ABSTRACT A new liquid scintillation counting technique to resolve mixtures of two pure beta-emitting radionuclides Winifred Margaret van Wyngaardt Submitted November 2007 Methods currently available for the accurate activity resolution of dual-label solutions of pure β-emitting radionuclides are mostly time consuming and involve much effort. The goal of this thesis was therefore to devise a simpler method to achieve the same objective. The technique developed is based on elements of two liqu...
ABSTRACT The synthesis, characterization, spectroscopic and biological evaluation of 2-benzoylpyridine-s-methyldithiocarbazate (HL1 ) and di-2-pyradylketone-s-methyldithiocarbazate (HL2 ) with selected metal ions of copper (II), zinc (II), cadmium (II), nickel (II), iron (II) and cobalt (II). The ligands, HL1 and HL2 were synthesized by an acid catalyzed condensation reaction of s-methyldithiocarbazate with 2-benzoylpyradine and di-2-pyradylketone respectively. The reaction of metal salts wi...
ABSTRACT Mining is a major contributor to water pollution, which can lead to accumulation of heavy metals in aquatic systems. Mining activities in the Karstveld, specifically in the Tsumeb-Grootfontein-Otavi area, may potentially result in heavy metal pollution of water sources. A seasonal study was conducted to assess the concentration of heavy metals in aquatic systems that receive water from the Karstveld aquifer. The potential of locally occurring fish and crab species as bio-indicators ...
ABSTRACT Ozone (O3) is an allotrope of oxygen occurring naturally in the earth’s atmosphere. Its importance in environmental issues is well documented and cannot be overemphasized. Ozone reacts with carbon-carbon multiple bonds such as in alkenes via the ozonolysis process. The first step of ozonolysis involves the formation of an important but very unstable primary ozonide (POZ) which after formation, immediately rearranges to the more stable secondary ozonide (SOZ). Due to its instabilit...
ABSTRACT In order to investigate the interaction mechanism between Cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) and Moringa oleifera seeds coagulant protein (MOCP), CdSe QDs with hexagonal phase and crystalline size of 3.1-8.1 nm were synthesized in presence of organic solvent Trioctyl-n-phosphine oxide (TOPO) and Trioctyl phosphene (TOP) using colloidal synthesis. The purified mesoporous M. oleifera seeds coagulant protein (MOCP) with a surface area of 8.4134 m2 /g, was extracted from M. olei...
ABSTRACT Commiphora wildii (Omumbiri), a member of the Burseraceae family, is the most important resin‒producing plant used by Himba women for perfume. The Opuwo Processing Facility (OPF) is currently producing Omumbiri essential oil which they supply to companies in Namibia, South Africa, Germany and France. However, most of their products are sold in Southern Africa, and supply outweighs the demand. OPF is currently working on improving the reproducibility of production of the oil to mak...
ABSTRACT The synthesis and characterization, spectroscopic, and biological studies of 2-acetylferrocenyl-4- phenylthiosemicarbazone, 2-acetylferrocenyl-4-methylthiosemicarbazone, 2-acetylpyridine-2- thiophenecarboxylsemicarbazone and 2-acetylferrocenyl-2-thiophenecarboxylsemicarbazone with copper(II) chloride are reported here. The ligands were synthesized by condensation reaction of appropriate carbonyl and amine compounds. The reactions were carried out in the presence of acetic acid. The ...
Abstract Waste waters from eight selected industries namely Tema Oil Refinery, Tuyee Manufacturing Industries, Cocoa Processing Company, Tema Lube Oil Company Limited, Pioneer Food Cannery Limited, Bridaltrust Paints Company Limited, Ghana Textiles Manufacturing Company and Ghana Textiles Printing Company Limited were sampled and subjected to various physico-chemical and trace metal analysis to determine levels of pollutants, using standard methods of WHO, AO AC and APHA. Generally, the ROD v...
ABSTRACT Lanthanide complexes have been established as promising agents in their application as catalysts and photo-luminescent materials. Recent research has been geared towards the optical application of these lanthanide complexes, especially as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) for TV screens, phones and other portable electronic devices. The luminescent ability of these complexes is largely dependent on the choice of ligand environment. We report here for the first time lanthanide comp...
ABSTRACT The Rhodococcus sp. M1042 is a new microbial strain that was isolated from soil sediments collected from Munzur Valley in Tunceli, Turkey. Species in this genus have been found to harbour extensive secondary metabolic pathways that produce novel metabolites with bioactivity with industrial and environmental bio-applications. The complete genome sequence of this strain contains 5,948,800 mega base pairs with 230 NRPS, PKS and NRPS-PKS gene clusters, some of which have been identified ...
ABSTRACT Medicinal plants represent an important class of various traditional medicines. Over the years, their usage in primary health care intervention has increased in both developed and developing nations. Nowadays herbs are known to be the storehouses of most potential toxic elements (PTEs). In Ghana, most studies on PTEs have focused on only single environmental compartment to characterize medicinal plant contamination. In the present study, an integrated sampling programme that relates ...
ABSTRACT Malaria and tuberculosis continue to be endemic in Africa and several other regions across the globe. Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted by the female anopheles’ mosquito. Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for human malaria in most part of Africa and Plasmodium vivax causes malaria in Asia. Tuberculosis on the other hand is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is propelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes or even talks. Together, these two diseases are resp...
ABSTRACT Good aqueous solubility and permeability of a drug is essential for the desired concentration (bioavailability) to be achieved in systemic circulation. Poor solubility of drugs remains a major challenge in pharmaceutical firms. Such drugs lead to poor bioavailability, dissolution rates, stability, permeation through membrane and extensive presystemic metabolism. Oral route remains the preferred choice of drug administration but the poor solubility of Griseofulvin, a class II drug o...
ABSTRACT Depletion rates of three triazine herbicides, atrazine, simazine and ametrine and two urea based herbicides, diuron and metobromuron, under laboratory conditions have been investigated in soil samples collected from GAEC, a coastal savannah soil, and KNUST, a forest zone soil. Two hundred grammes of the soil samples were treated with herbicides standard solution to generate herbicide-soil the concentration of 10 pg/g and incubated at room temperature for 12 weeks. TLC methodology wa...
Western Region is the largest cocoa producer in Ghana. Cocoa farmlands have over the past decades received heavy doses of agrochemical application to boost cocoa production. These agrochemicals, however, may contain heavy metals and it is therefore likely that the metals may have accumulated in the soils. Evaluating the total concentrations and understanding the distribution characteristics of heavy metals in cocoa growing soils can aid environmental managers and even help regulate the r...