Separation‐preconcentration of Cu,Cd, Pb and Ni in various water and food samples on Sepabeads SP‐207

This study presents a solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure for preconcentration and separation of Cu(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II), as their diethyldithiocarbamate chelates on Sepabeads SP‐207 resin using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The parameters, including pH, sample volume, eluent type and volume etc., were optimised. The influences of the some alkali, alkali earth and transition metal ions on the involvement of copper(II), cadmium(II), lead(II) and nickel(II) were also examined. The preconcentration factor was calculated as 50. The limit of detections of the analyte ions (k = 3, N = 21) were 0.18 μg L^?1 (Cu), 0.17 μg L^?1 (Cd), 0.55 μg L^?1 (Pb) and 1.67 μg L^?1 (Ni). GBW 07605 Tea and NRCC‐DORM‐2 Dogfish Muscle certificated reference materials were used for confirm of method. The method was successfully performed for determination of Cu(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II) ions in water and food samples. The relative standard deviation was found to be lower than 7%.     

Prevalence and Characterization of Salmonella Isolated from Chicken Meat in Turkey

This study was conducted in a Turkish province to investigate the presence of Salmonella spp. in 150 chicken meat samples using 2 phenotyping techniques: classic culture technique (CCT) and immunomagnetic separation (IMS). For the confirmation of the isolates at molecular levels, invA gene was detected in these isolates. The presence of invA, class 1 (Cls1) integrons, and integrase (Int1) genes was demonstrated by PCR assay; and the resistance of the isolated Salmonella spp. strains to antibiotics was determined by disk diffusion test. All the cultural and PCR results were evaluated together; Salmonella spp. were detected in a total of 64 (42.66%) chicken meat samples. Contamination rate was higher in carcasses (53.33%, n = 75) than in meat pieces (32%, n = 75). When results of standard culture were compared with IMS technique, IMS (n = 54) showed a clear superiority over the CCT (n = 38). A very high resistance rate (≥89.28%) to vancomycin, tetracycline, streptomycin, or nalidixic acid was found. Trimethoprim‐sulfamethoxazole resistance was present in 32.14%. Relatively lower incidence of resistance (≤8.33%) to gentamicin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and ceftriaxone was observed. Concurrent resistance to at least 4 antibiotics was detected in 92.85% of the isolates. Cls1 integrons and Int1 were positive in 80.95% and 95.23% of the isolates, respectively. However, Int1 alone was detected in 15.47% (n = 13). In conclusion, the high prevalence of Salmonella spp. in chicken meat may pose a potential public health risk, and the presence of antibiotic‐resistant Salmonella spp. isolate together with Cls1 integron and/or integrase might play an important role in horizontal antibiotic gene transfer.     

The effect of dilution and l-malic acid addition on bio-hydrogen production with Rhodopseudomonas palustris from effluent of an acidogenic anaerobic reactor

In this study, H₂ was produced from cheese whey wastewater in a two-stage biological process: i) first stage; thermophilic dark fermentation ii) second stage; the photo fermentation using Rhodopseudomonas palustris strain DSM 127 (R. palustris). The effect of both dilution and addition of l-malic acid on the hydrogen production was investigated. Among the dilution rates used, 1/5 dilution ratio was found to produce the best hydrogen production (349 ml H₂/g COD_fed). On the other hand, It was seen that the mixing the effluent with l-malic acid at increasing ratios had further positive effect and improved the hydrogen production significantly. It was concluded that dilution of the feeding helps to reduce the nitrogen content and the volatile fatty acid content that might be otherwise harmful to the photo-heterotrophic organisms. Overall hydrogen production yield (for dark + photo fermentation) was found to vary 2 and 10 mol H₂/mol lactose. Second conclusion is that cheese whey effluent should be mixed with a co-substrate containing l-malic acid such as apple juice processing effluents before fed into the photo fermentation reactor.     

