We report here an innovative feature of green nanotechnology-focused work showing that mangiferin—a glucose functionalized xanthonoid, found in abundance in mango peels—serves dual roles of chemical reduction and in situ encapsulation, to produce gold nanoparticles with optimum in vivo stability and tumor specific characteristics. The interaction of mangiferin with a Au-198 gold precursor affords MGF-198AuNPs as the beta emissions of Au-198 provide unique advantages for tumor therapy while gamma rays are used for the quantitative estimation of gold within the tumors and various organs. The laminin receptor specificity of mangiferin affords specific accumulation of therapeutic payloads of this new therapeutic agent within prostate tumors (PC-3) of human prostate tumor origin induced in mice which overexpress this receptor subtype. Detailed in vivo therapeutic efficacy studies, through the intratumoral delivery of MGF-198AuNPs, show the retention of over 80% of the injected dose (ID) in prostate tumors up to 24 h. By three weeks post treatment, tumor volumes of the treated group of animals showed an over 5 fold reduction as compared to the control saline group. New opportunities for green nanotechnology and a new paradigm of using mangiferin as a tumor targeting agent in oncology for the application of MGF-198AuNPs in the treatment of cancer are discussed.
Pyrolysis of virgin polyethylene plastics was studied in order to produce hydrocarbon liquid fuel. The pyrolysis process carried out for low and high-density polyethylene plastics in open system batch reactor in temperature range of 370 to 450°C.
Thermo-gravimetric analysis of the virgin plastics showed that the degradation ranges were between 326 and 495 °C. The results showed that the optimum temperature range of pyrolysis of polyethylene plastics that gives highest liquid yield (with specific gravity between 0.7844 and 0.7865) was 390 to 410 °C with reaction time of about 35 minutes. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy gave a quite evidence that the produced hydrocarbon liquid fuel consisted ma
... Show MoreLeishmania 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 c
... Show MoreThis paper involved the registration of 1,936 cases of infection of the Leishmania tropica parasite observed at hospitals and health centers in Ramadi, Fallujah, Baghdadi, and Hit during 2017. The results revealed that the highest rates of infection were found in Ramadi and Fallujah. The 1-10 years age group recorded the highest rate at 35.5%. There was no significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) between the sexes. December and January saw the highest rate of infection, where the rate in rural townships was found to be 65.5%, higher than in urban regions which saw a rate of 34.4%. Facial lesions were the most prominent area of infection, recorded at a rate of 41.3%. The study also included an examination of 180 rodents (94 mice and 86 black r
... Show MoreThis study aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of laser lithotripsy and pneumatic lithotripsy, the two most commonly used transurethral lithotripsy methods for treating bladder stones in children in Iraq. Between January 2013 and December 2016, 64 children with bladder stones were included in this prospective randomized study, after ethical committee approval and written consent from the children’s parents or caregivers were obtained. Patients were assigned randomly by computer software to two groups treated with either pneumatic cystolithotripsy or laser lithotripsy. A 9 Fr. semirigid ureteroscope was used to pass the lithotripter through and fragment the stone. A catheter of 8–12 Fr. was then introduced and kept in place
... Show MoreIn this research, we have achieved the description of radionuclides that exist in the samples of Diyala river sediments as well as to measure the specific activities using gamma-ray spectroscopy. The eleven samples were collected among the length of Diyala River starting from Al- Rustumiya and finishing at the point where Diyala River meets Tigris which is in Baghdad. Gamma-ray spectrometry system consists of high-purity germanium detector (HpGe) with 50% efficiency and resolution (2.2 keV) for the energy (1332 keV) was used for standard source 60Co. Card spectrum analyzer connected to the PC type Pentium 4 was used to view the spectrum. And rates of the speci
... Show MoreThis review highlights the importance of photodynamic therapy in periodontology. It can be confirmed that the photodynamic therapy as adjunct to classical scaling and root planing can be recommended as treatment option, which can by no means replace the classical therapy concepts. But even over an observation period of six months a slightly higher improvement of the clinical parameters was achieved than with SRP alone.