A case–control study (80 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection and 96 controls) was performed to evaluate the association of an IL12A gene variant (rs582537 A/C/G) with HBV infection. Allele G showed a signifcantly lower frequency in patients compared to controls (31.2 vs. 46.9%; probability [p]=0.009; corrected p [pc]=0.027) and was associated with a lower risk of HBV infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.49; 95% confdence interval [CI]=0.29–0.83). A similar lower risk was associated with genotypes CG (17.5 vs. 29.2; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.08–0.81; p=0.02) and GG (10.0 vs. 16.7; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.07–0.91; p=0.036), but the pc value was not signifcant (0.12 and 0.126, respec‑ tively). Serum IL35 levels showed signifcant difere

In this work a hybrid composite materials were prepared containing matrix of polymer (polyethylene PE) reinforced by different reinforcing materials (Alumina powder + Carbon black powder CB + Silica powder). The hybrid composite materials prepared are: • H1 = PE + Al2O3 + CB • H2 = PE + CB + SiO2 • H3 = PE + Al2O3 + CB + SiO2 All samples related to electrical tests were prepared by injection molding process. Mechanical tests include compression with different temperatures and different chemical solutions at different immersion times The mechanical experimentations results were in favour of the samples (H3) with an obvious weakness of the samples (H1) and a decrease of these properties with a rise in temperature and the increasing

The increasing population growth resulting in the tremendous increase in consumption of fuels, energy, and petrochemical products and coupled with the depletion in conventional crude oil reserves and production make it imperative for Nigeria to explore her bitumen reserves so as to meet her energy and petrochemicals needs. Samples of Agbabu bitumen were subjected to thermal cracking in a tubular steel reactor operated at 10 bar pressure to investigate the effect of temperature on the cracking reaction. The gas produced was analyzed in a Gas Chromatograph while the liquid products were subjected to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Heptane was the dominant gas produced in bitumen cracking at all temperatures and the r

The excellent specifications of electrodes coated with lead dioxide material make it of great importance in the industry. So it was suggested this study, which includes electrodeposition of lead dioxide on graphite substrate, knowing that the electrodeposition of lead dioxide on graphite studied earlier in different ways.

In this work the deposition process for lead dioxide conducted using electrolytic solution containing lead nitrate concentration 0.72 M with the addition of some other material to the solution, such as copper nitrate, nickel nitrate, sodium fluoride and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, but only in very small concentrations. As for the operating conditions, the effect of change potential and temperature as well

A significant influence of temperature width found on the vanadium oxide properties, it plays a major role in highlighting the thermal limits of the three phases (metallic, semiconductor, and dielectric). Two values of the temperature width , and , had taken and studied their effect on both the dielectric constant and its two parts; refractive index, and extinction coefficient, and. It found that: as the temperature width is greater, the more the properties of the three phases for . In addition to increasing the thermal range for phases which can be reached to when , while it's at . Our results have achieved great compatibility with the published results globally. In addition to the effect of both ultraviolet, visible, and infrared

Nowadays, energy demand continuously rises while energy stocks are dwindling. Using current resources more effectively is crucial for the world. A wide method to effectively utilize energy is to generate electricity using thermal gas turbines (GT). One of the most important problems that gas turbines suffer from is high ambient air temperature especially in summer. The current paper details the effects of ambient conditions on the performance of a gas turbine through energy audits taking into account the influence of ambient conditions on the specific heat capacity ( , isentropic exponent ( ) as well as the gas constant of air . A computer program was developed to examine the operation of a power plant at various ambient temperature

In study carried out in the cold storage in college of Agric./Univ. of Baghdad at 8 ? C. shows that Alternaria , Pencillium , Rhizoctonia , Mucor , are the fungi that causes tomato fruits decay. This is the first record of Rhizoctonia and Mucor as a Tomato fruits rot under 8º c in Iraq. There is no fungal infection on cucumber fruits under 8 ? C. . Waxing tomato fruits reduced the severity of the fungi infection and gave shelflife (19 days) under 8 ? C. There is an infection with Mucor was found in tomato fruits kept in perforated polyethylene bages with 16 bores prevent the infection and the lowest severity and frequency of infection was found in waxed tomato fruits. Part of M.Sc thesis of the Second author.

   Effect of antioxidants (vitamins C and E) (500mg/kg) was studied on function of testes in albino mice treated with hexavalent chromium (1000ppm). The results showed that exposure to hexavalent chromium caused a significant decrease in body weights, without changes in weight of testes, seminal vesicles and prostate. A significant decrease was observed in the percentage of dead sperms, sperms abnormalities, diameter of seminiferous tubules and the number of leydig cells. Degenerative changes and necrosis were observed in the lumen of seminiferous tubules. Treatment of hexavalent chromium-exposed mice with vitamin C caused improvement in weights and characters of sperms and improvement of the tissue of seminiferous tubules. Tre