Search results for: water demand

Authors: Faraz Zarghami, Elham Anari, Nosratollah Zarghami, Yones Pilehvar-Soltanahmadi, Abolfazl Akbarzadeh, Sepideh Jalilzadeh-Tabrizi

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The development of nanotherapy has presented a new method of drug delivery targeted directly to the neoplasmic tissues, to maximize the action with fewer dose requirements. In the past two decades, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) has frequently been investigated by many researchers and is a popular polymeric candidate, due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability, exhibition of a wide range of erosion times, tunable mechanical properties, and most notably, because it is a FDA-approved polymer. Chrysin is a natural flavonoid which has been reported to have some significant biological effects on the processes of chemical defense, nitrogen fixation, inflammation, and oxidation. However, the low solubility in water decreases its bioavailability and consequently disrupts the biomedical benefits. Being loaded with PLGA-PEG increases chrysin solubility and drug tolerance, and decreases the discordant effects of the drug. The well-structured chrysin efficiently accumulates in the breast cancer cell line (T47D). In the present study, the structure and chrysin loading were delineated using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (HNMR), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the in vitro cytotoxicity of pure and nanochrysin was studied by the MTT assay. Next, the RNA was exploited and the cytotoxic effects of chrysin were studied by real-time PCR. In conclusion, the nanochrysin therapy developed is a novel method that could increase cytotoxicity to cancer cells without damaging the normal cells, and would be promising in breast cancer therapy.

Keywords: MTT assay, chrysin, flavonoids, nanotherapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: A. Alli-Oluwafuyi, A. Amin, S. M. Fii, S. O. Amusa, A. Imam, N. T. Asogwa, W. I. Abdulmajeed, F. Olaseinde, B. V. Owoyele

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Chronic stress or prolonged glucocorticoid administration impairs higher cognitive functions in rodents and humans. However, the mechanisms are not fully clear. Insulin and receptors are expressed in the brain and are involved in cognition. Insulin resistance accompanies Alzheimer’s disease and associated cognitive decline. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of sub-chronic administration of a glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (DEX) on behavior and biochemical changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC). Male Wistar rats were administered DEX (2, 4 & 8 mg/kg, IP) or saline for seven consecutive days and behavior was assessed in the following paradigms: “Y” maze, elevated plus maze, Morris’ water maze and novel object recognition (NOR) tests. Insulin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity were evaluated in homogenates of the prefrontal cortex. DEX-treated rats exhibited impaired prefrontal cortex function manifesting as reduced locomotion, impaired novel object exploration and impaired short- and long-term spatial memory compared to normal controls (p < 0.05). These effects were not consistently dose-dependent. These behavioral alterations were accompanied by a decrease in insulin concentration observed in PFC of 4 mg/kg DEX-treated rats compared to control (10μIU/mg vs. 50μIU/mg; p < 0.05) but not 2mg/kg. Furthermore, we report a modification of brain stress markers LDH and SOD (p > 0.05). These results indicate that prolonged activation of GCs disrupt prefrontal cortex function which may be related to insulin impairment. These effects may not be attributable to a non-specific elevation of oxidative stress in the brain. Future studies would evaluate mechanisms of GR-induced insulin loss.

Keywords: dexamethasone, insulin, memory, prefrontal cortex

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: C. Mazziotti Gomez de Teran, D. Fiore, B. Cola, A. Fardelli

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The present paper summarizes the analysis of the request for consultation of information and data on industrial emissions made publicly available on the web site of the Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea on integrated pollution prevention and control from large industrial installations, the so called “AIA Portal”. However, since also local Competent Authorities have been organizing their own web sites on IPPC permits releasing procedures for public consultation purposes, as a result, a huge amount of information on national industrial plants is already available on internet, although it is usually proposed as textual documentation or images. Thus, it is not possible to access all the relevant information through interoperability systems and also to retrieval relevant information for decision making purposes as well as rising of awareness on environmental issue. Moreover, since in Italy the number of institutional and private subjects involved in the management of the public information on industrial emissions is substantial, the access to the information is provided on internet web sites according to different criteria; thus, at present it is not structurally homogeneous and comparable. To overcome the mentioned difficulties in the case of the Coordinating Committee for the implementation of the Agreement for the industrial area in Taranto and Statte, operating before the IPPC permit granting procedures of the relevant installation located in the area, a big effort was devoted to elaborate and to validate data and information on characterization of soil, ground water aquifer and coastal sea at disposal of different subjects to derive a global perspective for decision making purposes. Thus, the present paper also focuses on main outcomes matured during such experience.

Keywords: public information, emissions into atmosphere, IPPC permits, territorial information systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Niina Jallinoja, Anu Moisio

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Focus on adult learning is vital to overcome economic challenges as well as to respond to the demand for new competencies and sustained productivity in the digitalized world economy. Employees of all ages must be able to carry on continuous professional development to remain competitive in the labor market. According to EU policies, countries should offer more flexible opportunities for adult learners who study online and in so-called ‘second chance’ qualification programmes. Traditionally, adult education in Finland has comprised of not only liberal adult education but also the government funding to study for Bachelor, Master's, and Ph.D. degrees in Finnish Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). From the beginning of 2021, public funding is allocated not only to degrees but also to courses to achieve new competencies for adult learners in Finland. Consequently, there will be degree students (often younger of age) and adult learners studying in the same evening, online and blended courses. The question is thus: How are combined studies meeting the different needs of degree students and adult learners? Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (UAS), located in the metropolitan area of Finland, is taking up the challenge of continuous learning for adult learners. Haaga-Helia has been reforming the bachelor level education and respective shorter courses from 2019 in the biggest project in its history. By the end of 2023, Haaga-Helia will have a flexible, modular curriculum for the bachelor's degrees of hospitality management, business administration, business information technology, journalism and sports management. Building on the shared key competencies, degree students will have the possibility to build individual study paths more flexibly, thanks to the new modular structure of the curriculum. They will be able to choose courses across all degrees, and thus, build their own unique competence combinations. All modules can also be offered as separate courses or learning paths to non-degree students, both publicly funded and as commercial services for employers. Consequently, there will be shared course implementations for degree studies and adult learners with various competence requirements. The newly designed courses are piloted in parallel of the designing of the curriculum in Haaga-Helia during 2020 and 2021. Semi-structured online surveys are composed among the participants for the key competence courses. The focus of the research is to understand how students in the bachelor programme and adult learners from Open UAE perceive the learning experience in such a diverse learning group. A comparison is also executed between learning methods of in-site teaching, online implementation, blended learning and virtual self-learning courses to understand how the pedagogy is meeting the learning objectives of these two different groups. The new flexible curricula and the study modules are to be designed to fill the most important competence gaps that exist in the Finnish labor markets. The new curriculum will be dynamic and constantly evolving over time according to the future competence needs in the labor market. This type of approach requires constant dialogue between Haaga-Helia and workplaces during and after designing of the shared curriculum.

