The effects of Aflatoxin (AF) (0.0 and 0.5m g kg-1) and High Grade Sodium Bentonite (HGSB) (5, 7.5 and 10 g kg-1) were tested in an in vivo study including 8 dietary treatments with three replicates of 14 birds per diet per replicate, using a total of 336 broiler chicks up to five weeks. Results showed that chicks receiving AF contaminated feed had significantly (P≤0.05) suppressed body weight gain, which improved significantly (P≤0.05) with addition of HGSB to AF contaminated diet. Supplementation of HGSB at 7.5 and 10 g kg-1 to the diets containing AF significantly (P≤0.05) improved feed consumption by 9.97 and 9.15 g kg-1, respectively, compared to the control group. Efficiency of feed utilization decreased significantly (P≤0.05) with addition of 0.5 mg kg-1 AF and improved significantly (P≤0.05) in HGSB treated group. The relative weights of liver and kidney, which increased significantly (P≤0.05) with addition of 0.5 mg kg-1 AF (19.56 and 18.38 g kg-1 (compared to control group, were improved with dietary inclusion of 7.5 and 10 g kg-1 HGSB. Relative weights of gizzard and pancreas were not affected in AF fed and the control groups. The relative thymus and bursal weights were significantly (P≤0.05) lower at inclusion of 0.5 mg kg-1 of AF (38.99 and 31.36% (compared to the control group, but were not altered by supplementation of HGSB. The serum antibody titers against Newcastle disease (ND) and Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) vaccination, which were significantly (P≤0.05) depressed by AF, were restored with the inclusion of 7.5 and 10 g kg-1 HGSB. The serum concentration of uric acid and albumin in comparison with control group were not affected by treatment groups. The activity of serum gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) significantly (P≤0.05) increased in AF fed group and the addition of HGSB did not show significant reduction in the activity of serum GGT (P≥0.05). Activity of serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) was not affected by the treatment groups. It was found that HGSB at 10 g kg-1 level is partially effective in counteracting the adverse effects of aflatoxin in broilers.

Saline sea water, groundwater into salt domes or municipal waste leachate can affect hydro-mechanical properties of bentonite as a sealing material in nuclear waste repositories or landfills. This paper investigated the effect of sodium chloride solution on Atterberg’s limit, swelling, consolidation and permeability of bentonite. Swelling and consolidation test had been done at 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 2 molar solution and pure water by oedometer apparatus in Iran University of Science and Technology. Considering the results, it can be seen that a little increase in concentration of the solution reduces swelling of bentonite. So that the swelling potential of bentonite reduced from about 82% to about 1.5% by increasing in concentration of the solution from pure water to 2 molar solution. Liquid limit and plastic index of bentonite were reduced by increasing concentration of the solution but plastic limit was not changed significantly. Meanwhile increased concentration of the solution will facilitate reaching equilibrium for swelling and consolidation of the samples which occur due to their enhanced permeability. Permeability of bentonite increased about 7 times by increasing in concentration of solution from pure water to 2 molar solutions. Also, the Compressibility of bentonite was reduced by increasing in concentration of sodium chloride in the solution.

Contamination of water sources with chromium has become a pervasive global problem due to its wide use in industry. In this research, low-cost commercial sodium bentonite and synthesized nano bentonite were used to remove chromium ions from aqueous solutions along with electro thermal atomic absorption spectroscopy (ETAAS) and Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrophotometry (UV-Vis) were used. The morphology of the bentonite samples was studied using XRD, FTIR and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyzes. To screen the relative importance of variables, parameters including pH, adsorption time, amount of adsorbent, volume of desorption solvent and stirring speed were studied using the Plackett Burman Design (PBD) using the Minitab 20 software. In the following, optimization was performed by using the central composite design (CCD), and the responses were evaluated. The calibration curve was plotted by drawing the absorbance against standard concentration. The linear dynamic range of 0.003-100 μg L-1 (DLR) and the correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.999 were obtained for chromium. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for chromium were obtained equal to 0.002 and 0.0039 μg L-1, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of 6.93% and the relative recovery for chromium in real samples were obtained in the range 96.041% to 103.445% for ETAAS method. The values of detection limit (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) by UV-Vis method were 0.007 and 0.021 µg L-1 respectively, and the dynamic linear range was (DLR) 0.05-50.00 µg L-1 with a correlation coefficient (R2) 0.998. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 14.27% and the relative recovery of this method in real samples was attained from 95.103% to 103.692%.

