Measurements of Pb, Cu, Zn, As, Ni, Hg, and Fe heavy metals and major elements and components such as Ca, HCO3, SO4, Na, K, Mg and Cl in soluble rain fractions were performed on rainwater collected at Arak plain during the rainy seasons of 2012. Concentrations of the heavy metals in the soluble fractions decreased for Fe, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cu, As and Hg, respectively and the major elements and compon...

Green biosynthesis of silver - functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube (Ag/FMWCNT) nanohybride from silver nitrate solution using water extract of Satureja hortensis L as reducing agent and FMWCNT as anchoring agent at room condition was succesfully carried out. Water-soluble organics present in the plant materials were mainly responsible for the reduction of silver ions to nano-sized Ag par...

The fate of nanoparticles in organisms is of significant interest. In the current work, we used a test system with terrestrial isopods (Porcellio scaber) fed with food spiked with Cu NPs or soluble Cu salt for 14 days. Two different doses were used for spiking to yield final concentrations of 2000 and 5000 μg Cu/g dry food. After the exposure period, part of the exposed group of animals was tra...

Multifunctional metal chelators that can modulate the amyloid β (Aβ) peptide aggregation and its interaction with metal ions such as copper and zinc hold considerable promise as therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, specific rather than systemic metal chelation by these compounds is needed in order to limit any side effects. Reported herein are two novel small bifunctional c...

Naturally occurring polysaccharides such as alginic acid and chitosan have been recognized as one of the most effective adsorbents to eliminating low levels of heavy metal ions from waste water stream. The present study intended to use alginic acid and chitosan simultaneously, which are expected to form a rigid matrix structure of beads due to electrostatic interaction between carboxyl groups o...

AIM To purify and partially characterise a fraction from human leucocytes containing a substance cytotoxic to Candida albicans. METHODS Leucocytes were isolated from the buffy coats of healthy blood donors. The cytotoxic factor (CF) was isolated from the soluble fraction of the cells. A cell lysate was passed through a filter with a cut off value of 3 kDa, and the filtrate was processed by an...

This work investigated the microbial toxicity of soluble species that can potentially be leached from the II-VI semiconductor materials, cadmium telluride and cadmium selenide. The soluble ions tested included: cadmium, selenite, selenate, tellurite, and tellurate. Their toxicity towards the acetoclastic and hydrogen-consuming trophic groups in a methanogenic consortium as well as towards a bio...

Biological membrane fusion employs divalent cations as protein cofactors or as signaling ligands. For example, Mg2+ is a cofactor for the N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF) ATPase, and the Ca2+ signal from neuronal membrane depolarization is required for synaptotagmin activation. Divalent cations also regulate liposome fusion, but the role of such ion interactions with lipid bilayers in Ra...

The nickel-dependent chemolithoautotrophic growth of Alcaligenes eutrophus is apparently due to a requirement of nickel for active hydrogenase formation. Cells grown heterotrophically with fructose and glycerol revealed a specific activity of soluble and membrane-bound hydrogenase which was severalfold higher than the normal autotrophic level. The omission of nickel from the medium did not affe...