Biochemical and histological alterations induced by a formulation of dicofol in the embryonic liver of Gallus domesticus

In the present investigation, hepatotoxic effect of a commercially available insecticide formulation of dicofol (Colonel–S® 18.5% emulsified concentrate) was studied in the developing chick embryo. Fertilized eggs of Gallus domesticus were immersed in three different dose concentrations, i.e. 250, 500, and 1000 mg L^?1 of Colonel–S on “0” and fourth days of incubation for 60 min at 37 °C and incubated till embryonic day 16. Severe histopathological cellular lesions, such as extensive cell degeneration and necrosis with enlarged blood sinusoids, cytoplasmic vacuolization, and leucocyte infiltrations with congestion or dilation of central vein, appeared in dose-depended manner. Dicofol treatment also caused significant decrease in the levels of total protein, glycogen, and glutathione content and an increase in alkaline phosphatase activity of embryonic liver, whereas glutamic pyruvic transaminase activity showed mixed response.     

Assessment of potentially toxic elements in Swiss chard and sediments of Akaki River,Ethiopia

For the determination of 15 potentially toxic elements (V, Cr, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Sn, Hg, and Pb) in plant and sediment samples of the Akaki River, Ethiopia, inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry, and a RA-915+ mercury analyzer were applied. Sediment and plant samples were mineralized using a closed-vessel microwave-assisted digestion system. The elemental concentrations varied considerably in plant and sediment samples. The minimum concentration was observed for known toxic elements (As, Hg, and Cd) while the highest concentration was observed for the elements of relatively low toxicity Zn, Mn, and Fe. The concentration of Cr, Fe, Pb, Zn, and As in Swiss chard surpassed the maximum permissible levels at specific sites. At some of the sites, the sediment quality guidelines are surpassed for Cu, Zn, and Pb.     

Determination of cobalt by air-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction

Abstract

A rapid and selective technique for extraction, preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of cobalt in water and pharmaceutical samples by air-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. 1-Nitroso-2-naphthol is used as a complexing agent and 1-octanol as an extraction solvent. Parameters relevant for analytical effectivity, i.e. pH of sample solution, concentration of complexing agent, volume of extraction solvent, and number of extraction cycles are optimized using a Box–Behnken design. At optimum conditions, a dynamic linear range of 5–600?µg L^?1 is obtained, with a limit of detection of 1.2?µg L^?1. The method is used for determination of Co(II) in environmental water and pharmaceutical samples.     

Residues of PCDD,PCDF, and PCBs in some marine organisms in Lake Temsah,Ismailia, Egypt

Residues of PCDDs/F, non-ortho, mono-ortho PCBs, and other PCBs were monitored in the tissues of mullet fish, bolti fish, bivalves and crab taken from Lake Temsah, at Ismailia, Egypt.

Results showed that 2,3,7,8 Tetra CDD and 1,2,3,7,8 Penta CDD were the most frequently detected PCDD congeners. Similarly, 2,3,7,8 Tetra CDF, 1,2,3,7,8 Penta CDF and 2,3,4,7,8 Penta CDF were the most frequently detected PCDF congeners. No relationship was apparent between the concentrations of detected PCDDs congeners and the degree of chlorination, except with crab samples in which an increase in the chlorination coincided with a decrease in the concentrations of the congeners.

In PCDF congeners, detected residues have had a reversed relationship with chlorination increase. In PCDD congeners, Octa CDD had the highest detected concentrations in the two fish species, while in the bivalves and crab, 2,3,7,8 Tetra CDD had the highest concentrations. The mullet fish had the highest total PCDDs concentration, at 0.398?pg/g fresh weight, followed by crab at 0.395?pg/g fresh weight, then bivalves and bolti fish at 0.187 and 0.062?pg/g fresh weight, respectively. In all the examined organisms, the total concentrations of PCDFs were much higher than the total concentrations of the PCDD congeners. The WHO–TEQ values were 11.92, 39.12, 25, and 3.6?pg/g fresh weight, for mullet fish, bolti fish, bivlaves and crab, respectively. The concentration of the mono-ortho congeners CB 118 was the highest detected of all non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs congeners, with values of 0.382, 0.022, 0.231 and 0.357?ng/g fresh weight, in mullet fish, bolti fish, bivalves and crab, respectively. The WHO–TEQ concentrations were 0.799, 0.003?pg/g fw, 0.05?pg/g fresh weight, 0.676?pg/g, and 0.799?pg/g fresh weight, for the same species, respectively. The total concentration of PCBs 28, 52, 95, 99, 101, 105, 110, 118, 138, 146, 149, 151, 153, 170, 177, 180, 187 were 6.86?ng/g fresh weight for mullet fish, 0.2?ng/g fresh weight, for bolti fish, 2.72?ng/g fresh weight for bivalves and 2.8?ng/g fresh weight for crab, respectively.     

