A study of the effects of crude oil pollution and oil-degrading bacteria on some biochemical and growth factors of Zea mays

Bacteria-Plant systems for bioremediation of oil polluted sites are one of the most effective approaches of biotechnology in the recent years. It is well known that oil pollution induces oxidative stress in plants. In this research, the effects of crude oil pollution on Zea mays and bioremediation by synergism between plant and crude oil degrading bacteria, four different treatments were designed. Some physiological and microbial factors were assayed for determining the effects of oil pollution. The results showed that 1% crude oil in soil shoot, dry weight was reduced and the amount of phenolic compounds increased. With crude oil and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium, shoot dry weight, chlorophyll (a), total chlorophyll and anthocyanins decreased wherase phenolic compounds, malodialdehyde and catalase enzyme activity increased. With 1% crude oil and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus bacterium, significant changes were seen in the parameters of growth. Photosynthetic pigment did not increase whereas anthocyanin, phenolic compounds, malodialdehyde and catalase activity increased. White Crude oil and the presence of both bacteria shoot dry weight and chlorophyll levels decreased and increased levels of anthocyanin and malon-dialdehyde were observed. Addition of oil to the soil, increased the numbers of crude oil degrading bacteria and heterotrophic bacteria but crude oil were removed from soil by biodegradation. By application of bacterial-plant systems in the field, industrial wastes from refinery and biochemical factories could be removed oppropriately

Study of interaction effect between triacontanol and nitric oxide on alleviating of oxidative stress arsenic toxicity in coriander seedlings

In this study, triacontanol (TRIA) and nitric oxide (NO) interaction on arsenic (As)-induced oxidative stress tolerance in coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) plants was investigated. The results showed that As had a significant adverse effect on the plant’s biomass. The seedlings pretreated with TRIA and NO significantly increased growth reduction induced by the metalloid. The obtained results indicated that the application of TRIA and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) generally reduced oxidative markers such as of electrolyte leakage percentage, malondialdehyde and H2O2 contents under As toxicity, while application of As treatment without TRIA + SNP increased these oxidative parameters compared to the control. The non-enzymatic antioxidant contents such as total phenol, anthocyanin, carotenoid, ascorbic acid and reduced glutathione (GSH) were extracted and assayed from both control and treated plants. It was found that TRIA + SNP treatments have a profound effect on the antioxidant metabolism and caused an enhancement in non-enzymatic antioxidant potentials under As toxicity in coriander. Moreover, the results revealed a mutually amplifying reaction between TRIA and NO in reducing As-induced damages

Evaluation of auxin and thiamine interaction effect on PAL activity and phenolic compounds content in vegetative growth stage of soybean plants

Soybean (Glycin max L.) is one of the most important oily seeds in the world. This plant is rich in protein and unsaturated fats, and plays a significant role in human health with phenolic compounds and flavonoids. Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) is a plant growth regulator that plays a key role in producing phenolic compounds and increasing the antioxidant capacity of the plant. Thiamine is one of the important vitamins in strengthening the immune system and increasing the resistance to environmental stresses in the plant's growth stages. Regarding the effect of hormone auxin and thiamine on the production of phenolic compounds as one of the antioxidant compounds in growth stages, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the two compounds in two stages of soybean growth and compare their effect on phenolic compounds changes in order to Detecting higher antioxidant capacity in environmental stress tolerance. For this purpose, the DPX cultivar of soybean seeds were prepared from Dezful Agriculture Research Center and planted in perlite containing flowers. The plants were planted under factorial design under IBA treatments with three concentrations of 0, 10 and 50 and thiamine with three concentrations of 0, 50 and 200. Extraction and evaluation of phenolic compounds, anthocyanins and pigments in leaves were performed. Data were analyzed using Duncan's test at a significant level of 5%. The results showed that the combined use of auxin and thiamine increased the carotenoid content in both phases and caused a significant increase in phenolic content. Application of auxin alone reduced auxin and thiamine the anthocyanin content significantly in both phases, but did not have a significant effect on phenolic content. The results showed that the PAL activity of the phenolic and anthocyanin content increased significantly in the 9-leaf stage compared to 3-leaf. Generally, the results showed that interaction effect between auxin and thiamine on phenolic compounds in different stages of vegetative growth significantly improved and increased plant defense

Microfabrication of Highly Biocompatible Materials for Energy Applications

The objective of this paper is to use a microfluidic platform for fabricating biocompatible materials. One of the applications of this material is to be used as anode in a microbial fuel cell. In this process, the fibers are fabricated by utilizing a microchannel with three inlets, two sheath flows as well as a core flow. The core flow which is composed of gelatin is hydrodynamically focused by ethanol as the sheath flow. The microfibers created by this technique have various cross sections and will be used a structured porous scaffold. The porosity and biocompatibility of the structure make it an ideal choice for being used as a scaffold for bacterial attachment and biofilm formation. This will consequently results in developing a microbial fuel cell with a higher power density.This is a conference proceeding from Proceedings of the ASME 2013 7th International Conference on Energy Sustainability & 11th Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference (2013), 1. Posted with permission.</p

Quinidine, a life-saving medication for Brugada syndrome, is inaccessible in many countries

The aim of this study was to determine the availability of quinidine throughout the world. Quinidine is the only oral medication that is effective for preventing life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias due to Brugada syndrome and idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. However, because of its low price and restricted indication, this medication is not marketed in many countries. We conducted a survey of the availability of quinidine by contacting professional medical societies and arrhythmia specialists worldwide. Physicians were e-mailed questionnaires requesting information concerning the quinidine preparation available at their hospital. We also requested information concerning cases of adverse arrhythmic events resulting from unavailability of quinidine. A total of 273 physicians from 131 countries provided information regarding the availability of quinidine. Quinidine was readily available in 19 countries (14%), not accessible in 99 countries (76%), and available only through specific regulatory processes that require 4 to 90 days for completion in 13 countries (10%). We were able to gather information concerning 22 patients who had serious arrhythmias probably related (10 cases) or possibility related (12 cases) to the absence of quinidine, including 2 fatalities possibly attributable to the unavailability of quinidine. The lack of accessibility of quinidine is a serious medical hazard at the global leve