The purpose of this research was to prepare, characterize, and evaluate the new antimicrobial peptide  KSL peptide encapsulated in poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)composite microspheres. KSL was loaded in poly(acryloyl hydroxyethyl) starch (acHES) micropar-ticles, and then the peptide-containing microparticles were encapsulated in the PLGA matrix by a solvent extraction /evaporation method.

 KSL-loaded PLGA microspheres were also prepared without the starch hydrogel microparticle microspheres for comparison study. KSL peptide microspheres were characterized for drug content, surface morphology, microspheres size determination, polymers stability , in vitro microspheres degradation and in vitro release. KSL peptide

Taguchi experimental design (TED) is applied to find the optimum effectiveness of aqueous Red Pomegranate Peel (RPP) extract as a green inhibitor for the corrosion of mild steel in 2M H₃PO₄ solution. The Taguchi methodology has been used to study the effects of changing, temperature, RPP concentration and contact period, at three levels. Weight-loss measurements were designed by construction a L₉ orthogonal arrangement of experiments.   Results of the efficiencies of inhibition were embraced for the signal to noise proportion & investigation of variance (ANOVA).  The results were further processed with a MINITAB-17 software package to find the optimal condition

Cu-Al-Ni shape memory alloy specimens has been fabricated using powder metallurgy technique with tube furnace and vacuum sintering environment , three range of Nb powder weight percentage (0.3,0.6,0.9)% has been added. Micro hardness and sliding wear resist has been tested followed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX) for micro structure observation. The experimental test for the samples has showed that the increase of Nb powder weight percentage in the master alloy has a significant effect on increasing the hardness and decreasing the wear resist therefore it will enhance the mechanical properties for this alloy.

Littoral and benthic invertebrates from Roundwood Reservoir System were sampled. Oligochaetes and molluscs were the dominant organisms in the littoral and benthic areas Trichopterans and chironomids were the most abundant insect groups. Scuba diving samples reinforced that view. Other groups of macroinvertebrates were poorly represented. Vertical and horizontal hauls of zooplankton revealed that there were twelve species of zooplankton present. Daphnia hyalina Leydig and Bosmina coregoni Baird were the two dominant species.

Abstract To estimate the seroprevalence of HCV infection among HIV-infected haemophiliacs and to demonstrate the most prevalent HCV genotype, 47 HIV-infected haemophilia patients were screened for anti-HCV antibodies. By performing polymerase chain reaction and DNA enzyme immunoassay, HCV-RNA was detected with subsequent genotyping. Seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was 66.0%. Of 31 HCV/HIV co-infected patients, 21 (67.7%) had no history of blood transfusion. We detected 4 HCV genotypes: 1a, 1b, 4 and 4 mixed with 3a, HCV-1b being the most frequent. Contaminated factor VIII (clotting factor) could be responsible for disease acquisition.

In this paper, variable gain nonlinear PD and PI fuzzy logic controllers are designed and the effect of the variable gain characteristic of these controllers is analyzed to show its contribution in enhancing the performance of the closed loop system over a conventional linear PID controller. Simulation results and time domain performance characteristics show how these fuzzy controllers outperform the conventional PID controller when used to control a nonlinear plant and a plant that has time delay.

In this paper, variable gain nonlinear PD and PI fuzzy logic controllers are designed and the effect of the variable gain characteristic of these controllers is analyzed to show its contribution in enhancing the performance of the closed loop system over a conventional linear PID controller. Simulation results and time domain performance characteristics show how these fuzzy controllers outperform the conventional PID controller when used to control a nonlinear plant and a plant that has time delay.

The study aimed to evaluate the benefits of transferrin saturation percentage (TSAT) and serum ferritin in assessing body iron status, which can influence erythropoietin treatment in patients with ESRD. Forty end-stage renal disease patients on regular hemodialysis participated in this study. Clinical data were obtained. Serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation, ferritin, albumin, creatinine, and C-reactive protein were investigated. Thirty healthy people were enrolled as a control group. ESRD patients had a mean age of 45.1±13.9 years, with 60% being males. They exhibited significantly lower hematocrit (25.3±6.5%), and higher platelet (285.7±148.1x10^9/L) and WBC (9.4±3.1x10^9/L) counts compared to healthy contro