A simple, environmental friendly and selective sample preparation technique employing porous membrane protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) loaded with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) is described. After the extraction, the analyte was desorbed using ultrasonication and was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of OTA for coffee, grape juice and urine were 0.06 ng g−1, 0.02 and 0.02 ng mL−1, respectively while the quantification limits were 0.19 ng g−1, 0.06 and 0.08 ng mL−1, respectively. The recoveries of OTA from coffee spiked at 1, 25 and 50 ng g−1, grape juice and urine samples at 1, 25 and 50 ng mL−1 ranged from 90.6 to 101.5%. The proposed method was applied to thirty-eight samples of coffee, grape juice and urine and the presence of OTA was found in eighteen samples. The levels found, however, were all below the legal limits.
The main objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect of the CMC polymeric drag reducer on the pressure drop occurred along the annulus of the wellbore in drilling operation and investigate the optimum polymer concentration that give the minimum pressure drop. A flow loop was designed for this purpose consist from 14 m long with transparent test section and differential pressure transmitter that allows to sense and measure the pressure losses along the test section. The results from the experimental work show that increasing in polymer concentration help to reduce the pressure drop in annulus and the optimum polymer concentration with the maximum drag reducing is 0.8 kg/m3. Also increasing in flow rate a
... Show MoreA rapid high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of sphinganine (Sa) and sphingosine (So) in urine samples by employing a silica-based monolithic column is described. The samples were first extracted using ethyl acetate and derivatized using ortho-phthaldialdehyde in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. C20 sphinganine was used as internal standard. Under the optimized conditions, separation was achieved using a mixture of methanol:water (93:7, v/v), column temperature at 30°C, flow rate of 1 mL min−1, and an injection volume of 10 μL. Good linearity was obtained for Sa and So over the concentration range 20–500 ng mL−1(correlation coefficients ≥0.9978). The detection limits were 0.45 ng mL−1 for Sa and
... Show MoreThe ability of four local fungal isolates for extracellular laccase production has been tested with five grams 1:1(w/v) humidified sawdust as substrate in mineral salt medium. After 21 day of incubation at 25±1 ? C and using one mycelial plug (5mm), higher level of laccase activity (0.15U/ml) and specific activity (15U/mg) were observed by Pleurotus ostreatus in comparison with other fungal isolates. The results of optimum conditions for laccase production from selected isolate showed that, the maximum laccase activity (0.55U/ml) and specific activity (55U/mg) were obtained at moisture ratio 1:3 (w/v), using 3 mycelial plugs (5 mm), after 15 days incubation period at 25±1 ? C. The results of phenol degradation by crud laccase revealed th
... Show MoreIn this work, Kinetic Phosphorescence Analyzer (KPA) has been used to measure the concentrations of uranium (UC) and Amorphous crystals (AMO) in urine samples of breast cancer patients in Baghdad. Additionally, a relation between UC and AMO with respect to patient's age has been deduced and studied.
Forty one urine samples of patients and five for healthy were taken from females lived in different residential area of Baghdad. The measured maximum UC value for urine samples of patients was 2.35 ± 0.053, the minimum value was 0.86 ± 0.034 μg/L, and an overall average was 1.6 ± 0.027 μg/L while the average UC for healthy females was 1.03 ± 0.020 μg/L.
From these results, AMO concentrations were found for all breast cancer patie
Low-level microbial activity due to the production of organic acids is a recognized problem during the initial phase of food waste composting. Increasing such activity levels by adjusting the pH values during the initial composting phase is the primary objective to be investigated. In this study, sodium acetate (NaoAc) was introduced as an amendment to an in-vessel composting system. NaoAc was added when the pH of the compost mixture reached a low level (pH < 5), the addition increased pH to 5.8. This had a positive effect on the degradation of organic materials i.e. the formation of methane gas compared to the results without NaoAc addition.
The results also proved that anaerobic-aerobic in-vessel composting could reduce the
... Show MoreThe fluctuation and expansion ratios have been studied for cylindrical gas-solid fluidized columns by using air as fluidizing medium and Paracetamol as the bed material. The variables were the column diameter (0.0762, 0.15, and 0.18 m), static bed height (0.05, 0.07, and 0.09 m), and air velocity to several times of minimum fluidization velocity. The results showed that both the fluctuation and expansion ratios had a direct relation with air velocity and an inverse one with column diameter and static bed height. A good agreement was between the experimental results and the calculated values by using the correlation equations from the literature.
Among a collection of leafhoppers from Erbil Province in Kurdistan/Iraq, a new species of the genus Arboridia Zakhvatkin, 1946 was designated and described here as a new species to the science. The erection of this species was mainly built on the external characters included the male genitalia. Sites and dates of collections so as the host-plants were verified.
The dynamics of a single condensing two-phase bubble of two different dispersed-continuous systems were studied. The systems were, CCl4 - water and CCl4 - 100% glycerol. Cinephotography was used to determine the change in height, diameter and time. These results were used to determine the experimental rise velocity of the bubble, which was compared with a theoretical one based on some equations used. It was found that the velocity of the first system remained almost constant, while it decreased gradually for the second system.
This study was conducted with the aim to extract and purify a polyphenolic compound “ Resveratrol†from the skin of black grapes Vitis vinifera cultivated in Iraq. The purified resveratrol is obtained after ethanolic extraction with 80% v/v solution for fresh grape skin, followed by acid hydrolysis with 10% HCl solution then the aglycon moiety was taken with organic solvent
( chloroform). Using silica gel G60 packed glass column chromatography with mobile phase benzene: methanol: acetic acid 20:4:1 a
... Show MoreThe present study introduces description of a new species of genus Arboridia Zakhvaticin 1946, based on a large collection of Cicadellids. External morphological characters particularly male genitalia were discussed and illustrated. The genus Arboridia Zalchvatkiia (Typhlocybinae: Erythroneurini) contains small slender, fragil and attractively coloured and patterned leafhoppers. It was erected by Zakhvatkin in 1946 (Zalchvatkin, 1946). The overall length of adults ranges from 2.5 to 3.4 mm. Members of this genus can be recognized by inner apical cell of forewing which is long with oblique base; Cu confluent with this base at a point near the middle of the length of inner apical cell; two prominent circular deep brown spots on vertex (Zal
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