Background: Mobile phones are approximately widely used everywhere like in hospital wards, clinics and universities as well as biomedical laboratories. They have become very important tool in students’ life. In contrast, these tools carry many harmful bacteria which are responsible for infectious diseases in human because they serve as a reservoir for different pathogens. Current study was aimed to isolate bacteria from students’ mobile phones at the Institute of Medical Technology/Al-Mansour/The Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq. Also, the study investigated microbial resistance to many antimicrobial agents as well as the appropriate remedial measures. Method: Four hundred and fifty swabs from mobile phones were collected from 450 students (271 males and 179 females). Their age range was (17-30) years. Swabs were collected from students during March 2018. Results: Out of the 450 swabs, 150(33.33%) swabs were positive. The percentages of the isolated bacteria according to gender were 53.33%(80 isolates) from males’ mobile phones and 46.66%(70 isolates) from females’ mobile phones. The most frequent Gram-positive bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus (50%) followed by S. epidermidis (20%), whereas Gram-negative bacteria isolated were Escherichia coli (6.0%), Proteus mirabilis (2.66%), Proteus vulgaris (2.66%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.66%). The isolated bacteria showed variable antimicrobial sensitivity patterns for different antibiotics. Most S. aureus isolates were resistant to Cefotaxime, Gentamycin, Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin and Augmentin, whereas other isolated species showed the highest resistance to many antibiotics of interest. The isolates of Micrococcus spp. were sensitive to all the studied antibiotics except Tetracycline and Fucidic acid. Conclusion: The present findings indicated that contaminated students’ mobile phones could serve as reservoirs of bacterial agents. Also, most of the latter were resistant to many commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents.
Academic Entitlement (AE) is the expectation by students to receive high grades or preferential treatment without significant effort. Exploring AE from faculty perspective has not been investigated in Arab colleges of pharmacy. The aim of this study was to explore experiences and perceptions towards student AE among pharmacy faculty in the Arab World. A cross-sectional, self-administered, anonymous, electronic survey was sent to pharmacy faculty across pharmacy colleges in Arab countries. The survey collected demographic data, an AE measure including 17 items reflecting seven AE components, and faculty perceptions and perceived reasons for AE. A total of 345 responses were collected. The AE level wa
A survey of entomopathogenic and other opportunistic fungi isolated from soil samples collected from insect hibernation sites in different habitats in Kurdistan region of Iraq was carried out during October to December 2009. By using dilution plate method, two entomopathogenic species (Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill.and Isaria javanica (Friedrichs & Bally) Samson & Hywel-Jones) were detected with isolation percentage (38.46%) each. Other opportunistic fungi such as Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, A.niger, Penicillium glabrum, P. digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer and Syncephalastratum racemosum
This study was designed for isolation and molecular identification of Nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM) from fish during the period between October and December 2017 from Karbla province, Iraq. This study included 200 fresh fish samples from four different species including Spondyliosoma cantharus, Liza abu, Carassius carassius and Cyprinuscarpio. Three samples of each fish were taken including gills, muscles and all internal organs. The samples were processed by decontamination, concentration of 4% sodium hydroxide, and 0.1 ml of sediment was streaking on Löwenstein Johnson (LJ) media; then the bacterial cultures were incubated at 28-30 °C for 3days up to 4 weeks and suspected colonies were stained with acid fast stain to confir
... Show MoreYersinia enterocolitica has ranked a third among the pathogens that most frequently cause gastrointestinal disorders transmitted to humans through food materials, especially contaminated meats. The meat infected with Yersinia enterocolitica had no change in apparent texture or smell. The aim of this research is to survey the frequency of Y. enterocolitica in ovine meat, compare their ratio of infection between the season, To carry out this study (125) samples of local ovine meat were collected by random sampling from the middle region of Iraq. The samples were divided into two groups steak and mince, then many microbiological tests (culture, & staining, biochemical Tests Api 20E, Vitik 2 and species-specific PCR amplicon for 16S RNA gene) w
... Show MoreA total of sixty raw milk samples were collected from (street vendors and shops) from Baghdad city, Iraq. The samples were inoculated into peptone water and, then, subcultured onto MacConkey agar and Blood agar. Identification of isolates was confirmed by microscopic examination, cultural characteristic, biochemical tests, Vitek (VITEK®2 system), and Biolog GN substrate reactions followed by 16S rRNA and specific genes sequencing. Of 60 raw cow’s milk samples, Providencia spp. were identified only in 4 samples (6.67%) and P. rettgeri was the most common, 2/4 (50%), followed by P. stuartii and P. vermicola, 1/4 (25%). Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were conducted against ten antibiotics by the disc diffusion method. All Provid
... Show MoreThis study was included the isolation of four strains from two species of lactic acid bacteria which as Lactococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis; Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis; Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, were isolated from locally fermented diary products. The isolated were identified by using morphological, cultural and biochemical tests. Their abilities to producing flavor compounds as each Diacetyl and Acetoin after cultured on MRS broth media and incubation at 30 °c for 24 hours. The results indicated that’s all strains were produced the acetoin significantly (P<0.05) more than diacetyl compound. The production of Lactococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis from Diacety
... Show Morethis study aimed to study the effect of Cordia myxa extract on the growth and activities of the following types of bacteria : Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus Spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae , Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes , Bacillus subtilus, and the yeast Candida albicans .the results showed an inhibitory effect of the methanol extract on both the growth and activity of the tested microbes .this was reflected by the minimum inhibitory concentration ( MIC ) of different type of bacteria and the yeast.
Endophytic bacteria produced analogous secondary metabolites of their hosts. Similarly, the ability to generate antioxidants is not an exception. Dragon scales (Pyrrosia piloselloides), an epiphytic plant of the Polypodiaceae family, are frequently overlooked. This research aims to isolate antioxidant-producing bacteria from dragon-scale fern leaves. The antioxidant activities were tested after the extraction procedure using ethanolic extract. Bacteria were characterized and selected as candidates for antioxidant production by screening for the production of total phenolic compounds. Antioxidant levels were determined utilizing the ABTS, FRAP, and DPPH techniques. The preliminary findings of the entire phenolic compound test rev
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