Non-thermal (low-temperature) plasma may act as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. In this paper an atmospheric pressure plasma needle jet device which generates a cold plasma jet is used to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatment against different pathogenic bacteria and to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma. It is found that, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there were no survivors among the initial 1x108C.F.U (Colony Forming Unit) after a 40 seconds plasma treatment. The susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria and the Gram-negative bacteria were species and strain specific. Staphylococcus aureus was the most resistant with 4.5 % survival of the initial 2x106C.F.U. after a 40 seconds plasma treatment. According to species, Staphylococcus aureus had a strain-dependent resistance with 39% and 99% reduction from 2x106C.F.U.of the five studied isolates, respectively, whereas, Escherichia coli had a lower resistance with 76% and 99% reduction after 40 seconds.
The technology of subsurface soil water retention (SWRT) uses a polyethylene trough that is fixed under the root zone of the plant. It is a modern technology to increase the values of water use efficiency, plant productivity and saving irrigation water by applying as little irrigation water as possible. This study work aims at improving the crop yield and water use efficiency of a cucumber plant with less applied irrigation water by installing membrane trough below the soil surface. The field experiment was conducted in the Hawr Rajab District of Baghdad Governorate in Winter 2018 for testing various trickle irrigation systems. Two agricultural treatment plots were utilized in a greenhouse for the compa
... Show MoretA novel synthesis procedure is presented for preparing triethanolamine-treated graphene nanoplatelets(TEA-GNPs) with different specific areas (SSAs). Using ultrasonication, the covalently functionalizedTEA-GNPs with different weight concentrations and SSAs were dispersed in distilled water to prepareTEA-GNPs nanofluids. A simple direct coupling of GNPs with TEA molecules is implemented to synthesizestable water-based nanofluids. The effectiveness of the functionalization procedure was validated by thecharacterization and morphology tests, i.e., FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, EDS, and TEM. Thermal conduc-tivity, dispersion stability, and rheological properties were investigated. Using UV–vis spectrometer, ahighest dispersion stability of 0.876
... Show MoreThis study conducted an analytical investigation on the behavior of concrete beams with openings reinforced by glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. In this study, five proposed beams reinforced by GFRP bars as flexural and shear reinforcement with openings were numerically examined. The variables were the opening orientation (vertical and horizontal) and the number of openings. These openings were located within the flexural zone of the proposed beams. The result shows that the vertical openings had a significant effect over the horizontal openings on reducing the ultimate load and increasing the mid-span deflection compared with the control beam. Moreover, the results showed t
This work deals with the effect of adding aluminum nanoparticles on the mechanical properties, micro-hardness and porosity of memory-shape alloys (Cu-Al-Ni). These alloys have wide applications in various industrial fields such as (high damping compounds and self-lubricating applications). The samples are manufactured using the powder metallurgy method, which involved pressing in only one direction and sintered in a furnace surrounded by an inert gas. Four percentages (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%) of aluminum nanoparticles were fabricated, which depended on the weight of aluminum powder (13%) in the sample under study. To find out which phase is responsible for the reliability of the formation of this type of alloy and its porosity, X-ray diffr
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the level of awareness of student teachers in the behavioral disorders and autism specialization about the diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder and Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder according to some variables. The study was conducted on a sample of (113) student teachers. The researcher employed the awareness scale of a teacher-screening questionnaire for autism spectrum disorder and social pragmatic communication disorder. The results showed that the average of teachers in the total degree of awareness of autism spectrum disorder and social communication have recorded a moderate degree. As for the awareness of autism spectrum disorder was high. Then, the awareness of social communication disorder wa
... Show MoreBiodiesel production process was attracted more attention recently due to the surplus quantity of glycerol (G) as a byproduct from the process. Glycerol Utilization must take in to consideration to fix this issue also, to ensure biodiesel industry sustainability. Highly amount of Glycerol converted to more benefit material Glycerol carbonate (GC) was one of the most allurement compound derived from glycerol by transesterification of glycerol with dimethyl carbonate (DMC). Various parameters have highly impact on transesterification was investigated like catalyst loading (1-5) %wt., molar ratio of DMC: glycerol (5:1 – 1:1), reaction time (30 - 150) min and temperature (40 – 80) ᴼC. The Optimum glycerol carbonate yie
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A series of new 4(3H)-quinazolinone derivatives (S1-S4) were synthesized and characterized by FTIR,1HNMR and 13CNMR .Their cytotoxic activity against a set of human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (breast) and A549 (lung) was evaluated using MTT assay. To detect their selectivity toward cancer cells, the compounds were also tested against epithelial cells derived from normal human fibroblast (NHF). Methotrexate (MTX) was used as a reference for comparison . All the tested compounds exhibited toxicity against the normal cells lower than cancer cells. All the tested compounds displayed higher cytotoxicity against lung cancer cell line (A549) than MTX with the most
... Show MoreIt is important to note that Posaconazole (POCZ) is a newly developed extended-spectrum triazole that belongs to BCS class II and has a solubility of less than 1µg/ml. In patients with a weakened immune system, POCZ has been shown to be effective as an antifungal treatment for invasive infections caused by candida and aspergillus species. The nano-micelles technique can be used to increase POCZ solubility. In order to increase their apparent solubility in water, nano-micelles are made by combining macromolecules that self-assemble into ordered structures capable of entrapping hydrophobic drug molecules in the interior domain. Dispersed colloidal systems, of which nano-micelles are a subset, are a large and diverse group. Composed of a p
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