The Suitability of Limestone from Pilaspi Formation (Middle-Late Eocene) for Building Stone in Koya Area, NE Iraq

Suitability of limestone rocks has a crucial importance when stones are used for constructing modern structure. The purpose of this study is to clarify the links between physical, mechanical properties of limestone rocks, also their quality to use as building materials. A total of six limestone rock samples were collected from three different outcrops locations within Pilaspi Formation in Koya area. Engineering geological and geotechnical properties of the limestone rocks in the study area were determined based on the field studies and laboratory tests. The field studies included observations/ measurements of rock mass characteristics such as color, grain size, orientation, bedding thickness and weathering state of the rock materials also spacing, persistence, roughness and infilling material of the discontinuities. Laboratory tests were carried out for determining water content, water absorption, density, uniaxial compressive strength, slake durability and porosity of the rock materials. The study results go well with the national and international standards (Iraqi Standards, 1989; American Society for Testing and Materials, 2004; International Society for Rock Mechanics, 1981) and have shown that the limestone rocks are acceptable for building stone

Assessment of Some Clay Deposits from Fatha Formation (M. Miocene) for Brick Manufacturing in Koya Area, NE Iraq

This paper deals with the evaluation of physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of claystone sediments of Miocene age (Fatha Formation) and their suitability to use them as raw materials in manufacturing of building clay brick in Kurdistan (Koya city). The study based on the field reconnaissance for three sites of claystones which were selected from three different locations within Fatha Formation in Koya city, includes Haibat-Sultan area, Koya-Sulaimania road and central of Koya city. The clay samples were subjected to particle size distribution, chemical composition, mineralogical analysis, plasticity index and XRD tests. Clay tiles were produced by using Semi-dry method under load 78 kN/mm² and fired at 950 C°. The produced clay tiles were subjected to water absorption, efflorescence, shrinkage and compressive strength tests. The research has shown that the plasticity index depends on the mineral composition of the raw materials. The grain size analysis of raw materials, physical properties and mechanical properties of the produced tiles has shown the suitability of the used raw materials in producing class bricks of class A (first class) according to the requirements of specification of the Iraqi Standard (1993)

Bioactive Cytotoxic Agents and Chemokine Production Inhibitors in LPS-Induced Raw264.7 Macrophage Cell Line from Flowers of Crepis Senecioides

Crepis senecioides is one of the endemic plant species found in Libya. The ethanol extract (E) of the flowers was partitioned on silica gel column with dichloromethane affording four compounds. Their structures were elucidated by the physicochemical and spectral data as germanicol acetate (1), 3`,3``butyl, 8`,8``carboxy) di-octyl phethalate (2), taraxasterol (3) and β-sitosterol (4). effect of the tested samples 1 and 2 on the viability of RAW macrophage 264.7 were studied. anti-cancer activity was tested on several human cell lines. Anti-inflammatory effect was also screened. Compound 1 had promising cellular cytotoxicity with IC50 60.26µg/mL on HepG2. Compound 2 had a talented cellular cytotoxicity with IC50 50.18 µg/mL on PC3. Both 1 and 2 exerted alike cytotoxicity with IC50 µg/mL 78.53, 78.14 on PC3 and MCF-7 carcinoma cell lines respectively. The treatment of LPS-stimulated macrophage with 2 led to a highly significant inhibition 45.05% in the nitrite concentration in LPS-stimulated macrophage. Compound 1 had a promising cellular cytotoxicity on HepG2, while 2 exhibited an inhibition on chemokine expression in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages and had talented cellular cytotoxicity on PC3. Keywords: Crepis senecioide;, Asteraceae; Anti-inflammatory; cytotoxic effect; terpenoids; phethalate derivative

