Phytoremediation of battery industry effluent through aquatic macrophytes

Research was conducted to quantify the level of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) contamination in battery industry effluent and to assess the remediation potential of three invasive aquatic macrophytes Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes and Hydrocotyle umbellata by growing on industrial effluent collected from Lead acid Battery industry.The effluent was heavily contaminated with Pb (10mg/l) and sulphuric acid (pH 2- 2.1). Due to high Pb concentrations and low pH (2-2.2) the plants were unable to survive. Mortality rate of E. crassipes was 96 % while P. stratiotes and H. umbellata were 100% rotten. The experiment was repeated after adjusting the effluent pH to 7-7.5 to increase the plant life.Plant parts and wastewater samples were analyzed after every 3 days interval uptil 21st day. The amount of Cr, Cd and Cu in the effluent was 0.076 mg /L, 0.036 mg /L and 0.097 mg /L, which was in permissible limits of NEQs (1.0 mg/l, 0.1 mg/l and 1.0 mg/l) respectively. Pb was found 10 times higher i.e. 10 mg/l than the permissible limit 0.5 mg/l. E. crassipes removed Pb>Cr>Cu>Cd while P. stratiotes and H. umbellata reduced Cd, Cr, Cu more than Pb from the effluent. E. crassipes was most efficient Pb removing plant in 21 days of experiment.

Conservation status of amniotes found in and around Balapur Pond of District Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), India

Perennial Balapur Pond was surveyed and studied to assess the conservation status of reptiles, birds and mammals naturally occurring in and around it. The survey was conducted from January 2018 to June 2019. During entire survey, a total of 7 species of reptiles, 11 species of birds and 8 species of mammals were identified. Among reptilian species reported, 1 species comes under NT (near threatened), 1 species LC (least concern) while 5 species have no special status (NSS). One avian species was CR (critically endangered), one NT (near threatened) and 9 bird species were LC (least concern). Out of 8 mammalian species recorded, one was EN (endangered), one VU (vulnerable) and remaining 6 LC (least concern).Most of the avian and mammalian species are lacking conducive ambience and hunted for food.

In-Vessel Poultry Litter Composting to Facilitate Pathogen Reduction and Biofertilizer Production

Poultry litter-based organic fertilizers are usually incorporated into soil to improve its structure and fertility to increase crop production, however, poultry litter may also contain a variety of microorganisms which can compromise the safety of fresh produce when applied on agriculture lands. Composting can be a strategy to inactivate these microorganisms while creating a soil amendment beneficial for application to arable agricultural land. The objective of this study was to design and test the effect of moisture and temperature in a mechanically aerated in-vessel composting system for the purpose of reducing bacteria concentration in poultry litter while producing bio fertilizer. The actual composting occurred in four digesters which measured 1.2m x 1.2m x 1.2m. Four treatments were utilized with four different levels of moisture content in each vessel (treatment 1=65%, treatment 2=55% treatment 3=60% treatment 4=50%).Moisture gradually decreased and reached 55%, 44% and 48%, and 38.9% for treatment 1,2,3 and 4, respectively in the final compost product. The maximum average temperatures recorded for test 1, 2, 3 and, 4 were 50.54°C, 50.9 °C, 60.7 and 71.5°C respectively compared to outside temperature (15.4°C), and these temperatures were able to significantly reduce the concentration of total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliform and enterococcus listeria. The initial concentration of the compost piles was approximately 6.57, 6.04 and 3.72 log10 CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliform and enterococcus respectively. After analyzes, all target microorganisms were significantly eliminated. The significant levels of total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliform and enterococcus were p=0.0303, P=0.0258, p=0.0233 respectively. The presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were not detected in all sampling period. Results of in-vessel compost analyses revealed a 16.9% N reduction; 10.1% P increase and 33.7% K increase. Moisture content decreased by 52.2% and elevated C/N ratio and pH by 27.7 % and 3.30% respectively. The leachates generated from the in-vessel composting for the first 21 days were analyzed, and the average results for week 1, 2, and 3, were observed to be 1043.7 mg/L, 1335.23mg/L, and 1029.9mg/L.

Comparative study of efficacy of commercial anthelmintic response against gastrointestinal nematodes in goats of Jhenidah district, Bangladesh

