Determination of caffeine in roasted and irradiated coffee beans with gamma rays by high performance liquid chromatography

The present study was carried out to investigate a simple, quick and organic solvent saving procedure for the high performance liquid chromatography determination of caffeine in two different coffee beans (Indonesian and Brazilian) which roasted at two different temperatures (150 & 220 ºC) and irradiated at 3, 6, and 9 kGy doses by gamma rays. A linear calibration curve was generated with caffeine concentration ranging from 0.005 to 0.25 mg/g with correlation coefficient (R2= 0.9995, n=4) and relative standard deviation ? 2.1 %. The developed procedure provided a 7.3 x 10-9 mg/g and 2.2 x 10-8 mg/g limit of detection and limit of quantification, respectively. The developed method was repeatable and could be applied to determine trace amounts of caffeine in popular irradiated coffee beans with three different irradiation doses. Moreover, irradiation treatments at doses up to 9 kGy showed no significant effect on the caffeine content. Keywords: Caffeine determination; High performance liquid chromatography;  Coffee bean; Roasting; Gamma rays; Statistical analysi

Effect of Vermicompost Supplemented by Foliar Application of Silicate on Marjoram Plants Grown in Saline Soil

This study aimed to reduce the negative effects of soil salinity on marjoram plants by adding vermicompost to the saline soil complemented by foliar application of silicate (Si+2) to their leaves. To achieve this purpose in field, the experiment was arranged as a factorial experiment. (Two way) Based on randomized complete block design with four replications. The first factor was vermicompost which was added at four rates (0, 3, 4 and 5 ton fed-1). The second factor was silicon which was used at four rates (0, 2.5, 3.75 and 5 mM). Results revealed that the single application of either vermicompost or silicon reduced Na and proline concentration in plant shoot and enhanced plant growth, nutrient content, carbohydrate percentage and essential oil yield in plant shoots. This increase remained constant and not correlated with the rates of application. The combined application of vermicompost and foliar spraying of silicon resulted in noticeable increase in plant growth, nutrient content (N, P, K and Ca), carbohydrate percentage and essential oil yield in marjoram plants; the highest values of all parameters were recorded by using vermicompost at rate 3 or 4-ton fed-1 coupled with spraying 3.75 mM of silicon solution on plant leaves. These results proved that amendment of saline soil by adding vermicompost and spraying silicon solution on plant leaves directly is a good strategy for the reclamation of saline soil and mitigation of salt stress within plant tissues. 

Amelioration Of Snap Bean Growth, Yield, Quantity And Nutritional Status Under Salinity Stress By Using Spirulina Algae Extract And Amino Acids

Salinity stress is a major abiotic stress that limits agricultural production and threatens global food security due to rapid climate change. Salt stress negatively affects the growth, yield and quality of crops.  Amino Acids and Spirulina Algae Extract are well-known biostimulants that have positive effects on plant growth and productivity and significantly reduce damage caused by abiotic stress. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of several treatments with spirulina extract and amino acids on snap bean plant growing under saline soil stress. Field experiment was carried out during the two successive summer seasons of 2021 and 2022 under saline soil at private farm in Faqus - Sharkia Governorate, to study the effect of spirulina algae and amino acid concentrations as foliar spray on growth, yield quantity and quality and nutritional status of snap bean cv, Bronco. The experiment was executed in split plot design, three rates of spirulina algae extracts (0, 1 and 2 cm3 L-1) were distributed on main plot and another three level of amino acids (0, 500 and 1000 mg L-1) were arranged on subplot. Finally, main and subplot were replicated three times. The results can be summarized as follows: Under saline soil condition, spraying snap bean plants with different concentrations of spirulina extract and amino acids three times led to an improvement in plant growth, crop quantity and quality as well as nutritional status, compared to the experimental treatment in which both were not used. The highest values of growth, yield and content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were obtained by spraying 2 cm3 L-1 of spirulina extract with 1000 mg L-1 of amino acids under two consecutive seasons. Thus, it can be said that Therefore, the spirulina algae extract and amino acids are considered one of the safe solutions to get rid of the effect of soil salinity on the  snap bean plant, and then obtain a high yield and also high quality

Assessing the in vivo biocompatibility of molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles

Molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) are high affinity synthetic receptors which show promise as imaging and therapeutic agents. Comprehensive analysis of the in vivo behaviour of nanoMIPs must be performed before they can be considered for clinical applications. This work reports the solid-phase synthesis of nanoMIPs and an investigation of their biodistribution, clearance and cytotoxicity in a rat model following both intravenous and oral administration. These nanoMIPs were found in each harvested tissue type, including brain tissue, implying their ability to cross the blood brain barrier. The nanoMIPs were cleared from the body via both faeces and urine. Furthermore, we describe an immunogenicity study in mice, demonstrating that nanoMIPs specific for a cell surface protein showed moderate adjuvant properties, whilst those imprinted for a scrambled peptide showed no such behaviour. Given their ability to access all tissue types and their relatively low cytotoxicity, these results pave the way for in vivo applications of nanoMIPs

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ALKALI CONCENTRATIONS DURING THE REFINING PROCESS ON THE OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF SUNFLOWER AND SOYBEAN OILS

The oxidative stability of bleached soybean and sunflower oils which were previously refined using NaOH and KOH at concentrations of 12, 14 and 16 Béo was studied in comparison with semirefined sunflower and crude soybean oils. Semirefined sunflower oil and crude soybean oil showed the highest stability. Oils previously refined using 12 Béo NaOH or KOH had an acceptable stability. Higher NaOH concentrations resulted in a decrease of stability

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ALKALI CONCENTRATIONS DURING THE REFINING PROCESS ON THE FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF SUNFLOWER AND SOYBEAN OILS

The effect of NaOH and KOH at concentrations of 12, 14 and 16 Bé° during the refining of sunflower and soybean oils on the fatty acid composition was studied using GLC technique. The quantity of linolenic, linoleic, oleic, palmitic and stearic acid as well as the USFA (unsaturated fatty acids): SFA (saturated fatty acids) ratio were measured. Only slight changes in the quantity of individual fatty acids were found particularly at higher alkali concentrations. The changes in the USFA : SFA ratio compared with crude or semirefined oil were not significant

Artificial molecular motors

Motor proteins are nature's solution for directing movement at the molecular level. The field of artificial molecular motors takes inspiration from these tiny but powerful machines. Although directional motion on the nanoscale performed by synthetic molecular machines is a relatively new development, significant advances have been made. In this review an overview is given of the principal designs of artificial molecular motors and their modes of operation. Although synthetic molecular motors have also found widespread application as (multistate) switches, we focus on the control of directional movement, both at the molecular scale and at larger magnitudes. We identify some key challenges remaining in the field

“In small places, close to home”: urban environmental impacts on child rights across four global cities

Urban environments influence child behaviours, exposures and experiences and may affect health, development, achievement and realization of fundamental human rights. We examined the status of eleven UN Convention on the Rights of the Child articles, in a multi-case study across four global cities. Within all study cities, children experienced unequal exposure to urban environmental risks and amenities. Many violations of child rights are related to car-based transportation systems and further challenged by pressures on urban systems from rapid population increases in the context of climate change. A child rights framework provides principles for a collective, multi-sectoral re-imagination of urban environments that support the human rights of all citizens

Bidirectional Parallel Capacitive Data Links: Modeling and Experimental Results

We present, in this paper, a bidirectional capacitive data link. Enhancement of the spatial pulse position modulation used on the downlink is introduced, and a load-shift keying modulation is implemented for the uplink. Different grounds on the transmitter and the receiver are discussed, and a compatible solution is proposed. A human skin electrical model is extracted using the agilent impedance analyzer 4294A while doing in vivo measurements on cheek skin and then applying curve fitting to the data between 2 and 20 MHz. Multiple geometries for the link are analyzed, and a 5-mm × 5-mm plate size is used for the design of the transceiver. The signal-to-noise ratio along with the capacity of the channel is analyzed theoretically while computing the limits for the downlink and the valid operating frequency to highlight the core parameters that affect the crosstalk interference between channels. The tradeoff in using the uplink on the same channel as the downlink is also discussed and analyzed. The operating frequency is 10 MHz, a bit-rate of 20 Mb/s is demonstrated on the uplink, and 10 Mb/s is demonstrated on the downlink. An in vivo human skin model for a 5-mm × 5-mm plate size with 21.2-mm separation is extracted, and the capacity's equation of the channel is computed using the equations for the analysis of the system.This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Canada Research Chair in Smart Medical Devices and the design tools from CMC Microsystems.Scopu