Effect of daily consumption of dried ginger in the level of some hormones, cholesterol, and total fat in women's sample

This study was carried out at the General Al-Mohmmodia Hospital/ Al-Mohmmodia district/ Baghdad/Iraq. Ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale) has become a subject of interest due to its bioactive contents such as an antioxidant and androgenic affect in diseases treatment in more countries world-wide. As an antioxidants ginger has an effective role on spermatogenesis and blood biochemical parameters. Thirty women almost of them suffering from high blood lipid profile and cholesterol, some of them had kidney dysfunction were taken. All women were conducted to explore the consumption of about 1gm daily for complete month on the physiological performance, lipid profile, kidney function and testosterone and progesterone hormones. The result of BMI showed significant difference of all ages groups and for all the kind of overweight and obesity. However Hb level showed a significant differences (p<0.05) between different ages, Hb showed no significant differences within the same age before and after consumption the ginger powder (p˃0.05). Blood glucose was not differ significantly between the group ages, but it was significantly (p<0.05) difference before and after the ginger powder consumption. Serum cholesterol, total glyceride. LDL, HDL, and VLDL levels revealed significant (p<0.05) differences between group ages, but within group age 31-40 years were no significant (p˃0.05) differences. On the other hand, result of this study showed a significant (p<0.05) differences in kidney functions (urea, creatinine, and salts) when compared its with normal ranges. However serum testosterone showed a significant (p<0.05) differences with all ages of women, the progesterone showed no significant (p˃0.05) differences. Results revealed that consumption of 1gm daily of ginger powder significantly increased blood Hb, cholesterol, lipid profile, testosterone hormone, and improved kidney functions. So that we can suggest that ginger may be a promising in kidney and fertility function. In addition, its improve the biochemical parameters Keywords: ginger-biochemical parameter-lipid profile- kidney function- hormone

Evaluation of Inhibitory Activity of Cordia Myxa Fruit Extract on Microorganisms that Causes Spoilage of Food and Its Role in the Treatment of Certain Disease States

The study of chemical content and aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Aplomb's  fruit and then detect the chemical components effective it aggregates and also, studying the effectiveness of inhibitory to extracts toward isolates bacterial different: E.coli, Pseudomonas flurscence, Salmonella, Shegilla and Staphylococcus aureus, where the results showed that the fruit Alpmbr containing 63.9% carbohydrate, 8.6% protein, 6.7% ash and 9.9% fat, so that the fruit Alpmbr high content of carbohydrates and fat shows that fat contains a high percentage of saturated fats, such as fatty acid, lauric acid ratio was 48.3% and Myristic acid was 15.8%, as well as that it contains a significant proportion of unsaturated fatty acid such as oleic by 12.4%, which is an important and basic nutrition and health for human. The fruit Alpmbr of mineral content was high proportion of potassium 29 ppm and sodium element was 13 ppm. It was found that either metallic zinc and calcium were accepted by Iraqi Standard. Heavy metals such as Cadmium, chromium and copper were not diagnose which is toxic elements, so it may be considered the fruit of Alpmbr is a safe fruits to-use and useful for health. To test the activity of the functional chemical components, it was found that high content of alkaloids, Saponin, Comarines, and Gums, and a reasonable rates of resins and Steroid, multiple phenols, flavonoids and Glycosides, tannins and oily nitrogeneous materials oily with low content. The pH of the aqueous extracts is 7.0 and alcoholic extract was 6.5 that means the fruits is neutral acidity. As for the inhibition  activity toward the bacterial isolates were higher effective inhibitory concentration 200mg / ml of aqueous extracts a diameter of 26mm against Pseudomonas flurscence and 25 mm for the both of Salmonella and E.coli. While, it decrease significantly to 19mm towards both Shegilla and Staphylococcus aureus. But with alcoholic extract concentration 200mg / ml has decreased significantly to 25 mm diameter towards Staphylococcus aureus and 20mm in E.coli and Shegilla.  Also the same significant decreases towards the Salmonella 19mm and 16mm towards the bacteria Pseudomonas flurscence. The sensitivity of the bacterial isolates for the  antibiotics inhibition diameters was 20 mm, of Erthromycin against Salmonella.  And the diameter of Oxacillin was 17 mm against Staphylococcus aureus, but Optimdex T was a very highly effective against all bacterial isolates. Keywords: Cordia myxa-Chemicals content-Minerals-Bacterial inhibition activet

