Effect of supplemented soybean (Glycine max L) diet and extracts on aluminum sulfate-induced genotoxicity

Aim of this study is to evaluate the protective role of Glycine max L. (soybean) against aluminum sulfate-induced genotoxicity. A diet containing 30% soybean and extracts obtained with various organic solvents were administered orally to male white Swiss mice prior to intraperitoneal injection of Al₂(SO₄)₃. Light microscopy was used for the examination of genotoxicity involving somatic cells, germ cells, and sperms. The main secondary metabolites contained in each extract were isolated and identified by chromatographic and spectral analyses. Administration of soy diet and extracts to the examined mice induced significant anti-mutagenic activity against bone marrow aberrations and spermatocyte and sperm abnormalities. At the end of this study, maximum protection was achieved using the methanolic extract (83% and 79%) followed by those obtained with chloroform (71% and 49%) and n-hexane (51% and 39%) for bone marrow aberrations and spermatocyte abnormalities, respectively. The observed activity of soybean extracts might be related to the main constituents isolated and identified. These main constituents were the isoflavone glycosides genistin and daidzin in addition to saponins (methanol extract), lignan matairesinol (chloroform extract), and β-sitosterol, unsaturated fatty acids as well as phospholipids (n-hexane extract). The results illustrated that soy extracts can be considered as alternative anti-mutagenic nutraceuticals and promising source for developing anti-mutagenic drugs.     

Effects of environmental hypercapnia on hemato-immunological parameters,carbonic anhydrase,and Na+, K+-ATPase enzyme activities in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) tissues

In this study, the effects of environmental hypercapnia on hemato-immunological parameters and the activities of respiratory enzymes such as carbonic anhydrase (CA) and Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase were investigated in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) tissues (gill, liver and kidney). Batches of 12 fish were exposed to 4.5 mg L^?1 (control) and 14 mg L^?1 CO₂. No mortalities occurred during the 14 days of the experimental period. Red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and hematocrit (Ht) levels, and innate immune parameters such as nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT), lysozyme, and myeloperoxidase activities, and the melano-macrophage frequency were negatively affected by elevated CO₂ levels. Patterns of change in CA activity differed among the gill, liver, and kidney. Compared with the activities of CA in the control group, the CA enzyme was significantly stimulated at day 7 in the gill tissue, whereas it was stimulated at day 14 of the experiment in the liver tissue of fish exposed to 14 mg L^?1 CO₂ (P < 0.05). In contrast to the pattern of CA enzyme activities, the Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase enzymes were stimulated significantly in the liver after day 7 but inhibited in the kidney and gill (P < 0.05). These results suggest that a subchronic exposure to hypercapnia of rainbow trout tissues may lead to adaptive changes in the respiratory enzymes and negatively affects hemato-immunological parameters.     

In vitro assessment of genotoxic and oxidative effects of zinc borate

Zinc borate is used as flame retardant for plastics and cellulose fibers, paper, rubber, and textiles. Despite its wide industrial use, there is limited information concerning its toxicity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the concentration dependence (0–280 mg L^?1) of its genotoxic activity on cultured human lymphocytes by using sister chromatid exchange and chromosomal aberration assays. Total antioxidant capacity and the extent of oxidative stress were also determined. Zinc borate was found to be non-genotoxic at all tested concentrations. It exhibited antioxidant activity at concentrations lower than 40 mg L^?1, and total oxidative stress levels were not changed at any applied concentration of zinc borate.     

Abundance,characteristics, and spatial–temporal distribution of microplastics in sea salts along the Cox’s Bazar coastal area,Bangladesh

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics (MPs), together with microfibers, have emerged as a contaminant of concern all around the globe. MPs have been detected in freshwater,...     

Spatio-temporal analysis of climatic variables in the western part of Bangladesh

Monitoring and detecting trends of climatic variables like rainfall and temperature are essential for agricultural developments in the context of climate change. The present study has detected trends in annual and cropping seasonal rainfall and temperature data for the period of 1961–2011 using Mann–Kendall (MK) test, Spearman’s rho (SR) test and modified Mann–Kendall test that has been applied to the significant lag-1 serial correlated time series data, and slope has been estimated using Sen’s Slope estimator for twelve meteorological stations located in the western part of Bangladesh covering about 41 % of the country. Almost 71 % trends explored by MK test in annual rainfall are statistically insignificant, and SR test also complies it. The spatial distribution of rainfall trend shows insignificant positive trends in major part of the area. Significant positive trends both by MK test and by SR test at 95 % confidence levels are observed at rates of 8.56, 11.15 and 13.66 mm/year at Dinajpur, Rangpur and Khepupara stations, respectively, and the Kharif season rainfall of these stations also shows significant increasing trends except Dinajpur. On the other hand, significant decreasing trends in annual rainfall are found at Bhola (?11.67 mm/year) and Rajshahi (?5.951 mm/year) stations and decreasing trends in rainfall dominated the Pre-Kharif season over the area. But, 83.33 % of the stations show rising trends in annual mean temperature with significant positive trends (as observed by both MK test and SR test) at Rangpur, Bogra, Faridpur, Jessore and Bhola stations where the rate of changes vary from 0.013 °C/year at Faridpur to 0.08 °C/year at Bhola. Most of the trends in Rabi and Pre-Kharif seasons of mean temperatures are not statistically significant. However, all stations except Barisal show significant rising trends in temperature in Kharif season. To cope with this changing pattern of rainfall and temperature, effective adaptation strategies should be taken to keep up the agricultural production that is related to livelihood of the most people and to ensure the country’s food security.     

