Leishmania is the causative agent of leishmaniasis, a widely distributed disease. Amastigote forms of Leishmania are intracellular and reside within the macrophage of the vertebrate host. Previous studies showed that certain Leishmania species may scavenge host factors for survival, specially sphingolipids, the key element of the eukaryotic membranes. In this study we have investigated the survival of new world L. mexicana amastigotes in murine macrophage cell-line in the presence and absence of foetal bovine serum (FBS). Results showed that there was no significance in the infectivity of amastigotes and also the number of parasite per cell; such findings suggest that L. mexicana amastigotes have its own pathway of sphingolipid intake and c

Evaluating a reservoir to looking for hydrocarbon bearing zones, by determining the petrophysical properties in two wells of the Yamama Formation in Siba field using Schlumberger Techlog software. Three porosity logs were used to identify lithology using MN and MID cross plots. Shale volume were calculated using gamma ray log in well Sb-6ST1 and corrected gamma ray in well Sb-5B. Sonic log was used to calculate porosity in bad hole intervals while from density log at in-gauge intervals. Moreover, water saturation was computed from the modified Simandoux equation and compared to the Archie equation. Finally, Permeability was estimated using a flow zone indicator. The results show that the Yamama Formation is found to be mainly limest

Ground water hydrochemical study in Yusufiyah depends upon (25) wells where major cations and anions were obtained as well as trace elements. The hydrochemical properties include the study of (pH, EC, TDS, and TH). The groundwater of the study area is odorless and colorless except the wells (13 and 16) with a salty taste due to the elevated (TDS) concentration in it, where the wells depth ranges between 7-20 meters. Depth of water in these wells was about 25-35 meters above sea level. Groundwater generally flows from east to west and from north east to south west. The resource of groundwater depends upon surface water. Physical specifications are measured in the water samples included temperature, color, taste, odor, pH, electrical condu

The electrical performance of bottom-gate/top source-drain contact for p-channel organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) using poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an active semiconductor layer with two different gate dielectric materials, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and Hafnium oxide (HfO2), is investigated in this work. The output and transfer characteristics were studied for HfO2, PVP and HfO2/PVP as organic gate insulator layer. Both characteristics show a high drain current at the gate dielectric HfO2/PVP equal to -0.0031A and -0.0015A for output and transfer characteristics respectively, this can be attributed to the increasing of the dielectric capacitance. Transcondactance characteristics also studied for the three organic mater

An annular two-phase, steady and unsteady, flow model in which a conductingfluid flow under the action of magnetic field is concavely. Two models arepresented, in the model one; the magnetic field is perpendicular to the long side ofthe channel, while in the model two is perpendicular to the short side. Also, westudy, to some extent the single-phase liquid flow.It is found that the motion and heat transfer equations are controlled by differentdimensionless parameters namely, Reynolds, Hartmann, Prandtl, and Poiseuilleparameters. The Laplace transform technique is used to solve each of the motion andheat transfer equations. The effects of each of dimensionless parameters upon thevelocity and heat transfer is analyzed.A comprehensive study fo

Two unsupervised classifiers for optimum multithreshold are presented; fast Otsu and k-means. The unparametric methods produce an efficient procedure to separate the regions (classes) by select optimum levels, either on the gray levels of image histogram (as Otsu classifier), or on the gray levels of image intensities(as k-mean classifier), which are represent threshold values of the classes. In order to compare between the experimental results of these classifiers, the computation time is recorded and the needed iterations for k-means classifier to converge with optimum classes centers. The variation in the recorded computation time for k-means classifier is discussed.

The humid and warm conditions in greenhouses provide an excellent environment for pests’ living conditions, and therefore, they provide ideal medium for alien introductions. Molluscs are among the most significant pests that infest plastic covered greenhouses. To identify and report their mollusc species, 23 greenhouses in Iraq were surveyed between March 2023 and April 2024. Of these, 11 were found to be infested with snails. A total of 158 specimens were collected and morphologically identified to seven species: Monacha obstructa (L. Pfeiffer, 1842), Eobania vermiculata (O.F. Müller, 1774), Xeropicta krynickii (Krynicki, 1833), Rumina decollata (Linnaeus, 1758), Polygyra cereolus (Megerle Von Mühlfeld, 1818), Cochlicella barba