Transformation of heavy metals from contaminated water to soil, fodder and animals.

A serious environmental problem that threatens soil quality, agricultural productivity, and food safety is heavy metal pollution in water sources. Heavy metal pollution is the main problem in tehsil Pasrur, Sialkot, Pakistan. Present study was arranged to notice the heavy metals in water, soil, forages and buffalo milk. There are seven sites that were used for this experiment. Highest malondialdehyde (MDA) contents (3.00 ± 0.01) were noticed in barseem roots at site 7. Ascorbate Peroxidase (APX) was reached at its peak (1.93 ± 0.01) at site 7 in the fresh barseem. Maximum protein contents (0.36 ± 0.01) were observed in fresh plant samples at site 2. Site 3's buffalo milk samples had the highest Ni content (7.22 ± 0.33 ppm), while Site 3's soil samples had the lowest Cr content (8.89 ± 0.56 ppm), Site 1's plant shoots had the lowest Cr content (27.75 ± 1.98 ppm), and Site 3's water had the highest Cr content (40.07 ± 0.49 ppm). The maximum fat content (5.38 ± 2.32%) was found in the milk of the animals at site 7. The highest density (31.88 ± 6.501%), protein content (3.64 ± 0.33%), lactose content (5.54 ± 0.320%), salt content (0.66 ± 0.1673%), and freezing point (- 0.5814 ± 0.1827 °C) were also observed in the milk from animals at site 7, whereas site 5 displayed the highest water content (0.66 ± 0.1673%) and peak pH value (11.64 ± 0.09). In selected samples, the pollution load index for Ni (which ranged from 0.01 to 1.03 mg/kg) was greater than 1. Site 7 has the highest conductivity value (5.48 ± 0.48). Values for the health risk index varied from 0.000151 to 1.00010 mg/kg, suggesting that eating tainted animal feed may pose health concerns. Significant health concerns arise from metal deposition in the food chain from soil to feed, with nickel having the highest health risk index.

Investigating the synergistic effects of biochar, trans-zeatin riboside, and Azospirillum brasilense on soil improvement and enzymatic activity in water-stressed wheat.

BACKGROUND: Water stress is a major danger to crop yield, hence new approaches to strengthen plant resilience must be developed. To lessen the negative effects of water stress on wheat plants, present study was arranged to investigate the role of synergistic effects of biochar, trans-zeatin riboside (t-ZR), and Azospirillum brasilense on soil improvement and enzymatic activity in water-stressed wheat. RESULTS: In a three-replication experiment comprising of four treatments (T0: Control, T1: Drought stress (DS), T2: DS + t-ZR with biochar, T3: DS + A. brasilense with biochar), we observed notable improvements in soil quality and enzymatic activities in water-stressed wheat plants with the application of t-ZR and A. brasilense with biochar. In drought stress, Treatment having the application of A. brasilense with biochar performs best as compared to the other and significant increased the enzymatic activities such as peroxidase (7.36%), catalase (8.53%), superoxide dismutase (6.01%), polyphenol oxidase (14.14%), and amylase (16.36%) in wheat plants. Different enzymatic activities showed different trends of results. Soil organic C, dissolved organic C, dissolved organic N also enhanced 29.46%, 8.59%, 22.70% respectively with the application of A. brasilense with biochar under drought stress condition. CONCLUSIONS: The synergistic action of A. brasilense and biochar creates an effective microbiological environment that supports essential plant physiological processes during drought stress. This enhancement is attributed to improved soil fertility and increased organic matter content, highlighting the potential of these novel strategies in mitigating water stress effects and enhancing crop resilience.

Alleviation of chromium toxicity in mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) using salicylic acid and Azospirillum brasilense.

BACKGROUND: Chromium (Cr) contamination in soil poses a serious hazard because it hinders plant growth, which eventually reduces crop yield and raises the possibility of a food shortage. Cr's harmful effects interfere with crucial plant functions like photosynthesis and respiration, reducing energy output, causing oxidative stress, and interfering with nutrient intake. In this study, the negative effects of Cr on mung beans are examined, as well as investigate the effectiveness of Azospirillum brasilense and salicylic acid in reducing Cr-induced stress. RESULTS: We investigated how different Cr levels (200, 300, and 400 mg/kg soil) affected the growth of mung bean seedlings with the use of Azospirillum brasilense and salicylic acid. Experiment was conducted with randomized complete block design with 13 treatments having three replications. Significant growth retardation was caused by Cr, as were important factors like shoot and root length, plant height, dry weight, and chlorophyll content significantly reduced. 37.15% plant height, 71.85% root length, 57.09% chlorophyll contents, 82.34% crop growth rate was decreased when Cr toxicity was @ 50 µM but this decrease was remain 27.80%, 44.70%, 38.97% and 63.42%, respectively when applied A. brasilense and Salicylic acid in combine form. Use of Azospirillum brasilense and salicylic acid significantly increased mung bean seedling growth (49%) and contributed to reducing the toxic effect of Cr stress (34% and 14% in plant height, respectively) due to their beneficial properties in promoting plant growth. CONCLUSIONS: Mung bean seedlings are severely damaged by Cr contamination, which limits their growth and physiological characteristics. Using Azospirillum brasilense and salicylic acid together appears to be a viable way to combat stress brought on by Cr and promote general plant growth. Greater nutrient intake, increased antioxidant enzyme activity, and greater root growth are examples of synergistic effects. This strategy has the ability to reduce oxidative stress brought on by chromium, enhancing plant resistance to adverse circumstances. The study offers new perspectives on sustainable practices that hold potential for increasing agricultural output and guaranteeing food security.

