Abstract Leishmania species are intracellular protozoan parasites that spend a portion of their life cycle in the midgut of sand flies and the remainder in the tissues of mammals. These parasites, which cause a class of human disorders known as leishmaniasis, live mostly in macrophages, where they multiply and survive by employing a variety of defense mechanisms against the oxidative stress and acidity generated by these immune cells. To help control their reaction to heat stress, they also produce heat shock proteins. Furthermore, the promastigote form has a glycocalyx that is necessary for colonizing the gut wall of the sand fly and completing its life cycle. Consequently, a variety of virulence factors contribute to the parasite's pathog

In this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and

<p>In the mobile phone system, it is highly desirable to estimate the loss of the track not only to improve performance but also to achieve an accurate estimate of financial feasibility; the inaccurate estimate of track loss either leads to performance degradation or increased cost. Various models have been introduced to accurately estimate the path loss. One of these models is the Okomura / Hata model, which is recommended for estimating path loss in cellular systems that use micro cells. This system is suitable for use in a variety of environments. This study examines the comparison of path loss models for statistical analysis derived from experimental data collected in urban and suburban areas at frequencies of 150-1500 MHz

This study included nine patients with inactive carrier states of HBV and 14 healthy control groups. The number and the percentage of T-lymphocyte (CD3+ Cells) in the peripheral blood of these groups showed no significant difference. Similar trend was observed when number and percentages of T helper cells (CD4+ cells) and T cytotoxic lymphocytes (CD8+ cells). Moreover, no significant difference in CD4+ /CD8+ cells ratio (P &gt; 0.05) in peripheral blood of patients with inactive carrier state of HBV as compared with healthy control group. The levels of total serum bilirubin (TSB) concentration and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity were similar to control group. The levels of immunoglobulin concentration (IgG and IgM) in patients g

The present study was designed to evaluate the immunological status in a sample of Iraqi males with primary infertility and them age range18-55 years, who were attending the Centre of Infertility and in vitro Fertilization (Kamal Al-Samaraie Hospital, Baghdad) during the period December 2008 – April 2009. They were divided into three groups; 40 patients with anti-sperm antibodies (ASA), 20 patients with Asthenozoospermia (AST) and 20 patients with azoospermia (AZO). In adition to20 fertile males was as control group. The parameters of evaluations were standard seminal fluid analysis, anti-sperm antibodies and anti-mitochondrial antibodies in serum, Therefore, two types of samples were collected from each subject; seminal fluid and blood.