Phase change material (PCM) is considered as one of the most effective thermal energy storage (TES) systems to balance energy supply and demand. A key challenge in designing efficient PCM-based TES systems lies in the enhancement of heat transmission during phase transition. This study numerically examines the privilege of employing twisted-fin arrays inside a shell-and-tube latent heat storage unit to improve the solidification performance. The presence of twisted fins contributes to the dominating role of heat conduction by their curved shapes, which restricts the role of natural convection but largely aids the overall heat-transfer process during solidification. The heat-discharge
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent ligand for AhR and a known carcinogen. While AhR activation by TCDD leads to significant immunosuppression, how this translates into carcinogenic signal is unclear. Recently, we demonstrated that activation of AhR by TCDD in naïve C57BL6 mice leads to massive induction of myeloid derived-suppressor cells (MDSCs). In the current study, we investigated the role of the gut microbiota in TCDD-mediated MDSC induction. TCDD caused significant alterations in the gut microbiome, such as increases in Prevotella and Lactobacillus, while decreasing Sutterella and Bacteroides. Fecal transplants from TCDD-treated
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic kidney disease is a gradual loss of kidney function with diabetes and hypertension as the leading cause. Chronic kidney disease is one of these systemic diseases that can affect salivary contents. Aims: This study aimed to assess salivary immunoglobulin A, interleukin-6 and C- reactive protein in chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis and those on conservative treatment in comparison with control subjects. Materials and methods: Ninety subjects were included in this study divided into three groups: 30 patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis for at least 6 months ago; 30 patients with chronic kidney disease on conservative treatment and 30 healthy control subjects. Secretory immunoglobulin A, inte
... Show MoreBackground: Errors of horizontal condylar inclinations and Bennett angles had largely affected the articulation of teeth and the pathways of cusps. The aim of this study was to estimate and compare between the horizontal condylar (protrusive) angles and Bennett angles of full mouth rehabilitation patients using two different articulator systems. Materials and Methods: Protrusive angles and Bennett angles of 50 adult males and females Iraqi TMD-free full mouth rehabilitation patients were estimated by using two different articulator systems. Arbitrary hinge axis location followed by protrusive angles and Bennett angles, estimation was done by a semiadjustable articulator system. A fully adjustable articulator system was utilized to locate th
... Show MoreSports skills in some individual games require physical and motor qualities to facilitate the process of skill performance and also require the instructor or trainer to use more than one strategy, method and way to bring the performance to the level of mastery and avoid injury. The aim of the research is to know the effect of using special exercises using tools and their effect on teaching the skill of a front shoulder circle. The research hypothesis is that using special exercises with tools has a positive effect on teaching the skill of a front shoulder circle on the rings apparatus. Research method: - The researchers used the experimental method by designing two equal groups, the control and the experimental, to suit the research
... Show MoreBackground : Although development and progress in various diagnostic methods, but still identification of remnants of skeletal and decomposing parts of human is one of the most difficult skills in forensic medicine . Gender and age estimation is also considering an important problem in the identification of unknown skull. The aims of study: To estimate volume and dimension of maxillary sinus in individuals with dentate and edentulous maxillae using CT scan, and to correlate the maxillary sinus volume in relation to gender and age. Materials and Methods : This study included 120 patients ranged from (40-69 years), divided into two groups, dentate group with fully dentate maxilla and edentulous group with complete edentulous maxilla, and e
... Show MoreThe special core analysis tests were accomplished on a set of core plugs for Mishrif Formation (mA, mB1, and mB2cde/mC units) in West Qurna/1 oilfield, southern Iraq. Oil relative permeability (Kro) data and the Corey-type fit of the data as functions of the brine saturation at the core outlet face for individual samples in the water-oil imbibition process to estimate relative permeability measurements by the centrifuge method were utilized. Identical correlations for oil and water relative permeabilities were extracted by steady-state and unsteady-state methods. For the mA samples, the gas-water capillary pressure curves were within a narrow range (almost identical) indicating that mA is a homogeneous unit. Kro curves for three mB2
... Show MoreThe current research studies the aesthetic framework for the dialectical development of the functions of the contemporary theater director in an aesthetic approach to the mechanisms of functional overlap between the dramaturgy and direction functions, and scenography and direction, the detection of the controversial structure of that overlap, and what can be summed up in the following question: (what are the aesthetic approaches of the dialectical development in the function of the contemporary theatre director?). The research is determined by a pivotal aim which is (knowing the aesthetic nature of the dialectical development in
The clinical spectrum of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), an intracellular parasitic pathogen, ranges from a single sore healing to chronic crusty lesions with a manifestation of treatment resistance. The complicated interaction between Leishmania bodies and the early immune response, including innate and adaptive mechanisms, determines the evolution of nodules. This study examined the levels of the chemoattractant interleukin 8 (IL-8), pro-inflammatory nitric oxide (NO), and immunoregulatory macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF) in the serum of subjects recently diagnosed with cutaneous leishmaniasis, in parallel with patients being monitored during consecutive sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam) treatment. A total of 161 serum samples of newly di
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