Modelling of friction stir welding of 304 stainless steel

A 3-D Eulerian steady-state CFD model has been developed to simulate the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of 6mm plate 304 stainless steel (304SS). The Polycrystalline BoroNitride- Tungsten Rhenium (PCBN-WRe) hybrid tool was modelled with the workpiece in a fully sticking condition. The viscosity of stainless steel was calculated from the flow stress equation taken from a previous study of hot working carried out in a range of temperatures between 800oC-1200 oC and strain rates 0.001 s-1 to 5 s-1. The model predicted the temperature distribution in the Stirred Zone (SZ) for three welding cases including low, intermediate and high rotational speed/traverse speeds. The model also predicts that localised melting may occur if the tool rotational speed exceeds 400RPM. Finally, the model suggested a larger probe (12mm diameter at the shoulder base and 5.8mm length) with a stationary shoulder would prevent the localised melting and allow an increase in welding speeds without the associated introduction of stagnant zone related weld defects

An advanced numerical model of friction stir welding of DH36 steel

A numerical model of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of DH36 steel plate (6mm thickness) has been developed using a CFD technique. Two welding speed conditions were used, a low welding speed of 200 RPM - 100mm/min, and a high welding speed of 550RPM- 400 mm/min. The heat generation, material flow and strain rate were calculated based on plastic deformation and frictional contact between the tool and workpiece. A CFD-based model has been produced to represent the asymmetry in temperature distribution between the advancing and retreating side, the material flow and the strain rate. The geometry of the model includes the tool plunged into the plate. The cooling system was also included in the simulation by calculating the heat flux lost for each part of the tool. The heat generated by viscous dissipation away from the tool was also taken into account. The total heat generated was divided into the individual tool parts (shoulder, probe side and probe end) and was found to be in good agreement with the experimental results for the areas affected by these parts. The maximum temperature obtained for the slow welding speed was 1012oC and for the high welding speed was 1250oC. Experimental metallographic examination has also been carried out on DH36 FSW steel plates to validate the CFD model. SEM analysis showed the formation of a fine microstructure of bainite, acicular ferrite and ferrite/cementite aggregate in the welded zone as compared to the ferrite/pearlite morphology in the base metal. It is found from the CFD and experimental results that the high speed welding conditions can produce defects such as wormholes and cracks in the welds associated with the probe side and probe end due to the lack of material flow especially on the advancing side. Tensile and fatigue testing were carried out for both slow and high welding speed samples, which broke outside the welded region in the tensile test, however, slow welding speed samples show more resistance to fatigue test and survived 644128 cycles, the high speed welding samples failed after 111,736 cycles under the same load

Estimation of the temperature in the stirred zone and cooling Rate of friction stir welding of EH46 Steel from TiN Precipitates

Measuring the peak temperature in the contact region of the tool/workpiece in friction stir 11 welding (FSW) is difficult using conventional methods such as use of thermocouples or a 12 thermal imaging camera, hence an alternative method is required to tackle this problem. The 13 objective of the present work was to estimate more accurately, for the first time, the peak 14 temperature and cooling rate of FSW from precipitation of TiN in friction stir welded steel 15 samples. Microstructures of nine friction stir welded samples of high strength shipbuilding 16 steel of EH46 grade were examined closely by SEM-EDS to detect the TiN precipitates. 17 Thermal heat treatments using an accurate electrical digital furnace were also carried out on 18 80 unwelded EH46 steel samples over a range of temperatures and cooling rates. Heat 19 treatments were to create a basis to understand TiN precipitation behavior under various 20 heating and cooling regimes for the studied alloy. Heat treatment showed that TiN particles 21 can precipitate at a peak temperature exceeding 1000°C and the size of TiN precipitates 22 particles increases with decreasing cooling rate. In a temperature range between 1100-1200°C 23 the TiN precipitates were accompanied by other elements such as Nb, S, Al and V. Pure TiN 24 particles were found after the peak temperature exceeded 1250°C with limited precipitation 25 after reaching a peak temperature of 1450°C. The comparison between the friction stir 26 welding samples and the heat treatments in terms of types and sizes of TiN precipitates 27 suggests that the welding peak temperature should have been in the range of 1200-1350°C 28 with a cooling rate in the range of 20-30 K/sec. The current work represents a step change in 29 estimating the friction stir welding temperature and cooling rate which are difficult to 30 determine using thermocouples and thermal imaging camera

Whether ideal free or not, predatory mites distribute so as to maximize reproduction

Ideal free distribution (IFD) models predict that animals distribute themselves such that no individual can increase its fitness by moving to another patch. Many empirical tests assume that the interference among animals is independent of density and do not quantify the effects of density on fitness traits. Using two species of predatory mites, we measured oviposition as a function of conspecific density. Subsequently, we used these functions to calculate expected distributions on two connected patches. We performed an experimental test of the distributions of mites on two such connected patches, among which one had a food accessibility rate that was twice as high as on the other. For one of the two species, Iphiseius degenerans, the distribution matched the expected distribution. The distribution also coincided with the ratio of food accessibility. The other species, Neoseiulus cucumeris, distributed itself differently than expected. However, the oviposition rates of both species did not differ significantly from the expected oviposition rates based on experiments on single patches. This suggests that the oviposition rate of N. cucumeris was not negatively affected by the observed distribution, despite the fact that N. cucumeris did not match the predicted distributions. Thus, the distribution of one mite species, I. degenerans, was in agreement with IFD theory, whereas for the other mite species, N. cucumeris, unknown factors may have influenced the distribution of the mites. We conclude that density-dependent fitness traits provide essential information for explaining animal distributions

Effects of defatted dried roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) seed powder on lipid profiles of hypercholesterolemia rats.

