Determination of Ethopabate Residues in Chicken Muscles, Liver, and Eggs after Aqueous SDS Extraction by Micellar Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection with Application to Baby Food

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatographic method was optimized and validated for the analysis of ethopabate residues in chicken muscles, liver, and eggs. Aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution was used for extraction. Analytical separation was performed in less than 8 min using a C18 column (150?×?4.6 mm internal diameter, 5 μm particle size) with fluorescence detection at 271/364 nm. A micellar solution composed of 0.1 M SDS, 10 % 1-propanol, and 0.3 % triethylamine in 0.02 M phosphoric acid adjusted to pH?4 was used as the mobile phase. The method was fully validated in accordance with International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The micellar method was successfully applied to quantitatively determine ethopabate residues in spiked chicken muscles, liver, and eggs. It was also extended to the determination of ethopabate residues in chicken-based baby food. The recoveries obtained were in the 93.81–115.67 % range. The limit of detection was found to be 1.6 ng/g. High extraction efficiency for ethopabate was obtained without matrix interference and in the subsequent chromatographic determination. No organic solvent was used during the pretreatment step.     

The preparation of flat H–Si(111) surfaces in 40% NH4F revisited

The reasons why ideally flat H–Si(111) surface can be prepared by NH₄F etching are investigated from correlation between AFM observations and experimental conditions used for etching. It is shown that pitting may be completely suppressed if a one side polished wafer is immersed in an oxygen free solution. An analytical electrochemical study of the (111) and rough face of the same n-Si wafer is presented to yield insight into observations.     

Torsades de pointes with terfenadine ingestion

Torsades de pointes (TDP) is a ventricular tachycardia that can deteriorate into ventricular fibrillation. TDP has been associated with terfenadine use in cases of liver disease, electrolyte abnormalities, concomitant administration of drugs that inhibit cytochrome P-450, or deliberate overdose. This report describes the first case of TDP in a healthy patient taking the recommended therapeutic dosage of terfenadine.     

Simulation of oil spills near environmentally sensitive areas in Egyptian coastal waters

Oil spills in Egyptian coastal waters have a direct impact on the national economy because of the potential environmental damage, and the corresponding negative effect on tourism. Computer simulations of oil spills were performed for four environmentally sensitive areas along Egyptian coasts using an existing oil spill model that incorporates the important variables and processes affecting oil transport in seawater. The expected slick trajectory and variation of oil properties with time were calculated for a proposed spill scenario at each site. Water current maps, the most critical model input parameter with respect to spill trajectory, were developed for each location. The simulations demonstrated that the most important oil property affecting spill response decisions and operations is the emulsion viscosity, in that it indicates when, where, and how responders can intervene for cleanup.     

Proactive control of cresting in homogeneous oil reservoirs: an experimental study

This paper sets out to investigate experimentally the use of electromagnetic valves in controlling production of water during cresting from homogeneous non-fractured thick-oil and thin-oil reservoirs, based on the principle of capillarity and breakthrough time. A time half the initial breakthrough times was preset for the electromagnetic valve to close. The valve closed almost immediately at the set time thereby shutting oil production temporarily, causing the water and gas height levels to recede by gravity and capillarity with receding reservoir pressure. The efficiency of this technique was compared with an uncontrolled simulation case, in terms of cumulative oil, oil recovery and water produced at the same overall production time. From the results obtained, higher percentages in oil produced and water reduction were observed in the cases controlled proactively, with a 3.6% increase in oil produced and water reduction of 10.0% for thick-oil rim reservoirs, whereas only a small increment in oil produced (0.7%) and a lower water reduction of 1.03% were observed for the thin-oil rim reservoirs. Hence, the effectiveness of the cresting control procedure depends on the oil column height of the reservoir.     

Electroosmotic micropump for lab‐on‐a‐chip biomedical applications

Lab‐on‐a‐chip (LOC) integrated microfluidics has been a powerful tool for new developments in analytical chemistry. These microfluidic systems enable the miniaturization, integration and automation of complex biochemical assays through the reduction of reagent use and enabling portability. Electroosmotic micropumps could be employed as powerful tools to generate required flow in point of care (POC) devices. In the present study, parallel electroosmotic micropumps are investigated to improve the efficiency of simple micropumps. According to the results, parallel micropumps generate higher flow rate in comparison with conventional electroosmotic pump. In the last decade, a large variety of non‐Newtonian fluids have been utilized in biomedical application but requirements for a POC device such as high efficient driving flow, miniaturization and simple handling of POC devices remain unmet. As a consequence, in this study, power law model as non‐Newtonian fluids that flow through the parallel micropumps are investigated in order to enhance fluid pumping and decreasing voltage requirement.. It is found that as the power law index increases the mass flow rate decreases. Also, the flow rate is almost constant for the higher power law index. Obtained results, demonstrated that parallel micropump could enhance pumping of non‐Newtonian fluid (blood) up to 30%. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Utilisation of oil-contaminated sand stabilised with cement kiln dust in the construction of rural roads

This article investigates the strength behaviour of oil-contaminated sand stabilised with cement kiln dust (CKD) in order to assess the engineering properties of the stabilised soil for its application in the construction of rural road. Tests including pH measurement, compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and California bearing ratio (CBR) were conducted. The investigations were carried out by varying the percentage of CKD, the percentage of oil content, the type of oil, the ageing of stabilised samples and the ambient temperature. Depending on the pH response, the CKD content from 5% to 15% represents a practical limit for cost-effective stabilisation. Results revealed that an increase in the UCS and CBR values of oil-contaminated sand occurred with the addition of CKD. The strength of stabilised contaminated sand decreases as the percentage of oil increases. The addition of 10% CKD to the sand contaminated with 6% oil content is found to give the optimum UCS and CBR values. Furthermore, a series of two-dimensional finite-element model was developed using PLAXIS software package.     

Niosomal encapsulation of the antitubercular drug, pyrazinamide

It is estimated that more than one-third of the world population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Pyrazinamide (PZA) plays a unique role in shortening therapy because it kills a population of semilatent tubercle bacilli residing in an acidic environment. Niosomes are vesicles made up of non-ionic surfactant and exhibit behavior similar to liposomes in vivo. Preparation of PZA niosomes took place using different molar ratios of Span 60 and Span 85, with cholesterol (CH) i.e. Span: CH (1:1) and (4:2). Dicetyl phosphate and stearyl amine were used in preparation of negative and positively charged niosomes, respectively. Free PZA was separated by cooling centrifugation and estimated spectrophotometrically at 268.4 nm. Niosomes were characterized by electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The highest percentage PZA entrapped was obtained using Span 60 and the molar ratio (4:2:1) negatively charged niosomes. This was followed by the neutral PZA neutral (4:2) Span 60 niosomes. Biological evaluation of selected PZA niosomal formulations took place on guinea pigs infected with M. tuberculosis. The present work is an attempt to target maximum concentration of PZA to the affected site (lungs) and to exclude undesirable side effects and decrease toxicity. Macrophage targeting and overcoming drug resistance is our final goal.