Chloroviruses are large viruses that replicate in chlorella-like green algae and normally exist as mutualistic endosymbionts (referred to as zoochlorellae) in protists such as Paramecium bursaria. Chlorovirus populations rise and fall in indigenous waters through time; however, the factors involved in these virus fluctuations are still under investigation. Chloroviruses attach to the surface of P. bursaria but cannot infect their zoochlorellae hosts because the viruses cannot reach the zoochlorellae as long as they are in the symbiotic phase. Predators of P. bursaria, such as copepods and didinia, can bring chloroviruses into contact with zoochlorellae by disrupting the paramecia, which results in an increase in virus titers in micr

Activation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) markedly attenuates development of atherosclerosis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanism is not well elucidated. Here, we show that the FXR agonist, obeticholic acid (OCA), increases fecal cholesterol excretion and macrophage reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) dependent on activation of hepatic FXR. OCA does not increase biliary cholesterol secretion, but inhibits intestinal cholesterol absorption. OCA markedly inhibits hepatic cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (Cyp7a1) and sterol 12α‐hydroxylase (Cyp8b1) partly through inducing small heterodimer partner, leading to reduced bile acid pool size and al

The river water salinity is a major concern in many countries, and salinity can be expressed as total dissolved solids. So, the water salinity impact of the river is one of the major factors effects of water quality. Tigris river water salinity increase with streamline and time due to the decrease in the river flow and dam construction from neighboring countries. The major objective of this research to developed salinity model to study the change of salinity and its impact on the Al-Karkh, Sharq Dijla, Al-Karama, Al-Wathba, Al-Dora, and Al-Wihda water treatment plant along Tigris River in Baghdad city using artificial neural network model (ANN). The parameter used in a model built is (Turbidity, Ec, T.s, S.s, and TDS in)

Phosphorus is usually the limiting nutrient for eutrophication in inland receiving waters; therefore, phosphorus concentrations must be controlled. In the present study, a series of jar test was conducted to evaluate the optimum pH, dosage and performance parameters for coagulants alum and calcium chloride. Phosphorus removal by alum was found to be highly pH dependent with an optimum pH of 5.7-6. At this pH an alum dosage of 80 mg/l removed 83 % of the total phosphorus. Better removal was achieved when the solution was buffered at pH = 6. Phosphorus removal was not affected by varying the slow mixing period; this is due to the fact that the reaction is relatively fast.
The dosage of calcium chloride and pH of solution play an importa

In this study water quality was indicated in terms of Water Quality Index that was determined through summarizing multiple parameters of water test results. This index offers a useful representation of the overall quality of water for public or any intended use as well as indicating pollution, which are useful in water quality management and decision making. The application of Water Quality Index (WQI) with ten physicochemical water quality parameters was performed to evaluate the quality of Euphrates River water for drinking usage. This was done by subjecting the water samples collected from seven stations within Al-Anbar province during the period 2004-2010 to comprehensive physicochemical analysis. The ten physicochemical parame

In this study water quality was indicated in terms of Water Quality Index that was determined through summarizing multiple parameters of water test results. This index offers a useful representation of the overall quality of water for public or any intended
use as well as indicating pollution, which are useful in water quality management and decision making. The application of Water Quality Index (WQI) with ten physicochemical water quality parameters was performed to evaluate the quality of Euphrates River water for drinking usage. This was done by subjecting the water samples collected from seven stations within Al-Anbar province during the period 2004-2010 to comprehensive physicochemical analysis. The ten physicochemical paramete

This paper provides the result of an investigation to use of crushed clay brick as
aggregates in producing concrete. Eight different crushed clay brick aggregate concretes were
used in this investigation. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and pulse velocity of
crushed clay brick aggregates concrete were determined and compare to natural aggregate
concrete. The compressive strength of crushed clay brick aggregates concretes were always
lower than the compressive strength of natural aggregates concrete regardless the age of
concrete, but the crushed clay brick aggregates concrete showed better performance as the age of
concrete increases and average reduction in compressive strength were 33.5% at the age

Research aims to develop a novel technique for segmental beam fabrication using plain concrete blocks and externally bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers Laminates (CFRP) as a main flexural reinforcement. Six beams designed an experimentally tested under two-point loadings. Several parameters included in the fabrication of segmental beam studied such as; bonding length of carbon fiber reinforced polymers, the surface-to-surface condition of concrete segments, interface condition of the bonding surface, and thickness of epoxy resin layers. Test results of the segmental beams specimens compared with that gained from testing reinforced concrete beam have similar dimensions for validations. The results show the effectiven

Incident laser power and concentration effects on fluorescence emission from DCM dye in PMMA polymer have been investigated. Different concentrations of the dye were used. It was found that the fluorescence intensity increased with increasing of the concentration of the dye, with a red shift. In addition, it was found that the fluorescence intensity increased with the increase of the incident laser power I0.