BACKGROUND Microbial contamination levels and corresponding sensitivities to gamma rays (GR) and elec- tron beam (EB) irradiation were tested in chamomile (Chamomile recutta L.). METHODS Chamomile powders were treated with 10 and 20 kGy by GR and EB, respectively. Microbiological and chemical analyses were performed on controls and treated samples immediately after irradiation, and after 12 m...

Scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used in conjunction with normal microbiological cultural techniques to examine some aspects of contamination of broiler carcass skin by bacteria during processing. The autochthonous skin microflora of poultry, before processing, was mainly Micrococcus spp. which were located in accumulations of sebum-like substances on the surface of the stratu...

Water quality data collection in shallow water areas can be a challenging task. Obstacles encountered in such environments include difficulty in covering large territories and the presence of inaccessible areas due to a variety of reasons such as a soft bottom or contamination. There is also a high probability of disturbing the test area while placing the sensors. This paper describes a NASA-fu...

Contamination of soils with heavy metals is widespread and poses a long-term risk to ecosystem health. Abandoned and active mining sites contain residues from ore-processing operations that are characterised by high concentrations of heavy metals. The distribution and mobility characteristics of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in paddy soil samples from Kočani Field (Macedonia) using ICP-...

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the influence of the breadmaking process on initial deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination. Samples (92) were taken from four batches of eight different types of products in a low-technology bakery. The final products, as well as the corresponding flours, doughs and fermented doughs were analyzed. Extracts were obtained with acetonitrile:water (84:16), th...

Article history: Received: 01.05.2016. Received in revised form: 25.07.2016. Accepted: 06.09.2016. This study presents the results of investigating the cause of contamination of aluminum oxide ceramics (Al2O3) in the form of brown colored stain. Contaminated ceramic surfaces were examined with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with the Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The res...

The wave function usually employed in quantum Monte Carlo ~QMC! electronic structure calculations is the product of a Jastrow factor and a sum of products of up-spin and down-spin determinants. Typically, a different Jastrow factor is used for paralleland antiparallel-spin electrons in order to satisfy the cusp conditions and thereby ensure that the local energy at electron– electron coincidenc...

A rapid method for preparing plasma membranes from bovine corpus luteum is described. Various fractions are isolated by differential centrifugation and discontinuous sucrose density gradients. The plasma membrane fractions have a density in sucrose of 1.16 and 1.18. The yield is 0.5 to 0.75 mg per g of corpus luteum. This fraction is characterized by electron microscopy, enzymatic assay, and bi...

Bundle sheath strands were isolated from maize (Zea mays L.) leaves treated with preparations of cellulase, hemicellulase, and pectinase. A three-phase discontinuous gradient yielded two fractions of envelope membranes from bundle sheath chloroplasts. Buoyant densities were 1.06 and 1.09 g cm(-3). The lighter fraction contained membrane vesicles under light microscopy, but centrifugation produc...