Development of a hybrid mixed-mode solar dryer for product drying.

Sun drying in the open air is quite popular worldwide. However, the use of solar dryers to preserve various perishable agricultural products is a relatively new area of study, and the long-term effects of this method are not yet fully understood. The slow drying process in direct sunlight can contaminate the dried materials by soil and insects. To overcome these challenges, we devised a sun drying system that included a heating part, a drying area, a portable stand, fans, and a 50-W photovoltaic panel. An alternate energy source was used to power the drying process during cloudy days and at night. Fresh Freestone peach, Golden apple, and Anaheim chilies weighing 10 kg each with the initial moisture content of 89%, 87%, and 75% on a wet basis (w.b), respectively, were used in the experiments. The final moisture content of the samples was reduced by an average of 16%, 15%, and 11% for Freestone peaches, Golden apples, and Anaheim chilies, respectively. The quality analysis was carried out to determine sample composition, total bacteria, and color of dried products. The results indicated that the dried products met the recommended quality standards for food products in terms of composition, total bacteria, and color. This research supports the use of a hybrid mixed-mode solar dryer for drying a wide range of perishable agricultural products.

Conferring drought-tolerant wheat genotypes through morpho-physiological and chlorophyll indices at seedling stage.

The decrease in water resources due to the excessive use of water for irrigation purpose and climatic changes represents a serious world-wide threat to food security. In this regards, 50 wheat accessions were analyzed, using completely random factorial design at the seedlings stage under normal and drought stress conditions. Significant variation was detected among all accessions under both conditions. All characters studied showed variations in the mean values in water deficit environments in studied gemplasm at seedling stage. As seedling fresh weight, dry weight, relative water content, cell membrane thermo-stability, chlorophyll a & b were positively associated among themselves under drought conditions which showed the significance of these attribute for water deficit areas in future wheat breeding programs. Based on their performance, five accessions namely Aas-11, Chakwal-86, Pasban-90, Chakwal-97 and Kohistan-97 were selected as drought tolerant and three accessions namely Mairaj-08, Lasani-2008 and Gomal-2008 were selected as drought susceptible genotypes. The choice of wheat accessions based on the characteristics of the seedlings is informal, low-priced and less hassle. Likewise, the seedlings attributes exhibit moderate to high variation with an additive genetics effects on the environments. Best performance accessions under water deficit environment will be beneficial in future wheat breeding schemes and early screening for the attributes suggested in current experiment will be useful for producing best-yielded and drought-tolerance wheat genotypes to sustainable food security.

The NeuroAiD II (MLC901) in vascular cognitive impairment study (NEURITES).

BACKGROUND: A substantial proportion of patients after nondisabling stroke are cognitively impaired compared to age- and education-matched community-dwelling controls. Moreover, poststroke patients who have 'vascular cognitive impairment no dementia' (VCIND) of moderate severity have a high risk of incident dementia, dependency and death. Further studies are urgently needed to demonstrate effective cognition-enhancing therapies in VCIND given the scarcity of evidence-based treatment options. NeuroAiD is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been shown to induce neuroplasticity, promote cell proliferation and stimulate the development of dense axonal and dendritic networks in animal stroke models. NeuroAiD may improve cerebral blood flow and functional recovery after stroke in patients. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects and tolerability of NeuroAiD II in patients with VCIND. METHODS: The NeuroAiD II (MLC901) in Vascular Cognitive Impairment Study (NEURITES) is a 24-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II study of NeuroAiD II in patients with VCIND. The primary outcome is executive function as measured by the Verbal Fluency test. Secondary outcomes include cognitive assessments such as the ADAS-Cog, MoCA, MMSE and Cognitive Battery: activities of daily living as measured by the Alzhei-mer's Disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL) scale for mild cognitive impairment, behavior as measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, and depression as measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Beck Depression Scale. In addition, there will be novel exploratory outcomes: (a) magnetic resonance imaging of lesion location (structural imaging), structural integrity of white matter pathways (diffusion tensor imaging), neuronal function (resting studies) and perfusion (arterial spin labeling and MR angiography), and (b) retinal and optic nerve imaging. Safety and tolerability will be assessed using adverse events, laboratory tests and vital signs. CONCLUSIONS: NEURITES has the potential to set new standards for the systematic evaluation of Asian traditional medicine for integration into standard medicine practice and establishing a novel therapeutic approach for improving cognition after stroke.

