Background: Visfatin is a novel adipokine that mainly secreted by visceral adipose tissue, had an important role in inflammation and immune system. Creatine Kinase (CK) which is an enzyme that is involved in energy metabolism, found in large amounts in myocardium, brain and skeletal tissues. This study is carried out To evaluate the periodontal health status of the study groups (chronic periodontitis and chronic periodontitis with coronary atherosclerosis) and control groups, to measure the salivary levels of visfatin and Creatine Kinase in these groups and compare between them, and to determine the correlations between salivary visfatin and Creatine Kinase levels with the periodontal parameters in the three groups. Materials and Methods: eighty participants, males and females were recruited in this study with age ranged from (30-60) years, they were divided into three groups: the first study group was the Chronic periodontitis group (n=30), the second study group was chronic periodontitis and coronary atherosclerosis (n=30) and the control group(n=20) which was healthy systemically with healthy periodontium. Periodontal health status was determined by measuring plaque index(PLI),gingival index (GI), probing pocket depth(PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP) and clinical attachment level (CAL),salivary samples were taken from each participants, salivary visfatin levels were determined by enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay(ELISA) while the activity of salivary Creatine Kinase was determined spectrometrically by using the International Federation of the Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) method on Hitachi 911 Automatic analyzer. Results: The results of the study showed that the mean values of PLI, GI, visfatin, Creatine Kinase and the percentages of sites according to PPD scores, CAL scores, BOP were higher in the second study group with chronic periodontitis and coronary atherosclerosis than in the other groups with highly significant differences between the groups at (P≤0.01). Also by using Pearson Correlation Coefficient, salivary visfatin levels were correlated positively with all clinical periodontal parameters with a strong and positive correlation between salivary visfatin levels and CAL scores and PPD scores. Salivary Creatine Kinase levels were correlated positively with all clinical periodontal parameters with a strong and positive correlation between its levels and mean values of GI and percentages of BOP. Conclusion: The present study showed that salivary visfatin can be used as a marker for the development of coronary atherosclerosis and its levels are associated with the degree of periodontal destruction and showed that Creatine Kinase may be used as a marker for coronary atherosclerosis and chronic periodontitis.
The extraction of Cupressus sempervirens L. or cypress essential oil was studied in this paper. This cypress oil was extracted by using the hydro-distillation method, using a clevenger apparatus. Cupressus sempervirens L. leaves were collected from Hit city in Al-Anbar province – Iraq. The influences of three important parameters on the process of oil extraction; water which used as a solvent to the solid ratio (5:1 and 14:1 (ml solvent/g plant), temperature (30 to 100 °C) and processing time, were examined to obtain the best processing conditions to achieve the maximum yield of the essential oil. Also, the mathematical model was described to calculate the mass transfer coefficient. Therefore, the best conditions, that were obtained in
... Show MorePolyimide/polyaniline nanofiber composites were prepared by in situ polymerization with various weight percentages of polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), proved the successful preparation of PANI nanofiber composite films. In addition, thermal stability of PI/PANI nanofiber composites was superior relative to PI, having 10 % gravimetric loss in the range of 623 °C to 671 °C and glass transition temperature of 289 °C to 297 °C. Furthermore, the values of the loss tangent tanδ and AC conductivity σAC of the nanocomposite films were notably higher than those of pure polyimide. The addition of 5 wt.% to 15 wt.% PANI
The importance of specifying proper aggregate grading for achieving satisfactory performance in pavement applications has long been recognized. To improve the specifications for superior performance, there is a need to understand how differences in aggregate gradations within the acceptable limits may affect unbound aggregate base behavior. The effects of gradation on strength, modulus, and deformation characteristics of high-quality crushed rock base materials are described here. Two crushed rock types commonly used in constructing heavy-duty granular base layers in the State of Victoria, Australia, with three different gradations each were used in this study. The gradations used represent the lower, medium, and upper gradation li
... Show MoreThis research was aimed to the purification and characterization of cytosine deaminase as a medically important enzyme from locally isolated Escherichia coli; then studying its cytotoxic anticancer effects against colon cancer cell line. Cytosine deaminase was subjected to three purification steps including precipitation with 90% ammonium sulfate saturation, ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose column, and gel filtration chromatography throughout Sephadex G-200 column. Specific activity of the purified enzyme was increased up to 9 U/mg with 12.85 folds of purification and 30.85% enzyme recovery. Characterization study of purified enzyme revealed that the molecular weight of cytosine deaminase produced by E. coli was about 48 KDa,
... Show MoreA microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new approach to bioelectrochemical systems. It provides a more sustainable way to electrical power production, saltwater desalination, and wastewater treatment at the same time. This study examined three operation modes of the MDC: chemical cathode, air cathode, and biocathode MDC, to give clear sight of this system's performance. The experimental work results for these three modes were recorded as power densities generation, saltwater desalination rates, and COD removal percentages. For the chemical cathode MDC, the power density was 96.8 mW/m2, the desalination rate was 84.08 ppm/hr, and the COD removal percentage was 95.94%. The air cathode MDC results were different
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