Theoretical and experimental investigation on internal reflectors in a single-slope solar still

This study investigated the effect of an internal reflector (IR) on the productivity of a single-slope solar still (during the summer and winter) experimentally and theoretically. A mathematical model was presented which took into account the effect of all walls (north, south, west and east) of the still on the amount of received solar radiation to brine, and the model was validated with the experimental data. The model can calculate the yield of the still with and without IR on various walls. The results show that the simultaneous use of IR on front and side walls enhances the still’s efficiency by 18%. However, installation of an IR on the back wall can increase the annual efficiency by 22%. The installation of IRs on all walls in comparison to a still without IR can increase the distillate production at winter, summer and the entire year by 65%, 22% and 34%, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of cloud factor on the installation of IRs on all walls was examined, and the results indicate that the increasing the cloud factor decreases the influence of IRs significantly

Identification of Agents with Potential Leishmania Malate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor Activity: A Proteomic and Molecular Docking Approach

Background and purpose: Leishmaniasis is one of the most important infectious diseases caused by different species of the Leishmania, which is a public health problem worldwide. So far, no effective vaccine is introduced for this disease and drug therapy is associated with many side effects. Therefore, this study was designed to identify novel FDA-approved compounds with anti-leishmanial activity. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, proteomics, protein network analysis, and molecular docking were used. Protein profile was identified by LC-MS/MS and protein network analysis was performed using Cytoscape. Processing of the compound structure and molecular docking was performed by HyperChem and AutoDock Vina, respectively. Finally, docking results were interpreted by LigPlot+. Results: Based on proteomics and protein network analysis, glycosomal malate dehydrogenase was suggested as a potential drug target. Among the compounds, the best docking results were associated with Conivaptan and Avodart with a binding energy level of -10.5 and -10.2, respectively. Also, molecular docking studies showed that the most important bonds involved in drug-receptor binding were hydrogen and hydrophobic bonds. Conclusion: The current study demonstrated the importance of integrated proteomics, protein network and docking to identify novel compounds with anti-Leishmania properties. According to this study, Conivaptan and Avodart, also approved by the Food and Drug Administration, are effective inhibitors of glycosomal malate dehydrogenase in Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica which meanwhile require further in-vitro and in-vivo experiments

Utility of Western Blot Analysis for the Diagnosis of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease with a relatively wide distribution in different areas of the world, including Iran. The parasite is mainly diagnosed microscopically, but serological approaches might be useful for diagnosis as well.  This study aimed to assess the efficacy of an immunoblotting system for serodiagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. Methods: Sixty-one sera samples from parasitologically confirmed CL patients and 50 sera samples from healthy controls along with 50 sera sample from non-CL patients were collected. Native strain of Leishmania major was cultured in Schnei­der medium and soluble Leishmania antigens were prepared from amastigotes-like parasites. All of sera samples were evaluated by an immunoblot­ting system. Results: Components of 14 to 135 kDa were detectable by the sera of CL pa­tients. From 61 sera of CL patients, 59 cases (96.7%) detected a 63 kDa subunit and 51 cases (83.6%) recognized a 32-35 kDa component. Among all subunits, the 63 kDa band showed the highest sensitivity (96.7%) and a 75 kDa band had the highest (98%) specificity. Conclusion: Immunoblotting has a satisfactory performance in diagnosis of CL and this test can be used, as an aid, for proper diagnosis of CL

Performance of an ELISA and Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay in Serological Diagnosis of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Iran

Serological assays have been extensively evaluated for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and considered as a routine method for diagnosis of VL while these methods are not properly evaluated for diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study aimed to assess the performance of indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serodiagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. Sixty-one sera samples from parasitologically confirmed CL patients and 50 sera from healthy controls along with 50 sera from non-CL patients were collected. Antigen was prepared from promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania major. IFA was used to detect anti-Leishmania IgG while ELISA was used to detect anti-Leishmania IgM, total IgG, or IgG subclasses (IgG1 and 4). ELISA, for detection of total IgG and IgM, showed sensitivity of 83.6% and 84.7% and specificity of 62.7% and 54.6%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of ELISA for detecting IgG1 and IgG4 were 64%, 75% and 85%, 49%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of IFA were 91.6% and 81%. Conclusion. Findings of this study demonstrated that serological test, especially IFA, can be used for proper diagnosis of CL

The effect of the size of square microchannels on hydrodynamics and mass transfer during liquid-liquid slug flow

The present study investigated the influence of square microchannel (MC) size on hydrodynamics and mass transfer in the liquid-liquid slug flow regime. Three square MCs with the hydraulic diameters of 200, 400, and 600 μm were used. The employed method for estimating mass-transfer coefficients remarkably increased the accuracy of the results. The findings revealed that decreasing the MC size improved the interfacial area due to plug length enlargement and deteriorated mass-transfer resistances because of augmented internal circulations, leading to the considerable enhancement of mass-transfer coefficients. The increasing effect on the overall mass-transfer coefficient became greater with flow velocity, showing that size effect on mass-transfer resistances was more profound at higher flow velocities. The influence of size on the interfacial area was significantly greater than that on mass-transfer resistances due to the significant increment of wall film length with the decrease in channel size