A single step extraction-cleanup procedure using porous membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) in conjunction with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the extraction and determination of aflatoxins (AFs) B1, B2, G1 and G2 from food was successfully developed. After the extraction, AFs were desorbed from the μ-SPE device by ultrasonication using acetonitrile. The optimum extraction conditions were: sorbent material, C8; sorbent mass, 20 mg; extraction time, 90 min; stirring speed, 1000 rpm; sample volume, 10 mL; desorption solvent, acetonitrile; solvent volume, 350 μL and ultrasonication period, 25 min without salt addition. Under the optimum conditions, enrichment factor of 11, 9, 9 and 10 for AFG2, AFG1

This study investigates the potential of biogas recovery from used engine oil (UEO) by co-digestion with animals’ manure, including cow dung (CD), poultry manure (PM), and cattle manure (CM). The experimental work was carried out in anaerobic biodigesters at mesophilic conditions (37°C). Two groups of biodigesters were prepared. Each group consisted of 4 digesters. UEO was the main component in the first group of biodigesters with and without inoculum, whereby a mix of UEO and petroleum refinery oily sludge (ROS) was the component in the second group of biodigesters. The results revealed that for UEO-based biodigesters, maximum biogas production was 0.98, 1.23, 1.93, and 0 ml/g VS from UEO±CD, UEO±CM, UEO±PM, and U

The purpose of this study is to investigate the biostimulation effect of 532 nm CW laser on the metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. Cells were irradiated by 532 nm Nd:YAG laser using 0.153 W/cm2 power density at 30, 45, 60,180 and 300 seconds exposure times in their respective orders. Intrafluorescence parameters were measured by detection the autofluorescence intensity, proliferation rate and Imaging the fluorescent mitochondria using confocal laser scanning microscope. The results showed that the 30 and 45 second exposure times seem to have stimulated changes in the cells that led to increase proliferation, viability and mitochondrial activity. Autofluorescence of cells increased after 45 and 60 seconds exposure time. After 3

In this paper, a procedure to establish the different performance measures in terms of crisp value is proposed for two classes of arrivals and multiple channel queueing models, where both arrival and service rate are fuzzy numbers. The main idea is to convert the arrival rates and service rates under fuzzy queues into crisp queues by using graded mean integration approach, which can be represented as median rule number. Hence, we apply the crisp values obtained to establish the performance measure of conventional multiple queueing models. This procedure has shown its effectiveness when incorporated with many types of membership functions in solving queuing problems. Two numerical illustrations are presented to determine the validity of the

Hydrate dissociation equilibrium conditions for carbon dioxide + methane with water, nitrogen + methane with water and carbon dioxide + nitrogen with water were measured using cryogenic sapphire cell. Measurements were performed in the temperature range of 275.75 K–293.95 K and for pressures ranging from 5 MPa to 25 MPa. The resulting data indicate that as the carbon dioxide concentration is increased in the gas mixture, the gas hydrate equilibrium temperature increases. In contrast, by increasing the nitrogen concentration in the gas mixtures containing methane or carbon dioxide decreased the gas hydrate equilibrium temperatures. Furthermore, the cage occupancies for the carbon dioxide + methane system were evaluated using the Van der Wa

Wastewater recycling for non-potable uses has gained significant attention to mitigate the high pressure on freshwater resources. This requires using a sustainable technique to treat natural municipal wastewater as an alternative to conventional methods, especially in arid and semi-arid rural areas. One of the promising techniques applied to satisfy the objective of wastewater reuse is the constructed wetlands (CWs) which have been used extensively in most countries worldwide through the last decades. The present study introduces a significant review of the definition, classification, and components of CWs, identifying the mechanisms controlling the removal process within such units. Vertical, horizontal, and hybrid CWs

The implementation of the concept of project scheduling in the organizations generally requires a set of procedures and requirements, So, most important of all is the understanding and knowledge of the tools and techniques which are called the methods of scheduling projects. Consequently, the projects of the municipality administration in the holy governorate of Karbala suffer from the problem of delaying their projects and chaos in the ways of implementation. To provide assistance to this directorate and to demonstrate how to schedule projects using one of the advanced scientific methods that proved their ability to schedule any project and its potential to accelerate the time of completion, as well as ease of use and effectiven