Background: Pycnocycla spinosa Decne. ex Boiss is an aromatic plant which showed relaxant effects on isolated ileum contractions and antidiarrheal activity. Thirty four components have been extracted from P. spinosa essential oil, of which several major constituents were found to show seasonal variation. Objectives: The aim of this work is to evaluate the diurnal variation of its oil constituents during specific hours of the day. Materials and Methods:The Pycnocycla spinosa samples were collected at different times of the day. The hydro-distilled aerial parts oils of collected P. spinosa were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Results: Fourteen monoterpenoid and nine sesquiterpenoid components were identified, of which the fluctuating constituents were p-cymene, trans-β-ocimene, β-citronellol, citronellyl pentanoate, geranyl isovalerate, α-humulene, caryophyllen oxide, α-cadinol, and α-eudesmol. The content of p-cymene in the essential oil in different daily times varied from 0.16 to 4.19%, and the geranyl isovalerate 7.75 -23.99%. Conclusions: Essential oils with different qualities can be obtained according to the harvest time of the plant in a day.

Considerable amounts of coal particles are accumulated in the tailing dams of washing plants which can make serious environmental problems. Recovery of these particles from tailings has economically and environmentally several advantages. Maintaining natural resources and reducing discharges to the dams are the most important ones. This study was examined the possibility to recover coal particles from a tailing dam with 56.29% ash content by using series of processing techniques. For this purpose, gravity separation (jig, shaking table and spiral) and flotation tests were conducted to upgrade products. Based the optimum value of these processing methods, a flowsheet was designed to increase the rate of recovery for a wide range of coal particles. Results indicated that the designed circuit can recover over 90% of value coal particles and reduce ash content of product to less than 14%. These results can potentially be used for designing an industrial operation as a recycling plant and an appropriate instance for other areas to reduce the environmental issues of coal tailing dams.

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