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.
In this work, one configuration was used to study the electrical discharge resulting from the dielectric barrier. This configuration consists of a sheet of epoxy/Al composite with dimensions of 75 mm in length, 25 mm in width, and 3 mm in thickness. This panel is located at the center of the electrodes, so that the distance between each of the electrodes and the plate is 2 mm and plasma is generated at these distances. The relationship between voltage and current with changing the frequency of the equipment as well as changing the area of exposure to the upper electrode or changing its length has been studied. The length of the top electrode varies at 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mm from the center of the electrodes producing exp
... Show MoreAge and paleoenvironment of part of the Damlouk Member, Ratga Formation from a surface section in the Iraqi Western Desert are investigated. Twenty-nine species of Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) belonging to 13 genera are recognized from the studied section. The LBF assemblage is dominated by the following groups, Nummulites, Alveolina, Rotalia, and Lockhartia. Two species of corals with fragments of bryozoan, red algae and mollusca had also been identified.
The palaeontological investigation aimed at identification of LBF assemblages to evaluate their abundance and distribution with respect to sedimentary environment and to determine its age. Based on the recognized Larger Benthic F
... Show MoreThe purpose of present study is to evaluate the effect of co-administration of curcumin (CUR) at various doses on the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of tacrolimus (TAC), a CYP 3A4 substrate in healthy male rabbits. Healthy male rabbits (n=18) were employed in an in vivo, parallel-randomized study. Three groups of rabbits were selected and separated: The rabbits in the first group (control group) received 1 mg/kg TAC orally. Blood samples (1.5-2 mL) were drawn from rabbits' ear marginal veins at the following time frames: 15.0, 30.0, 45.0, 60.0, 90.0, 120.0, 150.0, 180.0 and 300 minutes after TAC administration post dosing and analyzed by using a TAC chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLIA) detection kit. In the second and third gro
... Show MoreBackground: This study aims to investigate the effect of fixed orthodontic appliances and/or antihypertensive drugs on the weight of experimental rats. Materials and Methods: Thir-ty-six male Wistar albino rats were subjected to a split-mouth design study, in which an orthodontic appliance was inserted in one side to move the first molar mesially for 2 weeks while the other side acted as a control to tooth movement. The rats were allocated into three groups: group A (n = 12), without any pharmacological treatment; group B (n = 12), subcu-taneous injection of bisoprolol fumarate (5 mg/kg) daily; and group C (n = 12), subcutaneous injection of valsartan (10 mg/kg) daily. A fixed orthodontic appliance with a closing coil spring delivering 5
... Show MoreThe influence of ambient temperature on the various parameters of negative corona discharge in atmospheric dry air with coaxial cylindrical electrodes is investigated. The calculations are achieved using the finite element method by COMSOL Multiphysics software. The investigation aims to notice the effect many of working temperatures on the I-V characteristic curve of negative corona discharge in the air. The calculations of several parameters (electron density, temperature, ...) are presented visually and discussed. The results of the work are compared with theoretical and experimental data and they are in a good agreement.
Abstract: Colloidal gold nanoparticles (ringworm Palm or in the form of paper willow) have been prepared from HAuCl4 containing aqueous solution by hot chemical reduction method. The colloidal gold nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, EDX, and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy. It was found that the variation of reduction time from boiling point affects the size of the nanoparticles and also in chemical reduction approach the size of nanoparticles can be controlled by varying the amount of variation the volume of reductant material with respect to the volume of HAuCL4.
The present study included experimental effect of Metronidazole drug and Alcoholic extract of Nigella sativa seeds on T. vaginalis that cultivated on i i Results showed that the numbers of parasite began increasing during a period after 24-48 hrs then began decreasing after 72-96 hrs, so that 72 hrs from growth considered logarithmic phase of T. vaginalis growth. Present results showed poisonous effect of N. sativa alcoholic extract that was prepared in laboratory and imported at concentrations (450, 550, 650 and 750) mg/ml on T. vaginalis by observing gradual decrease of trophozoite numbers with concentrate increase of extra
... Show MoreThe present research investigates joints welding of 304L austenitic stainless steel using metal inert gas (MIG) welding method. The research explores the effect of process parameters (arc voltage, wire feed rate, and electrode wire diameter) on the mechanical properties of stainless steel. The above variables are varied respectively with 18.5, 19, 19.5 V, 116, 127, 137 mm/s, and 0.8, 1, 1.2 mm, with E308L as a filler electrode. The design matrix of the experiments was determined using the design of experiment (DOE) program Minitab 17 based on the levels of input elements used. The Taguchi orthogonal matrix methodology (Taguchi) technique was used to develop some empirical analysis for the maximum tensile strength and proper surface
... Show MoreHeavy metal ion removal from industrial wastewater treatment systems is still difficult because it contains organic contaminants. In this study, functional composite hydrogels with photo Fenton reaction activity were used to decompose organic contaminants. Fe3O4 Nanoparticle, chitosan (CS), and other materials make up the hydrogel. There are different factors that affected Photo-Fenton activity including (pH, H2O2 conc., temp., and exposure period). Atomic force microscopy was used to examine the morphology of the composite and its average diameter (AFM). After 60 minutes of exposure to UV radiation, CS/ Fe3O4 hydrogel composite had degraded methylene blue (M.B.)
... Show MoreTrials were carried out in the middle of Iraq ( 3 different sites ) during 2009 to detecation and determined the seasonal occurrence of Agriotes lineatus L. Three YATOR funnel traps were used in each of these sites which baited with the specific pheromone of A. lineatus from the first of March to the end of October in the College of Agriculture - Abu- Ghraib / Provenance of Baghdad and AL-Nile / Provenance of Babylon , while in AL-Radhwania was used through May- June. Pheromone dispenser were changed every 6 weeks in each of these traps . Males of A. lineatus were found in all of the three sites , and the total number capture were 208 , 897 and 57 male / 3 traps / season in College of Agriculture , AL-Nile and AL-Radhwania respectiv
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