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 paper, a comparison between horizontal and vertical OFET of Poly (3-Hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an active semiconductor layer (p-type) was studied by using two different gate insulators (ZrO2 and PVA). The electrical performance output (Id-Vd) and transfer (Id-Vg) characteristics were investigated using the gradual-channel approximation model. The device shows a typical output curve of a field-effect transistor (FET). The analysis of electrical characterization was performed in order to investigate the source-drain voltage (Vd) dependent current and the effects of gate dielectric on the electrical performance of the OFET. This work also considered the effects of the capacitance semiconductor on the performance OFETs. The value
... Show MoreIn this article, new Schiff base ligand LH-prepared Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Pd(II), and Pt(II) materials were analyzed using spectroscopy (1 Metal: 2 LH). The ligand was identified using techniques such as FTIR, UV-vis, 1H-13C-NMR, and mass spectra, and their complexes were identified using CHN microanalysis, UV-vis and FTIR spectral studies, atomic absorption, chloride content, molar conductivity measurements, and magnetic susceptibility. According to the measurements, the ligand was bound to the divalent metal ions as a bidentate through oxygen and nitrogen atoms. The complexes that were created had microbicide activity against two different bacterial species and one type of fungus. DPPH techniques were bei
... Show MoreThis study aims to show, the strength of steel beam-concrete slab system without using shear connectors (known as a non-composite action), where the effect of the friction force between the concrete slab and the steel beam has been investigated, by using finite element simulation.
The proposed finite element model has been verified based on comparison with an experimental work. Then, the model was adopted to study the system strength with a different steel beam and concrete slab profile. ABAQUS has been adopted in the preparation of all numerical models for this study.
After validation of the numerical models, a parametric study was conducted, with linear and non-linear Regression analysis. An equation re
... Show MoreThe current study investigated the stability and the extraction efficiency of emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) for Abamectin pesticide removal from aqueous solution. The stability was investigated in terms of droplet emulsion size distribution and emulsion breakage percent. The proposed ELM included a mixture of corn oil and kerosene (1:1) as a diluent, Span 80 (sorbitan monooleate) as a surfactant and hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a stripping agent without utilizing a carrier agent. Parameters such as homogenizer speed, surfactant concentration, emulsification time and internal to organic volume ratio (I/O) were evaluated. Results show that the lower droplet size of 0.9 µm and higher stable emulsion in terms of breakage percent of 1.12 % we
... Show MoreIn individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene polymorphism has been linked to diabetic nephropathy (DN). Different renal disorders, including DN, have been found to alter cannabinoid (CB) receptor expression and activation. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between CNR1 rs1776966256 and rs1243008337 genetic variants and the risk of developing DN in Iraqi patients with T2DM. The study included 100 patients with T2DM, divided into two groups: 50 with DN and 50 without DN. Genotyping of CNR1 rs1776966256 and rs1243008337 polymorphisms was conducted using PCR in DN patients and control samples. The distribution of rs1776966256 and rs1243008337 genotypes and alleles bet
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to identify the relationship between health anxiety associated with Coronavirus (Covid 19) and its relationship to health behavior among Baghdad University employees, as well as to identify the differences in health anxiety and health behavior according to the variables (gender, occupation, and age). To achieve the objectives of the research, a scale was designed to measure the health anxiety in addition to the adoption of the health behavior scale prepared by (Renner & Schwarzer, 2005). The two scales were applied to a sample of (277) academics and (206) employees, while the number of students was (667). The sample was chosen by electronic application from a number of colleges at Al-Jadiriyah Complex. Afte
... Show MoreIn this research, the influence of the orientation and distance factors on the lowest usable frequency (LUF) parameter has been studied theoretically. The calculations of the (LUF) parameter have been made using the (VOACAP) international communication model for the connection links between the capital Baghdad and many other locations that distributed on different distances and directions over the Middle East region. The results shown in this study indicate there is a slight affection of the link direction (orientation) on the LUF parameter, while the influence of the distance factor is more significant on the values of the LUF parameter. The day/night effect appears for the long distance HF links (i.e. more than a 500 Km)
The deterioration of buried sewers during their lifetime can be affected by several factors leading to bad performance and can damage the infrastructure similar to other engineering structures. The Hydraulic deterioration of the buried sewers caused by sewer blockages while the structural deterioration caused by sewer collapses due to sewer specifications and the surrounding soil characteristics and the groundwater level. The main objective of this research is to develop deterioration models, which are used to predict changes in sewer condition that can provide assessment tools for determining the serviceability of sewer networks in Baghdad city. Two deterioration models were developed and tested using statistical software SPSS, the
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