Keywords: ccompetence development, continuous learning, curriculum, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Olalekan Sunday Alabi, Titus Adeyemi Alonge, Olumuyiwa Idowu Ojo

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Agricultural land suitability analysis and mapping play an imperative role for sustainable utilization of scarce physical land resources. The objective of this study was to prepare spatial database of physical land resources for irrigated agriculture and to assess land suitability for irrigation and developing suitable area map of the study area. The study was conducted at Kampe-Omi irrigation scheme located at Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. Temperature and rainfall data of the study area were collected for 10 consecutive years (2005-2014). Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were used to develop irrigation land suitability map of the study area. Attribute parameters such as the slope, soil properties, topography of the study area were used for the analysis. The available data were arranged, proximity analysis of Arc-GIS was made, and this resulted into five mapping units. The final agricultural land suitability map of the study area was derived after overlay analysis. Based on soil composition, slope, soil properties and topography, it was concluded that; Kampe-Omi has rich sandy loam soil, which is viable for agricultural purpose, the soil composition is made up of 60% sand and 40% loam. The land-use pattern map of Kampe-Omi has vegetal area and water-bodies covering 55.6% and 19.3% of the total assessed area respectively. The landform of Kampe-Omi is made up of 41.2% lowlands, 37.5% normal lands and 21.3% highlands. Kampe-Omi is adequately suitable for agricultural purpose while an extra of 20.2% of the area is highly suitable for agricultural purpose making 72.6% while 18.7% of the area is slightly suitable.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, Kampe–Omi, land suitability, mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 210

Authors: J. Dharmaraj, C. Gunasekaran

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Invertebrates are the reliable ecological indicators of disturbance of the forest ecosystems and they respond to environment changes more quickly than other fauna. Among these the terrestrial invertebrates are vital to functioning ecosystems, contributing to processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and soil fertility. The natural ecosystems of the forests have been subject to various types of disturbances, which lead to decline of flora and fauna. The comparative diversity of micro-arthropods in natural forest, wattle plantation and eucalyptus plantations were studied in Nilgiris. The study area was divided in to five major sites (Emerald (Site-I), Thalaikundha (Site-II), Kodapmund (Site-III), Aravankad (Site-IV), Kattabettu (Site-V). The research was conducted during period from March 2014 to August 2014. The leaf and soil samples were collected and isolated by using Berlese funnel extraction methods. Specimens were isolated and identified according to their morphology (Balogh 1972). In the present study results clearly showed the variation in soil pH, NPK (Major Nutrients) and organic carbon among the study sites. The chemical components of the leaf litters of the plantation decreased the diversity of micro-arthropods and decomposition rate leads to low amount of carbon and other nutrients present in the soil. Moreover eucalyptus and wattle plantations decreases the availability of the ground water source to other plantations and micro-arthropods and hences affects the soil fertility. Hence, the present study suggests to minimize the growth of wattle and eucalyptus tree plantations in the natural areas which may help to reduce the decline of forests.

Keywords: micro-arthropods, assemblage, berlese funnel, morphology, NPK, nilgiris

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Chhabi Nigam, S. Ramakrishnan

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This paper brings out the analysis of the airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to study the impact of Doppler centroid on Image quality and geocoding accuracy from the perspective of Stripmap mode of data acquisition. Although in Stripmap mode of data acquisition radar beam points at 90 degrees broad side (side looking), shift in the Doppler centroid is invariable due to platform motion. In-accurate estimation of Doppler centroid leads to poor image quality and image miss-registration. The effect of Doppler centroid is analyzed in this paper using multiple sets of data collected from airborne platform. Occurrences of ghost (ambiguous) targets and their power levels have been analyzed that impacts appropriate choice of PRF. Effect of aircraft attitudes (roll, pitch and yaw) on the Doppler centroid is also analyzed with the collected data sets. Various stages of the RDA (Range Doppler Algorithm) algorithm used for image formation in Stripmap mode, range compression, Doppler centroid estimation, azimuth compression, range cell migration correction are analyzed to find the performance limits and the dependence of the imaging geometry on the final image. The ability of Doppler centroid estimation to enhance the imaging accuracy for registration are also illustrated in this paper. The paper also tries to bring out the processing of low squint SAR data, the challenges and the performance limits imposed by the imaging geometry and the platform dynamics on the final image quality metrics. Finally, the effect on various terrain types, including land, water and bright scatters is also presented.

Keywords: ambiguous target, Doppler Centroid, image registration, Airborne SAR

Procedia PDF Downloads 217

Authors: Juliana Amaka Ugwu

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Trapping efficiency of methyl eugenol and three locally made food-based lures were evaluated in three locations for trapping of B. dorsalis on mango homestead trees in Ibadan South west Nigeria. The treatments were methyl eugenol, brewery waste, pineapple juice, orange juice, and control (water). The experiment was laid in a Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) and replicated three times in each location. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and significant means were separated by Turkey’s test. The results showed that B. dorsalis was recorded in all locations of study. Methyl eugenol significantly (P < 0.05) trapped higher population of B. dorsalis in all the study area. The population density of B. dorsalis was highest during the ripening period of mango in all locations. The percentage trapped flies after 7 weeks were 77.85%-82.38% (methyl eugenol), 7.29%-8.64% (pineapple juice), 5.62-7.62% (brewery waste), 4.41%-5.95% (orange juice), and 0.24-0.47% (control). There were no significance differences (p > 0.05) on the population of B. dorsalis trapped in all locations. Similarly, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) on the population of flies trapped among the food attractants. However, the three food attractants significantly (p < 0.05) trapped higher flies than control. Methyl eugenol trapped only male flies while brewery waste and other food based attractants trapped both male and female flies. The food baits tested were promising attractants for trapping B. dorsalis on mango homestead tress, hence increased dosage could be considered for monitoring and mass trapping as management strategies against fruit fly infestation.