Thermal Effects on Compressive Strength of Local Limestone and Claystone

Limestone and claystone are widely used in rocky mountainous areas as building materials in Kurdistan region, in particular, the city of Koya. The outbreak of fire in buildings will have a great impact on strengths of building materials. The property performance of these local materials is heavenly understudied. This research investigates the impact of high temperature on the physicomechanical properties of limestone and claystone from Fatha Formation in Koya in Kurdistan region of Iraq. For this purpose, cores were taken from intact rocks; their ends were cut by a mechanical saw to obtain a cylindrical shape and immersed in water for 24 h, and then, subjected to physicomechanical tests of specific gravity, water absorption, porosity, and uniaxial compressive strength. For determining the residual compressive strength, the specimens were taken out from water, surface dried, and exposed to high temperatures of 450, and 650°C for 2 h using an electric oven. The results showed that claystone specimens show more stable mechanical properties than the limestone after exposure to high temperatures, and the high temperature causes lightening in color and significant cracks in both materials

Performance evaluation of three commercial molecular assays for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical specimens in a high TB-HIV-burden setting

BACKGROUND : A major challenge faced by countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) is early detection especially in individuals with paucibacillary disease which is common in HIV endemic settings. Remarkable efforts have been made globally to accelerate the development and expansion of new diagnostic technologies that allow better and earlier diagnosis of active tuberculosis particularly directly from clinical specimens with a few commercial options available. These include GenoType MTBDRplus Version 2.0 (Hain Lifescience), Xpert® MTB/RIF (Cepheid) and Anyplex™ plus MTB/NTM/DR-TB Real-time detection (Seegene). We evaluated the diagnostic performance of these three commercial molecular assays for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex from clinical specimens in a high TB-HIV-burden setting. METHODS : This was a retrospective laboratory-based study using stored remnant sediments from clinical specimens of presumptive pulmonary TB cases. A stratified sample of smear positive TB, smear negative TB and TB culture negatives was included. All the samples were tested on the three molecular assays following the manufacturers’ instructions; except for Anyplex™plus, for which DNA extraction was performed using the NucliSENS® easyMAG® platform (bioMerieux). Samples were also processed for liquid TB culture and time-to-culture positivity was recorded. RESULTS : Of the 90 sediments processed, 81 were analyzable across all three systems. The overall sensitivity was highest for Xpert® MTB/RIF (89.1 %) followed by GenoType MTBDRplus (70.9 %) and Anyplex™ plus (65.5 %). The specificity and sensitivity in smear positive cases was comparable across all systems. There was a significant difference in sensitivity between Xpert® MTB/RIF and the other two assays for smear-negative cases (P < 0.05). The performance in cases where the time-to-culture positivity was ≥20 days was also significantly poorer for both Anyplex™ plus and GenoType MTBDRplus compared to Xpert® MTB/RIF (P < 0.05). Xpert® MTB/RIF achieved 100 % specificity, while Anyplex™ plus and GenoType MTBDRplus achieved 96.2 and 92.3 % respectively. CONCLUSION : The Xpert® MTB/RIF was superior to the other two assays for the detection of TB in smear negative specimens notably when bacterial loads are very low in sputum. It is important that studies reporting on test performance stratify their results by time-to-culture positivity to accurately assess clinical performance especially in high HIV settings.RESCOM Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria and the NHLS.http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdisam201

Anaerobic digestion of cattle manure: influence of inoculum concentration

This study evaluated the performance of anaerobic treatment of cattle manure (CM) with palm oil mill effluent (POME) inoculum in terms of biogas production and volatile solid (VS) reduction. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of substrate to (POME) ratio used as inoculum on digester performance. The study was conducted in a 10-L lab-scale bioreactor operated at thermophilic (53oC) temperature. The result from the study showed that anaerobic digestion of cattle manure with POME inoculum can be done successfully in batch and semi-continuous mode. Biogas production was observed to commence immediately and the POME inoculum shown a strong influence on the initial biogas production rate. Average biogas yield was estimated to be about 0.346 and 0.299 m3 kg-1 VS added for the CM(5) : POME(1.5) and CM(5) : POME(1) respectively. However, nearly similar chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 33% and 30% with volatile solids (VS) removal of 58.6% and 52% for the CM(5):P0ME(1.5) and CM(5):POME(1), respectively was achieved. These results are hopeful for the treatment of cattle wastes and POME mass available in Malaysia

