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Abstract: Fenneropenaeus penicillatus (commonly known as Jaira or Red tail shrimp) is one of the commercially important and abundant species in the coastal areas of Pakistan and export to more than 40 countries world wide. It is a good source of nutrients for human diet because of its highly rich composition of protein, calcium and vitamins. The littoral state of Pakistan is facing much environmental issues during the last many years because of increasing pollution and human induced environmental changes which have gradually declined the export of shrimps. Crustacean species are considered as the bio-indicators of toxic materials due to their high affinity to accumulate heavy metals than fishes. The study was undertaken to quantify the heavy metals like copper, zinc, cadmium and lead in the Red tail shrimp. For this purpose biosamples were collected in year 2011 to 2013 from the littoral states of Karachi city, Pakistan. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) technique was used to analyze the Cu and Zn while Graphite Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GAAS) technique was used to quantify the Cd and Pb. Results were compared with the WHO/FAO/FDA values. The concentrations of selected heavy metals were within the normal range in all analyzed samples except for cadmium. Bioconcentration of cadmium was found much higher than the recommended value which is an alarming condition. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to find out the concentration variation of heavy metals in three years research study at p < 0.05. The results suggested that there is no significant effect of year wise variation on accumulation level of heavy metals in F. penicillatus.. Keywords: Fenneropenaeus penicillatus, heavy metals, littoral states of Karachi city, FAAS, GAAS.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: The main objective of this work was to use the okra powder modified with citric acid as biosorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. Samples of Cr(VI) solution were prepared by diluting the 100 ppm solution diluted from the 1000 ppm stock solution prepared with K2Cr2O7. The determination of Cr(VI) was performed spectrophotometrically by the method of complexation with 1,5-diphenylcarbazide, measuring the absorbance at a 540 nm wavelength. The experiments were conducted at 25 ± 1 °C; 2, 5, 7 and 8 initial pH; 10-240 minutes contact time and 0.05 g of adsorbent. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were used to fit the experimental data. The Freundlich model provided R2=0.9599, indicating adsorption on heterogeneous conditions. Analysis of fluorescence of X-rays, SEM and FTIR were used to prove the okra powder efficiency in the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. Keywords: Okra powder, biosorbent, removal of Cr(VI), equilibrium study.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: Before the 1960’s organizations used to calculate figures on speculation. But ever since the demand for data analysis increased, Business Intelligence and Analytics is growing so rapidly that today it has been used for government, non-government, profitable, non profitable as well as the corporate world. The effect and impact on business intelligence system on various aspects of economy are increasing year to year. Recently, it is being used in the food industry as well. Many advanced techniques give rise to efficient methods and ways to provide a robust and effective environment for implementing BI systems in the food manufacturing industry domain; which is one of the most important industries across the globe. Hence this makes quite sense that this area would make use of such BI tools and take advantage in the similar manner as marketing firms and financial departments for understanding their customer needs, increasing efficiency and for keeping track of the rising demands. This paper discusses a BI system on a food manufacturing industry; National Foods Canada along with the characteristics, data, methodology as well as tools used in the system. Also examples with references of the business intelligence systems used in the food manufacturing industries are presented. Keywords: Business intelligence, data warehouse, foods industry. |
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Abstract: Pesticide is considered as the most widely used form of agricultural chemical. Pesticide residue is the remaining pesticide on or in soil after pesticide is applied on agriculture soil. Soil is a component that is crucial to life. The research purposely concerned on major effects that could be contributed from medium to unlimited application of pesticide. The soil samples were systematically collected from 5 plots and Paraquat residues concentrations were determined in dissimilar depth of soil layers. The herbicide used was Paraquat that contained Paraquat Dichloride. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis detected the peak area volumes of Paraquat in soil samples at level ranging from 0.3 to 5.9 mg/l. The concentration of Paraquat in sandy clay loam soil showed that herbicide leached downward to the depth of 15 cm. The maximum concentration of Paraquat residue was detected at 0 to15 cm of soil depth at 2.783 mg/l. In highly organic soils, adsorption is weaker and Paraquat remains herbicidally active for longer, up to 29 days in one trial on soil with 98% organic matter [1]. Oral dose, LD50 for human is equal to 40-60 mg/kg [2] while the lowest fatal dose recorded for human was 17 mg/kg, but even lower doses may be fatal for children [3]. Keywords: Paraquat, pesticide residue, herbicide, sandy clay loam soil, high performance liquid chromatography.Download Full Article |
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Abstract: The forestry sector in Algeria is confronted for the years 1965 to a resurgence of the fires that destroy averaged 48 000 ha per year, or 12% of forest areas. As a result of repeated fires, a pyrophyte vegetation develops on degraded soils and from which the spontaneous regeneration of forest stands and reforestation are very difficult. The Algerian forest sustainable management must therefore be informed by an assessment of the physico-chemical quality of burned soils and the vulnerability of microbial activities in this disturbance Any rehabilitation or regeneration of the burned forest ecosystems program must take into consideration the impact of the fires on the ground [1] and therefore evaluate a large number of soil properties [2]. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of spectroscopy in the near infra-red to predict the time since the last fire and burned some microbiological characteristics of soil. This study is interested in the pine forests of the Algerian semi arid floor Aleppo pines. Promising results have shown a prediction rather senssible of the time since the last fire. The advantages of the SPIR are many. This method is fast, inexpensive and non-destructive. Keywords: Fire, forest, vulnerability, soil, NIRS.Download Full Article |