Keywords: attractants, trapping, mango, Bactrocera dorsalis

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Ling Xu, Giuseppe Loprencipe, Antonio D'Andrea

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Asphalt pavement with recycled and sustainable materials has become the most commonly adopted strategy for road construction, including reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and crumb rubber (CR) from waste tires. However, the adhesion and cohesion characteristics of rubberized reclaimed asphalt pavement were still ambiguous, resulting in deteriorated adhesion behavior and life performance. This research investigated the effect of bonding characteristics on rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility of rubberized reclaimed asphalt pavement in terms of two RAP sources with different oxidation levels and two tire rubber with different particle sizes. Firstly, the binder bond strength (BBS) test and bonding failure distinguishment were conducted to analyze the surface behaviors of binder-aggregate interaction. Then, the compatibility and penetration grade of rubberized RAP binder were evaluated by rotational viscosity test and penetration test, respectively. Hamburg wheel track (HWT) test with high-temperature viscoelastic deformation analysis was adopted, which illustrated the rutting resistance. Additionally, a water boiling test was employed to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of the mixture and the texture features were characterized with the statistical parameters of image colors. Finally, the colloid structure model of rubberized RAP binder with surface interaction was proposed, and statistical analysis was established to release the correlation among various indexes. This study concluded that the gel-phase colloid structure and molecular diffusion of the free light fraction would affect the surface interpretation with aggregate, determining the bonding characteristic of rubberized RAP asphalt.

Keywords: bonding characteristics, reclaimed asphalt pavement, rubberized asphalt, sustainable material

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Erifyli Tsagkari, Stephanie Connelly, Zhaowei Liu, Andrew McBride, William Sloan

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Biofilms play an essential role in treating water in biofiltration systems. The biofilm morphology and function are inextricably linked to the hydrodynamics of flow through a filter, and yet engineers rarely explicitly engineer this interaction. We develop a system that links computer simulation and 3-D printing to optimize and rapidly prototype filter media to optimize biofilm function with the hypothesis that biofilm function is intimately linked to the flow passing through the filter. A computational model that numerically solves the incompressible time-dependent Navier Stokes equations coupled to a model for biofilm growth and function is developed. The model is imbedded in an optimization algorithm that allows the model domain to adapt until criteria on biofilm functioning are met. This is applied to optimize the shape of filter media in a simple flow channel to promote biofilm formation. The computer code links directly to a 3-D printer, and this allows us to prototype the design rapidly. Its validity is tested in flow visualization experiments and by microscopy. As proof of concept, the code was constrained to explore a small range of potential filter media, where the medium acts as an obstacle in the flow that sheds a von Karman vortex street that was found to enhance the deposition of bacteria on surfaces downstream. The flow visualization and microscopy in the 3-D printed realization of the flow channel validated the predictions of the model and hence its potential as a design tool. Overall, it is shown that the combination of our computational model and the 3-D printing can be effectively used as a design tool to prototype filter media to optimize biofilm formation.

Keywords: biofilm, biofilter, computational model, von karman vortices, 3-D printing.

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Hanen Bouaziz, Françoise Croute, Najiba Zeghal

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In order to investigate the toxic effects of fluoride on cerebrum maturity of suckling mice, we treated adult female mice of Swiss Albinos strain by 500 ppm NaF in their drinking water from the 15th day of pregnancy until the day 14 after delivery. All mice were sacrificed on day 14 after parturition. During treatment, levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, the marker of lipid peroxidation extend, increased, while the activities of the antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase and the level of glutathione decreased significantly in cerebellum compared with those of the control group. These results suggested that fluoride enhanced oxidative stress, thereby disturbing the antioxidant defense of nursing pups. In addition, acetylcholinesterase activity in cerebellum was inhibited after treatment with fluoride. In cerebellum of mice, migration of neurons from the external granular layer to the internal granular layer occurred postnatally. Key guidance signals to these migrating neurons were provided by laminin, an extracellular matrix protein fixed to the surface of astrocytes. In the present study, we examined the expression and distribution of laminin in cerebellum of 14-day-old mice. Immunoreactive laminin was disappeared by postnatal day 14 in cerebellum parenchyma of control pups and was restricted to vasculature despite the continued presence of granular cells in the external granular layer. In contrast, in cerebellum of NaF treated pups, laminin was deposited in organised punctuate clusters in the molecular layer. These data indicated that the disruption of laminin distribution might play a major role in the profound derangement of neuronal migration observed in cerebellum of NaF treated pups.

Keywords: acetylcholinesterase activity, cerebellum, laminin, oxidative stress, suckling mice

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: Calvin Stephen, Biswajit Basu, Aonghus McNabola

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Market liberalization in the power sector has led to the emergence of micro-hydropower schemes that are dependent on the use of pumps-as-turbines in applications that were not suitable as potential hydropower sites in earlier years. These applications include energy recovery in water supply networks, sewage systems, irrigation systems, alcohol breweries, underground mining and desalination plants. As a result, there has been an accelerated adoption of pumpsas-turbine technology due to the economic advantages it presents in comparison to the conventional turbines in the micro-hydropower space. The performance of this machines under cavitation conditions, however, is not well understood as there is a deficiency of knowledge in literature focused on their turbine mode of operation. In hydraulic machines, cavitation is a common occurrence which needs to be understood to safeguard them and prolong their operation life. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of cavitation on the performance of a pumps-as-turbine system over its entire operating range. At various operating speeds, the cavitating region is identified experimentally while monitoring the effects this has on the power produced by the machine. Initial results indicate occurrence of cavitation at higher flow rates for lower operating speeds and at lower flow rates at higher operating speeds. This implies that for cavitation free operation, low speed pumps-as-turbine must be used for low flow rate conditions whereas for sites with higher flow rate conditions high speed turbines should be adopted. Such a complete understanding of pumps-as-turbine suction performance can aid avoid cavitation induced failures hence improved reliability of the micro-hydropower plant.

