Leishmaniosis is a tropical neglected parasitic disease that is endemic in many countries, including Middle East, with no existing effective vaccines. The bite of female sand-fly transmits the causative agent, Leishmania spp., to humans. High toxicity, resistance and treatment failure of the available chemotherapy against visceral leishmaniosis demands the investigation of new anti-leishmanial compounds. Lupeol is a form of triterpene isolated from several medicinal plants and possesses an antimicrobial property. In this study, cytotoxic effect of lupeol was screened against the mammalian amastigotes form and insect promastigote form of Leishmania donovani, following three cycles of incubation at different concentrations by MTT assay. Resul

Urinary stones are one of the most common painful disorders of the urinary system. Four new technologies have transformed the treatment of urinary stones: Electrohydraulic lithotripsy, ultrasonic lithotripsy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, and laser lithotripsy.The purpose of this study is to determine whether pulsed holmium laser energy is an effective method for fragmenting urinary tract stones in vitro, and to determine whether stone composition affects the efficacy of holmium laser lithotripsy. Human urinary stones of known composition with different sizes, shapes and colors were used for this study. The weight and the size of each stone were measured. The surgical laser system which used in our study is Ho:YAG laser(2100nm)

Background: The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different bleaching methods on the shear bond strength of orthodontic Sapphire brackets bonded to human premolars teeth using light cured composite resin and to determine the predominant site of bond failure. Materials and Methods: Thirty freshly extracted human premolars were selected and randomly divided into three groups (10 per group). These groups are: control (unbleached) group, hydrogen peroxide group (HP) 37.5% ; which is the in- office bleaching method group, carbamide peroxide group (CP) 16%; which is the at- home bleaching method group. After bleaching process was performed, all the teeth stored in distilled water in a sealed container at room temperature for

Background: With the increasing demand on esthetic orthodontic appliances, discoloration of clear elastomeric chains and modules remains an issue which concerns both orthodontics and patients. This in vitro study was conducted to evaluate the effect of exposing stretched clear elastomeric chains from six different companies (Ortho Technology, Ormco, Ortho Organizer, American Orthodontics, Opal and G&H companies) to three types of dietary media (tea, coffee and turmeric). Materials and methods: A total of 960 lengths of six modules were cut from short type elastomeric chain; 160 pieces from each brand. The specimens were stretched 50%, placed on plastic boards, and incubated in water at 37°C for 1 day, 7 days, 14 days and 28 days. Once a

Laser assisted skin wound closure offers many distinct advantages over conventional closure
techniques. The objective of this in vitro experimental study, carried out at the Institute of Laser for
Postgraduate Studies/Baghdad University, was to determine the effectiveness of 980 nm diode laser in
welding of human skin wounds. Multiple 3-4 cm long full thickness incisions in a specimen of human
skin obtained from the discarded panniculus of an Abdominoplasty operation were tried to be laser
welded using a 4 mm spot diameter laser beam from a 980 nm diode laser at different laser parameters
and modes of action. The tensile strength at the weld site was analyzed experimentally. Although laser
assisted wound welding did

Objective: Dental caries is a chronic infectious disease that is prevalent worldwide in all age groups. Numerous attempts have been made to develop conservative approaches to halt caries progression and restore enamel defects. This study aimed to investigate the effect of applying grape seed extract and chicken eggshell extract on the microhardness of demineralized enamel in permanent teeth. Methods: Forty-eight sound upper first premolars were used. Following demineralization with the demineralizing solution for 96 hours, they were distributed into four groups consistent with the treatment agent used: group A was treated with casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate (as a control group), group B was treated with grape se

Background: Aesthetic archwires are used to overcome the aesthetic problems of stainless steel wires but the color of the coating layer can be changed with time when exposed to oral environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of color change of different aesthetic archwires from different companies under different coloring solutions. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty samples of coated archwires from three companies (Highland, G&H and Dany) were immersed in 5 solutions (artificial saliva, turmeric, tea, coffee and Miranda) to evaluate the degree of color changes after 7, 14 and 21 days using visible spectrophotometer. Data were collected and analyzed using one way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s tests. Resu

A niger, a fungus which doesn't have high ability to production lipid, this fungus has been select to investigate the non oleaginicity. In this search, there are explorations about: i) growth profile ii) enzymes profile iii) isoforms. Growth profile shows that this fungus doesn't have ability to accumulate lipid more than 6% while bio mass are around 10g/l in spite of the presence of glucose in the media till the end of cultivation time and excision of nitrogen within 24 hrs. In enzyme study, we investigate all lipogenic enzymes Malic enzyme (ME), Fatty acid synthase (FAS), ATP: Citrate lays (ACL), NAD+ isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD+ICDH), Glucose-6-phosphate (G6PD), and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), all these enzymes show, ac

Efficacy of Oregano Essential Oil Mouthwash in Reducing Oral Halitosis: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial, Mohamed Saeed M Ali, Ayser Najah Mohammed*