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.     

Mercury pollution in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh,India, and its health impacts

The Sonbhadra district in the Singrauli area of Uttar Pradesh, India, has many coal mines and thermal power plants and is a critically polluted area. Many residents of this area reported adverse health conditions which may be linked to metal pollution, especially of mercury investigated here.

In May 2012, samples of water (23), soil (7), blood, hair, and nails from persons showing adverse health conditions selected at random were collected and analyzed for total mercury by atomic absorption spectrometry.

Twenty percent drinking water samples contained mercury from 3 to 26 μg L^?1 (3–26 times the permissible limit). Soil samples had 0.5–10.1 mg kg^?1 Hg.

The average concentrations of mercury in human blood, hair, and nails were found to be 34 μg L^?1, 7.4 mg kg^?1, and 0.8 mg kg^?1, respectively. Mercury concentrations in the blood of these persons were 45 and 28 μg L^?1 on average in the case of men and women. This is much higher than the safe level of 5.8 μg L^?1 set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

It was concluded that all residents of Sonbhadra sampled could be suffering from mercury toxicity as the area is polluted by Hg released from the coal-fired thermal power plants.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The cytotoxicity of nici2 for mammalian cells in culture†

The effects of NiCl₂ were studied in two human cell lines, HeLa and diploid embryonic fibroblasts as well as in V79 Chinese hamster cells and in L‐A mouse fibroblasts. NiCl₂ produces a dose‐dependent depression of proliferation, mitotic rate, and viability, accompanied by an increasing release of lactic dehydrogenase and stimulation of lactic acid production. The plating efficiency is reduced, as are DNA and protein synthesis and, to a lesser degree, RNA synthesis.

The cytotoxicity of NiCl₂ is comparable in degree to those of PbCl₂ and MnCl₂, but is weaker than those of HgCl₂ and CdCl₂. However, the different sensitivities of different cell lines must also be considered.

NiCl₂ effects are more severe in serum‐free medium than in medium containing serum or serum albumin indicating that serum constituents, notably albumin, bind the metal effectively and inhibit cellular uptake; this confirms earlier reports on the serum binding and slow uptake of NiCl₂.

Synchronized cells are most sensitive in the Gl and early S phases of the cell cycle. In the Painter test the depression of DNA synthesis persists following cessation of exposure to NiCI₂. These findings contribute an explanation for the known genotoxic effects of nickel.     

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.     

Book reviews and notices

The aim of sustainable development is to balance social, economic, and environmental needs. In order to justify the decisions they make, stakeholders must quantify the different impacts found in the operations and developments of companies and/or projects throughout their life cycle. However, as some areas are subjective in nature, the quantification process of the different impacts and the assessment of sustainable development performance become arduous tasks of development, validation, and application of scientific and empirical methods with the intrinsic objective of finding an agreement among the involved parties (i.e., stakeholders). Several environmental and sustainability assessment tools, instruments, processes, and methodologies have been developed; rating systems stand out and have gained attention and credibility, as demonstrated by the vast number of certified projects around the world and the widely-known usefulness and advantages of their application. The Wa-Pa-Su project sustainability rating system presents an integrated approach to sustainability assessment by integrating three distinctive areas of knowledge: (1) sustainable development theory and fundamentals supports the ultimate goal of the rating system, which is to contribute to sustainability, with the aim of finding a path to balance social, economic, and environmental needs; (2) continual performance improvement becomes essential due to the duration of the projects, as it is critical to allow organizations or projects to improve performance over time; and (3) multi-criteria decision analysis assists with the assessment process through stakeholder engagement and participation, and the design and implementation of a criteria weighting system.     

Demonstrating a correlation between infrastructure and national development

This paper demonstrates a correlation between the extensiveness of infrastructure and national development. This was achieved by considering kilometres of paved roads, kilometres of rail, kilometres of paved runways, quality of shipping ports and quality of urban infrastructure. Data were collected from a variety of sources including the World Bank and the United Nations databases. Measures of the quantity or extensiveness of the infrastructures were normalized based on the populations of the various countries, transforming them into per capita measures, which were then logarithmically transformed to produce indices of the extensiveness of the infrastructures. These indices were then plotted against the national development indicator, the human development index (HDI). Of the infrastructures considered, paved roads per capita index showed the strongest correlation with HDI, while quality of port infrastructure index showed the weakest correlation. When the indices for the different infrastructures were combined into a single index the correlation with HDI appeared to be strongest, highlighting the synergistic effect of different infrastructures when working in tandem. Based on this, the findings of this study support the position of holistically managing a country's infrastructure assets.