Keywords: cavitation, micro-hydropower, pumps-as-turbine, system design

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi, Maisa Ciampi Guillardi, Flávia Rodrigues Patrício, Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho

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Certified agricultural products are important components of the food industry. However, certifiers have been expanding the list of restricted or prohibited pesticides, limiting the options of products for phytosanitary control of plant diseases, but without offering alternatives to the farmers. Soybean and coffee leaf rust, brown eye spots, and Phoma leaf spots are the main fungal diseases that pose a serious threat to soybean and coffee cultivation worldwide. In conventional farming systems, these diseases are controlled by using synthetic fungicides, which, in addition to intensifying the occurrence of fungal resistance, are highly toxic to the environment, farmers, and consumers. In organic, agroecological, or regenerative farming systems, product options for plant protection are limited, being available only copper-based compounds, and biodefensivesornon-standard homemade products. Therefore, there is a growing demand for effective bioprotectors with low environmental impact for adoption in more sustainable agricultural systems. Then, to contribute to covering such a gap, we have developed a compound based on plant extracts and metallic elements for foliar application. This product has both biostimulant and bioprotective action, which promotes sustainable disease control, increases productivity as well as reduces damage to the environment. The product's components have complementary mechanisms that promote protection against the disease by directly acting on the pathogens and activating the plant's natural defense system. The protective ability of the product against three coffee diseases (coffee leaf rust, brown eye spot, and Phoma leaf spot) and against soybean rust disease was evaluated, in addition to its ability to promote plant growth. Our goal is to offer an effective alternative to control the main coffee fungal diseases and soybean fungal diseases, with a biostimulant effect and low toxicity. The proposed product can also be part of the integrated management of coffee and soybean diseases in conventional farming associated with chemical and biological pesticides, offering the market a sustainable coffee and soybean with high added value and low residue content. Experiments were carried out under controlled conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the product in controlling rust, phoma, and cercosporiosis in comparison to control-inoculated plants that did not receive the product. The in vitro and in vivo effects of the product on the pathogen were evaluated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The fungistatic action of the product was demonstrated by a reduction of 85% and 95% in spore germination and disease symptoms severity on the leaves of coffee plants, respectively. The formulation had both a protective effect, acting to prevent infection by coffee leaf rust, and a curative effect, reducing the rust symptoms after its establishment.

Keywords: plant disease, natural fungicide, plant health, sustainability, alternative disease management

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Kinga Topolska, Agnieszka Filipiak-Florkiewicz, Adam Florkiewicz, Daria Chechelska, Iwona Cieślik, Ewa Cieślik

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Food choice is a complex human behaviour, that is influenced by many interrelating factors. It is important to understand what consumers really want to eat. Nowadays, the growing popularity of frozen desserts is observed. Among them, sorbets are of the special interest. They are made primarily of fruit juice or fruit purée, water and sugar. A questionnaire study was done to evaluate the consumer preferences towards sorbets. A hundred respondents were included in the study. The respondents answered the questions concerning, inter alia, on the favourite taste of sorbets, additional ingredients (pieces of fruits, nuts etc.), the reason for choosing the product and also the opinion about potential purchasing or not the new product. Women, more frequently than men, indicated strawberry sorbet or the product on the basis of citrus fruits as a favourite one. In turn, 14% of men chose the apple taste. Pieces of chocolate were chosen by most of respondents. Men, more often than women, regarded raisins, alcohol and nuts as the most desirable additional ingredients of sorbets. The candied fruits and spices were indicated more frequently by women. Most of respondents indicated the taste as the major reason for sorbet buying. In turn, for 20% women the most important determinant was the care for their figure. It was observed that more than a half of women regarded sorbets as healthier than traditional ice creams. Answering the question: 'If you had the opportunity to try a new sorbet, containing the ingredient with proven healthy properties, would you buy it?', significantly more men than women answered 'yes, because I like novelty'. Meanwhile, for 14% respondents (independently of gender) it would be only a publicity stunt. Knowing what the consumers desire in selecting a product, is a very important information to design and offer them a new one. Sorbets could be an interesting alternative to ice creams.

Keywords: consumer, preferences, sorbets, questionnaire study

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Jessica Arthur, Duke Amegah, Kingsley Akenten Wiafe

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Background: Vanilla planifolia is the only edible fruit of the orchid family (Orchidaceae) among the over 35,000 Orchidaceae species found worldwide. In Ghana, Vanilla was discovered in the wild, but it is underutilized for commercial production, most likely due to a lack of knowledge on the best NAA and BAP combinations for in vitro propagation to promote successfully regenerated plant acclimatization. The growing interest and global demand for elite Vanilla planifolia plants and natural vanilla flavour emphasize the need for an effective industrial-scale micropropagation protocol. Tissue culture systems are increasingly used to grow disease-free plants and reliable in vitro methods can also produce plantlets with typically modest proliferation rates. This study sought to develop an efficient protocol for in vitro propagation of vanilla using nodal explants by testing different concentrations of NAA and BAP, for the proliferation of the entire plant. Methods: Nodal explants with dormant axillary buds were obtained from year-old laboratory-grown Vanilla planifolia plants. MS media was prepared with a nutrient stock solution (containing macronutrients, micronutrients, iron solution and vitamins) and semi-solidified using phytagel. It was supplemented with different concentrations of NAA and BAP to induce multiple shoots and roots (0.5mg/L BAP with NAA at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.0mg/L and vice-versa). The explants were sterilized, cultured in labelled test tubes and incubated at 26°C ± 2°C with 16/8 hours light/dark cycle. Data on shoot and root growth, leaf number, node number, and survival percentage were collected over three consecutive two-week periods. The data were square root transformed and subjected to ANOVA and LSD at a 5% significance level using the R statistical package. Results: Shoots emerged at 8 days and roots at 12 days after inoculation with 94% survival rate. It was discovered that for the NAA treatments, MS media supplemented with 2.00 mg/l NAA resulted in the highest shoot length (10.45cm), maximum root number (1.51), maximum shoot number (1.47) and the highest number of leaves (1.29). MS medium containing 1.00 mg/l NAA produced the highest number of nodes (1.62) and root length (14.27cm). Also, a similar growth pattern for the BAP treatments was observed. MS medium supplemented with 1.50 mg/l BAP resulted in the highest shoot length (14.98 cm), the highest number of nodes (4.60), the highest number of leaves (1.75) and the maximum shoot number (1.57). MS medium containing 0.50 mg/l BAP and 1.0 mg/l BAP generated a maximum root number (1.44) and the highest root length (13.25cm), respectively. However, the best concentration combination for maximizing shoot and root was media containing 1.5mg/l BAP combined with 0.5mg/l NAA, and 1.0mg/l NAA combined with 0.5mg/l of BAP respectively. These concentrations were optimum for in vitro growth and production of Vanilla planifolia. Significance: This study presents a standardized protocol for labs to produce clean vanilla plantlets, enhancing cultivation in Ghana and beyond. It provides insights into Vanilla planifolia's growth patterns and hormone responses, aiding future research and cultivation.

