Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease on the rise in different regions of Iraq, especially in areas with poor hygiene and among refugee populations. The effectiveness of existing chemotherapy for leishmaniasis is constrained by its high toxicity, cost, and the development of drug resistance. The current research examined various concentrations (ranging from 125 to 1000 μM) of lupeol to evaluate its ability to boost the generation of nitric oxide, which has anti-leishmanial properties, in an ex-vivo macrophage model. Griess assay was used to detect the nitric oxide (NO) production in Leishmania donovani infected U937 cell-line macrophages along 24 and 48 hours post treated. The nitric oxide concentration was significantly increased (P≤0.05) in the treated infected-macrophages after 24 and 48 hours post treated. Furthermore, the infectivity index was calculated for ex vivo amastigote-macrophage infection and the results showed a significant decrease in the percentage of invasion at higher concentrations of Lupeol at all periods of incubation (P≤0.05); whereas, the average of amastigotes per cell in lupeol-treated macrophages increased significantly (P≤0.05) only after 48hours of incubation. The results indicate that lupeol has the potential to enhance anti-leishmanial nitric oxide production by macrophages, enabling them to eliminate intracellular amastigote forms of the parasite. Further details on effect of Lupeol can be studied as a promising anti-leishmanial compound.
Background: Dietary intakes are critical during pregnancy, because inadequate amounts of key nutrients may compromise fetal development or maternal health. In addition to that maternal diet could be one of the methods to select the gender of the baby. The aim of the study is to correlate the level of the minerals in the mother’s blood with the gender and wellbeing of the baby after delivery.Patients and Methods: Fifty women were involved in this study with a mean age (23.92 ± 4.75), collected from the labor room during labor in the period between December 2013 and May 2014, in Baghdad teaching hospital. After taking a full history from the women, 10 ml of blood was withdrawn from them, 2ml in EDTA tubes for lead estimation and 8 ml in pl
... Show MoreThe primary aim of the study was to find out the values of some biomechanical variables for the long serve skill in badminton and to identify the effect of biomechanical feedback on the performance of long serve. The present study had a single group, pre-post experimental study design. The research community was determined by the intentional method of one group with a pre-and post-test. The players of the Assyrian badminton club constituted the research community. A total of 12 players were present in the research community. The badminton players falling within the age group of 15-17 years for the season 2020-2021 were recruited as the participants for the study. A total of five players were selected as the participant
... Show MoreThree different distribution modules of silicon solar cells in a panel are used in this study . Each module consists of five identical circular silicon solar cells of radius (5cm) and then the total panel areas are identical. The five solar cells are arranged in the panel in different shapes: circular, triangular and rectangular .The efficiency for these three panel distribution are measured indoor and outdoor. The results show that the efficiency is a function of the cells distribution.
This paper aims to investigate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams considering fire resistance by adding Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregates (LECA) to the concrete mix as partial coarse aggregate replacement. LECA is a type of porous clay with a uniform pore structure with fine, closed cells and hard, tightly sintered skin. The experimental work comprised four reinforced self-compacted concrete beams. All the specimens were identical in their geometrical layout of 1600×240×200 mm, reinforcement details, and support condition (simply supported). For all the beams, the main reinforcement was provided by two bars, each having a diameter of 12 mm, while a bar of 6 mm diameter was employed for the top and shear reinforc
... Show MoreIndium oxide In2O3 thin films fabricated using thermal evaporation of indium metal in vacuum on a glass substrate at 25oC using array mask, after deposition the indium films have been subjected to thermal oxidation at temperature 400 °C for 1h. The results of prepared Indium oxide reveal the oxidation method as a strong effect on the morphology and optical properties of the samples as fabricated. The band gap (Eg) of In2O3 films at 400 °C is 2.7 eV. Then, SEM and XRD measurements are also used to investigate the morphology and structure of the indium oxide In2O3 thin films. The antimicrobial activity of indium oxide In2O3 thin films was assessed against gram-negative bacterium using inhibition zone of bacteria which improved higher ina
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to propose and evaluate an eco-epidemiological model with Allee effect and nonlinear harvesting in predators. It was assumed that there is an SI-type of disease in prey, and only portion of the prey would be attacked by the predator due to the fleeing of the remainder of the prey to a safe area. It was also assumed that the predator consumed the prey according to modified Holling type-II functional response. All possible equilibrium points were determined, and the local and global stabilities were investigated. The possibility of occurrence of local bifurcation was also studied. Numerical simulation was used to further evaluate the global dynamics and the effects of varying parameters on the asymptotic behavior of
... Show MoreBackground: Complete seal of the root canal system following its chemo-mechanical debridement plays a pivotal role for achieving successful endodontic treatment. This can be established by reducing the gaps between the core filling material and root canal wall. Aim: To assess and compare the dislocation resistance of root canals obturated with GuttaFusion® and TotalFill BC sealer versus single cone obturation technique and TotalFill BC sealer after instrumentation of the canals with WaveOne, ProTaper Next and ProTaper Universal system. Material and Method: Sixty extracted human permanent mandibular premolars were conducted in the current study. The teeth were decorated and left the root with 15mm length; the roots were divided randomly i
... Show MoreThe study aimed to prepare a set of qualifying exercises to improve the muscular strength of the muscles surrounding the ankle joint by applying different resistances according to the nature of the movement of this joint, which is one of the second moving joints (flexion, extension and rotation of the right and left) in order to increase the efficiency of all muscles working on this joint according to those movements and identification On the impact of these exercises and assume that there will be statistical differences between the two tests of the research sample. The researcher used the semi-articulated experimental method with a pre- and post-test for one group. The injury was evaluated on the women's national team players durin
... Show MoreThe goal of this investigation is to prepare zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique through Q-switching double frequency Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) wavelength, pulse frequency 6 Hz, and 300 mJ energy under vacuum conditions (10-3 torr) at room temperature. (ZnO) nano-thin films were deposited on glass substrates with different thickness of 300, 600 and 900 nm. ZnO films, were then annealed in air at a temperature of 500 °C for one hour. The results were compared with the researchers' previous theoretical study. The XRD analysis of ZnO nano-thin films indicated a hexagonal multi-crystalline wurtzite structure with preferential growth lines (100), (002), (101) for ZnO nano-thin films with different thi
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