The Roles of Cycloxygenase and Endothelial Derived Hyperpolarizing Factors in Bradykinin-Induced Aortic Relaxation

The present study is designed to investigate the roles of cycloxygenase (COX) and endothelial derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHF) pathways in bradykinin (BK)-induced aortic relaxation. Here, isolated aortic rings pre-incubated with different ion channel blockers which are; inward rectifier potassium channel blocker (barium chloride; BaCl2), calcium activated Potassium (KCa+2) channel blocker (tetraethylammonium; TEA), cytochrome P450 inhibitor, clotrimazole and cycloxygenase inhibitor and indomethacin. In BaCl2, Emax tended to decrease significantly with significant change of PIC50. TEA pre-incubation markedly shifted DRC of BK to the left side and it significantly reduced PIC50. Indomethacin significantly lowered the PIC50 of BK, but it shifted the DRC of BK to the left.  The results suggested that BK relaxes aortic smooth muscle particularly via the enhancement of cycloxygenase and epoxygenase enzymes as well as through opening Kir and KCa+2channels

Glucose detection in blood using near-infrared spectroscopy: significant wavelength for glucose detection

World Health Organization (WHO) stated in 2004, about 347 million people suffered from diabetes and from this statistic, about 3.4 million died from the complication of kidney failure, heart attack, body part amputation and adequately reported suffered from blindness. There are several non-invasive techniques in measuring the blood glucose level developed nowadays and among the popular technique is the near-infrared (NIR) measurement, ultrasonic sensor implementation, multisensory systems, absorbance of transmittance, bio-impedance, voltage intensity, and thermography. Among these techniques, there are several approaches that displayed a lot of potential, nonetheless some of them have produced unsatisfying results. The NIR technique has been applied in some of previous research, however the wavelength used vary for different researcher. There are several points of views on the significant wavelength range that contains suitable information regarding the peaks of glucose in blood. This paper is focusing on the experimental data collection using the near-infrared spectroscopy technique. This paper furthermore discussing on determine the significant peaks of glucose that is suitable to be used as the indicator of the glucose in blood. The highest significant peaks of blood glucose detected from the range around 1450nm and 1930nm

Mangrove carbon stock assessment by optical satellite imagery

Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve or known as Matang Mangroves is the largest single mangroves in Peninsular Malaysia. Covering an area of about 41,000 ha, majority of this area is forest reserve. Mangroves have long been known as extremely productive ecosystem that cycle carbon (C) rapidly, but studies related to carbon in this ecosystem are limited. This study was carried out to assess the carbon stock and quantify their changes following deforestation, wood extraction and forest degradation. Landsat-TM and SPOT-5 satellite images for 1991 and 2011 respectively were utilised to identify mangroves. Vegetation index generated from the images was used as a variable to indicate carbon stock and it was correlated to forest inventory information through regression. The study showed that carbon stocks of Matang Mangroves ranged from 1.03 to 263.65 t C ha-1 and 1.01 to 259.68 t C ha-1 for the years 1991 and 2011 respectively. Total carbon stock in Matang Mangroves was estimated at about 3.04 mil t C in year 1991 and 2.15 mil t C in 2011. The study suggested that the traditional use of vegetation index from optical imagery systems is still relevant and viable in vegetative studies

Thiazole with Sodium MethOxide in CSTR Reactor

Abstract Sulphur and nitrogen containing organic compounds are gaining importance in synthetic and pharmaceutical fields. Thiazoles are a heterocyclic organic compounds are well known intermediates in thesynthesis of clinically important heterocycles such as 4-thiozolidinones and benzothiozoles. Thiazoles are found in medicaments like vitamin-B, sulphathiozoles, promizole, niridazole, aminotrizole and tetramisole. Therefore, and because of the importance of these compounds, the understanding and study of the mechanism and kinetic of their reactions are particularly important