Recent reports provided evidence that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and some matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. This study investigated the expression pattern of some EMT markers (E-cadherin and Vimentin) and some MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Fifty five paraffin embedded biopsies were included in this study. Expression pattern of E-cadherin and Vimentin was evaluated by immunohistochemistry while cytoplasmic mRNA expression of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 were determined by in situ hybridization. The expression of all markers were significantly increased with the increase of patient's age (? 50 years), and furthermore an increase in men expression

Herein, a cost-effective bio approach using extract derived from desert truffles (Tirmania nivea) is utilized to synthesize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). AuNPs were thoroughly investigated using UV–vis, XRD, SEM, and TEM analyses. It was shown that nanoparticles had an fcc structure with a smooth spherical surface, an average diameter of 9.44 ± 0.26 nm, and an SPR band observed at 548 nm. Investigations were conducted on AuNPs' antibacterial and anti-cancer properties of prostate cancer cells. The findings suggest that AuNPs showed better antibacterial effects against S. aureus compared to E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and K. pneumoniae. AuNPs’ combination with antibiotics demonstrated a synergistic effect with significant antibacterial activi

Background and Aim: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays a pivotal role in spermatogenesis through its regulatory functions in redox balance and gene expression. This study aimed to investigate the effects of resveratrol (RES), a polyphenolic AhR modulator, and CH223191, a selective AhR antagonist, on male reproductive function in rats by assessing sperm quality, oxidative stress, testicular histopathology, and AhR gene expression. Materials and Methods: Forty adult male rats were randomly divided into four groups: (i) Control, (ii) dimethyl sulfoxide (vehicle), (iii) RES (100 mg/kg i.p., twice weekly), and (iv) AhR⁻ (CH223191, 10 mg/kg i.p., twice weekly), treated for 60 days. Post-treatment, sperm motility, survival, viabi

This paper presents the effect of Cr doping on the optical and structural properties of TiO2 films synthesized by sol-gel and deposited by the dip- coating technique. The characteristics of pure and Cr-doped TiO2 were studied by absorption and X-ray diffraction measurement. The spectrum of UV absorption of TiO2 chromium concentrations indicates a red shift; therefore, the energy gap decreases with increased doping. The minimum value of energy gap (2.5 eV) is found at concentration of 4 %. XRD measurements show that the anatase phase is shown for all thin films. Surface morphology measurement by atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that the roughness of thin films decrease with doping and has a minimum value with 4 wt % doping ratio.

In the 1980s, the French Administration Roads LCPC developed high modulus mixtures (EME) by using hard binder. This type of mixture presented good resistance to moisture damage and improved mechanical properties for asphalt mixtures including high modulus, good fatigue behaviour and excellent resistance to rutting. In Iraq, this type of mixture has not been used yet. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of high modulus mixtures and comparing them with the conventional mixture, to achieve this objective, asphalt concrete mixes were prepared and then tested to evaluate their engineering properties which include moisture damage, resilient modulus, permanent deformation and fatigue characteristics. These pro

Current design codes and specifications allow for part of the bonded flexure tension reinforcement to be distributed over an effective flange width when the T-beams' flanges are in tension. This study presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the reinforced concrete flanged section's flexural behavior when reinforcement in the tension flange is laterally distributed. To achieve the goals of the study, numerical analysis using the finite element method was conducted on discretized flanged beam models validated via experimentally tested T-beam specimen. Parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of different parameters on the T-beams flexural behavior. The study revealed that a significant reduction in the

This paper investigates the experimental response of composite reinforced concrete with GFRP and steel I-sections under limited cycles of repeated load. The practical work included testing four beams. A reference beam, two composite beams with pultruded GFRP I-sections, and a composite beam with a steel I-beam were subjected to repeated loading. The repeated loading test started by loading gradually up to a maximum of 75% of the ultimate static failure load for five loading and unloading cycles. After that, the specimens were reloaded gradually until failure. All test specimens were tested under a three-point load. Experimental results showed that the ductility index increased for the composite beams relative to the reference specim