Antimicrobial residues survey by LC-MS in food-producing animals in Lebanon

ABSTRACT

The treatment of animals with antimicrobial products may lead to the contamination of edible tissues by their residues, which may represent a risk to human health. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of antimicrobial residues in food-producing animals (chicken, beef, and milk) in Lebanon. A total of 310 samples were collected and analysed using an LC-MS/MS for the determination of 48 compounds belonging to different families in order to map their compliance according to the European Commission decision 2002/657/EC. Results show that 60% of the analysed samples were not contaminated by any residue, while 12% presented a concentration higher than the MRLs for tetracyclines, sulphonamides, quinolones, and macrolides. Results revealed that chicken were the most contaminated by antimicrobial residues, when compared to beef and milk. The obtained results demonstrate the uncontrolled use of antimicrobials in some Lebanese farms and claim for better management of livestock.     

Synthesis and characterization of conducting copolymers from aniline and o‐anisidine in HCl solutions

Conducting poly(aniline‐co‐o‐anisidine) (PAS) films with different ratios of aniline units in the polymer chain were prepared by oxidative polymerization of different molar ratios of aniline and o‐anisidine in 1 M HCl using cyclic voltammetry. Due to the much higher reactivity of o‐anisidine, the structure and properties of PASs were found to be dominated by the o‐anisidine units. The polymerization of poly‐o‐anisidine and PASs followed zero‐order kinetics with respect to formation of the polymer (film thickness) and the autocatalytic polymerization of aniline was completely inhibited. In contrast to polyaniline, a decrease in the polymerization temperature was found to increase the amount of copolymer formed and its redox charge. The presence of aniline units in PASs led to a pronounced increase in the molecular weight and conductivity, and a decrease in the solubility in organic solvents. Repetitive charging/discharging cycles showed that PASs resist degradation more than polyaniline. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Optimal H∞ general distance problem with degree constraint

In this paper the optimal H_∞, general distance problem, for continuous-time systems, with a prescribed degree on the solution is studied. The approach is based on designing the Hankel singular values using an imbedding idea. The problem is first imbedded into another problem with desirable characteristics on the Hankel singular values, then the solution to the original problem is retracted via a compression. The result is applicable to both the one-block and the four-block problems. A special case is given for illustration.     

Effect of the percentage carbon equivalent on the nodule characteristics,density and modulus of elasticity of ductile cast iron

Successful melting and Mg treatment were conducted using a vortex unit which produced spheroidal graphite (SG) Fe ingots having a percentage carbon equivalent (%CE) ranging from 3.782 to 5.240. Microstructure examination revealed graphite nodules embedded in a white matrix (unetched condition). The variation of %CE proved to have a pronounced effect on the nodule characteristics. The nodule count showed a maximum value at %CE of 4.613. For metal-mould ingots it reached a value of 1584 nodules mm^–2, while for sand-mould ingots it reached a value of 970 nodules mm^–2. Nodule size was found to be inversely proportional to the nodule count for both sand- and metal-mould ingots. The nodularity of all ingots was, in general, higher than 95%. The density of SG Fe was found to decrease gradually (at %CE=3.782) from 7242 to 6969 kg m^–3. The modulus of elasticity (E) showed a boat-like curve having minimum values of 189 and 192 GPa for the sand and metal moulds, respectively.     

Effect of electric field on the vapor-phase growth of carbon nanostructures

A mathematical model of dc gas discharge plasma has been developed in order to determine the electric field strength at a substrate surface during plasmachemical deposition of carbon nanostructures. A numerical solution of the model equations has been obtained using the experimentally determined boundary conditions and model parameters. A comparison of the solution to experiment confirms the adequacy of the proposed mathematical model, which provides the electric field profiles and the electron and ion density distributions near the substrate surface. Estimations show that, for carbon nanostructures with a characteristic size of about 30 nm, the electric field strength at the surface is sufficiently high to provide for their directional growth along the field.     

Effet de la pression sur la transition ruisselant-pulsé dans les réacteurs catalytiques à lit fixe arrosé

The effect of pressure on transition displacement between trickle and pulsed regimes (TPR: trickle-pulsed transition) in catalytic trickle bed reactors (CTBR) is not properly predicted by existing theoretical models and empirical correlations. Based on high pressure TPR data available to date, a modified Charpentier diagram is proposed to quantify directly the effect of pressure in non-foaming systems.