Batch kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamic studies of adsorption of strontium from aqueous solutions onto low cost rice-straw based carbons.

Present study explored the feasibility of using waste rice-straw based carbons as adsorbent for the removal of strontium under different experimental conditions. The batch sorption is studied with respect to solute concentration (2.8 - 110 mg/L), contact time, adsorbent dose (2.5 - 20 g/L) and solution temperature (25 - 55oC). The Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models were applied to experimental equilibrium data and isotherm constants were calculated using linear regression analysis. A comparison of kinetic models applied to the adsorption of strontium on rice-straw carbon was evaluated for the pseudo-second-order, Elovich, intraparticle diffusion and Bangham’s kinetics models. The experimental data fitted very well the pseudosecond-order kinetic model and also followed by intra-particle diffusion model, whereas diffusion is not only the rate-controlling step. The results show that the sorption capacity increases with an increase in solution temperature from 25 to 55 oC. The thermodynamics parameters were evaluated. The positive value of ΔH (40.93 kJ) indicated that the adsorption of strontium onto RS1 carbon was endothermic, which result was supported by the increasing adsorption of strontium with temperature. The positive value of ΔS (121.8 kJ/mol) reflects good affinity of strontium ions towards the rice-straw based carbons. The results have establishedgood potentiality for the carbons particles to be used as a sorbent for the removal of strontium from wastewater

How Age of Acquisition Affects Compound Word Recognition

Purpose: Adults recognize words that are acquired during childhood more quickly than words acquired during adulthood. This is known as the Age of Acquisition (AoA) effect. The AoA effect, according to the integrated account, manifests in tasks necessitating greater semantic processing and in tasks with arbitrary input-output mapping. Compound words allow us to investigate this account due to the arbitrary input-output mapping between the compound word itself and its morphemes, which requires greater semantic processing. Method: Forty-eight British English students in each experiment completed an unspaced (Experiment 1; n = 48; 83% female; Mage = 19.73), spaced (Experiment 2; n = 48; 83% female; Mage = 19.04), auditory (Experiment 3; n = 48; 63% female; Mage = 19.83), and cross-modal (Experiment 4; n = 48; 52% female; Mage = 19.81) lexical decision task (LDT) using a regression design on 226 compound words. Results: We observed that the AoA of the compound word affected accuracy across all tasks, whereas the AoA of the compound word influenced recognition latencies across all tasks except cross-modal LDT. Discussion: The results suggest that the influence of the AoA effect and of semantic predictors is largest in unspaced compound words and smallest in cross-modal LDT. This indicates that the AoA effect in word recognition is in line with the integrated account.</p

Antibacterial potential of black seed oil and its nanoemulsion against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium in yoghurt

The current study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of black seed oil (BSO) and its nanoemulsion (BSO-NE) against two foodborne pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium, during the processing and storage of yoghurt. Additionally, the sensory properties of the resulting yoghurt were assessed. Firstly, BSO-NE was prepared and characterized using zeta-sizer and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Then, the antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were determined via a resazurin-based microtiter dilution assay. Fresh buffalo’s milk was inoculated with L. monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium (1×10⁵ CFU/ml) with the addition of either BSO or BSO-NE. The inoculated milk was then used for yoghurt making. The organoleptic properties and bacterial load of the obtained yoghurt were evaluated during storage in comparison to a control group. This study elucidated that BSO can be successfully produced in a nanoemulsion form, exhibiting acceptable particle size, stability, and morphology. The results demonstrated a strong antibacterial activity of BSO-NE (3.125 mg/mL) against both L. monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium compared to the control and pure oil groups. Notably, complete eradication of L. monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium was observed in yoghurt formulated with BSO-NE on the 8th day of storage. Interestingly, the antibacterial effect of BSO and BSO-NE on Salmonella Typhimurium was approximately similar throughout the experiment. Moreover, the results indicated that the addition of BSO-NE to yoghurt enhanced its organoleptic properties. Overall, these findings suggest that yoghurt can be fortified with BSO-NE to prevent bacterial contamination by L. monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium in the dairy industry

