Leishmaniosis is a tropical neglected parasitic disease that is endemic in many countries, including Middle East, with no existing effective vaccines. The bite of female sand-fly transmits the causative agent, Leishmania spp., to humans. High toxicity, resistance and treatment failure of the available chemotherapy against visceral leishmaniosis demands the investigation of new anti-leishmanial compounds. Lupeol is a form of triterpene isolated from several medicinal plants and possesses an antimicrobial property. In this study, cytotoxic effect of lupeol was screened against the mammalian amastigotes form and insect promastigote form of Leishmania donovani, following three cycles of incubation at different concentrations by MTT assay. Results revealed the in vitro anti-leishmanial effect of lupeol on both forms of the parasite where significant decline in promastigotes and amastigotes growth was observed. This was conducted along three times of follow up (24, 48, 72) hours, in comparison to the classical sodium stibogluconate treatment. Cell viability was calculated and the minimum IC50 was detected after 48 hours for amastigotes and 24 hours for promastigotes, 12.125 µM, 102.78 µM, respectively. Given the severity of visceral leishmaniosis and the toxicity of conventional chemotherapies, the anti-leishmanial activity of lupeol suggested a promising compound for additional clinical trials
In this research, damping properties for composite materials were evaluated using logarithmic decrement method to study the effect of reinforcements on the damping ratio of the epoxy matrix. Three stages of composites were prepared in this research. The first stage included preparing binary blends of epoxy (EP) and different weight percentages of polysulfide rubber (PSR) (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%). It was found that the weight percentage 5% of polysulfide was the best percentage, which gives the best mechanical properties for the blend matrix. The advantage of this blend matrix is that; it mediates between the brittle properties of epoxy and the flexible properties of a blend matrix with the highest percentage of PSR. The second stage
... Show MoreBackground and objectives: This study aimed at testing the effect of plastic sleeve or barrier, used to cover the guide of the light cure unit to prevent cross-infection, on the shear bond strength and site of bond failure of stainless steel and ceramic orthodontic brackets. Materials and methods: Forty orthodontic brackets; twenty stainless steel and twenty ceramic brackets bonded to forty extracted human maxillary first premolars using light cure adhesive cured with and without the use of a protective plastic barrier on the guide. Comparing the effect of this barrier on the shear bond strength and adhesive remnant index was performed using an independent t-test and Chi-square test. Results: The protective barrier had decreased the shear b
... Show MoreThis research presents an experimental investigation on the influence of metakaolin replacement percentage upon some properties of different concrete types. Three types of concrete were adopted (self- compacted concrete, high performance concrete and reactive powder concrete) all of high sulphate (SO3) percentage from the fine aggregate weight, 0.75%. Three percentages of metakaolin replacement were selected to be studied (5, 7 and 10) %. Three types of concrete properties (compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strength) were adopted to achieve better understanding for the influence of adding metakaolin.. The output results indicated that the percentage of metakaolin had a different level of positive effect on the compressive strength
... Show More<p>The current work investigated the combustion efficiency of biodiesel engines under diverse ratios of compression (15.5, 16.5, 17.5, and 18.5) and different biodiesel fuels produced from apricot oil, papaya oil, sunflower oil, and tomato seed oil. The combustion process of the biodiesel fuel inside the engine was simulated utilizing ANSYS Fluent v16 (CFD). On AV1 diesel engines (Kirloskar), numerical simulations were conducted at 1500 rpm. The outcomes of the simulation demonstrated that increasing the compression ratio (CR) led to increased peak temperature and pressures in the combustion chamber, as well as elevated levels of CO<sub>2</sub> and NO mass fractions and decreased CO emission values un
... Show MoreA simple, accurate and rapid method for separation and determination of most commonly usedinsecticides in Iraq [thiamethoxam (Thi), imidacloprid (Imi), indoxacarb (Ind), and abamectin (Aba)] ispresented. The separation was performed by gradient reversed-phase high performance liquidchromatography on a C18 stationary phase column. The method was developed and validated. The-1mobile phase was a mixture of acetonitrile and water using gradient flow. The flow rate was 1.0 mL min .The optimum temperature of separation was 25 ºC. The detection was performed at multiple wavelengths.The analysis time was up to 10.5 minutes with retention times of 3.221, 3.854, 6.385, and 9.452 min for-1the studied insecticides. The linearity was in the range of 0.
... Show MoreThe first aim of this paper was to evaluate the push-out bond strength of the gutta-percha coating of Thermafil and GuttaCore and compare it with that of gutta-percha used to coat an experimental hydroxyapatite/polyethylene (HA/PE) obturator. The second aim was to assess the thickness of gutta-percha around the carriers of GuttaCore and HA/PE obturators using microcomputed tomography (
Background: Nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwires have become increasingly popular because of their ability to release constant light forces, which are especially useful during initial alignment and leveling phase. The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the load–deflection characteristics of four commercially available NiTi archwires. Materials and methods: 200 NiTi 0.014, 0.016, 0.018, 0.016x0.022 and 0.019x0.025-inch nickel–titanium archwires from four different manufacturers (3M, Ortho Technology, Jiscop and Astar) were tested. The load-deflection properties of these archwires were evaluated by a full arch bending test in both palatal and gingival directionsat 37°C temperature using a universal material t
... Show MoreBackground: Eucalyptus extracts and derivatives are natural substances with potent antimicrobial properties. This study investigated the in- vitro effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the antifungal activity of alcoholic and aqueous Eucalyptus extracts against Candida albicans, a common oral pathogen. Materials and Method: Ten isolates of Candida albicans were isolated from dental students’ salivary samples. The alcoholic and aqueous extracts were prepared from fresh Eucalyptus leaves using maceration. The sensitivity of Candida albicans isolates to various concentrations of Eucalyptus extracts ranging from 50 to 250 (mg/mL) was evaluated via agar well diffusion method, while the agar streaking method was used to assess the minimum
... Show MoreAim: To evaluate the effect of ultrasonic agitation for retrograde biodceramic root repair, MTA and biodentine filling materials on push-out bond strength to dentine walls. Materials and Methods: Ninety extracted human teeth with single straight roots were selected randomly. After disinfection and cleaning, the coronal portions were sectioned to standardize the root canal length at 15mm. following root canal shaping, obturation and apical roots resection, retrograde cavities were prepared. Teeth were categorized depending on the filling material used into three groups, 30 teeth each. Group A filled with bioceramic root repair material, B with MTA and C with Biodentine material. These groups were divided in to three subgroup (n= 10). Subgrou
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