Keywords: Vanilla planifolia, In vitro propagation, plant hormones, MS media

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Edgar Willy Rimarachin Valderrama, Eduardo Rojas Parra

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Thermal energy from solar radiation is widely present in power plants, food drying, chemical reactors, heating and cooling systems, water treatment processes, hydrogen production, and others. In the case of power plants, one of the technologies available to transform solar energy into thermal energy is by solar rotary kilns where a bed of granular matter is heated through concentrated radiation obtained from an arrangement of heliostats. Numerical modeling is a useful approach to study the behavior of granular beds in solar rotary kilns. This technique, once validated with small-scale experiments, can be used to simulate large-scale processes for industrial applications. This study gives a comprehensive classification of numerical models used to simulate the movement and heat transfer for beds of granular media within solar rotary furnaces. In general, there exist three categories of models: 1) continuum, 2) discrete, and 3) multiphysics modeling. The continuum modeling considers zero-dimensional, one-dimensional and fluid-like models. On the other hand, the discrete element models compute the movement of each particle of the bed individually. In this kind of modeling, the heat transfer acts during contacts, which can occur by solid-solid and solid-gas-solid conduction. Finally, the multiphysics approach considers discrete elements to simulate grains and a continuous modeling to simulate the fluid around particles. This classification allows to compare the advantages and disadvantages for each kind of model in terms of accuracy, computational cost and implementation.

Keywords: granular beds, numerical models, rotary kilns, solar thermal applications

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Authors: Marpaleni

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The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared in 2007 that global warming and climate change are not just a series of events caused by nature, but rather caused by human behaviour. Thus, to reduce the impact of human activities on climate change it is required to have information about how people respond to the environmental issues and what constraints they face. However, information on these and other phenomena remains largely missing, or not fully integrated within the existing data systems. The proposed study is aimed at filling the gap in this knowledge by focusing on Environmentally Friendly Behaviour (EFB) of the people of Indonesia, by taking the province of South Sumatera as a case of study. EFB is defined as any activity in which people engage to improve the conditions of the natural resources and/or to diminish the impact of their behaviour on the environment. This activity is measured in terms of consumption in five areas at the household level, namely housing, energy, water usage, recycling and transportation. By adopting the Indonesia’s Environmentally Friendly Behaviour conducted by Statistics Indonesia in 2013, this study aims to precisely identify one’s orientation towards EFB based on socio demographic characteristics such as: age, income, occupation, location, education, gender and family size. The results of this research will be useful to precisely identify what support people require to strengthen their EFB, to help identify specific constraints that different actors and groups face and to uncover a more holistic understanding of EFB in relation to particular demographic and socio-economics contexts. As the empirical data are examined from the national data sample framework, which will continue to be collected, it can be used to forecast and monitor the future of EFB.

Keywords: environmentally friendly behavior, demographic, South Sumatera, Indonesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: S. Abdi Goudazri, R. Ziaie Moayed, A. Nazeri

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Loose soils normally are of weak bearing capacity due to their structural nature. Being exposed to heavy traffic loads, they would fail in most cases. To tackle the aforementioned issue, geotechnical engineers have come up with different approaches; one of which is making use of geosynthetic-reinforced soil-aggregate systems. As these polymeric reinforcements have highlighted economic and environmentally-friendly features, they have become widespread in practice during the last decades. The present research investigates the efficiency of four different types of these reinforcements in increasing the bearing capacity of two-layered soil sections using a series California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test. The studied sections are comprised of a 10 cm-thick layer of no. 161 Firouzkooh sand (weak subgrade) and a 10 cm-thick layer of compacted aggregate materials (base course) classified as SP and GW according to the United Soil Classification System (USCS), respectively. The aggregate layer was compacted to the relative density (Dr) of 95% at the optimum water content (Wopt) of 6.5%. The applied reinforcements were including two kinds of geocomposites (type A and B), a geotextile, and a geogrid that were embedded at the interface of the lower and the upper layers of the soil-aggregate system. As the standard CBR mold was not appropriate in height for this study, the mold used for soaked CBR tests were utilized. To make a comparison between the results of stress-settlement behavior in the studied specimens, CBR values pertinent to the penetrations of 2.5 mm and 5 mm were considered. The obtained results demonstrated 21% and 24.5% increments in the amount of CBR value in the presence of geocomposite type A and geogrid, respectively. On the other hand, the effect of both geotextile and geocomposite type B on CBR values was generally insignificant in this research.

Keywords: geosynthetics, geogrid, geotextile, CBR test, increasing bearing capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Pratikno Hidayat, Khamdan Cahyari

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Hydrogen is the ultimate choice of energy carriers in future. It contents high energy density (42 kJ/g), emits only water vapor during combustion and has high energy conversion up to 50% in fuel cell application. One of the promising methods to produce hydrogen is from organic waste through dark fermentation method. It utilizes sugar-rich organic waste as substrate and hydrogen-producing microorganisms to generate the hydrogen. Solid waste of sago processing industries in Indonesia is one of the promising raw materials for both producing biofuel hydrogen and mitigating the environmental impact due to the waste disposal. This research was meant to investigate the effect of chemical and biological pretreatment i.e. acid treatment and mushroom cultivation toward lignocellulosic waste of these sago industries. Chemical pretreatment was conducted through exposing the waste into acid condition using sulfuric acid (H2SO4) (various molar i.e. 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 M and various duration of exposure i.e. 30, 60 and 90 minutes). Meanwhile, biological treatment was conducted through utilization of the solid waste as growth media of mushroom (Oyster and Ling-zhi) for 3 months. Dark fermentation was conducted at pH 5.0, temperature 27℃ and atmospheric pressure. It was noticed that chemical and biological pretreatment could improve hydrogen yield with the highest yield at 3.8 ml/g VS (31%v H2). The hydrogen production was successfully performed to generate high percentage of hydrogen, although the yield was still low. This result indicated that the explosion of acid chemical and biological method might need to be extended to improve degradability of the solid waste. However, high percentage of hydrogen was resulted from proper pretreatment of residual sludge of biogas plant to generate hydrogen-producing inoculum.