Analyses of phenolic compounds occurring in olive oil mill wastewaters by GC–MS

Phenolic compounds in olive oil mill wastewaters were analysed by HRGC–MS after extracting the acidified solution with ethyl acetate and derivatization with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide. Both simple and complex phenols were detected with the latter being the most abundant. 1,2-dihydroxybenzene (catechol), p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol (tyrosol), 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl ethanol (hydroxytyrosol) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl ethanol (homovanillyl alcohol) predominated among the simple phenols using a gas chromatograph coupled with a mass selective detector.     

Interaction of alcohol and kola nut on brain sodium pump activity in Wistar rats

The effect of interaction of alcohol and kola nut on sodium pump activity was studied in Wistar rats. Thirty Wistar rats were divided into six groups of five rats per group. Control received a placebo (4 mL of distilled water). Groups 2–6 were treated for a period of 21 days with 10% (v/v) alcohol, 50 mg caffeine/kg, 50 mg kola nut/kg, or a combination of 10% (v/v) alcohol + 50 mg kola nut/kg, or 10% (v/v) alcohol + 50 mg caffeine/kg, respectively. One day after the final exposure, brains were harvested and several biochemical parameters examined including activities of total ATPase, ouabain-insensitive ATPase, ouabain sensitive ATPase (Na⁺–K⁺-ATPase) and levels of nonenzymatic breakdown of ATP and inorganic phosphate (P_i) released. Results showed that the essential enzyme of the brain responsible for neuronal function, Na⁺–K⁺-ATPase, was inhibited by alcohol–kola nut co-administration relative to control, resulting in a decreased ATP production, ion transport and action potential, leading to loss of neuronal activities.     

Rethinking assessment of success of mitigation strategies for elephant-induced crop damage

Crop damage is the most common impact of negative interactions between people and elephants and poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods and conservation efforts. Numerous approaches to mitigate and prevent crop damage have been implemented throughout Africa and Asia. Despite the documented high efficacy of many approaches, losses remain common, and in many areas, damage is intensifying. We examined the literature on effectiveness of crop-damage-mitigation strategies and identified key gaps in evaluations. We determined there is a need to better understand existing solutions within affected communities and to extend evaluations of effectiveness beyond measurement of efficacy to include rates of and barriers to adoption. We devised a conceptual framework for evaluating effectiveness that incorporates the need for increased emphasis on adoption and can be used to inform the design of future crop-damage mitigation assessments for elephants and conflict species more widely. The ability to prevent crop loss in practice is affected by both the efficacy of a given approach and rates of uptake among target users. We identified the primary factors that influence uptake as local attitudes, sustainability, and scalability and examined each of these factors in detail. We argue that even moderately efficacious interventions may make significant progress in preventing damage if widely employed and recommend that wherever possible scientists and practitioners engage with communities to build on and strengthen existing solutions and expertise. When new approaches are required, they should align with local attitudes and fit within limitations on labor, financial requirements, and technical capacity.     

