Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous environmental organism, is a difficult-to-treat opportunistic pathogen due to its broad-spectrum antibiotic resistance and its ability to form biofilms. In this study, we investigate the link between resistance to a clinically important antibiotic, imipenem, and biofilm formation. First, we observed that the laboratory strain P. aeruginosa PAO1 carrying a mutation in the oprD gene, which confers resistance to imipenem, showed a modest reduction in biofilm formation.We also observed an inverse relationship between imipenem resistance and biofilm formation for imipenem-resistant strains selected in vitro, as well as for clinical isolates.We identified two clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa from the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients that formed robust biofilms, but were sensitive to imipenem (MIC≤2 μg/ml). To test the hypothesis that there is a general link between imipenem resistance and biofilm formation, we performed transposon mutagenesis of these two clinical strains to identify mutants defective in biofilm formation, and then tested these mutants for imipenem resistance. Analysis of the transposon mutants revealed a role for previously described biofilm factors in these clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, including mutations in the pilY1, pilX, pilW, algC, and pslI genes, but none of the biofilmdeficient mutants became imipenem resistant (MIC≥8 μg/ml), arguing against a general link between biofilm formation and resistance to imipenem. Thus, assessing biofilm formation capabilities of environmental isolates is unlikely to serve as a good predictor of imipenem resistance. We also discuss our findings in light of the limited literature addressing planktonic antibiotic resistance factors that impact biofilm formation.
This study was aimed to determine the mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in exon 3 and 7 of estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) gene in women with breast cancer from Iraq. Different samples (blood, fresh tissue with blood from same patient, and formalin fixed paraffin embedded, FFPE) were collected from women with breast cancer. Molecular analysis exon 3 and 7 in ESR2 has been studied by using PCR. It was found exon 3 and 7 in ESR2 were revealed as a single band with size 151 and 157 bp, respectively. There was no SNP in exon 3 has been identified. While three novel polymorphisms (ACT, AGG and GCA) were detected in exon 7, the type of those polymorphisms deletion for ACT and AGG while substitution polymorphism for GCA. From this
... Show MoreField trial was conducted with the aim of utilizing extract of allelopathic crop to reduce the use of synthetic herbicides in wheat fields. Sorghum extract at 12 L /ha, sunflower extract at 12 L /ha, combination of sorghum and sunflower extracts at 12 L /ha and chevalier at 25, 50 and 100% of recommended dose were applied alone or in combination with each other. Weed free and weedy check treatments were included for comparison. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that the recommended dose of chevalier treatment recorded lowest means of weed density 15.7, 23.7, 25.3 and 27.9 weeds m-2and weeds dry weight 13.4, 16.4, 23.3 and 29.2 g m-2 and gave
... Show MoreSegmented regression consists of several sections separated by different points of membership, showing the heterogeneity arising from the process of separating the segments within the research sample. This research is concerned with estimating the location of the change point between segments and estimating model parameters, and proposing a robust estimation method and compare it with some other methods that used in the segmented regression. One of the traditional methods (Muggeo method) has been used to find the maximum likelihood estimator in an iterative approach for the model and the change point as well. Moreover, a robust estimation method (IRW method) has used which depends on the use of the robust M-estimator technique in
... Show MoreBackground: Ultrasound provides a powerful tool for assessing early pregnancy and detecting pregnancy failure at first trimester and promoting rapid effective management. Several criteria have been established to predict the pregnancy outcome particularly in symptomatic women .
Aim: To evaluate asymptomatic women at the first trimester of pregnancy , to assess the efficacy of certain ratios as mid sac diameter (MSD) / yolk sac ratio & crown rump length (CRL)/mid sac diameter (as indicator of early first trimester oligohydramnios) in predicting poor 1st trimester outcome
Type of the study: A cross-s
... Show MoreThe study aims to investigate the degree of student teachers at Sultan Qaboos University acquired skills in teaching Arabic via a virtual micro-teaching lab, as well as to reveal the difficulties they faced and their development proposals. To do this, the researchers developed a questionnaire divided into four dimensions: planning, implementation, evaluation, and
ethical values for the teaching profession, in addition to two open-ended questions to identify difficulties and suggestions. It was administered to (30) student teachers. The results revealed that the average degree of student-teacher acquisition of skills was high in its four dimensions. It ranged between (39.2) to (82.2), while the overall average was (56.2).
... Show MoreInterleukin-38 (IL-38), an inflammatory cytokine discovered in recent years, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). IL-38 is encoded by the
The present work focuses on examining the strategy of cognitive trips and the Arabic language teachers’ training needs of such a strategy when teaching Arabic language courses in the Saudi Arabia Kingdom. To achieve the objective of the study, and check whether this strategy is used in lesson planning, lesson teaching, or lesson assessment, a descriptive approach and a questionnaire have been adopted. The researchers used a number of statistical tools, and chose a purposive sample, which consists of (58) Arabic language teachers from Saudi Arabia Kingdom. Results have shown that the training needs of Arabic language teachers for implemining the strategy of cognitive journeys while teaching Arabic language courses came in the following
... Show MoreThe research is based on the basic idea that companies today are moving towards a new trend towards protecting the environment coupled with the increasing wareness of the pollution damage caused by these companies due to their operations and activities in the environment. The two main reasons that led the researchers to choose this subject is the need to adapt the companies themselves in response to successive developments, The great development was that companies moved from the sole economic responsibility of the business to social responsibility by emphasizing socially responsible profit. The problem of research is the knowledge of the availability of the dimensions of the green processing series in Kirkuk Cement Factory The re
... Show MoreA new ligand complexes have been synthesis from reaction of metal ions of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Pd(II) and Pt(II) with schiff base LH. 5-[(2-Hydroxy-naphthalen-1-ylmethylene)-amino]-2-phenyl-2,4-dihydro-pyrazol-3-one, this ligand was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV-vis, 1H, 13CNMR, and mass spectra. All complexes were characterized by techniques micro analysis C.H.N, UV-vis and FTIR spectral studies, atomic absorption, chloride content, molar conductivity measurements and magnetic susceptibility. The ligand acts as bidentate, coordination through nitrogen atom from azomethin group and deprotonated phenolic oxygen atom. The spectroscopic and analytical measurements showed that
... Show More