Abstract Background: Multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) often contaminate hospital environment and cause serious illnesses. Quorum Sensing (QS) regulates a variety of downstream cellular processes, including antibiotics resistance mechanisms and biofilm formation, and causes harm to the host. This study investigates antibacterial susceptibility and biofilm formation of pathogenic bacteria in hospital environment. Methods: Hundred bacterial isolates were collected from various environments in the Medical City hospital. The antimicrobial susceptibility technique was evaluated through disk diffusion method. Next, biofilms formation was detected by the microliter plate assay. Finally, PCR was used to analyze the frequency of QS system genes. Results: Current findings showed that the predominant isolates were Acinetobacter baumannii (34%), Escherichia coli (30%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19%), and Klebsiella pneumonia (17%). In general, significant resistance was found related to trimethoprim (88%), Augmentin (88%), and cefotaxime (72%). Among all isolates, 62% of sensitivity was related to ciprofloxacin. Biofilm had been formed by 39% of isolates. PCR results showed that the frequency of lasI and rhlI gene was 70% and 61%, respectively. Conclusion: Current findings revealed that the hospital environment is a potential reservoir of MDR gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. Thus, we suggest that the health policymakers in Iraq must critically apply the guidelines and recommendations for monitoring the environments in the health sector. Keywords: Antibiotics Footprint, Acinetobacter baumannii, Antibiotics Resistance, Quorum-Sensing, PCR.
This study investigates the application of hydraulic acid fracturing to enhance oil production in the Mishrif Formation of the Al-Fakkah oilfield due to declining flow rates and wellhead pressures resulting from asphaltene deposition and inadequate permeability. Implementing acid fracturing, an established technique for low-permeability carbonate reserves, was essential due to the inadequacy of prior solvent cleaning and acidizing efforts. The document outlines the protocols established prior to and following the treatment, emphasizing the importance of careful oversight to guarantee safety and efficacy. In the MiniFrac treatment, 150 barrels of #30 cross-linked gel were injected at 25 barrels per minute, followed by an overflush wi
... Show MoreThis study investigates the application of hydraulic acid fracturing to enhance oil production in the Mishrif Formation of the Al-Fakkah oilfield due to declining flow rates and wellhead pressures resulting from asphaltene deposition and inadequate permeability. Implementing acid fracturing, an established technique for low-permeability carbonate reserves, was essential due to the inadequacy of prior solvent cleaning and acidizing efforts. The document outlines the protocols established prior to and following the treatment, emphasizing the importance of careful oversight to guarantee safety and efficacy. In the MiniFrac treatment, 150 barrels of #30 cross-linked gel were injected at 25 barrels per minute, followed by an overflush wi
... Show MoreStripping is one of the major distresses within asphalt concrete pavements caused due to penetration of water within the interface of asphalt-aggregate matrix. In this work, one grade of asphalt cement (40-50) was mixed with variable percentages of three types of additives (fly ash, fumed silica, and phosphogypsum) to obtained an modified asphalt cement to resist the effect of stripping phenomena .The specimens have been tested for physical properties according to AASHTO. The surface free energy has been measured by using two methods namely, the wilhelmy technique and the Sessile drop method according to NCHRP-104
procedures. Samples of asphalt concrete using different asphalt cement and modified asphalt cement percentages(4.1,4.6 an
Epoxy resin has many chemical features and mechanical properties, but it has a small elongation at break, low impact strength and crack propagation resistance, i.e. it exhibits a brittle behavior. In the current study, the influence of adding kaolin with variable particle size on the mechanical properties (flexural modulus E, toughness Gc, fracture toughness Kc, hardness HB, and Wear rate WR) of epoxy resin was evaluated. Composites of epoxy with varying concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 weights %) of kaolin were prepared by hand-out method. The composites showed improved (E, Gc, Kc, HB, and WR) properties with the addition of filler. Also, similar results were observed with the decrease in particle size. In addition, in this study, mult
... Show MoreObjective :To evaluate elderly's environmental practices concerning fall prevention at governmental elderly care homes in Baghdad city. Methodology: A quazi- Experimental study was carried out in governmental elderly care homes at Baghdad city, during the period 1st, June 2014 to 30th November, 2014 , selected a purposive " Non – probability " sample of (40) elderly men and women aged (60) years old and over who were resident in governmental elderly care homes " Al Ceelakh and Al Sader elderly care homes", the data was collected through the use of constructed questionnaire that consist of (23) items,
The Dynamic Load Factor (DLF) is defined as the ratio between the maximum dynamic and static responses in terms of stress, strain, deflection, reaction, etc. DLF adopted by different design codes is based on parameters such as bridge span length, traffic load models, and bridge natural frequency. During the last decades, a lot of researches have been made to study the DLF of simply supported bridges due to vehicle loading. On the other hand, fewer works have been reported on continuous bridges especially with skew supports. This paper focuses on the investigation of the DLF for a highly skewed steel I-girder bridge, namely the US13 Bridge in Delaware State, USA. Field testing under various load passes of a weighed load vehicle was u
... Show MoreThis research investigated the importance and priorities of the project overhead costs in Iraq via a questionnaire using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process technique (FAHP). Using this technique is very important in the uncertain circumstances as in our country. The researcher reached to frame an equation through the results of the priorities of weights include the percentages of each of the main items of the project overhead costs. The researcher tested this equation by applying it to one of the completed projects and the results showed suitability for the application. The percentages of the (salaries, grants, and incentives) and (fieldwork requirements) in equation represent approximately two-thirds of project overhe
... Show MoreThe research aims to evaluate Islamic electronic libraries and their service for downloading research and illustrated books, explaining their origins, features and types. The research was limited to the libraries available on the Internet that provide the service for downloading research and illustrated books. The researcher relied on the survey approach to identify the libraries and a sample of them (20 libraries) was selected. For the purpose of evaluating it according to five criteria related to the preparation and publication of Islamic electronic libraries (the responsible party, the goals and objectives, the year, the services it provides, the sections and subject specializations of its contents) and five criteria related to the servi
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