Background: Parasitic disease constitutes 60-70% diseases affecting the animals and has serious economic implication in livestock entrepreneurship by direct and indirect production loss. Indiscriminate use of anthelmintic drugs has made the situation even more precarious. A similar problem was encountered in goat from Holidhani, Jhenidah, where goats with complain of intermittent diarrhea and loss of body condition was reported despite of routine deworming.Objective: Determining the efficacy of conventional anthelmintics used and its comparison with some unexploited antiparasitic drugs for the same reason.Methods: Sixty-five goats were divided into five groups. Group A goats were kept as the control, Group B (I, II, III), group C (IV, V, VI), group D (VII, VIII, IX) and group E (X, XI, XII) goats were treated with levamisole, albendazole, fenbendazole and ivermectin respectively. All the treated and control goats were kept, housed for 21 days after the first treatment. Fecal samples were collected and counted on 1st, 7th, 14th and 21st day by using McMaster counting method.Results: Among the three doses of levamisole, albendazole, fenbendazole and ivermectin, the doses of 7.5, 7.5, 5.0 and 0.2 mg/kg body weight, body weight were found to be most effective against gastrointestinal nematodes in goats with a maximum reduction of fecal egg count to the extent of 95.38, 97.13, 98.08 & 99.16 percent respectively.Conclusion: The study revealed low efficacy of levamisole and hence ivermectin is a better drug than albendazole and fenbendazole to control gastrointestinal nematodes in goats.

Taurine represses oxidative stress in the liver and kidney following exposure to atrazine in Wistar rats

Background: Taurine is a conditional essential nutrient in man, with proven antioxidant property. This study was designed to evaluate the protective effects of taurine against atrazine (ATZ)-induced hepatic and renal oxidative toxicity in rats.Methods: Wistar rats were orally exposed to ATZ (1/10 LD50) alone or in combination with taurine at 1.5% w/v and 3% w/v in their drinking water for 30 days. After treatment, the liver and kidney were excised for biochemical assays by spectrophotometric methods.Results: Exposure to ATZ significantly elevated hepatic and renal malondialdehyde (MDA) levels when compared to control (p < 0.05). Advanced oxidized protein products (AOPP) were equally increased in these tissues on exposure to ATZ. In addition, reduced glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were markedly depleted in both organs on exposure to ATZ. Furthermore, activities of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were inhibited by ATZ compared to the control. However, co-treatment with taurine attenuated the oxidative responses generated by ATZ exposure in the rats, with the high dose of the amino acid normalizing most of the toxic effects.Conclusion: The study suggested that taurine can protect against ATZ-induced oxidative stress.

MicroRNAs: new biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis, therapy prediction and therapeutic tools for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Back ground: MicroRNA (miRNA) was originally discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans by Victor Ambrose in 1993. It was predicted that miRNA account for 1-6% of the human genome and regulated at least 33% of protein-coding genes. Recently, 945 distinct miRNAs molecules have been identified within the human genome. It has been associated with the pathogenesis, progression and prognosis of different diseases, such as leukemia. MiR-181 family is one of those miRNA families, which generally expressed in 70 species and various human cancers.Objective: Assessment of mir-181a and LDH as promising co-biomarkers in order to provide additional information influence decisions about treatment sequentially to improve health outcomes of ALL in the Egyptian children.Patients and methods: This study was conducted on 100 children; 50 with ALL (38 males and 12 females) as ALL group. Other 50 healthy age and sex matched children were collected randomly as control group. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and miRNA-181a were evaluated for all participants.Results: The results showed that there was a statistical significant difference between ALL and control groups regarding both molecular and biochemical indications of mir-181a and LDH were about almost five time as the control value, (P = 0.001). The ROC curve analysis revealed that the studied LDH and mir-181a markers were highly sensitive, highly specific and highly accurate test in the differentiation between the two studied ALL and control groups, with cutoff: ALL if mir-181a > 2.071, ALL if LDH > 0.307 respectively.Conclusion: MiRNA-181a and LDH can be used as co-biomarkers for ALL and might be beneficial in early diagnosis.

The effect of coconut water and benzyl amino purine (BAP) addition to the growth of pineapple from Sipahutar North Sumatera in vitro condition

Background: Pineapple fruit used in this study was obtained from Sipahutar sub-district, North Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra which was a superior commodity fruit. Propagation of the Sipahutar pineapple plant was conducted vegetatively using bud stems and crown shoots, but the amount was limited to be planted in large areas. Therefore, propagation through tissue culture techniques could be used as an alternative solution.Objective: Explants source were taken from plantlets in vitro aged 3 months were grown on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basic medium with the addition of Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) 1 ppm.Methods: Sipahutar pineapple tissue culture work has been done in YAHDI Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, Medan. The study design used a factorial completely randomized design. The first factor is coconut water with concentration of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, second factor is Benzyl Amino Purine (BAP) with concentration 0 ppm, 2 ppm and 4 ppm, so there were 12 combination with 3 repetition.Result: The results showed that the addition of coconut water on MS base medium with IAA of 1 ppm gave a significant effect on the number of leaf yield and shoot height. The provision of BAP on basic MS medium with IAA of 1 ppm gave a significant effect on the number of shoots produced, the number of leaves produced, the length of the leaves, the width ofleaves and the length of shoots. The interaction of coconut water and BAP addition on MS base medium with IAA of 1 ppm gave significant effect on leaf length, leaf width and shoot length as well.Conclusions: MS + IAA basic media combined with coconut water + BAP could stimulate the growth of Sipahutar pineapple in vitro.

