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.
With the growing number of Internet users, public and private arts activities have become increasingly popular. Adolescents have begun to establish aesthetic taste and new cultural values. This category is the most affected one by the published images and ideas especially in the social networking space and specifically the Facebook. It is the most important problem in their cultural composition. This research aims to detect the problems of social networking sites in nurturing the aesthetic taste of adolescents. The researcher used the analytical descriptive approach to obtain accurate information describing the current situation or depicting the social reality of adolescents. The research concluded that the public discourse in social med
... Show MoreObjective: The current study aimed to prepare a measure for comprehensive knowledge marketing management. In the Iraqi sports institutions under study, identifying the extent of each dimension of comprehensive knowledge marketing management. Research methodology: This study relied on appropriate scientific methods, mainly represented by the descriptive method and the analytical method, and on the case study method because it suits the nature of the study. The study population was determined from the administrative cadres in the Iraqi Sports Federation, and the research sample numbered (86) and was represented as follows: The preparation sample numbered (50) and a percentage amounted to (58.13%), the sample of the exploratory experim
... Show MoreThe two researchers selected the problem of research which represented with the following asking: Does the use of the shape of Round house strategy have effectiveness in the collection of students of the Department of Art Education of the subjectof teaching methods?
The research aims to "measure the effectiveness of Strategy shape of Round house in the collection of students of the Department of Art Education for the material teaching methods" and to verify the aim of the research two zeroassumptions was identified to measure the level of achievement in the subject of teaching methods of third stage students in the Department of Art Education –College of Fine Arts.
The research community included the students of Art Education Dep
Fluoxetine (FX) is an antidepressant drug administered only orally in humans. Despite the wide use of FX, until now, there is only limited literature concerning the pharmacokinetics (PK) of FX and the effect of food on its PK. Thus, the objective of this investigation was to study the PK of FX in Arabic healthy male adult volunteers under fasting and fed conditions. In the fasting study, FX 20 mg capsules (Prozac®, Eli Lilly, Canada) were administered to 41 volunteers after overnight fasting of 12 hours, followed by blood sampling from each volunteer immediately before dosing (zero time) and then at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96, 120, and eventually at 144 hours after FX dosing. The fed study was conduct
... Show MoreMillions of pilgrims and visitors from numerous parts of the world flock to Karbala (one of the most prominent ideological and religious places in central Iraq) each year to visit the holy shrines in Karbala due to their sanctity. Many improvements have been made to the Two Holy Shrines (THS), the Shrines of Imam Husayn and Imam Abbas, and the area between them (ATHS), due to the high temperatures in this region and to improve pedestrian thermal comfort. Studies on improving outdoor thermal comfort in Karbala are scarce. Hence, this research aims to look into historical and current architectural changes and how they affect thermal comfort. On the hottest summer day, the ENVI-met software program was used to simulate the building des
... Show MoreThe nephrotoxicity induced by methotrexate is a severe condition that greatly affects its therapeutic potential and has a significant inflammatory component. Fimasartan is an angiotensin receptor blocker that offers organ-protective effects and may be useful in mitigating renal injury. The present study explored the anti-inflammatory potential of two doses of fimasartan against methotrexate-mediated nephrotoxicity. Albino rats were intraperitoneally administered a single methotrexate (20 mg/kg). Intraperitoneal treatment with fimasartan (5 or 10 mg/kg/day) was initiated on day two after methotrexate injection and continued for seven consecutive days. Methotrexate significantly increased serum urea, creatinine, and NGAL concentrations. It al
... Show MoreIt is widely accepted that early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) makes it possible for patients to gain access to appropriate health care services and would facilitate the development of new therapies. AD starts many years before its clinical manifestations and a biomarker that provides a measure of changes in the brain in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Given the rapid increase in the number of older people suffering from AD, there is a need for an accurate, low-cost and easy to use biomarkers that could be used to detect AD in its early stages. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a vital role in this but at present, no reliable EEG biomarker exists for early diagnosis of AD. The gradual s
... Show MoreOne of the main element in the network is the intersection which consider as the critical points because there are many conflict in this element. The capability and quality of operation of an intersection was assessed to provide a better understanding of the network's traffic efficiency. In Baghdad city, the capital of/Iraq the majority of the intersections are operated under the congestion status and with level of service F, therefore theses intersection are consider as high spot point of delay in the network of Baghdad city. In this study we selected Al-Ameria signalized intersection as a case study to represent the delay problem in the intersections in Baghdad. The intersection is located in the w
Millions of pilgrims and visitors from numerous parts of the world flock to Karbala (one of the most prominent ideological and religious places in central Iraq) each year to visit the holy shrines in Karbala due to their sanctity. Many improvements have been made to the Two Holy Shrines (THS), the Shrines of Imam Husayn and Imam Abbas, and the area between them (ATHS), due to the high temperatures in this region and to improve pedestrian thermal comfort. Studies on improving outdoor thermal comfort in Karbala are scarce. Hence, this research aims to look into historical and current architectural changes and how they affect thermal comfort. On the hottest summer day, the ENVI-met software program was used to simulate the building des
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