Given the paucity and toxicity of available drugs for leishmaniasis, coupled with the advent of drug resistance, the discovery of new therapies for this neglected tropical disease is recognised as being of the utmost urgency. As such antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as promising compounds against the causative Leishmania species, insect vector-borne protozoan parasites. Here the AMP temporins A, B and 1Sa have been synthesised and screened for activity against Leishmania mexicana insect stage promastigotes and mammalian stage amastigotes, a significant cause of human cutaneous disease. In contrast to previous studies with other species the activity of these AMPs against L. mexicana amastigotes was low. This suggests that amastigotes from different Leishmania species display varying susceptibility to peptides from the temporin family, perhaps indicating differences in their surface structure, the proposed target of these AMPs. In contrast, insect stage L. mexicana promastigotes were sensitive to two of the screened temporins which clearly demonstrates the importance of screening AMPs against both forms of the parasite. Copyright © 2011 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Background: The emergence of vaping as a popular alternative to traditional smoking has raised concerns regarding its potential impact on oral health. specifically affects the oral health of dental students, who are not only consumers of these products but also future practitioners tasked with educating patients on oral hygiene and health risks. purpose: This study investigated the dental and oral health impact of VAPE among male dental students. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire comprising 20 questions was meticulously designed to gather relevant data about their VAPE use and its implications on dental and oral health. Results: 43% of participants reported using VAPE, predominantly employing salt nicotine (48.8%) over free
... Show MoreAbstract. In this work, Bi2O3 was deposited as a thin film of different thickness (400, 500, and 600 ±20 nm) by using thermal oxidation at 573 K with ambient oxygen of evaporated bismuth (Bi) thin films in a vacuum on glass substrate and on Si wafer to produce n-Bi2O3/p-Si heterojunction. The effect of thickness on the structural, electrical, surface and optical properties of Bi2O3 thin films was studied. XRD analysis reveals that all the as deposited Bi2O3 films show polycrystalline tetragonal structure, with preferential orientation in the (201) direction, without any change in structure due to increase of film thickness. AFM and SEM images are used to investigate the influences of film thickness on surface properties. The optical measur
... Show MoreObjective Tea lovers are increasing worldwide. We hope that this report is the first to discuss the possible impacts of high black tea consumption on gestational weight gain (GWG) and birth parameters. Methods Throughout one year, a total of 7,063 pregnant ladies coming for first antenatal visit were screened in a major tertiary center. Of them, 1,138 were involved and divided according to their preference into 3 groups: excessive tea (ET), usual tea (UT), and mixed beverages group. The study included women who gave birth to healthy neonates. Results The rate of ET consumption was 4.13% with a total of 41 cases. The UT group (controls) comprised 94 women. ET was significantly associated (P<0.05) with maternal age, parity, occupation, smokin
... Show MoreIn this work, analytical study for simulating a Fabry-Perot bistable etalon (F-P cavity) filled with a dispersive optimized nonlinear optical material (Kerr type) such as semiconductors Indium Antimonide (InSb). Because of a trade off between the etalon finesse values and driving terms, an optimization procedures have been done on the InSb etalon/CO laser parameters, using critical switching irradiance (Ic) via simulation systems of optimization procedures of optical cavity. in order to achieve the minimum switching power and faster switching time, the optimization parameters of the finesse values and driving terms on optical bistability and switching dynamics must be studied.
... Show MorePatients with renal failure in the final stages undergo the treatment by hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is used to reinstate the intracellular and extracellular fluid environment, by propagation of molecules in solution through a semipermeable membrane along an electrochemical concentration gradient. Blood catching in the dialysis machine and the recurrent phlebotomy may lead to losing about 1-3 g of iron per year. Prohepcidin hormone is an acute phase protein (type II) that plays a major role in the systemic iron irregularities as it is a mediator of anemia in inflammation and regulator of iron metabolism. This study aims to evaluate the effect of hemodialysis on iron hemostasis and its relationship with prohepcidin as an inflammatory mark
... Show MoreThe Back-Propagation (BP) is the best known and widely used learning algorithm in training multiple neural network. A vast variety of improvements to BP algorithm have been proposed since ninety’s. in this paper, the effects of changing the number of hidden neurons and activation equation are investigated. According to the simulation results, the convergence speed have been improved and become much faster by the previous two modifications on the BP algorithm.
The synthesis of new substituted cobalt Phthalocyanine (CoPc) was carried out using starting materials Naphthalene-1,4,5, tetracarbonic acid dianhydride (NDI) employing dry process method. Metal oxides (MO) alloy of (60%Ni3O4 40%-Co3O4 ) have been functionalized with multiwall carbon nanotubes (F-MWCNTs) to produce (F-MWCNTs/MO) nanocomposite (E2) and mixed with CoPc to yield (F-MWCNT/CoPc/MO) (E3). These composites were investigated using different analytical and spectrophotometric methods such as 1H-NMR (0-18 ppm), FTIR spectroscopy in the range of (400-4000cm-1), powder X-rays diffraction (PXRD, 2θ o = 10-80), Raman spectroscopy (0-4000 cm-1), and UV-Visib
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