Low Doses of Imidacloprid Induce Oxidative Stress and Neural Cell Disruption in Earthworm Eisenia fetida

Imidacloprid is a widely used pesticide that belongs to the class of neonicotinoids. There is a piece of rising evidence that neonicotinoids exert cytotoxic effects in non-target organisms including vertebrate species such as mammals. Nevertheless, dose-limiting toxicity and molecular mechanisms of neonicotinoids' deleterious effects are still poorly understood. In accord to imidacloprid fate in the environment, the most of used pesticide is absorbed in the soil. Therefore, earthworms, which are prevailing soil organisms, could be considered as a target of neonicotinoids toxicity. The earthworm’s simple nervous system is a prospective model for neurotoxicological studies. We exposed earthworms to imidacloprid in a paper contact test with a doses range of 0.1‑0.4 µg/cm2 for 14 days. In the present work, we studied the imidacloprid effect on oxidative stress generation and neuronal marker neuron-specific enolase (NSE) expression. The exposure to imidacloprid induced a dose-dependent decrease in NSE. Both reactive oxygen species production and lipid peroxidation level were upregulated as well. Observed NSE decline suggests imidacloprid-caused disturbance in earthworm neuron cells. Obtained data have shown that relatively low doses of imidacloprid are potent to induce cytotoxicity in neurons. Furthermore, neurotoxicity could be recognized as one of an individual scenario of the general imidacloprid toxicity. Thus, presented results suggest the cytotoxicity of imidacloprid low doses in non-target organisms and hypothesize that NSE downregulation could be estimated as a biomarker of neonicotinoid cytotoxicity in a nervous system of non-insect species.

Water Footprint for Garlic under Irrigation Levels and Agrispon Application

Field experiment was conducted in Giza, Egypt, during two growing seasons of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 on garlic crop, with the objective of investigating the effect of different irrigation levels (60, 80 and 100 % of water requirements and their combination with the foliar spraying applications of agrispon (with 0.5 and 1.0 ml/ liter) on growth and yield. The results indicated that increased irrigation level up to 100% led to increased vegetative characters of garlic and that the lowest growth and productivity was obtained by 60% irrigation level. When considering spray application of agrispon; with 1.0 ml/L increased growth and productivity followed by 0.5 ml/L; while control treatment gave the lowest productivity during the both seasons. Interaction effect between irrigation level and agrispon treatments indicated that 100% irrigation level combined with 1.0 ml/L spray application of agrispon gave the highest garlic productivity followed by 100% irrigation level combined with 0.5 ml/L spray application. The chemical analysis showed that the highest NPK was obtained by 100% irrigation level combined with 1.0 ml/L agrispon application during the both seasons. Regarding water footprint, the highest irrigation water footprint was obtained by 80% irrigation level followed by 60% irrigation level, while the lowest footprint was obtained by 100% irrigation level due to high garlic productivity under 100% irrigation level. The estimate water footprint for garlic was 525 m3/ton. The blue water footprint for garlic was 422 m3/ton about 80% form total water footprint, while gray water percentage about 20% with value of 103 m3/ton.

Sewage Treatment through Constructed Wetland System Tailed by Nanocomposite Clay Filter: A Clean Green Initiative

Sewage treatment through constructed wetland is an ecofriendly and sustainable approach proven effective worldwide. Constructed wetland with appropriate species is capable of eliminating all pollutants in sewage, except pathogen removal. An additional polishing treatment is required to eliminate pathogen. Optimization of HLR in CWS was executed by applying first order kinetics. Nanocomposite clay filter with economically viable materials was synthesized and disinfection ability was evaluated. A novel approach integrating constructed wetland system tailed by nanocomposite clay filter was designed. Control was setup with constructed wetland system devoid of plants integrated with clay filter devoid of nanoparticles. The constructed wetland system devoid of plants was used as plants play a vital role in the removal of pollutants. The quality of the influent for (n=20) BOD, COD, TKN, TP, TSS, TDS, SO4, Cl, lead and iron were 248, 345, 26, 4.8, 350, 450, 50, 48, 0.2, 5 mg/L respectively. The quality of effluent in the control was 145, 225, 18, 3.8, 185, 345, 31, 30, 0.6, 2 mg/L for BOD,COD, TKN, TP, TSS, TDS, SO4, Cl, lead and iron respectively. While in the test, 10, 30, 2, 1, 30, 128, 13, 12, BDL, BDL mg/L for BOD, COD, TKN, TP,TSS, TDS, SO4, Cl, lead and iron respectively. The inlet concentration of T.C, F.C and E.coli were 42.1x106-6.3x108, 4.9x105-14.4x106 and 7.8x103-3.8x105 respectively. The pathogen reduction in log removal for test and control units were 5.4 and 1.1 for T.C, 4.4 and 1.2 for F.C and 3 and 1 for E.coli. Thus it is a clean green initiative combating the limitations of disinfection surpassing the existing barriers.