Age-of-acquisition effects:a literature review

Age of acquisition (AoA) refers to the age at which people learn a particular item and the AoA effect refers to the phenomenon that early-acquired items are processed more quickly and accurately than those acquired later. Over several decades, the AoA effect has been investigated using neuroscientific, behavioral, corpus and computational techniques. We review the current evidence for the AoA effect stemming from a range of methodologies and paradigms and apply these findings to current explanations of how and where the AoA effect occurs. We conclude that the AoA effect can be found both in the connections between levels of representations and within these representations themselves, and that the effect itself occurs through the process of the distinct coding of early and late items, together with the nature of the connections between levels of representation. This approach strongly suggests that the AoA effect results from the construction of perceptual-semantic representations and the mappings between representations

Phonological precision for word recognition in skilled readers

publishedVersio

Efficacy of pumpkin and onion essential oils against isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cheese: a comparative study

Greater resistance to environmental aggressors, including resistance to antibiotics and other disinfectants is a characteristic of the Pseudomonas spp. Consequently, one of the current study's goals was to isolate Pseudomonas spp. from 165 cheese samples (55 each of Tallaga, Bramily, and Ras cheese) were collected from various dairy markets and shops in Assiut city, Egypt. The isolates were identified and tested for 16S rRNA, showing positive results. According to the collected data, pseudomonas spp. was found in 42.42% of the samples that were investigated, while pseudomonas aeruginosa was found in 10.9% of the samples. Then, the effects of essential oils (EOs) of pumpkin (P) and onion (EO) on the viability of pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the prepared onion EO (OEO) and pumpkin EO (PEO) was detected. Tallaga cheese samples were produced utilizing the MIC of the two prepared Eos separately. The agar well diffusion method was used to assess the influence of EOs, and the results showed that the MIC for PEO and OEO was 0.39%. In conclusion, after Tallaga cheese manufacturing, the OEO proved to be the most effective against pseudomonas aeruginosa. with a count of 5 log10 at 0 h and &lt;1 after the first week

Synthesis and Characterization of Dihydrouracil Analogs Utilizing Biginelli Hybrids

Dihydrouracil presents a crucial intermediate in the catabolism of uracil. The vital im-portance of uracil and its nucleoside, uridine, encourages scientists to synthesize novel dihydroura-cils. In this paper, we present an innovative, fast, and effective method for the synthesis of dihy-drouracils. Hence, under mild conditions, 3‐chloroperbenzoic acid was used to cleave the carbon– sulfur bond of the Biginelli hybrids 5,6‐dihydropyrimidin‐4(3H)‐ones. This approach led to thirteen novel dihydrouracils synthesized in moderate‐to‐high yields (32–99%)

Lorcaserin vs. Phentermine among non-surgical and surgical obese patients: Anthropometric, glycemic, lipid, safety and cost outcomes

Background To evaluate effectiveness, safety, and costs of Lorcaserin vs. phentermine among obese non–surgical and surgical patients (post bariatric surgery). Methods This retrospective study retrieved charts of all patients (January 2013–June 2016) who received Lorcaserin or phentermine for 3 months. The study assessed anthropometric, glycemic, and lipid changes, as well as side effects and cost of medications among overweight and obese non-surgical (n = 83) and surgical patients (n = 46). These two patient groups were compared using Chi-square (χ2) and unpaired‘t’ test for qualitative and quantitative variables respectively. Results At 3 months, among the non-surgical group, Phentermine patients had greater percentage of total weight loss (TWL%) (7.65 ± 8.26 vs. 2.99 ± 3.72%, P = 0.003), and greater BMI reduction (−3.16 ± 3.63 vs. −1.15 ± 1.53 kg/m2, P = 0.003) than Lorcaserin. Within the surgical group, Lorcaserin patients had significantly smaller TWL% (1.86 ± 5.06 vs. 7.62 ± 9.80%, P = 0.012), and smaller BMI reduction (−0.74 ± 1.80 vs. −3.06 ± 4.08 kg/m2, P = 0.012) than Phentermine. Lorcaserin exhibited significant total cholesterol and LDL improvements only among surgical patients with significant weight reduction (≥5% TW). Both medications were not associated with glycemic improvements among non-surgical and surgical groups. Phentermine had slightly more side effects but was less expensive. Conclusions Among both patient groups, phentermine was more effective in achieving weight loss. Lorcaserin showed dyslipidemia improvements only among surgical patients who achieved significant weight reduction. Anti-obesity medications as part of weight management programs can result in weight loss among non-surgical and surgical patients, or halt weight regain among surgical patients. This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of two anti-obesity medications (lorcaserin vs. phentermine) among two distinct obese patient groups, non-surgical and surgical patients