Radiations and male fertility

During recent years, an increasing percentage of male infertility has to be attributed to an array of environmental, health and lifestyle factors. Male infertility is likely to be affected by the intense exposure to heat and extreme exposure to pesticides, radiations, radioactivity and other hazardous substances. We are surrounded by several types of ionizing and non-ionizing radiations and both have recognized causative effects on spermatogenesis. Since it is impossible to cover all types of radiation sources and their biological effects under a single title, this review is focusing on radiation deriving from cell phones, laptops, Wi-Fi and microwave ovens, as these are the most common sources of non-ionizing radiations, which may contribute to the cause of infertility by exploring the effect of exposure to radiofrequency radiations on the male fertility pattern. From currently available studies it is clear that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) have deleterious effects on sperm parameters (like sperm count, morphology, motility), affects the role of kinases in cellular metabolism and the endocrine system, and produces genotoxicity, genomic instability and oxidative stress. This is followed with protective measures for these radiations and future recommendations. The study concludes that the RF-EMF may induce oxidative stress with an increased level of reactive oxygen species, which may lead to infertility. This has been concluded based on available evidences from in vitro and in vivo studies suggesting that RF-EMF exposure negatively affects sperm quality

Swelling and shrinkage behaviour of expansive soil blended with lime and fibres

Expansive soils are considered to be highly problematic because of their capacity to significant volume change. They swell during the rainy season as they absorb water and shrink when water evaporates from them during the summer season. Because of this dual swell-shrink behaviour, an expansive soil causes severe distress to many civil engineering structures. Several mitigating techniques are adopted to counteract the problems posed by the expansive soils, either by modifying the properties of the soil by adopting stabilization techniques using lime, cement, fly ash, calcium chloride etc. or by adopting special foundation technique such as construction of belled piers, under-reamed piles, etc. In recent years polymeric fibres have also been used to stabilize the soil as well as to improve the strength of the expansive soils. Hence in the present study lime and fibres have been used in different proportions to study the swelling and shrinkage behavior of expansive soils. Swell tests were performed by varying the fibre content and lime with expansive soils. Tests were also conducted by blending fibres and lime together with expansive soils. In a similar way, shrinkage tests were also performed for the various proportions. The test result show that swelling tends to decrease slightly with an increase in the fibre content, whereas shrinkage tends to decrease significantly upon addition of fibres. Both swelling and shrinkage tends to decrease significantly with increasing lime content. The optimum content of fibre was found to be 2%. So the expansive soil specimens blended with 2% fibres and with varying lime content was tested. It is found that blending 2% fibres and 15% lime together in expansive soils is considered to be more effective in controlling the swelling and shrinkage behaviour

Magnetic nanoparticles sensitize MCF-7 breast cancer cells to doxorubicin-induced apoptosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Resistance of breast cancer cells to the available chemotherapeutics is a major obstacle to successful treatment. Recent studies have shown that magnetic nanoparticles might have significant application in different medical fields including cancer treatment. The goal of this study is to verify the ability of magnetic nanoparticles to sensitize cancer cells to the clinically available chemotherapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The role of iron oxide nanoparticles, static magnetic field, or a combination in the enhancement of the apoptotic potential of doxorubicin against the resistant breast cancer cells, MCF-7 was evaluated using the MTT assay and the propidium iodide method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, results revealed that pre-incubation of MCF-7 cells with iron oxide nanoparticles before the addition of doxorubicin did not enhance doxorubicin-induced growth inhibition. Pre-incubation of MCF-7 cells with iron oxide nanoparticles followed by a static magnetic field exposure significantly (<it>P</it> < 0.05) increased doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity. Sensitization with pre-exposure to the magnetic field was dose-dependent where the highest cytotoxicity was seen at 1 tesla. Further experiments revealed that the anti-proliferative effect of this treatment procedure is due to induction of apoptotic cell death.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results might point to the importance of combining magnetic nanoparticles with a static magnetic field in treatment of doxorubicin-refractory breast cancer cells.</p