Search

For the current study, Bougainvillea flowers as environment friendly sustainable source of plant-based natural dye have been selected as an alternative to toxic synthetic dyes for dyeing of cotton and silk. Natural colorant from Bougainvillea flowers (Bougainvillea glabra) was extracted using aqueous and acidic extraction media. Maximum colorant was extracted in aqueous medium, and further it was used for cotton and silk dyeing. The optimum values of the dyeing parameters including dyeing time, dye to liquor ratio and salt level as exhausting agent were found to be 30 min, 35-mL liquor ratio and 3.0 g for cotton and for silk 45 min dyeing time, 45-mL liquor ratio and 3.0 g exhausting agent in aqueous dye extract. Bio mordanting has been applied to attain a variety of color shades. The utilization of 3% of henna, 4% of turmeric for silk pre-mordanting and for post-mordanting turmeric at 3% and henna at 4% for silk gave a darker shade. For cotton bio mordanting, 2% turmeric rhizome powder, 3% henna leaves powder extract as pre-mordant and 2% turmeric, 3% henna as post-mordant has developed a variety of shade. Overall, it has been found that natural colorant from Bougainvillea flowers is the new dye source for bio-coloration of natural fabrics, and addition of bio mordants has made the process more calming and eco-friendly.

Cadmium (Cd) is toxic even in the very trace amounts and shows adverse effects on the human being and his environment. Current studies were performed to evaluate the Cd concentration in soil of Lahore (Pakistan) and the results were compared with those reported from other cities of Pakistan. The metal concentration evaluated by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer (GFAAS). Cd concen- tration was found to be 1.39-20.82 µg/L, 1.38-93.60 µg/L, 2.42-94.60 µg/L, 2.25-93.98 µg/L and 1.15-8.14 µg/L in GT road, Misri shah, river Ravi, fertilized land of Raiwind side and unfertilized land of Raiwind side, respectively. The higher Cd concentration (2.42-94.60 µg/L) at "River Ravi" as compared to the other investigated areas (1.15-93.98 µg/L) is owed to the dumping of untreated waste from all industrial, sewage, domestic and agricultural zones in "River Ravi". The fertilized land was found to possess higher amount of Cd as compared to the unfertilized land. The awareness in farmers and the periodic monitoring of soil are important to eradicate the sources of Cd poisoning.

The current study is performed to assess the physio-chemical characteristics and drinking water quality inthree Tehsils (Mailsi, Burewala and Vehari) of District Vehari, Punjab (Pakistan). The water samples of investigatedregions were subjected to physicochemical characterization (pH, EC, TDS, HCO3 -, CO3 -2 , Cl- , NO3 - , PO4 -3 , SO4 -3, Na+,K+, Ca+2, Mg+2, Fe+2, Cu+2, Zn+2 and Mn+2). It was demonstrated that certain parameters were exceeding WHO standard limits. The water of Lalazar colony, college town, Y-Block and Sharqi colony was found unfit for drinking purposes soit may cause serious health concerns in the citizens of the investigated areas.

Photochemical reactions have defeated thermal ones on eco-friendly grounds, yet are not exact replacement in certain situations, particularly for photochemical reactions in the presence of colored particles. Irradiating photoinitiator (PI) in the presence of colored filler comes up with the limitation of radiation absorption by filler and not PI. Current research work is based on SMART photochemical approach for surface modification of Carbon Black (CB), where competition has been eliminated by parting components during initiation step. Reported photochemical approach is simple, effective and reproducible, with 5–10 wt% of modifier incorporation on CB surface. Other than being eco-friendly, this photochemical approach proves to be effective for thermally unstable materials. Efficiency of SMART approach has been verified by applying it on different types of CBs, in the absence and presence of solvents. Results of CB photochemical modification have been verified by different instrumental techniques including XPS, SEM, TGA, Raman, FTIR, DLS.

