Effect of long‐term exposure to aluminum and high‐fat diet on NTPDase and 5′‐nucleotidase activities in lymphocytes and platelets of rats

Aluminum is one of the most abundant metals in the earth's crust. Although it shows no known biological function, it is recognized as an adjuvant in vaccines for human and veterinary uses. This study aims to evaluate the role of lifestyle and environment in the promotion of chronic disease. In it, we associated two factors: chronic exposure to aluminum and high‐fat diets. Thus, we aimed to determine whether the association of long‐term exposure to aluminum and high‐fat diets affects the NTPDase and 5′‐nucleotidase activities in the blood platelets and lymphocytes obtained from the mesenteric lymph nodes of young rats. In fact, the ectonucleotidase activities were shown to be upregulated upon exposure to aluminum plus high‐fat diets. As a result, we can suggest that the progressive upregulation of ectonucleotidase activities that we observed could be controlling the extent of inflammation and immune response.     

Removal of mercury(II) ions in aqueous solution using the peel biomass of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pachira aquatica</Emphasis> Aubl: kinetics and adsorption equilibrium studies

Mercury is a highly toxic substance that is a health hazard to humans. This study aims to investigate powders obtained from the peel of the fruit of Pachira aquatica Aubl, in its in natura and/or acidified form, as an adsorbent for the removal of mercury ions in aqueous solution. The materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The infrared spectra showed bands corresponding to the axial deformation of carbonyls from carboxylic acids, the most important functional group responsible for fixing the metal species to the adsorbent material. The thermograms displayed mass losses related to the decomposition of three major components, i.e., hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin. The adsorption process was evaluated using cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV AFS) and cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV AAS). Three isotherm models were employed. The adsorption isotherm model, Langmuir-Freundlich, best represented the adsorption process, and the maximum adsorption capacity was predicted to be 0.71 and 0.58 mg g^?1 at 25 °C in nature and acidified, respectively. Adsorption efficiencies were further tested on real aqueous wastewater samples, and removal of Hg(II) was recorded as 69.6 % for biomass acidified and 76.3 % for biomass in nature. Results obtained from sorption experiments on real aqueous wastewater samples revealed that recovery of the target metal ions was very satisfactory. The pseudo-second-order model showed the best correlation to the experimental data. The current findings showed that the investigated materials are potential adsorbents for mercury(II) ion removal in aqueous solution, with acidified P. aquatica Aubl being the most efficient adsorbent.     

The environmental pollution of Kandy Lake: A case study from Sri Lanka

The water pollution levels of Kandy Lake in Sri Lanka were monitored to probe the impacts and influences of urban environment in a developing country. Although Kandy Lake is a source of drinking water for the town, it was observed that a large number of effluent channels drained in to it, carrying a continuous flow of contaminated water. The hydrogeochemistry, pH, and bacterial levels were studied using lake and drain water samples. A high coliform count and a high degree of faecal contamination was observed in all water samples obtained from the lake and drains. The Cu²⁺ and F^? concentrations were relatively low and did not reach harmful levels, but were higher than that in the background. The pH of water remained almost neutral and provided ideal conditions for bacterial growth. All laboratory and field experiments indicated eutrophic conditions in the lake and the unsuitability of water in the unpurified state for drinking purposes. The purified water had a zero coliform count, but the chlorine content added was relatively high and may also prove to be a health hazard. On the whole, the polluted water in Kandy Lake indicated the adversities of human involvements with nature and provided a good case study for human influence on water pollution in a developing country.     

Completely Green Synthesis of Antimicrobial Nanocomposites Based on Hydrogels Containing Silver Nanoparticles for 3D Biofabrication of Smart Scaffolds

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Lack of biomaterials feasible for three-dimensional (3D) biofabrication and the limited capability to sterilize some of these items are current gaps that...     

Mass balance and characterization of bio-oil from sludge pyrolysis generated in the treatment of effluent from the biodiesel industry

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The present work produced bio-oil from the pyrolysis of sludge from the biodiesel processing industry in a fixed bed reactor, aiming at industrial...     

Sequential determination and chemical speciation analysis of inorganic As and Sb in airborne particulate matter collected in outdoor and indoor environments using slurry sampling and detection by HG AAS

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, fast sequential determination and chemical speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic and antimony in airborne particulate matter...     

Effects of reduced water quality on coral reefs in and out of no‐take marine reserves

Near‐shore marine environments are increasingly subjected to reduced water quality, and their ability to withstand it is critical to their persistence. The potential role marine reserves may play in mitigating the effects of reduced water quality has received little attention. We investigated the spatial and temporal variability in live coral and macro‐algal cover and water quality during moderate and major flooding events of the Fitzroy River within the Keppel Bay region of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from 2007 to 2013. We used 7 years of remote sensing data on water quality and data from long‐term monitoring of coral reefs to quantify exposure of coral reefs to flood plumes. We used a distance linear model to partition the contribution of abiotic and biotic factors, including zoning, as drivers of the observed changes in coral and macro‐algae cover. Moderate flood plumes from 2007 to 2009 did not affect coral cover on reefs in the Keppel Islands, suggesting the reef has intrinsic resistance against short‐term exposure to reduced water quality. However, from 2009 to 2013, live coral cover declined by ～50% following several weeks of exposure to turbid, low salinity water from major flood plume events in 2011 and subsequent moderate events in 2012 and 2013. Although the flooding events in 2012 and 2013 were smaller than the flooding events between 2007 to 2009, the ability of the reefs to withstand these moderate floods was lost, as evidenced by a ～20% decline in coral cover between 2011 to 2013. Although zoning (no‐take reserve or fished) was identified a significant driver of coral cover, we recorded consistently lower coral cover on reserve reefs than on fished reefs throughout the study period and significantly lower cover in 2011. Our findings suggest that even reefs with an inherent resistance to reduced water quality are not able to withstand repeated disturbance events. The limitations of reserves in mitigating the effects of reduced water quality on near‐shore coral reefs underscores the importance of integrated management approaches that combine effective land‐based management with networks of no‐take reserves.     

Assessing strategies to reconcile agriculture and bird conservation in the temperate grasslands of South America

Globally, agriculture is the greatest source of threat to biodiversity, through both ongoing conversion of natural habitat and intensification of existing farmland. Land sparing and land sharing have been suggested as alternative approaches to reconcile this threat with the need for land to produce food. To examine which approach holds most promise for grassland species, we examined how bird population densities changed with farm yield (production per unit area) in the Campos of Brazil and Uruguay. We obtained information on biodiversity and crop yields from 24 sites that differed in agricultural yield. Density–yield functions were fitted for 121 bird species to describe the response of population densities to increasing farm yield, measured in terms of both food energy and profit. We categorized individual species according to how their population changed across the yield gradient as being positively or negatively affected by farming and according to whether the species’ total population size was greater under land‐sparing, land‐sharing, or an intermediate strategy. Irrespective of the yield, most species were negatively affected by farming. Increasing yields reduced densities of approximately 80% of bird species. We estimated land sparing would result in larger populations than other sorts of strategies for 67% to 70% of negatively affected species, given current production levels, including three threatened species. This suggests that increasing yields in some areas while reducing grazing to low levels elsewhere may be the best option for bird conservation in these grasslands. Implementing such an approach would require conservation and production policies to be explicitly linked to support yield increases in farmed areas and concurrently guarantee that larger areas of lightly grazed natural grasslands are set aside for conservation.