The Effects of MYO-inositol and Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) on the Formation of Pineapples Root (Ananas comosus L.) from Sipahutar North Sumatera In Vitro

Background: Rooting of pineapple from Sipahutar in vitro is an alternative to obtain superior seeds in large quantities to meet the needs of farmers and consumers.Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Myo-inositol and IBA on pineapple rooting (Ananas comosus L.) from Sipahutar in vitro.Methods: The research method used a completely randomized factorial design with two factors: Factor I: Myo-inositol consisted of [4] treatment concentrations: M0 = 0 g/l, M0.02 = 0.02 g/l, M0.04 = 0.04 gr/l, M0.06 = 0.06 gr/l. Factor II: IBA growth regulators consisted of [3] treatment concentrations: IB0 = 0 ppm, IB1.5 = 1.5 ppm, IB3 = 3 ppm. The parameters observed were time of root emergence, number of roots, number of leaves, time of leaf emergence, number of tillers, and time of its emergence observed each week, while the height of tillers, shoots, and whole shoots, root length, leaf width and leaf length were observed 12 weeks after planting (WAP).Results: The result of the research showed that root time appeared on [3] WAP. The increasing number of leaves and timing of the puppiesin 1 WAP. Myo-inositol had significant effects on root counts in the 0.06 gr/l and root length on Myo-inositol treatment in the 0.04 g/l. IBA did not have a real effect on the entire observation parameters. The interactions of Myo-inositol and IBA had significant effects on root number, number of leaves, leaf length and tiller height.Conclusions: Myo-inositol and IBA had significant effects on root number, leaf number, leaf length and shoot height of pineapple’s explant from Sipahutar.

Antimicrobial and antidiabetic potentials of processed finger millet (Eleusine coracana)

Finger millet is a food crop with energy value, phytochemical constituents, and minerals, hence its use as whole flour for traditional food preparation among traditional people. The study was designed to determine the glycaemic index and blood glucose level in albino rats, and the antimicrobial potential of processed finger millets. Finger millets were processed by fermentation and roasting, and methanolic extracts obtained used to test antimicrobial activity. Albino rats (18) divided into three groups were fed fermented, roasted, and unprocessed millet (control), and glycaemic index and blood glucose level determined. Another 25 rat were treated into 5 groups of diabetic rats without treatment, diabetic rats treated daily with Metformin, diabetic rats fed 20% millet, diabetic rats fed 40% millet, and untreated group (control). At 100% concentration, roasted and fermented millet obtained inhibition of 15mm and 14mm against Salmonella typhi, while the control drug 25mg/ml streptomycin had 17mm inhibition. While values obtained for the glycemic indexes were close though significantly different from each other (roasted - 36.83±1.23; fermented - 38.73±1.87), roasted millet brought about the highest reduction in blood glucose level 90.9 and 65.1mg/dl at 60 and 120min respectively compared with fermented millet with 125.1 and 100.2mg/dl respectively at the same time. Animals administered finger millet in Groups 3 and 4-showed regeneration of the islet cells. The millet had the capacity to bring about healing of necrotic cells while also restoring and maintaining glucose levels in blood of subjects.

Prevalence of canine parvoviral enteritis in pet dogs at Dhaka city of Bangladesh

Background: Canine parvoviral enteritis is a highly contagious viral disease of dog that can lead to life-threating illness.Objectives: The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of canine parvoviral enteritis in dogs of Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh.Methods: A total of 545 dogs were examined at Dr. Sagir’s Pet Clinics and Research Centre, Dhaka during September 2016 to August 2017. The disease was diagnosed on the basis of clinical history, clinical signs and by CPV rapid Ag kit test.Results: Overall prevalence of canine parvoviral enteritis was recorded as 13.94%. The prevalence of canine parvoviral enteritis varied significantly (p<0.05) among different aged groups (23.63%, 10.63%, 8.27% in 0-6 months, 7-12 months and above 12 months respectively). Considering seasonal influences, highest prevalence was found in summer season (17.5%) followed by winter (12.12%) and rainy season (11.66%) which was statistically insignificant (p>0.05). Male dogs (18.74%) were found to be significantly (p<0.05) higher susceptible in comparison with female (11.00%).Non-vaccinated dogs (80.0%) were at greater risk than vaccinated (2.58%), (p<0.05). There was significant (p<0.05) difference among various breeds where German Shepherd (40.78%) had highest prevalence of canine parvoviral enteritis followed by Labrador (22.36%), Rottweiler (21.05%), Doberman (13.15%) and cross breeds (4.4%). Dogs with poor health condition (20.75%) were more vulnerable than apparently healthy dogs (7.5%), (p<0.05).Conclusion: This result provides an empirical scenario of canine parvoviral enteritis in Dhaka city. Effective routine vaccination and control measures may reduce the disease burden in dog population.