The removal of COD from wastewater generated by petroleum refinery has been investigated by adopting electrocoagulation (EC) combined with adsorption using activated carbon (AC) derived from avocado seeds. The process variables influencing COD removal were studied: current density (2–10 mA/cm2), pH (4–9), and AC dosage (0.2–1 g/L). Response surface methodology (RSM) based on Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to construct a mathematical model of the EC/AC process. Results showed that current density has the major effect on the COD removal with a percent of contribution 32.78% followed by pH while AC dosage has not a remarkable effect due to the good characteristics of AC derived from avocado seeds. Increasing current density gives better results while neutral conditions are suitable for EC/AC. The optimized conditions for higher removal of COD adopting the combined process were a current density of 10 mA/cm2, AC dosage of 0.2 g/L, and pH of 6.8 in which a removal efficiency of 81.6% was attained. The combining of EC with adsorption showed that adding a suitable amount of AC derived from avocado seeds resulted in enhancement of COD removal from 63.45% to 81.4%. Based on this high removal efficiency, the EC/AC could be adopted instead of traditional EC.
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with increased oxidative stress and impaired endothelial function. Ticagrelor treatment improves antioxidant properties in addition to its antiplatelet effects. This study investigated the impact of Ticagrelor treatment on serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and other biochemical parameters in PAD patients. It also evaluated the potential diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of specific biomarkers based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Seventy individuals were categorized into healthy control (n=40), baseline PAD patients not on Ticagrelor (B-PAD, n=30), and same PAD patients after treated with Ticagrelor (A-PAD, n=30). Parameters measured included SOD concent
... Show MoreThe atmospheric air cold plasma has been used to manufacture gold nanomaterials for treating parasitic leishmaniasis. This study experimentally assessed the treatment of Leishmania parasites (L. donovani and L. tropica) by gold nanoparticles. Specifically, atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma was generated using different diameters (1.0, 2.8, 3.8 and 4.3 mm) of high voltage electrode. Aqueous gold tetrachloride salts (HAuCl4·4H2O) were used as precursor to produce gold nanoparticles. UV-vis spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction were conducted for characterization of the nanoparticles. The optimum condition (a diameter of 1 mm) was chosen to prepare gold nanoparticles, where the grain size was found to be 17 nm. Accordingly, the nanoparticle
... Show MoreThe aim: In this study, we present and evaluate the vest-over-pants technique as a simple way to correct urethrocutaneous fistulas after hypospadias. Materials and methods: Between October 2018 and June 2020, twenty male patients aged 5 to 20 years came to us with post hypospadias repair fistula, these patients underwent vest-over-pant repair of their fistula. The size of fistula was ranging between 2.5-5 mm. The distribution of fistula was coronal (3 patients), distal penile (9 patients), midshaft (2 patients) and proximal penile (6 patients). In 14 patients there were single fistula and 6 patients had more than one fistula. Eleven of patients were exposed to a previous failed fistula repair procedure. Results: Six months after the operati
... Show MoreCopper tin sulfide (Cu2SnS3) thin films have been grown on glass
substrate with different thicknesses (500, 750 and 1000) nm by flash
thermal evaporation method after prepare its alloy from their
elements with high purity. The as-deposited films were annealed at
473 K for 1h. Compositional analysis was done using Energy
dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The microstructure of CTS powder
examined by SEM and found that the large crystal grains are shown
clearly in images. XRD investigation revealed that the alloy was
polycrystalline nature and has cubic structure with preferred
orientation along (111) plane, while as deposited films of different
thickness have amorphous structure and converted to polycrystalline
Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic activity of probiotics mixture of Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus acidophilus towards Cryptosporidium infection in experimentally infected mice. Oocysts of Cryptosporidium were separated from the stool of humans to infect mice. Methods: Forty male albino mice were split equally into four groups, every group contained 10 mice, the group I (early treated group), were treated from the 1st day from infection to the 11th post-infection, group II (late treated group), were treated from the 4th day from infection to the 15th post-infection, and group (III) (untreated group), were mice considered as a positive control group. Results: It was showed that daily application of a mixture of L. plantarum w
... Show MoreArtificial Neural Network (ANN) model's application is widely increased for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) variables prediction and forecasting which can enable the operators to take appropriate action and maintaining the norms. It is much easier modeling tool for dealing with complex nature WWTP modeling comparing with other traditional mathematical models. ANN technique significance has been considered at present study for the prediction of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) performance based on effluent's (BOD5/COD) ratio after collecting the required historical daily SBR data for two years operation (2015-2016) from Baghdad Mayoralty and Al-Rustamiya WWTP office, Iraq. The prediction was gotten by the application of a feed-forwa
... Show Morehis study aimed to investigate the usability of Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) in warm mix asphalt (WMA) as the implementation of sustainable construction technology. Five replacement rates (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were tested for the coarse fraction of virgin aggregate (VA) with 3 types of RCA: untreated RCA, HL-treated RCA, and HCL-treated RCA. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were performed to investigate the surface morphology for both treated and untreated RCA. The optimum asphalt cement content for every substitution rate was determined using Marshall mix design method. Thereafter, asphalt concrete specimens were prepared using the optimum asphalt cement content, followed by the evaluation of their performance prope
... Show MoreThe study aimed to establish the association of miR-153-3p expression with treatment response to IM in CML patients. Sixty CML patients were included and divided into two groups consistent with their response to treatment whether sensitive or resistant to IM. Ten healthy normal participants were enrolled as control group. RNA was extracted from serum to work out miR-153-3p expression utilizing real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The primers were supplied by Macrogen Inc. Twenty seven patients were sensitive to imatinib and 33 were resistant to imatinib. The ratio of male to female was 1.14:1. The bulk (58%) of patients were within the age range of 41-60 years. Weight and gender did not significantly diffe
... Show MoreThe current research aims to determine the requirements of Trends of International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2019) and to find out the extent to which the content of science textbooks for grades (1-4) in the Sultanate of Oman includes the requirements of (TIMSS 2019). Only the Cognitive Process dimension has been considered when conducting the analysis. The study population includes all science books from the first to the fourth grade for the academic year 2021-2022. The study identified and organized the requirements in the study tool, which is a list of requirements of (TIMSS 2019). After confirming its validity and reliability, the analysis was performed, and data were collected and analyzed statistically using frequencies
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