Background: The iron deficiency anemia along with hyperphosphatemia are the main complications of dialysis patients. Traditional iron supplement has been failed to correct iron deficiency anemia, therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of new phosphate binder, ferric citrate, in a sample of Iraqi patients with end stage renal disease on maintenance hemodialysis. Method: Prospective, randomized, open label, active controlled trial was conducted in one center for dialysis in Babylon governance. Patients were randomized to receive ferric citrate with dose of 6 g/d and calcium carbonate with dose of 3 g/d for eight weeks. Hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and count of RBCs along with iron store parameters were measured. The adherence and gastrointestinal side effects were reported at the end of study. Results: A total of 50 patients were completed the study. Ferric citrate group showed elevation in count of RBCs, hemoglobin concentration, MCH-C and reduction in use of IV iron and erythropoietin as well as increased iron store which evidenced by elevation of ferritin level in the participants. There were similar adverse effects in both groups, with good adherence seen in ferric citrate group. Conclusion: A treatment with ferric citrate for 8 weeks was observed to effectively improve anemia in a sample of Iraqi patients with end stage renal disease on maintenance hemodialysis. In addition, the use of intravenous iron and erythropoietin was reduced in ferric citrate group with well tolerability throughout the study period. Ferric citrate may be useful alternative for restoring iron level in hemodialysis patients.
In the present investigation, the synthesis of copper nanoparticles from green tea was attempted and investigated for its capacity to adsorb drugs (Ciprofloxacin). The copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) were characterized by different techniques of analysis such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, atomic force microscope (AFM), blumenauer-emmer-teller (BET), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and zeta potentials techniques. Cu-NPs lie in the mesoporous material category with a diameter in the range of 2-50 nm. The aqueous solution was investigated for the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) with green tea-synthesized Cu-NPs. The results showed that ciprofloxacin efficiency depe
... Show MoreA novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (
... Show MoreA crucial area of research in nanotechnology is the formation of environmentally benign nanoparticles. Both unicellular and multicellular play an important role in synthesis nanoparticles through the production of inorganic materials either intracellularly or extracellularly. The agents (pigments, siderophores, cell extracted metabolites and reducing compounds) were used to prepare silver nanparticles with different sizes and shapes. The color variations (dark yellow, slightly dark yellow and golden yellow) arising from changes in the composition, size, and shape of nanoparticles, surrounding medium can be monitored using UV-visible spectrophotometer. These effects are due to the phenomena called surface plasmon resonance. The silver nanopa
... Show MoreThe esterification of oleic acid with 2-ethylhexanol in presence of sulfuric acid as homogeneous catalyst was investigated in this work to produce 2-ethylhexyl oleate (biodiesel) by using semi batch reactive distillation. The effect of reaction temperature (100 to 130°C), 2-ethylhexanol:oleic acid molar ratio (1:1 to 1:3) and catalysts concentration (0.2 to 1wt%) were studied. Higher conversion of 97% was achieved with operating conditions of reaction temperature of 130°C, molar ratio of free fatty acid to alcohol of 1:2 and catalyst concentration of 1wt%. A simulation was adopted from basic principles of the reactive distillation using MATLAB to describe the process. Good agreement was achieved.
Despite their long successful use, synthetic dyes have several problems due to their carcinogenic and toxic effects. Besides providing bright colors, some natural pigments have shown notable antimicrobial activity; thus, they could be utilized as functional dyes in many applications such as making colored antimicrobial textiles. In this work, a yellow pigment produced by Streptomyces thinghirensis AF7 and has a notable antimicrobial activity was used to produce a colored antimicrobial textile. The extracted yellow pigment was subjected to a purification step using silica gel column eluted with di ethyl ether solvent. The FTIR, GC-MS and NMR analysis showed that the colorings in this type of product are due to t
... Show MoreWith the development of cloud computing during the latest years, data center networks have become a great topic in both industrial and academic societies. Nevertheless, traditional methods based on manual and hardware devices are burdensome, expensive, and cannot completely utilize the ability of physical network infrastructure. Thus, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has been hyped as one of the best encouraging solutions for future Internet performance. SDN notable by two features; the separation of control plane from the data plane, and providing the network development by programmable capabilities instead of hardware solutions. Current paper introduces an SDN-based optimized Resch