Keywords: hydrogen, sago waste, chemical, biological, dark fermentation, Indonesia

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Authors: Parul Johri, Mala Trivedi

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Major Intrinsic proteins (MIPs), actively involved in the passive transport of small polar molecules across the membranes of almost all living organisms. MIPs that specifically transport water molecules are named aquaporins (AQPs). The permeability of membranes is actively controlled by the regulation of the amount of different MIPs present but also in some cases by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of the channel. Based on sequence similarity, MIPs have been classified into many categories. All of the proteins are made up of the 20 amino acids, the only difference is there in their orientations. Again all the 20 amino acids are made up of the basic five elements namely: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen. These elements are responsible for giving the amino acids the properties of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity which play an important role in protein interactions. The hydrophobic amino acids characteristically have greater number of carbon atoms as carbon is the main element which contributes to hydrophobic interactions in proteins. It is observed that the carbon level of proteins in different species is different. In the present work, we have taken a sample set of 150 aquaporins proteins from Uniprot database and a dynamic programming code was written to calculate the carbon percentage for each sequence. This carbon percentage was further used to barcode the aqauporins of animals and plants. The protein taken from Oryza sativa, Zea mays and Arabidopsis thaliana preferred to have carbon percentage of 31.8 to 35, whereas on the other hand sequences taken from Mus musculus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Homo sapiens, Bos Taurus, and Rattus norvegicus preferred to have carbon percentage of 31 to 33.7. This clearly demarks the carbon range in the aquaporin proteins from plant and animal origin. Hence the atom level analysis of protein sequences can provide us with better results as compared to the residue level comparison.

Keywords: aquaporins, carbon, dynamic prgramming, MIPs

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Authors: Lucile Soudani, Hervé Illy, Rémi Bouchié

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Mould growth in living environments has been widely reported for decades all throughout the world. A higher level of moisture in housings can lead to building degradation, chemical component emissions from construction materials as well as enhancing mould growth within the envelope elements or on the internal surfaces. Moreover, a significant number of studies have highlighted the link between mould presence and the prevalence of respiratory diseases. In recent years, the proportion of biobased materials used in construction has been increasing, as seen as an effective lever to reduce the environmental impact of the building sector. Besides, bio-based materials are also hygroscopic materials: when in contact with the wet air of a surrounding environment, their porous structures enable a better capture of water molecules, thus providing a more suitable background for mould growth. Many studies have been conducted to develop reliable models to be able to predict mould appearance, growth, and decay over many building materials and external exposures. Some of them require information about temperature and/or relative humidity, exposure times, material sensitivities, etc. Nevertheless, several studies have highlighted a large disparity between predictions and actual mould growth in experimental settings as well as in occupied buildings. The difficulty of considering the influence of all parameters appears to be the most challenging issue. As many complex phenomena take place simultaneously, a preliminary study has been carried out to evaluate the feasibility to sadopt a reliability approach rather than a deterministic approach. Both epistemic and random uncertainties were identified specifically for the prediction of mould appearance and growth. Several studies published in the literature were selected and analysed, from the agri-food or automotive sectors, as the deployed methodology appeared promising.

Keywords: bio-based materials, mould growth, numerical prediction, reliability approach

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Authors: Amelia J. McFarland, Andrew K. Davey, Shailendra Anoopkumar-Dukie

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Microglia are the resident macrophage population of the central nervous system (CNS), contributing to both innate and adaptive immune response, and brain homeostasis. Activation of microglia occurs in response to a multitude of pathogenic stimuli in their microenvironment; this induces morphological and functional changes, resulting in a state of acute neuroinflammation which facilitates injury resolution. Adequate microglial function is essential for the health of the neuroparenchyma, with microglial dysfunction implicated in numerous CNS pathologies. Given the critical role that these macrophage-derived cells play in CNS homeostasis, there is a high demand for microglial models suitable for use in neuroscience research. The isolation of primary human microglia, however, is both difficult and costly, with microglial activation an unwanted but inevitable result of the extraction process. Consequently, there is a need for the development of alternative experimental models which exhibit morphological, biochemical and functional characteristics of human microglia without the difficulties associated with primary cell lines. In this study, our aim was to evaluate whether THP-1 human peripheral blood monocytes would display microglial-like qualities following an induced differentiation, and, therefore, be suitable for use as surrogate microglia. To achieve this aim, THP-1 human peripheral blood monocytes from acute monocytic leukaemia were differentiated with a range of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) concentrations (50-200 nM) using two different protocols: a 5-day continuous PMA exposure or a 3-day continuous PMA exposure followed by a 5-day rest in normal media. In each protocol and at each PMA concentration, microglial-like cell morphology was assessed through crystal violet staining and the presence of CD-14 microglial / macrophage cell surface marker. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli (055: B5) was then added at a range of concentrations from 0-10 mcg/mL to activate the PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells. Functional microglial-like behavior was evaluated by quantifying the release of prostaglandin (PG)-E2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α using mediator-specific ELISAs. Furthermore, production of global reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined fluorometrically using dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) and diaminofluorescein diacetate (DAF-2-DA) respectively. Following PMA-treatment, it was observed both differentiation protocols resulted in cells displaying distinct microglial morphology from 10 nM PMA. Activation of differentiated cells using LPS significantly augmented IL-1β, TNF-α and PGE2 release at all LPS concentrations under both differentiation protocols. Similarly, a significant increase in DCFH-DA and DAF-2-DA fluorescence was observed, indicative of increases in ROS and NO production. For all endpoints, the 5-day continuous PMA treatment protocol yielded significantly higher mediator levels than the 3-day treatment and 5-day rest protocol. Our data, therefore, suggests that the differentiation of THP-1 human monocyte cells with PMA yields a homogenous microglial-like population which, following stimulation with LPS, undergo activation to release a range of pro-inflammatory mediators associated with microglial activation. Thus, the use of PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells represents a suitable microglial model for in vitro research.

