f. mohammed

This work investigated the optimization of process parameters for catalytic pyrolysis of waste tyre using reactivated spent Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst. The waste tyre pyrolysis used design expert software as the optimization tool for this study. A 3-factor level CCD with 20 experimental runs was used with temperature, time and catalyst as the input parameters while oil yield, density and viscosity were the output variables. Thereafter, an experimental validation of the optimized parameters, which were not among the original experimental runs, was carried out. Pyrolysis was also carried out at the optimized conditions with un-reactivated catalyst and without catalyst to ascertain the contributions of the catalyst and its reactivation. Based on the optimum parameters, 48.5 wt. % oil (0.79 g/ml and 2.05 cSt) was produced with the reactivated catalyst, 43.4 wt. % (0.86 g/ml and 3.52 cSt) was produced with spent catalyst, and 51 wt. % oil (0.95 g/ml and 4.24 cSt) was produced without catalyst.  The oil yield without catalyst was higher than with reactivated catalyst (R-CAT); but it however had the lowest fuel qualities while oil produced with catalyst in turn had higher quantity and quality compared to oil produced with catalyst. Therefore, the incorporation of density and viscosity of the oil in the optimization of the catalytic pyrolysis of waste tyre enhanced the improvement of yield and quality of the oil produced.

Due to its beneficial components, such as glycyrrhizin, licorice is regarded a medicinal and fragrant plant. This research was designed to investigate the efficacy of licorice essential oil as an alternative to chemical antibiotics on broiler production, carcass features, cellular and humoral safety, and numerous biochemical variables in broiler blood serum. A total of 160 day-old broiler chicks were assigned to four treatment groups using a totally randomized approach. Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates, with 10 chicks in each replication. The experimental treatments included a control group, a group receiving an elemental diet containing 0.1% licorice essential oil, a group receiving an elemental diet containing 0.2% licorice essential oil, and a group receiving an elemental diet containing 0.3% licorice essential oil. Broilers had ad libitum access to feed and water in accordance with a three-phase feeding schedule consisting of a starter, grower, and finisher diet. There was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) in body weight, feed intake, or feed conversion ratio between birds given the control or essential oil licorice at various stages of the experiment. However, birds receiving 0.1% licorice essential oil had a lower gallbladder relative weight and 0.3% licorice essential oil had less abdominal fat than the control group (P<0.05). Blood glucose, cholesterol, and LDL concentrations all fell considerably in licorice essential oil-treated birds relative to controls (P<0.05). The cellular immune response of birds fed licorice-containing diets did not differ from that of control birds (P>0.05), however there was a significant difference in the humoral immune response at 0.1% licorice essential oil compared to the control group (P<0.05). In overall, the results of this experiment demonstrated that incorporating licorice essential oil into a bird's diet improves its health and safety.

Phytic acid is a stored form of phosphorus in cereals, 65 to 70% of phosphorus in plant sources is phytate, and broilers are only able to use part of the phosphorus in plant sources. To meet the needs of chickens, it is necessary to use other artificial resources, which not only impose part of the cost of the breeding period because of its presence in the manure but is one of the factors polluting the environment. This study aimed to use different levels of phytase enzyme to reduce dietary phosphorus levels. 600 Ross 308 broilers were used in this experiment with five treatments and six replications, and in each replication, 20 chickens were used in a completely randomized design (CRD). Experimental treatments include 1) basal diet (control) 2) basal diet with 15% less phosphorus 3) basal diet with 15% less phosphorus + 1250 (FTU) phytase enzyme 4) basal diet with 15% less phosphorus + 2500 (FTU) phytase enzyme 5) basal diet with 15% less phosphorus + 5000 (FTU) phytase enzyme. The evaluated traits included weekly feed intake, weekly weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass characteristics, ash, calcium, and bone phosphorus. The use of phytase enzyme in different diets had no significant effect on food intake, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio (P>0.05). However, the use of phytase in different diets significantly affected the percentage of Gizzard, Heart, Liver, Proventriculus, and Spleen (P<0.05). The most changes were the increase in the ratio of feed intake and weight gain in the fourth week compared to the third week so that the changes in the ratio of feed intake ranged from 1.85 to 1.91, and this ratio for weight gain also ranged from 3.12 to 3.86 was recorded, and the lowest feed conversion ratio was obtained at the same age. The percentage of raw ash in broiler chickens was significantly increased by adding dietary phytase. The lowest amount of ash, calcium, and phosphorus belonged to the second group (diets with low phosphorus and no enzyme). The difference between the other groups and the control was not significant. Feed intake, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio with the addition of phytase enzyme were not affected by phosphorus reduction and had no significant effect on carcass characteristics. Environmental pollution can be prevented by reducing the level of dietary phosphorus and reducing excreted phosphorus.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the world. Effective early detection and appropriate medications can help treat this deadly cancer. Therefore, early detection of lung cancer is of utmost importance, especially in screening high-risk populations (such as smokers) with an urgent need to identify new biomarkers. The present study aimed to demonstrate the potential of using the panel of DNA methylation as a biomarker for the early diagnosis of lung cancer from sputum samples. The methylated promoter of p16INK4a, RASSF1A, and MGMT genes was estimated by the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction in a sample of 84 lung cancer patients (65 smokers and 19 non-smokers). Based on the results, p16INK4a promoter methylation was significantly associated with smoking habit and lung cancer progression in terms of histological grading and patient staging. The sensitivity and specificity of the p16INK4a gene as a biomarker for lung cancer were 71% and 90%, respectively. The methylated promoter of RASSF1A was less sensitive (48%) as a biomarker for lung cancer with 83%. The results demonstrated a strong association between promoter methylation of RASSF1A and late stages of lung cancer (P=0.0007). The sensitivity of the MGMT gene as a biomarker for lung cancer was 61% with high specificity (92%), compared to other candidate genes in this study. The epigenetic alteration in the promoter region of p16INK4a, RASSF1A, and MGMT genes is highly associated with cancer cell development. It is suggested that the use of these candidate biomarkers can be used as an adjunct to computed tomography screening to diagnose patients at high risk for lung cancer after validation.