Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series of experiments were conducted at constant mixing speed (300 revolutions per minute) to evaluate the effect of experimental factors likes, adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, and dosage of activated carbon on removal efficiency. The design of experiments (version 13 Stat-Ease) was implemented using the central composite method to define the optimum effect of the process factors on the removal efficiency. The analysis of variance showed that the quadratic model for the experiment was significant with a very low probability value (P- value < 0.0001). The adjusted R2 of the model was 0.9826 and the predicted R2 was 0.9574. Whereas the optimum conditions suggested by the model for the process variable were found to be 150 min, 3.25 pH, 30 mg/L, 0.267g, for adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, a dosage of activated carbon, respectively and the maximum removal efficiency was found to be 94.6%. The data obtained from the experiments were fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich models and the results show that the data was well fitted Langmuir model with R2 = 0.9685 as compared to the Freundlich model which has R2 = 0.93249. Likewise, the data was analyzed by pseudo first and second-order kinetic models and the results show that the adsorption on apricot-activated carbon was well adequate with the pseudo-second-order model.
Leishmaniasis is a widespread parasitic disease caused by Leishmania parasite, this disease considers a major health problem among worldwide. Treatments available are expensive or with cytotoxic side effect. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of an herbal new compound, called artemisinin, derived from a Chinese plant called Artemisia annua. Various concentrations were studied in vitro against L. tropica amastigotes by chamber counting to investigate its effect on the proliferation of promastigotes. Three incubation periods were adopted (24, 48, 72) hours. The results showed a significant decrease in surviving promastigotes, in parallel with the normal parasite count of untreated promastigotes, along the periods studied. Th
... Show MoreSilymarin is derived from the milk thistle plant, and possesses numerous pharmacological actions, including hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties. The aim of the study was to the determination of influence different concentrations of Silymarin on the rumen performance in 30 local lambs (divided into three groups of 10 lambs each). In the first and second groups, 420 and 210 mg kg-1 of silymarin were administered for 8 weeks, and the third group was the control, which received normal saline solution. The parameters evaluated included the level of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), ammonia and pH in the rumen. Furthermore, the in vitro digestibility of ash, protein, fat and dry matter was investigated.
... Show MoreOne of the major problems in modern construction is the accumulation of construction and demolition waste; this study thus examines the consumption of waste brick in concrete based on the use of blended nano brick powder as replacement for cement and as a fine aggregate. Seven concrete mixes were developed according to ACI 211.1 using recycled waste brick. Nano powder brick at 0, 5, and 10% was used as a replacement by cement weight, with other mixes featuring 10, 20, and 30% partial replacement by volume of river sand with brick. The experimental results for replacement of cement with nano brick powder showed an enhancement in mechanical properties (compressive, flexural, and tensile strength) at 7,
Cohesive soils present difficulties in construction projects because it usually contains expansive clay minerals. However, the engineering properties of cohesive soils can be stabilized by using various techniques. The research aims to elaborate on the influences of using hydrated lime on the consistency, compaction, and shear strength properties of clayey soil samples from Sulaimnai city, northern Iraq. The proportions of added hydrated lime are 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% to the natural soil sample. The results yielded considerable effects of hydrated lime on the engineering properties of the treated soil sample and enhancement its strength. The soil's liquid limit, plasticity index, and optimum moisture content were de
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to determine the effect of nostalgia marketing on consumers’ purchase intention and demographic factors. Nostalgia marketing is one of the marketing ideas that some organizations use it to attract customers by evoking memories or heritage in their minds. This method would affect the emotions and feelings of people, which may raise their desire to buy. The questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection, and it was distributed to a random sample of 512 individuals. A sample is a group of individuals who have seen small sculptures displayed in shops inside Babylon Mall in Baghdad. The small sculptures show the life of Baghdadis in the fifties and sixties of the last century. Statistical software was used for
... Show MoreThe living urban space is considered one of the most important elements of the success of modern cities, and it is the first mental image that is formed by people (residents and visitors) of the city , a measure of the frequency, presence and interaction of people in the spaces is an indication of the city's vitality, well-being and economic strength .
The occupation of the city of Mosul before the terrorist ISIS in 2014 and the subsequent liberation operations and the end of the war in 2017 had a great impact on the destruction of the old city on the right side and the death of its urban spaces due to the abandonment of people to it, especially the area (Al-Midan and Al-Qalayaat),
... Show MoreThe study aims to introduce the Islamic sites available on the Internet and determine the criteria that contribute to evaluating these sites to indicate their value, topics, and services, while evaluating a simple random sample of the general Islamic sites, which number (35) sites. The results were presented in (8) tables. The study concluded To a set of conclusions, including: (465) “Islamic” websites were seized during the research period, and they are constantly increasing. They were classified according to the name of the website (domain name) com, org, net, edu, and also according to topics such as general Islamic websites and websites of holy places. Mosques, sites of sheikhs, etc. Among the best general Islamic websites are: Isla
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