Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series of experiments were conducted at constant mixing speed (300 revolutions per minute) to evaluate the effect of experimental factors likes, adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, and dosage of activated carbon on removal efficiency. The design of experiments (version 13 Stat-Ease) was implemented using the central composite method to define the optimum effect of the process factors on the removal efficiency. The analysis of variance showed that the quadratic model for the experiment was significant with a very low probability value (P- value < 0.0001). The adjusted R2 of the model was 0.9826 and the predicted R2 was 0.9574. Whereas the optimum conditions suggested by the model for the process variable were found to be 150 min, 3.25 pH, 30 mg/L, 0.267g, for adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, a dosage of activated carbon, respectively and the maximum removal efficiency was found to be 94.6%. The data obtained from the experiments were fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich models and the results show that the data was well fitted Langmuir model with R2 = 0.9685 as compared to the Freundlich model which has R2 = 0.93249. Likewise, the data was analyzed by pseudo first and second-order kinetic models and the results show that the adsorption on apricot-activated carbon was well adequate with the pseudo-second-order model.
Clinical index is needed to predict the outcome of pregnancy after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) for infertile patients. Growth differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8), also known as myostatin, is one of transforming growth factor-â superfamily localized in antral follicles in normal and PCOS ovaries but its function in female reproductive system is still unknown. Aim of the study is to assess the correlation between levels of GDF8 in follicular fluid (FF) with outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF/ICSI) in women with and without PCOS. A prospective case control study was performed enrolling (40) patients with PCOS and (40) non-PCOS women (male infertility) undergoing IVF/ICSI. The collect
... Show MoreBackground: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory condition worldwide, with an average prevalence ranging from 2% to 3%. However, the incidence of psoriasis varies among different ethnic groups and regions. Elevated leptin levels have been associated with increased cellular proliferation, including T-cells. Additionally, high leptin levels may stimulate the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines such as ILـ6 and TNFـα. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of Apremilast on Leptin in obese psoriatic patients. Subjects and Methods: Thirty patients with psoriasis were included in This prospective cohort study to measure the levels of serum Leptin by using the ELISA technique, before and after receiving Apremilast. Result: The present work
... Show MoreThis study aims to employ modern spatial simulation models to predict the future growth of Al-Najaf city for the year 2036 by studying the change in land use for the time period (1986-2016) because of its importance in shaping future policy for the planning process and decision-making process and ensuring a sustainable urban future, using Geographical information software programs and remote sensing (GIS, IDRISI Selva) as they are appropriate tools for exploring spatial temporal changes from the local level to the global scale. The application of the Markov chain model, which is a popular model that calculates the probability of future change based on the past, and the Cellular Automa
Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been defined as a clinical syndrome that is characterized by abnormal carbohydrate metabolism. The chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with long term damage, dysfunction, and failure of different organs, especially the liver .This study was conducted to assess the effect obesity and insulin resistance on liver enzymes in diabetic Iraqi patients.A comparative study of (90) Iraqi adults divided to three subgroup(30) obese ,(30) nonobese diabetic patients and(30)person had used as control. The analysis included Liver enzyme ALP,ALT,AST,GGT ,Fasting Plasma Glucose (FBG) , Lipid Profile , Hemoglobin A1C , insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA IR) were measured. Subjects
... Show MoreErythrocytes aggregation is an important physiological phenomenon in the circulation of blood, and is a basic characteristic of normal blood that plays a major role in cardiovascular system especially in the microcirculation. Blood samples have been taken from (30) volunteers (15 male, and 15 female), their ages (20-30) years. The Erythrocytes Sedimentation Rate (ESR) for those subjects was measured at different Packed Cells Volume (PCV) (10%-25%), and also it was measured at different temperature (10oC-25oC). The results show that there was a highly significant decrease (P<0.01) in ESR when the PCV increase and a highly significant increase (P<0.01) in ESR when the temperatures increase. The conclusion from these results is that the ESR va
... Show MoreIntroduction: Salivary melatonin is a critical antioxidant that contributes to oral health by mitigating oxidative stress. Psychological stress linked to thumb sucking may disrupt oral homeostasis, leading to conditions such as dental caries and fungal infections. Aim: This study explores the relationships between thumb sucking, salivary melatonin levels, dental caries, and the presence of Candida albicans (CA) in children. Materials and methods: A case-control study was conducted with 60 children aged 4-5 years at the University of Baghdad’s College of Dentistry. Participants were divided into thumb-sucking (n=30) and non-thumb-sucking (n=30) groups. Salivary melatonin levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunoso
... Show MoreThe varied thermal conductivity (insulation) of silica aerogel with heating for different pH has been investigated, it has been depended on ambient pressure drying method in the preparing silica aerogel samples, also six different pH of samples (1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9) were treated under five degree of heating with (50,100,150,200 and 250) ᴼC. This technique is important to test the carry-outs hydrophobic silica to temperature without high-quality material changes in the basic characteristics. The hot-wire technique is used in this work to examine the thermal conductivity, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) depended to characterize the bonds and their artificial by heating. Resu
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