Heavy metal (HM) pollution has long been a significant source of environmental deterioration and a problem for the safety of food. Iraqis prefer rice over any other food, and since heavy metals have a direct impact on health, their traces in rice have drawn particular attention. Before cooking rice, it is usual in Iraq to wash and soak it. Some 55 varieties of imported and local rice were sampled from Erbil city markets in 2022 with the aim of determining the concentration of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb before and after soaking. Standard procedure of acid digestions was applied on the raw and soaked samples. The solutions were analyzed using ICPE-9820 Shimadzu. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (in mg/kg) in the rice samples before soaking was 0.655, 0.170, 0.160, 0.387, 0.489, respectively and after soaking 0.421, 0.109, 0.115, 0.124 and 0.336, respectively. The concentration of As and Pb was found to be beyond the optimum level of 0.2 mg/kg codex standards for rice; whereas Cd and Cr were within the proposed level of codex standards. Moreover, local rice showed higher concentration of (Cd and Cr), whereas (AS and Pb) concentration in imported rice was higher. Further, results validated that rice soaking can decrease levels of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (32.5%, 40.2%, 27.9%, 61.6% and 31.3%, respectively). These findings suggest that soaking as a kitchen practice has efficiency to evaporate metals and has a great influence on the reduction of toxic heavy metals and thus reduces exposure to toxic metals in rice
Ceramics type Yttrium oxide with Silicon carbide. were selected to investigate its sintered density, microstructure and electrical properties, after adding V2O5, of 100 nm grain size. Different weight percentages ranging from (0.01,0.02,0.03 and 0.04) were used. Dry milling applied for twelve hours. The pelletized samples were sintered at atmospheric of static air and at sintering temperature 1400 ˚C, for three hours. The crustal structure test shoes the phase which is yttrium silicon carbide Scanning electron microscopy, scan sintered microstructure. Samples after sintering were electrically investigated by measuring its capacitance, dielectric constant and their results showed increasing after added V2O5 particles at the combinat
... Show MoreABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Coriandrum Sativum is a native of Mediterranean region and is grown in North Africa, central Europe, and Asia as culinary herb and medicament. In addition to the other health-supporting reputation, coriander has hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and aphrodisiac effects. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Coriandrum Sativum on process of spermatogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Coriandrum sativum was given daily to mature male rats in a dose of 50mg/ 100g body weight for 14 days. 10% formalin fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections were performed for histological and morphometrical studies. RESULTS: Histological study showed wider seminiferous tubules & increased spermatocytes population with an increased sperm density
... Show MoreA microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new approach to bioelectrochemical systems. It provides a more sustainable way to electrical power production, saltwater desalination, and wastewater treatment at the same time. This study examined three operation modes of the MDC: chemical cathode, air cathode, and biocathode MDC, to give clear sight of this system's performance. The experimental work results for these three modes were recorded as power densities generation, saltwater desalination rates, and COD removal percentages. For the chemical cathode MDC, the power density was 96.8 mW/m2, the desalination rate was 84.08 ppm/hr, and the COD removal percentage was 95.94%. The air cathode MDC results were different
... Show MoreBackground: Whey protein is the green-yellow colored, liquid portion of the milk, and it is also called the cheese serum, it is obtained after the separation of curd, during the coagulation of the milk. It contains a considerable amount of α-helix pattern with an evenly distributed hydrophobic and hydrophilic as well as basic and acidic amino acids along with their polypeptide chain. The major whey protein constituents include β-lactoglobulin (β-LG),α-lactalbumin (α-LA), immunoglobulins (IG), bovine serum albumin (BSA), bovine lactoperoxidase (LP), bovine lactoferrin (BLF) and minor amounts of a glycol macro peptide (GMP). Osseointegration can be defined as a process that is immune driven which leads to the formatio
... Show MoreCompaction of triticale grain with three moisture contents (8%, 12%, and 16% wet basis) was measured at five applied pressures (0, 7, 14, 34, and 55 kPa). Bulk density increased with increasing pressure for all moisture contents and was significantly (p < 0.0001) dependent on both moisture content and applied pressure. A Verhulst logistic equation was found to model the changes in bulk density of triticale grain with R2 of 0.986. The model showed similar beha
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats we
... Show MoreThe importance of specifying proper aggregate grading for achieving satisfactory performance in pavement applications has long been recognized. To improve the specifications for superior performance, there is a need to understand how differences in aggregate gradations within the acceptable limits may affect unbound aggregate base behavior. The effects of gradation on strength, modulus, and deformation characteristics of high-quality crushed rock base materials are described here. Two crushed rock types commonly used in constructing heavy-duty granular base layers in the State of Victoria, Australia, with three different gradations each were used in this study. The gradations used represent the lower, medium, and upper gradation li
... Show MoreSustainable vegetative management plays a significant role in improving soil quality in degraded agricultural landscapes by enhancing soil microbial biomass. This study investigated the effects of grass buffers (GBs), biomass crops (BCs), grass waterways (GWWs), and agroforestry buffers (ABs) on soil microbial biomass and soil organic C (SOC) compared with continuous corn (