Elemental uptake and accumulation by wood decay fungi in relation to their nutrition strategy, rot type and mineral profile of the colonized wood.

Cigarette smoking exposes individuals to numerous toxic substances, including heavy metals. Smokers are at risk due to the accumulation of these substances in various tissues. Objective: To compare the concentrations of 41 elements in 11 brain regions, the spinal cord, the bronchial, the lungs, and the liver in smokers (n = 11) and non-smokers (n = 17). Elemental composition was determined by ICP-MS after wet digestion in a microwave system. The following toxic elements were detected at levels of µg/g w.w.: Al, Cd, Pb, Ba, As, Ni, and Tl. Significantly higher concentrations of Al were detected in bronchial and lung, and more Pb, Tl, and rare earth elements were detected in the liver of smokers compared to non-smokers. In addition, smokers had significantly lower concentrations of essential elements involved in antioxidant defense, such as Cu, in liver tissue (p = 0.033). The brain and spinal cord in smokers and non-smokers were similar in terms of chemical composition, except the insula, where smokers had greater Al accumulation (p = 0.030), the precentral gyrus, where higher amounts of As, Cd, and Mn were detected, and the septal nucleus accumbens, which preferentially accumulated Cd in smokers; however, the p-values indicate that these differences were not statistically significant. Most brain areas of smokers were characterized by higher Na content (p < 0.05). These findings prove the long-term effects of smoking, demonstrating the bioaccumulation of toxic elements, the increased levels of rare earth elements in the liver, decreased levels of elements involved in the body’s antioxidant defense, and disruption of sodium homeostasis in the brain of smokers.

Depending on bioconcentration, elements are classified as macro and micro. While some are essential for biological processes but may be toxic above the tolerable concentrations, than is necessary to monitor the concentrations. Also, the deficiency or excess of micro- and macroelements may diminish the effect of substances, such as other elements or drugs, or cause them to exert toxic effects. In the present study, macro (Ca, K, Mg, Na, and P) and micro (Al, B, Mn, Mo, Sb, Sn, and Tl) element concentrations and correlations were determined in shelter dogs. According to the results, the high to low micro- and macroelement concentrations were found to be K&gt;Ca&gt;P&gt;Mg&gt;Na and Se&gt;Al&gt;Mn&gt;B&gt;Mo&gt;Sb&gt;Sn&gt;Tl respectively. Statistically significant positive (Ca-Sn, Mg-Mn, Mg-Sb, Mg-Se, P-Al, P-Sb) and negative (K-Al, K-Mn, Na-Al, Na-Sb, Na-Sn) correlations were determined between macro- and microelements. The concentrations of the macroelements that were analyzed in this study were within the reference range. There is no data on the concentrations and biological or toxic effects of some elements, such as B, Sb, Sn, and Tl, in dogs. Reference biomarkers should be identified for the early diagnosis of conditions induced by altered element concentrations and the health impacts of these changes should be thoroughly investigated.

Mechanism of arsenic-induced liver injury in rats revealed by metabolomics and ionomics based approach.

Dust containing potentially toxic trace elements (TEs) from open pit mining, smelting of metallic ores, aggregate extraction, and road dust is a major concern worldwide. The potential ecological significance of TEs in these dusts, however, depends not only upon their concentrations, but also their physical and chemical forms. Here, dusty snow from the Athabasca River (AR) which bisects an open-pit bitumen mining and upgrading area in Canada was collected to perform size-resolved analysis of selected TEs. Conservative, lithophile (Al, Th, Y), bitumen-enriched (Mo, Ni, V), and chalcophile (As, Cd, Pb, Sb, Tl) elements were overwhelmingly found in the particulate fraction (>0.45 μm), with concentrations increasing toward industry. The mineralogical composition of this fraction was similar to dusts from natural and anthropogenic sources in the area. In the "filterable" fraction (<0.45 μm), Al, Mo, and V in snow were elevated near industry. Within the filterable fraction, TEs occur predominantly in the "truly dissolved" fraction (<300 Da): these are assumed to be ionic species and small molecules, and represent potentially bioavailable species. However, the concentrations of TEs in this fraction were extremely low: for perspective, Cd and Pb are similar to values reported for ancient Arctic ice. Within the filterable fraction at midstream sites, up to 30% of Ni and 37% of Y were associated with organic colloids (≈1 kDa) which may be from bitumen and soil-borne sources, respectively. Except for V, TE concentrations in the filterable fraction of snow were below the average values for the AR and the global average for uncontaminated river water. Consequently, the threat to aquatic life in the river by TEs in snowmelt may be limited.

