Despite extensive investigations, an effective treatment for sepsis remains elusive and a better understanding of the inflammatory response to infection is required to identify potential new targets for therapy. In this study we have used RNAi technology to show, for the first time, that the inducible lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 (LPCAT2) plays a key role in macrophage inflammatory gene expression in response to stimulation with bacterial ligands. Using siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that, in contrast to the constitutive LPCAT1, LPCAT2 is required for macrophage cytokine gene expression and release in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligand stimulation but not for TLR-independent stimuli. In addition, cells transfe

Date stones were used as precursor for the preparation of activated carbons by chemical
activation with ferric chloride and zinc chloride. The effects of operating conditions represented
by the activation time, activation temperature, and impregnation ratio on the yield and adsorption
capacity towards methylene blue (MB) of prepared activated carbon by ferric chloride activation
(FAC) and zinc chloride activation (ZAC) were studied. For FAC, an optimum conditions of 1.25
h activation time, 700 °C activation temperature, and 1.5 impregnation ratio gave 185.15 mg/g
MB uptake and 47.08 % yield, while for ZAC, 240.77 mg/g MB uptake and 40.46 % yield were
obtained at the optimum conditions of 1.25 h activation time, 500

Near surface mounted (NSM) carbon fibers reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement is one of the techniques for reinforcing masonry structures and is considered to provide significant advantages. This paper is composed of two parts. The first part presents the experimental study of brick masonry walls reinforced with NSM CFRP strips under combined shear-compression loads. Masonry walls have been tested under vertical compression, with different bed joint orientations 90° and 45° relative to the loading direction. Different reinforcement orientations were used including vertical, horizontal, and a combination of both sides of the wall. The second part of this paper comprises a numerical analysis of unreinforced brick masonry (URM) wa

γ-Al2O3–NPs were synthesized by a green synthesis process based on Boswellia carterii resin extract and aluminum sulphate in an alkaline medium. Boswellia carterii resin extract is a significant reducing and stabilizing agent for synthesizing γ-Al2O3–NPs.Several techniques, including Fourier–transform infrared (FT-IR), UV–visible spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), were utilized to investigate the final product. XRD and SEM confirmed a plate-like crystalline structure with an average size of 17.5 nm. FT-IR analysis identified aluminum oxide stretching vibrations (655,

Background: A great dental and biomedical interest had been paid to silver nanoparticles because of their antimicrobial activity. Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of a newly developed Nano-silver fluoride that was synthesized from moringa oleifera leaf extract against S. mutants.  Material and method: The green synthesis method was used to prepare Nano-silver fluoride from moringa oleifera leaf extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration and the minimum bactericidal concentration were evaluated using brain heart infusion plates, while the cytotoxicity was evaluated by the hemolytic activity. Results: Nano-silver fluoride had a bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect (MIC was 60 ppm a

We have synthesized many metal (II) complexes using curcumin L1 as the major ligand and 2-(1H-Benzimidazol-2-yl) aniline L2 as a supporting ligand. The complexes were characterized by spectroscopy methods such as; molar conductivity, elements microanalysis, Fourier-transform spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-vis, and mass spectroscopy. Both curcumin ligands and L2 were found to be capable of binding to M(II) and metal ions via their two N atoms, according to the data. The formula for the complexes is the same. [M (L1)(L2)H2OCl], where M is Ni(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II) (II). Octahedral complexes are proposed for the prepared compounds. The bio-actives suggested that the complexes are effective against bacteria and fungus on a mi

In Iraq, the risk of soil pollution by petroleum products increases with the growth of oil exploration, production and shipping large quantities of oil through pipelines over thousands of kilometers. Numerous oil spills have been documented recently in many sites due to damage in the oil industry infrastructures, which have led to soil contamination causing serious environmental hazards and deterioration to the soil and its engineering properties. So, it is essential to investigate the impact of oil leakage through the soil stratum consequently, assessing the eligibility of the contaminated soil for construction projects or identifying the appropriate treatment method. The paper investigates the general behaviour and the associated variatio