Neonauclea formicaria (Rubiaceae) Leaf Extract Inhibits Vascularization in the Chorioallantoic Membrane of Duck Embryos

Plants are reservoirs of bioactive compounds with the potential for pharmaceutical use. In this study, the secondary metabolites of Neonauclea formicaria leaf crude ethanolic extract were determined using phytochemical screening. The plant's leaf extract was then used to test its angiogenesis activity using the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Four concentrations of the extract were prepared—0.1 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, 10.0 mg/L, and 100.0 mg/L and were topically applied on the CAM. Phytochemical screening revealed that N. formicaria leaves contain heavy amounts of flavonoids and tannins, while alkaloids, saponins, and steroids were present in trace amounts. The crude ethanolic extract was anti-angiogenic, as indicated by the significant decrease of vascular density at higher concentrations (P<0.05). The 100 mg/L extract concentration showed the highest vascular inhibition (50.93%) among the other concentrations, suggesting its angiopreventive potential (P<0.05). Further investigation on the embryo's gross morphometry revealed no significant effects in the weight, crown-rump length, head-beak length, forelimb length, and hind limb length. Also, these indices were not associated with the angiogenesis activity on the CAM. Further studies exploring the specific metabolites of the different plant parts of N. formicaria and the plant's angiopreventive potential are recommended.

Heavy Metals in Organs and Tissues of Silver X Bigheads Carp Hybrid as Indices of Anthropogenic Pressure in Areas with a High Level of Urbanization

The growth of man-caused load on natural objects, including surface waters, gave impetus to the studying for issue of water pollution in Ukraine by various pollutants. Especially relevant for us are the studies of fishery reservoirs as a direct environment for growing quality aquaculture products. Among the toxic compounds contained in reservoirs, one of the first places is occupied by heavy metals. On the one hand, heavy metals, as pollutants in natural waters, pose a great danger because even in relatively small concentrations they can adversely affect aquatic organisms. On the other hand, in microquantities most heavy metals (except mercury, cadmium and lead) are a natural and even essential component of living cells of aquatic organisms, including fish [17,19].Zn, Mn, Fe, Cu, Pb, Co, Ni, Cd in the organs and tissues of the bighead carphybrid form, which was cultivated in ponds from highly urbanized territory, are distributed heterogeneously and their level of content depends not only on the physical and chemical characteristics of the aquatic environment or this heavy metals biochemical activities force in fish organisms, but also on functional features of concrete organs and tissues of the latter. Results of our investigations showed that above mentioned heavy metals were characterised by high levels of content in the organs and tissues of hybrid silver x bigheadcarp. Highest content in organism of hybrid are lead, cobalt, and cadmium. Highest concentration of heavy metals in our investigations was recorded in gills, because it is the first defence line of fish organism from environmental pollutants.

Nutrition Physiology of Juveniles Individuals of Pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Samara Bay (Ukraine)

The article presents the results of studies physiology of nutrition of juveniles individuals of pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir. histological structure, morphometric parameters of digestive system and nutrition biology were investigated. The material for work were collected during scientific research in June-July 2016–2017. The ichthyological sampling was carried out in the Samara Bay of the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir. Researches of structure of digestive system were conducted using histological methods, researches of nutrition were conducted using ichthyological and hydrobiological methods The height of the intestinal epithelium of the pumpkinseed`s juveniles varies from 15.5 microns to 51.9 microns and on average is 32.59 ± 9.03 microns, the area of secretory goblet cells of the intestine reaches 198.61 ± 36.55 μm2. It was revealed that the pumkinseed’s juveniles only feed on phytoplankton. Research results can be useful for further study on the fish nutrition, especially sexual matured. Also, nutrition studies can help to find biomeliorative methods to combat the pumpkinseed, because the species is in competition with industrially valuable species of fish for fodder.

