Concentrations of Heavy Metals in Sediment and Selected Organisms in Lukut River, Malaysia, and Their Toxicological Effects on Penaeus Monodon (Fabricius) Juveniles

The status of heavy metals contamination in Lukut River, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia was studied in September 2003. In general, except for Pb in the water, the level of heavy metals in the water and sediment of Lukut River were found to be within the range of other Malaysian Rivers. The metals concentrations in T. telescopium and the prawns P. monodon and P. merguiensis was within the range of heavy metal measured in other gastropods or prawn species previously studied in Malaysia indicating no serious metal pollution exists in the study area. Heavy metal concentration in the muscle tissues of the prawns was found to be lower than maximum permissible levels recommended for human consumption. High level of Pb was found in the water of Lukut River (390.10 μg/l) which was found to be relatively higher than some Malaysian rivers. The pattern of Pb concentration in water samples and low Pb level in the sediment suggested that dissolved Pb was originated from the sea–based inputs. The sublethal toxicity of the metals on growth, moulting and Ca content in exoskeleton of P. monodon juveniles were also investigated in 21 days period. Results indicated that after 21 days the juveniles exposed to Cu concentration of 1000 μg/l, Zn concentration of 1000 μg/l, Cd concentration of 160 μg/l and Pb concentration of 316 μg/l or above grew slower than controls (P<0.05). Among the metals studied, Cu and Zn were found to have an inhibition effect on exoskeleton calcification. The lowest concentration caused reduction in exoskeleton calcification was 100 μg/l and 1000 μg/l for Cu and Zn respectively. Metals exposure was also affected the moulting of P. monodon. The period of molt cycle was increased significantly in the prawns exposed to 3160 μg/l Cu, 1000 μg/l Zn, 160 μg/l Cd and 316 μg/l Pb. However, low Cu and Zn concentrations were found in Lukut River do not affect the calcification of the prawn’s exoskeleton or their molting. Penaeus monodon does not regulate the level of metals in the body. It was found to accumulate heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) in proportion of external metal concentrations. Meanwhile the metals accumulation in muscle, exoskeleton and remainder were found to perform in different rates. The highest accumulation rate for Zn and Cd was found in exoskeleton while the highest accumulation rate of Cu and Pb was found in remainder. In addition, the lowest accumulation rates for all of the studied metals were found in the muscle tissue. Among the metals studied Cu and Pb were accumulated faster than Cd and Zn. Heavy metals depuration from muscle, exoskeleton and remainder of tissues were studied during one week duration. The fastest depuration of Zn, Cd and Pb was found in exoskeleton, while Cu was mainly depurated from the remainder of tissues. Furthermore among the metals studied Cu and Pb depurated faster than Zn and Cd. Moulting was found to cause no significant reduction in the Cu, Zn and Cd concentration in the moulted prawns. On the other hand it caused significant reduction of Pb content in the prawn’s body. Comparison between exoskeleton of the exposed intermolts and the exuviae of the newly moulted prawns (post moults) indicated that Pb concentration in the moults was significantly higher than exoskeleton which indicates that molting could be a effective way to eliminate the accumulated Pb from the body. In general, based on the results from field study (analysis of water, sediment and biological samples) it is concluded that Lukut River is not polluted by heavy metals. Except for Pb, the level of metals in the water of Lukut River is not high enough to cause any impact either on aquacultured or on wild prawns

Information needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Users of the Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICeST): A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach

Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess the information needs and information seeking behavior of the users of the Regional Science and Technology Information Center (RICEST). Methods: The study applied both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection as a mixed-method. Two hundred thirty-four users participated in the survey and four librarians were interviewed. Results: The findings show that the most information needs of the users were related to scientific activities, writing articles and dissertations, and performing job duties, respectively. The full text of the articles in the RICEST database, more up-to-date scientific sources, reliable sources in non-scientific subjects were among the other needs of the users. Despite the access to resources, more than half of the users faced obstacles in meeting their information needs. The lack of required resources and suitable guide in the database of RICEST and the lack of familiarity with the type and coverage of resources were the most important obstacles. From the users' point of view, Persian scientific publications were evaluated at good quality and other information sources were evaluated at the average level. The findings of the qualitative section showed that the users' needs are in two categories of services and information resources. On the one hand, the librarians considered the obstacles facing the users to be related to the lack of sufficient mastery of the English language, the lack of ability to find information and research methods, and on the other hand, they considered the lack of equipment to serve users with physical or movement problems. Conclusions: This study showed that most information needs of the users of the RICeST are related to their scientific research activities, and their information seeking behaviors are affected by these needs. Despite the range and coverage of the information sources indexed in the RICeST database, most of the users have difficulty in accessing the information. To effectively meet users’ information needs, it is necessary to carry out needs assessment studies periodically in the Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICeST)

