Objectives: This study aims to broaden our knowledge of the role of eDNA in bacterial biofilms and antibiotic-resistance gene transfer among isolates. Methods: Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from different non-repeated 170 specimens. The bacterial isolates were identified using morphological and molecular methods. Different concentrations of genomic DNA were tested for their potential role in biofilms formed by study isolates employing microtiter plate assay. Ciprofloxacin resistance was identified by detecting a mutation in gyrA and parC. Results: The biofilm intensity significantly decreased (P < 0.05) concerning S. aureus isolates and insignificantly (P > 0.05) concernin

Pathogenic microorganisms from hospitals, communities, and the environment remain great threats to human health. The increasing concern about antibiotic resistance has also necessitated the search for robust alternatives. Therefore, this study aims to isolate, screen and evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a soil sample taken from northern, western and eastern parts of Kelana Jaya Lake against four antibiotics (gentamycin, tetracycline, ampicillin, and penicillin) on a Mueller-Hinton Agar media plate. Pseudomonas identification was done by using API 20 kit. Disc diffusion was employed as well as the oxidase test. From the positive oxidase result, the isolated bacteria were identified as Burkhold

Background: During Ramadan, Muslims fast throughout daylight hours. There is a direct link between fasting and increasing incidence of infections. Antibiotic usage for treatment of infections should be based on accurate diagnosis, with the correct dose and dosing regimen for the shortest period to avoid bacterial resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the practices of physicians in prescribing suitable antibiotics for fasting patients and the compliance of the patients in using such antibiotics at regular intervals. Materials and methods: An observational study was carried out during the middle 10 days of Ramadan 2014 in two pharmacies at Baghdad. A total of 34 prescriptions (Rx) for adults who suffered from infections were examined. For

Rate of zinc consumption during the cathodic protection of copper pipeline which carries saline water was measured by weight loss technique in the absence and presence of bacteria. Variables studied were solution flow rate, temperature, time and NaCl concentration. It was found that within the present range of variables; the rate of zinc consumption increases with the increase of all operating conditions. The presence of bacteria increases the zinc consumption. Fourth order multi-term model and one-term model were suggested to represent the consumption data. Nonlinear regression analysis was used to estimate the coefficients of these models, while statistical analysis was used to determine the effect of each coefficient. Both models were re

Identification of pathogens and locating their inocul¬um source (S) are the first strategies toward successful disease management program the pretransplating seedl¬ing damping - off problem on vegetable crops was found to be caused by Pythium aphanidermatum and Rhizocto¬nia solani. Both fungi were isolated from peat (moss) for the first time in Iraq. In addition, considerable num¬ber of pathogenic fungi was found as contaminants in soil samples from Alrashidiah vegetable covered farming station. Among the isolated fungi were: Pythium apha¬nidermatum, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani phialophora spp., Cephalisporium spp Rizopus stolonfier and Botrytis cine¬rea, in addition to several

This paper is devoted to investigate the effect of internal curing technique on the properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC). In this study, SCC is produced by using silica fume (SF) as partial replacement by weight of cement with percentage of (5%), sand is partially replaced by volume with saturated fine lightweight aggregate (LWA) which is thermostone chips as internal curing material in three percentages of (5%, 10% and 15%) for SCC, two external curing conditions water and air. The experimental work was divided into three parts: in the first part, the workability tests of fresh SCC were conducted. The second part included conducting compressive strength test and modulus of rupture test at ages of (7, 28 and 90). The third part i

The present investigation considers the effect of curing temperatures (30, 40, and 50˚C) and curing compound method on compressive strength development of high performance concrete, and compares the results with concrete cured at standard conditions and curing temperature (21˚C). The experimental results showed that at early ages, the rate of strength development at high curing temperature is greater than at lower curing temperature, the maximum increasing percentage in compressive strength is 10.83% at 50C˚ compared with 21C˚ in 7days curing age. However, at later ages, the strength achieved at higher curing temperature has been less, and the maximum percentage of reduction has been 5.70% at curing temperature 50C˚ compared with 21

In this paper, a microcontroller-based electronic circuit have been designed and implemented for dental curing system using 8-bit MCS-51 microcontroller. Also a new control card is designed while considering advantages of microcontroller systems the time of curing was controlled automatically by preset values which were input from a push-button switch. An ignition based on PWM technique was used to reduce the high starting current needed for the halogen lamp. This paper and through the test result will show a good performance of the proposed system.

Three phenol-formaldehyde resins having pendant maleimides were prepared by poly condensation of N-(hydroxyphenyl) maleimides with formaldehyde under conditions similar to those in Novolac preparation. The prepared resins were modified by two methods, the first one includes esterification of phenolic hydroxyl groups in the prepared resins via their treatment with benzoyl, acryloyl, methacryloyl and cinnamoyl chlorides respectively in the presence of triethylamine, while the second modification includes free radical polymerization of vinylic bonds in the prepared resins to produce cross-linked thermally stable polymers.