In the present study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with outside diameters of< 8 nm and 20−30 nm were covalently functionalized with β-Alanine using a novel synthesis procedure. The functionalization process was proved successful using Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and TEM. Utilizing the two-step method with ultrasonication, the MWCNTs treated with β-Alanine (Ala-MWCNTs) with weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1% were dispersed in distilled water to prepare water-based nanofluids. The aqueous colloidal dispersions of pristine MWCNTs were unstable. While for Ala-MWCNTs and after> 50 days from preparation, higher colloidal stability was obtained up to relative concentration of 0.955 and 0.939 for the 0.075-wt% samp

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of endemic diseases in Iraq. It is considered as widely health problem and is an uncontrolled disease. The aim of the study is to identify of Leishmania species that cause skin lesions among patients in Thi-Qar Province, South of Iraq, also to detect some virulence factors of L. tropica. This study includes three local locations, Al-Hussein Teaching, Suq Al-Shyokh General and Al-Shatrah General Hospitals in Province for the period from the beginning of December 2018 to the end of September 2019. The samples were collected from 80 patients suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis, both genders, different ages, various residence places and single and multiple lesions. Nested-PCR technique was

This work concentrates on the effect of a flex-skin trailing edge flap on the aerodynamic characteristics of SD7037 airfoil at low Reynolds numbers, in the range of 2^10 to 5^10 using computational methods. The study used a range of angle of attack (AOA) associated with the take-off phase and different flap angles. The numerical model was set up in Siemens STAR-CCM+ package using the κ-ω shear stress transport turbulence model and the (γ-Reθ) transition model which ensured the approximate solution of Navier-Stokes equations. The verification of the computational solution was done by the comparison with the available experimental data of the plain flap, and it was discovered that the results matched pretty well at lower AoAs. Results in

Despite extensive investigations, an effective treatment for sepsis remains elusive and a better understanding of the inflammatory response to infection is required to identify potential new targets for therapy. In this study we have used RNAi technology to show, for the first time, that the inducible lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 (LPCAT2) plays a key role in macrophage inflammatory gene expression in response to stimulation with bacterial ligands. Using siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that, in contrast to the constitutive LPCAT1, LPCAT2 is required for macrophage cytokine gene expression and release in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligand stimulation but not for TLR-independent stimuli. In addition, cells transfe

Commercially pure titanium (cpTi) is widely used as dental implant material although it was found that titanium exhibited high modulus of elasticity and the lower corrosion tendency in oral environment. Niobium(Nb) was chosen for this study as an alternative to cpTi implant material due to its bioinert behavior and good elastic modulus and moderate cost in addition to corrosion resistance. This study was done to evaluate the effect of biomimetic coating on the surface properties of the commercially pure titanium and niobium implants by in vitro and in vivo experiments. The in vitro study was involved etching the samples of each material in HCl then soaking in 10M NaOH aqueous solution. These samples were then immersed in a 5 times concent

Desulfurization of a simulated diesel fuel by different adsorbents was studied in a fixed-bed adsorption process operated at ambient temperature and pressure.  Three different adsorption beds were used, commercial activated carbon, Cu-Y zeolite, and layered bed of 15wt% activated carbon followed by Cu-Y zeolite.Initially Y-zeolite was prepared from Iraqi rice husk and then impregnated with copper. In general, the adsorbents tested for total sulfur adsorption capacity at break through followed the order Ac/Cu-Y zeolite>Cu-Y zeolite>Ac. The best adsorbent, Ac/Cu-Y zeolite is capable of producing more than 30 cm3 of simulated diesel fuel per gram of adsorbent with a weighted average content of 5 ppm-S, while Cu-Y zeolite producing of

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of listening to music or Quran in reducing cancer patients’ anxiety before chemotherapy administration. Reducing anxiety in people with cancer, prior to chemotherapy administration, is a crucial goal in nursing care.

Activation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) markedly attenuates development of atherosclerosis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanism is not well elucidated. Here, we show that the FXR agonist, obeticholic acid (OCA), increases fecal cholesterol excretion and macrophage reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) dependent on activation of hepatic FXR. OCA does not increase biliary cholesterol secretion, but inhibits intestinal cholesterol absorption. OCA markedly inhibits hepatic cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (Cyp7a1) and sterol 12α‐hydroxylase (Cyp8b1) partly through inducing small heterodimer partner, leading to reduced bile acid pool size and al

Amputation of the upper limb significantly hinders the ability of patients to perform activities of daily living. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a novel approach that combines non-invasive methods, specifically Electroencephalography (EEG) and Electromyography (EMG) signals, with advanced machine learning techniques to recognize upper limb movements. The objective is to improve the control and functionality of prosthetic upper limbs through effective pattern recognition. The proposed methodology involves the fusion of EMG and EEG signals, which are processed using time-frequency domain feature extraction techniques. This enables the classification of seven distinct hand and wrist movements. The experiments conducte