Archives-March 2012

Organochlorine pesticides have been used on cocoa. These pesticides have been banned in Ghana, however due to their persistent nature and slow degradation rate, organochlorine pesticides can remain in the environment long after application and in organism long after exposure. The main objective of this study was to determine the levels of organochlorine pesticide residues in fermented dried cocoa beans produced in Ghana, using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Fermented dried cocoa beans were sampled at random in the two main cocoa storage warehouses located in Tema and Takoradi. The extraction method used consists of addition of distilled water to the pulverized cocoa beans samples, and allowed to stand for 15 minutes followed by maceration with acetonitrile. Extract clean-up then follows by solvent partitioning with aqueous phosphate buffer solution followed by two solid phase extractions; bond Elut C18 and Envi-carp superclean cartridges clean-up respectively. The investigated pesticides were beta-HCH, lindane, delta-HCH, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, gamma-chlordane, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, p,p’-DDT, p,p’-DDD, p,p’-DDE and methoxychlor. The percentage recoveries ranged from 70-110 percent, with instrumental detection limits of 0.15µg/kg. The widest range of organochlorine pesticides detected was from endosulfan (1.0 – 103.0 µg/kg), which was previously registered for cotton production in Ghana.

As we know that organic farming is the need of hour to feed the present population without eroding the health of soil and environment also to give sustainable agriculture this is one of best method for farming that’s why we should go for Organic Farming.

Cryogenic homogenized cotton samples were tested for mercury traces with very low concentrations we used analysis technique namely Cold Vapor/ Isotope Dilution ICP-MS. Target element is listed in Öko-Tex Standards and it should be absent or less than 0.02 mg/kg in the tested cotton samples for baby, direct skin contact and decoration products. Due to the presence of Hg in a very low concentration we need to measure it with high accuracy and low uncertainty sources testing method. In this work a previously homogenized Egyptian cotton samples were tested for total content of mercury. These samples included cotton varieties represent extra long staple (Giza 70 and 88) and long staple (Giza 89). The measurements were made using isotope dilution cold vapor inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ID-CV-ICP-MS) with Carius tube digestion. The results showed that the tested homogenized cotton samples have very low concentrations that cannot be detected by many other mercury analysis techniques. Uncertainty budgets also estimated in this work for all samples.

The suitability and the performance of activated carbon produced from flamboyant pod back, milk bush kernel shell and rice husk for the effective removal of acenaphthene from simulated wastewater under the influence of carbonization temperature and initial concentration were investigated. The adsorption capacities of all the activated carbons obtained from the selected raw materials are influenced by increasing carbonization temperature. Activated carbons obtained from rice husk at carbonisation temperature of 600 0C had the maximum adsorption capacity (5.554 mg/g) while carbons produced from milk bush at carbonisation temperature of 300 0C had the minimum adsorption capacity (1.386 mg/g), for the adsorption of acenaphthene from the simulated wastewater. The removal efficiencies of the investigated adsorbents generally rank high and the highest value (80.56 %) was obtained for the adsorption of acenaphthene by rice husk carbonized at 600 0C. Furthermore, the removal efficiencies obtained in the study decreased as the initial concentrations of the adsorbate increased. The four selected isotherm models; Freundlich, Langmuir, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich described well the equilibrium adsorption of acenaphthene unto activated carbon derived from Flamboyant pod bark, milk bush kernel shell and rice husk. Sequence of suitability of the selected isotherms in the study was Temkin ? Freundlich > Dubinin-Radushkevich > Langmuir for adsorption of acenaphthene. It therefore shows that Temkin isotherm is the most suitable model for fitting experimental data obtained from adsorption of acenaphthene from simulated wastewater unto activated carbon produced from Flamboyant pod bark, milk bush kernel shell and rice husk.

This article study believes of the birth and the new born. Some of them tell us how to support and take care of a pregnant woman and some believes tell us how to recognize whether the fetus is boy or girl. They believe according to child behavior and appearance, they can predict child future. Doing magic and resorting to wizardry for preventing the bad event which may happen to the mother and the newborn in this research is so noticeable.

