Morphological Study of the Lingual Papillae in Mellivora capensis Tongue

Background： The present study was conducted on the three Mellivora tongues, and the tongue was divided into three portions, apex, body and base. The tongue was tapered at the apex, wider in the middle and had elevation at the base, which termed torus linguae. The tongue is triangular in shape, and the length of tongue ranged between 58-60 mm. The dorsum linguae of this wild animal were characterized by presence of median groove. Methods： After killing, the Mellivora capensis were skinned and the heads were dissected to approach the tongue. The tongues were prepared for morphometric and morphological studies. Results： The morphological study revealed five types of lingual papillae （filiform, conical, fungiform, circumvallate and foliate）. The filiform were numerous and scattered on the entire dorsal and lateral surfaces. They were thread like projections, and found in different forms （single, bifurcated, trifurcated and serrated end）. The conical papillae were found among the filiform papillae with rounded ends. The fungiform papillae have dome or mushroom-shapes and distributed at the apex of the tongue. The circumvallate papillae were globular or circular shapes and surrounded by trench and located at posterior of tongue between the end of body and torus linguae. The foliate papillae were found on the posterio-lateral surface of the tongue, ridges-shaped and were separated by grooves. Conclusion： The present study showed five types of dorsal lingual papillae： filiform, conical, fungiform, cicumvallate and foliate.     

Drop Weight Impact Test on Prepacked Aggregate Fibrous Concrete—An Experimental Study

In recent years, prepacked aggregate fibrous concrete (PAFC) is a new composite that has earned immense popularity and attracted researchers globally. The preparation procedure consists of two steps: the coarse aggregate is initially piled into a mold to create a natural skeleton and then filled with flowable grout. In this instance, the skeleton was completely filled with grout and bonded into an integrated body due to cement hydration, yielding a solid concrete material. In this research, experimental tests were performed to introduce five simple alterations to the ACI 544 drop weight impact test setup, intending to decrease result dispersion. The first alteration was replacing the steel ball with a steel bar to apply a line impact instead of a single point impact. The second and third introduced line and cross notched specimens at the specimen’s top surface and the load applied through a steel plate of cross knife-like or line load types. These modifications distributed impact load over a broader area and decrease dispersion of results. The fourth and fifth were bedding with sand and coarse aggregate as an alternate to the solid base plate. One-hundred-and-eight cylindrical specimens were prepared and tested in 12 groups to evaluate the suggested alteration methods. Steel and polypropylene fibers were utilized with a dosage of 2.4% to produce PAFC. The findings indicated that the line notched specimens and sand bedding significantly decreased the coefficient of variation (COV) of the test results suggesting some alterations. Using a cross-line notched specimen and line of impact with coarse bedding also effectively reduced COV for all mixtures.     

The effect of intraportal prostaglandin E1 on adhesion molecule expression, inflammatory modulator function, and histology in canine hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND: Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) is known to protect the liver from I/R, however, the mechanism of cytoprotection is not well understood. This study investigates the effect of intraportal infusion of PGE1 in a warm liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) model on cytokines, adhesion molecules and liver structure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty dogs underwent laparotomy under general anesthesia. PGE1 (0.02 microg\kg\min) was perfused through the portal vein in the PGE1 group (n = 10), or a similar volume of Ringer's solution in the control group (n = 10) for 15 min. Liver ischemia was induced by hepatic artery and portal vein occlusion and PGE1 was infused via the portal vein for 60 min. The occlusion was released and PGE1 infusion recommenced for 30 min. Blood and liver biopsies were sampled at baseline, 60 min ischemia, and 30 min reperfusion and assessed for transaminases, cytokines, adhesion molecules, and electron microscopy. RESULTS: PGE1 infusion significantly reduced transaminases TNF-alpha, sICAM-1, sP-selectin, and sE-selectin on ischemia and reperfusion. PGE1 reduced hepatocytic degeneration, portal and central ICAM-1 expression, central and sinusoidal VCAM-1 expression, portal and central P-selectin expression, and portal and sinusoidal E-selectin expression on reperfusion. CONCLUSION: Intraportal PGE1 infusion reduced I/R injury and was associated with down-regulation of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, P-selectin, and E-selectin on reperfusion.     

