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.
Monitoring and analysing of the vertical deformations or the settlements of the structures is one of the main research fields in geodetic applications, which is considered a precise periodic measurement, made at different epochs to investigate these deformations on heavy structures.
In this research, the deformation measurements were carried out on one of Baghdad University buildings,” Building of Computers Department” of dimensions (70.0 * 81.3 m.). Due to some cracks observed in their walls, it was necessary to monitor the vertical displacement of this building at some particular monitoring points by constructing a vertical network and measured in different epochs. The first epoch (zero epoch) was carried out in April 2006, the
The search tried to achieve a major scientific goal represented by (Knowing the perspective that has been treated through press releases of woman articles in Al- Sabah newspaper), via:
- Specifying the rate of woman topics in Al-Sabah newspaper, compared with the other subjects.
- Revealing the nature of the topics of the woman that the newspaper dealt with.
- Identifying the ID of journalistic-product that dealt with the woman topics.
- Knowing the journalistic arts that the woman topics have been treated by.
- Standing on the cases which woman topics concentrated on, through Al-Sabah newspaper.
Rating systems for evaluating the sustainability of communities are an essential tool that is increasingly applied throughout the developed world to set criteria indicators to optimize the physical, social, economic, and environmental potential within such communities. Rating systems vary based on existing disparities among societies and their unique building and physical planning practices. Iraqi cities lacked the adaptation of a formal methodology or sustainability rating system to correctly measure the built environment’s sustainability indicators. This research attempts to review the most substantial rating systems to measure the sustainability of communities worldwide to form a
This study examined the correlation between binder-level fatigue properties and mixture-level cracking resistance in asphalt binders modified with five Nanomaterials (NMs): Nano-Silica (NS), Nano-Alumina (NA), and Nano-Titanium dioxide (NT) at 2%, 4%, and 6% as well as Nano-Zinc oxide (NZ) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) at 1%, 2%, and 3%. Modified binders were subjected to Rolling Thin-Film Oven Test (RTFOT) and Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV) aging and tested at 25 °C using the Linear Amplitude Sweep (LAS) test to determine fatigue life (Nf) and the fatigue parameter G*.sin δ. The corresponding asphalt mixtures were evaluated using the IDEAL-CT test. The results indicated strong correlations between binder and mixture performance for
... Show MoreAbstract
This research aims to identify the role of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in the Spirituality at the Workplace (SAW) for a sample of the teaching staff of the four Colleges of the University of Kufa reached (200) out of (470) teaching, and to achieve the objective of this research and through access to research and studies of foreign adopted researchers standards scales of research variables, since it relied on the model (Luthans, Youssef, et al., 2007) to represent the components of Psychological Capital (self-efficacy, and hope, and optimism, and resilience), and given the attention organizations in the human element because of it
... Show MoreCoal fines are highly prone to be generated in all stages of Coal Seam Gas (CSG) production and development. These detached fines tend to aggregate, contributing to pore throat blockage and permeability reduction. Thus, this work explores the dispersion stability of coal fines in CSG reservoirs and proposes a new additive to be used in the formulation of the hydraulic fracturing fluid to keep the fines dispersed in the fluid. In this work, bituminous coal fines were tested in various suspensions in order to study their dispersion stability. The aggregation behavior of coal fines (dispersed phase) was analyzed in different dispersion mediums, including deionized-water, low and high sodium chloride solutions. Furthermore, the effect of Sodium
... Show MoreThe kestrel Falco tinnunculus specimens coIldeted in Iraq are found infected with one or more species of the following helminthes; Physaloptera alata (Nematoda), Cladataenia globifera (Cestoda), Prosthogonimus cuneatus (Trernatoda), and Sphaeriorostris sp. (Acanthocephala) with a total infection rate of 30.56%. The results are compared and discussed with the pertinent literature.
The excessive permanent deformation (rutting) in asphalt-concrete pavements resulting from frequent repetitions of heavy axle loads is studied in this paper. Rutting gradually develops with additional load applications and appears as longitudinal depressions in the wheel path. There are many causes of the rutting of asphalt roads, such as poor asphalt mixing and poor continuous aggregate gradation. All factors affecting the mixture resistance to permanent deformation must be discussed, and all must be properly considered to reduce the rutting propensity of asphalt-aggregate mixtures. In this study, several mixtures were produced with the most common techniques in rutting resistance (using the most effective additives for each mixture), and
... Show MoreIn this paper, construction microwaves induced plasma jet(MIPJ) system. This system was used to produce a non-thermal plasma jet at atmospheric pressure, at standard frequency of 2.45 GHz and microwave power of 800 W. The working gas Argon (Ar) was supplied to flow through the torch with adjustable flow rate by using flow meter, to diagnose microwave plasma optical emission spectroscopy(OES) was used to measure the important plasma parameters such as electron temperature (Te), residence time (Rt), plasma frequency (?pe), collisional skin depth (?), plasma conductivity (?dc), Debye length(?D). Also, the density of the plasma electron is calculated with the use of Stark broadened profiles