Activation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) markedly attenuates development of atherosclerosis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanism is not well elucidated. Here, we show that the FXR agonist, obeticholic acid (OCA), increases fecal cholesterol excretion and macrophage reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) dependent on activation of hepatic FXR. OCA does not increase biliary cholesterol secretion, but inhibits intestinal cholesterol absorption. OCA markedly inhibits hepatic cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (Cyp7a1) and sterol 12α‐hydroxylase (Cyp8b1) partly through inducing small heterodimer partner, leading to reduced bile acid pool size and al

A total of (25) stool samples were collected from children and adults (2- 4) years old suffering from diarrhea to isolate E. coli strains that produce heat-stable enterotoxin a (STa), and after performing microscopic examination, cultural characterization and biochemical identification only (11) isolates showed positive E. coli. STa activity was estimated by using suckling mouse assay (SMA) and from these (11) isolates only (5) showed STa activity and the one with the highest STa activity was selected for large scale production of STa, which was followed by partial purification using ion-exchange chromatography (normal phase) using DEAE sephadex A-50 column. After purification and determination of protein concentration by using the standard

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the most common process for dealing with primary and secondary wastewater sludge. In the present work, four pre-treatment methods (ultrasonic, chemical, thermal, and thermo-chemical) are investigated in Al-Rustumya Wastewater Treatment plant in order to find their effect on biogas production and volatile solid removal efficiency during anaerobic digestion.
Two frequencies of ultrasonic wave were used 30 KHz and 50 KHz during the pre-treatment. Sodium hydroxide was added in different amounts to give three pH values of 9, 10 and 11 in chemical pre-treating processes. The sludge was heated at 60oC and 80oC through thermal pre-treatment experiment. Also, the sludge was treated thermo-chemically at 80 oC and pH

This thesis was aimed to study gas hydrates in terms of their equilibrium conditions in bulk and their effects on sedimentary rocks. The hydrate equilibrium measurements for different gas mixtures containing CH4, CO2 and N2 were determined experimentally using the PVT sapphire cell equipment. We imaged CO2 hydrate distribution in sandstone, and investigated the hydrate morphology and cluster characteristics via μCT. Moreover, the effect of hydrate formation on the P-wave velocities of sandstone was investigated experimentally.

Depletion of fossil fuel is one of the main reasons why the bioethanol has become popular. It is a renewable energy source. In order to meet the great demand of bioethanol, it is best that the bioethanol production is from cheap raw materials. Since the golden shower fruit is not being utilized and is considered as waste material, hence, this study was conducted to make use of the large volume of the residue as feedstock to test its potential for bioethanol extraction.The main goal of this study is to obtain the most volume of bioethanol from the golden shower fruit liquid residue by the factors, days of fermentation (3, 5, and 7 days) and sugar concentration (15, 20 and 25 brix) of the liquid residue. Also, part of the study is to compu

Aeromonas hydrophila have been isolated as a cause of a cute gastroenteritis in 23 (5.6%) of 410 patients. Other bacterial enteropathogens have been isolated from 387 patients with diarrhea, were 19 different strains. A. hydrophila occurred more commonly in children with acute diarrhea, the results showed that 18(78.26%) isolates of A. hydrophila found in children under 10 years old ,distributed to 10(43.47%) in male and 8(34.78%) in female ,and in adults with diarrhea 5 (21.73%). In the other hand, we noticed frequency of isolation was higher in male 14(60.86%) when compared with 9(39.14%) in female. Six strains of A. hydrophila have been observed to have bacteriocin activity against 12 of 23 different A. hydrophila ,as well as Staphy

This study aims to remove Cd(II) ions from simulated wastewater by using Chlorophyceae algae (CA). Different parameters were studied to show their effects on the biosorption efficiency of CA. These parameters are: the effect of pH 3-7, initial metal ion concentration 20-200 mg/L, sorbent dos-age 0.05-2 g/L, contact time 5-180 min, and agitation speed 100-300 rpm. We found that both the Langmuir and Freundlich models appropriate for characterizing the metal removal process. The biosorption data fit best with the results of the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, demonstrating that the chemisorption process is the dominant mechanism controlling the removal. CA was char-acterized using the scanning electron microscopy test, prior to and post bi

Introduction: Melanin is a high-molecular weight pigment produced through the oxidative polymerization of phenolic or indolic compounds and plays a perfect role in UV-light shielding, as well as in photoprotection. Among biopolymers, melanin is unique in many aspects. This study is designed to screen Production, extraction and characterizes of an extracellular melanin pigment from clinically isolated P. aeruginosa. Objective: The aim of the current study is isolation and diagnosis of P.aeruginosa using vitek-2 compact system and screening the ability to produce melanin and characterization of extracted melanin by UV-vis, FTIR, XRD and SEM. Materials and methods: the samples swab inoculated on cetrimide agar as selective media and incubated

Efficient operations and output of outstanding quality distinguish superior manufacturing sectors. The manufacturing process production of bending sheet metal is a form of fabrication in the industry of manufacture in which the plate is bent using punches and dies to the angle of the work design. Product quality is influenced by plate material selection, which includes thickness, type, dimensions, and material. Because no prior research has concentrated on this methodology, this research aims to determine V-bending capacity limits utilizing the press bending method. The inquiry employed finite element analysis (FEA), along with Solidworks was the tool of choice to develop drawings of design and simulations. The ASTM E290