Bentonite is commonly used as a liner in landfills to prevent the leaching of the waste leachate to the groundwater (Yong et al., 1992; Abollino et al., 2003; Zhan et al., 2022). Sodium-bentonite and calcium-bentonite are among the useful materials for this purpose. On the other hand, in several cases clayey soils are exposed to high temperature in engineering and geo-environmental engineering projects (Tan et al., 2004). Dehydration and de-hydroxylation are the two major phenomena during heating process of clayey soils (El Warid et al., 2022). In spite of several researches on the interaction of heavy metals and clayey soils, there are lack of research on the subject of mutual effect of temperature and double layer cation type on the adsorption of heavy metals in clayey soil. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to investigate on the impact of temperature and type of double layer cation on adsorption of copper heavy metal by the clayey soils with high plasticity index. To achieve the above mentioned objective, calcium chloride salt was used to make homo-ionic bentonite. Several types of geo-environmental engineering experiments were performed to address and to achieve the above mentioned objective.

BACKGROUND: Aflatoxins are a group of mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and are an important factor in oxidative damage to the kidney and liver. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of turmeric extract and/or sodium bentonite against renal and hepatic damage induced by aflatoxin B1. METHODS: In this experiment, which lasted for four weeks, 64 male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to eight groups including: control, aflatoxin (AF), turmeric extract (TE), sodium bentonit (SB), TE+SE, AF+TE, AF+SB, AF+(TE+SB). At the end of experiment blood samples were taken from heart and some biochemical analyses were performed. RESULTS: In the AF group, the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and creatinine (p<0. 05) significantly increased and uric acid numerically increased (p=0. 056) compared to control group. Treatment of AF contaminated group with TE or SB alone remarkably decreased the levels of ALT, ALP, creatinine and uric acid. TE and SB in normal rats had no significant effect on the levels of liver enzyme compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: According to the present research, it seems that TE and SB alone decrease the harmful effects of Aflatoxin B1 and the combination of them has a potentiating effect.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of cottonseed meal (CSM) treated with sodium ben-tonite (SB) on certain blood components and immune response of laying hens. A 3 ´ 3 factorial arrangement with 3 levels of SB (0, 10, and 20 g/kg of diet) and 3 levels of CSM (0, 100 and 200 g/kg of diet) were used within 9 dietary treatments of 4 replicates each. Nine mash diets were fed to 288 commercial Hy-Line W-36 hens from 51-63 weeks of age. Blood samples were collected at the end of trial to evaluate the blood constituents. The SB, CSM, or their interaction (SB´CSM) did not have any adverse effect on blood cells and activity of serum enzymes. Sheep red blood cells (SRBC) were used as antigen to quantify the antibody response. Two birds per replicate were injected with SRBC at 60 week of age. After 7 and 14 d of SRBC inoculation, blood samples were obtained from the brachial vein of each hen, and total anti-SRBC, IgG and IgM titers were determined. A significant difference of SB, CSM or their interaction was not observed for total antibody response against SRBC inoculation; however, IgG was significantly increased with 20% CSM at 7 d (7.62 vs. 8.45) and with 2% SB at 14 d (2.79 vs. 3.66) after injection of SRBC. The interaction of SB and CSM for IgG was significantly different among dietary treatments and diet with 2% SB and 20% CSM had the highest titer (5 vs. 2.5) at 14 d after injection of SRBC. In conclusion, SB, CSM or their inter-actions did not affect blood constituents but significantly changed immune response of the birds.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of sodium bentonite litter supplement and stoking density on performance and litter quality using a total of 252 broiler chicks in completely randomized design with 6 treatments which were arranged factorially (3×2) and 4 replicates. Experimental factors included: stocking density (14; low and 18; high /birds per m2) and three levels of sodium bentonite litter supplement (0, 2 and 4 kg/m2). Higher stocking density led to lower performance, higher moisture, pH, count of E. coli and oocysts in litter, intestinal lesions score, footpad and hock lesion scores and breast blister (P<0. 01). Litter moisture and footpad and hock scores were reduced by application of 2 kg/m2 litter supplement (P<0. 01). Supplementation of 4 kg/m2 sodium bentonite decreased count of E. coli and nitrogen in litter and improved body weight gain of broilers than control (P<0. 01). Interactions between stocking density and litter supplement for footpad and hock scores (35 day of age) were significant (P<0. 05) as lesions were negligible in lower stocking density without any effect by litter supplement, although the lesions induced by higher density were reduced using 4 kg/m2 litter supplement. Results indicated that application of sodium bentonite as litter supplement had beneficial effects on broilers performance and litter quality.

