Evaluation of Trihalomethanes Levels in Gharbiya Governorates Drinking Water

Chlorination is the most accepted disinfectant throughout the world because of its economical availability and effectiveness against the waterborne pathogens. Chlorination worked effectively against the microorganisms and provide safeguard against several waterborne diseases on theother hand, it reacts with natural organic matters (NOMs) to form disinfectionby-products (DBPs). Studies have shown a relationship between long-term exposure to DBPs and increase risk of cancer and adverse reproductive outcomes. Trihalomethanes (THMs) are the most abundant DBPs .

THMs constitute a major class of DBPs, including chloroform (CHCl3), bromodichloromethane (CHCl2Br), chlorodibromomethane (CHClBr2) and bromoform (CHBr3). Since THMs concentration in water is a serious health concern and United States, European Union (EU) and World HealthOrganization (WHO) regulated THMs in public water supplies. Several factors in addition to NOMs influenced the formation of THMs including the nature of source water, amount and time of contact of chlorine, levels of total organic compounds (TOC), temperature and pH etc.

The Viscous and External Forces Effect on the Thermal Denaturation of Peyrard-Bishop Model

The breaking up of double helix into single helix DNA is called the DNA denaturation or thermal DNA melting. Theoretically, the phenomenon has been discussed in many works, for instance the work by Hanke et al. on the denaturation of stretched DNA. The opening double-stranded DNA canbe explained by a force exceeding a certain critical value. It is possible that the local opening of DNA bubbles in the selective regions without breaking the whole DNA. In other cases, the denaturation can also be influenced by many factor such as the alkaline compound filling up a cell, liquid surrounding DNA and other external potential. It has been shown that a bell shaped soliton exists in the DNA chain when the effect of viscosity is taken into account. 

The melting temperature as well as the critical force that is required to unzip the DNA molecule depend on the salt concentration of the solution.One of the physical model that have been discussed by researchers is called the Peyrard-Bishop (PB) model. This model basicallyconsiders the DNA as two mutually hand in chains with the Morse as theinteraction potential. The model can explain the denaturation process along with its thermodynamical properties.

Editor Note - Biochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of structures, functions and interactions of biomolecules, such as carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, etc. and their metabolisms. Advancements in biochemistry helps in the advancement of different fields like agriculture, medicine, nutrition, etc., which are directly related to it. Combination of biochemical techniques with techniques and ideas of genetics, molecular biology and biophysics had facilitated the discoveries and inventions in the field of biochemistry. Analytical chemistry is focused on the creation of new measurement techniquesand tools, experimental designs, chemometrics, etc., playing an important role in opening new avenues in biochemistry. Recently the research in biochemistry reached to molecular level and now the terms molecular biology and biochemistry have become nearly interchangeable.

Journal of Biochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry is an Open Access scholarly journal, and recently published volume 5 issue 2. In this current issue articles in diverse disciplines of Biochemistry werepublished ranging from leaf extracts to Biomarkers, which provides a platform for the researchers of distant related disciplines to imbibe latest advancements that helps in their research progress.

Heavy Metal Risk Assessment in Bhavanapadu Creek Using Three Potamidid Snails - Telescopium telescopium, Cerithidea obtusa and Cerithidea cingulata

Human activities can increase metal concentrations to higher than background levels. The mining and processing ores, domestic waste water effluents, storm water runoff and industrial wastes and discharges are certain main anthropogenic sources of heavy metal pollution. Heavy metalpollution in aquatic ecosystem has been recognized as a serious environmentalproblem. In many cases, heavy metals occur in natural water bodies at levels below their toxic thresholds, however, due to their non degradable nature, such low concentrations may still pose risk of damage via uptake and subsequent bioaccumulation by organisms, which cannot be effectively metabolized and these absorbed metals are extracted. 

Several scientific observations have shown that heavy metals are bio concentrated or bioaccumulated in one or several compartments across food webs. Besides, the contamination of resources with trace elements may have devastating effect on the natural ecosystem functioning, as well as cause a decrease of biodiversity and extinction of sensitive taxa. Metalbioaccumulation can be of importance from the public health point of view,especially when humans consume the accumulators. Secondly, this phenomenon is now being exploited in the assessment of environmental quality, in addition to chemical surveys of water and sediment.