Multiple Sclerosis (MS), is a common autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Currently, there is no cure for MS, and most treatments involve the use of immunosuppressive drugs that can have adverse effects or increased toxicity. Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, is a product of the Cannabis sativa, and for several centuries has been used as an alternative medicine in many cultures. Cannabis sativa produces over 421 chemical compounds, including about 80 terpenophenols named phytocannabinoids, and include both psychotropic THC and non-psychoactive CBD. In the currently study, we show that a combination therapy using THC and CBD results in amelioration of EAE, an animal model of MS, by reducing hind limb paralysis, decreasing immune cellular infiltration into the brain, and mitigating the presence of inflammatory biomarkers, including gram negative bacteria-associated lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Interestingly, the gut microbiome plays an important role in immune function and studies have shown that it is altered significantly in MS patients. Inasmuch, we performed 16S rRNA sequencing on experimental groups to investigate the gut microbiome composition after using a combination of THC and CBD compared to disease controls. Interestingly, we found that EAE mice showed increase in the mucin degrading bacterial species, Akkermansia municiphila, which was significantly reduced in disease mice treated with THC+CBD. Collectively, our data suggests that THC+CBD can ameliorate EAE by preventing accumulation of mucin-degrading bacteria that would lead to increased gut microbial dysbiosis.
The aim of this study is to investigate the behavior of composite castellated beam in which the concrete slab and steel beam connected together with headed studs shear connectors. Four simply supported composite beams with various degree of castellation were tested under two point static loads. One of these beams was built up using standard steel beam, i.e. without web openings, to be a reference beam. The other three beams were fabricated from the same steel I-section with various three castellation ratios, (25, 35, and 45) %. In all beams the concrete slab has the same section and properties. Deflection at mid span of all beams was measured at each 10 kN load increment. The test results show that the castellation process leads to
... Show MoreThis study introduces a series of single and pile group model tests subjected to lateral loads in . multilayered sand from Karbala, Iraq. The aim of this study is to investigate: the performance of the pile groups subjected to lateral loads; in which the pile batter inclination angle is changed; the effect of pile spacing (s/d) ratio, the influence of using different number of piles and pile group configuration. Results revealed that the performance of single negative (Reverse) Battered piles with inclination of 10° and 20° show a gain of 32% and 76 % in the ultimate lateral capacity over the regular ones. For pile groups, the use of a combination of regular, negative and positive battered piles in
... Show MoreExperimental and numerical studies have been conducted on the effects of bed roughness elements such as cubic and T-section elements that are regularly half-channel arrayed on one side of the river on turbulent flow characteristics and bed erosion downstream of the roughness elements. The experimental study has been done for two types of bed roughness elements (cubic and T-section shape) to study the effect of these elements on the velocity profile downstream the elements with respect to different water flow discharges and water depths. A comparison between the cubic and T-section artificial bed roughness showed that the velocity profile downstream the T-section increased in smooth side from the river and decrease in the rough side
... Show MoreBackground: Whey protein is the green-yellow colored, liquid portion of the milk, and it is also called the cheese serum, it is obtained after the separation of curd, during the coagulation of the milk. It contains a considerable amount of α-helix pattern with an evenly distributed hydrophobic and hydrophilic as well as basic and acidic amino acids along with their polypeptide chain. The major whey protein constituents include β-lactoglobulin (β-LG),α-lactalbumin (α-LA), immunoglobulins (IG), bovine serum albumin (BSA), bovine lactoperoxidase (LP), bovine lactoferrin (BLF) and minor amounts of a glycol macro peptide (GMP). Osseointegration can be defined as a process that is immune driven which leads to the formatio
... Show MoreA novel welded demountable shear connector for sustainable steel-concrete composite structures is proposed. The proposed connector consists of a grout-filled steel tube bolted to a compatible partially threaded stud, which is welded on a steel section. This connector allows for an easy deconstruction at the end of the service life of a building, promoting the reuse of both the concrete slabs and the steel sections. This paper presents the experimental evaluation of the structural behavior of the proposed connector using a horizontal pushout test arrangement. The effects of various parameters, including the tube thickness, the presence of grout infill, and the concrete slab compressive strength, were assessed. A nonlinear finite element mode
... Show MoreThe results of theoretical and experimental investigations carried out to study the effect of load and relative sliding speed on the abrasive wear behavior in drilling bit teeth surfaces of an insert tungsten carbide bit have been presented. Experimentally, an apparatus for abrasive wear tests conducted on the modified ASTM-G65 was modified and fabricated to facilitate loading and measurement of wear rate for the sand/ steel wheel abrasion test, which involves two cases of contact; first is at dry sand and second is under wet condition. These tests have been carried under varied operating parameters of normal load and sliding speed. A theoretical model based upon the Archard equation has been developed for predicting wear simulation by u
... Show MoreThe present work aimed to study the efficiency of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane for heavy metal removal from wastewater and study the factors affecting the performance of these two membranes: feed concentrations for heavy metal ions, pressure, and flow rate. The experimental results showed, heavy metals concentration in permeate increase with raise in feed concentrations, decline with increase in flow rate. The raise of pressure, heavy metals concentration decreases for RO membrane, but for NF membrane the concentration decrease and then at high pressure increase. The rejection percentage for chromium in NF and RO is 99.7% and 99.9%, for copper is 98.4% and 99.3%, for zinc is 97.9% and 99.5%, for nickel is 97.2% and
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Theoretical and experimental methodologies were assessed to test curved beam made of layered composite material. The maximum stress and maximum deflection were computed for each layer and the effect of radius of curvature and curve shape on them. Because of the increase of the use of composite materials in aircraft structures and the renewed interest in these types of problems, the presented theoretical assessment was made using three different approaches: curved beam theory and an approximate 2D strength of material equations and finite element method (FEM) analysis by ANSYS 14.5 program for twelve cases of multi-layered cylindrical shell panel differs in fibe
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