Understanding the compatibility between spider silk and conducting materials is essential to advance the use of spider silk in electronic applications. Spider silk is tough, but becomes soft when exposed to water. Here we report a strong affinity of amine-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes for spider silk, with coating assisted by a water and mechanical shear method. The nanotubes adhere uniformly and bond to the silk fibre surface to produce tough, custom-shaped, flexible and electrically conducting fibres after drying and contraction. The conductivity of coated silk fibres is reversibly sensitive to strain and humidity, leading to proof-of-concept sensor and actuator demonstrations.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a frequent gram-negative bacterium that causes nosocomial infections, affecting more than 100 million patients annually worldwide. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli binds to toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and its co-receptor’s cluster of differentiation protein 14 (CD14) and myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2), collectively known as the LPS receptor complex. LPCAT2 participates in lipid-raft assembly by phospholipid remodelling. Previous research has proven that LPCAT2 co-localises in lipid rafts with TLR4 and regulates macrophage inflammatory response. However, no published evidence exists of the influence of LPCAT2 on the gene expression of the LPS receptor complex induced by smooth or rough b
... Show MoreThis study was conducted at the Poultry Research Station, Animal Resources Research Department at the Agricultural Research Department / Ministry of Agriculture - Baghdad Abu Ghraib. To find the effect of adding different proportions of Bay Laurus powder on productive performance and some physiological characteristics of birds during the production stage as Eight Hundreds Female birds of quail were used at the age of 45 days, randomly deployed to 4 treatments with two replicates (100 birds / replicate ) each, and the bay laurel powder was added in the proportions 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% to the diets and for a period of 60 days divided into 4 periods of 15-day .The results indicated si
In this study, stabilization of expansive soils using waste materials namely; Cement Kiln Dust (CKD), and waste plastic bottles (WPB) was experimentally investigated. Using CKD and WPB are exponentially increasing day by day, due to their capability to solve both environmental and geotechnical problems successfully. Expansive soils were collected from locations with a wide range of plasticity index (PI) (15 - 27) and liquid limit (LL) (35% - 64%). Stabilizer percentages were varied from 0% to 20%, and curing durations for CKD cases were 7 and 28 days. Results showed the best percentages of CKD and WPB are 12% of each one respectively. LL, plastic limit (PL), and swelling percent (SP) loss were observed, which are 46%, 55%, and 96% respec
... Show MoreEvery researcher must say that the world in continually progress toward the best and that
the Arab and Islamic civilization had produced much of systems and virtuous educational
practices which raised from Islamic heritage. This nation was not isolated from external
world, but it was made a clear active for promote the banner of other nations which entered
under her influence to promote Islamic banner and Muslims. Consequently also Muslims are
affected and influenced, this resulted a clear impact in the civilization and educational
ideology especially in the contemporary teaching methods.
The main objective of this study is to measure the Impact of global financial crisis on some indicators of the Saudi Arabia's economy using the Mendel-Fleming model, the importance of the study applied by focusing on the theme of general equilibrium in the face of fluctuations in the global economy. Study used a descriptive approach and the methodology of econometrics to construct the model. Study used Eviews Program for data analysis. The Data was collected from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, for the period (1997-2014).Stationery of the variables was checked by Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) unit roots tests. And also the co-integration
... Show MoreThis study aims to analyze the spectral properties of plasma produced from rice husk(Rh) using the laser breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) method. The plasma generation process used the fundamental harmonic (1064 nm) of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a man-made crystalline material. The laser fired pulses with a duration of 10 ns and a repetition rate of 6 Hz. Thus, the energy outputs achieved were 50–200 mJ at the wavelength of 1064 (nm). The silica content in the rice hulls was verified using an XRF measurement, which revealed the presence of silica in the rice hulls in a high percentage. Precise beam focusing was achieved by focusing the laser on the target material. This target material is placed with
... Show MoreBackground: This study was performed to determine the effect of aging of different types of composite material restorations on: Shear bond strength (SBS) to light cure and no mix chemical cure orthodontic adhesives with sapphire bracket and the debonding failure sites. Materials and methods: One hundred forty four composite disks were made from three different composite resin materials which are: 3M Filtek Z250, 3M filtek Z350 and 3M Valux plus, each group with (48) disks each, then according to the duration of storage each group was subdivided into two equal groups one of them stored for one day and the other was stored for one month, then each group was further subdivided into two equal subgroups with (12) disks each one bonded with ligh
... Show MoreLaboratory studies were conducted at the biological control unit, college of Agriculture, University of Baghdad to evaluate some biological aspects of the predator Chilocorus bipustulatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which is considered one of the most important predators on many insect pests, especially the scale insect, Parlatoria blanchardi, (Homoptera: Diaspididae) on date palms. The results showed that biological parameters of the predator were varied according to different degree of temperature. Egg incubation period was significantly different and reached to 7.5 and 5.44 day at 25 and 30°C respectively, Fertility was the same 100% at both temperature degrees. Larval growth periods were 17.41 and 16.12 day as well as the mortality du
... Show MoreA field experiment was carried out in Horticulture Department / Collage of Agricultur e/University of Baghdad to study influence of adding ascorbic acid(asa) and bread yeast extract in snap bean cv.primel under irrigation with saline water using sodium chloride salt (NaCl) during spr ing season of 2016 .A factorial experiment using Randomized Complete Block Design( RCBD) with three replications wereconducted . The first factor includes three treatments of salinity which were tap water ( S0), 4ds.m-1(S1) and 8ds.m-1 (S2) . The second factor includes three treatments which were control treatment without any adding (C) ,ascorbic acid 0.3g.l-1( A ) and yeast extract 12g.l -1( Y ). Results showed significant and gradually decreases in all studie
... Show MoreBackground: The beneficial gut bacterium E. coli can cause blood poisoning, diarrhoea, and other gastrointestinal and systemic disorders. Objective: This study amid to examines the antibiofilm activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extract on E. coli isolates and compares pre- and post-treatment gene expression of fimA and papC genes. Subjects and Methods: Ten isolates of E. coli were obtained from the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute, University of Baghdad, which was previously collected from Baghdad city hospitals and diagnosed by chemical tests, the diagnosis was confirmed using VITEK-2 System. The preparation of the aqueous and methanolic Laurus nobilis leaves extracts was done by using the maceration method and Soxhlet appara
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