An investigation of Ca-doped MgO nanoparticles for the improved catalytic degradation of thiamethoxam pesticide subjected to visible light irradiation.

The remediation of pesticides from the environment is one of the most important technology nowadays. Herein, magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles and calcium-doped magnesium oxide (Ca-doped MgO) nanoparticles were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and were used for the degradation of thiamethoxam pesticide in aqueous media. Characterization of the MgO and Ca-doped MgO nanoparticles were performed by XRD, SEM, EDX, and FT-IR analysis to verify the synthesis and variations in chemical composition. The band gap energy and crystalline size of MgO and Ca-doped MgO nanoparticles were found to be 4.8 and 4.7 eV and 33 and 34 nm respectively. The degradation of thiamethoxam was accomplished regarding the impact of catalyst dosage, contact time, temperature, pH, and initial pesticide concentration. The pH study indicates that degradation of thiamethoxam depends on pH and maximum degradation (66%) was obtained at pH 5 using MgO nanoparticles. In contrast, maximum degradation (80%) of thiamethoxam was observed at pH 8 employing Ca-doped MgO nanoparticles. The percentage degradation of thiamethoxam was initially increasing but decreased at higher doses of the catalysts. The degradation of the pesticide was observed to be increased with an increase in contact time while high at room temperature but decreased with a temperature rise. The effect of the initial concertation of pesticide indicates that degradation of pesticide increases at low concentrations but declines at higher concentrations. This research study reveals that doping of MgO nanoparticles with calcium enhanced the degradation of thiamethoxam pesticide in aqueous media.

Facile green approach towards the synthesis of some phenyl piperazine based dithiocarbamates as potent hemolytic and thrombolytic agents.

The facile and efficient protocol for the synthesis of N-phenyl piperazine based di-thio-carbamates has been reported under neat conditions. A library of novel piperazine based di-thio-carbamates (3a-h) in excellent yields has been prepared. Solvent free, catalyst free and easy work up conditions make this protocol an attractive synthetic protocol to achieve novel biologically active di-thio-carbamates. The synthesized molecules have been characterized by FT-IR, 1HNMR and 13CNMR spectroscopic techniques. The pharmacological aspects of these derivatives have been evaluated via hemolysis and thrombolysis. All the target molecules (3a-h) exhibit mild to medium potential as hemolytic and thrombolytic agents. Among the synthesized derivatives, compound 3c showed least cytotoxicity and better thrombolytic potential.

Probing the impact of conventional oil frying on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in rabbit meat.

The study estimates, for the first time, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentration (pyrene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluorene, and naphthalene) in rabbit meat samples. The study explores the effect of frying and the influence of cooking recipe (with or without condiments/additives) on different parts (hind legs, forelegs, and back), on PAH generation. A total of 36 meat samples on different parts from uncooked, cooked, chapli, and seekh kebabs were prepared and characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). PAHs data in all the samples indicate that cooking recipes (with and without additives/condiments) greatly affected the PAHs concentration. Significant concentrations of phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and naphthalene were formed in all the samples after cooking (frying) but naphthalene was dominant in terms of its concentration formed. A higher concentration of naphthalene was detected in the foreleg (4.56 µg/g) as well as in the hind leg (4.08 µg/g) seekh kebab (with additives), while foreleg chapli kebab (with additives) contained 1.44 µg/g PAH concentration. Frying is the processing methodology that causes the highest impact on PAHs. Contents of anthracene were detected only in the back (raw sample and chapli kebab), foreleg (without additives and seekh kebab), and hind leg (seekh kebab). In all rabbit meat samples, fluorene and pyrene were not identified.