The ethanolic fruit extract of Cucumis trigonus Roxb. of family Curcurbitaceae was subjected to isolation and identification of chemical constituents. The extract was purified and isolated by column chromatography and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The isolated compound was then subjected to Infra red spectroscopy (IR) for identification of functional groups, 1H NMR and 13C NMR for identification of protons and carbon atoms. LCMS and elemental analysis were done for identifying the molecular weight and elemental composition of the isolated compound. From the spectra obtained from IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR, LCMS and elemental analysis, the isolated compound was found to be linolenic acid (C18H30O2) with a molecular weight of 278.43.

Muthupet mangrove ecosystem (Lat.10o15’N; Long.79o30’E) is located at the southern end of the Cauvery delta on the eastcoast of India. Halophilic bacteria play an important role in mangrove ecosystem due to their role in decomposition of mangrove litter. In the mangrove swamp at Muthupet, a total of 32 isolates of bacteria were identified. Of these 32 species of bacteria, characterized by presence of 5 genus namely Bacillus, Carnybacterium, Vibrio, Micrococcus and Pseudomonas. The above five are dominant bacterial groups and were found to be present lagoon of Muthupet mangrove forest. Fluctuation values in bacterial density (39x103 spc.ml-1 to 99x104 spc.ml-1) and (144x103 spc.gm-1 to 175x104 spc.gm-1) in water and sediment at two stations was noticed respectively. Higher values were recorded during the premonsoon season and sudden decrease during the summer season. The bacterial population was found to be higher than that of the water, which may be due to the biodegradation processes of sediment mangrove leaves and vegetation, as well as due to high nutrient accumulation, precipitation of organic compounds and settlement of the dead organic matter in sediment. The paper identifies the seasonal distribution of Halophilic bacteria in few selected species in mangrove area of Muthupet.

A new series of isoxazoles (7a-f), cyanopyridines (8a-f) and pyrimidinthiones (9a-f) have been prepared from chalcones (6a-f) having s-triazine nucleus. These chalcones on cyclisation with hydroxyl amine hydrochloride in the presence of alkali and malononitrile in the presence of ammonium acetate give isoxazoles (7a-f) and cyanopyridines (8a-f) respectively. Chalcones (6a-f) on condensation with thiourea in the presence of alkali give pyrimidinthiones (9a-f). Structures of newly synthesised compounds were established on the basis of their elemental analysis, IR and 1H NMR spectral data. Antibacterial activity (minimum inhibitory concentration MIC) against Gram-positive (S. aureus MTCC 96 and S. pyogeneus MTCC 442 ) and Gram-negative (P. aeruginosa MTCC 1688 and E. coli MTCC 443) bacteria, as well as antifungal activity (MIC) against C. albicans MTCC 227, A. niger MTCC 282 and A. clavatus MTCC 1323 were determined by broth dilution method.

Language attrition is the loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language by individuals. This paper examines the effects of social class and age on attrition of some old words and expressions of Isfahani dialect. To obtain the results, we distributed a questionnaire among 120 male/ female citizens from three social groups each including 40 upper-social class, 40 middle-social class and 40 low-social class with an age range of 25 to 65. The questionnaire involved 20 old words and expressions of Isfahani dialect, given to different social classes with different age ranges to evaluate the effects of these variables on the attrition of Isfahani dialect. The results show that the lower the age, there is the less knowledge about the meaning of words, on the contrary, the lower the social class, there is more knowledge about the meaning of the words. So the age and social class are two main factors contributing to the attrition of Isfahani dialect of Persian.

During the recent years, the efficiency factor has been focused by many institutions, organizations and companies as one of the key factors affecting on the manufacture; and therefore, manpower efficiency has been taken into much consideration as one of the components of whole efficiency. The improvement of efficiency, as a principle for developing the industry and consequently for increasing the employment level and the effect on many enormous variables, has found the special position in the economic literature and the improvement of efficiency as one of the best and the most suitable ways is considered for improving the situation of that unit and establishing and guaranteeing the profitability continuation of the company. This Article follows the examination of effective factors on manpower efficiency of vehicle-manufacturing companies and the rate of their effectiveness. Based on the arisen results, the manufacture variables, the rate of capital, salary, wages, bonuses and exports have the direct meaningful effect on manpower efficiency and the performed investment for development, researches and management changes arisen from the privatization have the negative relationship in proportion to the manpower efficiency.