Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a disease caused by Leishmania tropica parasite. Current treatments for this parasite are undesirable because of their toxicity, resistance, and high cost. Macrophages are key players against pathogens. Nitric oxide (NO), a molecule produce by immune cells, controls intracellular killing of pathogens during infection. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) demonstrated broad-spectrum activity against various types of infectious diseases. It has the ability to stimulate oxygen species production. This study aims to analyze the macrophages activation through NO production and estimate the cytotoxicity based on the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release upon exposure to L. tropica and Ag NPs. Serially concentrations of Ag NPs were used under two conditions during and following macrophages exposure to L. tropica. MTT assay was used to determine the cytotoxicity of Ag NPs on L. tropica amastigotes during infection of macrophages in vitro. The results showed that by increasing the Ag NPs concentrations, the viability percentage of L. tropica amastigotes decreased and reached to 21.7 ± 0.64 % during infection compared with the control. The 50% inhibitory concentration of Ag NPs on amastigotes was 2.048µg/ml during infection. Moreover, post-phagocytosis study involved the assessment of NO and LDH release by macrophages upon exposure to L. tropica. It have shown that untreated macrophages released low levels of NO while in the presence of Ag NPs, macrophages were activated to produce higher levels of NO under all experimental conditions. On the other hand, macrophages were capable of controlling cytotoxicity and decreasing LDH levels during phagocytosis of L. tropica amastiogotes. Taking together, these findings suggest that Ag NPs can enhance macrophages NO production which provides a method for the identification of Ag NPs ligands with microbicidal and anti-cytotoxic properties against L. tropica pathogens.
Structural and optical properties of CdO and CdO0.99Cu0.01 thin
films were prepared in this work. Cadmium Oxide (CdO) and
CdO0.99Cu0.01semiconducting films are deposited on glass substrates
by using pulsed laser deposition method (PLD) using SHG with Qswitched
Nd:YAG pulsed laser operation at 1064nm in 6x10-2 mbar
vacuum condition and frequency 6 Hz. CdO and CdO0.99Cu0.01 thin
films annealed at 550 C̊ for 12 min. The crystalline structure was
studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and atomic force
microscope (AFM). It shows that the films are polycrystalline.
Optical properties of thin films were analyzed. The direct band gap
energy of CdO and CdO0.99Cu0.01 thin films were determined from
(αhυ)1/2 v
Nanostructural cupric oxide (CuO) films were prepared on Si and glass substrate by pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD) using laser Nd:YAG, using different laser pulses energies from 200 to 600 mJ. The X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) of the films showed a polycrystalline structure with a monoclinic symmetry and preferred orientation toward (111) plane with nano structure. The crystallite size was increasing with increasing of laser pulse energy. Optical properties was characterized by using UV–vis spectrometer in the wave lengthrange (200-1100) nm at room temperature. The results showed that the transmission spectrum decreases with the laser pulses energy increase. Sensitivity of NO2 gas at different operating temperatures, (50°C,
... Show MoreIn the present work, nanocomposite of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) incorporated with functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) were fabricated using casting method. PVA was dispersed by varying content of FGO (0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1 wt %). The PVA- FGO nanocomposite was characterized by FT‐IR, FE-SEM and XRD. Frequency dependence of real permittivity (ε’), imaginary (ε’’) and a.c conductivity of PVA/FGO and PVA/GO nanocomposite were studied in the frequency range 100 Hz- 1 MHz. The experimental results showed that the values of real (ε’) and imaginary permittivity (ε’’) increased dramatically by increasing the FGO content in PVA matrix. PVA/ FGO (1 wt %) nanocomposite revealed higher electrical conductivity of 6.4×10-4 Sm-1 compared to
... Show MoreThe adsorption of Malonic acid, Succinic acid, Adipic acid, and Azelaic acid from their aqueous solutions on zinc oxide surface were investigated. The adsorption efficiency was investigated using various factors such as adsorbent amount, contact time, initial concentration, and temperature. Optimum conditions for acids removal from its aqueous solutions were found to be adsorbent dose (0.2 g), equilibrium contact time (40 minutes), initial acids concentration (0.005 M). Variation of temperature as a function of adsorption efficiency showed that increasing the temperature would result in decreasing the adsorption ability. Kinetic modeling by applying the pseudo-second order model can provide a better fit of the data with a greater correla
