Given the paucity and toxicity of available drugs for leishmaniasis, coupled with the advent of drug resistance, the discovery of new therapies for this neglected tropical disease is recognised as being of the utmost urgency. As such antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as promising compounds against the causative Leishmania species, insect vector-borne protozoan parasites. Here the AMP temporins A, B and 1Sa have been synthesised and screened for activity against Leishmania mexicana insect stage promastigotes and mammalian stage amastigotes, a significant cause of human cutaneous disease. In contrast to previous studies with other species the activity of these AMPs against L. mexicana amastigotes was low. This suggests that ama

The temperature influence on the fluorescence lifetime, quantum yields and non-radiative rate parameter or coumarin 460 dye dissolved in methanol was investigated in the temperature range (160-300 k). A single photon counting technique was used or measuring the fluorescence decay curves. A noticeable decrease of the fluorescence lifetime with increasing the temperature was observed. The non-radiative activation energy of 10.57 K.J. mole-1 was measured by the help of Arrhenius plot.

Membrane distillation (MD) is a hopeful desalination technique for brine (salty) water. In this research, Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) and  Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) will be used. The sample used is from Shat Al –Arab water (TDS=2430 mg/l). A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) flat sheet membrane was used as a flat sheet form with a plate and frame cell. Several parameters were studied, such as; operation time, feed temperature, permeate temperature, feed flow rate. The results showed that with time, the flux decreases because of the accumulated fouling and scaling on the membrane surface. Feed temperature and feed flow rate had a positive effect on the permeate flux, while permeate temperatu

It was aimed to investigate the compressibility, compactibility, powder flow and tablet disintegration of a new excipient comprising magnesium (Mg) silicate co-processed (5%–85% w/w) onto chitin, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and starch as the hydrophilic polymers of interest. Initially, the mechanism of tablet disintegration was studied by measuring water infiltration rate, moisture sorption, swelling capacity and hydration ability. Moreover, the powders compression behavior was carried out by applying Kawakita model of compression analysis in addition to porosity and radial tensile strength measurements. In vitro drug release of compacts made of 400 mg ibuprofen and 300 mg of the hydrophilic polymers containing 30% w/w Mg silicat

Abstract

Although the rapid development in reverse engineering techniques, 3D laser scanners can be considered the modern technology used to digitize the 3D objects, but some troubles may be associate this process due to the environmental noises and limitation of the used scanners. So, in the present paper a data pre-processing algorithm has been proposed to obtain the necessary geometric features and mathematical representation of scanned object from its point cloud which obtained using 3D laser scanner (Matter and Form) through isolating the noised points. The proposed algorithm based on continuous calculations of chord angle between each adjacent pair of points in point cloud. A MATLAB program has been built t

Hematological malignancies remain one of the leading causes of death worldwide despite advances in cancer therapeutics. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a member of Paramyxoviridae that elicits considerable interest as an anticancer agent because it can replicate up to 10 000 times faster in human cancer cells than in most normal cancer cells. Several NDV strains reportedly induce the cytolysis of cancerous cell lines. The attenuated Iraqi strain (AMHA1) of NDV is a novel oncolytic agent with promising antitumor characteristics, including apoptosis induction. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of the AMHA1 NDV strain to induce apoptotic cell death in hematological tumors through caspase-dependent or independent apoptotic pathways. The

Biosorpion of lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd) and Nickl(Ni) by dried biomass of Chara sp. for sample of BMP was used as alternative approach of conventional method. The range of removal percentages was between 92-97%, 70-98.7% and 46.6-96.6% for Pb, Cd and Ni respectively at 3h.Treatment time, with 300-500 mg dried weight from Chara sp. powder at pH 4, with 60 rpm at shaker. FTIR analysis showed the active groups which are responsible for sequestration of heavy metals represented by carboxyl, hydroxyl alkyl, amine and amide. The Biosorption equilibrium experiment for elements showed that the highest sorption percentage for three elements was, Pb 96.6% after 30 minute, for Cd was 100% after 15 minute and 40% to Ni after 75 minute, while the biosorp