The effect of 410nm with 100 mW output power and one centimetre spot size (0.128 W/cm2 power density) Diode laser irradiation at different exposure times on the growth of Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated. Seventy swap samples were collected from burn and infected wounds of 35 patients admitted to the burn-wound unit in Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad during the period from December 2014 to February 2015. These bacteria were isolated and identified depending on their growth on selective media, cultural characteristics, Gram stain morphology and biochemical tests and finally were confirmed by Vitek 2 compact system test .Susceptibility of bacterial isolates to 15antibiotics was tested using the disk diffusion method. Bacterial standard suspension of 108 cell/ml was prepared for P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Dilutions of 10-6 cell/ml for P. aeruginosa and 10-5 cell/ml for S. aureus were selected. Ten replicates were used for each experimental group. Following irradiation, CFU/ml was calculated, and antibiotic susceptibility test was performed for the most resistant isolate for each bacterial species. From the results, it was found that out of the 70 samples, 17 isolates (24.3%) were P. aeruginosa and 9 isolates (12.9%) were S. aureus. Antibiotic susceptibility test showed that all isolates of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were multidrug resistant. It was shown that laser irradiation did not affect the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa isolate to all antibiotics tested. However, a slight increase in the susceptibility of S. aureus isolate to Ampicillin/Cloxacillin, Tetracycline and Vancomycin was observed. Laser Irradiation experiments showed that the number of CFU/ml of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus was significantly reduced with increasing exposure times, reaching a100% bacterial mortality at 13 minutes for S. aureus and 19 minutes for P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, the blue laser irradiation seems to have more bactericidal effect on Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) than on Gram-negative (P. aeruginosa).
(24)
(15)
(10)
(3)
The intelligent buildings provided various incentives to get highly inefficient energy-saving caused by the non-stationary building environments. In the presence of such dynamic excitation with higher levels of nonlinearity and coupling effect of temperature and humidity, the HVAC system transitions from underdamped to overdamped indoor conditions. This led to the promotion of highly inefficient energy use and fluctuating indoor thermal comfort. To address these concerns, this study develops a novel framework based on deep clustering of lagrangian trajectories for multi-task learning (DCLTML) and adding a pre-cooling coil in the air handling unit (AHU) to alleviate a coupling issue. The proposed DCLTML exhibits great overall control and is
... Show More
(24)
(15)
(3)
(3)
Background Obstructing dentinal tubules is a valuable approach for managing dentin hypersensitivity. Although various agents promote dentin remineralization, direct comparisons between theobromine, bioactive glass (BAG), and nano-hydroxyapatite (Nano-HAP) under simulated oral conditions remain limited. To fill this gap, this in vitro study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these three treatments on exposed cervical dentin. The assessment focused on their chemical, morphological, and mechanical effects on dentin. Materials and methods Forty-eight human dentin slabs were obtained from the cervical portions of twelve sound premolar teeth. Baseline Raman spectroscopy and VMH tests were done to exclude outliers. All specimens we
... Show More
A Stereomicroscopic Evaluation of Four Endodontic Sealers Penetration into Artificial Lateral Canals Using Gutta-Percha Single Cone Obturation Technique, Omar Jihad Banawi*, Raghad
This study presents a detailed morphology and taxonomic study of Polysiphonia subtilissima collected from Abdul Rehman Goth, Karachi coast, Pakistan. Polysiphonia is a filamentous heterotrichous red algae, characterized by its branching structures and attachment mechanisms. P. subtilissima is notable for its broad salinity tolerance and wide distribution across marine and freshwater ecosystems. This research provides an in-depth examination of the internal and external structures of P. subtilissima, contributing to its systematic study and documenting its first recorded occurrence in Pakistani coastal areas, bordering the northern Arabian Sea. The findings enhance the understanding of the species taxonomy and its ecological role in
... Show More
A novel planar type antenna printed on a high permittivity Rogers’ substrate is proposed for early stage microwave breast cancer detection. The design is based on a p-shaped wide-slot structure with microstrip feeding circuit to eliminate losses of transmission. The design parameters are optimized resulting in a good reflection coefficient at −10 dB from 4.5 to 10.9 GHz. Imaging result using inhomogeneous breast phantom indicates that the proposed antenna is capable of detecting a 5 mm size cancerous tumor embedded inside the fibroglandular region with dielectric contrast between the target and the surrounding materials ranging from 1.7 : 1 to 3.6 : 1.