scholarly journals Levels of Antioxidant Compound Glutathione in Moss from Industrial Areas

Atmosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zulema Varela ◽  
Sofía Debén ◽  
Dinesh Saxena ◽  
Jesús Aboal ◽  
J. Fernández

Plants possess a wide range of cellular mechanisms that help them tolerate potentially toxic substances. Several studies that were carried out under laboratory conditions have demonstrated that the antioxidant compound glutathione plays a role in enabling mosses to tolerate high levels of heavy metals without toxic effects. However, until now, the antioxidant levels have not been studied in mosses under field conditions. In this study, we aimed to clarify the antioxidant concentrations of glutathione in the terrestrial moss Pseudoscleropodium purum growing in industrial environments characterised by high atmospheric levels of Cd, Ni, and Pb, and to evaluate the potential use of the compound as a biomarker. The results indicated the existence of a glutathione threshold response, which was significantly correlated with the metal toxicity and which may be influenced by metal bioavailability. Although future studies are needed to strengthen the findings, the present study suggests that total concentration of glutathione in P. purum could therefore be used as a biomarker in air pollution biomonitoring studies, provided that metal bioavailability is taken into account.

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Marymol Koshy ◽  
Bushra Johari ◽  
Mohd Farhan Hamdan ◽  
Mohammad Hanafiah

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a global disease affecting people of various ethnic origins and both genders. HCM is a genetic disorder with a wide range of symptoms, including the catastrophic presentation of sudden cardiac death. Proper diagnosis and treatment of this disorder can relieve symptoms and prolong life. Non-invasive imaging is essential in diagnosing HCM. We present a review to deliberate the potential use of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in HCM assessment and also identify the risk factors entailed with risk stratification of HCM based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 709-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad A. Rashid ◽  
Aisha Ashraf ◽  
Sahibzada S. Rehman ◽  
Shaukat A. Shahid ◽  
Adeel Mahmood ◽  
...  

Background:1,4-Diazepines are two nitrogen containing seven membered heterocyclic compounds and associated with a wide range of biological activities. Due to its medicinal importance, scientists are actively involved in the synthesis, reactions and biological evaluation of 1,4-diazepines since number of decades.Objective:The primary purpose of this review is to discuss the synthetic schemes and reactivity of 1,4- diazepines. This article also describes biological aspects of 1,4-diazepine derivatives, that can be usefully exploited for the pharmaceutical sector.Conclusion:This review summarizes the abundant literature on synthetic routes, chemical reactions and biological attributes of 1,4-diazepine derivatives. We concluded that 1,4-diazepines have significant importance due to their biological activities like antipsychotic, anxiolytic, anthelmintic, anticonvulsant, antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer. 1,4-diazepine derivatives with significant biological activities could be explored for potential use in the pharmaceutical industries.


Author(s):  
David B. Resnik

This chapter provides an overview of the ethics of environmental health, and it introduces five chapters in the related section of The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics. A wide range of ethical issues arises in managing the relationship between human health and the environment, including regulation of toxic substances, air and water pollution, waste management, agriculture, the built environment, occupational health, energy production and use, environmental justice, population control, and climate change. The values at stake in environmental health ethics include those usually mentioned in ethical debates in biomedicine and public health, such as autonomy, social utility, and justice, as well as values that address environmental concerns, such as animal welfare, stewardship of biological resources, and sustainability. Environmental health ethics, therefore, stands at the crossroads of several disciplines, including public health ethics, environmental ethics, biomedical ethics, and business ethics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7181
Author(s):  
Seong-Im Park ◽  
Hyeok Jin Kwon ◽  
Mi Hyeon Cho ◽  
Ji Sun Song ◽  
Beom-Gi Kim ◽  
...  

The AP2/EREBP family transcription factors play important roles in a wide range of stress tolerance and hormone signaling. In this study, a heat-inducible rice ERF gene was isolated and functionally characterized. The OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 was categorized to Group-IIIc of the rice AP2/EREBP family and strongly induced by heat and drought treatment. The OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 protein targeted to nuclei and suppressed the ABA-induced transcriptional activation of Rab16A promoter in rice protoplasts. Overexpression of OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 enhanced thermotolerance of seeds and vegetative growth stage plants. The OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 overexpressing (OE) plants exhibited higher proline level and increased expression of a proline biosynthesis P5CS1 gene. Phenotyping of water use dynamics of the individual plant indicates that the OsERF115/AP2EREBP110-OE plant exhibited better water saving traits under heat and drought combined stress. Our combined results suggest the potential use of OsERF115/AP2EREBP110 as a candidate gene for genetic engineering approaches to develop heat and drought stress-tolerant crops.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Mayra K. S. Monteiro ◽  
Djalma R. Da Silva ◽  
Marco A. Quiroz ◽  
Vítor J. P. Vilar ◽  
Carlos A. Martínez-Huitle ◽  
...  

