Search

Pimpinella anisum L. seeds of the two cultivars were assessed for their nutritional quality and safety assessment through proximate, chemical and pharmacological studies. The proximate composition along with rich mineral elements as well as minor level of toxic elements indicated the good quality of seeds. The GC–MS analyses of hydro distilled volatile oils of two cultivars contained 16 constituents. The main constituents in BSRC (Bangladesh Spice Research Centre) seeds were trans-anethole (83.67%), fenchone (5.29%) and 1,2-diisopropenylcyclobutane (6.31%) whereas, trans-anethole (69.94%), fenchone (11.184%) and d-limonene (13.007%) were the main constituents in local market seeds. The IC50 values of DPPH antioxidant activity showed at 48.71 and 52.48 mg/mL, in BSRC and local market seeds cultivars essential oils respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils showed moderate activity in both cultivars against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Both oils had some similarity in physiochemical properties and antimicrobial activity. The brine shrimp cytotoxic activity of the essential oils exhibited weaker activity than the standard drug at 3.06 and 2.86 μg/mL (IC50) in BSRC and local market seed cultivars respectively. The present investigation demonstrated good nutritional quality with rich bioactive phytoconstituents as well as low level of toxic elements of anise seeds. The research findings can open up a new possibility for exportation of indigenously cultivated spices as well as recommendations for food and pharmaceutical industries.

Background Potassium bromate (KBrO3) has been used widely for water disinfection, hair coloring, oxidizing agent in food, food additive in bread making process as maturing agent, and as dough conditioner for flour. Purpose This study was carried out to investigate the effects of two doses (150 and 300 mg/kg) of ethanolic extract of strawberry leaves on antioxidant capacity of liver, kidney and testis, thyroid hormones, and kidney function in rats treated with potassium bromate as toxic and free radical producer compound. Study design Forty-eight male rats were divided: group 1 served as control, group 2 treated with oral dose of strawberry leaves extract (150 mg/kg), group 3 treated with oral dose of strawberry leaves extract (300 mg/kg), group 4 treated with oral dose of potassium bromate (20 mg/kg), group 5 treated with strawberry leaves extract (150 mg/kg) and potassium bromate (20 mg/kg), and group 6 treated with strawberry leaves extract (300 mg/kg) and potassium bromate (20 mg/kg) for 4 weeks. Methods Determination of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in liver, kidney, and testis tissues. Measurements of serum total protein, albumin, urea, creatinine, free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), and insulin. Results Administration of potassium bromate (KBrO3) induced significant increase in TBARS; decrease in GSH and SOD in liver, kidney, and testis tissues; non-significant decrease in total protein and albumin; significant increase in serum urea, creatinine, and FT3; and significant decrease in FT4 and insulin. Administration of strawberry leaves extract showed significant improvement in some studied parameters. Conclusion In conclusion, the protective effect of strawberry leaves extract may be attributed to its antioxidant property.

An experimental and numerical investigations are conducted on a Two Phase Closed Thermosyphon (TPCT) charged with six working fluids; namely (water, methanol, ethanol, acetone, butanol and R134a) with filling ratios (40, 50, 60, 70 and 100 %). The TPCT is made from a 0.016 m diameter copper tube, which consists of a 0.15 m evaporator, 0.1 m adiabatic and 0.15 m condenser sections, respectively. Thermocouples are located in the core and on the wall of the TPCT. The main objectives of the experimental investigation are to analyze the effect of the working fluid and filling ratio (liquid inventory) under heat inputs (20–120 W) with a fixed condenser cooling temperature of (25 °C) on the thermal performance of the TPCT. The results are compared with a simulation model using finite difference method in three dimensional cylindrical coordinates by using FORTRAN. The correlations of the phase change for the TPCT based on the theory of thermal resistance are used in the evaporator and condenser sections. The agreement between theoretical and experimental results is shown to be accurate within 10 %. The results showed that the maximum heat transport ability is associated with using of water and acetone where it is compared with other fluids under the same range of operating temperatures of 35–50 °C. This is the range between lowest and highest temperatures for the sub-tropical climates.

Gabal El Sela area lies in the extreme southeastern part of the eastern desert in Egypt. It is covered by basement rocks of different compositions. The detailed work in this area covers about 4 km2 and it is represented mainly by coarse younger granite as a curved shape extended in NE–SW direction and dissected by many faults in various trends; some of them are invaded by dykes especially the lamprophyre dykes in the ENE–WSW trend. Detailed geological, structural, and radiometric investigations are carried out on the area. The radiometric data are statistically analyzed and the results show that the total count radiometric map reflects six separate anomalies. The field work revealed that four anomalies are related to lamprophyre dykes, the other two anomalies are structurally controlled by NE–SW and E–W faults. These anomalies are followed by some trenches which traced and measured in detail exhibiting the possible extension of these anomalies with depth. These measurements show that lamprophyre dyke has the highest reading of radioactivity, it reaches 270 Ur in the surface and to 6,300 in the trenches. While the granite of the sela area is considered possesses high level of radioactivity, where its radioactivity ranges from 19.9 to 81 Ur with an average of about 32 Ur.

Crude press muds a sugar industry waste were collected from four sugar mills of Bangladesh. Crude press mud as well as its water soluble and water insoluble portion and extracted wax were studied for its proximate analysis, physico-chemical properties, elemental and wax composition. The proximate analysis of crude press mud showed the presence of moisture (67.95–76.53), nitrogen (1.63–2.29), ash (19.28–30.76), sugar (12.10–13.29) and crude wax (6.70–11.01). Acid value (26.95–27.68), saponification value (102.59–103.01) and iodine value (6.72–6.82) were also studied of the extracted wax. The GLC analysis showed linolenic (45.54%), oleic (27.28%) and palmitic acid (23.59%) were the predominant acids in the crude wax. The XRF spectrometric analysis of the elemental composition showed the presence of Ca (21.30–29.97%), Si (9.53–9.94%), P (8.40–9.52%), S (3.77–7.36%) and K (2.51–4.08%) in crude press mud, Ca (19.83–31.93%), K (8.76–13.52%), S (7.93–16.02%) and Mg (4.14–7.75%) in water soluble portion press mud and Ca (21.77–30.68%), K (1.62–3.41%), S (3.49–7.09%), P (9.0–11.31%), Al (2.40–2.93) and Si (10.50–10.54%) in water in-soluble portion press mud. The Fourier transform infrared analysis, Thermo gravimetric, Derivative thermo gravimetric and differential thermal analysis of press mud were also carried out. These analyses may find the suitability to enrich the micronutrients in restoring the soil composition and also find possibility to use in agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture based industries. Moreover, press mud wax may have an alternative use of carnauba wax.