A promising peptide antibiotic from Terfezia claveryi aqueous extract against Staphylococcus aureus in vitro

The antimicrobial activity of aqueous and methanolic extracts, as well as partially purified proteins extracted from Terfezia claveryi aqueous extract were investigated against Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. A 5% aqueous extract inhibited the growth of S. aureus by 66.4%, while a methanolic extract was ineffective. Partial protein purification of the aqueous extract using ammonium sulphate precipitation revealed that antimicrobial activity was within the third fraction. This fraction was then subjected to gel filtration using Sephadex G-100. Two peaks were obtained. Peak one possessed higher antimicrobial activity. This peak was then subjected to ion exchange chromatography using DEAE Sephadex. Only peak 4 from the six peaks obtained showed a slight antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial activities of the aqueous extract and the fractions that showed antimicrobial activity were compared with reference antibiotics.     

Effect of Eryngium creticum on the haemolytic activities of snake and scorpion venoms

Aqueous and ethanol extracts of the fresh and dried leaves and roots of Eryngium creticum were tested for their inhibition against snake and scorpion venoms. The fresh leaf extract gave a higher percentage inhibition of the haemolytic activity of the scorpion venom Leiurus quinquesteiartus compared with the dried leaf extract. Extracts of both fresh and dried roots gave 100% inhibition of the snake and scorpion venoms. However, ethanol extracts of the leaves and roots enhanced RBC haemolysis rather than inhibiting venom activities on red blood cells. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Residual Impact Performance of ECC Subjected to Sub-High Temperatures

Despite the fact that the mechanical properties of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) after high-temperature exposure are well investigated in the literature, the repeated impact response of ECC is not yet explored. Aiming to evaluate the residual impact response of ECC subjected to sub-high temperatures under repeated drop weight blows, the ACI 544-2R repeated impact test was utilized in this study. Disk impact specimens (150 mm diameter and 64 mm thickness) were prepared from the M45 ECC mixture but using polypropylene fibers, while similar 100 mm cube specimens and 100 × 100 × 400 mm prism specimens were used to evaluate the compressive and flexural strengths. The specimens were all cast, cured, heated, cooled, and tested under the same conditions and at the same age. The specimens were subjected to three temperatures of 100, 200 and 300 °C, while a group of specimens was tested without heating as a reference group. The test results showed that heating to 100 and 200 °C did not affect the impact resistance noticeably, where the retained cracking and failure impact numbers and ductility were higher or slightly lower than those of unheated specimens. On the other hand, exposure to 300 °C led to a serious deterioration in the impact resistance and ductility. The retained failure impact numbers after exposure to 100, 200, and 300 °C were 313, 257, and 45, respectively, while that of the reference specimens was 259. The results also revealed that the impact resistance at this range of temperature showed a degree of dependency on the compressive strength behavior with temperature.     

Treatment of cutaneous larva migrans with albendazole. Preliminary report

Twenty three patients with Cutaneous Larva Migrans syndrome were prospectively treated with 400 mg/day of Albendazole for 3 consecutive days. Clinical response, compliance and tolerance was excellent. Patients were asymptomatic within the first 72 hours of treatment and recurrences did not occurred. Preliminary results with three additional patients suggest that a single oral 400 mg dose may be effective as well.     

Geophysical natural gamma-ray well logging and spectrometric signatures of south AL-Abter phosphatic deposits in Syria.

A combination of several exploration techniques was carried out in AL-Abter region, aiming at outlining the main characteristics of the phosphatic layers in this region. The techniques used in this research are natural 7-ray well logging, gamma and alpha-spectrometry. It is shown that uranium concentrations in the samples taken from the wells studied vary between 42.8 and 112.5 ppm with a standard deviation of 15.2 ppm. The P2O5 content varies between 20.5% and 28.31% with a standard deviation of 3.11% and the radioactive intensities vary between 150 and 275 counts per second (cps) with a standard deviation of 31 cps. The ratio of 234U/238U in the analyzed samples indicates that the study region is in radioactive equilibrium. The affinity of uranium and P2O5 to some trace elements, such as V, Sr, Cu and Ni has been verified through studying the correlation matrix of these elements.