Circadian consequences of social organization in the ant species<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Camponotus compressus</Emphasis>

The locomotor activity rhythm of different castes of the ant species Camponotus compressus was monitored individually under laboratory light/dark (LD) cycles, and under continuous darkness (DD). The colony of this ant species comprises two sexual castes, the queens and the males, and three worker castes, namely the major, media, and minor workers. The virgin males and virgin queens display rhythmic activity patterns, but the mated queens were arrhythmic while laying eggs, with the rhythmicity resuming soon after egg-laying. Under the LD regime, major workers showed nocturnal patterns, while about 75% of the media workers displayed nocturnal patterns and about 25% showed diurnal patterns. Under the DD regime, most major workers exhibited circadian rhythm of activity with a single steady state, whereas media workers displayed two types of activity patterns, with activity patterns changing after 6–9 days in DD (turn-arounds). The pre-turn-around of the ants that showed nocturnal activity patterns during LD entrainment was <24 h after release into DD, which then became >24 h, after 6–9 days. On the other hand, the pre-turn-around of those ants that exhibited diurnal patterns during LD entrainment was first >24 h after release into DD, and then became <24 h, after 6–9 days. The activity of the minor workers neither entrained to LD cycles nor showed any sign of free-run in DD. It appears that the circadian clocks of the ant species C. compressus are flexible, and may perhaps depend upon the tasks assigned to them in the colony.     

Clocks for sex: loss of circadian rhythms in ants after mating?

This paper describes experiments on the locomotor activity rhythm of queens of the ant species Camponotus compressus, which were performed to investigate the consequences of mating on circadian clocks. Locomotor activity rhythm of virgin and mated queens was monitored individually under constant conditions of the laboratory. The locomotor activity rhythm of virgin queens entrained to a 24 h (12:12 h) laboratory light/dark (LD) cycle and free-ran under constant dim red light (RR) with a free-running period () of approximately 24 h. The locomotor activity of the mated queens on the other hand was arrhythmic during the period when they were laying eggs, and robust rhythmicity appeared soon after the egg-laying phase was over. The of the locomotor activity rhythm of mated queens was significantly greater than that of virgin queens. These results are contrary to the commonly held belief that the role of circadian clocks in ant queens ceases after mating flights, thus suggesting that circadian clocks of ant queens are adaptively plastic and display activity patterns, perhaps depending on their physiological state and tasks in the colony.     

Bioconversion of lawn waste amended with kitchen waste and buffalo dung in to value-added vermicompost using Eisenia foetida to alleviate landfill burden

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Enormous quantities of waste such as lawn waste (LW) and kitchen waste (KW) are generated in urban institutes, proper management of which is...     

Correction to: Experimental performance evaluation of an impinging jet with fins type solar air heater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12458-z     

Probabilistic approach for health hazard assessment of trihalomethanes through successive showering events

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Trihalomethanes (THMs) are common disinfection by-products in chlorinated tap waters. They can cause various cancers and non-cancer health hazards....     

Scale dependency of dynamic relative permeability–satuartion curves in relation with fluid viscosity and dynamic capillary pressure effect

Capillary pressure–saturation-relative permeability relationships (P_c–S_w–K_r) are functions of importance in modeling and simulations of the hydrodynamics of two-phase flow in porous media. These relationships are found to be affected by porous medium and fluid properties but the manner in which they are affected is a topic of intense discussion. For example, reported trends in fluid viscosity and boundary conditions effects have been found to be contrary to each other in different studies. In this work, we determine the dependency of dynamic K_r–S_w relationships (averaged data) on domain scale in addition to investigating the effects of fluid viscosity and boundary pressure using silicone oil (i.e. 200 and 1000 cSt) and water as the respective non-wetting and wetting fluids with a view to eliminating some of the uncertainties reported in the literature. Water relative permeability, K_rw, was found to increase with increasing wetting phase saturation but decreases with the increase in viscosity ratio. On the other hand, the oil relative permeability, K_rnw, was found to increase with the increasing non-wetting phase saturation in addition to the increase in viscosity ratio. Also, it was found that with the increasing boundary pressure K_rw decreases while K_rnw increases. The influence of scale on relative permeability was slightly indicated in the non-wetting phase with K_rnw decreasing as domain size increases. Effect of measurement location on dynamic relative permeability was explored which is rarely found in the literature. Comparison was also made between K_r–S_w relationships obtained under static and dynamic condition. Finally, mobility ratio (m) and dynamic coefficient (τ) were plotted as a function of water saturation (S_w), which showed that m decreases as τ increases at a given saturation, or vice versa.     

In vitro cytogenetic assessment of trichloroacetic acid in human peripheral blood lymphocytes

Trichloroacetic acid (TCA), a common water disinfection byproduct and a persistent metabolite of trichloroethylene (TCE), has been examined for its genotoxic potential in human lymphocytes. Chromosomal aberration (CA) and cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay were employed to assess the toxicity of TCA. Lymphocytes obtained from three healthy donors were exposed to 25, 50, and 100 μg/ml concentration of TCA separately. TCA exposure resulted in chromosomal anomalies and the formation of micronuclei in lymphocytes. Chromosome analysis revealed the dose-dependent and significant induction of CA. Chromatid break/chromosome break, fragments, and chromatid exchanges were commonly observed. Exposure of higher concentration (50 and 100 μg/ml) significantly inhibited mitotic index. Data obtained with CBMN assay indicated that the induction of micronucleus (MN) formation was greater than that of CA. At 25 μg/ml, TCA induced significant frequencies of MN as compared to control cells. Significant induction of MN at the lowest concentration indicates TCA may also interact with mitotic spindles. Lower percentage of CA and MN at 100 μg/ml as compared to 50 μg/ml indicates occurrence of severe cytotoxicity on exposure of 100 μg/ml TCA in lymphocytes. Collectively, results of both cytogenetic assays indicate that exposure of TCA can induce significant genotoxic and cytotoxic effects.     

Determination of vapor pressure-temperature relationships of current-use pesticides and transformation products

Sub-cooled liquid vapor pressures (P(L)(0)) of current-use organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides (chlorothalonil, chlorpyrifos methyl, diazinon, fipronil) and selected transformation products (chlorpyrifos oxon, heptachlor epoxide, oxychlordane, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol) were determined at multiple temperatures using the gas chromatography retention time technique. Results were utilized to determine vapor pressure-temperature relationships and to calculate enthalpies of vaporization (DeltaH(vap)). While results for chlorothalonil and diazinon were comparable with published values, the measured value for fipronil (1.82 x 10(-6) Pa) is almost an order of magnitude higher than the reported literature value (3.7 x 10(-7) Pa). The availability of vapor pressure temperature relationships for these chemicals will aid in pesticide risk assessment development and improve the effectiveness of mitigation and remediation efforts.     

Biodegradable/Bio-plastics: Myths and Realities

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The plastics industry is proliferating continuously and the global plastics production in 2018 has reached around 360 million tones. This has further...