Phytochemical Properties of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa, L.) Plants Grown under Bio and Mineral Fertilizers in Different Types of Soil

The aim of this study was to clarify the phytochemical property evaluation of Roselle plants grown under bio Azotobacterine (Azotobacterchroococcum) and phosphorein (Bacillus polymyxa) and mineral (N, P and K fertilizers at the rates of 25, 50 and 100% from the doses recommended by Ministry of Agriculture) fertilizers applied in different types of soil. Samples of Roselle plants were obtained from different soils (clay soil at Dar El-Ramad farm, sandy loam and saline loamy sand soil at Demo farm, Faculty of Agriculture) at El-Fayoum governorate conditions. Moreover, some of the phytochemical properties (N, P and K percentage in roselle herb and its uptake, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll A, chlorophyll B and carotenoids), anthocyanin pigment and pH value) of roselle plants (Hibiscus sabdariffa, L.) under different soils were determined. The data obtained showed that, bio and mineral (NPK) fertilizers increased the above compositions of roselle plants under different soils of experiment. The maximum increase of these compositions was obtained by the treatment clay soil × 100% NPK + bio fertilizers, followed by clay soil × 50% NPK + bio fertilizers as compared to saline loamy sand soil × non fertilizer treatment, although, the differences between these treatments and mineral fertilizer at the rate of 100% NPK alone were insignificantly. Therefore, it is economically and environmentally recommended to inoculate roselle seeds with mixture of Azotobacter + Bacillus and fertilize these inoculated plants with 50% NPK for improve chemical compositions (N, P and K percentage in roselle herb and its uptake, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll A, chlorophyll B and carotenoids), anthocyanin pigment and pH value) of roselle plants under clay soil. Key words: Roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa L., nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, biofertilization, soil type, salinity, chemical composition.

Seasonal and Annual Probabilistic Forecasting of Water Levels in Large Lakes (Case Study of the Ladoga Lake)

The production functions of water-dependent sectors of the economy can include the water level in the lake as a natural resource. This characteristic must be able to reliably predict for the effective functioning of sectors of the economy. In the article the main attention is paid to the methods of forecasting based on the extrapolation of natural variations of the large lakes water level. As an example, is considered. In this paper, it is assumed that the level varies accordingly to a stochastic multi-cycle process with principal energy-containing zones in frequency bands associated with seasonal and multi-annual variations. Hence, the multi-year monthly and yearly averaged time series are represented by the ARIMA (auto-regression integrated moving average) processes. Forecasts are generated by using of the seasonal ARIMA-models, which take into account not only the seasonal but also the evolution non-stationarity. To compare the forecasts and the actual values, the relative errors are computed. It is shown that implementation of the models mainly allows receiving good and excellent forecasts. Subject Classification Numbers: UDC 556.555.2.06(4)

Relationship between Nematodes and some Soil Properties in the Rhizosphere of Banana Plants

Nematodes are plant-parasitic organisms that cause alterations in the chemical and physical environment of soils. This study investigates the relationship between nematode occurrence and some soil parameters. The results showed that the proportion of nematodes in soil was negatively correlated with soil pH (r2= 0.89); however, it increased with increasing electrical conductivity (EC) (r2 = 0.95), soil moisture (SM) (r2 = 0.60), and organic matter (OM) content (r2= 0.78). A positive correlation was found between the proportion of nematodes in the roots and the amount of coarse sand, while a negative correlation existed between the proportion of nematodes and the amount of fine sand, clay, and silt. The degree of colonization by nematodes increased with increasing coarse sand content (r2= 0.91). Conversely, the soil nematode population decreased with increasing fine sand content (r2= 0.83), clay (r2= 0.80), and silt content (r2= 0.97). The nematode population in banana roots correlated with soil phosphorus (r2 = 0.88), potassium (r2 = 69), calcium (r2 = 0.78), and magnesium levels (r2=0.78). Conversely, a negative correlation was found between nitrogen concentration and the nematode population in banana roots (r2=0.76). Overall, the population of nematodes in soil affects its pH, EC, SM, and OM content.

Pollutant Removal from Sewage in Tropical Climate by Constructed Wetland System: An Asset for Irrigation

In the global outlook, letting of untreated sewage in existing river bodies deteriorates the water quality. The seepage likely depreciates the quality of ground water too. The quality of groundwater with special reference to India has tremendously gone down in the past twenty years leading to sour taste. On the other hand, agriculture sector is deprived of water in many places of India. A solution can be arrived concurrently by treating sewage and consuming the effluent in agricultural sector. First order kinetics was applied in constructed wetland system at different flow rates and optimised. At optimised HLR, effluent met the standards of discharge that can be utilized for agricultural/ irrigational purpose. The emanating major pollutants can be effectively treated using constructed wetland system under tropical climate. A few clippings at the onsite treatment illustrated the diversity of species thus adjoining sustainable biodiversity and treatment. Thus in tropical countries like India, constructed wetland system might pave solution not only for the treatment of sewage but in deploying the effluent in agricultural sector. A clean ecosystem can be achieved with sustainability.