Transfer of radioactivity from soil to vegetation in Rechna Doab, Pakistan

In Rechna Doab, samples of the most common vegetation, perennial grass Desmostachya bipinnata (dab), were collected along with soil samples from 29 sites. Natural radioactivity of 22?Ra, 232Th/22?Ac and ??K was measured by using high purity germanium-based gamma ray spectrometer. Activity concentration levels of 22?Ra, 232Th/22?Ac and ??K in soil were found to be 46.8 ± 6.2 (36.0-57.6), 61.4 ± 5.9 (48.2-73.2) and 644.8 ± 73.9 (537.7-868.4) Bq kg?1 (dry mass), respectively, and those in vegetation were 2.74 ± 1.70 (1.00-6.39), 2.24 ± 0.59 (1.56-2.61) and 172.72±113.37 (53.14-469.24) Bq kg?1 (dry mass), respectively. The measured values of the activity concentration in vegetation are comparable with some other international data. Calculated soil to vegetation transfer factors of 22?Ra, 22?Ac and ??K were 0.06 ± 0.03 (0.02-0.14), 0.04 ± 0.01 (0.03-0.04) and 0.26 ± 0.16 (0.09-0.69). The mean outdoor absorbed dose rate in air for the area under study was determined as 8.22 nGy h?1 and the mean indoor absorbed dose rate in air was 11.52 nGy h?1. The total annual effective dose to the general public from the vegetation was found to be (0.02-0.16) mSv, which is below the recommended limit value of 1 mSv y?1 for the general public. The dab vegetation under study was found to be radiologically safe for the population and environment.     

Efficiency analysis of thermosyphon solar flat plate collector with low mass concentrations of ND–Co3O4 hybrid nanofluids: an experimental study

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present study, the thermal efficiency, convective heat transfer and friction factor analysis are investigated for a flat plate solar collector...     

New sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of clomipramine-HCl in pure form and pharmaceutical preparations

A simple, rapid and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the assay of clomipramine-HCl is described. It has been found that clomipramine-HCl reacts with ammonium molybdate in acetic medium to give blue color product exhibiting maximum absorbance at 712 nm. The reaction is selective for clomipramine-HCl with 1 μg/mL as visual limit of detection. It provides a basis for a sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of clomipramine-HCl. The method obeys Beer’s Law from 0.001 to 0.250 mg/mL. The standard deviation does not exceed 0.005 mg/mL. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of clomipramine-HCl in pure form and pharmaceutical preparations. The quantitative assessment of tolerable amounts of possible interferants was also studied. The results are reproduced within ±1% and are in good agreement with those obtained by the standard procedure.     

Characterisation of Flavour Attributes in Egg White Protein Using HS-GC-IMS Combined with E-Nose and E-Tongue: Effect of High-Voltage Cold Plasma Treatment Time

Egg white protein (EWP) is susceptible to denaturation and coagulation when exposed to high temperatures, adversely affecting its flavour, thereby influencing consumers’ decisions. Here, we employ high-voltage cold plasma (HVCP) as a novel nonthermal technique to investigate its influence on the EWP’s flavour attributes using E-nose, E-tongue, and headspace gas-chromatography-ion-mobilisation spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) due to their rapidness and high sensitivity in identifying flavour fingerprints in foods. The EWP was investigated at 0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 s of HVCP treatment time. The results revealed that HVCP significantly influences the odour and taste attributes of the EWP across all treatments, with a more significant influence at 60 and 120 s of HVCP treatment. Principal component analyses of the E-nose and E-tongue clearly distinguish the odour and taste sensors’ responses. The HS-GC-IMS analysis identified 65 volatile compounds across the treatments. The volatile compounds’ concentrations increased as the HVCP treatment time was increased from 0 to 300 s. The significant compounds contributing to EWP characterisation include heptanal, ethylbenzene, ethanol, acetic acid, nonanal, heptacosane, 5-octadecanal, decanal, p-xylene, and octanal. Thus, this study shows that HVCP could be utilised to modify and improve the EWP flavour attributes.     

Nephroprotective Effects of Alhagi camelorum against Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Albino Wistar Rats

Alhagi camelorum (AC) is an old plant with a significant therapeutic value throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The overuse of cisplatin (Cis > 50 mg/m²) is associated with observed nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, gastrotoxicity, myelosuppression, and allergic reactions. Remedial measures are needed for the protection of nephrotoxicity against cisplatin. Thus, we investigated the nephroprotective effects of AC plant extract to prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in albino Wistar rats. The presence of polyphenols, phenolic compounds, tannins, and saponins was revealed during phytochemical investigation, and a significantly intense antioxidant activity was recorded. There were no toxicological symptoms in the treated rats, and no anatomical, physiological, or histological abnormalities were found compared to the control rats. The results of correcting cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity revealed that the extract has a significant ability to treat kidney damage, with most parameters returning to normal after only three weeks of therapy. It is concluded that co-administration of cisplatin with AC extract showed exceptional nephroprotective effects at a dose of 600 mg/kg for Cis-induced nephrotoxicity.     

A Study of the Role of Microfractures in Counter-Current Spontaneous Imbibition by Lattice Boltzmann Simulation

Transport in Porous Media - During waterflooding, spontaneous imbibition is a fundamental recovery mechanism in fractured reservoirs. A large number of numerical and experimental studies have been...     

In memory of Professor Ali H. Nayfeh

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this paper, we propose and numerically study a nonlinear, asymmetric, passive metamaterial that achieves giant non-reciprocity with (i) broadband frequency operation and...     

Event-triggered based $$\pmb {L_{2}-L_{\infty }}$$L2-L∞ filtering for multiagent systems with Markovian jumping topologies under time-varying delays

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this article, we analyze the $$L_{2}-L_{\infty }$$ filtering of multiagent systems for Markovian switch topologies under time-varying delays with an influence of...