). A variation in pH showed the rate to increase with increase in pH from 5.22 to about ～6.3 and to decrease thereafter becoming very slow at pH?=?8.2. In acetate-buffered medium, the reaction rate was higher than the rate in unbuffered medium at the same pH. Further, the rate was found to be higher in suspension than in the leachate under otherwise identical conditions. And, the reaction rate in the blank reaction was the slowest. This appears to be due to catalysis by leached metal ions in leachate and due to catalysis by leached metal ions and particulate surface both in suspensions. The kinetics of dissolved SO₂ oxidation in acetate-buffered medium as well as in unbuffered medium at pH?=?5.22 were defined by rate law: k _obs ?=?k ₀?+?k _cat [DEP], where k _obs and k ₀ are observed rate constants in the presence and the absence of DEP and k _cat is the rate constant for DEP-catalyzed pathway. At pH?=?8.2, the reaction rate was strongly inhibited by DEP in buffered and unbuffered media. Results suggest that the DEP would have an inhibiting effect in those areas where rainwater pH is 7 or more. These results at high pH are of particular significance to the Indian subcontinent, because of high rainwater pH. Conversely, it indicates the DEP to retard the oxidation of dissolved SO₂ and control rainwater acidification.

     

Multi-decadal groundwater variability analysis using geostatistical method for groundwater sustainability

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The general aim of the present study was to understand the groundwater level change of period 2001–2020 using geostatistical analysis at village...     

Radon level in dwellings and its correlation with uranium and radium content in some areas of Himachal Pradesh,India

LR- 115 plastic track detectors have been used to measure indoor radon level in some dwellings of Una district, Himachal Pradesh, India. The annual average radon concentration in dwellings in most of the villages falls in the range of the action level recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The radon values in some of the dwellings exceed the action level and may be unsafe from the health hazard point of view. The indoor radon values are in general higher in winter than in summer. Uranium, radium and radon exhalation studies have also been carried out in soil samples collected from these areas. A good correlation is obtained between uranium concentration in the soil and indoor radon in dwellings. The soil radon exhalation rate also correlates with the uranium concentration in soil.     

Importance of awareness in improving performance of emergency medical services (EMS) systems in enhancing traffic safety: A lesson from India

Objective: India has been slow in implementing a central emergency medical services (EMS) system across the country. “108 services” is one of the most popular services that is functional under the public–private partnership model. Limited available literature shows that despite access to services, many traffic crash victims are transported using private vehicles. The objective of this study is to understand the effectiveness of 108 services from a traffic safety perspective.

Method: A questionnaire survey is conducted to understand the awareness of EMS and their function. Using traffic-related fatalities as the dependent variable, a fixed effect panel data model is developed to analyze the effectiveness of the 108 services in improving the traffic safety.

Results: The results from the survey show that, in general, people are not aware of the 108 services. A majority of the population prefers taking victims to the hospital using their personal vehicles or any other vehicles available compared to calling an ambulance. Results from panel data analysis show that despite having an efficient system, these services failed to make significant improvement in the safety of road users in the states in which their services were subscribed.

Discussion: The lack of awareness of an important safety service is alarming. This could be a major reason for lower utilization of 108 services for transporting victims of traffic crashes. This article shows the importance of having efficient awareness campaigns to improve the efficiency of any similar programs that are aimed to enhance the safety of a region.     

Classification of floristic composition of mangrove forests using hyperspectral data: case study of Bhitarkanika National Park, India

The aim of the present work is to unveil the potential of some of the unexplored remote sensing techniques for mangrove studies. The paper deals with the classification of an Earth Observing–1 Hyperion image of the mangrove area of Bhitarkanika National Park, Odisha, India into mangrove floristic composition classes. Out of 196 calibrated bands of the image, 56 were found to be highly uncorrelated and contained maximum information; therefore, these 56 bands were used for classification. Amongst the three full–pixel classifiers tested in the investigation, Support Vector Machine produced the best results in terms of training pixel accuracy with overall precision of 96.85 %, in comparison to about 70–72.0 % for the other two classifiers. A total of five mangrove classes were obtained – pure or dominant class of Heritiera fomes, mixed class of H. fomes, mixed Excoecaria agallocha with Avicennia officinalis, mixed class of fringing Sonneratia apetala and class comprising of mangrove associates with salt resistant grasses. Post–classification field data also established the same. Pure or dominant classes of H. fomes occupied more than 50 % of the total mangrove vegetation in the forest blocks of the National Park. Spectral profile matching of image pixels with that of in–situ collected canopy reflectance profile revealed good match for H. fomes (pure or dominant stands). Red–edge index, which was a preferred criterion for matching was notably correlated in case of H. fomes and E. agallocha. The outcomes indicated the efficacy of hyperspectral canopy reflectance library for such kind of work. It is hoped that the methodology presented in this paper will prove to be useful and may be followed for producing mangrove floristic maps at finer levels.     

Management of urban solid waste: Vermicomposting a sustainable option

Solid waste management is a worldwide problem and it is becoming more and more complicated day by day due to rise in population, industrialization as well as changes in our life style. Presently most of the waste generated is either disposed of in an open dump in developing countries or in landfills in the developed ones. Landfilling as well as open dumping requires lot of land mass and could also result in several environmental problems. Land application of urban/municipal solid waste (MSW) can be carried out as it is rich in organic matter and contains significant amount of recyclable plant nutrients. The presence of heavy metals and different toxics substances restricts its land use without processing. Vermicomposting of MSW, prior to land application may be a sustainable waste management option, as the vermicast obtained at the end of vermicomposting process is rich in plant nutrients and is devoid of pathogenic organism. Utilization of vermicast produced from urban/municipal solid waste in agriculture will facilitate in growth of countries economy by lowering the consumption of inorganic fertilizer and avoiding land degradation problem. Vermicomposting of urban/MSW can be an excellent practice, as it will be helpful in recycling valuable plant nutrients. This review deals with various aspects of vermicomposting of MSW.     

Synthesis of nanoparticles using microorganisms and their applications: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Nanoparticles synthesis under green conditions has been performed using natural resources to diminish the use of toxic chemicals. For instance, microbial synthesis...     

Triacetin additive in biodiesel to reduce air pollution: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Stricter environmental norms and fossil fuel pollution call for cleaner fuels such as biodiesel. However, depending on the biomass source, biodiesel combustion may...     

Microplastics removal strategies: A step toward finding the solution

• Physical, chemical and biological methods are explored for MPs removal. • Physical methods based on adsorption/filtration are mostly used for MPs removal. • Chemical methods of MPs removal work on coagulation and flocculation mechanism. • MBR technology has also shown the removal of MPs from water. • Global policy on plastic control is lacking. Microplastics are an emerging threat and a big challenge for the environment. The presence of microplastics (MPs) in water is life-threatening to diverse organisms of aquatic ecosystems. Hence, the scientific community is exploring deeper to find treatment and removal options of MPs. Various physical, chemical and biological methods are researched for MPs removal, among which few have shown good efficiency in the laboratory. These methods also have a few limitations in environmental conditions. Other than finding a suitable method, the creation of legal restrictions at a governmental level by imposing policies against MPs is still a daunting task in many countries. This review is an effort to place all effectual MP removal methods in one document to compare the mechanisms, efficiency, advantages, and disadvantages and find the best solution. Further, it also discusses the policies and regulations available in different countries to design an effective global policy. Efforts are also made to discuss the research gaps, recent advancements, and insights in the field.