Synthetic of pure alumina from aluminum scrap

Abundance in aluminum scrap metals can cause problem such as limited space allocation and pollution. The solution to solve these problems were by recycling the aluminum scrap metal as secondary production of aluminum. Among the recycling process alternative is smelting, However, the process consumes high energy with low productivity. This study focuses on alumina production from aluminum scrap waste. Dissolution process of Al scrap with 0.5M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) yields Al (OH) 3 and hydrogen gas. Results show that the temperature gradually decreased from 40°C to 35.7°C as the reaction took place. The pH of the solution during dissolution process increased from 12.08 to 12.38. The XRD results show that after calcination of Al (OH)3 powders at 1500°C, α-Al2O3 peaks could be observed. SEM morphology shows that the calcination process changes the Al (OH)3 powders from hexagonal shape to form α-Al2O3 with rounded shape

A species dependent response to the pro-epileptic drug pentylentetrazole in birds

Epilepsy is common disorder that affects over 50 million people worldwide. Birds remain a promising yet largely under-explored model of epilepsy. This study reports the comparison of the response of two species of birds, Australian Parrots (APs) and Sparrows (SPs), to a pro-epileptic drug, Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). PTZ injections caused myoclonic jerks (MCJs) and tonic clonic seizures (TCSs) in both species. The frequency of MCJs in APs was greater at the dose of 75 mg/kg compared to both 50 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg while it was not significantly different in SPs. The comparison of APs and SPs showed that the frequency of MCJs was greater in APs compared to SPs at 25 mg/kg and 75 mg/kg while its latency was reduced at 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg. Interestingly SPs had a reduced latency of TCSs compared to APs at 75 mg/kg. Glutamatergic and Gabaergic cell count was conducted to determine an association with the epileptic response to PTZ. The Glutamatergic cell counts for SPs was significantly greater than APs and conversely the Gabaergic cell counts in APs was higher compared to SPs. The reason for this difference in findings needs to be further investigated. This study shows that birds, and APs and SPs in particular, are a valid, interesting and under-explored model of epilepsy that should be further explored in order to understand the mysteries of epilepsy