Panax ginseng (PG), one of the most widely used herbal medicines, has demonstrated various beneficial effects such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer impacts. Naturally occurring ginsenosides in the ginseng plant inhibit cell proliferation and significantly reduce liver damage induced by certain chemicals. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a primary mycotoxin due to its hepatotoxic, immunotoxic, and oncogenic effects in animal models and humans. In this study, we examined the effects of assorted doses of PG aqueous crude extract on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 1 and 7 (MMP-1 and MMP-7) in the kidney, spleen, and liver of experimental AFB1-exposed mice, using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Mice were orally administered 6 mg/kg body weight (bw) of refined AFB1 (isolated and extracted from Aspergillus flavus, conc. 0.05 ppm) twice weekly for two weeks. We then compared the effects of three different doses (50, 100, and 150 mg/kg bw) of crude ginseng. We estimated the expression of MMP-1 and 7 in organs using IHC. We used the 6 mg/kg of purified AFB1, representing a 60% concentration, as a control group. IHC analysis showed that MMP (1 and 7) expression in the spleen, liver, and kidney of mice decreased after treatment with ginseng crude extract. MMP-1 expression was reduced in the liver by approximately 2.6 times, while the effectiveness in the MMP-1 reduction reached 9 and 8 times, respectively, in the spleen and kidney when treated with a higher dose of PG compared to the control. MMP-7 expression was reduced in the liver by approximately 13 times, while the reduction effectiveness fell to 2.3 and 5.6 times in the spleen and kidney when treated with a higher dose of PG compared to the control. The reduction in MMPs expression due to the effect of PG aqueous crude extract was observed to act against the effect of AFB1 on various living organs involved in AFB1 metabolism. IHC analysis indicated a more significant reduction efficiency observed in the expression of MMP-7 compared to both studied markers in the mice's liver.
In order to obtain a mixed model with high significance and accurate alertness, it is necessary to search for the method that performs the task of selecting the most important variables to be included in the model, especially when the data under study suffers from the problem of multicollinearity as well as the problem of high dimensions. The research aims to compare some methods of choosing the explanatory variables and the estimation of the parameters of the regression model, which are Bayesian Ridge Regression (unbiased) and the adaptive Lasso regression model, using simulation. MSE was used to compare the methods.
The current study deals with the performance of constructed wetland (CW) incorporating a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for wastewater treatment and electricity generation. The whole unit is referred to as CW-MFC. This technique involves two treatments; the first is an aerobic treatment which occurs in the upper layer of the system (cathode section) and the second is anaerobic biological treatment in the lower layer of the system (anode section). Two types of electrode material were tested; stainless steel and graphite. Three configurations for electrodes arrangement CW-MFC were used. In the first unit of CW-MFC, the anode was graphite plate (GPa) and cathode was also graphite plate (GPc), in the second CW-MFC unit, the anode was stainless st
... Show MoreOne of the recent significant but challenging research studies in computational biology and bioinformatics is to unveil protein complexes from protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs). However, the development of a reliable algorithm to detect more complexes with high quality is still ongoing in many studies. The main contribution of this paper is to improve the effectiveness of the well-known modularity density ( ) model when used as a single objective optimization function in the framework of the canonical evolutionary algorithm (EA). To this end, the design of the EA is modified with a gene ontology-based mutation operator, where the aim is to make a positive collaboration between the modularity density model and the proposed
... Show MoreBacteria strain H8, which produces high amount of exopolysaccharide (EPS), was isolated from soil, and identified as strain of Azotobacter chrococcum by its biochemical /physiological characteristics, EPS was extracted, partially purified and used as bioflocculant. The biochemical analysis of the partially purified EPS revealed that it was an alginate. analysis of EPS by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) show that the -OH groups present in bioflocculant are clearly seen at 3433.06 cm-1, the peaks attributed to the -CH3 groups present at 2916.17 cm-1 , and some distinct peaks such as carboxyl group showed strong absorption bands at 1604.66 cm-1, 1411.80 cm-1 and 1303.79 cm-1 indicate the chemical structure of alginate. The effe
... Show MoreOne-hundred and twenty Iraqi women (60 single women and 60 married women) with age ranges from (17-49) years have been involved in this study to estimate the levels of anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) as markers of ovarian aging. The descriptive data [age, body mass index (BMI), age at menarche, duration of menarche] have been recorded. Blood samples were collected from the studied women to determine the levels of AMH and FSH. The results revealed non-significant (p>0.05) differences in levels of AMH and FSH between single women and married women. A significant negative correlation was observed between AMH levels and age in single women (r=-0.519, p<0.05) and married women (r=-0.433, p<0.05). A no
... Show MoreAbstract This study investigated the treatment of textile wastewater contaminated with Acid Black 210 dye (AB210) using zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) through adsorption and photocatalytic techniques. ZnO NPs were synthesized using a green synthesis process involving eucalyptus leaves as reducing and capping agents. The synthesized ZnO NPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, EDAX, XRD, BET, Zeta potential, and FTIR techniques. The BET analysis revealed a specific surface area and total pore volume of 26.318 m2/g. SEM images confirmed the crystalline and spherical nature of the particles, with a particle size of 73.4 nm. A photoreactor was designed to facilitate the photo-degradation process. The study investigated the inf
... Show MoreThis investigation pertains to the evaluation of water quality in SAWA Lake, located in the Al-Muthanna province of Southern Iraq, from 1977 to 2020. Understanding the water quality and assessments of this Lake is of great importance. The Lake is home to small, transparent, blind fish measuring approximately 10 cm and is often referred to as the "wonderful" or "strange" Lake due to its many unique features. The study focuses on several elements to represent water quality, including total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and temperature (T), which were measured directly in the field. Additionally, scientific concepts such as K+, Ca2+, Cl-, HCO