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.
Rutting is mainly referring to pavement permanent deformation, it is a major problem for flexible pavement and it is a complicated process and highly observed along with many segments of asphalt pavement in Iraq. The occurrence of this defect is related to several variables such as elevated temperatures and high wheel loads. Studying effective methods to reduce rutting distress is of great significance for providing a safe and along-life road. The asphalt mixture used to be modified by adding different types of additives. The addition of additives typically excesses stiffness, improves temperature susceptibility, and reduces moisture sensitivity. For this work, steel fibres have been used for modifying asphalt mixture as they incorp
... Show MoreRecently, increasing material prices coupled with more acute environmental awareness and the implementation of regulation has driven a strong movement toward the adoption of sustainable construction technology. In the pavement industry, using low temperature asphalt mixes and recycled concrete aggregate are viewed as effective engineering solutions to address the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development. However, to date, no research has investigated these two factors simultaneously for pavement material. This paper reports on initial work which attempts to address this shortcoming. At first, a novel treatment method is used to improve the quality of recycled concrete coarse aggregates. Thereafter, the treated recycled
... Show MoreMultiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the intergenic region between estrogen receptor 1 and
To assess the potential association between rs3757318 SNP and breast cancer pathogenicity, specifically in relation to serum vitam
Diabetes mellitus caused by insulin resistance is prompted by obesity. Neuropeptide Nesfatin-1 was identified in several organs, including the central nervous system and pancreatic islet cells. Nesfatin-1 peptide appears to be involved in hypothalamic circuits that energy homeostasis and control food intake. Adiponectin is a plasma collagen-like protein produced by adipocytes that have been linked to the development of insulin resistance (IR), diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2), and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Resistin was first identified as an adipose tissue–specific hormone that was linked to obesity and diabetes. The aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between human serum nesfatin-1, adiponect
... Show MorePurpose: The purpose of the study is to compare and evaluate Earnings Management in Tunisia and Iraq. Theoretical framework: Earnings Management is an important topic that has been studied by a significant number of researchers, as well as those who are interested in the accounting profession. Earnings Management has gotten a lot of attention from academics, professionals, and other interested parties in recent years (e.g. Kliestik et al., 2020; Rahman et al., 2021; Gamra &Ellouze, 2021) Design/methodology/approach: The sample includes ten banks listed on the Bourse of Tunisia and Iraq Stock Exchanges for the year 2017. We have used a model of Kothari et al., (2005) as a tool to measure Earnings Management in both mark
... Show MoreAerial manipulation of objects has a number of advantages as it is not limited by the morphology of the terrain. One of the main problems of the aerial payload process is the lack of real-time prediction of the interaction between the gripper of the aerial robot and the payload. This paper introduces a digital twin (DT) approach based on impedance control of the aerial payload transmission process. The impedance control technique is implemented to develop the target impedance based on emerging the mass of the payload and the model of the gripper fingers. Tracking the position of the interactional point between the fingers of gripper and payload, inside the impedance control, is achieved using model predictive control (MPD) approach.
... Show MoreAlzheimer's disease (AD) increasingly affects the elderly and is a major killer of those 65 and over. Different deep-learning methods are used for automatic diagnosis, yet they have some limitations. Deep Learning is one of the modern methods that were used to detect and classify a medical image because of the ability of deep Learning to extract the features of images automatically. However, there are still limitations to using deep learning to accurately classify medical images because extracting the fine edges of medical images is sometimes considered difficult, and some distortion in the images. Therefore, this research aims to develop A Computer-Aided Brain Diagnosis (CABD) system that can tell if a brain scan exhibits indications of
... Show MoreThe open hole well log data (Resistivity, Sonic, and Gamma Ray) of well X in Euphrates subzone within the Mesopotamian basin are applied to detect the total organic carbon (TOC) of Zubair Formation in the south part of Iraq. The mathematical interpretation of the logs parameters helped in detecting the TOC and source rock productivity. As well, the quantitative interpretation of the logs data leads to assigning to the organic content and source rock intervals identification. The reactions of logs in relation to the increasing of TOC can be detected through logs parameters. By this way, the TOC can be predicted with an increase in gamma-ray, sonic, neutron, and resistivity, as well as a decrease in the density log
... Show MoreCarbon nanotubes were prepared by an arc-discharge method,
under different values of pressure of oxygen gas. The structure of
multi-walled carbon nanotubes powders has been characterized by
low-angle X-ray diffraction .The morphology of carbon nanotube
powder was examined by transmission electron microscope. The
capacitance-voltage and current- voltage (dark and illumination
current) characterization were measured under different values of
pressure (10-3, 10-4, 10-5) mbar of oxygen gas