Background: Lightweight cryptographic algorithms have been the focus of many researchers in the past few years. This has been inspired by the potential developments of lightweight constrained devices and their applications. These algorithms are intended to overcome the limitations of traditional cryptographic algorithms in terms of exaction time, complex computation and energy requirements. Methods: This paper proposes LAES, a lightweight and simplified cryptographic algorithm for constricted environments. It operates on GF(24), with a block size of 64 bits and a key size of 80-bit. While this simplified AES algorithm is impressive in terms of processing time and randomness levels. The fundamental architecture of LAES is expounded using mathematical proofs to compare and contrast it with a variant lightweight algorithm, PRESENT, in terms of efficiency and randomness level. Results: Three metrics were used for evaluating LAES according to the NIST cryptographic applications statistical test suite. The testing indicated competitive processing time and randomness level of LAES compared to PRESENT. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that LAES achieves comparable results to PRESENT in terms of randomness levels and generally outperform PRESENT in terms of processing time.

To convert vegetable edible oils into vanaspati ghee, nickel is used as a catalyst in the hydrogenation process. A simple and fast method for the trace level determination of nickel in ghee is reported. In this work different methods were applied for the extraction of residual nickel from ghee samples. Using toluene, benzene and carbon tetrachloride as organic solvents, an acid mixture was used for the extraction of nickel. Extracted nickel was quantified with atomic absorption and colorimetric methods. Among the organic solvents, toluene proved to be the best solvent mediating a 95% extraction of nickel from ghee samples. Nickel was extracted and determined in ten different brands of ghee and in all samples its amount was well above the permissible limit of WHO (0.2 mg/g). Other metals like lead, zinc, copper, and cadmium were also determined and their concentrations were found to be much below the WHO permissible limits. Environmental Levels and Human ExposureNickel levels in terrestrial and aquatic organisms can vary over several orders of magnitude. Typical atmospheric nickel levels for human exposure range from about 5 to 35 ng/m 3 at rural and urban sites, leading to a nickel uptake via inhalation of 0.1-0.7 mg/day. Nickel in the drinking-water is generally less than 10 mg/L, but occasionally may be released from the plumbing fittings, resulting in concentrations of up to 500 mg/litre. 4 Nickel concentrations in food are usually below 0.5 mg/kg fresh weight. Daily intake of nickel from food will vary widely because of different dietary habits and can

Abstract:The comparative adsorption studies of Cr (VI) on nano and micro-powder Fe 2 O 3 were investigated using kinetics and batch adsorption techniques. The uptake of chromate onto both the oxides of iron was observed to be dependent on the pH, contact time, temperature, media dosage and concentration of chromate anions. The values of sorption maxima were higher in the case of Fe 2 O 3 nanopowder than the micro-powder which can be ascribed to the high surface area and point of zero charge (PZC) of the former oxide. The Dubinin-Radushkivech and Langmuir models were found well fitted for the description of the batch adsorption data. The FTIR studies confirmed that the hexavalent chromium was adsorbed onto both the iron oxides in the form of the Cr 2 O 7 2-.