Do neonicotinoid insecticides impaired olfactory learning behavior in Apis mellifera?

Muhammad Imran,Umer Ayyaz Aslam Sheikh,Muhammad Nasir,Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar,Ansa Tamkeen,Muhammad Aamir Iqbal 한국잠사학회 2019 International Journal of Industrial Entomology Vol.38 No.1

Bee’s population is declining and disappearing at alarming rate. There are many factors responsible for declining the population of bees including diseases, natural enemies, environmental conditions and pesticides. Insecticides play its role dramatically for their population decline and neonicotinoid insecticides are critically important due to their wide application for pest control. Keeping in view of above problem, effect of neonicotinoid insecticides on olfactory learning behavior in Apis mellifera was observed using Proboscis Extension Reflex (PER) method. In this method, bees were harnessed in centrifuges tubes and feed on insecticides mixed sugar solution after three hours hunger. Bees were checked by feeding on non-treated sugar solution to observe PER response. Minimum proboscis extension was observed for acetamiprid and imidacloprid with 26% and 20% respectively at their recommend field doses while it was maximum for dinotefuran and thiamethoxam with 73% and 60% respectively. Only 40% bees showed response when exposed at 1/10 concentration of field dose for imidacloprid and the least at 1/100 of field dose. At control (Sugar solution) about 90% bees showed PER response. Among these neonicotinoid insecticides tested, imidacloprid and acetamiprid were the most damaging which impaired the olfactory learning performance in Apis mellifera. Bombyx mori silkworm has many silkworm varieties and the structure and properties of silk can be varied depending on the silkworm variety. Therefore, the choice of proper silkworm variety can be an effective way to control and improve the performance of silk materials in biomedical and cosmetic applications. As a preliminary study, in the present study, thirty nine Bombyx mori silkworm cocoons were prepared and their molecular conformation and crystallinity were examined. Molecular conformation and the crystallinity of silkworm cocoons were different depending on the silkworm variety. Interestingly, the crystallinity index of outside of cocoon was different from that of inside of cocoon and the difference between the crystallinities of outside and inside of cocoon was varied depending on the silkworm variety. In this study, the silkworm variety cocoons were classified into three groups (Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3) based on the difference of crystallinities between outside and inside.

Do neonicotinoid insecticides impaired olfactory learning behavior in Apis mellifera?

Imran, Muhammad,Sheikh, Umer Ayyaz Aslam,Nasir, Muhammad,Ghaffar, Muhammad Abdul,Tamkeen, Ansa,Iqbal, Muhammad Aamir Korean Society of Sericultural Science 2019 International Journal of Industrial Entomology Vol.38 No.1

Bee's population is declining and disappearing at alarming rate. There are many factors responsible for declining the population of bees including diseases, natural enemies, environmental conditions and pesticides. Insecticides play its role dramatically for their population decline and neonicotinoid insecticides are critically important due to their wide application for pest control. Keeping in view of above problem, effect of neonicotinoid insecticides on olfactory learning behavior in Apis mellifera was observed using Proboscis Extension Reflex (PER) method. In this method, bees were harnessed in centrifuges tubes and feed on insecticides mixed sugar solution after three hours hunger. Bees were checked by feeding on non-treated sugar solution to observe PER response. Minimum proboscis extension was observed for acetamiprid and imidacloprid with 26% and 20% respectively at their recommend field doses while it was maximum for dinotefuran and thiamethoxam with 73% and 60% respectively. Only 40% bees showed response when exposed at 1/10 concentration of field dose for imidacloprid and the least at 1/100 of field dose. At control (Sugar solution) about 90% bees showed PER response. Among these neonicotinoid insecticides tested, imidacloprid and acetamiprid were the most damaging which impaired the olfactory learning performance in Apis mellifera.

Integrated adsorptive and photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutant, ciprofloxacin employing biochar-ZnO composite photocatalysts

Muhammad Amir,Tahir Fazal,Javed Iqbal,Aamir Alaud Din,Ashfaq Ahmed,Asim Ali,Abdul Razzaq,Zulfiqar Ali,Muhammad Saif Ur Rehman,박영권 한국공업화학회 2022 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.115 No.-

