Medicinal plants contain bioactive substances that are highly bioavailable in extracts or pure molecules, making them promising for therapeutic applications and precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis. Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is widely recognized as one of the most potent therapeutic herbs. This study aimed to extract seeds from H. procumbens using two types of solvents and to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the extracts. The two extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities using agar well diffusion assays against four bacterial isolates and two yeast isolates. Qualitative analysis identified the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and terpenoids. The active components detected were: alkaloids (12.69%), flavonoids (3.25%), total phenolic compounds (24.58%), total terpenoids (8.55%), and total steroids (1.25% for methanolic and 4.55% for petroleum ether). Both methanolic and petroleum ether extracts exhibited antioxidant activities of approximately 85.33% and 74.19%, respectively, compared to ascorbic acid, which had an antioxidant effect of 67.99% at a concentration of 200 µg/ml. The extracts demonstrated a broad spectrum of activity against all tested bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes) and fungi (Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis). At a concentration of 1000 µg/ml, the seed extracts showed the highest bactericidal activity, with inhibition zones ranging from 10 to 22 mm. Moreover, both extracts exhibited greater anti-biofilm activity at 1000 µg/ml compared to lower concentrations. Our study found that seed extracts of H. procumbens possess significant antibacterial and antioxidant activities, particularly at a concentration of 1000 µg/ml.
The present study describes a protocol for rapid in vitro micropropagation of Albizia lebbeck during the period of October 2007 to October 2009 through nodal segments containing axillary buds. The buds induced to produce a large number of multiple shoots by culturing on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of BA (benzyladenine) and NAA (α-naphthalene acetic acid). The maximum number of shoots per explants was obtained on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L BA and 0.1 mg/L NAA was (4.8) after 4 weeks of culture. Excised shoots were rooted on half strength MS medium fortified with 0.5 mg/L either IBA (indolbutyric acid) or NAA alone. The complete plantlets thus obtained were successfully transferred to soil.
Background: Nanoparticles are clusters of atoms in a size range from (1-100) nm. Nano dentistry creates amazing useful structures from individual atoms or molecules (nanoparticles), which provides a new alternative and a possibly superior strategy in prevention and treatment of dental caries through management of dental plaque biofilms. The aim of the study was to test the sensitivity of Streptococcus mutans to different concentrations of hydroxyapatite and iron oxide nanoparticles suspension solutions, in comparison to chlorhexidine, and de-ionized water, in vitro. Materials and methods: Agar well technique was applied to test the sensitivity of Streptococcus mutans to different concentrations of hydroxyapatite and iron oxide nanoparticle
... Show MoreBackground: Coated aesthetic archwires are currently the existing solutions for the esthetic problem, but the color of these archwires tends to change overtime. This study was aimed to evaluate the color stability of different types of esthetic archwires from four different companies at different time periods after immersion of two different staining drinks which are tea and Pepsi cola. Materials and methods: 48 specimens were prepared, each specimen contains 10 aesthetic archwires; and were divided according to type of solution into two groups: A (tea) &B (Pepsi cola); each group contained 24 specimens (12 specimens were immersed in the staining solution as 4 specimens for each time intervals and 12 specimens were immersed in distilled wa
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to measure the radiopacity (RO) of modified microhybrid composite resins by adding 2 types of nanofillers (Zinc Oxide and Calcium Carbonate) in two concentrations 3% and 5% and comparing them to unmodified microhybrid composite resins and to nanofilled composite resin. Materials and Methods: Two types of composite resin were used (Microhybrid composite MH Quadrent anterior shine and Nanofilled composite resin Filtek Z350 XT), for each tested group five disk-shaped specimens (1-mm-thick and 15 mm diameter) were fabricated. The material samples were radiographed together with the aluminum step wedge. The density of the specimens was determined with a transmission densitometer and was expressed in term of
... Show More57 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis were identified; they were isolated from different clinical sources which included sputum, bronchial wash, abscess, pleural fluid, gastric fluid, eye fluid, and CSF, also urine and ear swab. This investigation was carried out on 198 patient attended National Reference Laboratory for T.B during September 2009. Also the study declared that the ratio of separation of this bacterium from male was (67.6%) and it’s higher than the ratio of separation this bacterium from females which was (32.3%). The susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to melatonin was evaluated. Many concentrati
... Show MoreBackground: Cross contamination of dental appliances in the dental clinics and laboratories may potentially be a health hazard to the dental team and the patient. This study aimed to evaluate bacterial contamination of acrylic complete denture as received from dental laboratory before delivery to the patient, and then to evaluate the effectiveness of disinfection with 2% chlorhexidine and Kin denture cleaner tablet. Materials and methods: 45 newly made upper complete dentures undergone biaacterial examination for contamination before delivered to the patient. Samples were examined in two stages, first after finishing and polishing; when collected from the laboratory and before inserting to the patient mouth, second; after the samples were
... Show MoreThis study was designed to show the inhibitory effect of different concentrations of alcoholic extract of Borage officinalis on the Monoamine oxidase (MAO) and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzymes in human serum. The results obtained from the study exhibited that alcoholic extract of Borage officinalis caused inhibition to enzymes activity with all concentrations of the extract. The results also showed that when the concentration of the extract was (0.001 mg/ml), the percentage of inhibition was (4.3% with MAO and 15.2% with AChE) and this percentage increases until reaching up to (74.7% with MAO and 84.18% with AChE) when the concentration of the extract was (0.1 mg/ml). From the kinetic parameters, studies found that alcoholic extract o
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This paper represents a study of the effect of the soil type, the drilling parameters and the drilling tool properties on the dynamic vibrational behavior of the drilling rig and its assessment in the drilling system. So first, an experimental drilling rig was designed and constructed to embrace the numerical work.
The experimental work included implementation of the drill-string in different types of soil with different properties according to the difference in the grains size, at different rotational speeds (RPM), and different weights on bit (WOB) (Thrust force), in a way that allows establishing the charts that correlate the vibration acceleration, the rate of penetration (ROP), and the power
... Show MoreThe cost of microalgae harvesting constitutes a heavy burden on the commercialization of biofuel production. The present study addressed this problem through economic and parametric comparison of electrochemical harvesting using a sacrificial electrode (aluminum) and a nonsacrificial electrode (graphite). The harvesting efficiency, power consumption, and operation cost were collected as objective variables as a function of applied current and initial pH of the solution. The results indicated that high harvesting efficiency obtained by using aluminum anode is achieved in short electrolysis time. That harvesting efficiency can be enhanced by increasing the applied current or the electrolysis time for both electrode materials, where 98
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to determine the influence of feeding diets containing different levels of sesame seeds and oil on the egg quality of laying quail. A total of 120, 10 weeks old, were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 dietary groups and fed for 12 weeks diets containing 0% sesame seeds + 0% sesame oil (control group; C) or 0.5% sesame oil (T1), 1% sesame oil (T2), 1% sesame seeds (T3), and 2% sesame seeds (T4).The study was terminated when the birds were 22 weeks of age. Egg quality characteristics involved in the present study were egg weight, yolk diameter, yolk height, yolk weight, albumen height, albumen weight,Haugh unit, shell weight, shell thickness, shell percentage, yolk percentage, and albumen percentage. The addition of sesame
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