The potential of Actinoplanes spp. for alleviating the oxidative stress induced by thallium toxicity in wheat plants

The conventional point-estimate human health risk assessment (HHRA) primarily uses average concentrations of a limited number of samples due to the high monitoring costs of heavy metals in groundwater. The results can be erroneous when concentrations significantly deviate from the average across the collected samples in an investigation region. The present research developed a hierarchical fuzzy-based HHRA (F-HHRA) framework to handle variations in limited data sets and subjectively established a broader range of risks for various exposure groups. Groundwater samples from 80 to 120 m deep in shallow wells were collected from agricultural farms along Wadi Rumah in the Qassim Region of Saudi Arabia. Laboratory testing found total dissolved solids much higher than the promulgated drinking water quality standards. As the aftertaste issue eliminated the raw water potability, the study considered dermal exposure for HHRA. The collected samples were tested for thirteen potential heavy metals (HMs), including barium (Ba), boron (B), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), lithium (Li), manganese (Mn), silver (Ag), strontium (Sr), thallium (TI), and zinc (Zn). Cu, Fe, Pb, Ag, and TI were lower than the detectable limit of the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry device. Concentrations of the remaining HMs in wastewater outfalls that were much less than the groundwater eradicated the impact of anthropogenic activities and affirmed natural contamination. Apart from 10% of the samples for Mn and 90% of the samples for Sr, all the other HMs remained within the desired maximum allowable concentrations. Point-estimate and fuzzy-based approaches yielded ‘low’ dermal non-cancer risk and cancer risk for all groups other than adults, where dermal cancer risk of Cr remained in the ‘acceptable’ (1 × 10−6 and 1 × 10−5) risk zone. Although dermal risk does not require controls, scenario analysis established the rationality of F-HHRA for more contaminated samples. The proposed hierarchical F-HHRA framework will facilitate the decision-makers in concerned agencies to plan risk mitigation strategies (household level and decentralized systems) for shallow well consumers in Saudi Arabia and other arid regions.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as an effective approach to enhance the growth and metabolism of soybean plants under thallium (TI) toxicity

Major and trace element emission rates in hydrothermal plumes in a tropical environment. The case of La Soufrière de Guadeloupe volcano

Trace of negative changes in environment recorded in cores of trees growing near busy city roads in Poznań, Poland – dendromonitoring of urban pollution

Background/Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of organic compounds utilized in commercial and industrial applications, on allostatic load (AL), a measure of chronic stress. PFAS, such as perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDE), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHS), and metals, such as mercury (Hg), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), cesium (Cs), molybdenum (Mo), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), thallium (TI), tungsten (W), and uranium (U) were investigated. This research was performed to explore the effects of combined exposure to PFAS and metals on AL, which may be a disease mediator. Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2014 were used to conduct this study on persons aged 20 years and older. A cumulative index of 10 biomarkers from the cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic systems was used to calculate AL out of 10. If the overall index was ≥ 3, an individual was considered to be chronically stressed (in a state of AL). In order to assess the dose-response connections between mixtures and outcomes and to limit the effects of multicollinearity and other potential interaction effects between exposures, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) was used. Results: The most significant positive trend between mixed PFAS and metal exposure and AL was revealed by combined exposure to cesium, molybdenum, PFHS, PFNA, and mercury (posterior inclusion probabilities, PIP = 1, 1, 0.854, 0.824, and 0.807, respectively). Conclusions: Combined exposure to metals and PFAS increases the likelihood of being in a state of AL.

Humans exploit heavy metals for various industrial and economic reasons. Although some heavy metals are essential for normal physiology, others such as Tellurium (Te), Thallium (TI), antimony (Sb), and Osmium (Os) are highly toxic and can lead to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a common female factor of infertility. The current study was undertaken to determine levels of the heavy metals TI, Te, Sb and Os in serum of PCOS females (n = 50) compared to healthy non-PCOS controls (n = 56), and to relate such levels with Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), activity of key antioxidant enzymes, oxidative stress marker levels and redox status. PCOS serum samples demonstrated significantly higher levels of TI, Te, Sb and Os and diminished TAC compared to control (p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was significant inhibition of SOD, CAT and several glutathione-related enzyme activities in sera of PCOS patients with concurrent elevations in superoxide anions, hydrogen and lipid peroxides, and protein carbonyls, along with disrupted glutathione homeostasis compared to those of controls (p < 0.001 for all parameters). Additionally, a significant negative correlation was found between the elevated levels of heavy metals and TAC, indicative of the role of metal-induced oxidative stress as a prominent phenomenon associated with the pathophysiology of the underlying PCOS. Data obtained in the study suggest toxic metals as risk factors causing PCOS, and thus protective measures should be considered to minimize exposure to prevent such reproductive anomalies.

