A total of 60 cotton swabs are collected from patients suffering from burn wound and surgical site infections admitted to Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Burn Specialist Hospital in Baghdad city during 9/2013 to 11/2013. All cotton swabs are cultured initially on blood agar and MacConkey agar and subjected for standard bacteriological procedures for bacteriological diagnosis. Twenty samples out of sixty are identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa by conventional methods. The results of antibiotic susceptibility test illustrate that the antibiotics resistance rate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates is as follows:100% (2020) for ceftriaxone, cefepime and carbencillin, 70% (14/20) for amikacin, 65%(13/20) for tobramycin, ceftazidim and gentamycin, 55% (11/20) for ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, 50% (10/20) for piperacillin and impeneme, 30% (6/20) for aztreonam. All Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates are investigated for detection of some virulence factors (haemolysin, protease, lipase enzymes, and extracellular pigments) and biofilm formation. The results of virulence factors reveal that all the isolates are haemolysin, protease, lipase enzymes and extracellular pigments producer, while 95% of the isolates are biofilm producer. Six isolates are selected to irradiation by using CO2 laser according to the results of antibiotic susceptibility and virulence factors at power densities (2000, 2500, and 3000) W/cm2 with exposure time (60 and 90) second. The results of CO2 laser irradiation illustrate that CO2 laser irradiation lead to a reduction in the mean value of the viable number CFU/ml of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates with the increase of the power density and exposure time. The results of the statistical analysis by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) one way and least significant differences-LSD show that there are statistical significant differences in the mean of the viable number CFU/ml between different power densities and different exposure times. After irradiation, antibiotic susceptibility and virulence factors tests of the irradiated strains are performed. The current study concludes that CO2 laser has bactericidal effect on P. aeruginosa isolates without any effect on its antibiotics susceptibility and virulence factors.
Global warming and environmental damage have become major problems. The production of Portland cement releases large quantities of gas, which cause pollution to the atmosphere. This problem can be solved via the use of sustainable materials, such as glass powder. This study investigates the effect of partial replacement of cement with sustainable glass powder at various percentages (0, 15, 20, and 25%) by weight of cement on some mechanical properties (compressive strength, flexural strength, absorption, and dry density) of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) containing a percentage of Polypropylene fibers (PRPC) of 1% by weight. Furthermore, steam curing was performed for 5 hours at 90oC after hardening the sample directly. The RPC was
... Show MoreMaterials recycling has a significant economic and environmental impact; as a result, steel, aluminium, plastic, and other recyclable materials have been pushed for use in construction materials. One of these recyclable materials is the crumb rubber, has been considered as a pavement component. The general behaviour of the composite rubber-hot mix asphalt system would be varied from that of the conventional rubber free mix. In this review, desirable characteristics of hot mix asphalt are highlighted first. Also, effect of gradation and the main types of rubber are specified. Afterward, many studies that considered the crumb rubber as a waste product and its associated mixture and modifiers are reviewed. The factors affect the crumb
... Show MoreNowadays, the use of recycled waste construction materials instead of aggregates is becoming popular in construction owing to its environmental benefits. This paper presents an experimental and analytical campaign to study the behavior of axially loaded columns constructed from recycled aggregates. The latter was used instead of natural aggregates, and they were collected from the waste of previous concrete constructions. Different concrete mixtures made from varying amounts of recycled aggregates ranged from 0 to 50% of the total coarse aggregate were conducted to achieve 28 MPa. The effect of steel fibers is another investigated variable with volumes ranged from 0 to 2% concerning concrete’s mixture. The experimental
... Show MoreIn the present work, different thicknesses of CdS film were prepared by chemical bath deposition. Z-Scan technique was used to study the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficients. Linear optical testing were done such as transmission test, and thickness of films were done by the interference fringes (Michelson interferometer). Z-scan experiment was performed at 650nm using CW diode laser and at 532nm wavelength. The results show the effect of self-focusing and defocusing that corresponds with nonlinear refraction n2. The effect of two-photon absorption was also studied, which correspond to the nonlinear absorption coefficient B.
The influence of sintering and annealing temperatures on the structural, surface morphology, and optical properties of Ag2Cu2O4 thin films which deposited on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition method have been studied. Ag2Cu2O4 powders have polycrystalline structure, and the Ag2Cu2O4 phase was appear as low intensity peak at 35.57o which correspond the reflection from (110) plane. Scan electron microscopy images of Ag2Cu2O4 powder has been showed agglomerate of oxide particles with platelets shape. The structure of thin films has been improved with annealing temperature. Atomic Force micrographs of Ag2Cu2O4 films showed uniform, homogenous films and the shape of grains was almost spherical and larger grain size of 97.85 nm has o
... Show MoreThis study examined the problematic of the ambiguous relationship between the media and terrorism and the problems that result from press coverage of terroristic incidents. The paper sought to show the classification and confrontation of such incidents had been established from the point of view of a sample of media professionals, researchers and writers who are frequenters of Al-Mutanabi Street in Baghdad. The media outlets that carry this coverage would not give up their media mission as well as the terrorists would not be given an opportunity to take advantage of this coverage in achieving their goals and objectives. Furthermore, the terrorist organizations would have no chance to exploit these means to deliver their terroristic messa
... Show MoreThe uniform flow distrbiution in the multi-outlets pipe highly depends on the several parameters act togather. Therefor, there is no general method to achieve this goal. The goal of this study is to investigate the proposed approach that can provide significant relief of the maldistribution. The method is based on re-circulating portion of flow from the end of the header to reduce pressure at this region . The physical model consists of main manifold with uniform longitudinal section having diameter of 152.4 mm (6 in), five laterals with diameter of 76.2 mm (3 in), and spacing of 300 mm. At first, The experiment is carried out with conventional manifold, which is a closed-end. Then, small amount of water is allowed
... Show More