Islamic World Science Citation Center's Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

This article gives an overview of the Islamic World Science Citation Center's (ISC) Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database. ISC-JCR is the only source of citation data on Islamic countries’ leading journals and covers journals in English, Arabic and Persian languages. It provides information on highest impact journals in a field, the most cited journals and hottest journals. This database allows users to evaluate and compare scholarly journals in all subject areas. The basic measures of the ISC-JCR, navigation overview and benefits for the users are presented in this article

Age, growth and maturity of Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) in northwestern part of the Persian Gulf

In this study age, growth and maturity of Hilsa shad in Khuzestan province were analyzed. 394 number of fishes from marine habitat (Lifeh-Boseif), estuaries (Bahmanshir and Arvand) and rivers (Bahmanshir and Karoon) from February 2014 to September 2014 were collected using commercial fishing with gill net. Total length and wet weight of each fish were measured with precision of 1 cm and 1 gram. Sagittal otoliths were extracted for age determination of the fish. Since the otoliths were fragile, they were sectioned by polishing with sandpapers 800, 1500 and 2000. Then abdominal cavity of each sample were opened for determining sex and maturity stage. Growth parameters were calculated using von Bertalanffy growth function (L_∞=58.365, K=0.26, t0=-0.16). Phi-prime constant was obtained 2.95. Length and age at first maturity were obtained 27.32cm and 2.4 g respectively using logistic model to fit a and b parameters with observed data in spawning season

Accumulation of heavy metals in sediment and oyster (Saccostrea cucullata) in the intertidal zone of Chabahar coast

In order to understand the extent of heavy metals contamination in sediments and rock oyster Saccostrea cucullata, of Chabahar intertidal zone, samples of sediment and oyster were collected from 5 different stations namely Guatr, Beris, Ramin, Shahid Beheshti and Tiss during low tide. Sediment and tissue samples were acid digested and heavy metals content of the samples were analyzed. Results showed that Cu, Pb and Ni concentration in the sediment samples was 15.87-16.96, 10.98-15.79 and 12.39-17.10 µg/g, respectively. Heavy metals concentration in soft tissues of oyster was 84.96-289.93, 3.83-5.26 and 6.05-7.19 µg/g for Cu, Pb and Ni, respectively. Similarly, Cu, Pb and Ni concentration in shell ranged between 13.83-6.67, 11.32-14.93 and 5.97-7.97 µg/g, respectively. No significant difference was found between Cu and Ni concentrations in sediment samples. It is suggested that metals accumulation in different oyster tissues was related to their essentiality for oyster. Heavy metals concentration in oyster and sediment was found to fall within the range of some available standards, indicating that metals contamination does not seems to be problematic in the area

Pathologic liver lesions in orange spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides exposed To Benzo[a] Pyrene

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant present in air, water, and sediment. BaP is readily absorbed by all routes of exposure and can pass directly through the plasma membrane of most cell types. The present study was conducted to examine the effects of BaP on liver tissue structure in orange spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides affected by different concentration of BaP. In the present report, 100 E. coioides were exposed by intraperitoneal injection to 2, 20 and 200 mg/kg of BaP for 14d under laboratory conditions and the samples were taken from fish liver in days 0, 2, 4, 7 and 14 of experiment for histopathological study. The liver samples were fixed in 10%formalin buffer solution. Fivemicrometer thick sections were obtained and were stained in hematoxylin/eosin for examination in light microscopy. No pathological alteration was observed in the liver samples of controls fish. The pathological alterations of liver were including of hepatocyte vacuoletion, increase of melanomacrophage centers, dilation of diss space, sinusoidal dilation, focal necrosis, hepatocytes hypertrophy, nucleus in a lateral position and hepatocyte degeneration. The frequency and severity of tissue changes rose with the increase of BaP concentration in all sampling days. The most frequency and severity of histopathological alteration were observed in fish treated by 200 mg/kg BaP in day 7