Fluoro-perovskites compounds based on the Tl element TlMF3 (M = Au, Ga) were examined computationally, and their different aspects, studied utilizing TB-mBJ potential approximations, can be used for the generation of energy because of their ever-increasing power conversion efficiency. Birch Murnaghan’s graph and tolerance factor show that these composites are structurally cubic and stable. The optimum volume of the compounds corresponding to the optimum energies and the optimized lattice constants were computed. The algorithm IRelast was used to predict the elastic information, and these results demonstrated that the presented compounds are stable mechanically and show anisotropic and ductile properties. TlAuF3 and TlGaF3 have an indirect band energy gap at (M-X) positions, with a forbidden energy gap of −0.55 eV for TlAuF3 and 0.46 eV for TlGaF3. The compounds show a metallic nature due to a small indirect band gap. Different component states corresponding to the upper and lower bands of the Fermi energy level are influenced by the total density in the different states and the density in various directions (TDOS & PDOS). These composites exhibit strong absorption, conductivity, and reflective coefficients at higher energy series together with a low refractive index, given by an inquiry into optical properties. The applications of these composites are thought to be good for conduction purposes in industries due to the indirect band gap. For the first time, computational analysis of these novel compounds offers a thorough understanding of their many characteristics.

Numerical simulation on the impurity photovoltaic (IPV) effect in c-Si wafer-based dual-heterojunction solar cell

Impact of biochar colloids on thallium(I) transport in water-saturated porous media: Effects of pH and ionic strength

The paper discusses potential applications of corpus-based methodologies to legal language studies, the focus being placed on their implications for translation research and translator training. Corpus-based studies have been applied to translation since the 90ties; prior research tended to exclude translations as a nonrepresentative language. However, relatively few current projects concentrate on legal translation specifically. Corpus-based methodologies analyse authentic data and language in use. They help to eliminate the speculative element and to verify research hypotheses on a larger scale. Their major contribution seems to be the possibility to improve the naturalness of translation. They may be applied to analyse the translationese against the non-translated language and, in consequence, to identify interferences from the source language. A substantial deal of research is devoted to the so-called translation universals, that is ‘universal features of translation’ (Baker 1993: 243) independent of specific language pairs, i.e. explicitation; simplification, disambiguation; normalisation or conservatism; leveling-out; and over- and underrepresentation of SL or TL elements, including untypical distribution of collocations. It will be argued that some of these hypotheses require further analysis in the context of legal translation. For example, how does the tendency to disambiguate relate to strategic ambiguities and purposeful flexibility of legal language (vagueness)? Is the tendency of explicitation and sanitation not in conflict with the high accuracy requirement in legal translation? And more generally, how does the untypical distribution of TL elements impact the naturalness of translation? It seems that corpus-based studies is a promising methodology that may open up new perspectives on legal language and translation.

Native herbal medicinal products (NHMPs) are medicinal products derived from plant raw materials. NHMPs are characterised by a complete transfer of contaminants from raw materials to finished products and comparability of therapeutic doses to daily consumption of many foods. The aim of the study was to develop an approach to assessing the content of elemental contaminants in NHMPs, based on public health risk assessment methods, and exemplify its use by applying it to pumpkin seeds. Materials and methods : the study analysed national and international regulatory documents governing the control of elemental contaminants in medicinal products and food, as well as literature on the ability of pumpkin seeds to accumulate such contaminants. In order to determine permitted concentrations, hazard quotients and cancer slope factors, the authors used internationally accepted risk assessment criteria. Results : the study identified the elemental contaminants to be controlled during risk assessment of NHMPs (i.e., As, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb, Hg, Ni, and V). The authors calculated permitted concentrations of the elements for a therapeutic dose of pumpkin seeds; hazard quotients for the essential (Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, Zn), probably essential (As, Ni, V) and toxic (Al, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sr, Tl) elements consumed with the dose; and individual cancer risks associated with As, Cd, Cr, Pb. Conclusions : the total health impact of the studied elements in a therapeutic dose of pumpkin seeds is permissible, and there is no risk of non-carcinogenic effects. The content of each carcinogenic element in pumpkin seeds corresponds to the acceptable level of maximum individual cancer risk. These risk levels are to be controlled at all times. The results of this study may support the development of a compendial monograph on pumpkin seeds.

