Anticipated pharmacological role of Aviptadil on COVID-19

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a neuropeptide that is produced by the lymphoid cells and plays a major role in immunological functions for...     

Exploration of potential role of Rho GTPase in nicotine dependence-induced withdrawal syndrome in mice

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The RhoA gene showed an important genotypic association with nicotine dependence and smoking initiation. The current study aims to investigate the...     

Pharmacological evaluation of Thuja occidentalis for the attenuation of neuropathy via AGEs and TNF-α inhibition in diabetic neuropathic rats

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - When diabetes neuropathy occurs, the oxidative stress caused by chronic hyperglycemia may result in chronic neuronal damage. To mitigate the effects...     

Predicting the distributional range shifts of Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC. in Indian Himalayan Region under future climate scenarios

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Himalaya, the highest mountain system in the world and house of important biodiversity hotspot, is sensitive to projected warming by climate change....     

ESTIMATING PARAMETERS OF EV1 DISTRIBUTION FOR FLOOD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: The parameters of the extreme value type 1 distribution were estimated for 55 annual flood data sets by seven methods. These are the methods of (1) moments, (2) probability weighted moments, (3) mixed moments, (4) maximum likelihood estimation, (5) incomplete means, (6) principle of maximum entropy, and (7) least squares. The method of maximum likelihood estimation was found to be the best and the method of incomplete means the worst. The differences between the methods of principle of maximum entropy, probability weighted moments, moments, and least squares were only minor. The difference between these methods and the method of maximum likelihood was not pronounced.     

Phytoremediation of radiostrontium ((90)Sr) and radiocesium ((137)Cs) using giant milky weed (Calotropis gigantea R.Br.) plants

Potential of plants to remove radionuclides/toxic elements from soils and solutions can be successfully applied for removal of important radionuclides such as strontium-90 (⁹⁰Sr) and cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). When uptake of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr by Calotropis gigantea plants incubated in distilled water spiked with the radionuclides either alone or in combination was studied, it was found to have a high efficiency for the removal of ⁹⁰Sr, with 90% being removed from solutions (5 × 10³ kBq l⁻¹) within 24 h of incubation. However, in case of ¹³⁷Cs, about 44% could be removed from solutions (5 × 10³ kBq l⁻¹) at the end of 168 h of incubation. Accumulation of ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs was higher in roots compared to shoots. The plants could remediate both ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs when they were added together to the solution. When two months old plants were incubated in low level nuclear waste, 99% of activity disappeared at the end of 15 days. The present study suggests that C. gigantea could be used as a potential candidate plant for phytoremediation of ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs.     

Impact of endosulfan on the profiles of phospholipids at sublethal concentration in the male Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch)

Male Heteropneustes fossilis were exposed for 30 days at sublethal concentration (0.002 ppm) during different phases of its annual reproductive cycle. Its impact on total phospholipids (TP), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatdylinositol (PI) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) were measured in liver, plasma and testes. During preparatory phase, in general, the levels for TP, PC, PS, PI and PE decreased after endosulfan exposure in the above tissues. During prespawning and spawning phases, the phospholipids also showed decreasing trend. The postspawning phase, exhibited decline in hepatic levels of PS and PI only and remained unaffected in the other two tissues. During the resting phase too, the hepatic levels of TP, PS and PI declined and remained unaltered in others. The present results indicate that endosulfan have very selective effects on phospholipids classes during different phases of the annual reproductive cycle interfering with the production of lipid deprived energy i.e. vitellogenin. In general, endosulfan has inhibitory role during reproductive growth affecting phospholipid biosynthesis via hepatic enzyme systems as well as by hormonal imbalance.     

Limnology of Kharland (saline) ponds of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra in relation to prawn culture potential

The coastal saline soils, Kharlands, have great potential for their use in aquaculture. This study has been taken up to understand the limnology of the ponds in Kharland area for assessing their prawn culture potential. This study was carried out during September, 1999 to August, 2001. Each Kharland pond has an area of 0.045 hectare. During the study, depth of pond water was 47.7 to 120.0 cm, temperature varied from 25.7 to 34.5 degrees C; transparency from nil to 65.0 cm; specific conductivity from 1.78 to 94.5 microS.cm(-1); total dissolved solids from 0.89 to 27.55 ppt; pH 5.42 to 8.25; dissolved oxygen 1.6 to 8 mg.l(-1); free carbon dioxide 10.00 to 44.00 mg.l(-1); total alkalinity 5.00 to 142.00 mg.l(-1); salinity 0.45 to 39.55 ppt; total hardness 245.00 to 5945.00; calcium 56.05 to 1827.6; magnesium 110.74 to 4507.75 mg.l(-1); dissolved organic matter 1.45 to 9.68 mg.l(-1); ammonia 1.00-8.00 microg.l(-1); nitrite nil to 20.00 micro l(-1) and nitrate 7.5 to 17.5 microg.l(-1). These Kharland ponds are unique in physio-chemical characteristics during their seasonal cycle. From July to October, these ponds have nearly freshwater while from November to May pond water becomes saline. Thus, there is a great possibility of taking up monoculture of both the freshwater and brackish water prawns as well as polyculture of prawns and fishes in the Kharland ponds.     

Dissipation and leaching of (14)C-monocrotophos in Soil Columns under subtropical climate

Dissipation and leaching behavior of 14C-monocrotophos was studied for 365 days under field conditions using PVC cylinders. The first set (24 cylinders) was spiked with 1.0 microCi 14C-labeled monocrotophos along with 1.06 mg unlabeled monocrotophos to give a concentration of 2 mg kg -1 in the soil up to 15 cm depth. The second set (24 cylinders) received 14C-labeled monocrotophos along with other non-labeled insecticides viz., dimethoate @ 300 g a.i ha-1, deltamethrin @ 12.5 g a.i ha-1, endosulfan @ 750 g a.i ha-1, cypermethrin @ 60 g a.i ha-1, and triazophos @ 600 g a.i ha-1 at an interval of 15 days each as recommended for the cotton crop. 14C-monocrotophos dissipated faster, up to 45% in first 90 days in columns treated with only monocrotophos compared to 25% in columns that received monocrotophos along with other insecticides. However, both the columns showed similar residues 180 days onward. After 180 days of treatment, 46% radiolabeled residues were observed, which reduced up to 39.6% after 365 days. Leaching of 14C-monocrotophos to 15-30 cm soil layer was observed in both the experimental setups. In the 15-30 cm soil layer of both soil columns, up to 0.19 mg 14C-monocrotophos kg-1d. wt. soil was detected after 270 days.     

Reduced downward mobility of metolachlor and metribuzin from surfactant-modified clays

The study aims to prepare the organoclay complexes of metolachlor and metribuzin so as to reduce their downward mobility in soil profile. The organoclays were preadsorbed with phenyltrimethylammonium (PTMA) (50% of cation exchange capacity [CEC]) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) (100% of CEC). Four metolachlor formulations, two for each organoclay, were prepared having 1% and 2% load of herbicide and were called PTMA-Metol-1%, PTMA-Metol-2%, HDTMA-Metol-1% and HDTMA-Metol-2%. Two metribuzin formulations were prepared and were called PTMA-Metri-1% and HDTMA-Metri-1%. Soil column leaching experiment showed that compared to their commercially available formulations, organoclay complexes were effective in reducing the downward mobility of both herbicides. Organoclay complexes of metolachlor and metribuzin prepared using PTMA-Montmorillonite performed better than the HDTMA-Montmorillonite complexes.