... Show MoreThe implementation of nanotechnology in all industries is one of most significant research fields. Nanoparticles have shown a promising application in subsurface fields. On the other hand, various surfactants have been used in the oil industry to reduce oil/water interfacial tension and also widely used to stabilize the nano-suspensions. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the improvements of surfactants ability in term of interfacial tension (γ) reduction utilizing addition of silicon dioxide nanoparticles at different temperatures and salinity. The pendant drop technique has been used to measure γ and electrical conductivity has been used to measure the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The synergistic effects of
... Show MoreIsradipine belong to dihydropyridine (DHP) class of calcium channel blockers (CCBs). It is used in the treatment of hypertension, angina pectoris, in addition to Parkinson disease. It goes under the BCS class II drug (low solubility-high permeability). The drug will experience extensive first-pass metabolism in liver, therefore, oral bio-availability will be approximately15 to 24 %.
The aim of this study was to formulate and optimize a stable nanoparticles of a highly hydrophobic drug, isradipine by anti-solvent microprecipitation Method to achieve the higher in vitro dissolution rate, so that it will be absorbed by intestinal lymphatic transport in order to avoid hepatic first-pass metabolism&nbs
... Show MoreChanging oil-wet surfaces toward higher water wettability is of key importance in subsurface engineering applications. This includes petroleum recovery from fractured limestone reservoirs, which are typically mixed or oil-wet, resulting in poor productivity as conventional waterflooding techniques are inefficient. A wettability change toward more water-wet would significantly improve oil displacement efficiency, and thus productivity. Another area where such a wettability shift would be highly beneficial is carbon geo-sequestration, where compressed CO2 is pumped underground for storage. It has recently been identified that more water-wet formations can store more CO2. We thus examined how silica based nanofluids can induce such a wettabil
... Show MoreLithium-rich layered oxide cathodes have attracted considerable attention due to their high energy density, but have suffered from voltage drop, structural instability, and limited electrical conductivity. In this study, the electrochemical performance of the lithium-rich cathode material Li[Li0.20Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13]O2 was evaluated after modification by zinc doping and composition with graphene oxide or graphene. The zinc-doped powders were synthesized by the sol-gel method, while the graphene-based composites were prepared by the hydrothermal route. The structural, morphological and electrochemical characteristics of the modified materials were examined using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scann
... Show MoreIn this paper the effect of nonthermal atmospheric argon plasma on the optical properties of the cadmium oxide CdO thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis was studied. The prepared films were exposed to different time intervals (0, 5, 10, 15, 20) min. For every sample, the transmittance, Absorbance, absorption coefficient, energy gap, extinction coefficient and dielectric constant were studied. It is found that the transmittance and the energy gap increased with exposure time, and absorption. Absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, dielectric constant decreased with time of exposure to the argon plasma
In this work, pure and copper mixed oxide PAni nanofiber thin films are successfully synthesized on silicon substrates by hydrothermal method and spin coating technique at room temperature with thickness of about 325 nm. The structural, surface morphological, optical and photoconductivity properties have been investigated. The XRD results showed that PAni films have crystalline nature, CuO and PAni/CuO nanostructure composites are monoclinic polycrystalline structure. The FESEM images of PAni clearly indicate that it has nanofiber-like structure, whereas the CuO film has spongelike shape. The surface morphology analysis of PAni/CuO composite shows that nanofiber caped with inorganic material which is CuO is a core-shell structure. Op
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