Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental contaminants widely used as plasticizers in poly vinyl chloride products, and growing evidence implicates them in metabolic activity reduction and epigenetic dysregulation. However, their direct effects on non-transformed human cells remain incompletely characterized. The present in vitro study evaluated the reduction in cell viability and DNA methylation–modulating effects of three widely distributed phthalates, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), on normal human fibroblast (NHF) cells. Cells were exposed to serial concentrations (31.25–1000 μg/mL) for 72 h, and the viability was assessed by MTT assay, followed by IC50 determination via nonlinear regression. Global DNA methylation was subsequently quantified at the IC50 concentration by ELISA-based measurement of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC). All three phthalates produced significant concentration-dependent reductions in cell viability. Constraining the regression plateaus to 100% and 0% viability yielded estimated IC50 values of 19.2 μg/mL for DEHP, 43.4 μg/mL for DnBP, and 13.1 μg/mL for DINP; as viability fell below 50% at the lowest concentration tested, these values represent extrapolation below the sampled range, their confidence intervals overlap, and no potency ranking is asserted. At fixed high-effect concentrations, DEHP and DINP significantly elevated global 5-mC levels to 189.18% and 159.56% of control, respectively, whereas DnBP induced only a non-significant increase (120.06%). These findings indicate that phthalates compromise both the viability and epigenetic integrity of NHF cells in a congener-specific manner, underscoring their potential contribution to methylation-associated human pathologies.
This work investigates experimentally the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation of 100 mm width resting on dry gypseous soil (i.e., loose soil with 33% relative density), and subjected to an inclined load. Previous works did not study the use square skirted foundation rested on gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load. The investigated soil was brought from Tikrit city with 59% gypsum content. Standard physical and chemical tests on selected soil were carried out. Model laboratory tests were carried out to determine the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation on the load-settlement behavior of gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load with various Skirt depth (Ds) to foundation width (B) ratio
... Show MoreThe temperature control process of electric heating furnace (EHF) systems is a quite difficult and changeable task owing to non-linearity, time delay, time-varying parameters, and the harsh environment of the furnace. In this paper, a robust temperature control scheme for an EHF system is developed using an adaptive active disturbance rejection control (AADRC) technique with a continuous sliding-mode based component. First, a comprehensive dynamic model is established by using convection laws, in which the EHF systems can be characterized as an uncertain second order system. Second, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is utilized to estimate the states of the EHF system and total disturbances, in which the observer gains are updated
... Show MoreThis article introduces a novel procedure to detect an approximate solution to Fredholm fractional integro-differential equations with linear type (LFFIDE) defined using Caputo fractional derivative. The new procedure approximates the solution using three types of polynomials: Laguerre polynomials, Hermite polynomials, and Legendre polynomials, thereafter transforming the problem into a linear programming problem. The approximate solutions are compared using testing examples to examine the efficiency of the suggested approach. Also, a comparison with the other methods using the same polynomials illustrates The effectiveness and consistency of the proposed technique. Finally, the error analysis of the proposed technique and convergent are di
... Show MoreThe current paper examines the Arab EFL teacher view on the application of AI-based chatbots as a method of aiding writing instruction. It explores pedagogy, didactic difficulties and ethics. The overall aim is to clarify the perception that teachers have of AI chatbots as a useful tool in the writing process and to find out to what degree these perceptions are reflected in instructional decision-making and classroom behaviors. A quantitative study was conducted using a structured questionnaire that was given to forty Arab EFL teachers, using a sequential explanatory mixed-method design. To elaborate and contextualize the survey results, qualitative enquiry was implemented through semi-structured interviews with twelve teachers. Fin
... Show MoreThe simulation of passively Q-switching is four non – linear first order differential equations. The optimization of passively Q-switching simulation was carried out using the constrained Rosenbrock technique. The maximization option in this technique was utilized to the fourth equation as an objective function; the parameters, γa, γc and β as were dealt with as decision variables. A FORTRAN program was written to determine the optimum values of the decision variables through the simulation of the four coupled equations, for ruby laser Q–switched by Dy +2: CaF2.For different Dy +2:CaF2 molecules number, the values of decision variables was predicted using our written program. The relaxation time of Dy +2: CaF2, used with ruby was
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