A strategy for wildlife management in depopulating rural areas of Japan

Former ranges of wild animals have been reestablished in many developed countries. However, this reestablishment has led to increasing human–wildlife conflict in agroforest ecosystems. In Japan, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop raiding by and ecological impacts of wild ungulates and primates, is a serious problem in depopulated rural areas due to these animal range expansions and increased abundances. Japan's human population is predicted to decline by 24% by 2050, and approximately 20% of agricultural settlements will become completely depopulated. In this scenario, anthropogenic pressures on wildlife (e.g., hunting and habitat alteration) will continue to decrease and human–wildlife conflict will increase due to increasing wildlife recovery. Japan's local governments plan to slow range recovery, prevent species reestablishment, or remove recolonizing large mammals through lethal control. This strategy, however, is not cost-effective, and workforce shortages in depopulated communities make it infeasible. Moreover, the suppression of wildlife prevents the recovery of ecological functions and thus would degrade regional biodiversity. The declining pressure on wildlife that accompanies human depopulation will prevent the restoration of any past states of human–wildlife interaction. We suggest human-used areas in rural landscapes be aggregated in compact cities and that in transition zones between human settlements and depopulated lands that land-sharing approaches be applied. Concentrating management efforts in compact cities may effectively decrease human–wildlife conflict, rather than intensifying human pressures. Reforestation of depopulated lands may lead to recovery of wildlife habitats, their ecosystem functions, and regional biodiversity due to minimization of negative anthropogenic effects (land-sparing approach). Balancing resolution of human–wildlife conflict and ecological rewilding could become a new, challenging task for regional wildlife managers.     

Animal agency in wildlife conservation and management

Wildlife conservation and management (WCM) practices have been historically drawn from a wide variety of academic fields, yet practitioners have been slow to engage with emerging conversations about animals as complex beings, whose individuality and sociality influence their relationships with humans. We propose an explicit acknowledgement of wild, nonhuman animals as active participants in WCM. We examined 190 studies of WCM interventions and outcomes to highlight 3 common assumptions that underpin many present approaches to WCM: animal behaviors are rigid and homogeneous; wildlife exhibit idealized wild behavior and prefer pristine habitats; and human–wildlife relationships are of marginal or secondary importance relative to nonhuman interactions. We found that these management interventions insufficiently considered animal learning, decision-making, individuality, sociality, and relationships with humans and led to unanticipated detrimental outcomes. To address these shortcomings, we synthesized theoretical advances in animal behavioral sciences, animal geographies, and animal legal theory that may help conservation professionals reconceptualize animals and their relationships with humans. Based on advances in these fields, we constructed the concept of animal agency, which we define as the ability of animals to actively influence conservation and management outcomes through their adaptive, context-specific, and complex behaviors that are predicated on their sentience, individuality, lived experiences, cognition, sociality, and cultures in ways that shape and reshape shared human–wildlife cultures, spaces, and histories. Conservation practices, such as compassionate conservation, convivial conservation, and ecological justice, incorporate facets of animal agency. Animal agency can be incorporated in conservation problem-solving by assessing the ways in which agency contributes to species’ survival and by encouraging more adaptive and collaborative decision-making among human and nonhuman stakeholders.     

Force-Velocity Characteristics of Individual Human Skeletal Muscles: TBCIat and TBCIong. Outline of the Method

The aim of the work is to outline a procedure of finding force-velocity (F–V) characteristics (F = f(V)) of individual skeletal muscles of the human locomotor system. The presentation is based on an example concerning extensors of the elbow joint: the lateral and long heads of triceps brachii (TBCIat and TBCIong). The experimental part of the procedure involves a natural movement of using the upper extremity to push an external object of variable, adjustable load, engaging both the elbow and shoulder joint.

Five men aged 23 took part in the experiment. Their task was to push the handle of a physical pendulum whose moment of inertia could be adjusted within the range of 58 kg m²-450 kg m², so as to give it maximum angular velocity. During each trial the movement of the trunk, of the upper extremity and of the pendulum was video recorded and the force applied with the hand to the handle of the pendulum was measured.

In order to find the F–V characteristics a simulation model SHOULDER was used, which is capable of solving the synergy problem for muscles of the arm and the shoulder girdle.

It was found that despite considerable dispersion of experimental points the respective regression lines revealed a clear tendency of decreasing muscle force for increased shortening velocity of the monoarticular head (TBCIat) and of increasing muscle force for increased lengthening velocity of the biarticular head (TBCIong) of the triceps brachii muscle.