Spatial Variability and Associated Risk Assessment of Nitrate and Ammonium Concentration in Hail Haor Wetland, Northeastern Bangladesh

Nitrate-nitrogen and ammonium-nitrogen concentration were evaluated to assess the current nutrient condition of an ecologically as well as economically important wetland of Bangladesh. The contamination condition of surface water nitrate and ammonium of Hail Haor wetland was assessed to understand its probable risk to human health using the water samples collected from total-fifty monitoring stations, 25 each for two different seasons within 2018 to 2019. Nitrate concentration was measured using the spectrophotometer by colorimetric method, whereas ammonium was quantified using the micro Kjeldahl's distillation method. Statistical and geo-spatial analysis revealed an extensive understanding of the temporal and spatial variability as well as possible source identification of the nutrients in the studied area. Medium to a low level of nitrate ranging from 0.95 up to 9.25 mg/L and high ammonium with values from 0.32 up to 1.92 mg/L was a sporadic trend observed in wetland water, with low water season having more concentration than that of wet high water season. Hazard quotients (HQ) obtained from wetland water for four individual age groups recognized wetland water to be safe for consumption (HQ<1) based on its nitrate level. Wetlands can provide valuable ecosystem services, conserve the native and exotic wetland inhabitants and mitigate flood along with their purifying properties of nutrient removal to lessen the public health concerns about nitrate-nitrogen in drinking water. Therefore, appropriate rein in measures, incentivizing water use efficiency, and continuous monitoring of water quality will ensure safety for wetland habitats, also may aware of the risks or opportunities associated with using wetland water for both drinking and agricultural use.

Histomorphological Identification of Nandina domestica / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective::Histomorphological study of the Nandinae Radix, Nandinae Caulis, Nandinae Folium, Nandinae Fructus were conducted to provide the basis for the identification of its authenticity and falsehood. Method::The origin and macroscopic identification were used to describe the plant morphology and the appearance characteristics of all medicinal parts. The microscopic characteristics of the medicinal parts, such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, were observed and photographed by paraffin section and powder preparation techniques. Result::It was found that the morphological characteristics of the original plant were consistent with the descriptions in herbaceous books. There was no pith on the cross-section of roots. In the transverse section of stems, there were intermittent circular fiber bundles in the cortex and a cap-shaped fibrous bundle in the inner part of the xylem. In the transverse section of the leaves, the palisade tissue was wider and the fiber bundles around the main vascular bundles formed a ring. In the transverse section of petiole, the fiber bundles were arranged intermittently into rings. In the transverse section of fruit, multi-layered sclereids formed a ring in the mesocarp. The powder characteristics of root and stem mainly contained crystalliferous sclereids. There were crystal sheath fibers and stomatal infinitive in the leaf powder, and pollen grains in the flower powder, with 3-hole grooves, obvious reticulate engraving pattern in the outer wall and more reticulate cells. There were a large number of branched sclereids and calcium oxalate square crystals in the fruit powder. Conclusion::The above-mentioned morphological and microscopic features have identification significance, and provide scientific basis for the authenticity identification, the quality standard and the utilization of resources of Nandina domestica.

Identificación Estable de Fuentes Asociadas a Focos Epilépticos Ubicadas sobre la Corteza / Stable Identification of Sources Associated with Epileptic Focus on the Cerebral Cortex

Resumen Objetivo: Presentar un algoritmo estable que determina, a partir de mediciones electroencefalográficas, los parámetros de fuentes de tipo dipolar asociadas a focos epilépticos ubicados sobre la superficie de la corteza cerebral. Metodología: Se utiliza un problema de contorno para establecer correlaciones entre la fuente y la medición. El problema se divide en dos subproblemas lineales y en cada uno de ellos, se utilizan el método de mínimos cuadrados y la regularización de Tikhonov para encontrar soluciones estables. Estos subproblemas son problemas mal planteados en el sentido de Hadamard, debido a la inestabilidad numérica que presentan, es decir, pequeños cambios en las mediciones pueden producir grandes variaciones en la solución de cada problema. El parámetro de regularización de Tikhonov fue elegido usando el método de la curva L. Para hallar la solución del problema de contorno se utiliza el método de las series de Fourier y el Método del Elemento Finito. Resultados: Se propuso un tipo de fuente para representar a los focos epilépticos en la corteza cerebral y un algoritmo estable para el problema de identificación de los parámetros de dichas fuentes. Se desarrollaron ejemplos sintéticos y programas en MATLAB para el caso de geometría simple bidimensional. Originalidad: La separación del problema original en dos subproblemas así como los ejemplos sintéticos son producto de esta investigación. Conclusión general: Se propuso un algoritmo estable que determina a los parámetros de fuentes de corriente dipolar definidas en la corteza cerebral.

