Four non-woods such as, dhaincha (Sesbania bispinosa), jute stick (Corchorus capsularis), wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) and corn stalks (Zea mays) were cooked by potassium hydroxide (KOH) at the optimum conditions of soda pulping. Dhaincha, wheat straw and corn stalks were delignified to kappa number 19.4, 13.6 and 19, respectively, while jute stick was not delignified sufficiently (kappa number 32.5). All these four raw materials maintained good yield in KOH process. Dhaincha produced the highest pulp yield (50.5%) and wheat straw had the lowest pulp yield (44.7). All pulps were bleached by D0EpD1 bleaching sequences in identical bleaching conditions. Final pulp brightness reached to above 80% ISO except jute stick pulp. Jute stick pulp reached to 74.9% brightness only after the consumption of 30 kg ClO2/ ton of pulp. The overall bleaching yields were 92.6%, 88.4%, 90.1 and 90.8% for dhaincha, jute stick, wheat straw and corn stalks pulps, respectively. The oSR of these four non-wood bleached pulps was above 20, consequently improved papermaking in the unrefined state. Beating rapidly increased papermaking properties, as for example, the tensile index of dhaincha pulps increased from 49 N.m/g in the unrefined pulp to 90 N.m/g in the beaten 50 oSR. It can be seen that KOH is a good substitute to soda process for non-wood.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res.53(1), 1-6, 2018

Activated carbon was prepared by phosphoric acid (H3PO4) activation of potassium hydroxide (KOH) pulping spent liquor lignin from rice straw and compared with KOH hydroxide activation. The process parameters, such as impregnation ratio, activation temperature, and activation time were varied and their effects on the yield of activated carbon and iodine number were studied. The activated carbon prepared by H3PO4 at 800°C for 60 min at an impregnation ratio of 2.5 reached a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1063 m2/g, including pore diameter of 14.4 nm, iodine number of 525 mg/g, and yield of 49.2%. Yield and BET surface area in KOH activation was much lower than that of H3PO4.

Background: Sealers with antimicrobial properties play an important role in endodontic therapy success especially against Enterococcus faecalis infection found in failed root canal therapy. Addition of antibiotic agents to endodontic sealers may show significant increase in their antibacterial properties both against anaerobic and aerobic microbes. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate antimicrobial efficacy of Kerr pulp canal sealer (EWT) in combination with 10% amoxicillin against E. faecalis and post-root canal treatment viability of Enterococcus faecalis on the first and seventh day. Methods: A total of 60 extracted human mandibular premolar teeth were decoronated after initial decontamination with 1% NaOCl. Root length standardized to 12 mm. Canal instrumentation was done using ProTaper Universal file system till size F2 using 5.25% NaOCl. It was then infected with a pure strain of E. faecalis for a period of four days. Obturation was done using plain sealer, (n=30) and sealer-antibiotic combination, (n=30). Half of the teeth were sectioned at 24 hours (S, SA) and other half were sectioned seven days after obturation (S7, SA7). All samples were stained with SYTO9 and propidium iodide for imaging under Confocal Laser Scanning microscope. Statistical analysis was performed with the statistical software SPSS v. 17.0 (SPSS for Windows; SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Data was analysed using One Way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test to determine statistical significance with p value < 0.01 considered significant. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in green to red ratio between group S (9.561976) and S7 (0.435418) (p < 0.01). There was no difference found between SA (mean of green to red ratio, (0.70431) and SA7 (mean of green to red ratio, 0.85184). Conclusions: Antibiotics added to the sealer effectively eradicated of E. faecalis 24 hours post-obturation. However, after seven days, plain sealer was as effective as sealer-antibiotic combination.

Background: Sealers with antimicrobial properties play an important role in endodontic therapy success especially against Enterococcus faecalis infection found in failed root canal therapy. Addition of antibiotic agents to endodontic sealers may show significant increase in their antibacterial properties both against anaerobic and aerobic microbes. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate antimicrobial efficacy of Kerr pulp canal sealer (EWT) in combination with 10% amoxicillin against E. faecalis and post-root canal treatment viability of Enterococcus faecalis on the first and seventh day. Methods: A total of 60 extracted human mandibular premolar teeth were decoronated after initial decontamination with 1% NaOCl. Root length standardized to 12 mm. Canal instrumentation was done using ProTaper Universal file system till size F2 using 5.25% NaOCl. It was then infected with a pure strain of E. faecalis for a period of four days. Obturation was done using plain sealer, (n=30) and sealer-antibiotic combination, (n=30). Half of the teeth were sectioned at 24 hours (S, SA) and other half were sectioned seven days after obturation (S7, SA7). All samples were stained with SYTO9 and propidium iodide for imaging under Confocal Laser Scanning microscope. Statistical analysis was performed with the statistical software SPSS v. 17.0 (SPSS for Windows; SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Data was analysed using One Way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test to determine statistical significance with p value < 0.01 considered significant. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in green to red ratio between group S (9.561976) and S7 (0.435418) (p < 0.01). There was no difference found between SA (mean of green to red ratio, (0.70431) and SA7 (mean of green to red ratio, 0.85184). Conclusions: Antibiotics added to the sealer effectively eradicated of E. faecalis 24 hours post-obturation. However, after seven days, plain sealer was as effective as sealer-antibiotic combination.