BACKGROUND: In vivo investigations were made of the effect of defatted dried roselle seed powder (DRS) on the lipid profiles of rats with induced hypercholesterolemia. The two-batch sample consisted of 23 and 20 Sprague-Dawley male rats randomly divided into four groups and fed with four different diets. The first batch of rats was fed with normal, hypercholesterol, hypercholesterol + 10 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS and hypercholesterol + 20 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS diets. The second batch of rats was fed with normal, hypercholesterol, hypercholesterol + 50 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS and hypercholesterol + 150 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS diets. Treatments were given for a total of 5 weeks. RESULTS: Results indicated that the addition of 10 g kg-1 and 20 g kg-1 of DRS did not significantly lower the plasma total cholesterol (TC) levels. In contrast, 50 g kg-1 and 150 g kg-1 DRS significantly lowered (P < 0.05) the TC and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. CONCLUSION: The addition of 50 g kg-1 and 150 g kg-1 DRS showed potential hypocholesterolemic effects. Furthermore, these findings indicated that protein, lipid and dietary fibre were high in the seed powder

Candida sp. infections in patients with Diabetes mellitus

Candidiasis has increased substantially worldwide over recent decades and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among critically ill patients. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that predisposes individuals to fungal infections, including those related to Candida sp., due to a immunosuppressive effect on the patient. This review aims to discuss the latest studies regarding the occurrence of candidiasis on DM patients and the pathophysiology and etiology associated with these co-morbidities. A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken. PubMed, Scopus, Elseviers ScienceDirect, and Springers SpringerLink databases were searched using well-defined search terms. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to classify relevant manuscripts. Results of the review show that DM patients have an increased susceptibility to Candida sp. infections which aggravates in the cases of uncontrolled hyperglycemia. The conclusion is that, for these patients, the hospitalization periods have increased and are commonly associated with the prolonged use of indwelling medical devices, which also increase the costs associated with disease management.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of: the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, financially supported by project UID/EQU/00511/2019 - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), and by Célia F. Rodrigues’ [SFRH/BD/93078/2013] PhD grant and M. Elisa Rodrigues [SFRH/BPD/95401/2013] post-doc grant.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelling of friction stir welding of DH36 steel

A 3-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the friction stir welding of 6-mm plates of DH36 steel in an Eulerian steady-state framework. The viscosity of steel plate was represented as a non- Newtonian fluid using a flow stress function. The PCBN-WRe hybrid tool was modelled in a fully sticking condition with the cooling system effectively represented as a negative heat flux. The model predicted the temperature distribution in the stirred zone (SZ) for six welding speeds including low, intermediate and high welding speeds. The results showed higher asymmetry in temperature for high welding speeds. Thermocouple data for the high welding speed sample showed good agreement with the CFD model result. The CFD model results were also validated and compared against previous work carried out on the same steel grade. The CFD model also predicted defects such as wormholes and voids which occurred mainly on the advancing side and are originated due to the local pressure distribution between the advancing and retreating sides. These defects were found to be mainly coming from the lack in material flow which resulted from a stagnant zone formation especially at high tra- verse speeds. Shear stress on the tool surface was found to in- crease with increasing tool traverse speed. To produce a “sound” weld, the model showed that the welding speed should remain between 100 and 350 mm/min. Moreover, to prevent local melt- ing, the maximum tool’s rotational speed should not exceed 550 RPM

CADM1 inhibits squamous cell carcinoma progression by reducing STAT3 activity.

Although squamous cell carcinomas (SqCCs) of the lungs, head and neck, oesophagus, and cervix account for up to 30% of cancer deaths, the mechanisms that regulate disease progression remain incompletely understood. Here, we use gene transduction and human tumor xenograft assays to establish that the tumour suppressor Cell adhesion molecule 1 (CADM1) inhibits SqCC proliferation and invasion, processes fundamental to disease progression. We determine that the extracellular domain of CADM1 mediates these effects by forming a complex with HER2 and integrin α6β4 at the cell surface that disrupts downstream STAT3 activity. We subsequently show that treating CADM1 null tumours with the JAK/STAT inhibitor ruxolitinib mimics CADM1 gene restoration in preventing SqCC growth and metastases. Overall, this study identifies a novel mechanism by which CADM1 prevents SqCC progression and suggests that screening tumours for loss of CADM1 expression will help identify those patients most likely to benefit from JAK/STAT targeted chemotherapies