In the present study the selenium and chromium content of different plant foods such as fruits, greens, flowers, vegetables, dried fruits, spices, condiments, cereals and pulses were analysed. The selenium values for cereals indehiscent vegetables, root vegetables, stem vegetables, pulses, fleshy vegetables, greens, fleshy fruits, condiment seeds, spices and dried fruits ranged between 24.2-32.16, 2.4-18.9, 2.8-21.5, 3.0-32, 48.7-92.5, 1.25-9.5, 3.0-8.2, 2.0-9.4, 6.2-66.2, 6.2-17.5 and 3.5-16.8 micrograms/100 g respectively. The chromium values for the same ranged between 48.2-52.6, 31.0-45, 21.2-25.7, 23.7-62.8, 15.0-43.5, 20.4-65, 14.2-42.1, 14.25-46.7, 58.4-150 and 96-168 micrograms/100 g respectively. Thus dried fruits have the highest chromium content and pulses the highest selenium content.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless and odorless gas, has more affinity to hemoglobin, which increases carboxyhaemoglobin content in the blood. The increase in carboxyhemoglobin decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of blood and causes carbon monoxide poisoning, resulting in headache, nausea, dizziness and in extreme cases death. The emission of carbon-monoxide from idling vehicles at traffic intersections emit 45-55% more CO, compared to transit vehicles in roundabouts [1-5]. The fuel consumption increased by about 150% when accessories like air-conditioner was used during idling [6]. The total quantity of fuel wasted at five intersections was about 389.68 L of diesel and 810.38 L of petrol per day and the estimated monetary loss due to idling was ranging from Rs.3crore to 5crore /annum [2, 7-10]. The in-vehicle air is an extension of outdoor air, which infiltrates through ventilation settings, cracks and vents [11-13]. The in-vehicle CO is affected by outside sources and it reaches peak values when the surrounding vehicles are idling [14]. Thus, there is a possibility of in-vehicle CO build-up at traffic intersections. Irrespective of the age of the car, there was a high likelihood for self-pollution [15]. The car cabin acts as a sink during A/C ON-mode, which results in increase of in-vehicle CO by accumulation [16]. The overview of studies that have been conducted on in-vehicle CO is presented in Table S1. This study has two parts, first part is the monitoring of ambient CO levels at a traffic intersection in Chennai along with fuel consumption during vehicle idling and the second part of the study includes effect of ambient CO on in-vehicle CO at the signalized traffic intersections and modeling of In-vehicle CO due to ambient CO using Principal Component Regression Analysis (PCRA). 2. Material and Methods 2.1. Monitoring of CO The ambient CO was monitored at a signalised traffic intersection of Vijayanagar, Velachery, Chennai which connects three main

In search of new well-acceptable safe anti-fertility agent, the present study examined the effect of crude extract of the flowers of Hibiscus-rosa-sinensis as an antifertility agent in oral route on male albino rats. 84 healthy male albino rats were chosen, out of which 24 rats were kept as control group and designated as group I and remaining 60 rats were grouped into five (5) groups having 12 rats in each group and designated as groups II to VI. Each group was subdivided into two (2) subgroups having six (6) rats in each and marked them as 'a' & 'b'. In 'a' subgroup of each group, the dose of crude extract was 150mg/kg and in 'b' subgroup the extract dose was 300mg/kg. The duration of the extract treatment were gradually increased from group II to group V, starting from 15 days in group II, 30 days in group III, 45 days in group IV and 60 days in group V. The rats were sacrificed accordingly after the last oral dose, their testes were weighed and biopsies were taken for histological studies using H&E stain. In the last group (group VI), the extract was given for 60 days and rats were sacrificed 30 days after the last oral dose and biopsies were taken accordingly for histological examination. The testes of the control groups were similarly collected at regular interval and histological examination done accordingly. Our study definitely revealed that the crude extract of the Hibiscus-rosa-sinensis flowers when fed orally to male albino rats in definitive dosage for 30, 45 & 60 days lead to changes in germinal epithelium of the testes ranging from mild damage to near total sloughing depending upon the duration of the treatment. The study definitely points towards the potential role of the plant as anti-fertility agent.