Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have gained much attention as biodegradable polymers, many efforts are being made to minimize the cost of PHAs by finding cheap carbon source depending on the type of microorganism and fermentation conditions. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of different glucose concentrations and other important conditions on the PHA production by Bacillus cereus isolated from soil. Polyhydroxyalkanoates PHAs accumulated by soil microorganisms were examined by screening the isolated bacteria using Sudan B Black and Nile Blue staining process. A Gram positive strain was identified using the 16s rRNA gene, deposited in the NCBI GenBank sequence database. Different growth conditions (favorite glucose concentrat

This contribution reports a comprehensive investigation into the structural, electronic and thermal properties of bulk and surface terbium dioxide (TbO2); a material that enjoys wide spectra of catalytic and optical applications. Our calculated lattice dimension of 5.36 Å agrees well with the corresponding experimental value at 5.22 Å. Density of states configuration of the bulk structure exhibits a semiconducting nature. Thermo-mechanical properties of bulk TbO2 were obtained based on the quasi-harmonic approximation formalism. Heat capacities, thermal expansions and bulk modulus of the bulk TbO2 were obtained under a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The dependency of these properties on operational pressure is very evident. Cle

This study sheds light on various drugs of plant origin which have shown action on thyroid and its functioning as well as on the various factors associated with thyroid dysfunction. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the activity of the aqueous extracts of Fucus vesiculosus, Coleus forskohlii, Curcuma longa L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Camellia sinensis L. and Melissa officinalis L. in regulation of thyroid hormones in serum taken from rats. Fifty-seven female albino rats were divided into 19 groups, each group with 3 rats, and treated orally with an aqueous plant extract in three different doses, except the control group which was treated with normal saline only. Also, a histological s

Because of the conservation problems causes by the existence of water hyacinth (W.H) as an watery plant in water bodies of Iraq, our study aimed to make  use of (W.H) by isolation of microcrystalline cellulose, and a new method of preparation of Nano crystalline cellulose. Microcrystalline cellulose was produced using base bleaching method by sodium hypochlorite [NaOCl] to remove unorganized region of cellulose and lignin to create particles comprising of micro crystal and preparing of Nano crystalline cellulose from microcrystalline cellulose by acid hydrolysis and ultrasonic treatment. The Nano crystalline and microcrystalline cellulose characterized by AFM, FTIR, XRD and TGA. FT-IR spectra of microcrystalline cellules and Nano cr

The aim of this study is to develop the science textbook for the 1st intermediate grade by analyzing it according to life skills. Its core areas were mental skills, environmental skills, and health skills. The analysis tool was used after verifying its validity and stability in analyzing the science textbook for the 1st intermediate grade, and the results of the study resulted in the inclusion of mental skills on a high percentage of repetitions, while we find that this percentage is low in the inclusion of environmental and health skills. The study recommended the importance of achieving balance and justice in including skills in the science textbook for the 1st intermediate grade, by emphasizing the environmental and health skills by incr

After restoration of Iraqi marshes during 2003, three locations were chosen, one in each main marsh (Um Al-Naaj site in Al-Hwaizeh marsh; Al-Nagarah site in Al-Hammar marsh and Al-Baghdadia site in Al-Chebaysh marsh) to determine the concentrations of nutrients (Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate and Silicate) in water seasonally for the period winter, spring, summer, and autumn at 2007. Five water replicates were collected from each site, seasonally. In the Lab., the samples were analyzed by colorimetric methods; the results showed that Um-Al-Naaj site has the highest nutrients level, while Al-Nagarah site has the lowest level. The statistical program t-test was applied at the significant levels (P-value < 0.01) and (P-value < 0.05) to know

In this study, method for experimentally determining the electron density (ne) and the electron temperature (Te) in the atmospheric Argon plasma jet is used; it is based on optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Boltzmann plot method used to calculate these parameters measured for different values of gas flow rate. The results show that the electron temperature decreasing with the increase of gas flow rate also indicates an increasing in the electron density of plasma jet with increasing of gas flow rate.