Background and Aim: The use of food dyes can cause certain diseases, such as anemia and indigestion, along with other disorders, tumors, and even cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the chemical nature and toxicity of some commercial dyes locally used in processed foods compared with standard food dyes. Materials and Methods: Three types of standard and commercial food color additives (Sunset Yellow, Tartrazine, and Carmoisine) were extensively examined. The chemical structures and functional groups of the dyes were evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The melting temperatures of the dyes were also determined by chemical thermal analysis. The acute toxicity test to evaluate the standard and commercial food color safety was estimated by a range-finding study using 150 Wistar albino rats. Sub-groups were administered one of the three colors under study at doses of 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/kg body weight (BW) orally for 7 days. When no mortality was observed, an additional 15 g/kg BW was administered. Concerning the median lethal dose 50 (LD50), 38 rats were exploited using the up-and-down method. Results: Commercial dyes had lower melting points than standard colors. Regarding the range-finding study, rats receiving different doses of the dyes exhibited no signs of toxicity, no deaths, and no clinical or gross pathological signs throughout the 7 days of the experiment. However, the animals that were dosed with 15 g/kg BW of each dye showed signs of loss of appetite, tachycardia, drowsiness, and eventual death. The LD50 values of the commercial food dyes, particularly Sunset Yellow and Carmoisine, were lower than those of the standard dyes. Conclusion: Commercial food colors were more toxic to rats than standard food colors. Differences were observed between the purity of the standard and commercial dyes, and the latter ones contained different percentages of salt, indicating the occurrence of fraud in commercial markets. Keywords: acute toxicity, food colors, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, lethal dose 50, range-finding study.
Fetal growth restriction is a significant contributor to fetal morbidity and mortality. In addition, there are heightened maternal risks associated with surgical operations and their accompanying dangers. Monitoring fetal development is a crucial objective of prenatal care and effective methods for early diagnosis of Fetal growth restriction, allowing prompt management and timely intervention to improve the outcomes. Screening for Fetal growth restriction can be achieved via many modalities; it can be medical, biochemical, or radiological. Some recommended combining more than one for better outcomes. Currently, there is inconsistency about the best method of Fetal growth restriction screening. In this review, a comprehensive
... Show MoreThe present study experimentally and numerically investigated the impact behavior of composite reinforced concrete (RC) beams with the pultruded I-GFRP and I-steel beams. Eight specimens of two groups were cast in different configurations. The first group consisted of four specimens and was tested under static load to provide reference results for the second group. The four specimens in the second group were tested first under impact loading and then static loading to determine the residual static strengths of the impacted specimens. The test variables considered the type of encased I-section (steel and GFRP), presence of shear connectors, and drop height during impact tests. A mass of 42.5 kg was dropped on the top surface at the m
... Show MoreClobetasol propionate (CP) is a super potent corticosteroid widely used to treat various skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. However, its utility for topical application is hampered due to its common side effects, such as skin atrophy, steroidal acne, hypopigmentation, and allergic contact dermatitis. Microsponge is a unique three-dimensional microstructure particle with micro and nano-meters-wide cavities, which can encapsulate both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs providing increased efficacy and safety. The aim of the current study is to prepare and optimize clobetasol-loaded microsponges. The emulsion solvent diffusion method is used for the preparation of ethylcellulose (EC)-based microsponges. The impact of
... Show MoreReliable estimation of critical parameters such as hydrocarbon pore volume, water saturation, and recovery factor are essential for accurate reserve assessment. The inherent uncertainties associated with these parameters encompass a reasonable range of estimated recoverable volumes for single accumulations or projects. Incorporating this uncertainty range allows for a comprehensive understanding of potential outcomes and associated risks. In this study, we focus on the oil field located in the northern part of Iraq and employ a Monte Carlo based petrophysical uncertainty modeling approach. This method systematically considers various sources of error and utilizes effective interpretation techniques. Leveraging the current state of a
... Show MoreIn this work, the photocatalytic degradation of indigo carmine (IC) using zinc oxide suspension was studied. The effect of influential parameters such as initial indigo carmine concentration and catalyst loading were studied with the effect of Vis irradiation in the presence of reused ZnO was also investigated. The increased in initial dye concentration decreased the photodegradation and the increased catalyst loading increased the degradation percentage and the reused-ZnO exhibits lower photocatalytic activity than the ZnO catalyst. It has been found that the photocatalytic degradation of indigo carmine obeyed the pseudo-first-order kinetic reaction in presence of zinc oxide. This was found from plotting the relationship between ln
... Show MoreClinical keratoconus (KCN) detection is a challenging and time-consuming task. In the diagnosis process, ophthalmologists must revise demographic and clinical ophthalmic examinations. The latter include slit-lamb, corneal topographic maps, and Pentacam indices (PI). We propose an Ensemble of Deep Transfer Learning (EDTL) based on corneal topographic maps. We consider four pretrained networks, SqueezeNet (SqN), AlexNet (AN), ShuffleNet (SfN), and MobileNet-v2 (MN), and fine-tune them on a dataset of KCN and normal cases, each including four topographic maps. We also consider a PI classifier. Then, our EDTL method combines the output probabilities of each of the five classifiers to obtain a decision b
Increasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of silicon solar cells by improving their junction properties or minimizing light reflection losses remains a major challenge. Extensive studies were carried out in order to develop an effective antireflection coating for monocrystalline solar cells. Here we report on the preparation of a nanostructured cerium oxide thin film by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as an antireflection coating for silicon solar cell. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of a cerium oxide nanostructure film are investigated as a function of the number of laser pulses. The X-ray diffraction results reveal that the deposited cerium oxide films are crystalline in nature and have a cubic fluorite. The field
... Show MoreBackground. “Polyetheretherketone (PEEK)” is a biocompatible, high-strength polymer that is well-suited for use in dental applications due to its unique properties. However, achieving good adhesion between PEEK and hydrophilic materials such as dental adhesives or cement can be challenging. Also, this hydrophobicity may affect the use of PEEK as an implant material. Surface treatment or conditioning is often necessary to improve surface properties. The piranha solution is the treatment of choice to be explored for this purpose. Methods. PEEK disks of 10 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness were used in this study. Those samples were divided into five groups (each group has five samples). The first is the control group, in which no
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