Morphological relationships of the Wheatears (genus Oenanthe)

The genus Oenanthe comprises approximately 22 species, of which 16 species are restricted to the desert belt of the Palaearctic and Afrotropic regions, where they are often the most conspicuous passerines. Although they have been the subjects of some morphological and ecological studies, no complete morphometrical data has been used to verify their taxonomic relationships, and, the species relationships are still debated. Overall morphometrical similarities between Wheatears and their relationships in size and shape were assessed using measurements of 27 biometrical variables on 417 museum specimens. The 22 Wheatear species comprise some morphological groups: long migratory vegetation-tolerant species (O. pleschanka, O. hispanica, O. cypriaca and O. deserti), ground-dwelling migratory (O. isabellina and O. oenanthe), and sedentary (O. bottae, O. heuglini and O. pileata) of steppe-like habitants, relatively heavy and rock-dwelling species (O. leucura and O. monticola), inhabiting the most arid areas (O. monacha, O. leucopyga and O. alboniger), and finally a central core of medium-sized partial migrants, largely overlapping in morphometric space, that do not present any evident specialization (O. lugens, O. chrysopygia, O. xanthoprymna and O. finschii). It seems Wheatear species are well distributed in a morpho-space of size and shape with moderate overlaps and few hiatuses corresponding to a morphological continuum of species. Furthermore, our results largely hiatuses corresponding to a morphological continuum of species. Furthermore, our results largely differ from previous phylogenetic hypotheses (based on ecological, behavioural, and chromatic characters), but, are in congruence with molecular data.     

Histological and histochemical alterations induced by lead in the liver of the quail Coturnix coturnix

Adult males of the quail Coturnix coturnix were exposed to lead acetate trihydrate in drinking water (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1% for one–six months) to investigate histological and histochemical alterations induced by lead intoxication in the liver. Chronic exposure to subtoxic concentrations of lead produced changes in hepatocytes, portal veins, Kupffer cells, and blood sinusoids. Alterations in hepatocytes mainly involved cytoplasmic vacuolation, necrosis, cytolysis, and glycogen accumulation. Kupffer cell hyperplasia, hemosiderosis, blood sinusoidal dilatation, portal vein congestion, and edema were also observed. No fibrosis or cirrhosis in the liver of any member of the dose groups over the entire period of the study was noted. The findings revealed that chronic exposure to lead produced mild histological and histochemical changes in the liver of the quail Coturnix coturnix.     

Extraction and Characterization of Fiber Treatment Inula viscosa Fibers as Potential Polymer Composite Reinforcement

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - This research aims to characterize and analysis of newly cellulosic fiber extracted from Inula viscosa bark. The obtained Inula viscosa fibers were also...     

Assessment of natural coagulants to remediate Tunisian textile wastewater by combining physicochemical,analytical, and toxicological data

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Due to the complexity and variability of textile wastewater composition, a constant search for new treatment strategies that are efficient,...     

Decolorization does not always mean detoxification: case study of a newly isolated Pseudomonas peli for decolorization of textile wastewater

The textile industry is a favor to the Tunisian economy by offering several job positions. However, it’s not environmentally friendly. In fact, textile industries discharge high volumes of wastewater which contain several toxic pollutants such as dyes, fixator, and whiteness. In our study, Pseudomonas peli, isolated and characterized from Oued Hamdoun (center of Tunisia), was found able to decolorize textile effluent about 81 % after 24 h shaking incubation. On the other hand, the in vitro antiproliferative effects of the untreated and treated effluent was evaluated by their potential cytotoxic activity using the MTT colorimetric method against three human cancer cell lines (A549, lung cell carcinoma; HT29, colon adenocarcinoma; and MCF7, breast adenocarcinoma). Results showed that intact textile effluent and its content azo dyes didn’t inhibit the proliferation of all tested cell lines. However, the cytotoxic effect was remarkable when we tested effluent obtained after treatment by P. peli in a dose-dependent manner. This activity was attributed to the presence, in our treated effluent, of some azo products of dyes which are responsible for inhibition of human cell lines proliferation. Thus, the use of this strain for testing on the industrial scale seems impossible and disadvantageous.     

