Feroza Hamid Wattoo

A method optimization study for atomic absorption spectrophotometric determination of total zinc in insulin using direct aspiration technique

Abstract A sensitive, reliable and relative fast method has been developed for the determination of total zinc in insulin by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. This designed study was used to optimize the procedures for the existing methods. Spectrograms of both standard and sample solutions of zinc were recorded by measuring the absorbance at 213.9 nm for determination of total zinc. System suitability parameters were evaluated and were found to be within the limits. Linearity was evaluated through graphical representation of concentration versus absorbance. Repeatability (intra-day) and intermediate precision (inter-day) were assessed by analyzing working standard solutions. Accuracy and robustness were experimented from the standard procedures. The percentage recovery of zinc was found to be 99.8%, relative standard deviation RSD 1.13%, linearity of determination LOD 0.0032 μg/mL, and limit of quantization LOQ 0.0120 μg/mL. This developed and proposed method was then validated in terms of accuracy, precision, linearity and robustness which can be successfully used for the quantization of zinc in insulin.

In-vitro binding assay study of 99mTc-flouroquinolones with E. coli, Salmonella and Ps. aeruginosa

Abstract A simple methodology was developed to evaluate binding efficiency of antibiotic members of fluoroquinolones, namely ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and enorfloxacin, complexed with 99mTc, against Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial strains. Radioactivity in the pellet, tips supernatant and micro-centrifugation tubes was counted separately for 5 s in a sodium iodide well-counter with dedicated nuclear medicine software. The overall percentage activity of the live and killed bacteria was found in the range of 5–46% with different types of labelled quinolones and bacteria. Activity of the labelled enorfloxacin and ciprofloxacin indicated acceptable results for both live and killed E. coli and Ps. aeruginosa. However, ofloxacin was found to be moderate for all the live bacterial stains. This developed methodology has achieved more than 95% labelling efficiency of 99mTc with derivatized quinolones and also the observed results indicated that these complexes may be used as an infection specific imaging agents.

Development and optimization of sweet cream butter from buffaloes at cottage scale

The research was intended to optimize and scientifically evaluate the traditional/ household butter making methods for getting good quality and yield of butter by standardizing cream fat levels and altering churning temperatures during butter making. In the present study, cream fat levels were standardized at 30, 35 and 40% and they were churned at different temperatures (8, 10 and 12°C) for making butter samples. The parameters used for quality assessment of butter were significantly influenced by cream fat levels and churning temperature and their interactions. Higher yield (88%) of butter with more total solids (89.17%) was obtained when cream standardized at 35% fat level and churned at 10°C while less non fat solids and moisture content was observed at these levels. A decreasing trend in pH was accompanied with an increase in fat level and churning temperature in all samples. Free fatty acids increased as a function of cream fat levels and churning temperatures. Most of the organoleptic parameters received higher scores when butter samples were prepared from the cream at 35% fat level and churned at 10°C. Using these conditions of fat levels and churning temperature, high quality butter can be produced at cottage scale. Key words : Butter quality, churning temperature, optimization, cottage scale, sweet cream.

Impact of Inorganic Arsenicals on Vegetative Growth of Two Pakistani Origins Sunflower Cultivars

Inorganic arsenicals impact on vegetative growth of two sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivars (FH-385 as Hybrid 1 and FH-405 as Hybrid 2) was monitored. Various levels of two different sodium salts of arsenic, namely, sodium arsenate (Na2HAsO47H2O) as source of As5