Studies from our laboratory have shown that Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), an ingredient found in marijuana plant Cannabis sativa, can attenuate acute lung injury induced by Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB). In the current study, we investigated the role of THC on the metabolism of SEB-activated lymphocytes. To this end, we determined metabolic potential of SEB-activated lymphocytes treated with vehicle or THC by performing the Cell Mito Stress Test. The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in THC-treated cells was decreased when compared to vehicle-treated group whereas the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) was similar in both the groups. Specifically, electron transport chain inhibitors namely, oligomycin, FCCP and rotenone+antimycinA were added to measure ATP-linked respiration, maximal respiration and non-mitochondrial respiration, respectively. THC treatment led to a significant decrease in the basal respiration, ATP production, proton (H+) leak, maximal respiration, spare respiratory capacity and nonmitochondrial respiration. We also performed the Mito Fuel Flex assay to measure the dependency, capacity and flexibility of cells to oxidize glucose, glutamine and fatty acids. Treatment with inhibitors, BPTES and etomoxir showed a decline in the OCR in SEB+vehicle treated cells demonstrating that glutamine and/or fatty acids serve as major source of fuel in these cells when compared to SEB+THC treated group. However, when UK5099 was added, THC- and vehicle-treated cells showed a reduced response thereby indicating that glucose dependency was similar in both the groups. Together, THC modulates metabolic functions of activated lymphocytes which may affect their signaling, differentiation and toxicity.
Text Clustering consists of grouping objects of similar categories. The initial centroids influence operation of the system with the potential to become trapped in local optima. The second issue pertains to the impact of a huge number of features on the determination of optimal initial centroids. The problem of dimensionality may be reduced by feature selection. Therefore, Wind Driven Optimization (WDO) was employed as Feature Selection to reduce the unimportant words from the text. In addition, the current study has integrated a novel clustering optimization technique called the WDO (Wasp Swarm Optimization) to effectively determine the most suitable initial centroids. The result showed the new meta-heuristic which is WDO was employed as t
... Show MoreThe research aims to clarify the COBIT5 framework for IT governance and to develop of a criterion based on Balanced Scorecard that contributes in measuring the performance of IT governance. To achieve these goals, the researchers adopted the deductive approach in the design of balanced scorecard to measure the IT governance at the Bank of Baghdad that was chosen because it relied heavily on IT.
The research has reached a number of conclusions, the most important of which is that the performance of IT department in the Bank of Baghdad falls within the good level that requires constant monitoring, the most committed items of Balanced Scorecard by the Bank were customer, internal operation, growth and finally the financial item; IT
... Show More Purpose - The study aimed at evaluating the accounting system of the Iraqi political parties, which is applied according to legislative texts, and then the ability to provide accounting information to evaluate the strategic performance and control of the party's operational and financial performance.
Findings- The research found that the unified accounting system applied to political parties does not provide relevance informations to judge the performance of the political party, the researcher a proposal for an accounting system that provides the necessary information to measure and monitor the performance of Iraqi political parties can be presented. The
This research aims at identifying the level of Moral Awareness and the level of Authoritarian Parenting Style of Secondary School Students in Baghdad. Additionally, the study seeks to identify the significant difference between these two variables in term of gender (male-female), as well as the correlation between Moral Awareness and Authoritarian Parenting Style. To do this, the researchers have adopted the scale of moral awareness prepared by the (Assl 2014), which the number of its items was finalized of (28) items. As for the Authoritarian Parenting Style scale, the researcher designed a questionnaire of (22) items as the number of its finalized form. The two instruments were applied on a sample of (140) male and female Students who
... Show MoreAn extensive program of laboratory testing was conducted on ring footing rested on gypseous soil brought from the north of Iraq (Salah El-Deen governorate) with a gypsum content of 59%. There are limited researches available, and even fewer have been done experimentally to understand how to ring footings behave; almost all the previous works only concern the behavior of ring footing under vertical loads, Moreover, relatively few studies have examined the impact of eccentric load and inclined load on such footing. In this study, a series of tests, including dry and wet tests, were carried out using a steel container (600×600×600) mm, metal ring footing (100 mm outer diameter and 40 mm inner diameter) was placed in the m
... Show MoreA New developed technique to estimate the necessary six elastic constants of homogeneous laminate of special orthotropic properties are presented in this paper for the first time. The new approach utilizes the elasto-static deflection behavior of composite cantilever beam employing the famous theory of Timoshenko. Three extracted strips of the composite plate are tested for measuring the bending deflection at two locations. Each strip is associated to a preferred principal axis and the deflection is measured in two orthogonal planes of the beam domain. A total of five trails of testing is accomplished and the numerical results of the stiffness coefficients are evaluated correctly under the contribution of the macromechanic
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Social media has thrived recently and public organizations at Thi-Qar governorate across different levels are experimenting with launching government social media (GSM) to facilitating two-way interactions between the government and its citizens. Both scholars and practitioners are focusing on understanding the key success factors related to the create of GSM. This study aimed to identify the key success factors by exploring the formation mechanism of individuals’ continuous usage intention. Through the theoretical perspective of the uses and gratifications theory. We identify the gratification factors that stimulate users’ continuance intention toward GSM. Furthermore, we draw upon the stimulus–organism–
... Show MoreRate of penetration plays a vital role in field development process because the drilling operation is expensive and include the cost of equipment and materials used during the penetration of rock and efforts of the crew in order to complete the well without major problems. It’s important to finish the well as soon as possible to reduce the expenditures. So, knowing the rate of penetration in the area that is going to be drilled will help in speculation of the cost and that will lead to optimize drilling outgoings. In this research, an intelligent model was built using artificial intelligence to achieve this goal. The model was built using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system to predict the rate of penetration in
... Show MoreBy optimizing the efficiency of a modular simulation model of the PV module structure by genetic algorithm, under several weather conditions, as a portion of recognizing the ideal plan of a Near Zero Energy Household (NZEH), an ideal life cycle cost can be performed. The optimum design from combinations of NZEH-variable designs, are construction positioning, window-to-wall proportion, and glazing categories, which will help maximize the energy created by photovoltaic panels. Comprehensive simulation technique and modeling are utilized in the solar module I-V and for P-V output power. Both of them are constructed on the famous five-parameter model. In addition, the efficiency of the PV panel is established by the genetic algorithm
... Show MoreEthanolic crude extracts of leaves from Laurus nobilis and Alhagi maurorumfor were screened for alkaloids, saponins, tannins, anthraquinones, steroids, flavonoids, glycosides, and glucosides contents. Biochemical activities, including antibacterial activity, antioxidant, and antihemolytic activity, were investigated. Antibacterial activity against Three types of pathogenic bacteria was detected by disc diffusion analysis and characterized by zone of inhibition (ZOI). Antioxidant properties were determined by a diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Results revealed that the inhibitory activity of the plants against G+ve and G-ve bacteria were different, where the greatest ZOI of Alhagi maurorum a
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