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.
This study suggests using the recycled plastic waste to prepare the polymer matrix composite (PMCs) to use in different applications. Composite materials were prepared by mixing the polyester resin (UP) with plastic waste, two types of plastic waste were used in this work included polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with varies weight fractions (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 %) added as a filler in flakes form. Charpy impact test was performed on the prepared samples to calculate the values of impact strength (I.S). Flexural and hardness tests were carried out to calculate the values of flexural strength and hardness. Acoustic insulation and optical microscope tests were carried out. In general, it is found that UP/PV
... Show MoreIn the present work, silver nanoparticles were prepared. Nonlinear optical properties and
optical limiting of silver nanoparticles were investigated.Standard chemical synthesis method was used at
diffrent weight ratio(0.038, 0.058 and 0.078) of silver nitrate. Several testing were done to obtain the
characteristics of the sample. Z-Scan experiments were performed using 30 ns Q-switched Nd:YAG
laser at 1064 nm and 532 nm at different intensities. The results showed that the nonlinear refractive
index is directly proportional to the input intensities, which caused by the self-focusing of the material.
In addition, the optical limiting behavior has been studied. The results showed that the sample could be
used as an opt
Many diseases can produce cardiac overload, of these disease hypertension, valve disease congenital anomaly in addition to many other disease. One of the most common diseases causing left ventricle overload is hypertension. A long term hypertension can cause myocardium hypertrophy leading to changes in the cardiac contractility and reduced efficiency. The investigations were carried out using conventional echocardiography techniques in addition to the tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) from which many noninvasive measurements can be readily obtained. The study has involved the effect of hypertension on the myocardium stiffness index through the measurement of early diastolic filling (E) and the early velocity of lateral mitral annulus (Ea
... Show MoreThe study presents the test results of stabilizing gypseous soil embankment obtained from
Al- Faluja university Campus at Al-Ramady province. The laboratory investigation was divided
into three phases, The physical and chemical properties, the optimum liquid asphalt (emulsion)
requirements (which are manufactured in Iraq) were determined by using one dimensional
unconfined compression strength test.in the first phase , The optimum fluid content was 11%
(6% of emulsion with 5% water content).. At phase two, the effect of Aeration technique was
investigated using both direct shear and permeability test. At phase three for the case of static
load , the pure soil embankment model under dry test condition was investigated
Ninety eight specimens were collected from patients referring different hospitals in Baghdad in period from August to November in 2012. Specimens including (swabs from (Sputum, burn, wound, urine, ear, and eye).Sixty six isolates were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The isolates were identified according to morphological, cultural, biochemical characteristics and API 20E test. 90% of P. aeruginosa isolates produced pyocyanin pigment on King A medium in different amounts, whereas other isolates were produced other types of pigments such as (pyoverdine-yellow, pyorubin-red, and pyomelanin-black) on King B medium and also in different amounts.Quantitative assay of pyocyanin production was conducted. The results were shown that the iso
... Show MoreThe tentative list of the biodiversity (plants and vertebrates) of Bahr Al-Najaf depression is found to comprise 104 vertebrate species including 2 fishes, 14 reptiles, 73 resident and migratory birds and 15 mammals. The flora consists of 31 species, mainly of plants well adapted to desert conditions that dominate the area, besides few examples of water plants. The salinity was found, through chemical analysis of the lake water, to be of high value which reduces the diversity of aquatic animal and plant diversity.
The preferable design for unsaturated symmetrical spherical
double-pole piece electron lens required good focal properties, and in this present study investigate effect of air gap wide (S) on the properties of the projector lens specialized the minimum projector
focal length 1Fr) . and the properties of the axial magnetic field
\ lnlll
distribution:(the maximum
... Show MoreFetal growth restriction is a significant contributor to fetal morbidity and mortality. In addition, there are heightened maternal risks associated with surgical operations and their accompanying dangers. Monitoring fetal development is a crucial objective of prenatal care and effective methods for early diagnosis of Fetal growth restriction, allowing prompt management and timely intervention to improve the outcomes. Screening for Fetal growth restriction can be achieved via many modalities; it can be medical, biochemical, or radiological. Some recommended combining more than one for better outcomes. Currently, there is inconsistency about the best method of Fetal growth restriction screening. In this review, a comprehensive
... Show MoreA revised checklist of the robber fly genera (Diptera, Asilidae) was given during this study in Iraq. The investigation showed (21) genera belonging to seven subfamilies, two genera new recorded to entomofauna of Iraq (Promachus Loew, 1848 and Genus: Dysmacus Loew, 1860). Eight genera showed in this investigation and eleven genera were recorded previously to Iraq.
Table tennis is considered one of the fast base sports that the player needs to have the speed of performance and awareness, especially in straight forward and back strikes, which is an important offensive skills, and the player success depends on his perception speed to the point of the fall of the ball in the arena of his competitor. But there is no way to measure cognitive processing speed. Therefore, the researchers sought to design a test that measures this ability to ensure its scientific evaluation, and then establish standard scores for this test for the players of the specialized school of table tennis, to help evaluate them objectively and move away from subjective estimates when evaluating and developing measuring instruments in
... Show More