Degradation is one of the key processes governing the impact of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Most studies on the degradation of pharmaceuticals have focused on soil and sludge, with fewer exploring persistence in aquatic sediments. We investigated the dissipation of 6 pharmaceuticals from different therapeutic classes in a range of sediment types. Dissipation of each pharmaceutical was found to follow first‐order exponential decay. Half‐lives in the sediments ranged from 9.5 (atenolol) to 78.8 (amitriptyline) d. Under sterile conditions, the persistence of pharmaceuticals was considerably longer. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationships between half‐lives of the pharmaceuticals, sediment physicochemical properties, and sorption coefficients for the compounds. Sediment clay, silt, and organic carbon content and microbial activity were the predominant factors related to the degradation rates of diltiazem, cimetidine, and ranitidine. Regression analysis failed to highlight a key property which may be responsible for observed differences in the degradation of the other pharmaceuticals. The present results suggest that the degradation rate of pharmaceuticals in sediments is determined by different factors and processes and does not exclusively depend on a single sediment parameter.
In this study, biodiesel was prepared from chicken fat via a transesterification reaction using Mussel shells as a catalyst. Pretreatment of chicken fat was carried out using non‐catalytic esterification to reduce the free fatty acid content from 36.28 to 0.96 mg KOH/g oil using an ethanol/ fat mole ratio equal to 115:1. In the transesterification reaction, the studied variables were methanol: oil mole ratio in the range of (6:1 ‐ 30:1), catalyst loading in the range of (9‐15) wt%, reaction temperature (55‐75 °C), and reaction time (1‐7) h. The heterogeneous alkaline catalyst was greenly synthesized from waste mussel shells throughout a calcin
Abstract
The purpose of our study was to develop Dabigatran Etexilate loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (DE-NLCs) using Glyceryl monostearate and Oleic acid as lipid matrix, and to estimate the potential of the developed delivery system to improve oral absorption of low bioavailability drug, different Oleic acid ratios effect on particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency and loading capacity were studied, the optimized DE-NLCs shows a particle size within the nanorange, the zeta potential (ZP) was 33.81±0.73mV with drug entrapment efficiency (EE%) of 92.42±2.31% and a loading capacity (DL%) of 7.69±0.17%. about 92% of drug was released in 24hr in a controlled manner, the ex-vivo intestinal p
... Show MoreThis study reports on natural convection heat transfer in a square enclosure of length (L=20 cm) with a saturated porous medium (solid glass beads) having same fluid (air) at lower horizontal layer and free air fill in the rest of the cavity's space. The experimental work has been performed under the effects of heating from bottom by constant heat flux q=150,300,450,600 W/m2 for four porous layers thickness Hp (2.5,5,7.5,1) cm and three heaters length δ(20,14,7) cm. The top enclosure wall was good insulated and the two side walls were symmetrically cooled at constant temperature. Four layers of porous media with small porosity, Rayleigh number range (60.354 - 241.41) and (Da) 3.025x10-8 has been investigated. The obtained data of temperatu
... Show MoreThe largest use of x-ray in medical by dentists, employers or persons that needed by patients with specific conditions, lead to higher exposure of x-ray that may cause many diseases. In the present work radiography films have been used in evaluating the efficiency of using unsaturated polyester polymer reinforced with lead oxide (PbO) as shield material for medical x-ray devices, many parameters studied like concentration and thickness that they are increasing the attenuation of x-ray in them. The results show that the attenuation of X-ray increasing with concentration of reinforced material and with thickness, and the optical density decreases with increasing concentration from 0% to 50%, we chose 30% as suitable concentration to increase
... Show MoreSome new norms need to be adapted due to COVID-19 pandemic period where people need to wear masks, wash their hands frequently, maintain social distancing, and avoid going out unless necessary. Therefore, educational institutions were closed to minimize the spread of COVID-19. As a result of this, online education was adapted to substitute face-to-face learning. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the Malaysian university students’ adaptation to the new norms, knowledge and practices toward COVID-19, besides, their attitudes toward online learning. A convenient sampling technique was used to recruit 500 Malaysian university students from January to February 2021 through social media. For data collection, all students
... Show MoreThe effects of nutrients and physical conditions on phytase production were investigated with a recently isolated strain of Aspergillus tubingensis SKA under solid state fermentation on wheat bran. The nutrient factors investigated included carbon source, nitrogen source, phosphate source and concentration, metal ions (salts) and the physical parameters investigated included inoculum size, pH, temperature and fermentation duration. Our investigations revealed that optimal productivity of phytase was achieved using wheat bran supplemented with: 1.5% glucose. 0.5% (NH4)2SO4, 0.1% sodium phytate. Additionally, optimal physical conditions were 1 × 105 spore/g substrate, initial pH of 5.0, temperature of fermentation 30˚C and fermentation dura
... Show MoreSteel-concrete-steel (SCS) structural element solutions are rising due to their advantages over conventional reinforced concrete in terms of cost and strength. The impact of SCS sections with various core materials on the structural performance of composites has not yet been fully explored experimentally, and in this work, both slag and polypropylene fibers were incorporated in producing eco-friendly steel-concrete-steel composite sections. This study examined the ductility, ultimate strength, failure modes, and energy absorption capacities of steel-concrete-steel filled with eco-friendly concrete, enhanced by polypropylene fiber (PPF) to understand its impact on modern structural projects. Eco-friendly concrete was produced by the partial
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