Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasite in immune-compromised persons. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in psoriasis patients is investigated. In addition, the treatment effect on psoriasis patients infected with toxoplasmosis through evaluating Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) cytokine levels is studied. Blood samples were collected from 130 individuals who involved 60 control samples and 70 samples with psoriasis. They attended Medical City Hospital in Baghdad province from October 2017 - February 2018. Then, the anti- T. gondii antibodies (IgM and IgG) and TNF- α in the sera were determined via the enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay. The highest rate of anti-Toxoplasma IgG was in psoriasis patients before treatment, it was 45 (64.29%) compared with the control which was 33 (55.00%), while the highest sero-positive rate of T. gondii IgM in the control group was 14 (23.33%) compared with patients with psoriasis 10 (14.29%). The highest rate of toxoplasmosis was in the age group (21-30) years in psoriasis patients which was 14 (31.82%). In addition, the TNF- α levels in psoriatic patients before treatment were 180.2±2.2 µg/ml, and after treatment were 223.3±41.1 µg/ml compared with the healthy control group 90.5±1.9 µg/ml. These findings suggest that incidental rate of toxoplasmosis is higher in psoriasis patients. Thus, the incidental rate of toxoplasmosis could be considered as an indication to the high risk of psoriasis.
The research discussed the possibility of adsorption of Brilliant Blue Dye (BBD) from wastewater using 13X zeolite adsorbent, which is considered a byproduct of the production process of potassium carbonate from Iraqi potash raw materials. The 13X zeolite adsorbent was prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction that showed a clear match with the standard 13X zeolite. The crystallinity rate was 82.15% and the crystal zeolite size was 5.29 nm. The surface area and pore volume of the obtained 13X zeolite were estimated. The prepared 13X zeolite showed the ability to remove BBD contaminant from wastewater at concentrations 5 to 50 ppm and the removal reached 96.60% at the lower pollutant concentration. Adsorption measurements versus tim
... Show MoreThe foreguts of a total of 515 fish of Chondrostoma regium (Heckel, 1843) (locally: Bala’aot Malloky) were studied. These fish were collected from Tigris River at Salah Al-Deen Province (between Al-Hagag & Yathrib) for 20 months between March and October of the next year. Detritus, plant in origin materials (19.6%, 23.0% & 24.9%); green and blue green algae, mostly Cladophora, Cosmarium and Merismpedia sp. (17.1%, 12.9% & 12.2%) and diatoms, mostly Diatoma, Chanathes, Amphora and Cyulbella sp. (16.9%, 8.8% & 8.2%) were the main food categories taken by these fishes according to occurrence (O%), volumetric methods (V%) and ranking index (R%). Debris (not part of the diet) took 45.3% of the studied fish foreguts by volume. Detritus was also
... Show MoreThis study investigated the bioethanol production from green algae Chlorella vulgaris depending on its carbohydrate-enriched biomass. Four different phosphorous concentrations were employed to stimulate bioethanol production from Chlorella vulgaris. The impact of various phosphorous values on Chlorella vulgaris growth rate as well as primary product (carbohydrate) were evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography was utilized in this work. The stationary phase was identified as day 14, 12, 10 and 6 in treatments 6, 4, 2 and g/L, respectively. The findings suggest that the treatment without phosphorous addition had the highest record of carbohydrate content (22.64% dry weight) as well as the highest bioethanol yield (20.66% dry weight).
... Show MoreIndustrial dyes are major pollutants in wastewater and river water with an initial visible concentration of 1 mg/L. Recent studies have shown the possibility of using polyphenol oxidase in catalytic biological treatment due to its ability to oxidize a large number of dyes and pollutants in wastewater and the flexibility to work in wide ranges of temperature, pH and salinity. It is easy availability as well as the low economic cost resulting from its use in biological treatments, this enzyme polyphenol oxidase was used. The findings in this study showed that the extraction of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) from potato peel was homogenized with potassium phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7) at a ratio of 1:10 (weight: volume) for two min. The res
... Show MoreBackground: Adipose derived-mesenchymal stem cells have been used as an alternative to bone marrow cells in this study. Objective: We investigated the in vitro isolation, identification, and differentiation of stem cells into neuron cells, in order to produce neuron cells via cell culture, which would be useful in nerve injury treatment. Method: Mouse adipose mesenchymal stem cells were dissected from the abdominal subcutaneous region. Neural differentiation was induced using β-mercaptoethanol. This study included two different neural stage markers, i.e. nestin and neurofilament light-chain, to detect immature and mature neurons, respectively. Results: The immunocytochemistry results showed that the use of β-mercaptoethanol resulted in
... Show MoreThis study used deep eutectic solvent (DES) as the liquid membrane in a bulk liquid membrane system (BLM) to remove glycerol from waste cooking oil‐based biodiesel. The DES was prepared from choline chloride and tetraethylene glycol at a molar ratio of 1:5. Diethyl ether was employed as a novel strip phase for the glycerol in BLM. The effects of the DES: biodiesel ratio, stirring speed, and extraction time on the extraction and stripping efficiencies were investigated. The results showed that BLM could give better glycerol removal from biodiesel than mechanical shaking. Increasing the DES: biodiesel ratio, stirring speed, and extraction time can enhance glycerol removal from the feed phase, achievi
A new simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amount of Co(II) in the ethanol absolute solution have been developed. The method is based on the reaction of Co(II) with ethyl cyano(2-methyl carboxylate phenyl azo acetate) (ECA) in acid medium of hydrochloric acid (0.1 M) givining maximum absorbance at ((λmax = 656 nm). Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range (5-60) (μg / ml) with molar absorptivity of (1.5263 × 103 L mol-1 cm-1) and correlation coefficient (0.9995). The precision (RSD% ˂ 1%). The stoichiometry of complex was confirmed by Job's method which indicated the ratio of metal to reagent is (2:1). The studied effect of interference elements Zn(II), Cu(II), Na(I), K(I), Ca(II) and Mg
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