Silent stroke: not listened to rather than silent.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The prevalence of silent brain infarcts varies from 8% to 28% in the general elderly population. Silent brain infarcts are associated with increased risk of subsequent stroke and cognitive dysfunction. By definition, silent strokes lack clinically overt stroke-like symptoms and fail to come to clinical attention; however, impaired recall of symptoms may be a potential confounder. Our aim is to report a series of patients with incidentally detected acute and subacute strokes and examine whether they were truly asymptomatic. METHODS: Subjects included in this study were drawn from ongoing dementia research studies at the Memory Ageing and Cognition Center, in which all participants underwent a cranial MRI. Incidental hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging with corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient defects indicative of acute/subacute silent stroke were identified. Clinical data for individuals with incidental hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging were collated. RESULTS: Six of 649 subjects had incidental hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging; on retrospective questioning, 3 recalled symptoms temporally correlated with MRI lesions, which had been reported to but ignored by family members. Two subjects had focal neurological signs. A majority of the subjects with incidental hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging had significant cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: A significant number of strokes may be "silent" due to lack of awareness of stroke-like symptoms in the elderly and their families. Enhanced stroke prevention education strategies are needed for the elderly population and, in particular, for their families.

The penetratin sequence in the anticancer PNC-28 peptide causes tumor cell necrosis rather than apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: PNC-27 and PNC-28 are p53-derived peptides from the human double minute (hdm-2) binding domain attached to penetratin. These peptides induce tumor cell necrosis of cancer cells, but not normal cells. The anticancer activity and mechanism of PNC-28 (p53 aa17-26-penetratin) was specifically studied against human pancreatic cancer. METHODS: MiaPaCa-2 cells were treated with PNC-28. Necrosis was determined by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and apoptosis as assayed for measuring elevation of proapoptotic proteins. PNC-29, an unrelated peptide, and hdm-2-binding domain p53 aa12-26 without penetratin (PNC-26) were used as controls. Since there is evidence that penetratin is required for tumor cell necrosis, we tested "naked" p53 peptide without penetratin by transfecting a plasmid that encodes p53 aa17-26 segment of PNC-28 into MiaPaCa-2 and an untransformed rat pancreatic acinar cell line, BMRPA1. Time-lapse electron microscopy was employed to further elucidate anticancer mechanism. RESULTS: Treatment with PNC-28 does not result in the elevation of proapoptotic proteins found in p53-induced apoptosis, but elicits rapid release of LDH, indicative of tumor cell necrosis. Accordingly, we observed membrane pore formation and dose-dependent killing. In direct contrast, transfected MiaPaCa-2 cells underwent apoptosis, and not necrosis, as evidenced by expression of high levels of caspases-3 and 7 and annexin V with background levels of LDH. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that PNC-28 may be effective in treating human pancreatic cancer. The penetratin sequence appears to be responsible for the fundamental change in the mechanism of action, inducing rapid necrosis initiated by membrane pore formation. Cancer cell death by apoptosis was observed in the absence of penetratin.

Site-specific phosphorylation of raf in cells containing oncogenic ras-p21 is likely mediated by jun-N-terminal kinase.

In a study of interactions between the raf-MEK-MAPK (ERK) and JNK-jun pathways, we found previously that JNK can induce phosphorylation of raf but not vice versa. In this study, we investigate the nature of the JNK-induced phosphorylation of raf. In in vitro experiments in which immunobead-bound raf is phosphorylated by activated JNK, we find strong phosphorylation signals at raf-Ser259 and Ser338. The Ser259 phosphorylation is surprising since it is associated with inhibition of migration of raf to the cell membrane where it can interact with ras-p21. We also find that in oocytes induced to mature with oncogenic ras-p21, which induces high levels of phosphorylated JNK and MAPK, the same pattern of phosphorylation of raf occurs. In contrast, in oocytes induced to mature with insulin, which requires activation of wild-type ras-p21, phosphorylation of raf-Ser338 but not raf-Ser259 occurs. In oncogenic ras-transformed human pancreatic cancer MIA-PaCa-2 cells, phosphorylation of both raf serines occurs. Treatment of these cells with the ras peptide, PNC-2 attached to a penetrating sequence that blocks JNK and MAPK phosphorylation and induces tumor cell necrosis, results in a marked decrease in phosphorylation of raf-Ser259, but not that of raf-Ser338. These results suggest that oncogenic ras-p21 induces phosphorylation of both raf-Ser259 and Ser338 and that raf-Ser 259 phosphorylation may be effected by activated JNK.