The artificial silk (Rayon) was produced from the fronds of date palms which was taken from date palm trees (type Al-Zahdi) from the Iraqi gardens. Two main parts of the frond, namely leaves and stalks were used in this study to produce rayon. The palm fronds were converted into a powder of 90-180 micrometers. Major steps were used to produce rayon; delignification, bleaching and finally dissolution. Modified organosolv method which uses organic solvent method was applied to remove high lignin content. Three variables were studied in the delignification process: temperature, the ratio of ethanol to water and digestion time. The results showed that the best percent of lignin removal was (97%) which occured at; digestion time (80 minutes), temperature (185oC) and the ratio of ethanol: water of 50: 50 wt/wt. Statistical experimental design type Central Composite Design (CCD) has been used to find a mathematical relationship between the variables and the remaining lignin percent as a dependent variable. The effect of using different catalysts in delignification process have been studied and found that the best catalyst is sodium hydroxide at the concentration (0.025) mole/L which gave the same percent removal of lignin (97%) but with low digestion time about 30 min. In the next step, the cellulose was dissolved using. NaOH with different concentrations (4%-12%) and the results showed that the optimum concentration of sodium hydroxide was 8% at temperature - 20oC. In order to improve cellulose dissolution, urea was added with proportion (6% NaOH + 4% urea). Finally, the cellulose was spinning with 10% H2SO4 to prepare rayon.
Levan is an exopolysaccharide produced by various microorganisms and has a variety of applications. In this research, the aim was to demonstrate the biological activity of levan which produced from B. phenoliresistens KX139300. These were done via study the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antileishmanial activities in vitro. The antioxidant levan was shown 80.9% activity at 1250 µg/mL concentration. The efficient anti-inflammatory activity of 88% protein inhibition was noticed with levan concentration at 35 µg/mL. The cytotoxic activity of levan at 2500 µg/mL concentration showed a maximum cytotoxic effect on L20B cell line and promastigotes of Leishmani tropica. Levan has dose-dependent anticancer and antileishman
... Show MoreRecovery of time-dependent thermal conductivity has been numerically investigated. The problem of identification in one-dimensional heat equation from Cauchy boundary data and mass/energy specification has been considered. The inverse problem recasted as a nonlinear optimization problem. The regularized least-squares functional is minimised through lsqnonlin routine from MATLAB to retrieve the unknown coefficient. We investigate the stability and accuracy for numerical solution for two examples with various noise level and regularization parameter.
Due to the deliberate disposal of industrial waste, a great amount of petroleum hydrocarbons pollute the soil and aquatic environments. Bioremediation that depends on the microorganisms in the removal of pollutants is more efficient and cost-effective technology. In this study, five rhizobacteria were isolated from Phragmites australis roots and exposed to real wastewater from Al-Daura refinery with 70 mg/L total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) concentration. The five selected rhizobacteria were examined in a biodegradation test for seven days to remove TPH. The results showed that 80% TPH degradation as the maximum value by Sphingomonas Paucimobilis as identified with Vitek® 2 Compact (France).
ABSTRACT: Protein isolate was achieved from local peeled non soaked pumpkins seeds by using petroleum ether with protein percentage of 53.15%. Protein isolate was used in manufacturing meat burger with two substitution10 and 20%. The shrinkage percentage for burger diameter was decreased from 25.5 to 16.6%, the sample with 10% substitution was distinguished in water holding capacity (WHC) which was 54.52%. Sensitive evaluation for these samples showed that the burger with 10% substitution was similar to the control.
Bis-anthraquinones with a unique molecular backbone, (+)-2,2’-epicytoskyrin A (epi) and (+)-1,1′-bislunatin (bis), was produced by endophytic fungi Diaporthe sp GNBP-10 associated with Gambir plant (Uncaria gambier). Epi and bis possess robust antimicrobial activity toward various pathogens. This study focus on knowing the optimum condition of epi and bis production from Diaporthe sp GNBP-10. A series of culture media with various nutrient compositions was investigated in epi and bis production. The content of epi and bis was determined by measuring the area under the curve from TLC-densitometric (scanner) experiment. The linear regression analysis was then applied to obtain the results. The optimi
... Show MoreThe main objectives of this research is to extract essential oil from: orange ( citrus sinensis), lemon( citrus limon) and mandarin( citrus reticulata) peels by two methods: steam distillation (SD) and microwave assisted steam distillation (MASD), study the effect of extraction conditions (weight of the sample, extraction time, and microwave power, citrus peel type) on oil yield and compare the results of the two methods, the resulting essential oil was analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC).
Essential oils are highly concentrated substances used for their flavor and therapeutic or odoriferous properties, in a wide selection of products such as foods, medicines and cosmetics. Extracti
... Show MoreThe problem of water scarcity is becoming common in many parts of the world, to overcome part of this problem proper management of water and an efficient irrigation system are needed. Irrigation with a buried vertical ceramic pipe is known as a very effective in the management of irrigation water. The two- dimensional transient flow of water from a buried vertical ceramic pipe through homogenous porous media is simulated numerically using the HYDRUS/2D software. Different values of pipe lengths and hydraulic conductivity were selected. In addition, different values of initial volumetric soil water content were assumed in this simulation as initial conditions. Different value
... Show MoreA revised checklist of the robber fly genera (Diptera, Asilidae) was given during this study in Iraq. The investigation showed (21) genera belonging to seven subfamilies, two genera new recorded to entomofauna of Iraq (Promachus Loew, 1848 and Genus: Dysmacus Loew, 1860). Eight genera showed in this investigation and eleven genera were recorded previously to Iraq.