Cultivation of the green seaweed Enteromorpha compressa was performed under natural laboratory spring environmental conditions of temperature, light intensity and photoperiod to study the salinity tolerance of this intertidal green macroalga. Cultivation was carried out under artificial seawater (ASW) of different concentrations (18, 35, 53 and 106 g/l sea salt) compared to the control using natural seawater (NSW). Growth rate and pigment content of the cultivated alga were recorded at regular intervals during the experimental duration. Antioxidant activity of the crude ethanolic extract and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone) was performed against DPPH radical scavenging assay and compared to
... Show MoreUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can provide valuable spatial information products for many projects across a wide range of applications. One of the major challenges in this discipline is the quality of positioning accuracy of the resulting mapping products in professional photogrammetric projects. This is especially true when using low-cost UAV systems equipped with GNSS receivers for navigation. In this study, the influence of UAV flight direction and camera orientation on positioning accuracy in an urban area on the west bank of the Euphrates river in Iraq was investigated. Positioning accuracy was tested in this study with different flight directions and camera orientation settings using a UAV autopilot app (Pix4Dcapture software
... Show MoreGas sensors are essential for detecting noxious gases that have a detrimental effect on people's health and welfare. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are the fundamental component of gas detectors. CQDs and graphene (Gr) were prepared using the electrochemical method. The gas sensitivity of these materials was evaluated at different temperatures (150, 200, 250 °C) to assess their effectiveness. Subsequently, experiments were conducted at different temperatures to ascertain that the combination of CQDs and Gr, with various percentages of Gr and CQDs, exhibited superior gas sensitization properties compared to CQDs alone. This was evaluated based on criteria such as sensitivity, recovery time, and reaction time. Interestingly, the combination was
... Show MoreThe current study performs an explicit nonlinear finite element simulation to predict temperature distribution and consequent stresses during the friction stir welding (FSW) of AA 7075-T651 alloy. The ABAQUS® finite element software was used to model and analyze the process steps that involve plunging, dwelling, and traverse stages. Techniques such as Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation, adaptive meshing, and computational feature of mass scaling were utilized to simulate sequence events during the friction stir welding process. The contact between the welding tool and workpiece was modelled through applying Coulomb’s friction model with a nonlinear friction coefficient value. Also, the model considered the effect of nonlin
... Show MoreLow grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) wer
... Show MoreThe purpose of this research is to prepare new vanillic acid derivatives with 1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol heterocyclic ring and evaluate their antimicrobial activity in a preliminary assessment. A multistep synthesis was established for the preparation of new vanillic acid-triazole conjugates. The intermediate of 4-(4-amino-5-mercapto-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)-2-methoxyphenol (4) reacts with different heterocyclic aldehydes (thiophene-2-carboxaldehyde, pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde, thiophene-3-carboxaldehyde, and furfural ) in ethanol containing few drops of acetic acid yielded the corresponding 4-(4-(substituted amino)-5-mercapto-4H-1,2,4-1triazol-3-yl)-2-methoxy phenol derivatives (
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out in order to investigate the binding mode of axillaridine-A at the active site of human acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme. 2.0 nanosecond of MD simulations was made for the protein and the complex to dynamically explore the active site and the behavior of the ligand at the peripheral AChE binding site. These calculations for the enzyme alone showed that the active site of AChE is located at the bottom of a deep and narrow cavity whose surface is lined with rings of aromatic residues and Tyr72 is almost perpendicular to the Trp286 ring and forms a stable - interaction. The size of the active site of the complex decreases with time due to increase the interaction. Axillaridine-A forms
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