Natural honey is well known for its therapeutic value and has been used in traditional medicine of different cultures throughout the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of Malaysian Gelam honey in inflammation-induced rats. Paw edema was induced by a subplantar injection of 1% carrageenan into the rat right hind paw. Rats were treated with the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) Indomethacin (10 mg/kg, p.o.) or Gelam honey at different doses (1 or 2 g/kg, p.o.). The increase in footpad thickness was considered to be edema, which was measured using a dial caliper. Plasma and paw tissue were collected to analyze the production of inflammatory mediators, such as NO, PGE2, TNF-
The aim of this work is to detect the best operating conditions that effect on the removal of Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ni2+ ions from aqueous solution using date pits in the batch adsorption experiments. The results have shown that the Al-zahdi Iraqi date pits demonstrated more efficient at certain values of operating conditions of adsorbent doses of 0.12 g/ml of aqueous solution, adsorption time 72 h, pH solution 5.5 ±0.2, shaking speed 300 rpm, and smallest adsorbent particle size needed for removal of metals. At the same time the particle size of date pits has a little effect on the adsorption at low initial concentration of heavy metals. The adsorption of metals increases with increas
... Show MoreThis study evaluates the flexural behavior of ultra-thin (50 mm) one‑way reinforced‑concrete (RC) slabs retrofitted with near‑surface mounted (NSM) carbon‑fiber‑reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods under quasi‑static loading. T300‑grade CFRP rods (≈4 mm diameter) were bonded in pre‑cut 7 mm × 7 mm grooves using a two‑part epoxy. As a proof-of-concept experimental baseline, three simply‑supported specimens (1000 mm × 500 mm × 50 mm) were tested in a six‑point bending configuration (four applied loads + two reactions): two conventional controls and one strengthened slab. A load‑control rate of ~15 kN/min was applied; the controls were cycled twice and the strengthened slab four times. Relative to the average of
... Show MoreIn this paper, an intelligent tracking control system of both single- and double-axis Piezoelectric Micropositioner stage is designed using Genetic Algorithms (GAs) method for the optimal Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller tuning parameters. The (GA)-based PID control design approach is a methodology to tune a (PID) controller in an optimal control sense with respect to specified objective function. By using the (GA)-based PID control approach, the high-performance trajectory tracking responses of the Piezoelectric Micropositioner stage can be obtained. The (GA) code was built and the simulation results were obtained using MATLAB environment. The Piezoelectric Micropositioner simulation model with th
... Show MoreIn the present work, a density functional theory (DFT) calculation to simulate reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrid with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle's sensitivity to NO2 gas is performed. In comparison with the experiment, DFT calculations give acceptable results to available bond lengths, lattice parameters, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy gaps, Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy, etc. to ZnO, rGO, and ZnO/rGO hybrid. ZnO and rGO show n-type and p-type semiconductor behavior, respectively. The formed p-n heterojunction between rGO and ZnO is of the staggering gap type. Results show that rGO increases the sensitivity of ZnO to NO2 gas as they form a hybrid. ZnO/rGO hybrid has a higher number of vacancies that can b
... Show MoreThe present study aims to detect CTX-M-type ESBL from Escherichia coli clinical isolates and to analyze their antibotic susceptibility patterns. One hundred of E. coli isolates were collected from different clinical samples from a tertiary hospital. ESBL positivity was determined by the disk diffusion method. PCR used for amplification of CTX-M-type ESBL produced by E. coli. Out of 100 E. coli isolates, twenty-four isolates (24%) were ESBL-producers. E. coli isolated from pus was the most frequent clinical specimen that produced ESBL (41.66%) followed by urine (34.21%), respiratory (22.23%), and blood (19.05%). After PCR amplification of these 24 isolates, 10 (41.66%) isolates were found to possess CTX-M genes. The CTX-M type ESBL
... Show MoreA rapid and sensitive method for analysis of amino acid hydrolysates of nigella sativa L seed has been developed using O-phthaldialehyde(OPA ) as a pre-column derivatizing agent. OPA reagents in the presence of mercaptoethanol react rapidly with primary amino acids ( less than 60 sec.) to form isindole derivatives which easily separated with good selectivity on ODS column. Resolution of amino acid derivatives is carried out with a methanol gradient in 0.01 maqueous sodium acetate. pH 7.1 . The quantitation of amino acid derivatives is reproducible within an average relative deviation of + 1.4% the linearity for most amino acids were more than 0.9993 with detection limit of 0.2 ppm. 15 amino acid were detected in the analysis of
... Show MoreDyes are extensively water-soluble and toxic chemicals. The disposing of wastewater rich with such chemicals has severely impacted surface water quality (rivers and lakes). In the current study, an anionic dye, methyl orange, were extracted from wastewater fluids using bulk liquid membranes supplemented with an anionic carrier (Aliquat 336 (QCI)). Parameters including solvent type (carbon tetrachloride and chloroform), membrane stirring speed (100-250 rpm), mixing speed of both phases (50-100 rpm), The feed pH (2-12) and implemented temperature (35-60 °C) were thoroughly analyzed to determine the effect of such variables on extraction effectiveness. Furthermore, the effect of methyl orange (10-50 ppm) in the feed stage and NaOH (0
... Show MoreSoil improvement has developed as a realistic solution for enhancing soil properties so that structures can be constructed to meet project engineering requirements due to the limited availability of construction land in urban centers. The jet grouting method for soil improvement is a novel geotechnical alternative for problematic soils for which conventional foundation designs cannot provide acceptable and lasting solutions. The paper's methodology was based on constructing pile models using a low-pressure injection laboratory setup built and made locally to simulate the operation of field equipment. The setup design was based on previous research that systematically conducted unconfined compression testing (U.C.Ts.). Th
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