Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii ) is considered a critical healthcare problem for patients in intensive care units due to its high ability to be multidrug-resistant to most commercially available antibiotics. The aim of this study is to develop a colorimetric assay to quantitatively detect the target DNA of A. baumannii based on unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from different clinical samples (burns, surgical wounds, sputum, blood and urine). A total of thirty-six A. baumannii clinical isolates were collected from five Iraqi hospitals in Erbil and Mosul provinces within the period from September 2020 to January 2021. Bacterial isolation and biochemical identification of isolates were carried out followed by DNA extraction from 36 isolates and six negative ATCC strains (Salmonalle typhi, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aures) and only one positive control ATCC A. baumannii using Phenol/Chloroform method. AuNPs were synthesized using the citrate reduction method and examined by XDR, FTIR, UV-VIS, FE-SEM, and TEM. The optimized colorimetric assay was employed based on unmodified spherical AuNPs and PCR amplification of 16S rRNA intergenic spacer sequences (ITS) with species-specific DNA oligo-targeters. Detection and optimization of A. baumannii amplicons using unmodified AuNPs were performed based on species-specific DNA oligonucleotide. The AuNPs assay was able to colorimetrically detect and distinguish A. baumannii from other ATCC bacterial isolates. The turnaround time of this assay was about 3 hours, including sample preparation and amplification, to show (0.025-6 ngµl-1) as a detection limit of DNA concentration. The efficacy of colorimetric detection was proved to effectively diagnose A. baumannii isolates with high sensitivity, simplicity, and robustness to rapidly diagnose A. baumannii isolates from different clinical samples.
Automation is one of the key systems in modern agriculture, providing potential solutions to the challenges related to the growing world population, demographic shifts, and economic situation. The present article aims to highlight the importance of precision agriculture (PA) and smart agriculture (SA) in increasing agricultural production and the importance of environmental protection in increasing production and reducing traditional production. For this purpose, different types of automation systems in the field of agricultural operations are discussed, as well as smart agriculture technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data analysis, in addition to agricultural robots,
... Show MoreIt takes a lot of time to classify the banana slices by sweetness level using traditional methods. By assessing the quality of fruits more focus is placed on its sweetness as well as the color since they affect the taste. The reason for sorting banana slices by their sweetness is to estimate the ripeness of bananas using the sweetness and color values of the slices. This classifying system assists in establishing the degree of ripeness of bananas needed for processing and consumption. The purpose of this article is to compare the efficiency of the SVM-linear, SVM-polynomial, and LDA classification of the sweetness of banana slices by their LRV level. The result of the experiment showed that the highest accuracy of 96.66% was achieved by the
... Show MoreNon-orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is a multiple-access technique allowing multiusers to share the same communication resources, increasing spectral efficiency and throughput. NOMA has been shown to provide significant performance gains over orthogonal multiple access (OMA) regarding spectral efficiency and throughput. In this paper, two scenarios of NOMA are analyzed and simulated, involving two users and multiple users (four users) to evaluate NOMA's performance. The simulated results indicate that the achievable sum rate for the two users’ scenarios is 16.7 (bps/Hz), while for the multi-users scenario is 20.69 (bps/Hz) at transmitted power of 25 dBm. The BER for two users’ scenarios is 0.004202 and 0.001564 for
... Show MoreBackground: The main purpose of this study is to find if there is any correlation between the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) in gingival crevicular fluid with its serum level in chronic periodontitis patients and to explore the differences between them according to the probing depth. Materials and methods: Forty seven male subjects enrolled in this study. Thirty males with chronic periodontitis considered as study group whom further subdivided according to probing depth into subgroup 1 with pocket depth ≤6mm, subgroup 2 with pocket depth >6mm. The other 17 subjects considered as controls. For all subjects, clinical examination where done for periodontal parameters plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP),
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the commonest cancer affecting women worldwide. Different studies have dealt with the etiological factors of that cancer aiming to find a way for early diagnosis and satisfactory therapy. The present study clarified the relationship between genetic polymorphisms of BRCA1 & BRCA2 genes and some etiological risk factors among breast cancer patients in Iraq. This investigation was carried out on 25 patients (all were females) who were diagnosed as breast cancer patients attended AL-Kadhemya Teaching Hospital in Baghdad and 10 apparently healthy women were used as a control, all women (patients and control) aged above 40 years. The Wizard Promega kit was used for DNA isolation from breast patients and normal individuals. B
... Show MoreMedical images play a crucial role in the classification of various diseases and conditions. One of the imaging modalities is X-rays which provide valuable visual information that helps in the identification and characterization of various medical conditions. Chest radiograph (CXR) images have long been used to examine and monitor numerous lung disorders, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, atelectasis, and hernia. COVID-19 detection can be accomplished using CXR images as well. COVID-19, a virus that causes infections in the lungs and the airways of the upper respiratory tract, was first discovered in 2019 in Wuhan Province, China, and has since been thought to cause substantial airway damage, badly impacting the lungs of affected persons.
... Show MoreObjective This study evaluated the effects of adding titanium oxide (TiO2) nanofillers on the tear strength, tensile strength, elongation percentage, and hardness of room-temperature-vulcanized (RTV) VST50F and high-temperature-vulcanized (HTV) Cosmesil M511 maxillofacial silicone elastomers. Methods Two types of maxillofacial elastomers, VST50F RTV and Cosmesil M511 HTV, were used. Nano-TiO2 powder was applied as a nanofiller. A total of 120 specimens were fabricated, 60 each of VST50F and Cosmesil M511. The specimens of each type of elastomer were divided into three equal groups on which tests were conducted for tear strength, tensile strength, and hardness i.e., 20 specimens were used for each test. Each group of 20 specimens was further
... Show MoreRoad-side dust samples were collected during August in 2020 from selected areas of, Al-Rusafa, Baghdad, Iraq. A sedimentological and mineralogical analysis of street dust was conducted. Three areas were selected to study street dusts which are Al-Baladitat, Al-Obaidi and Ziona. The laboratory analyses were done in the Department of Geology, College of Science, University of Baghdad. The heavy metal contents were determined in the roadside dust using XRF Method. It was found that the dust is of muddy texture, and is believed to be transmitted with the various storms blowing on Baghdad or by the wheels of Cars. The results of mineralogical investigation revealed that the dust samples composed of quartz, feldspar, calcite, gypsum and s
... Show MoreElectrodeposition of metal oxides on graphite electrodes can improve their ability to remove organic substances. In this work, multicomponent oxides of Mn, Co, and Ni were electrochemically deposited on both the anode and cathode of graphite electrodes to enhance their performance in removing phenol. Formation of the deposit was achieved within 2 h in current densities of 20, 25, 30, and 35 mA/cm2 for better composite properties. The deposited layer was characterized by testing the surface structure, morphology, composition, and roughness. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques facilitated these tests. The composite electrodes have synthesized
... Show MoreBackground: Frovatriptan succinate (FVT) is an effective medication used to treat migraines; however, available oral formulations suffer from low permeability; accordingly, several formulations of FVT were prepared. Objective: Prepare, optimize, and evaluate FVT-BE formulation to develop enhanced intranasal binary nano-ethosome gel. Methods: Binary ethosomes were prepared using different concentrations of phospholipid PLH90, ethanol, propylene glycol, and cholesterol by thin film hydration and characterized by particle size, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency. Furthermore, in-vitro, in-vivo, ex-vivo, pharmacokinetics, and histopathological studies were done. Results: Regarding FVT-loaded BE, formula (F9) demonstrated the best paramet
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