Monitoring of mercury in environmental samples, with its proven toxicity on the food chain, requires sensitive and accurate analytical techniques. In this study, two methods for identification and quantification of total mercury in biological and sediment samples are compared: i) dry ash preparation and subsequent established procedures for Combustion Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, (AMA 254) ...

Don’t put metal objects in the microwave’ is common safety advice. But why? Here we describe demonstration experiments involving placing household metallic objects in a microwave oven. These allow a better understanding of the interaction of microwaves with materials. Light bulbs and discharge lamps can also be used in instructive demonstrations. M This article features online multimedia enhanc...

The microwave leakage from current microwave ovens, which are manufactured to meet government emission standards, is reviewed. Typical leakage values imply exposure values well below the most conservative exposure standards in the world. A review of recent developments discloses increasingly stringent government regulation along with advances in techniques for suppression of microwave leakage. ...

UNLABELLED The type IV dental stone is widely used for the fabrication of dyes and master casts for fixed and removable partial prostheses. It is typically normal to wait at least 24 hours for the casts to dry prior to beginning the laboratory procedures. The waiting time has been shown to be greatly reduced by using microwave drying. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the influence of drying tec...

We investigated microwave-stimulated fixation of tissues for transmission electron microscopy using a domestic microwave oven operating at a frequency of 2.45 GHz with an output power of 500W. Microwave-stimulated fixation, in 4% glutaraldehyde, of fresh rat kidney, liver, heart and brain tissues was compared to conventional fixation. Human renal biopsies were similarly studied. Electron micros...

Due to inherent nature of standing wave patterns of microwaves inside a cavity and dielectric properties of different components in a food, microwave heating leaves non-uniform distribution of energy inside the food volumetrically. Achieving heating uniformity plays critical role in improving the safety of microwave heated products. In this paper, we present a method for assessing heating unifo...

in this research an experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications and 11 treatments was conducted of mentha piperita. treatments consisted of dryer drying, artificial shade drying, oven drying (50 and 70 °c), and microwave drying with different powers (100, 180, 300, 450, 600 and 900 w) and fresh sample as control. the end time of each treatment determined on the basi...

The cost of drying carpet which is done toward the end of the manufacturing process, is quite high. The carpet industry has been using convection drying for many years. Little attention has been given to quantifying the effect of microwave power during the drying of carpet. An experimental system was developed whereby air was introduced into the cavity of a domestic microwave oven. The resu...

Decoction of Kampo medicines plays an important role in clinical practice, especially in individualized treatment, while the inconvenience and a long time requirement of the decocting process are impediments to its widespread use in Japan. In this study, we improved the decocting method by using a microwave oven such as those found in most kitchens. To validate the feasibility and safety of thi...