The effect of ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation on the thermal sensitivity of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was studied using UV-B-sensitive cv Poinsett 76 and UV-B-resistant cv Ashley grown under control and elevated (300 mW m-2) UV-B radiation levels. Using both cotyledon and leaf discs, the ability of the tissue to reduce triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) was determined after treatment at 50...

Vitiligo is a common and chronic disease with a great impact on patients' quality of life. Phototherapy with narrowband ultraviolet B radiation and excimer laser are two treatment modalities that are used increasingly for the management of the disease with variable results. In this article, we review the efficacy, adverse effects, and possible mechanisms of action of narrowband ultraviolet B an...

—Numerous anthropogenic and natural factors affect living organisms in nature. Anthropogenic factors include a wide array of contaminants and processes that alter the habitat on both local and global scales. For example, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other industrial gases contribute to the depletion of the earth’s protective ozone layer, resulting in increased amounts of cell damaging ultravi...

Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation can have wide-ranging impacts on plants. UV-B exposure can decrease the rate of photosynthesis, alter pigment concentrations, and damage DNA, proteins, and lipids; however, not all species are equally sensitive. Lemna minor and Spirodela polyrhiza, two sympatric aquatic plants, were exposed to 5 or 11 days of artificial UV-B radiation for 6 hours per day, and moni...

Ultraviolet light in solar radiation is responsible for more than 600,000 malignancies each year in the United States alone, making it the most efficient environmental carcinogen known. Ultraviolet radiation-induced direct DNA damage is thought to be responsible for its initiating properties, while the promotional aspects of such radiation are poorly defined and only recently gaining attention....

Climate scientists have concluded that stratospheric ozone depletion has been a major driver of Southern Hemisphere climate processes since about 1980. The implications of these observed and modelled changes in climate are likely to be far more pervasive for both terrestrial and marine ecosystems than the increase in ultraviolet-B radiation due to ozone depletion; however, they have been largel...