Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba is a powerful system to study gene function through genetic and functional analysis. Paracaspase (Pcp) is a caspase-like protein that has recently identified in D. discoideum. Study paracaspase molecular function in Dictyostelium will provide insight into its cellular role in more complex organisms and the possibility to use it as a drug target against the parasitic amoeba. In this study, pcp was tagged with Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and over-expressed in the cell. The knockout version of pcp (pcp-) was also investigated. In the course of our examination, it was observed that cells overexpress Pcp was unable to complete the developmental process, leading us to examine its role in development. Those cells were unable to initiate early development and failed to aggregate under starvation conditions. Aggregation is severely defected as cells have decreased cell-cell cohesion. In particular, these cells demonstrated a reduction in adhesion. This data suggests that over-expression of Pcp causes a signaling defects crucial to normal development in Dictyostelium. On the other hand, cells with pcp- mutant demonstrated larger aggregation in normal media as well as under starvation conditions compared to the control cell lines. As a result, we propose that Dictyostelium Pcp is a regulated protein involved in cellular functions including signal relay pathways that are essential for cell aggregation and development. Thus, Pcp protein is a candidate drug target against the amoebic parasitic infection by prevent development to their infective stages.
An effort is made to study the effect of composite nanocoating using aluminum-9%wt silicon alloys reinforced with different percentage (0.5,1,2,4)wt.% of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using plasma spraying. The effect of this composite on corrosion behavior for AA6061-T6 by extrapolation Tafel test in sea water 3.5wt% NaCl was invested. Many specimens where prepared from AA6061-T6 by the dimension (15x15x3)mm as this first set up and other steps include coating process, X-ray diffraction and SEM examination .The results show the CNTs increase the corrosion rate of the nanocomposite coatings with increasing the weight percentage of CNTs within the Al-Si matrix. Al-9wt%Si coating layer itself has less corrosion rate if compared with both n
... Show MoreObjectives The strategies of tissue-engineering led to the development of living cell-based therapies to repair lost or damaged tissues, including periodontal ligament and to construct biohybrid implant. This work aimed to isolate human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) and implant them on fabricated polycaprolactone (PCL) for the regeneration of natural periodontal ligament (PDL) tissues. Methods hPDLSCs were harvested from extracted human premolars, cultured, and expanded to obtain PDL cells. A PDL-specific marker (periostin) was detected using an immunofluorescent assay. Electrospinning was applied to fabricate PCL at three concentrations (13%, 16%, and 20% weight/volume) in two forms, which were examined through field emission
... Show MoreThis paper presents a study to investigate the behavior of post-tensioned segmental concrete beams that exposed to high-temperature. The experimental program included fabricating and testing twelve simply supported beams that divided into three groups depending on the number of precasting concrete segments. All specimens were prepared with an identical length of 3150 mm and differed in the number of the incorporated segments of the beam (9, 7, or 5 segments). To simulate the genuine fire disasters, nine out of twelve beams were exposed to a high-temperature flame for one hour. Based on the standard fire curve (ASTM – E119), the temperatures of 300◦C (572◦F), 500◦C (932◦F), and 700◦C (1292◦F) were adopted. Consequently,
... Show MoreIn this manuscript has investigated the synthesis of plasma-polymerized pyrrole (C4H5N) nano-particles prepared by the proposed atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma jet through the parametric studies, particularly gas flow rate (0.5, 1 and 1.5 L/min). The plasma jet which used operates with alternating voltage 7.5kv and frequency 28kHz. The plasma-flow characteristics were investigated based on optical emission spectroscopy (OES). UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to characterize the oxidization state for polypyrrole. The major absorption appears around 464.1, 449.7 and 435.3 nm at the three flow rate of argon gas. The chemical composition and structural properties of the
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to detect the relation between the fracture sets and systems with the stages of folding. The triple junction area of the research comprises the three faced plunges of three anticlines Bekhair, Brifca and Zawita anticline. GEOreint, ver 9.5.0 was used for analyzing and classifying the data collected from the field measurements on 11 stations in proportion to the orthogonal tectonic axes. The age of exposed rocks ranges from Paleocene up to Miocene. The fractures were represented as joints, veins in addition to different types of faults. The Kinematic analysis of the fractures revealed that the stress caused the (ac) and (hko> a) fractures is coincides with the regional compression stress that form the folds w
... Show MoreSeparation of uricase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa was done using (70%) satu-ration ammonium sulphate, and purification of this enzyme was done by ion ex-change chromatography on DEAE- cellulose column and eluted with linear NaCl (0-1M). Partial purified uricase gave an activity of (4.9 u/ml), protein concentration of (0.56 mg/ml), specific activity of (8.75 unit/mg) with purification folds (8.4) and a yield of (48%). The maximum purified uricase activity was detected at 35ºc and pH 8.5 with (0.12 mM.uric acid). The results shown that red cabbage extract (RCE) contain flavonoides which contain phenolic compounds and anthocyanines which glycoslated with mono or dimolecules of saccharides, while test for alkaloids, ster-oids, saponins and
... Show MoreOne of the most essential components of asphalt pavements is the filler. It serves two purposes. First, this fine-grained material (diameter less than 0.075 mm) improves the cohesiveness of aggregate with bitumen. Second, produce a dense mixture by filling the voids between the particles. Aluminum dross (AD), which is a by-product of aluminum re-melting, is formed all over the world. This material causes damage to humans and the environment; stockpiling AD in landfills is not the best solution. This research studies the possibility of replacing part of the conventional filler with aluminum dross. Three percent of dross was used, 10, 20, and 30% by filler weight. The MarshallMix design method was adopted to obtain the op
... Show MoreIn this work, an experimental study has been done to expect the heat characteristics and performance of the forced-convection from a heated horizontal rectangular fins array to air inside a rectangular cross-section duct. Three several configurations of rectangular fins array have been employed. One configuration without notches and perforations (solid) and two configurations with combination of rectangular-notches and circular-perforations for two various area removal percentages from fins namely 18% notches-9% perforations and 9% notches-18% perforations are utilized. The rectangular fins dimensions and fins number are kept constant. The fins array is heated electrically from the base
... Show MoreThis paper presents an improved technique on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. The procedure is applied on Single Machine with Infinite Bus (SMIB) system with power system stabilizer (PSS) at three different loading regimes. The simulations are made by using MATLAB software. The results show that by using Improved Ant Colony Optimization (IACO) the system will give better performance with less number of iterations as it compared with a previous modification on ACO. In addition, the probability of selecting the arc depends on the best ant performance and the evaporation rate.
Frequency equations for rectangular plate model with and without the thermoelastic effect for the cases are: all edges are simply supported, all edges are clamped and two opposite edges are clamped others are simply supported. These were obtained through direct method for simply supported ends using Hamilton’s principle with minimizing Ritz method to total energy (strain and kinetic) for the rest of the boundary conditions. The effect of restraining edges on the frequency and mode shape has been considered. Distributions temperatures have been considered as a uniform temperature the effect of developed thermal stresses due to restrictions of ends conditions on vibration characteristics of a plate with different
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