Pollution has become a great challenge for modern world. Hence, recycling trend is growing worldwide. Human hair, a fancy part of human body, creates a bulk of litter on trimming, yet has wide spectrum of applications. A facile thermal approach has been implemented in this research to synthesize carbon particles (CP) from waste human hair. CP surface analyses was made through SEM, ATR, TGA & Raman. Efficient adsorptive behavior of synthesized CP against Zn and Pb has been observed with 70% Pb (9.325mg/10mg CPs) and 90% Zn (37mg/10mg CPs) adsorption. The augmented adsorptive capacity of CP ultimately finds its application in heavy metal removal from waste water. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) justified outstanding adsorption behavior of CP by speedy electron transfer, better charge storage and swift ionic diffusion; with 53 mC current carrying capacity and 1.98 to 4.37 cm2 effective surface area. CV data has shown electrochemical reversibility and double layer capacitance. CP conductivity has been observed from 19.78 µS to 38.4 µS, with values between -17.4 mV and -28.6 mV.

A simple methodology was developed to evaluate binding efficiency of antibiotic members of fluoroquinolones, namely ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and enorfloxacin, complexed with 99m Tc, against Escherichia coli , Salmonella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial strains. Radioactivity in the pellet, tips supernatant and micro-centrifugation tubes was counted separately for 5 s in a sodium iodide well-counter with dedicated nuclear medicine software. The overall percentage activity of the live and killed bacteria was found in the range of 5–46% with different types of labelled quinolones and bacteria. Activity of the labelled enorfloxacin and ciprofloxacin indicated acceptable results for both live and killed E. coli and Ps. aeruginosa . However, ofloxacin was found to be moderate for all the live bacterial stains. This developed methodology has achieved more than 95% labelling efficiency of 99m Tc with derivatized quinolones and also the observed results indicated that these complexes may be used as an infection specific imaging agents.

The present work deals with the use of a digital thruster for the electrochemical separation of amino acids. A digital thruster (DT) is a micro controller based digital electronic switching system (DT-MCDESS). Mixtures of amino acids were injected into the free electrolytic diffusion apparatus (FEDA). Micro cathodes surrounding a central anode were covered with agarose coated filter paper strips and programmed with DT-MCDESS. The charge was distributed over micro cathodes at time intervals of 100 and 200 µs, which result in deposition and separation of alanine, cysteine, and glycine filter paper strips. For identification of each amino acid, ninhydrin was sprayed to develop separate colors for deposited amino acids on filter paper strips. Alanine displayed as purple, cysteine as red, and glycine as yellow. The separation of alanine, cysteine, and glycine was performed at two frequencies, 312.5 Hertz and 625 Hertz.

Milk can be adulterated illegitimately with formaldehyde, melamine, urea, and sugars for preservation, protein content enhancement, and taste improvement, respectively. In the present study, formaldehyde, melamine, urea, and sugars (fructose, glucose, lactose, sucrose) were analyzed using ultra-fast high performance liquid chromatography in 30 fresh and pasteurized milk samples. Satisfactory chromatographic retention and peak shape investigated and method has been validated by means of recovery experiments in samples spiked at two levels. Average recoveries ranged between 95–105 % with excellent precision; RSD lower than 5 % was achieved. Among the tested samples, formaldehyde was detected in all samples while seven and 20 samples were positive for melamine and sucrose, respectively. Monitoring of these adulterants in milk could help to reduce the human health hazards. Exposure to formaldehyde, melamine, and urea from consumption of milk was estimated, and these were less than 3.3, 1, and 700 μg/mL, respectively, which is an oral reference dose suggested by the World Health Organization and US Food and Drug Administration.

The AgriKiosk project consists of a collaborative network of handheld devices that are expected to provide crucial information to the farmers that live in remote areas of Pakistan. The devices are planned to be interactive in local languages in order to allow the farmers to get useful advices and timely information. The device contents are programmed remotely by the use of high performance servers. This project involves platform specific software development. Level-1 machines development is already in progress and work is in progress for selecting and establishing a suitable network infrastructure. Since the farmers in remote areas may not want to interact with electronic gadgets, it is proposed that the existing cell phone network be utilized for implementation of information delivery through a familiar interface. However, like other international projects, this project is expected to use multiple platforms as per local needs and environment