The efficiency of using a composite of carbon black and sodium bentonite in treating drinking water contaminated with lead and copper ions was analysed. The effects of pH, contact time, concentration and adsorbent dosage using an adsorbent composite of 20 % sodium bentonite and 80 % carbon black were studied. The adsorption data was tested with respect to Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The data fit well with the Langmuir isotherm model with high coefficients of determination for both metal ions adsorption. The adsorption kinetics follows a pseudo second-order model for both metal ions. The maximum metal ion uptake (qmax) of the composite adsorbent is 7. 69 and 0. 80 mg/g for lead and copper respectively.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different levels of G-bind on rumen bacteria activity and protozoa population of Arabi sheep. Experiment was conducted using completely randomized design with twelve Sheep (4 head per each treatment) that fed with diets containing 2 and 4% G-bind, ad libitum for 28 days. Treatments were including a basal diet (control), basal diet with 2% and basal diet with 4% of G-bind. Rumen fluid was taken after 3 hours after the morning feeding by vacuum pump. After staining with logol solution, methylene blue and brilliant green, morphology and protozoa population was counted by hemocytometer lam. Also digestibility of straw for 24, 48 and 96 hours incubation determined with using culture medium of rumen bacteria. The result showed that, protozoa numbers in the treatment containing G-bind were lower, (7.25 × 10-4, and 2.87×10-4 per ml for 2 and 4% respectively) (P<0.05). Species of Holotricha, in the diet containing 4% G-bind had generally omitted. Disappearance of dry matter and natural detergent fiber (NDF) by rumen bacteria at 24 hour incubation was the highest for 4% G-bind (92.26 and 8.60 % respectively). Counting bacteria by MPN method showed that the greatest bacterial population was for 4% G-bind treatment.Therefore, the results suggests that using of 4% G-bind had the appropriate effect on reduction of ciliate protozoa population, increase rumen bacteria populations and NDF digestibility in compared with 2% G-bind.

Background and objectives: The increased exploitation of soil resources and the expansion of agricultural and industrial activities typically lead to structural degradation and a reduction in the physical and mechanical quality of the soil. However, reducing the use of soil due to water resource limitations can alleviate pressure on the soil, thereby slowing down the structural degradation process. This issue is of particular significance in arid and semi-arid regions, where there are constraints on both water and soil resources. One innovative solution to improve the mechanical properties of soil is the use of natural and environmentally friendly additives. In this context, hybrid composites capable of modifying soil structure and enhancing its stability have attracted considerable attention from researchers. Bentonite, due to its swelling properties and high water absorption, sodium alginate as a biopolymer, and nanocellulose for its outstanding mechanical properties and biodegradability, are among the effective materials for improving the mechanical characteristics of soil. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of a hybrid composite consisting of bentonite, sodium alginate, and nanocellulose on certain physical properties and atterberg limits of loess soil in Golestan province. This study is conducted to enhance structural stability and increase the soil's resistance to mechanical stresses and erosion.Materials and methods: In this study, various hybrid composites were used, including 50% bentonite / 30% sodium alginate / 20% nanocellulose (B50/A30/N20), 70% bentonite / 20% sodium alginate / 10% nanocellulose (B70/A20/N10), and 80% bentonite / 15% sodium alginate / 5% nanocellulose (B80/A15/N05). After sample preparation, soil moisture tests, mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates, and Atterberg limits, including liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, and coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE), were conducted to evaluate the impact of these composites. The samples were prepared and examined under controlled laboratory conditions. The obtained data from the tests were statistically analyzed to assess the improvement in the mechanical properties of the soil in response to different additive percentages.Results: The findings of this study demonstrated that the bentonite-alginate-nanocellulose composite had significant effects on the mechanical and physical properties of soil. The results indicated that the B80/A15/N05 composite increased the liquid and plastic limits of the soil, attributed to its high water absorption capacity and enhanced structural cohesion. The plasticity index also increased with a higher proportion of bentonite and nanocellulose in the composite formulation, with the highest value (15.81 g/g) observed at a 3% application rate of the B80/A15/N05 composite. On the other hand, the application of 3% of the B50/A30/N20 composite resulted in the lowest coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE), measured at 0.02. Moreover, this formulation enhanced soil moisture and the MWD of soil aggregates, indicating improved structural stability and water-holding capacity (WHC) of the soil.Conclusion: The findings of this research indicate that these composites can serve as effective soil amendments to improve the physical and mechanical properties of soils. Depending on functional requirements, optimizing the composite ratios can significantly enhance soil characteristics and improve its performance under various environmental conditions. This approach holds potential for diverse applications in agriculture, environment, and natural resource management. Moreover, utilizing these composites to amend weak soils (enhancing nutrient content and WHC) and boost agricultural productivity could serve as a sustainable strategy aligned with the goals of modern agriculture and sustainable development. Future research on optimizing the composition and precise application rates of these materials, as well as examining their long-term impacts on the environment and ecosystems, could provide deeper insights into their practical potential and expand their use across various fields.