The investigation of groove geometry effect on heat transfer for internally grooved tubes

An experimental study of surface heat transfer and friction characteristics of a fully developed turbulent air flow in different grooved tubes is reported. Tests were performed for Reynolds number range 10,000–38,000 and for different geometric groove shapes (circular, trapezoidal and rectangular). The ratio of tube length-to-diameter is 33. Among the grooved tubes, heat transfer enhancement is obtained up to 63% for circular groove, 58% for trapezoidal groove and 47% for rectangular groove, in comparison with the smooth tube at the highest Reynolds number (Re = 38,000). Correlations of heat transfer and friction coefficient were obtained for different grooved tubes. In evaluation of thermal performance, it is seen that the grooved tubes are thermodynamically advantageous (Ns, a < 1) up to Re = 30,000 for circular and trapezoidal grooves and up to Re = 28,000 for rectangular grooves. It is observed that there is an optimum value of the entropy generation number at about Re = 17,000 for all investigated grooves.     

In vitro evaluation of antimicrobial and antibiofilm potentials of silver nanoparticles biosynthesised by Streptomyces griseorubens

This study was performed to determine the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) biosynthesised using Streptomyces griseorubens AU2 isolated from soil. The antimicrobial activity of the AgNPs was determined by agar well diffusion, disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods. Diameters of the zone of inhibition results clearly displayed that the microbially biosynthesised AgNPs have potent antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC) of the nanoparticles that had been determined by broth microdilution method were found to be 20 and 50 µg/ml for C. albicans, B. subtilis and S. aureus; 10 and 20 µg/ml for E. coli and P. aeruginosa, respectively. For determining the effect of AgNPs on biofilm formation under in vitro conditions, MIC and subMICs were studied on P. aeruginosa and S. aureus biofilms by using microplate biofilm assay. Treatment of the AgNPs resulted in a decrease in the biofilm formation of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa as 26.52 and 25.50%, respectively. As a result of this study, it can be suggested that actinobacterially synthesised AgNPs have an effective potential to be used for pharmaceutical applications against multi‐resistant microorganisms.Inspec keywords: silver, nanoparticles, nanomedicine, antibacterial activity, biomedical materials, microorganismsOther keywords: antimicrobial potentials, antibiofilm potentials, silver nanoparticles, antimicrobial activity, antibiofilm activity, Streptomyces griseorubens AU2, disc diffusion, microdilution method, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, nanoparticle minimum inhibitory concentration, nanoparticle minimum lethal concentration, biofilm formation, in vitro conditions, microplate biofilm assay, pharmaceutical applications, multiresistant microorganisms, Ag     

Synthesis and characterization of perfluorinated acrylate–methyl methacrylate copolymers

A novel perfluorinated acrylic monomer 3,5‐bis(perfluorobenzyloxy)benzyl acrylate (FM) with perfluorinated aromatic units was synthesized with 3,5‐bis(perfluorobenzyl)oxybenzyl alcohol, acryloyl chloride, and triethylamine. Copolymers of FM monomer with methyl methacrylate (MMA) were prepared via free‐radical polymerization at 80°C in toluene with 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator. The obtained copolymers were characterized by ¹H‐NMR and gel permeation chromatography. The monomer reactivity ratios for the monomer pair were calculated with the extended Kelen–Tüdos method. The reactivity ratios were found to be r₁ = 0.38 for FM, r₂ = 1.11 for MMA, and r₁r₂ < 1 for the pair FM–MMA. This shows that the system proceeded as random copolymerization. The thermal behavior of the copolymers was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The copolymers had only one glass‐transition temperature, which changed from 46 to 78°C depending on the copolymer composition. Melting endotherms were not observed in the DSC traces; this indicated that all of the copolymers were completely amorphous. Copolymer films were prepared by spin coating, and contact angle measurements of water and ethylene glycol on the films indicated a high degree of hydrophobicity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

An analytical method for the sizing and siting of distributed generators in radial systems

To minimize line losses of power systems, it is crucially important to define the size and location of local generation to be placed. On account of some inherent features of distribution systems, such as radial structure, large number of nodes, a wide range of X/R ratios; the conventional techniques developed for the transmission systems generally fail on the determination of optimum size and location of distributed generations.