Keywords: differentiation, lipopolysaccharide, microglia, monocyte, neuroscience, THP-1

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Authors: Dinnah Feye H. Andal, Ann Laurice V. Salonga

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The paper investigates the flooding event that was experienced by Marikina City residents during the onslaught of Tropical Storm Ondoy on September 26, 2009 and during the heavy downpour caused by the southwest monsoon (Habagat) on August 1-8, 2012. Typhoon Ketsana, locally known as Tropical Storm Ondoy, devastated the whole of Marikina City, displacing a lot of people from their homes and damages properties as well, as flood rose at a very short period of time. Meanwhile, the massive amount of rain water brought by the southwest monsoon lasted for a week that also caused flooding to different parts of Metro Manila including Marikina City. This paper examines how the respondents’ experiences of the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ondoy informed the coping strategies that the households in Barangay Tumana and Provident Village employed during the flooding brought by the southwest monsoon rains. Specifically, the research compares the coping strategies to flood hazards between residents of Barangay Tumana and Provident Village before, during and after the flooding caused by the southwest monsoon rains. Both study sites have relatively low elevation and are located along rivers and creeks which make them highly susceptible to flood. Interviews with affected residents were undertaken to understand how a household's coping strategies contribute to the development of community coping strategies at the respective neighborhood level. Based from the findings, income levels, local politics, religion and social relations between and among neighbors affect the way household and community coping strategies differ in the two case study sites.

Keywords: community coping strategies, Habagat, Marikina, Ondoy

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Authors: Seongwon Im, Jimin Kim, Kyeongcheol Kim, Dong-Hoon Kim

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Cattle manure (CM) produced from farmhas been utilized to soils for increasing crop production owing to high nutrients content and effective microorganisms. Some cities with the concentrated activity of livestock industry have suffered from environmental problems, such as odorous gas emissions and soil and water pollution, caused by excessive use of compost. As an alternative option, the anaerobic digestion (AD) process can be utilized, which can reduce the volume of organic waste but also produce energy. According to Korea-Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (KMTIE), the energy potential of CM via biogas production was estimated to be 0.8 million TOE per year, which is higher than that of other organic wastes. However, limited energy is recovered since useful organic matter, capable of converting to biogas, may be degraded during the long storage period (1-6 months).In this study, the effect of storage period on biogas potential of CM was investigated. Compared to fresh CM (VS 14±1 g/L, COD 205±5 g/L, TKN 7.4±0.8 g/L, NH4+-N 1.5±0.1), old CM has higher organic (35-37%) and nitrogen content (50-100%) due to the drying process during storage. After stabilization period, biogas potential of 0.09 L CH4/g VS was obtained in R1 (old CM supplement) at HRT of 150-100 d, and it was decreased further to 0.06 L CH4/g VS at HRT of 80 d. The drop of pH and organic acids accumulation were not observed during the whole operation of R1. Ammonia stripping and pretreatment of CM were found to be not effective to increase CH4 yield. On the other hand, a sudden increase of biogas potential to 0.19-0.22 L CH4/g VS was achieved in R2 after changing feedstock to fresh CM. The expected reason for the low biogas potential of old CM might be related with the composition of organic matters in CM. Easily biodegradable organic matters in the fresh CM were contained in high concentration, butthey were removed by microorganisms during storing CM in a farm, resulting low biogas yield. This study implies that fresh storage is important to make AD process applicable for CM.

Keywords: storage period, cattle manure, biogas potential, microbial analysis

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Authors: Luo Guidong, Song Hang, Jim Song, Virginia Martin Torrejon

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Due to their excellent properties, polymer packaging foams have become increasingly essential in our current lifestyles. They are cost-effective and lightweight, with excellent mechanical and thermal insulation properties. However, they constitute a major environmental and health concern due to litter generation, ocean pollution, and microplastic contamination of the food chain. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to develop more sustainable alternatives to conventional polymer packaging foams. As a result, biobased and compostable foams are increasingly becoming commercially available, such as starch-based loose-fill or PLA trays. However, there is still a need for bulk manufacturing of bio-foams planks for packaging applications as a viable alternative to their fossil fuel counterparts (i.e., polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyurethane). Gelatin is a promising biopolymer for packaging applications due to its biodegradability, availability, and biocompatibility, but its mechanical properties are poor compared to conventional plastics. However, as widely reported for other biopolymers, such as starch, the mechanical properties of gelatin-based bioplastics can be enhanced by formulation optimization, such as the incorporation of fibres from different crops, such as bamboo. This research aimed to produce gelatin-bamboo fibre foams by mechanical foaming and to study the effect of fibre content on the foams' properties and structure. As a result, foams with virtually no shrinkage, low density (<40 kg/m³), low thermal conductivity (<0.044 W/m•K), and mechanical properties comparable to conventional plastics were produced. Further work should focus on developing formulations suitable for the packaging of water-sensitive products and processing optimization, especially the reduction of the drying time.

Keywords: biobased and compostable foam, sustainable packaging, natural polymer hydrogel, cold chain packaging

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Authors: Sopana Wongtawee

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Purpose: Adequate bowel cleansing is essential for a high quality, effective and safe colonoscopy. The aims of this study were to compare the efficacy of bowel preparation based on a low-residue diet before 8:00 followed by a clear-liquid diet, and a low-residue diet until 16:00 one day before colonoscopy using sodium phosphate solution (Xubil ®), the side effects of the two protocols and the patient satisfaction with them. Method: This was an endoscopist-blinded, prospective, randomized, controlled trial. A total of 224 patients (112 in each group) scheduled for outpatient colonoscopy met the criteria.They were randomized to either a low-residue diet consisting of white rice porridge with either fish, chicken or eggs before 8:00 followed by a clear-liquid diet (Group 1) or a low-residue diet consisting of the same food and drink, until 16:00 the day before colonoscopy(Group 2). All of them received 45 ml of sodium phosphate solution (Xubil ®) and three glasses of water (300 ml/glass) the evening before and the morning of the procedure. The cleansing efficacy of bowel preparation was rated according to the modified Rajawithi hospital bowel preparation score scale, patient satisfaction with bowel preparation was rated using Likert scale, and side effects of the 2 protocols was assessed using a patient questionnaire. Results: The cleansing efficacy between the two groups was significantly different (p=0.02). Satisfaction with bowel preparation and side effects were not different, except for the feeling of hunger in the first group (p=0.001). Conclusion: The low-residue diet consisting of white rice porridge with fish, chicken or eggs until 16:00 one day before colonoscopy achieved a better bowel-cleansing efficacy than the protocol consisting of clear liquid all day and rice porridge only before 8:00 one day before colonoscopy.

