[en] Blood porphyrin, hematological examination and radiographic changes were evaluated for the detection of lead intoxication in goats given daily po doses of 10, 15 and 20 mg lead acetate (5.43, 8.15 and 10.86 mg lead)/kg body weight for 30, 30 and 31 days, or a total of 91 days. Blood porphyrin was found a sensitive indicator with direct correlation (r = 0.976) to blood lead concentration. Basophilic stippling was not seen in the lead-exposed goats. Radiopaque bands developed at the distal metaphysis of the radius in 7 of the 12 lead-exposed goats at day 30. The usefulness of this sign for the diagnosis of lead exposure in goats requires further investigation

[en] Our purpose of this research is to study the variation in air quality during lockdown (LD) and Post-lockdown (Post-LD) with respect to Pre-lockdown (Pre-LD) in most polluted cities of India by comparing the data of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in different periods: Pre-LD, LD and post-LD. We have selected top five cities of India out of the 20 most polluted cities across the world including Ghaziabad, Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, and Lucknow (LKO). Historical data of atmospheric PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 for all cities were obtained from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) online web portal of air quality data, except LKO. However, atmospheric PMs was monitored in LKO and samples of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were collected. During the LD and Post-LD period, due to anthropogenic emissions switch-off’ a sharp decline was observed in concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in both circumstances (monthly and mean variation) as compared to Pre-LD in all selected cities. The Percentage changes (PCs) was found in mean concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 during LD** and Post-LD*** with respect to Pre-LD at selected cities; Delhi −40.78%**, −58.42%*** and −57.60%**, −70.11%***; Ghaziabad −31.20%**, −53.91%*** and −57.29%**, −44.82%***; Noida −36.59&**, −53.95&*** and −58.36%**, −68.49%***; Greater Noida −39.39%**, −55.75%*** and −61.07%**, −71.56%***; LKO -57.95%**, −65.01%*** and −63.31%**, −59.95%*** respectively. The PCs of both pollutants exhibited a significant decrease in mean concentrations in all selected cities during LD and Post-LD with respect to Pre-LD period. Consequently, the results of current studies suggest that due to COVID-19 pandemic national LD restriction on anthropogenic activities, both coarse and fine pollutants have significantly reduced and air quality greatly improved during LD and Post-LD as compared to pre-LD period in all selected cities of India.

[en] A series of plate-impact spall experiments was conducted to study the spall strength of seven microstructural conditions of aluminum, including three grain sizes of 6061 Al alloy, both ultrapure and commercially pure (1060) polycrystalline aluminum, and single-crystal Al with two different orientations, over the stress range of 4-22 GPa. The pullback velocity, which is a characteristic signature of spall strength, is observed to depend on initial microstructure, impact stress, pulse duration, and loading rate. The pullback velocity generally increases over the stress range of 4-14 GPa and achieves a maximum as the impact stress approaches 22 GPa. The pullback velocity of [100] single-crystal Al is higher than that for both polycrystalline samples and [111] single-crystal samples, indicating that grain orientation strongly affects material response. Experimental results also show that the spall behavior is strongly dependent on sample thickness, while the effect of shock pulse duration was observed to be less significant. Comparison among three 6061 materials indicates that the observed differences depend on initial yield strength. The results also show that initial microstructures and impurities have a diminishing effect on the pullback velocity at stresses near 22 GPa. However, initial properties are observed to have a pronounced effect on the detailed structure of the pullback velocity profile at all stress levels. In particular, an interesting feature, i.e., a sharp slope during pullback followed by a distinct transition to a slower slope, is consistently observed. The occurrence of this change in slope is observed to depend on impact stress, loading rate, and grain size

[en] Lead is a common environmental pollutant with deleterious health effects on human and animal. Industrial and other human activities enhance the lead level in the environment leading to its higher residues in exposed population. The present study was aimed at determining blood lead concentration in dogs from two urban areas and in surrounding rural areas of India and analyzing lead level in dogs in relation to environmental (urban/ rural) and animal (age, sex, breed and housing) variables. Blood samples were collected from 305 dogs of either sex from urban (n = 277) and unpolluted rural localities (n = 28). Irrespective of breed, age and sex, the urban dogs had significantly (P < 0.01) higher mean blood lead concentration (0.25 ± 0.01 μg/ml) than rural dogs (0.10 ± 0.01 μg/ml). The mean blood lead level in stray dogs either from urban or rural locality (0.27 ± 0.01 μg/ml) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher than that of pets (0.20 ± 0.01 μg/ml), and the blood lead concentration was significantly higher in nondescript dogs (0.25 ± 0.01 μg/ml) than pedigreed dogs (0.20 ± 0.01 μg/ml). The locality (urban/rural) was the major variable affecting blood lead concentration in dogs. Breed and housing of the dogs of urban areas and only housing (pet/stray) in rural areas significantly (P < 0.01) influenced the blood lead concentration in dogs