Background: Infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) leads to activation of T-helper cells (Th-1 and Th-2) which are involved in the synthesis and release of different cytokines which may lead to endothelial dysfunction. Objectives: To evaluate the endothelial function in patients with acute toxoplasmosis. Methods: This case-control study involved 31 patients with toxoplasmosis aged 19 - 47 years matched with 20 healthy subjects. Anti-T. gondii antibody (IgG, IgM, IgA) was determined by direct antigen-antibody reaction. Interleukin-6(IL-6), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and human malondialdehyde (MDA) serum levels were measured. Results: IgM, IgG and IgA levels were high in the infected patients compared with controls (P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-

Gypsum Plaster is an important building materials, and because of the availabilty of its raw materials. In this research the effect of various additives on the properties of plaster was studied , like Polyvinyl Acetate, Furfural, Fumed Silica at different rate of addition and two types of fibers, Carbon Fiber and Polypropylene Fiber to the plaster at a different volumetric rate. It was found that after analysis of the results the use of Furfural as an additive to plaster by 2.5% is the optimum ratio of addition to that it improved the flexural Strength by 3.18%.
When using Polyvinyl Acetate it was found that the ratio of the additive 2% is the optimum ratio of addition to the plaster, because it improved the value of the flexural stre

This research concentrate on cultivated Iraqi Agave attenuata dried leaves and roots, because of little studies on this plant especially on the root that lead to the eager of study and comparison of phytochemical constituents between leaves and root. Extraction of bioactive constituents was carried out using several solvents with increasing polarity (n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol) by soxhlet apparatus. Steroidal saponins in Agave genus is well documented in many species, lightening the minds in this research on extraction method which is specific for steroidal saponins. Phytochemical screening was done by GC/MS for n-hexane fraction, qualitative and quantitative estimation of several bioactive constituents (caffe

Activated carbon derived from Ficus Binjamina agro-waste synthesized by pyro carbonic acid microwave method and treated with silicon oxide (SiO2) was used to enhance the adsorption capability of the malachite green (MG) dye. Three factors of concentration of dye, time of mixing, and the amount of activated carbon with four levels were used to investigate their effect on the MG removal efficiency. The results show that 0.4 g/L dosage, 80 mg/L dye concentration, and 40 min adsorption duration were found as an optimum conditions for 99.13% removal efficiency. The results also reveal that Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models were the best models to describe the equilibrium adsorption data.

Porous silicon was prepared by using electrochemical etching process. The structure, electrical, and photoelectrical properties had been performed. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observations of porous silicon layers were obtained before and after rapid thermal oxidation process. The rapid thermal oxidation process did not modify the morphology of porous layers. The unique observation was the pore size decreased after oxidation; pore number and shape were conserved. The wall size which separated between pore was increased after oxidation and that effected on charge transport mechanism of PS

In the present study NiPcTs, CdS thin films, and Blends of NiPcTs:CdS were prepared with 1:2 content mixing ratio of NiPcTs to CdS solutions. Cadmium chloride and thiourea were used as the essential materials for deposition CdS thin films while using organic powder of NiPcTs to deposit NiPcTs nanostructure films. The spin-coating technique was employed to fabricate the NiPcTs , CdS films and NiPcTs-CdS blend. Structural properties of films have been investigated via X-Ray diffraction(XRD),and show that thin films of NiPcTs, and CdS have monoclinic and polycrystalline hexagonal structure respectively while the blend has two polycrystalline structure with cubic and hexagonal phases. Atomic force microscope (AFM) confirmed that the surf

This work is focused on studying the effect of liquid layer level (height above a target material) on zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO and ZnO₂) production using liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation (LP-PLA) technique. A plate of Zn metal inside different heights of an aqueous environment of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) with molarity (10^-3 M) was irradiated with femtosecond pulses. The effect of liquid layer height on the optical properties and structure of ZnO was studied and characterized through UV-visible absorption test at three peaks at 213 nm, 216 nm and 218 nm for three liquid heights 4, 6 and 8 mm respectively. The obtained results of UV–visible spectra test show a blue shift accomp