Curcumin (Cur) possesses remarkable pharmacological properties, including cardioprotective, neuroprotective, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities. However, the utilization of Cur in pharmaceuticals faces constraints owing to its inadequate water solubility and limited bioavailability. To overcome these hurdles, there has been notable focus on exploring innovative formulations, with nanobiotechnology emerging as a promising avenue to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of these complex compounds. We report a novel safe, effective method for improving the incorporation of anticancer curcumin to induce apoptosis by reducing the expression levels of miR20a and miR21. The established method features three aspects that, to our knowledge, have not been formally verified: (1) use of a novel formula to incorporate curcumin, (2) use of all biocompatible biodegradable materials to produce this formula without leaving harmful residues, and (3) an incorporation process at temperatures of approximately 50 °C. The formula was prepared from lecithin (LE), and chitosan (CH) with an eco-friendly emulsifying agent and olive oil as the curcumin solvent. The formula was converted to nanoscale through ultrasonication and probe sonication at a frequency of 20 kHz. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the nano formula was spherical in shape with sizes ranging between 49.7 nm in diameter and negative zeta potentials ranging from 28 to 34 mV. Primers miR20a and miR21 were designed for molecular studies. Nearly complete curcumin with an encapsulation efficiency of 91.1% was established using a straight-line equation. The nano formula incorporated with curcumin was used to prepare formulations that exhibited anticancer activities. The apoptosis pathway in cancer cells was activated by the minimum inhibitory concentration of the nano formula. These findings suggest the potential of this nanoformulation as an effective and selective cancer treatment that does not affect the normal cells.
Carbon dioxide geo-sequestration (CGS) into sediments in the form of (gas) hydrates is one proposed method for reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and, thus reducing global warming and climate change. However, there is a serious lack of understanding of how such CO2 hydrate forms and exists in sediments. We thus imaged CO2 hydrate distribution in sandstone, and investigated the hydrate morphology and cluster characteristics via x-ray micro-computed tomography in 3D in-situ. A substantial amount of gas hydrate (∼17% saturation) was observed, and the stochastically distributed hydrate clusters followed power-law relations with respect to their size distributions and surface area-volume relationships. The layer-
... Show MoreA total of 258 voluntary blood donors (males 101; females 157) in the age range of 18-52 yr among males and 18-55 yr among females were examined for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies (IgG), and (IgM) by immunological technique (Enzyme linked Immunosorbant Assay) during the period from March 2009 to April 2010. This study covered a wide range of factors including immunological, age ,sex , place of residence and symptoms that may have a possible relationship with toxoplasmosis. Results presented in this study showed clearly that 38 (14.7%) of individuals participated in this study having IgG Toxoplasma Ab, among those 10 samples (9.9%) were males and 28 samples (17.8%) were females. Moreover, we found the prevalence of IgM seropositivity in th
... Show MorePeople who undertaken different X-ray examinations are already exposed to ionizing radiation which causes biological effects. Therefore assessing the patient radiation dose is a prerequisite element in optimizing the X-ray practice and to avoid the unnecessary radiation dose. The aim of this research is to assess the skin radiation dose for those patients who undertaking routine X-ray examinations in selected three hospitals in Al Najaf city.
Three X-ray units were involved in this experimental study; these were belonging to three hospitals in Al Najaf city-Iraq, namely Al-Sadder teaching hospital, Al-Hakeem general hospital and Al-Zahraa hospital. Data of exposure parameters (tube potential (kVp), tube c
... Show MoreThis aim of this study is to assess the Tigris River sediments and utilize them as a new abrasive for the preparation of polished surface of magnetite ore to be studied under reflected light ore microscope. Such polishing process was tested using 250, 125, 71, 45, 25 and 18μm grain sizes of the river sediments. For the completion of the polishing and to obtain a glossy perfect polished surface, the 7 and 2.5 μm sized standard diamond pastes were used. After each polishing stage, the reflectance and roughness of these surfaces were measured as an evaluation step for the polishing efficiency. The reflectance values (R%) of the magnetite surface were found to be reversely proportioned to the abrasive grain size; while the surface roughnes
... Show MoreThe temperature control process of electric heating furnace (EHF) systems is a quite difficult and changeable task owing to non-linearity, time delay, time-varying parameters, and the harsh environment of the furnace. In this paper, a robust temperature control scheme for an EHF system is developed using an adaptive active disturbance rejection control (AADRC) technique with a continuous sliding-mode based component. First, a comprehensive dynamic model is established by using convection laws, in which the EHF systems can be characterized as an uncertain second order system. Second, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is utilized to estimate the states of the EHF system and total disturbances, in which the observer gains are updated
... Show MoreThis work describes the enhancement of phenol red decolorization through immobilizing of laccase in chitosan and enzyme recycling. Commercial laccase from white rot fungus, Trametesversicolor (Tvlac), was immobilizedin to freshly prepared chitosan beads by using glutaraldehyde as a cross linker. Characterization of prepared chitosan was confirmed by FTIR and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tvlac (46.2 U/mL) immobilized into chitosan beads at 0.8 % glutaraldehyde (v/v) within 24 hrs. Synthetic (HBT) and natural (vanillin) mediators were used to enhance dye decolorizoation. It was found that 89 % of phenol red was decolorized by chitosan beads within 180 min. in the absence of enzyme and mediator, while decolorization percenta
... Show MoreNewcastle disease virus (NDV) is a wide-spectrum anti-tumor agent. The oncolytic selectivity of NDV, a family of Paramyxoviridae, depends on the differential type of inducing different death pathways. This work was conducted to further understand the oncolytic effect of LaSota strain. A mouse breast cancer model (Murine mammary adenocarcinoma cell line AMN3) was used in this study. Methyl Thiazolyl Tetrazolium (MTT) viability assay tested different NDV multiplicity of infection (MOI) values on mouse mammary adenocarcinoma cells incubated for 72 hours post-infection. The IC50 values and anti-tumor activity of LaSota strain against AMN3 cell line were determined. Following Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain, we examined t
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The study is designed to identify intestinal parasitic infections examined at Al-Aziziyah Hospital in Wasit Governorate in Iraq. In this study, a total of (460) internal and external patients were monitored for intestinal parasitic infections. All stool samples were analyzed by the direct method (microscopic exam.) to discover the trophozoite stages and cyst stages for intestinal protozoan parasites. The most incidence parasites in different sex, area residence and different age groups. Out of (460) patient sample were infected with 217 at a percentage of (47.17%), 101(46.5%) were for males and 116 (53.5%) were for females. It was found that the numbers and percentages of a single (one
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