This research presents the structural, optical, elastic, and electronic properties of cubic Barium-based halide-Perovskites in combination with Al and Tl elements of the form XBaF3 (X = Al and Tl). The density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation of Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof and the Trans-Blaha modified Becke Johnson (TB-mBJ) approximation are employed for the consideration of exchange-correlation effects. Structurally these compounds are found to be cubic with a space group of Pm-3 m (#221). The computed band’s structure with TB-mBJ confers precise electronic properties of these materials as it is a precise and accurate approximation for bands structure prediction. The computation of bands structure for both the materials reveals a semiconducting nature having a direct bandgap from X to X (X-point in the reciprocal lattice space to X-symmetry points), having values lying from 0 eV at Fermi level to 3.75 eV for TlBaF3 and 4.36 eV for AlBaF3. The total and partial densities of states, as well as their contribution to the different bands, are investigated and evaluated, i.e. total density of state and partial density of state are exploited. The IRelast package is used to calculate the elastic constants of these crystals, with cubic symmetries, which can then be used to explore elastic and mechanical characteristics. Elastic properties show that the compounds of interest are mechanically stable, anisotropic, and ductile. Besides this, due to the high value of shear modulus ‘G,’ these materials demonstrate resistance to plastic deformation. It is noticed that these compounds are transparent for incident photons based on their optical properties. Based on these interesting investigations of different physical properties for XBaF3 (X = Al and Tl), we have selected these materials and to our best understanding, this is the first comprehensive theoretical computation of these compounds which presents structural, optical, electronic, and elastic properties that have yet to be confirmed experimentally.

A number of valuable medicinal plants will grow in the Trans-Baikal Territory, but there is not enough information on the content of chemical elements in them, including vital and toxic ones. The aim of the work was to study the content of chemical elements in medicinal plants in one of the districts of the Trans-Baikal Territory. The concentration of 43 chemical elements in the roots of Saposhnikovia divaricata, Paeonia lactiflora and Phlojodicarpus sibiricus growing in the Nerchinsk steppe (Eastern Transbaikalia) was studied. Soil samples were taken at the plant growth sites to analyze the granulometric composition, pH, content of mobile forms N, P, K, and a number of trace elements. The ecological conditions of the habitat were noted: the height above sea level, the exposure and steepness of the slope, the type and floral composition of the plant community. The roots of the plants, after being released from the ground, were placed in cloth bags and dried. At each site, a mixed sample of 5–15 roots was taken, depending on the weight of the root. Chemical analysis of the soil and plants was carried out in certified laboratories in Moscow. Kostroma and Khabarovsk. In the roots of plants, the concentration of Ti, Cr, Sc, La, Ce, Li, Nb and a number of other elements was found to be high relative to the Clark of terrestrial plants, and the content of Mn, Tl, Se, Cd and other elements was relatively low. The concentration of toxic elements Pb, Cd and Hg did not exceed the MPC in the medicinal raw materials, and the accumulation of As exceeded the MPC in the medicinal raw materials by 4–6 times. The studies conducted in this area were conducted for the first time, they allow us to judge the quality of medicinal raw materials, and in the future, to compare the results with other areas of plant growth.

Thallium (TI) is one of the most toxic heavy metals. Human exposure to Tl occurs through contaminated drinking water and from there to food, a threat to health. Recently, environmental contamination by Tl has been reported in several countries, urging the need for studies to determine the impact of endogenous and exogenous mechanisms preventing thallium toxicity. The cytoprotective effect of metallothionein (MT), a protein with high capacity to chelate metals, at two doses (100 and 600 µg/rat), was tested. Prussian blue (PB) (50 mg/kg) was administered alone or in combination with MT. A dose of Tl (16mg/kg) was injected i.p. to Wistar rats. Antidotes were administered twice daily, starting 24h after Tl injection, for 4 days. Tl concentrations diminished in most organs (p < 0.05) by effect of PB, alone or in combination with MT, whereas MT alone decreased Tl concentrations in testis, spleen, lung and liver. Likewise, brain thallium also diminished (p < 0.05) by effect of PB and MT alone or in combination in most of the regions analyzed (p < 0.05). The greatest diminution of Tl was achieved when the antidotes were combined. Plasma markers of renal damage increased after Tl administration, while PB and MT, either alone or in combination, prevented the raise of those markers. Only MT increased the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) in the kidney. Finally, increased Nrf2 was observed in liver and kidney, after treatment with MT alone or in combination with PB. Results showed that MT alone or in combination with PB is cytoprotective after thallium exposure.