A comparative study of Iraqi crude oil taken from the Nasiriyah refinery with various local and global crude oils.

In the present work, was evaluated and compared some physicochemical properties of crude oil which is obtained from Nasiriyah refinery in south of Iraq with some physicochemical properties of various local and global of crude oils. Many methods were used in this study to evaluate some chemical content as sodium ,potassium ,calcium, magnesium, vanadium,Iron, copper, lead and nickel in samples of  Iraqi Oil in Nasiriya Refinery , as well as some physical properties included color , density, Ash content wt%, carbon residue wt% , water, salt , Sulfur content % wt, Heat of combustion Kcal/Kg , Thermal conductivity, Specific heat and Latent heat of vaporization were determinate . Also in this study viscosity were measured with different temperatures to observe the effect of temperature on oil viscosity. Range concentration of metals can be cleared by the series Ca > Na > Mg> V > Ni > K > Fe>  Pb > Cu. The present study has shown that high levels of metals ions in oil refinery whereas the physical properties were closed to previous findings conducted on a crude oil in Iraq and other countries. The study recommended to possible using of high levels of heavy metals in oil in scientific and industrial purposes as well as removal these metals contribute in reducing of contaminations problems

A comparative study of Iraqi crude oil taken from the Nasiriyah refinery with various local and global crude oils.

In the present work, was evaluated and compared some physicochemical properties of crude oil which is obtained from Nasiriyah refinery in south of Iraq with some physicochemical properties of various local and global of crude oils. Many methods were used in this study to evaluate some chemical content as sodium ,potassium ,calcium, magnesium, vanadium,Iron, copper, lead and nickel in samples of  Iraqi Oil in Nasiriya Refinery , as well as some physical properties included color , density, Ash content wt%, carbon residue wt% , water, salt , Sulfur content % wt, Heat of combustion Kcal/Kg , Thermal conductivity, Specific heat and Latent heat of vaporization were determinate . Also in this study viscosity were measured with different temperatures to observe the effect of temperature on oil viscosity. Range concentration of metals can be cleared by the series Ca > Na > Mg> V > Ni > K > Fe>  Pb > Cu. The present study has shown that high levels of metals ions in oil refinery whereas the physical properties were closed to previous findings conducted on a crude oil in Iraq and other countries. The study recommended to possible using of high levels of heavy metals in oil in scientific and industrial purposes as well as removal these metals contribute in reducing of contaminations problems

Cardioprotective effects of a ruthenium (II) Schiff base complex in diet-induced prediabetic rats

Lindokuhle Patience Mabuza,1 Mlindeli Wilkinson Gamede,1 Sanam Maikoo,2 Irvin Noel Booysen,2 Phikelelani Siphosethu Ngubane,1 Andile Khathi1 1Department of Human Physiology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; 2Department of Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Physics, College of Agricultural, Engineering and Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Background: Prediabetes and the onset of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are strongly related. Prolonged hyperglycemia has been identified as a major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of CVD and diabetic complications. The management of hyperglycemia and prediabetes-associated vascular complications rely on pharmacotherapy and lifestyle intervention strategies. However, patients still take the conventional drugs and neglect lifestyle intervention; therefore, newer alternative drugs are required. The synthesized ruthenium Schiff base complex has been shown to have elevated biological and antidiabetic activity. Thus, the research investigated the cardioprotective effects of ruthenium (II) Schiff base complex in diet-induced prediabetic (PD) rats. Materials and methods: The rats were randomly allocated to respective groups and treated for 12 weeks. Ruthenium (15 mg/kg) was administered to PD rats once a day every third day. Blood pressure and plasma glucose were monitored throughout the study. Blood and heart tissue were collected for biochemical assays. Results: Ruthenium complex with dietary intervention lead to reduced mean arterial blood pressure which correlated with a restored heart to body weight ratio. Additionally, there was a significant decrease in tissue malondialdehyde and increased superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase concentration in both the plasma and heart tissue. Furthermore, there was a decrease in plasma triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein with an increased high-density lipoprotein concentration in ruthenium-treated rats. This was further evidenced by reduced plasma tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and cardiac C-reactive protein concentrations in ruthenium-treated rats. Conclusion: Ruthenium coupled with dietary intervention decreased the risk of developing cardiac injury, thus preventing CVD in prediabetes. Therefore, this complex may be a beneficial therapeutic agent in the prevention of PD cardiovascular complications. Keywords: prediabetes, cardiovascular complications, ruthenium, dietary intervention, lipid profile, antioxidants, anti-inflammator

Ligand- and structure-based <i>in silico</i> studies to identify kinesin spindle protein (KSP) inhibitors as potential anticancer agents

<p>Kinesin spindle protein (KSP) belongs to the kinesin superfamily of microtubule-based motor proteins. KSP is responsible for the establishment of the bipolar mitotic spindle which mediates cell division. Inhibition of KSP expedites the blockade of the normal cell cycle during mitosis through the generation of monoastral MT arrays that finally cause apoptotic cell death. As KSP is highly expressed in proliferating/cancer cells, it has gained considerable attention as a potential drug target for cancer chemotherapy. Therefore, this study envisaged to design novel KSP inhibitors by employing computational techniques/tools such as pharmacophore modelling, virtual database screening, molecular docking and molecular dynamics. Initially, the pharmacophore models were generated from the data-set of highly potent KSP inhibitors and the pharmacophore models were validated against <i>in house</i> test set ligands. The validated pharmacophore model was then taken for database screening (Maybridge and ChemBridge) to yield hits, which were further filtered for their drug-likeliness. The potential hits retrieved from virtual database screening were docked using CDOCKER to identify the ligand binding landscape. The top-ranked hits obtained from molecular docking were progressed to molecular dynamics (AMBER) simulations to deduce the ligand binding affinity. This study identified MB-41570 and CB-10358 as potential hits and evaluated these experimentally using <i>in vitro</i> KSP ATPase inhibition assays.</p