Photoassisted and photocatalytic degradation of sulfur mustard using TiO2 nanoparticles and polyoxometalates

The decomposition of highly toxic chemical warfare agent, sulfur mustard (bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide or HD), has been studied by homogeneous photolysis and heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation on titania nanoparticles. Direct photolysis degradation of HD with irradiation system was investigated. The photocatalytic degradation of HD was investigated in the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles and polyoxometalates embedded in titania nanoparticles in liquid phase at room temperature (33?±?2 °C). Degradation products during the treatment were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Whereas apparent first-order kinetics of ultraviolet (UV) photolysis were slow (0.0091 min^?1), the highest degradation rate is obtained in the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles as nanophotocatalyst. Simultaneous photolysis and photocatalysis under the full UV radiation leads to HD complete destruction in 3 h. No degradation products observed in the presence of nanophotocatalyst without irradiation in 3 h. It was found that up to 90 % of agent was decomposed under of UV irradiation without TiO₂, in 6 h. The decontamination mechanisms are often quite complex and multiple mechanisms can be operable such as hydrolysis, oxidation, and elimination. By simultaneously carrying out photolysis and photocatalysis in hexane, we have succeeded in achieving faster HD decontamination after 90 min with low catalyst loading. TiO₂ nanoparticles proved to be a superior photocatalyst under UV irradiation for HD decontamination.     

Gossypol as an inducer or inhibitor in Spodoptera littoralis larvae

Gossypol occurs naturally in the pigment glands in cotton. It has a role in protecting cotton plants from insect pests such as bollworms, yet it was not toxic to the cotton leafworm larvae Spodoptera littoralis up to 2-5% concentration in artificial diet or at 125 micrograms/ larva by topical application. The compound inhibited protease and lipid peroxidase activities in larvae with in vitro I50 values of 1.5 X 10(-3)M, and 4.4 X 10(-4)M respectively. When gossypol was fed to Spodoptera larvae, it stimulated the microsomal N-demethylase in vitro. This inductive effect was time-dependent similar to that of phenobarbital. Gossypol stimulates ATPase at lower concentrations and inhibited it at higher concentrations. The I50 for mitochondrial ATPase was 1.7 X 10(-4)M, while the corresponding values for DDT and fenvalerate were 1.1 X 10(-4)M and 7.0 X 10(-4)M respectively. Gossypol at 1.5% concentration in the diet reduced the larval weight to 50% of the control within two days, and increased the duration of each larval stage. The number of eggs and their hatchability was seriously decreased in larvae treated for three consecutive generations. Such an effect can be attributed to the ability of gossypol to interfere with protein bio-synthesis.     

A Parallel Computation Tool to Enable Dynamic Sensitivity and Model Performance Analysis of APEX: Evapotranspiration Modeling

Global sensitivity analysis can be used for assessing the relative importance of model parameters on model outputs. The sensitivity of parameters usually indicates a temporal variation due to variation in the environmental conditions (e.g., variation in weather or plant growth). In addition, the size of averaging window by which the outputs of a model are aggregated or averaged may impact parameter sensitivities. In this study, temporal variation of parameters sensitives, model performance, as well as the impact of the size of time‐averaging window on evapotranspiration (ET) prediction using the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model are investigated. To achieve these goals, an open‐source package named PARAPEX was developed in R and used to perform dynamic sensitivity and model performance analysis of APEX using parallel computation. PARAPEX reduced the computation time from 5,939 to 379 s (using 20 and 1 computation nodes, respectively). The sensitivity analysis results indicated the parameters accounting for the reducing effect of plant cover on evaporation from the soil surface, the effect of soil on the plant root growth, and the effect of cycling and transformation dynamics of organic matter at the top soil layer as the top sensitive parameters based on the mean daily simulated ET and the Nash–Sutcliffe model performance measure. The dynamic performance analysis indicated poor ET predictions by APEX during the growing seasons. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Predictors of poor outcomes among patients of acute methanol intoxication with particular reference to Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Methanol intoxication is a global problem with serious morbidities and mortalities. Apart from the lifelong disabilities experienced by methanol...