Determination of lethal range and median lethal concentration (LC50 96h) values of diazinon on Caspian Sea common bream (Abramis brama)

Pesticides are environmental contaminants which normally enter to aquatic ecosystems after being used in aquaculture. In this research, acute toxicity of diazinon was studied on Caspian Sea common bream (Abramis brama). This pesticide may enter in aquatic food chain and cause serious problems for aquatic organisms as well as human. The acute toxicity test was performed during 96h in static renewal system based on the standard method proposed by OECD. A range finding test was carried out in aquariums containing 10L of test solution to determine the lethal range of diazinon on fish. The acute toxicity test was then preformed in 5 treatments and 3 triplicates for each treatment. Obtained data were analyzed using probit analysis with %5 confidence limit. According to the results, LC_50 24h, LC_50 48h, LC_50 72h and LC_50 96h of diazinon on Caspian Sea common bream was 10.974, 10.391, 9.134 and 7.316 respectively. The maximum acceptable toxicant concentration (MATC) of diazinon on Caspian Sea common bream was 0.073 mg/l and the lowest observed effect concentration which is equal to LC_50 96h was 2.63 mg/l. According to the results and comparing with other studies, it can be discussed that Caspian Sea common bream is more resistant against diazinon rather than other fish species. In addition, lethal toxicity of diazinon takes place in a moderate range of toxicant concentrations

Concentration polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in coastal waters of Bushehr Port

In order to study concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater from Bushehr coast and for comparison with available guidelines samples of seawater were collected from five different stations along the Bushehr coast in August and February 2011. PAHs were extracted by Hexane solvent and analyzed using HPLC system (Knauer). Results showed that tPAHs concentration in seawater were 31.0, 20.8, 4.0, 17.6 and 12.3 µg l-1, in August and 38.4, 23.0, 5.4, 19.3 and 17.2 µg l-1 in February respectively, at stations Rafael, Sheghab, Abshirinkon, Lian and Helyleh. The concentrations of tPAHs in the seawater were not significantly different during August and February (P>0.05). Significant difference was observed between tPAHs concentration between the stations (P<0.05). The tPAHs concentration was maximum in Rafael and its minimum was found in Abshirinkon. The tPAHs concentration in Bushehr area was relatively higher compared to other locations of the world. Even though concentrations of anthracene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene were above the Canadian Environment Guidance, the carcinogenic compounds appeared in lower concentrations than the non-carcinogenic PAHs. Since Bushehr coastal waters is contaminated by PAHs, precise monitoring and control of oil discharge into the coastal waters as well as reduction of urban effluents input should be undertaken. Meanwhile the continuous monitoring of PAHs compounds in the area is recommended

Evaluation of biological removal of anthracene by a Bacillus pumilus strain isolated from oil sediments of Imam Khomeini Port

Due to their toxicities, oil pollutions and its derivatives such as anthracene are one of the most important issues of environmental researches all over the world. Oil hydrocarbons in contaminated soils, sediments and water can be degraded by microorganisms. Removal of hydrocarbons from aqueous solutions is also possible using cultured bacteria. In this study, the anthracene bioremediation by Bacillus pumilus isolated from oil sediments of Imam Khomeini port, was investigated. This bacterium made no clear halo on blood agar medium and couldn’t disperse the mineral oil but created a halo with a diameter of 0.5 cm on the surface of crude oil. As a result, the bacterium was detected as a non-producing biosurfactant species. The optical density of this species in the sample containing 30 mg/l of anthracene finally reached to 0.086. Measurement of anthracene degradation by HPLC showed that %40.833 of mentioned hydrocarbon was removed after 5 days. Therefore, the results indicate that the isolated bacterium can probably behave the same in the natural environment and couid have the potential in bioremediation of this pollutant from environments