Risk analysis is an important technique to estimate impacts on the environment for adopting effective measures to avoid risks. This field study was conducted to investigate the risk of brick kiln (BK) smoke on the shoots of Acacia arabica. Different phenotypic parameters including morphology and growth of shoots and epidermal imprints of the leaves were studied in the vicinity of a brick kiln s...

The effect of aqueous smoke extract, derived from Tanacetum parthenium, onin vitro plantlet regeneration from rapeseed (Brassica napus L. cv. Topas)microspore-derived embryos (MDEs) was evaluated in this study. Inoculation ofrapeseed MDEs with the smoke-extract dilutions (1:250, 1:500, 1:1000 and 1:2000)for various times (5, 10 and 15 min) significantly enhanced the percentage ofregenerated pla...

Initially, tobacco was considered as a decorative plant and only later began to be treated as a herb with special therapeutic properties. With time, it was found that tobacco had strong insecticidal and addictive properties. There also occurred reports about the negative influence of tobacco on human health. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies smoking as a chronic, progressive diseas...

There is abundant evidence to show that nicotine is the principal addictive component of tobacco smoke. The results of laboratory studies have shown that nicotine has many of the behavioural and neurobiological properties of a drug of dependence. This article focuses on the evidence that nicotine has the rewarding and reinforcing properties typical of an addictive drug and that these properties...

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is one of the most modifiable causes of morbidity and mortality for both pregnant women and their fetuses. The long-term effects of prenatal exposure to smoke on child behavior and development have been the subject of more extensive research than have the short-term effects. Therefore, the aim of this work is to examine the effects of smoke exposure during preg...

BACKGROUND Active smoking increases asthma severity and is related to diminished treatment efficacy. Animal models in which inhalation of both allergen and mainstream cigarette smoke are combined can help us to understand the complex interaction between both agents. We have recently shown that, in allergic mice, the airway inflammation can be cleared by repeated allergen challenge, resulting in...