Medicinal plants contain bioactive substances that are highly bioavailable in extracts or pure molecules, making them promising for therapeutic applications and precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis. Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is widely recognized as one of the most potent therapeutic herbs. This study aimed to extract seeds from H. procumbens using two types of solvents and to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the extracts. The two extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities using agar well diffusion assays against four bacterial isolates and two yeast isolates. Qualitative analysis identified the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and terpen

The durability of asphalt concrete is highly dependent on the geometry and mineralogy of coarse aggregates, yet their combined influence on mechanical and moisture resistance properties is still not fully understood. This study evaluates the effects of coarse aggregate geometry, specifically flat and elongated particle ratios and angularity, as well as mineral composition (quartz versus calcite), on asphalt mixture durability. The durability of mixtures was evaluated through Marshall properties as well as moisture susceptibility indicators, including the tensile strength ratio (TSR) and index of retained strength (IRS). Statistical analyses (ANOVA and t-tests) were also conducted to confirm the significance of the observed effects.

Clausena excavata (Lour.), locally known as “Kemantu hitam,” is a common plant in Malaysian folklore medicine. This study evaluated the antioxidant properties of the solvent extracts of C. excavata leaves and determined the acute toxicity of methanolic extract C. excavata (MECE) leaves in Sprague‐Dawley rats. Harvested leaves were dried and subjected to solvent extraction using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol in succession. The antioxidant activity of each extract was determined using the ferric‐reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl dihydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The total pheno

Scleral acrylic resin is widely used to synthesize ocular prosthesis. However, the properties of this material change over time, thus requiring the prosthesis to be refabricated. Many studies were conducted to improve these properties by reinforcing this material with nanoparticles. This study aims to evaluate the effect of silver nanoparticle powder on the mechanical properties (transverse flexural strength, impact strength, shear bond strength, surface microhardness, and surface roughness) of scleral acrylic resin used for ocular prostheses. Two concentrations were selected from the pilot study and evaluated for their effects on scleral acrylic resin properties. According to the pilot study, 0.01 and 0.02wt% AgNPs powder improved

PvcABCD are cluster of genes found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The research was designed to examine the relationship between the pvc genes expression and cupB gene, which plays a crucial role in the development of biofilm, and rhlR, which regulates the expression of biofilm-related genes, and to investigate whether the pvc genes form one or two operons. The aims were achieved by employing qRT-PCR technique to measure the gene expression of genes of interest. It was found that out of 25 clinical isolates, 21 isolates were qualified as P.aeruginosa. Amongst, 18(85.7%) were evaluated as biofilm producers, 10 (47.6%), 5 (23.8%), and 3 (14.2%) were evaluated as strong, moderate and weak producers respectively, while, 3 (14.2%) were considered

Peak ground acceleration (PGA) is one of the critical factors that affect the determination of earthquake intensity. PGA is generally utilized to describe ground motion in a particular zone and is able to efficiently predict the parameters of site ground motion for the design of engineering structures. Therefore, novel models are developed to forecast PGA in the case of the Iraqi database, which utilizes the particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach. A data set of 187 historical ground-motion recordings in Iraq’s tectonic regions was used to build the explicit proposed models. The proposed PGA models relate to different seismic parameters, including the magnitude of the earthquake (Mw), average shear-wave velocity (VS30), focal depth (FD

The current study involves placing 135 boreholes drilled to a depth of 10 m below the existing ground level. Three standard penetration tests (SPT) are performed at depths of 1.5, 6, and 9.5 m for each borehole. To produce thematic maps with coordinates and depths for the bearing capacity variation of the soil, a numerical analysis was conducted using MATLAB software. Despite several-order interpolation polynomials being used to estimate the bearing capacity of soil, the first-order polynomial was the best among the other trials due to its simplicity and fast calculations. Additionally, the root mean squared error (RMSE) was almost the same for the all of the tried models. The results of the study can be summarized by the production

Objective: Matrix tablet approach is one of the delivery systems intended for poorly water-soluble drugs, like candesartan cilexetil (CC). CC is a class II drug used for the treatment of hypertension. Methods: Matrix tablets from (F1x to F18z) were prepared in the presence of β‑cyclodextrin. Matrix tablet formulation ensures control release of the drug and higher dissolution by β‑cyclodextrin. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to study compatibility. Results: The angle of repose determination showed good flow for most of the formulas, besides having good compressibility. Weight variation test for all formulas showed accepted value. Drug content measurement sho

In this paper, investigates the biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by biochemical method using Myrtus communis leaves extract as reducing agent and Chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) as precursors. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and FTIR were used in addition to UV-visible spectroscopy (UV) in order to characterize the AuNPs. The biosynthesized AuNPs exhibited inhibitory effects on alpha amylase and alkaline phosphatase in sera of patient with type 2 Diabetes Miletus and the sera of healthy control subjects; the inhibition percentage with alpha amylase was 72 % and 45 % for patient and control group respectively. Oral consent obtained from the most of patients and healthy subjects before them being under

This study aims to estimate the accuracy of digital elevation models (DEM) which are created with exploitation of open source Google Earth data and comparing with the widely available DEM datasets, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), version 3, and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM), version 2. The GPS technique is used in this study to produce digital elevation raster with a high level of accuracy, as reference raster, compared to the DEM datasets. Baghdad University, Al Jadriya campus, is selected as a study area. Besides, 151 reference points were created within the study area to evaluate the results based on the values of RMS.Furthermore, th