Some biological aspects of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha have been studied at Al-Musayab thermal power plant ,sixty km. south west of Baghdad. Data collected during the period extended from November, 2002 to October, 2003 except for the month of April The population consisted of five age groups; O, I, II, III, and IV which have 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 annuli respectively. The study also proved the validity of annuli readings for age and growth determination. The average annual growth rates for age groups O,I, II, III, and IV were 5.7, 5.5, 5.4, 5.2 and 5.4 respectively. Average calculated length for laboratory reared mussel was 2.5 mm compared to 5.4 mm in natural environment. Correlation coefficients were very high between age an

The raw material soil of Al-Sowera factory quarry (quarry soil and mixture) used for building brick industry was tested mineralogically, geochemically and geotechnically. Mineral components of soil are characterized by Clay minerals (Palygoriskite and chlorite) and nonclay minerals like calcite, quratz, feldspar, gypsum and halite. The raw material is deficient in SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Fe2O3 and MgO, while enriched in CaO. Loss on ignition and Na2O are in suitable level and appear to be concordant with the standard. Grain size analyses show that the decreasing sand and clay, and increasing silt ratio in both quarry soil and mixture caused decreasing in strength of brick during molding and after firing. The quarry soil is characterized by high p

Here we determined the structure of a cold active family IV esterase (EstN7) cloned from Bacillus cohnii strain N1. EstN7 is a dimer with a classical α/β hydrolase fold. It has an acidic surface that is thought to play a role in cold-adaption by retaining solvation under changed water solvent entropy at lower temperatures. The conformation of the functionally important cap region is significantly different to EstN7's closest relatives, forming a bridge-like structure with reduced helical content providing greater access to the active site through more than one substrate access tunnel. However, dynamics do not appear to play a major role in cold adaption. Molecular dyn

A spectrophotometric method has been proposed for the determination of two drugs containing phenol group [phenylephrine hydrochloride (PHP) and salbutamol sulphate (SLB)] in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The method is based on the diazotization reaction of metoclopramide hydrochloride (MCP) and coupling of the diazotized reagent with drugs in alkaline medium to give intense orange colored product (?max at 470 nm for each of PHP and SLB). Variable parameters such as temperature, reaction time and concentration of the reactants have been analyzed and optimized. Under the proposed optimum condition, Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range of 1-32 and 1-14 ?g mL-1 for PHP and SLB, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) and l

This research aims to understand the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the nickel laterite deposit in the East Sulawesi Ophiolite Belt in Wiwirano District, North Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The deposit is analyzed and described to determine the laterization process and supergene enrichment. The geochemical data was obtained from X-ray fluorescence analysis, and mineralogical data from petrography and X-ray diffraction analysis. The minerals in the limonite zone are dominated by goethite and hematite. Minerals found in the saprolite zone include quartz, orthopyroxene, and lizardite, whereas the bedrock is made up of olivine, orthopyroxene, serpentine, and chromite. Fe2O3, Al2O3, and Co contents are high in

Background: Dental erosion is a common oral condition which results due to consumption of high caloric and low pH acidic food such as carbonated drinks and fruit juices. It is expected that these food types can cause irreversible damage to dental hard tissues and early deterioration of the dental restorations. So, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the erosive potential effects of orange fruit juice and Miranda orange drink on the microhardness of an orthodontic composite material. Materials and methods: Thirty discs with a thickness of 2 mm and a diameter of 10 mm were prepared from orthodontic bonding composite. The prepared discs were equally divided into three groups (n=10). Microhardness analysis was carried out both prior to

In vitro tests have been carried out to find out the efficacy of watery extracts of garlic Allium sativum and hot pepper Capsicum spp. against the trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica cultivated in liver infusion agar media at 37 c . The doses of ( 0.01, 0.05 ,0.1, 0.5, 1 ml )of garlic and hot pepper watery extracts were added to certain number of E. histolotica trophozoits for exposure time of 24 hrs., the mortality percentage of trophozoites treated with garlic extract were ( 14.82 %, 31.05% ,46.16% , 64.29% , 92.7%) respectively , these percentages were very close to that obtained from the treatment with the hot peper extract which were (17.86%, 32% , 44% ,66.67% ,100%) respectively . Generally these results showed that the ga