Dual-species biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus generate difficult-to-treat illnesses. Nutrition stress in biofilms affects physiology, microbial metabolism, and species interactions, impacting bacteria growth and survival. Furthermore, the function of alginate, which is encoded by the algD gene, in the production of biofilms has been established. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of starvation on algD gene expression in single-species biofilm of P. aeruginosa and dual-species biofilms of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus from hospital sewage. A total of six P. aeruginosa and six S. aureus isolates were obtained from the microbiology laboratory at the Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Iraq. These isolates are multidrug-resistant and were obtained from various hospital sewage stations in Baghdad city. P. aeruginosa and S. aureus isolates were co-cultured as single- and dual-species biofilms in full-strength brain heart infusion broth (BHIB) and 1000-fold diluted BHIB. In order to evaluate the level of expression of the algD gene in P. aeruginosa that had been treated to starvation, the quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized. The results demonstrated that starvation stress significantly (P< 0.05) up regulated the expression of algD in single-species biofilm (3.117 to 4.532-fold). However, starvation stress down regulated the algD expression in dual-species biofilm (0.001 and 0.901-fold). In conclusion, malnutrition up regulated algD expression in single-species P. aeruginosa biofilms but down regulated it in dual-biofilms. This work helps create biofilm-related disease treatments.
In fish, a complex set of mechanisms deal with environmental stresses including hypoxia. In order to probe the hypothesis that hypoxia-induced stress could be manifested in varieties of pathways, a model species, mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio), were chronically exposed to hypoxic condition (dissolved oxygen level: 1.80±0.6mg/l) for 21 days and subsequently allowed to recover under normoxic condition (dissolved oxygen level: 8.2±0.5mg/l) for 7 days. At the end of these exposure periods, an integrated approach was applied to evaluate several endpoints at different levels of biological organisation. These included determination of (i) oxidative damage to DNA in erythrocytes (using modified comet assay), (ii) lipid peroxidation in liver sample
... Show MoreGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a growing health concern that usually appears during the second and third trimester stage of pregnancy and is characterized by carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity. The aim of the present study was to scrutinize the relationship between the G972R polymorphism of the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) gene with GDM in the Iraqi female population. One hundred and twenty of blood samples taken from healthy women (control) and women with gestational diabetes mellitus in 3rd trimester stage of pregnancy, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1c% measured to diagnose GDM, lipid profile (cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL, and VLDL), insulin concentration, insulin resistance and beta cell function to
... Show MoreCommunication between unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms and flying ad-hoc networks is critical and challenging since it is over open radio networks and energy, memory and processing budgets are severely constrained. Lightweight cryptography is the solution and ASCON — the NIST standard for lightweight authenticated encryption — has become a popular option for securing UAV links at a fraction of the energy cost of AES. The security of ASCON relies on one nonlinear device — 5-bit substitution box (S-box). However, this S-box is fixed and publicly known, and allows an adversary to precompute the cryptographic properties one time and then reuse them against all the protected traffic, and moreover, it does not meet the strict av
... Show MoreTwo tests were carried out to measure the standard flat fan nozzles wear during a specific period of an accelerated wear procedure. The first test aimed at getting 10% increase in the flow rate compared to the nominal flow rate, which is the threshold to replace the nozzles according to the nozzles testing standards. The second test was to wear the nozzles intensively (100 hours of accelerated wear), which represents the use of nozzles beyond the allowed threshold. The results showed that the flow rate reached 1.31 l·min−1 (equal to 10% increase) for the tested nozzles after 35 hours of the wear test. For the second test, the 10% increase of the flow rate was r
In Iraq most of the small buildings deployed a conventional air conditioning technology which typically uses electrically driven compressor systems which exhibits several clear disadvantages such as high energy consumption, high electricity at peak loads. In this work a thermal performance of air conditioning system combined with a solar collector is investigated theoretically. The hybrid air conditioner consists of a semi hermetic compressor, water cooled shell and tube condenser, thermal expansion valve and coil with tank evaporator. The theoretical analysis included a simulation for the solar assisted air-conditioning system using EES software to analyze the effect of different parameters on the power consumption of c
... Show MoreAmmi species belong to the family Umbellifereae that provide a host of bioactive compounds (mainly coumarins and flavonoids) of important biological activities, like prevention and treatment of heart and vascular disease and some types of cancer. Literature survey revealed that there was no study concerning Ammi flavonoids in Iraq. Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga, which are wildly grown in Iraq, were chosen for this study. This study concerned with extraction, identification, isolation, and purification of some biologically important flavonols quercetin and kaempferol from the fruits of Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga. Extraction of these flavonols was carried out using 85% methanol and 90% e
... Show MoreE-learning is a lifeline for the educational process, which contributed to the sustainability of working educational organizations and prevented them from stopping, so the study came to measure the compatibility between E-learning quality dimensions (information technology, educational curricula, teaching methods, and intellectual capital of educational institution) as an independent variable, and educational services quality dimensions represented by (safety, tangibility, reliability and Confidence) as a dependent variable. The sample was 150 teachers was drawn from the College of Administration and Economics community of 293 teachers through the use of several statistical methods to measure the degree of correlation and impact between the
... Show MoreThe cost‐effective dual functions zeolite‐carbon composite (DFZCC) was prepared using an eco‐friendly substrate prepared from bio‐waste and an organic adhesive at intermediate conditions. The green synthesis method used in this study ensures that chemically harmless compounds are used to obtain a homogeneous distribution of zeolite over porous carbon. The greenly prepared dual‐function composite was extensively characterized using Fourier transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, field emission scanning electron microscope, dispersive analysis by X‐ray, and point of zero charges. DFZCC had a surface area o
The present work deals with five species of parasitic Hymenoptera belonging to Pteromalidae, Eupelmidae and Eurytornidae which have been reared from brachid beetles. A new species, Eurytoma irakensis is described and the species, Bruchocida orientalis Crawford is recorded for the first time from Iraq.