Seasonal variation and source identification of heavy metal(loid) contamination in peri-urban farms of Hue city, Vietnam.

This study focused on the seasonal variation and source identification of heavy metals (HMs) while considering effects of municipal wastewater (MWW) in peri-urban farms of Hue city, central Vietnam. Moreover, associated non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks from consuming vegetables containing HMs were also assessed considering the hazard quotient and cancer risk, respectively. Therefore, concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb, and As were determined in irrigation water, soil, and lettuce samples collected during dry and wet seasons from one upstream site where irrigation water has no impact on MWW as well as from two downstream sites in farms on the outskirt of the city.

Morphometrical and morphological study of mental foramen in dry dentulous mandibles of South Andhra population of India.

Background: Mental foramen (MF) is an anatomical structure of particular importance in local anesthesia and surgical procedures in terms of achieving effective mandibular nerve blocks and avoiding injuries to the neurovascular bundles.

Aim: To determine the morphometry and morphology of MF in south Andhra population of India, hitherto unreported.

Materials And Methods: Ninety dry dentulous mandibles of both sexes were examined for position, size, shape and number of MF.

Starvation-induced lysosomal degradation of aldolase B requires glutamine 111 in a signal sequence for chaperone-mediated transport.

Aldolase B is an abundant cytosolic protein found in all eukaryotic cells. Like many glycolytic enzymes, this protein was sequestered into lysosomes for degradation during nutrient starvation. We report here that the degradation of recombinant aldolase B was enhanced two-fold when rat and human hepatoma cells were starved for amino acid and serum.

Ubiquitinated aldolase B accumulates during starvation-induced lysosomal proteolysis.

We have previously shown that stress-induced protein degradation requires a functional ubiquitin-activating enzyme and the autophagic-lysosomal pathway. In this study, we examined the occurrence of ubiquitin-protein conjugates that form during nutrient starvation. Kidney and liver epithelial cells respond to nutrient stress by enhancing autophagy and protein degradation.