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.
Steel-concrete-steel (SCS) structural element solutions are rising due to their advantages over conventional reinforced concrete in terms of cost and strength. The impact of SCS sections with various core materials on the structural performance of composites has not yet been fully explored experimentally, and in this work, both slag and polypropylene fibers were incorporated in producing eco-friendly steel-concrete-steel composite sections. This study examined the ductility, ultimate strength, failure modes, and energy absorption capacities of steel-concrete-steel filled with eco-friendly concrete, enhanced by polypropylene fiber (PPF) to understand its impact on modern structural projects. Eco-friendly concrete was produced by the partial
... Show MoreA theoretical and protection study was conducted of the corrosion behavior of carbon steel surface with different concentrations of the derivative (Quinolin-2-one), namly (1-Amino-4,7-dimethyl-6-nitro-1H-quinolin-2-one (ADNQ2O)). Theoretically, Density Functional Theory (DFT) of B3LYP/ 6-311++G (2d, 2p) level was used to calculate the optimized geometry, physical properties and chemical inhibition parameters, with the local reactivity to predict both the reactive centers and to locate the possible sites of nucleophilic and electrophilic attacks, in vacuum, and in two solvents (DMSO and H2O), all at the equilibrium geometry. Experimentally, the inhibition efficiencies (%IE) in the saline solution (of 3.5%) NaCl were st
... Show MoreThis research has presented a solution to the problem faced by alloys: the corrosion problem, by reducing corrosion and enhancing protection by using an inhibitor (Schiff base). The inhibitor (Schiff base) was synthesized by reacting of the substrates materials (4-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde and 4-aminoantipyrine). It was diagnosed by infrared technology IR, where the IR spectrum and through the visible beams proved that the Schiff base was well formed and with high purity. The corrosion behavior of carbon steel and stainless steel in a saline medium (artificial seawater 3.5%NaCl) before and after using the inhibitor at four temperatures: 20, 30, 40, and 50 C° was studied by using three electrodes potentiostat. The corrosion behavior was
... Show MoreBackground: Restoration of root canal treated teeth with a permanent restoration affect in the success of endodontically treated teeth. This in vitro study was performed to evaluate and compare the fracture strength of endodontically treated teeth restored by using custom made zirconium posts and cores, prefabricated carbon fiber, glass fiber and zirconium ceramic posts. Materials and method: Forty intact human mandibular second premolars were collected for this study and were divided into five groups. Each group contains 8 specimens: Group1: Teeth restored with Carbon Fiber Posts; Group2: Teeth restored with Glass Fiber Posts; Group3: Teeth restored with Zirconium Ceramic prefabricated Posts; Group4: Teeth restored with Zirconium Posts
... Show MoreAn experiment was carried out in the vegetables field of Horticulture Department / College of Agriculture / Baghdad University , for the three seasons : spring and Autumn of 2005 , and spring of 2007 , to study the type of gene action in some traits of yield and its components in summer squash crosses (4 x 3 = cross 1 , 3 x 7 = cross 2 , 3 x 4 = cross 3 , 3 x 5 = cross 4 , 5 x 1 = cross 5 , 5 x 2 = cross 6). The study followed generation mean analysis method which included to each cross (P1 , P2 , F1 , F2 , Bc1P1 , Bc1P2) , and those populations obtained by hybridization during the first and second seasons. Experimental comparison was performed in the second (Two crosses only) and third seasons , (four crosses) by using RCBD with three repl
... Show MoreAmong many problems that reduced the performance of the network, especially Wide Area Network, congestion is one of these, which is caused when traffic request reaches or exceeds the available capacity of a route, resulting in blocking and less throughput per unit time. Congestion management attributes try to manage such cases. The work presented in this paper deals with an important issue that is the Quality of Service (QoS) techniques. QoS is the combination effect on service level, which locates the user's degree of contentment of the service. In this paper, packet schedulers (FIFO, WFQ, CQ and PQ) were implemented and evaluated under different applications with different priorities. The results show that WFQ scheduler gives acceptable r
... Show MoreAbstract
Paraffin wax is utilized for the heat storage applications taking advantage from the high stored latent heat during the phase change (from solid to fluid) period. What isn't right with this procedure is that the wax has a little heat transfer rate because of its low thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity improvement of the paraffin wax has been examined utilizing nano-material with high thermal conductivity. In the recent study, (Al2O3) nanoparticles with weights of 1, 2, and 3% of the paraffin wax were added to the paraffin wax. The Iraqi paraffin wax accessible at the local markets was utilized as a phase change material (PCM).
Many properties of the
... Show MoreSol-gel method was use to prepare Ag-SiO2 nanoparticles. Crystal structure of the nanocomposite was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction patterns while the color intensity was evaluated by spectrophotometry. The morphology analysis using atomic force microscopy showed that the average grain sizes were in range (68.96-75.81 nm) for all samples. The characterization of Ag-SiO2 nanoparticles were investigated by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Ag-SiO2 NPs are highly stable and have significant effect on both Gram positive and negative bacteria. Antibacterial properties of the nanocomposite were tested with the use of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The results have shown antibacteri
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