Leishmania is the causative agent of leishmaniasis, a widely distributed disease. Amastigote forms of Leishmania are intracellular and reside within the macrophage of the vertebrate host. Previous studies showed that certain Leishmania species may scavenge host factors for survival, specially sphingolipids, the key element of the eukaryotic membranes. In this study we have investigated the survival of new world L. mexicana amastigotes in murine macrophage cell-line in the presence and absence of foetal bovine serum (FBS). Results showed that there was no significance in the infectivity of amastigotes and also the number of parasite per cell; such findings suggest that L. mexicana amastigotes have its own pathway of sphingolipid intake and can survive and infect the macrophage with no serum added. This differs from previous studies on the old world Leishmania major which has been found to scavenge host sphingolipid for surviving and infectivity.
Thin films of highly pure (99.999%) Tellurium was prepared by high vacuum technique (5*10-5torr), on glass substrates .Thin films have thickness 0.6m was evaporated by thermal evaporation technique. The film deposited was annealed for one hour in vacuum of (5*10-4torr) at 373 and 423 K. Structural and electrical properties of the films are studies. The x-ray diffraction of the film represents a poly-crystalline nature in room temperature and annealed film but all films having different grain sizes. The d.c. electrical properties have been studied at low and at relatively high temperatures and show that the conductivity decreases with increasing temperature at all range of temperature. Two types of conduction mechanisms were found to d
... Show MoreThis research presents the possibility of using banana peel (arising from agricultural production waste) as biosorbent for removal of copper from simulated aqueous solution. Batch sorption experiments were performed as a function of pH, sorbent dose, and contact time. The optimal pH value of Copper (II) removal by banana peel was 6. The amount of sorbed metal ions was calculated as 52.632 mg/g. Sorption kinetic data were tested using pseudo-first order, and pseudo-second order models. Kinetic studies showed that the sorption followed a pseudo second order reaction due to the high correlation coefficient and the agreement between the experimental and calculated values of qe. Thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH
... Show MoreSewage pumping stations are considered an important part of any sewerage system. Pumps failure in these stations means that the pumps are unable to work at the design requirement (flow capacity and head) and that may cause sewer overflow and flooding leading to sewer deterioration. In this paper, two main sewage pumping stations in Baghdad city were selected as case studies, Al- Habibia and Al-Ghazali located on Zublin trunk sewer 3000 mm and Baghdad trunk sewer 1200-2100 respectively. This study focused mainly on the operation of main sewage pumping stations and their effect, both directly and indirectly, on changing hydraulic properties, which leads to an increase in the deterioration of sewage pipes. The hydraulic analysis was co
... Show MoreRare earth metal oxides (REMOs) have gained considerable attention in recent years owing to their distinctive properties and potential applications in electronic devices and catalysts. Particularly, cerium dioxide (CeO2), also known as ceria, has emerged as an interesting material in a wide variety of industrial, technological, and medical applications. Ceria can be synthesized with various morphologies, including rods, cubes, wires, tubes, and spheres. This comprehensive review offers valuable perceptions into the crystal structure, fundamental properties, and reaction mechanisms that govern the well-established surface-assisted reactions over ceria. The activity, selectivity, and stability of ceria, either as a stand-alone catalyst or as
... Show MoreIn this study, aluminum alloyAA6061-T6 was joined by a hot press process with three types of material; polyamide PA 6.6 (nylon), 1% carbon nanotube/PA6.6 and 30% carbon fiber/PA6.6 composites. Three parameters were considered in the hot pressing; temperature (180, 200 and 220°C), pressure (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 bar) and time of pressing (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 minutes for 200ºC, and 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25 minutes for220ºC). Applied pressure has great effect on shear strength of the joint, corresponding to bonding time and temperature. Maximum shear strength was 8.89MPa obtained for PA6.6 at bonding conditions of 4 bar, 220ºC and 0.75 minute. For 30% carbon fiber/PA6,6 shear recorded was
Nanostructured photodetectors have garnered great attention due to their enriched electronic and optical properties. In this work, we aim to fabricate a high-performance CeO2/Si photodetector by growing a CeO2 nanostructure film on a silicon substrate using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique at different laser energy densities. The impact of laser energy density and the number of pulses on the morphological, optical, and electrical properties was studied. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) results show that the CeO2 film has a spherical grain morphology with an average grain size ranging from 33 to 54 nm, depending on the laser energy density. The film deposited at various numbers of laser pulses also has spherical
... Show MoreIn this study, four different spectrophotometric methods were applied for determination of cimetidine and erythromycin ethylsuccinate drugs in pure form and in their pharmaceutical preparations. The suggested methods are simple, sensitive, accurate, not time consuming and inexpensive. The results showed the following: The first method: Based on the formation of ion pair complex of each drug with bromothymol blue (BTB) as a chromogenic reagent. The formed complexes were extracted with chloroform and their absorbance values were measured at 427.5 nm for cimetidine and 416.5nm for erythromycin ethylsuccinate; against their reagents blanks. Two different methods, univariate method and multivariate method, were used to obtain the optimum condit
... Show MoreThermal and catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics in an inert atmosphere has been regarded as a creative method, since pyrolysis can convert plastics waste into hydrocarbons that can be used either as fuels or as a source of chemicals.
Natural Iraqi kaolin clay was used to synthesis the NaX nano- zeolite by hydrothermal conditions with average particle size equal to 77.63nm.Thermal decomposition kinetics of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in the absence and presence of catalysts nano NaX Zeolite was investigated. Thermal and catalytic degradation of HDPE was performed using a thermogravimetric analyzer in nitrogen atmosphere under non-isothermal conditions 4, 7 and 10 °C/min heating rates were employed in thermogravimetric anal
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