This study aims to investigate the applicability of a hybrid electrochemical sensor composed of cork and graphite (Gr) for detecting caffeine in aqueous solutions. Raw cork (RAC) and regranulated cork (RGC, obtained by thermal treatment of RAC with steam at 380 °C) were tested as modifiers. The results clearly showed that the cork-graphite sensors, GrRAC and GrRGC, exhibited a linear response over a wide range of caffeine concentration (5–1000 µM), with R2 of 0.99 and 0.98, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD), estimated at 2.9 and 6.1 µM for GrRAC and GrRGC, suggest greater sensitivity and reproducibility than the unmodified conventional graphite sensor. The low-cost cork-graphite sensors were successfully applied in the determination of caffeine in soft drinks and pharmaceutical formulations, presenting well-defined current signals when analyzing real samples. When comparing electrochemical determinations and high performance liquid chromatography measurements, no significant differences were observed (mean accuracy 3.0%), highlighting the potential use of these sensors to determine caffeine in different samples.


Author(s):  
Nufar Sukenik ◽  
Laurice Tuller

AbstractStudies on the lexical semantic abilities of children with autism have yielded contradicting results. The aim of the current review was to explore studies that have specifically focused on the lexical semantic abilities of children with ASD and try to find an explanation for these contradictions. In the 32 studies reviewed, no single factor was found to affect lexical semantic skills, although children with broader linguistic impairment generally, but not universally, also showed impaired lexical semantic skills. The need for future studies with young ASD participants, with differing intellectual functioning, longitudinal studies, and studies assessing a wide range of language domains are discussed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 349 (1329) ◽  
pp. 297-297

Many cellular mechanisms use a process of variation and selection to generate specific patterns. Among these, dynamic instability of microtubules has been shown to employ a specific mechanism to intentionally generate variation. In many systems the growth of neurons or neuronal processes is excessive, the final connections being established by stabilization of functional interactions. When changes in neuronal networks take place, such as in metamorphosis, use is made of the plasticity of neuronal connectivity. In the immune system, specific responses are generated by variation and selection. Processes that explore a wide range of conditions and a wide range of structures can be called exploratory processes. These are very robust and capable of responding to damage, variability in the environment and ontogenic changes in the organisms. Such robustness would be useful for adapting to changes that occur during phylogenetic changes as well. Given the extensive history of extinction and radiation in evolution, it may be supposed that these mechanisms have themselves been selected for their capacity to survive rapid changes in the organism and for their ability to generate cellular variation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1250085 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW ADAMATZKY

Excitable cellular automata with dynamical excitation interval exhibit a wide range of space-time dynamics based on an interplay between propagating excitation patterns which modify excitability of the automaton cells. Such interactions leads to formation of standing domains of excitation, stationary waves and localized excitations. We analyzed morphological and generative diversities of the functions studied and characterized the functions with highest values of the diversities. Amongst other intriguing discoveries we found that upper boundary of excitation interval more significantly affects morphological diversity of configurations generated than lower boundary of the interval does and there is no match between functions which produce configurations of excitation with highest morphological diversity and configurations of interval boundaries with highest morphological diversity. Potential directions of future studies of excitable media with dynamically changing excitability may focus on relations of the automaton model with living excitable media, e.g. neural tissue and muscles, novel materials with memristive properties and networks of conductive polymers.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Seca ◽  
Diana Pinto

Hypertension and obesity are two significant factors that contribute to the onset and exacerbation of a cascade of mechanisms including activation of the sympathetic and renin-angiotensin systems, oxidative stress, release of inflammatory mediators, increase of adipogenesis and thus promotion of systemic dysfunction that leads to clinical manifestations of cardiovascular diseases. Seaweeds, in addition to their use as food, are now unanimously acknowledged as an invaluable source of new natural products that may hold noteworthy leads for future drug discovery and development, including in the prevention and/or treatment of the cardiovascular risk factors. Several compounds including peptides, phlorotannins, polysaccharides, carotenoids, and sterols, isolated from brown, red and green macroalgae exhibit significant anti-hypertensive and anti-obesity properties. This review will provide a comprehensive overview of the recent advances on bioactive pure compounds isolated from different seaweed sources focusing on their potential use as drugs to treat or prevent hypertension and obesity. On the other hand, although it is obvious that macroalgae represent promising sources of antihypertensive and anti-obesity compounds, it is also clear that further efforts are required to fully understand their cellular mechanisms of action, to establish structure-inhibition relationships and mainly to evaluate them in pre-clinical and clinical trials.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (S308) ◽  
pp. 542-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nadathur ◽  
S. Hotchkiss ◽  
J. M. Diego ◽  
I. T. Iliev ◽  
S. Gottlöber ◽  
...  

AbstractWe discuss the universality and self-similarity of void density profiles, for voids in realistic mock luminous red galaxy (LRG) catalogues from the Jubilee simulation, as well as in void catalogues constructed from the SDSS LRG and Main Galaxy samples. Voids are identified using a modified version of the ZOBOV watershed transform algorithm, with additional selection cuts. We find that voids in simulation areself-similar, meaning that their average rescaled profile does not depend on the void size, or – within the range of the simulated catalogue – on the redshift. Comparison of the profiles obtained from simulated and real voids shows an excellent match. The profiles of real voids also show auniversalbehaviour over a wide range of galaxy luminosities, number densities and redshifts. This points to a fundamental property of the voids found by the watershed algorithm, which can be exploited in future studies of voids.


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