In this study, the photodegradation of Congo red dye (CR) in aqueous solution was investigated using Au-Pd/TiO₂ as photocatalyst. The concentration of dye, dosage of photocatalyst, amount of H₂O₂, pH of the medium and temperature were examined to find the optimum values of these parameters. It has been found that 28 ppm was the best dye concentration. The optimum amount of photocatalyst was 0.09 g/75 mL of dye solution when the degradation percent was ~ 96 % after irradiation time of 12 hours, while the best amount of hydrogen peroxide was 7μl/75 mL of dye solution at degradation percent ~97 % after irradiation time of 10 hours, whereas pH 5 was the best value to carry out the reaction at the highest deg

In this study, the photodegradation of Congo red dye (CR) in aqueous solution was investigated using Au-Pd/TiO2 as photocatalyst. The concentration of dye, dosage of photocatalyst, amount of H2O2, pH of the medium and temperature were examined to find the optimum values of these parameters. It has been found that 28 ppm was the best dye concentration. The optimum amount of photocatalyst was 0.09 g/75 mL of dye solution when the degradation percent was ~ 96 % after irradiation time of 12 hours, while the best amount of hydrogen peroxide was 7μl/75 mL of dye solution at degradation percent ~97 % after irradiation time of 10 hours, whereas pH 5 was the best value to carry out the reaction at the highest degradation percent. In additio

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare centering ability and canal transportation of simulated S-shaped canals instrumented with four different types of rotary nickel-titanium systems. Materials and Methods: Forty simulated S-shaped canals in resin blocks were divided into four groups of ten each and were instrumented to an apical size 25 by different instrumentation technique using ProTaper Universal files (group A), ProTaperNext (group B), Reciproc (group C) and WaveOne (group D).Centering ability and canal transportation was measured at (11) measuring points from D0 to D10 bysuperimposion of the pre- and post-operative images obtained by using digital camera in standardized manner. An assessment of the canals

Adhesion (type 1 fimbriae) and host defense avoidance mechanisms (capsule or lipopolysaccharide) have been shown to be prevalent in Escherichia coli isolates associated with urinary tract infections. In this work, 50 uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolated from children with urinary tract infections were genotypically characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. We used two genes; fimH and kpsMTII, both of them previously identified in uropathogenic E.coli (UPEC) isolates. The PCR assay results identified fimH (90.0)% and kpsMTII (72.0)% isolates. In the present study, was also demonstrated that these genes may be included in both or one of them within a single isolate.

The clinical spectrum of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), an intracellular parasitic pathogen, ranges from a single sore healing to chronic crusty lesions with a manifestation of treatment resistance. The complicated interaction between Leishmania bodies and the early immune response, including innate and adaptive mechanisms, determines the evolution of nodules. This study examined the levels of the chemoattractant interleukin 8 (IL-8), pro-inflammatory nitric oxide (NO), and immunoregulatory macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF) in the serum of subjects recently diagnosed with cutaneous leishmaniasis, in parallel with patients being monitored during consecutive sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam) treatment. A total of 161 serum samples of newly di

Animal fats are a good, promising and ethical alternative source for biodiesel production, but they need more complex treatments than vegetable oils. Iraqi butchery plants waste fats (sheep fat) which are suggested as feedstock to produce biodiesel. This type of fat contains a large quantity of free fatty acids (FFAs) (acid number 49.13 mg KOH/g of fat). The direct transesterification of such fats produce high amount of soap instead of desired biodiesel, so a pre-treatment step (to reduce FFAs) is necessary before transesterification. This step was done by esterification of the free fatty acids in the fat by adding ethanol and using 1% acid catalyst (H2SO4) for 30 minutes. The results showed that the acid number of sheep fat after pre-tr

Ferric oxide nanoparticles Fe3O4NPs have been prepared by the coprecipitation method, which were used to functionalize the surface of electrospun nanofibers of polyacrylonitrile to increase their effectiveness in adsorption of Congo red (CR) dye from their aqueous solutions. The effect factors of adsorption were systematically investigated such as adsorbent mass, initial concentration, contact time, temperature, ionic strength and pH. The maximum adsorbed amount of the dye was at 0.003g of adsorbent. The adsorption of dye increased with increasing initial dye concentration and the system reaches to the equilibrium state at 150 min. The adsorbed dye capacity decreases with increasing temperature which indicates to the exothermic nature of ad

This study designed to evaluate the relationship between the Matrix metalloproteinase -9(MMP-9), soluble Vascular endothelial cadherin(VE-CAD)and Chlamydia pneumonia infection in cardiovascular diseases patients. All blood sample were subjected for molecular detection of C.pneumoniae by using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) depending on 16S rRNA while the level of serum MMP-9, VE-CAD measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Seventy patients who suffering from cardiovascular diseases (angina, myocardial infraction and atherosclerosis) aged between 33-86 years have been investigated and compared to twenty of apparently healthy individuals as control group. Twenty six samples (37.14%) revealed positive results for C.

Background: Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects the gingiva and bone supporting the teeth. Smoking, which is an important risk factor for periodontitis, induce oxidative stress in the body and cause an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD). This study aimed to evaluate the influence of smoking on periodontal health status by estimating the levels of salivary SOD level in non-smokers (controls) and light and heavy smokers and to test the correlation between the SOD enzyme level and the clinical periodontal parameters in each group. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 75 male, with age ranged from 35 to 50 years. Clinically, the perio