Antibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacterial strains with a maximum inhibition zone diameter of 22.0 mm against B. subtilis compared with standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin. The minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains ranged from 3.15-12.5 µg/ml. However, weak antifungal effect was recorded against Candida albicans with MIC value ˃25 µg/ml. The 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that M. caffra was the best antioxidant (IC50=14.75±0.028 µg/ml), while M. laurifolia was the least one (IC50=34.22±0.014 µg/ml). The phenolics in plant leaves extracts were identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) which revealed the presence of seven phenolic acids and four flavonoids. The abundant phenolic compounds were rutin (5.216±0.067 mg/g dried wt.) and gallic acid (0.296±0.068 mg/g) followed by myricetin (0.317±0.091 mg/g) then kaempferol (0.113±0.049 mg/g) as flavonoids. The antibacterial mechanism of M. laurifolia extract, as a representative species, induces ultrastructural changes in the model bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with cell wall and plasma membrane lysis as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Overall, Mimusops species (M. laurifolia, M. kummel and M. zeyheri) are promising natural alternative sources for antimicrobial agents.
An evaluation the performance of the irrigation system for the Al-Ishaqi irrigation project for the Eastern Canal was conducted to identify management strategies that can be used to improve the operation and performance of the irrigation system. The study area is located in Salah al-Din G.0overnorate, Iraq. The field work included determining the moisture content of the soil before and after irrigation, measuring the inflow of the field to find the depth of the applied water, field monitoring, and measuring the depth of the root zone for each irrigation process. Field measurements showed that the average efficiency of water application for the two fields (A, and B) are 59.81% and 38.6%, respectively. The results of the efficiency of
... Show MoreCadmium element is one of the group IIB and classified as heavy metal and effects on human health and environment. The present work concerns with the biosorption of Cd(II) ions from aqueous solution using the outer layer of onions. Adsorption of the used ions was found to be pH dependent and maximum removal of the ions by outer layer of onions and was found to be 99.7%.
Abstract Twelve isolates of bacteria were obtained from samples of different soils and water amended with 100µg/ml of five heavy metals chlorides (i.e: Aluminum Al+2, Iron Fe+2, Lead Pb+2, Mercury Hg+2 and Zinc Zn+2). Four isolates were identified as Bacillus subtilis and B. subtilis (B2) isolate was selected for this study according to their resistance to all five heavy metals chlorides. The ability of B. subtilis (B2) isolate for growing in different concentration of heavy metals chlorides ranging from 200-1200 µg/ml was tested. The highest conc. that B. subtilis (B2) isolate tolerate was 1000 µg/ml for Al+2, Fe+2, Pb+2, and Zn+2and 300 µg/ml for Hg+2 for 24hour. The effect of heavy metals chlorides on bacterial growth for 72 hrs was
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to investigate the role of prodigiosin on P. aeruginosa' s biofilm genes involved in the pathogenicity and persistency of the bacteria; Materials and methods: Gram negative bacterial isolates were taken from burn and wounds specimen obtained from some of Baghdad hospitals. Forty six isolates were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and four isolates as Serratia marcescens by using biochemical tests and VITEK 2 compact system. Susceptibility test was performed for all P. aeruginosa isolates, the results showed that 100% were resistant to Amikacin and 98% were sensitive to Meropenem. Resistant isolates were tested for biofilm formation; the strong and moderate isolates (17) were detected by PCR for AlgD gene
... Show MoreSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies against nuclear antigens and a systemic inflammation that can damage a broad spectrum of organs. SLE patients suffer from a wide variety of symptoms, which can affect virtually almost any tissue. As lupus is difficult to diagnose, the worldwide prevalence of SLE can only be roughly estimated to range from 10 and 200 cases per 100,000 individuals with dramatic differences depending on gender, ethnicity, and location. Although the treatment of this disease has been significantly ameliorated by new therapies, improved conventional drug therapy options, and a trained expert eye, the underlying pathogenesis of lupus still
... Show MoreIn this study, Cobalt Oxide nanostructure was successfully prepared using the chemical spray pyrolysis technique. The cobalt oxide phase was analysed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and proved the preparation of two cobalt oxide phases which are Co3O4 and CoO phases. The surface morphology was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images showing the topography of the sample with grain size smaller than 100 nm. The optical behavior of the prepared material was studied by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The band gap varied as 1.9 eV and 2.6 eV for Co3O4 prepared from cobalt sulphate precursor, 2.03 eV and 4.04 eV for Co3O4 prepared from cobalt nitrate precursor, 2.04 eV and 4.01 eV for CoO prepared from cobalt chloride precursor where th
... Show MoreCinnamon plant is considered one of important medicinal plants because it is rich with many active compounds. This research is aimed to study possible effects of extract in culture media of Gardenia jasmenoides. Alcoholic extract was prepared from the bark of cinnamon at different concentrations (0.0, 1.0, 2.0) mg/L, then added to culture media to notice the effect of these concentrations on the growth and development of tissues and organs of Gardenia jasmenoides Ellis in vitro. Results showed the positive effect of increasing callus fresh weight and shoot proliferation from single nodes with presence of plant regulators, 5.0 mg/L Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 3.0 mg/L Benzyl adenine (BA). Results showed that extract has a slight eff
... Show MoreCloud computing is the new technological trend for future generations. It represents a new way to use IT resources more efficiently. Cloud computing is one of the most technological models for developing and exploiting infrastructure resources in the world. Under the cloud, the user no longer needs to look for major financing to purchase infrastructure equipment as companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, can get the equipment as a service, rather than buying it as a product. The idea of cloud computing dates back to the sixties of the last century, but this idea did not come into actual application until the beginning of the third millennium, at the hands of technology companies such as Apple, Hp, IBM, which had
... Show MoreIn this work semi–empirical method (PM3) calculations are carried out by (MOPAC) computational packages have been employed to calculate the molecular orbital's energies for some organic pollutants. The long– chain quaternary ammonium cations called Iraqi Clays (Bentonite – modified) are used to remove these organic pollutants from water, by adding a small cationic surfactant so as to result in floes which are agglomerates of organobentonite to remove organic pollutants. This calculation which suggests the best surface active material, can be used to modify the adsorption efficiency of aniline , phenol, phenol deriviatives, Tri methyl glycine, ester and pecticides , on Iraqi Clay (bentonite) by comparing the theoretical results w
... Show More Background: Prelabour rupture of membranes is a problem that faces the obstetricians. It has many maternal and fetal sequale and its etiology and management still controversial.
Objective: To test the absolute nucleated red blood cells counts at birth in infants who are born after prelabour rupture of membranes.
Methods: A prospective study conducted in AL-Kadhymia Teaching Hospital. Hundred pregnant women were included in this study. Fifty pregnant women who had prelabour rupture of membranes considered as group (1), other fifty pregnant women with intact membranes considered as group (2) through a period of one year. Nucleated red blood cell counts of venous cord blood obtained within one hour of life from 50 infants who we