The aim of this study is to utilize the electromembrane extraction (EME) system as a manner for effective removal of zinc from aqueous solutions. A novel and distinctive electrochemical cell design was adopted consisting of two glass chambers, a supported liquid membrane (SLM) housing a polypropylene flat membrane infused with 1-octanol and a carrier. Two electrodes were used, a graphite as anode and a stainless steel as cathode. A comprehensive examination of several influential factors including the choice of carrier, the applied voltage magnitude, the initial pH of the donor solution, and the initial concentration of zinc was performed, all in a concerted effort to ascertain their respective impacts on the efficiency of zinc elimination. Two distinct carriers, namely tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) were evaluated, in a tandem with utilization of 1-octanol. The results revealed essential role played by the applied voltage in augmenting the rate of mass transfer of zinc across the membrane. The best operating conditions were utilized for 1-octanol enriched with 1.0 vol.% bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate as a carrier, applied voltage of 60 V, initial pH of 5, initial zinc concentration of 15 mg L-1, extraction duration of 6 hours, and stirring rate of 1000 rpm. Surprisingly, operating under these meticulously devised conditions culminated in the outstanding removal efficiency of 87.3 %. In comparison with no applied voltage, a substantial enhancement in removal efficiency was observed, transcending from a meager 36.67 % to an impressive 87.3 % at 60 V, suggesting thus a tremendous potential of EME as an efficacious technique for the elimination of heavy metals.
FLI1 is a member of ETS family of transcription factors that regulate a variety of normal biologic activities including cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The expression of FLI1 and its correlation with well-known breast cancer prognostic markers (ER, PR and HER2) was determined in primary breast tumors as well as four breast cancer lines including: MCF-7, T47D, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 using RT-qPCR with either 18S rRNA or ACTB (β-actin) for normalization of data. FLI1 mRNA level was decreased in the breast cancer cell lines under study compared to the normal breast tissue; however, Jurkat cells, which were used as a positive control, showed overexpression compared to the normal breast. Regarding primary breast carcinoma
... Show MoreBackground: Dysfunction of sinoatrial node is a set of abnormal rhythms which are resulted from the sinoatrial node malfunctionof the sinus node, the chief natural cardiac pacemaker. The common, and occasionally, the single method for treatment of heart arrhythmias wasimplantation of pacemaker, which reduce symptoms exactly occurs after implantation. Aim: To detect the association between red cell width diameter (RDW) and some cardiac electrophysiology parameters in sinus node dysfunction in Iraqi patients such as SNRT and AH. Methods: A cross sectional study, was conducted on 59 patient ranging between 20-50 years old and involving 35 female and 24 male patients, suffering from an unexplained symptoms of sinoatrial node dysfunction (SND).
... Show MoreLeishmania species are the causative agent of a tropical disease known as leishmaniasis. Previous studies on the old world species Leishmania major, showed that the amastigotes form which resides inside the macrophage of the vertebrate host, utilize host’s sphingolipids for survival and proliferation. In this study, gene expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) subunit two (MmLCB2) of the mouse macrophage cell line (RAW264.7), which is the first enzyme in the de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, was detected in both infected and non-infected macrophages. This was detected under condition where available sphingolipid was reduced, with the new world species Leishmania mexicana. Results of qPCR analysis showed that there was no differen
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Combination of natural poly-phenolic compounds with chemotherapeutic agents is recently being a novel strategy in cancer therapy researches owing to their potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that modulate several intracellular signaling pathways.
Resveratrol and Baicalein are well known poly-phenolic compounds that belong to stilbene and flavone subclasses, respectively.
This study aims to investigate the possible enhancement effect of resveratrol and Baicalein when combined with doxorubicin using a different combination ratio and applied on two cancer cell lines: HCT116 (colorectal cancer cells) and HepG2 (hepatocellular cancer cells). It also investigates the possibility of such natural compounds to p
... Show MoreAlgae have been used in different applications in various fields such as the pharmaceutical industry, environmental treatments, and biotechnology. Studies show that the preparation of nanoparticles by a green synthesis method is a promising solution to many medical and environmental issues. In the current study, the green alga Stigeoclonium attenuatum (Hazen) F.S. Collins 1909 was isolated and identified from the Al-Hillah River (Governorate of Babylon) in the middle of Iraq. The green synthesis by the aqueous extract of algae was used to prepare the nanoflakes of ZnO. Nanoflakes of ZnO are characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) with flakes shape and dimensions ranging be
... Show MoreThe pretreatment process can be considered one of the important processes in wastewater treatment, especially coagulation process to decrease the strength of many pollutants. This paper focused on using powdered date seeds as natural coagulant in addition to chemical coagulants (alum and ferric chloride) to find the optimum dosage of each coagulant that makes efficient removal of turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from domestic wastewater as a pretreatment process, then finding the optimum combined dosages of date seeds with alum, date seeds with ferric chloride that make efficient removal for both pollutants. Concerning turbidity, the optimum dosage for date seeds, alum and ferric chloride were 40 mg/l (79%), 70
... Show MoreThis research paper studies the use of an environmentally and not expensive method to degrade Orange G dye (OG) from the aqueous solution, where the extract of ficus leaves has been used to fabricate the green bimetallic iron/copper nanoparticles (G-Fe/Cu-NPs). The fabricated G‑Fe/Cu-NPs were characterized utilizing scanning electron microscopy, BET, atomic force microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and zeta potential. The rounded and shaped as like spherical nanoparticles were found for G-Fe/Cu‑NPs with the size ranged 32-59 nm and the surface area was 4.452 m2/g. Then the resultant nanoparticles were utilized as a Fenton-like oxidation catalyst. The degradation efficiency of
... Show MoreA simple, environmental friendly and selective sample preparation technique employing porous membrane protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) loaded with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) is described. After the extraction, the analyte was desorbed using ultrasonication and was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of OTA for coffee, grape juice and urine were 0.06 ng g−1, 0.02 and 0.02 ng mL−1, respectively while the quantification limits were 0.19 ng g−1, 0.06 and 0.08 ng mL−1, respectively. The recoveries of OTA from coffee spiked at 1, 25 and 50 ng g−1, grape juice and urine samples at 1, 25 and 50 ng mL
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