Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s

Steady natural convection in a square enclosure with wall length (L= 20 cm) partially filled by saturated porous medium with same fluid (lower layer) and air (upper layer) is investigated. The conceptual study of the achievements of the heat transfer is performed under effects of bottom heating by constant heat flux (q=150,300,450,600W/m2 ) for three heaters size (0.2,0.14,0.07)m with symmetrically cooling with constant temperature on two vertical walls and adiabatic top wall. The relevant filled studied parameters are four different porous medium heights (Hp=0.25L,0.5L, 0.75L, L), Darcey number (Da1) 3.025×10-8 and (Da2) 8.852×10-4 ) and Rayleigh number range (60.354 - 241.41), (1.304×106 – 5.2166×106 ) for Da1 and Da2 cases respecti

An improved Metal Solar Wall (MSW) with integrated thermal energy storage is presented in this research. The proposed MSW makes use of two, combined, enhanced heat transfer methods. One of the methods is characterized by filling the tested ducts with a commercially available copper Wired Inserts (WI), while the other one uses dimpled or sinusoidal shaped duct walls instead of plane walls. Ducts having square or semi-circular cross sectional areas are tested in this work.
A developed numerical model for simulating the transported thermal energy in MSW is solved by finite difference method. The model is described by system of three governing energy equations. An experimental test rig has been built and six new duct configurations have b

This paper reports a numerical study of flow behaviors and natural convection heat transfer characteristics in an inclined open-ended square cavity filled with air. The cavity is formed by adiabatic top and bottom walls and partially heated vertical wall facing the opening. Governing equations in vorticity-stream function form are discretized via finite-difference method and are solved numerically by iterative successive under relaxation (SUR) technique. A computer program to solve mathematical model has been developed and written as a code for MATLAB software. Results in the form of streamlines, isotherms, and average Nusselt number, are obtained for a wide range of Rayleigh numbers 10³-10⁶ with Prandtl number 0.71

Ab – initio restricted Hartree - Fock method within the framework of large unit cell (LUC) formalism is used to investigate the electronic structure of Si and Ge nanocrystals. The surface and core properties are investigated. A large unit cell of 8 atoms is used in the present analysis. Cohesive energy, energy gap, conduction and valence band widths are obtained from the electronic structure calculations. The results are compared with available experimental data and theoretical results of other investigators. The calculated lattice constant is found to be slightly larger than the corresponding experimental value because we use only 8 atoms and we compared the results with that of the bulk crystals, nanoclusters are expected to have str

The catalytic activity of faujasite type NaY catalysts prepared from local clay (kaolin) with different Si/Al ratio was studied using cumene cracking as a model for catalytic cracking process in the temperature range of 450-525° C, weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 5-20 h1, particle size ≤75μm and atmospheric pressure. The catalytic activity was investigated using experimental laboratory plant scale of fluidized bed reactor.
It was found that the cumene conversion increases with increasing temperature and decreasing WHSV. At 525° C and WHSV 5 h-1, the conversion was 42.36 and 35.43 mol% for catalyst with 3.54 Si/Al ratio and Catalyst with 5.75 Si/Al ratio, respectively, while at 450° C and at the same WHSV, the conversion w

In this work, Co-Y-oxide Nano Structure is successfully synthesized via hydrothermal method. The XRD analysis, SEM analysis, optical, electrical and photo sensing properties have been investigated for Co3O4 and Co-Y-oxide thin films. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that all films are polycrystalline in nature, having cubic structure. The SEM images of thin films clearly indicates that Co3O4 possesses nanosphere like structure and flower like for Co-Y-oxide. The optical properties show that the optical energy gap follows allowed direct electronic transition calculated using Tauc equation and it increases for Co-Y-oxide. The photo sensing properties of thin films are investigated as a function of time at different wavelengths to

Double skin ventilated roof is one of the important passive cooling techniques that aims to reduce solar heat gain through roofs by reducing both the conduction and convection heat transfer from the roof to the ceiling of buildings. On the other hand, radiant barrier system (RBS) is very powerful in blocking the radiation heat transfer between the two skins. In this research,the effect of placing a thin layer of aluminium foil at different locations on the thermal insulation performance of a double skin ventilated roof model is investigated experimentally and the optimum location that transmits less heat flux from the lower skinis specified.The model is made of two parallel inclined galvanized steel plates. Galvanized steel has been used