Abstract Objective: To present a stable algorithm that determines, from electroencephalographic measurements, the parameters of dipolar sources associated with epileptic foci located on the cerebral cortex. Methodology: A boundary value problem is used to establish correlations between the sources and the measurements. The problem is divided into two linear subproblems and in each one, the method of Minimum Square and the Tikhonov regularization are used for finding stables solutions. These subproblems are an ill-posed problem in the Hadamard sense, which is due to the numerical instability, that is, small changes in the data can produce substantial variations in the solution of each problem. The Tikhonov regularization parameter was chosen using the L curve method. To find the solution of the boundary value problem are used the Fourier series method and the Finite Element Method. Results: A type of source that represents the epileptic foci on the cerebral cortex and a stable algorithm for finding the parameter of these sources were proposed. Synthetics examples and MATLAB programs were developed for the case of bidimensional geometry. Originality: The separation of the original problem into two subproblems and the synthetics examples are a product of this research. Conclusion: A stable algorithm was proposed for determining the parameters of the dipolar current defined on the cerebral cortex.

Source Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water at Point of Effluent Discharge into the New Calabar River, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Water samples from effluents discharge points were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentration using chromatographic techniques. The result obtained showed the presence of all the PAHs categories in the water samples. The total concentrations of PAHs in the different location showed that Minipiti station was the highest (44.99 mg/L), which was followed by the values obtained at the Police Post station (36.89 mg/L) and finally, the lowest value was obtained at the Iwofe Jetty station (11.923 mg/L). Diagnostic analysis of the concentrations of the different PAHS concentrations based on the ratio of low molecular weight PAHs to high molecular weight PAHs (LMW/HMW), anthracene / anthracene + phenanthrene {An/(An + Phe)} fluoranthene/ fluoranthene + pyrene {Fl /(Fl + Pyr} and benzo[a] anthracene/ benzo[a]anthracene + chrysene {BaA/ (BaA + Chr)} showed the predominance of pyrogenic PAHs over petrogenic PAHs. Thus indicating more of human input sources than natural. Ring size analysis indicated the predominance of the higher molecular weights (4-6) rings over the lower molecular weights (2-3) rings. The implications of the high level of PAHs within the sampled environment should give warning signals to the user of the water environment’.

A real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method for source identification of Crocus sativus and Carthamus tinctorius / 中国中药杂志

The specific PCR primer was designed base on ITS2 sequence in GenBank, and we developed a SYBRGreen real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR system for identification of Crocus sativus and Carthamus tinctorius source. Compared with Chinese herbal medicine DNA barcode technique, this method showed characteristics of shorter time, higher specificity and sensitivity. Using this method to detect 15 samples, 4 were C. sativus, 8 were C. tinctorius, and the other 3 samples were none of them. The result was in accordance with Chinese herbal medicine DNA barcode. This study lays the foundation for identification of related Chinese medical materials.

Natural Leishmania sp. reservoirs and phlebotomine sandfly food source identification in Ibitipoca State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Leishmania spp are distributed throughout the world and different species are associated with varying degrees of disease severity. However, leishmaniasis is thought to be confined to areas of the world where its insect vectors, sandflies, are present. Phlebotomine sandflies obtain blood meals from a variety of wild and domestic animals and sometimes from humans. These vectors transmit Leishmania spp, the aetiological agent of leishmaniasis. Identification of sandfly blood meals has generally been performed using serological methods, although a few studies have used molecular procedures in artificially fed insects. In this study, cytochrome b gene (cytB) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed in DNA samples isolated from 38 engorged Psychodopygus lloydi and the expected 359 bp fragment was identified from all of the samples. The amplified product was digested using restriction enzymes and analysed for restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). We identified food sources for 23 females; 34.8% yielded a primate-specific banding profile and 26.1% and 39.1% showed banding patterns specific to birds or mixed restriction profiles (rodent/marsupial, human/bird, rodent/marsupial/human), respectively. The food sources of 15 flies could not be identified. Two female P. lloydi were determined to be infected by Leishmania using internal transcribed spacer 1 and heat shock protein 70 kDa PCR-RFLP. The two female sandflies, both of which fed on rodents/marsupials, were further characterised as infected with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. These results constitute an important step towards applying methodologies based on cytB amplification as a tool for identifying the food sources of female sandflies.