Keywords: bowel preparation, colonoscopy, sodium phosphate solution, nursing management

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Authors: Irit Rutman Halili, Tehila Zvulun, Natali Elgabsi, Revaya Cohen, Shlomo Sarig

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Active sand dunes (ASD) may cause significant damage to field crops and livelihood, and therefore, it is necessary to find a treatment that would enhance ADS soil stability. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) contain microorganisms on the soil surface. Metabolic polysaccharides secreted by biocrust cyanobacteria glue the soil particles into aggregates, thereby stabilizing the soil surface. Filter cake powder (FCP) is a waste by-product in the final stages of the production of sugar from sugarcane, and its disposal causes significant environmental pollution. FCP contains high concentrations of polysaccharides and has recently been shown to be soil stability enhancing agent in ASD. It has been reported that adding FCP to the ASD soil surface by dispersal significantly increases the level of penetration resistance of soil biocrust (PRSB) nine weeks after a single treatment. However, it was not known whether a similar effect could be obtained by administering the FCP in liquid form by means of spraying. It has now been found that spraying a water solution of FCP onto the ASD soil surface significantly increased the level of penetration resistance of soil biocrust (PRSB) three weeks after a single treatment. These results suggest that FCP spraying can be used as a short-term soil stability-enhancing agent for ASD, while administration by dispersal might be more efficient over the long term. Finally, an additional benefit of using FCP as a soil stabilizer, either by dispersal or by spraying, is the reduction in environmental pollution that would otherwise result from the disposal of FCP solid waste.

Keywords: active sand dunes, filter cake powder, biological soil crusts, penetration resistance of soil biocrust

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Authors: Mona Hassan Aburahma, Alaa Hamed Salama

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Ufasomes “unsaturated fatty acids liposomes” are unique nano-sized self-assembled bilayered vesicles that can be easily created from the readily available unsaturated fatty acid. Ufasomes are formed due to weak associative interaction of the fully ionized and unionized fatty acids into bilayers structures. In the ufasomes constructs, the fatty acid molecules are oriented with their hydrocarbon tails directed toward the membrane interior and the carboxyl groups are in contact with water. Although ufasomes can be employed as a safe vesicular carrier for drugs, the extreme instability of their aqueous dispersions hinders their effective use in drug delivery field. Accordingly, in our study, lyophilized gels containing ufasomes were prepared using a simple assembling technique form the readily available oleic acid to overcome the colloidal instability of the ufasomes dispersions and convert them into accurate unit dosage forms. The influence of changing cholesterol percentage relative to oleic acid on the ufasomes vesicles were investigated using factorial design. The optimized oleic acid ufasomes comprised nanoscaled spherical vesicles. Scanning electron micrographs of the lyophilized gels revealed that the included ufasomes were intact, non-aggregating, and preserved their spherical morphology. Rheological characterization (viscosity and shear stress versus shear rate) of reconstituted ufasomal lyophilized gel ensured the ease of application. The capability of the ufasomes, included in the gel, to penetrate deep through the mucosa layers was illustrated using ex-vivo confocal laser imaging, thereby, highlighting the feasibility of stabilizing ufasomes using lyophilized gel platforms.

Keywords: ufasomes, lyophilized gel, confocal scanning microscopy, rheological characterization, oleic acid

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Authors: Muhammad Badruzzaman, Alif Hasan, Md. Shahjahan

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Propiconazole is a triazole fungicide extensively used in agriculture which can harm to non-target organisms in aquatic environment through runoff. Chronic exposure to environmental pesticides turn to behavioral impairment in vertebrates including teleosts. However, the potential effect of this fungicide on neurobehavioral impairment and release from it in vertebrates has not been fully explored. In this work, we examined the role of melatonin to rescue fungicide induced neurobehavioral and reproductive alternation and its connection with changes in dopaminergic activity in the brain of Mystus cavasius. After fish were exposed to water containing propiconazole at 0, 0.1, 5, and 250 µg/L for 3 days, significant increases of DA, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC; a DA metabolite), and their ratio (DOPAC/DA) were observed in whole brain at 250 µg/L concentration. When fish were treated with propiconazole at 250 µg/L for 3 days, there was a significant elevation of DA, DOPAC and DOPAC/DA in diencephalon and pituitary, and only DA in the telencephalon, compared with control fish. Besides, it induced a reduction in extracellular serotonin and had an anxiolytic-like effect, supported by a decrease in cortisol production. Increased locomotor activity, anxiety and aggressiveness, decreased gonadosomatic index with few vitellogenic oocytes in ovaries after propiconazole treatment. When fish were treated with melatonin, D1 (SCH-23390) or D2 (Haloperidol) dopamine receptor antagonists and combined of melatonin and D1/D2 receptor antagonist and was observed melatonin + D2 receptor antagonist rescued fungicide induced all behavioral changes in fish. These results indicate that propiconazole increases locomotor activity, anxiety and aggressiveness and decreases reproductive activity, which was rescued by combined treatment of melatonin and dopamine receptor antagonist.

Keywords: behavior, catfish, dopamine, fungicide, melatonin

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Authors: Lopamudra Ray, Malla Padma, Dibya Bhol, Samir Ranjan Mishra, A. N. Panda, Gurdeep Rastogi, T. K. Adhya, Ajit Kumar Pattnaik, Mrutyunjay Suar, Vishakha Raina

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Chilika Lake is the largest coastal estuarine brackish water lagoon in Asia situated on the east coast of India and is a designated Ramsar site. In the current study, several chitinolytic microorganisms were isolated and screened by appearance of clearance zone on 0.5% colloidal chitin agar plate. A strain designated as RC 1830 displayed maximum colloidal chitin degradation by release of 112 μmol/ml/min of N-acetyl D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) in 48h. The strain was taxonomically identified by polyphasic approach based on a range of phenotypic and genotypic properties and was found to be a novel species named Streptomyces chilikensis RC1830. The organism was halophilic (12% NaCl w/v), alkalophilic (pH10) and was capable of hydrolyzing chitin, starch, cellulose, gelatin, casein, tributyrin and tween 80. The partial purification of chitinase enzymes from RC1830 was performed by DEAE Sephacel anion exchange chromatography which revealed the presence of a very low molecular weight chitinase(10.5kD) which may be a probable chitobiosidase enzyme. The study reports the presence of a low MW chitinase (10.5kD) and a chitin decaetylase from a novel Streptomyces strain RC1830 isolated from Chilika Lake. Previously chitinases less than 20.5kD have not been reported from any other Streptomyces species. The enzymes was characterized with respect to optimum pH, temperature, and substrate specificity and temperature stability.

Keywords: chitinases, chitobiosidase, Chilika Lake, India

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