Castor oil was extracted by mechanical cold pressing (< 45 0 C) of the seeds of wild castor plant (Ricinus communis L.) found in wet marginal lands of Katsina, Nigeria. Oil yield was 39.43%. The virgin oil (obtained as clear, viscous, pale-yellow liquid) was further purified by filtration through sintered glass (fine mesh screen). This was to eliminate any dust, gum, or other particulates prese...

Applications of nanowires into future generation nanodevices require a complete understanding of the mechanical properties of the nanowires. A great research effort has been made in the past two decades to understand the deformation physics and mechanical behaviors of nanowires, and to interpret the discrepancies between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. This review focused...

Oil-based drilling fluid is used more and more in the field of oil and gas exploration. However, because of unrecyclable treating agent and hard treatment conditions, the traditional treating technologies of waste oil-based drilling fluid have some defects, such as waste of resource, bulky equipment, complex treatment processes, and low oil recovery rate. In this work, switchable deoiling agent...

BACKGROUND An outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease (MD) that involved employees from an oil refinery occurred in Paulínia, from March to June 2010, and spread to the community of Cosmópolis, both situated in São Paulo State, Brazil. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological and laboratory aspects, and the control measures that were implemented. METHODS Descriptive and...

Oil-swollen hexagonal mesophases resulting from the surfactant mediated self-assembly of a quaternary mixture of water, surfactant, co-surfactant, and oil, are versatile templates to synthesize anisotropic nanomaterials. Poly(diphenylbutadyine) (PDPB) polymer nanofibrous network structures were produced in the oil tubes of the mesophases by photo-induced radical polymerization using a chemical ...

BACKGROUND Rhaphiodon echinus is a weed plant used in the Brazilian folk medicinal for the treatment of infectious diseases. In this study, the essential oil of R. echinus leaf was investigated for its antimicrobial properties. METHODS The chemical constituents of the essential oil were characterized by GC-MS. The antimicrobial properties were determined by studying by the microdilution metho...

Releases of hydrocarbons from oil spills have large environmental impacts in both the ocean and atmosphere. Oil evaporation is not simply a mechanism of mass loss from the ocean, as it also causes production of atmospheric pollutants. Monitoring atmospheric emissions from oil spills must include a broad range of volatile organic compounds (VOC), including intermediate-volatile and semivolatile ...

Plant oleosomes are uniquely emulsified lipid reservoirs that serve as the primary energy source during seed germination. These oil bodies undergo significant changes regarding their size, composition and structure during normal seedling development; however, a detailed characterization of these oil body dynamics, which critically affect oil body extractability and nutritional value, has remain...