Antibiotic resistance increment is a major problem for the human society nowadays which encourages the efforts to look for new therapeutic alternatives from natural defenses. Synergistic antibacterial activity of epidermin and staphylolysin LasA A against Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Ps. aeruginosa) was evaluated. The antibacterial activities of epidermin from Staphylococcus epidermidis (Staph epidermidis) and Staphylolysin (LasA) from Ps. aeruginosa using the agar well diffusion assay were evaluated, and then using the micro dilution method to evaluate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The checkerboard method and fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) were used to evaluate the combination between epidermin and LasA toward targeted clinical isolates of Staph aureus, E. coli and Ps. aeruginosa. The results revealed a synergistic effect between epidermin and LasA on all clinical isolates growth. The highest MIC and MBC of epidermin were 36.04 µL/mL and 51.73 µL/mL against Staph aureus; meanwhile, the highest MIC and MBC of LasA were 44.38 µL/mL and 50 µL/mL against Staph aureus. The FICindex revealed synergistic interactions in combination of epidermin and LasA which recorded 0.286 for Staph aureus while for E. coli was 0.327 and for Ps. aeruginosa was 0.390 respectively showing a synergism effect. This study finds that combination of epidermin with LasA had inhibitory activity on the targeted clinical isolate growth, which can be useful for designing and developing alternative therapeutic strategies against pathogens causing wound and burn infections.
The effective insulation design of the stress grading (SG) system in form-wound stator coils is essential for preventing partial discharges and excessive heat generation under pulse-width modulation excitation. This paper proposes a method to find the optimal insulation design of the SG system aimed at reducing the dielectric and thermal stresses in the machine coil. The non-uniform transmission line model is used to predict the voltage propagation along the overhang, SG, and slot regions considering the variation in the physical properties of the insulation layers. The machine coil parameters for different insulation materials are calculated by using the finite element method. Two optimization algorithms, fmincon and particle swarm optimiz
... Show MoreBackground: Melanin pigmentation of the gingiva appears in all ethnicities. Excessive pigmentation is an esthetic concern that has increased awareness about depigmentation procedures. This epidemiological study aims to find the correlation between skin color and gingival pigmentation in Sulaimani Governorate, Kurdistan/Iraq.
Subjects and Methods: A total of 820 apparently healthy and non-smokers, including 338 males and 482 females with healthy gingiva, aged between (18-40 years old) were enrolled in this study. Clinical examination on the participants’ gingivae was performed to assess color, and the distribution of pigmentations. Afterward the of participants skin color were
... Show MoreThe present study aims to describe the histological structure of kidney of, (Herpestes javanicus ) that inhabits Iraqi lands. Transverse sections of kidney stained with hematoxylin and eosin showed two distinct regions, the outer thin darkly stained cortex and inner thick lightly stained medulla, which further subdivided into external and internal medullary zones linked with one conical renal papilla. The lateral margin of the outer medullary tissue forms a secondary renal pyramid with a specialized fornix. All the nephrons in the kidney start with the renal corpuscle [Malpighian], which is formed from two distinct parts, these are a centrally located glomerulus, which represented by a tuft of blood capillaries and an outer Bowman’s capsu
... Show MoreBackground: The excessive use and abuse of antibiotics contribute to bacterial resistance, raising the risk of complications and treatment failures. This study investigates adherence to antibiotic prescriptions among Iraqi dental patients, highlighting implications for antimicrobial resistance.Objective: To assess adherence levels and identify factors influencing antibiotic therapy compliance among dental patients.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in which adult dental patients aged 18 and older, who had been prescribed antibiotics within the past year, participated. The modified Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 items was used to evaluate adherence, and data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics software V26.Results: Amon
... Show MoreAbstract Sweden is today one of the most active European countries in the regional and international environment despite the adoption of neutrality as a guiding principle in its foreign policy. For more than two centuries, the length of time for Swedish neutrality has made it a global standard, an agreed foreign policy at home and a political culture rooted in institutions and society. Swedish. Although discussions are still underway on Swedish security and foreign policies after the end of the Cold War, especially cooperation with NATO through the Partnership for Peaceprogram, EU accession and its impact on the principle of neutrality in foreign policy. Sweden, however, insists that it still maintains neutrality, but more adequately, in
... Show MoreSeveral stress-strain models were used to predict the strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete, which are distinctive of the material. However, insufficient research has been done on the influence of hybrid fiber combinations (comprising two or more distinct fibers) on the characteristics of concrete. For this reason, the researchers conducted an experimental program to determine the stress-strain relationship of 30 concrete samples reinforced with two distinct fibers (a hybrid of polyvinyl alcohol and steel fibers), with compressive strengths ranging from 40 to 120 MPa. A total of 80% of the experimental results were used to develop a new empirical stress-strain model, which was accomplished through the application of the parti
... Show MorePhotonic Crystal Fiber Interferometers (PCFIs) are widely used for sensing applications. This work presents the fabrication and the characterization of a relative humidity sensor based on a polymer-coated photonic crystal fiber that operates in a Mach- Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) transmission mode. The fabrication of the sensor involved splicing a short (1 cm) length of Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) between two single-mode fibers (SMF). It was then coated with a layer of agarose solution. Experimental results showed that a high humidity sensitivity of 29.37 pm/%RH was achieved within a measurement range of 27–95%RH. The sensor also showed good repeatability, small size, measurement accuracy and wide humidity range. The RH sensitivity o
... Show More