Peninsular Malaysia has gone through fast development during recent decades resulting in the release of large amounts of petroleum and its products into the environment. Aliphatic hydrocarbons are one of the major components of petroleum. Surface sediment samples were collected from five rivers along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and analyzed for aliphatic hydrocarbons. The total concen...

This study examines the distribution, abundance and characteristics of surface micro- and mesoplastic debris in the Western Mediterranean Sea. 41 samples were collected in 2011 (summer) and 2012 (summer). Results, firstly, revealed that micro- (<5 mm) and mesoplastic debris were widely and uniformly distributed in this area with average concentrations of 130,000 parts/km(2) and 5700 parts/km(2)...

Limbless terrestrial animals propel themselves by sliding their bellies along the ground. Although the study of dry solid-solid friction is a classical subject, the mechanisms underlying friction-based limbless propulsion have received little attention. We review and expand upon our previous work on the locomotion of snakes, who are expert sliders. We show that snakes use two principal mechanis...

The relationships between various carbohydrate pools of the soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) fruit and growth rate of seeds were evaluated. Plants during midpod-fill were subjected to various CO(2) concentrations or light intensities for 7 days to generate different rates of seed growth. Dry matter accumulation rates of seeds and pod wall, along with glucose, sucrose, and starch concentration...

Traveling to high altitudes can expose the eye to reduced ambient cold and low-pressure environments. These conditions can affect the physiology of the eye and may result in ocular problems and visual disturbances. In this paper, ocular disorders related to high altitudes are briefly reviewed. Then, high-altitude ocular disorders are categorized in three parts: those related to dry and cold env...

Increasing importance of pharmaceutical plants in the world and the presence of many of these plants in our country, which has one of the richest Flora of the world, suggest the need for comprehensive studies. Research of secondary metabolites of medicinal and essential oily plants from Iran’s dry to super dry deserts is very important. One of the most famous species from “Labiatae” family is D...

The hydroalcoholic extracts of dried ligulate florets of Calendula officinalis L., dried leaves of Plantago major L., and dried aerial parts of Vinca major L. were prepared and used as the main active ingredients of two types of anti-anorectal disease ointments and suppositories. Benzocaine was used in one of the formulations, while a mixture of belladonna dry extract and ephedrine sulfate ...

Glaucosciadium cordifolium is distributed in Central Anatolia, the Mediterranean region and Northern Cyprus. It has been used traditional medicine as an aphrodisiac. In present study essential oil content, components antioxidant properties of G. plant collected from natural location were determined. was observed that content obtained fresh dry parts differed. The highest ratio (1.40%) dried lea...

Growth and survival of young European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is largely dependent on water availability. We quantified the influence of water stress (measured as Available Soil Water Storage Capacity or ASWSC) on vitality of young beech plants at a dry site. The study site was located in a semi-natural sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl.) stand adjacent to beech stands on a roc...