Effect of PCM on temperature fluctuation during the door opening of a household refrigerator

Temperature fluctuation inside the cabinet of a household refrigerator significantly affects the quality of preserved food. Phase change material (PCM) is a latent heat storage system that can store and release the heat energy by changing its phase from liquid to solid and solid to liquid respectively. Therefore, use of PCM inside the refrigerator cabinet has the potential for minimizing the temperature fluctuation during the door opening and the power failure. However, very few studies in the literature were dedicated to investigating the role of PCM to reduce the temperature fluctuation. The aim of this work is to experimentally investigate the effects of PCM on temperature fluctuation inside the cabinet of a household refrigerator during the door opening and power failure. The results found that a significantly lower temperature fluctuation can be obtained using PCM. It was found that during the door opening condition the air temperature in the cabinet rose rapidly. However, when a PCM container was used, temperature variation was reduced to 3–5°C. During the power failure, the system with PCM maintained a lower temperature inside the storage chamber for a long period of time (about 2 hours). Moreover, the test results indicate that PCM maintains more stable temperature in the foodstuffs inside the refrigerator. This reduction of temperature fluctuation ultimately improves the quality of preserved food.     

Real‐Time Analysis of Energy Generation of a Photovoltaic System Installed in the City of Lajeado,Rio Grande do Sul

Considering successive and costly increases in electricity rates, this article evaluates the generation of electricity from a photovoltaic system using solar energy, a renewable source. The solar photovoltaic system is installed at UNIVATES University Center, a public university in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and it is also connected to the electrical grid. Data related to the climatic conditions of the location, such as incident solar radiation, rainfall, and mean temperature, were obtained during the system's evaluation period and used along with bibliographic research on similar systems installed in southern Brazil. Our study quantified the energy produced over one calendar year (2014) and related it to the climatic variables and the conversion efficiency achieved by the system's photovoltaic modules. Our results show that there is both a strong relationship between the production of energy and climatic conditions and that the city, Lajeado, and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, have good potential to supply energy using photovoltaic systems connected to the electrical grid. The horizontal global solar radiation average obtained in the study location was 4.14 kilowatts per square meter per day (kWh/m²/day), and the average monthly production of energy reached 243.93 kWh/m²/month, with a total of 2,927.10 kWh produced in 2014, achieving a monthly average conversion efficiency of 11.07%. This conversion efficiency is close to the value of 12.6% obtained in 2013 in a similar study of the same solar photovoltaic system conducted over a shorter time period.     

A comparative study of trace metals in male and female Caspian kutum (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rutilus frisii kutum</Emphasis>) from the southern basin of Caspian Sea

This study focuses on the extent of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and arsenic (As) bioaccumulation in edible muscles of Caspian kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum), in both male and female sexes at Noor and Babolsar coastal regions from the southern basin of Caspian Sea. These values were compared with the WHO and the UNFAO safety standards regarding the amount of the abovementioned heavy metals in fish tissues (mg/kg ww). Results showed that the accumulation of these elements (except for Zn) was not significantly different between sexes of male and female in Babolsar coastal regions (P?>?0.05). In the other hand, accumulation of Hg and As at edible muscles of Caspian kutum has significant difference between two sexes of male and female in Noor coastal regions (P?<?0.05), the female had higher concentration than the male. Furthermore, it was not significantly correlated with sex and rivers in length and weight of fish (R ²?<?0.50; P?>?0.05). Based on the results, the concentration of heavy metals in the studied fish tissues proved to be significantly lower than international standards (P?<?0.05), so its consumption is not a threat to the health of consumers.     

Evaluation of the interaction between soil and antibiotics

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics in 13 different soil samples collected from agricultural fields. As well as the antibiotic analysis 18 different physicochemical properties of the soil samples were determined in order to establish a relationship between the recovery rates of antibiotics from the samples and the characteristics of the samples that provide critical information for the reliability of an applied antibiotic analysis method. While the concentrations of tetracyclines were 0.025–0.105 mg kg^?1 sulfonamide antibiotics were not detected in any investigated soil samples. The mean recovery rates of tetracyclines and sulfonamides were 84.57 ± 14.92% and 65.88 ± 8.56%, respectively. Although, the organic carbon contents and cation exchange capacities of the soil samples exhibited a great variation the results of multivariate statistical analysis indicated that the metal content of soils was the major factor significantly influenced the recovery rates of the antibiotics. The sulfonamide recovery rates were positively influenced by the calcium and magnesium amounts in the soil samples, whereas tetracycline recovery rates were markedly diminished by increasing the amount of these polyvalent metals.     

Interconversions and toxicity changes in hexachlorocyclohexane isomers on dispersion in water

Abstract

Studies on the transformations of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers, α‐, β‐, γ‐ and δ‐, in aqueous solution were carried out at 25 ± 1°C over a period of four weeks. Gas liquid chromatographic technique was used for analysis. The results indicated a loss as well as interconversion of all the four isomers with time. The resulting changes in toxicity of the aqueous solution were studied against Drosophila using topical application. Toxicity studies with aqueous solution of technical hexachlorocyclohexane were simultaneously carried out for comparison. Toxicity of the aqueous solutions of α‐, β‐, and δ ‐isomers showed an increase while that of the γ‐isomer decreased significantly during the four week experimental period. Aqueous solution of technical HCH was equally toxic as that of the γ‐isomer initially and did not show much decrease in its toxicity at the end. Changes in toxicity of the individual isomer solutions were considered to be due, in part, to interconversions of HCH isomers.