The expensive carbonaceous substrates including graphene, reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotubeshave been coupled with ZnO to improve the properties and photocatalytic performance of carbon basedZnO photocatalysts. To replace these expensive materials, biochar offers as a low-cost alternative to preparebiochar-based photocatalysts. In this study, Calotropis gigantea leaves derived biochar-ZnO (BC-ZnO)composites were synthesized to overcome the ZnO related problems (charge recombination, wider bandgap, and poor visible light absorption). Different BC-ZnO (BCZ-1–3) composites were characterized toevaluate their intrinsic properties and composites were employed to degrade ciprofloxacin (CIP). BCZ-3composite exhibited slower recombination of electron-hole pairs, lower band gap (2.97 eV), and betterlight absorption in visible region than ZnO. The enhanced adsorptive-photocatalytic degradation efficiencywas attained up to 98.5% using BCZ-3 than BC (46.2%) and ZnO (41.4%). The O2 and OH radicalswithin BCZ-3 are dominant reactive species indulged in CIP photocatalytic degradation. BCZ-3 photocatalystexhibits 80% degradation of CIP after four regeneration cycles. The maximum adsorption capacitywas achieved 54.18 mg g1 for BCZ-3 than BC (46.20 mg g1) and ZnO (15.55 mg g1). The results showthat BCZ-X composites can be used as stable, efficient, economical, and sustainable composite for therecovery of pharmaceutical wastewater.

Characterization and Comparative Evaluation of Milk Protein Variants from Pakistani Dairy Breeds

Iqra Yasmin,Rabia Iqbal,Atif Liaqat,Wahab Ali Khan,Muhamad Nadeem,Aamir Iqbal,Muhammad Farhan Jahangir Chughtai,Syed Junaid Ur Rehman,Saima Tehseen,Tariq Mehmood,Samreen Ahsan,Saira Tanweer,Saima Naz 한국축산식품학회 2020 한국축산식품학회지 Vol.40 No.5

The aim of study was to scrutinize the physicochemical and protein profile of milk obtained from local Pakistani breeds of milch animals such as Nilli-Ravi buffalo, Sahiwal cow, Kajli sheep, Beetal goat and Brela camel. Physicochemical analysis unveiled maximum number of total solids and protein found in sheep and minimum in camel. Buffalo milk contains the highest level of fat (7.45%) while camel milk contains minimum (1.94%). Ash was found maximum in buffalo (0.81%) and sheep (0.80%) while minimum in cow’s milk (0.71%). Casein and whey proteins were separated by subjecting milk to isoelectric pH and then analyzed through sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The results showed heterogeneity among these species. Different fractions including αS1, αS2, κ-casein, β-casein and β-lactoglobulen (β-Lg) were identified and quantitatively compared in all milk samples. Additionally, this electrophoretic method after examining the number and strength of different protein bands (αS1, αS2, β- CN, α-LAC, BSA, and β-Lg, etc.), was helpful to understand the properties of milk for different processing purposes and could be successfully applied in dairy industry. Results revealed that camel milk was best suitable for producing allergen free milk protein products. Furthermore, based on the variability of milk proteins, it is suggested to clarify the phylogenetic relationships between different cattle breeds and to gather the necessary data to preserve the genetic fund and biodiversity of the local breeds. Thus, the study of milk protein from different breed and species has a wide range of scope in producing diverse protein based dairy products like cheese.

Solar light-based photocatalytic removal of CV and RhB dyes using Bi and Al doped SrFe12O19 NPs and antibacterial properties

Qasim Raza,Ismat Bibi,Farzana Majid,Shagufta Kamal,Sadia Ata,Aamir Ghafoor,Muhammad I. Arshad,Samiah H. Al-Mijalli,Arif Nazir,Munawar Iqbal 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.118 No.-

The SrBixAlxFe12-2xO19 (x = 0.0–1.0) nano-hexaferrites were prepared via facile micro-emulsion methodand ferroelectric, dielectric, magnetic, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties were investigatedbased on doping contacts. The XRD analysis confirmed the hexagonal single-phase material with P63/mmc space group. P-E loops indicated the higher polarization and coercivity values for doped materials. VSM results showed that maximum and remnant magnetizations were quite high for undoped materialwhile coercivity was low than doped hexaferrite. Optical band gap was reduced to 1.63 eV from 2 eV(pristine) for highly doped composition. PL intensity showed a sharp decline with doping, which indicatedthe better inhibition of charge carriers on doping. The photo-catalytic activity of pristine and thedoped SrBixAlxFe12-2xO19 was investigated using Crystal Violet and Rhodamine B dyes under solar irradiation. SrAlxBixFe12-2xO19 (x = 1.0) exhibited improved catalytic efficiency and up to 83 and 86 (%) removalof CV and RhB dyes with rate constant of 0.047 and 0.048 (min1), respectively. Highly doped ferrite alsoshowed enhanced bactericidal action against S. aureus and E. coli strains. Superior mineralization of textiledyes and good antimicrobial activity of Bi and Al doped strontium nano-hexaferrites make such materialas crucial candidate for solar light responsive photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications.