Alterations in liver marker enzymes and recovery ability of cyprinids as indicators of aquatic pollution

Information on the detection of pesticides in fresh water Lakes of Kashmir (Dal and Mansbal) through GC–MS technique is scarce, and also the recovery in biochemical parameters (AST, ALT and ALP) of fish after transferring them to clean media has not been reported yet. The water samples were collected from three sites and analyzed for their pesticide profile by dispersive liquid–liquid micro extraction (DLLME) followed by GC–MS. Influence of pesticides on liver marker enzymes of Cyprinus carpio and Carassius carassius was also investigated. The results obtained showed the presence of three main pesticides viz. chlorpyrifros, dimethoate and dichlorvos in waters of Dal Lake whereas no pesticide was detected in waters of Mansbal. The higher values for AST, ALT and ALP activities and decrease in protein content were obtained in the samples from the Dal Lake compared with those from Mansbal Lake (p < 0.05). These data when compared with the values found in C. carpio and C. carassius from both the Dal Lake and Mansbal Lake kept under laboratory conditions after 15, 30, 45 and 60 days of maintenance in clean media found that during depuration, all the enzyme activities came down significantly (p < 0.05) indicating the compensatory response by the fish against the pesticide stress. Therefore, these parameters could be used as indicators of pesticide pollution in aquatic organisms and were recommended for environmental monitoring for investigating the mechanism involved in the recovery pattern.

     

Novel hybrid composite discharge electrode for electrostatic precipitator

Over the last few decades, electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) have emerged as effective air pollution control devices for treating coal-fired power plant exhausts. Among the components of the ESP, the discharge electrodes are extremely important in determining the collection efficiency of the ESP. Typically, in wet ESPs, the discharge electrodes used must be made of corrosion-resistant alloys, which makes them extremely expensive and heavy. Hybrid composite discharge electrodes have the potential to be lightweight and corrosion-resistant substitute for traditional metal alloy electrodes used in wet ESPs. In this experimental study, a novel hybrid composite electrode (recently patented at Ohio University) is presented as a substitute for traditional metal electrodes in wet ESPs. The samples of hybrid electrodes were fabricated by using carbon fiber composites, combined with metal mesh, in the shape of a long and thin tape. The electrode’s electrical response was evaluated in open atmospheric conditions, while connected to a transformer-rectifier unit to generate a corona current at voltages exceeding 50 kV. Results of these hybrid electrodes were compared with traditional metal electrodes. The hybrid composite discharge electrode produced a uniform corona at comparable power levels to that of metal electrodes, with additional advantages of being compact, lightweight, and highly corrosion resistant. In addition, hybrid composite electrodes exhibited lower corona onset voltage as compared with metal electrodes. The preliminary experimental data are encouraging and show significant potential for this new inexpensive hybrid electrode to replace metal electrodes in wet ESPs, providing comparable (and in some cases exceeding) collection efficiencies with lower ozone generation.

Implications: The newly invented hybrid composite electrode (HCE) performance was evaluated through experimentation with conventional metal electrodes. The HCE performance was comparable to the metal electrodes. The HCE also exhibited uniform corona fields and steady power while maintaining similar and in some cases superior electrical performance as compared with metal electrodes and thus shows a significant potential to substitute metal electrodes in wet ESP systems.     

Marble industry effluents cause an increased bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Mahaseer (Tor putitora) in Barandu River,district Buner,Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of marble industry effluents on the accumulation of heavy metals in selected tissues of...     

Design and Characterization of PVA–Methacrylic Acid Based Smart Polymeric System for Controlled Release of Metoprolol

In the present work covalently crosslinked smart polymeric system of hydrogel based on poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) and methacrylic acid (MA) was designed by free radical polymerization with different compositions using glyoxal (40 % water solution) as crosslinker. It was observed that swelling of hydrogel had a pronounced enhancing effect on increasing the concentration of MA due to availability of more ionized carboxylic groups of MA but produced an opposite effect on increasing the concentration of glyoxal owing to less porous structure. As far as PVA is concerned, swelling did not show significant effect on increasing the concentration of PVA. Hydrophilic polymer PVA rich in hydroxyl group pertained to be highly interactive with water. It was examined that the release of metoprolol tartrate decreased with increased concentration of glyoxal, but increased with increase in concentration of MA. PVA/MA hydrogel was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction to study the structure and crystallinity of hydrogel respectively. Morphology was studied through scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis were also performed to characterize thermal stability. It may be concluded that the mechanism of drug release was mainly non-Fickian diffusion.     

Adoption of green banking practices and environmental performance in Pakistan: a demonstration of structural equation modelling

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Banking industries are blamed to be among the major factors that affect global climate change both directly and indirectly. The green banking concept...     

Implementing single- and multi-year sensitivity analyses to propose several feasible solutions for meeting the electricity demand in large-scale tourism sectors applying renewable systems

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The tourism sectors consume a high amount of electrical power, which in most cases is supplied by the electrical grid and diesel generator. As a...     

Water management in Saudi Arabia: a case study of Makkah Al Mukarramah region

Environment, Development and Sustainability - In the hydrologic design of water management infrastructures, rainfall characteristics are often used and the available historical rainfall events in...     

Effect of compaction on soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes from tropical peatland in Sarawak,Malaysia

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Tropical peatland stores a large amount of carbon (C) and is an important C sink. In Malaysia, about 25% of the peatland area has been converted to oil...     

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha,prostaglandin-E2 and interleukin-1β targeted anti-arthritic potential of fluvoxamine: drug repurposing

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin re uptake inhibitor, is used to treat depression. The aim of present study was to evaluate fluvoxamine in acute...     

Size fraction of hazardous particulate matter governing the respiratory deposition and inhalation risk in the highly polluted city Delhi

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Delhi has been identified as one of the highly polluted cities in the world and recently associated with the highest population weighted PM2.5...