Leishmania 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 difference in the expression of MmLCB2 in infected and non-infected macrophages, under normal and serum-reduced media, suggesting that host sphingolipid did not up-regulated during infection. This can be concluded as a difference between the Old and New world Leishmania on the level of host-parasite interaction.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education and healthcare systems worldwide. The disease can cause life-threatening conditions and it presents challenges for medical education, as instructors must deliver lectures safely, while ensuring the integrity and continuity of the medical education process. It is therefore important to assess the usability of online learning methods, and to determine their feasibility and adequacy for medical students. We aimed to provide an overview of the situation experienced by medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical students regarding electronic medical education.
... Show MoreThe dual nature of asphalt binder necessitates improvements to mitigate rutting and fatigue since it performs as an elastic material under the regime of rapid loading or cold temperatures and as a viscous fluid at elevated temperatures. The present investigation assesses the effectiveness of Nano Alumina (NA), Nano Silica (NS), and Nano Titanium Dioxide (NT) at weight percentages of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8% in asphalt cement to enhance both asphalt binder and mixture performance. Binder evaluations include tests for consistency, thermal susceptibility, aging, and workability, while mixture assessments focus on Marshall properties, moisture susceptibility, resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue characteristics. NS notably im
... Show MoreAlbizia lebbeck biomass was used as an adsorbent material in the present study to remove methyl red dye from an aqueous solution. A central composite rotatable design model was used to predict the dye removal efficiency. The optimization was accomplished under a temperature and mixing control system (37?C) with different particle size of 300 and 600 ?m. Highest adsorption efficiencies were obtained at lower dye concentrations and lower weight of adsorbent. The adsorption time, more than 48 h, was found to have a negative effect on the removal efficiency due to secondary metabolites compounds. However, the adsorption time was found to have a positive effect at high dye concentrations and high adsorbent weight. The colour removal effi
... Show MoreA field experiment was carried out during the 2020 season at the College of Agricultural Engineering/ University of Baghdad, Al-Jadriya to evaluate the effect of dry farming when applying water stress under the subsurface drip irrigation system on water productivity and rice yield. The experiment was conducted with three levels of irrigation water stress when 10, 20 and 40% of the available water was depleted and in three dimensions between drip lines 10, 15 and 20 cm. The experiment was designed according to a randomized complete block design, according to the split plot design, with three replications. Determine the depth of irrigation water depending on the moisture depletion of th
Dynamic machine foundations can be considered as a necessary component of the industrial infrastructure. Design of the dynamic equipment foundations has, however, traditionally been grounded on a rule of thumb that is inaccurate and rigid to use at the discretion of the engineers. The conventional rule of thumb, which includes minimum weight ratios and resonance avoidance criteria, has been used singularly with two poles, which can be either conservatively designed systems that are too heavy, or systems that are going to experience too much vibration and fatigue. This paper presents a novel, analytical framework for the reinterpretation of traditional design practices, using a physics-based approach, and results in a single, unified overall
... Show MoreFloods caused by dam failures can cause huge losses of life and property, especially in estuarine areas and valleys. In spite of all the capabilities and great improvements reached by man in the construction of dams and their structures, they will remain helpless before the powerful forces of nature, especially those related to tectonic activation, and the occurrence of earthquakes of different intensities.
The region extending from the Ilisu Dam in Turkey to the Mosul Dam in Iraq was chosen as an area for this study, and the HEC-RAS application was used to simulate the collapse of the Ilisu Dam due to a major earthquake, to know the magnitude of the risks and losses that could result
Due to the urgent need to develop technologies for continuous glucose monitoring in diabetes individuals, poten tial research has been applied by invoking the microwave tech niques. Therefore, this work presents a novel technique based on a single port microwave circuit, antenna structure, based on Metamaterial (MTM) transmission line defected patch for sensing the blood glucose level in noninvasive process. For that, the proposed antenna is invoked to measure the blood glu cose through the field leakages penetrated to the human blood through the skin. The proposed sensor is constructed from a closed loop connected to an interdigital capacitor to magnify the electric field fringing at the patch center. The proposed an tenna sensor i
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