Pregnancy and childbirth are physiological states characterized by sudden hormonal and immunologically described changes. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of maternal variables (age, previous abortion, placental position, and fetal position) on some physiological biomarkers, such as oxytocin (OT), prolactin (PRL), cortisol, and insulin growth factor 2 (IGF -2) and some immune biomarkers such as programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in Iraqi women undergoing caesarean section (CS). Blood samples were collected from 48 pregnant women in the age range (16-43 years) and serum was obtained to determine the levels of the above biomarkers. The effect of maternal age on physiological biomarkers showed that OT levels increased significantly with maternal age (P≤0.001), whereas PRL, cortisol, and IGF-2 levels were not (P˃0.05), showing differences between age categories. The effect of maternal age on immune biomarkers showed that PD-1 levels decreased significantly (P<0.05) and PD-L1 and PD-1/PD-L1 levels were highly significant (P≤ 0.001), however, IL-6 level shows a non-significant (P˃0.05) difference between age categories. Regarding the effect of previous abortion, statistical analysis showed that cortisol levels were significantly (P<0.05) lower in women with previous abortion compared to women without previous abortion, while OT, PRL, and IGF-2 levels were not significantly different (P ˃ 0.05) difference between the two groups. PD-1 and PD-L1 levels showed a significant (P<0.05) decrease in women with previous abortion compared with women without abortion, while IL-6 mirror images did not differ significantly (P˃0.05) between the two groups. The effect of placenta position showed that when the placenta was in the anterior position, the PRL level was significantly increased (P≤0.001), IGF-2 level was significantly decreased (P<0.05), while the OT and cortisol levels were significantly higher (P≤0.001) compared with the posterior position There was no significant difference between the two groups (P˃0.05). When the placenta was located in the anterior compared with the posterior, the level of PD-L1 was significantly (P<0.05) lower, while the levels of PD-1 and PD -1/PD- were not significantly different (P˃0.05). L1 and IL-6 between the two groups. According to fetal position, statistical analysis showed no significant difference in all physiological and immune biomarkers when the fetus was in cephalic or breech position (P˃0.05). It can be concluded that the more maternal variables which affect on the physiological and immunological biomarkers of the women undergoing caesarean section are maternal age and a previous abortion.
Industrial dyes are major pollutants in wastewater and river water with an initial visible concentration of 1 mg/L. Recent studies have shown the possibility of using polyphenol oxidase in catalytic biological treatment due to its ability to oxidize a large number of dyes and pollutants in wastewater and the flexibility to work in wide ranges of temperature, pH and salinity. It is easy availability as well as the low economic cost resulting from its use in biological treatments, this enzyme polyphenol oxidase was used. The findings in this study showed that the extraction of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) from potato peel was homogenized with potassium phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7) at a ratio of 1:10 (weight: volume) for two min. The res
... Show MoreIn the present investigation, the synthesis of copper nanoparticles from green tea was attempted and investigated for its capacity to adsorb drugs (Ciprofloxacin). The copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) were characterized by different techniques of analysis such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, atomic force microscope (AFM), blumenauer-emmer-teller (BET), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and zeta potentials techniques. Cu-NPs lie in the mesoporous material category with a diameter in the range of 2-50 nm. The aqueous solution was investigated for the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) with green tea-synthesized Cu-NPs. The results showed that ciprofloxacin efficiency depe
... Show MoreA novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (
... Show MoreA crucial area of research in nanotechnology is the formation of environmentally benign nanoparticles. Both unicellular and multicellular play an important role in synthesis nanoparticles through the production of inorganic materials either intracellularly or extracellularly. The agents (pigments, siderophores, cell extracted metabolites and reducing compounds) were used to prepare silver nanparticles with different sizes and shapes. The color variations (dark yellow, slightly dark yellow and golden yellow) arising from changes in the composition, size, and shape of nanoparticles, surrounding medium can be monitored using UV-visible spectrophotometer. These effects are due to the phenomena called surface plasmon resonance. The silver nanopa
... Show MoreThe cathodic deposition of zinc from simulated chloride wastewater was used to characterize the mass transport properties of a flow-by fixed bed electrochemical reactor composed of vertical stack of stainless steel nets, operated in batch-recycle mode. The electrochemical reactor employed potential value in such a way that the zinc reduction occurred under mass transport control. This potential was determined by hydrodynamic voltammetry using a borate/chloride solution as supporting electrolyte on stainless steel rotating disc electrode. The results indicate that mass transfer coefficient (Km) increases with increasing of flow rate (Q) where .The electrochemical reactor proved to be efficient in removing zinc and was abl
... Show MoreThe esterification of oleic acid with 2-ethylhexanol in presence of sulfuric acid as homogeneous catalyst was investigated in this work to produce 2-ethylhexyl oleate (biodiesel) by using semi batch reactive distillation. The effect of reaction temperature (100 to 130°C), 2-ethylhexanol:oleic acid molar ratio (1:1 to 1:3) and catalysts concentration (0.2 to 1wt%) were studied. Higher conversion of 97% was achieved with operating conditions of reaction temperature of 130°C, molar ratio of free fatty acid to alcohol of 1:2 and catalyst concentration of 1wt%. A simulation was adopted from basic principles of the reactive distillation using MATLAB to describe the process. Good agreement was achieved.