The aim of this study is the determination of the anti-adhesion activity of active compounds extracted from plants in the inhibition of adhesion ability of C. albicans that is used as a virulence factor for infection. Adherence to host surfaces is a primary factor in the colonization of human tissues by fungi, which can also adhere to the surfaces of medical devices and form biofilms. Medicinal plants possess therapeutic properties or beneficial pharmacological effects on the body. A total of one hundred samples were collected from female patients with vaginal infection in two hospitals in Baghdad city for three months. The fungi were isolated and identified by microscopic morphology, morphological features on culture media, and Vital Index of Traditional Environmental Knowledge (VITEK 2) System. Extraction and purification of plant active compounds, vasicine from Adhatoda vasica and gallic acid from Punica granatum L. , were performed. The active compounds were used as anti-adhesion factors and the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) against Candida albicans was determined. We also used the antifungal drug fluconazole for comparison as a control. The results of vaginal discharge characterization of clinical samples showed that 30% of the infections are caused by fungi (100% were Candida albicans), 47% by Gram negative bacteria, and 23% by Gram positive bacteria. The results of MIC assays showed that the plant extract and the antifungal drug do not seem to have fungicidal effects on the isolates of C. albicans tested. The ability of C. albicans isolates for adhesion to the epithelial cells was detected by the calculation of the number of adherent C. albicans cells under light microscope. The activity of vasicin and gallic acid appeared to be approximately equal on the number of C. albicans adherent on epithelial cells. Vasicin concentration activity used in mg/ ml was higher than that used in µg/ ml, with less numbers of C. albicans adhered on epithelial cell. However, treatment with fluconazole showed that more than half of the number of C. albicans were non-adherent on epithelial cells when added to the suspension, in contrast to the control (C. albicans without the extracts or antifungal drug).
English has for long been one of the most widely used media of communication globally, especially in the Malaysian universities. It has been termed as a Lingua Franca because it is shared with other languages which are considered first languages by different speakers. For this reason, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has attracted a number of researchers to investigate its variety via other languages in various communities. The objective of this paper is therefore to establish the strategies which are employing by the international students at the National University of Malaysia/ UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) as an example of one of the Malaysian universities; when they e
... Show MoreObjectives: To determine the contributing risk factors to adult nephrolithiasis patients.
Methodology: A descriptive study was conducted to determine the contributing risk factors to
Adults nephrolithiasis starting from December 2007 to September 2008. A purposive "nonprobability"
sample of (100) patients with nephrolithiasis was selected of those who were
admitted to the hospitals, attending the Urology Consultation Clinic and Extracorporeal Shock
Wave Lithotripsy Department. The study instrument consists of two parts. The first part is
related to the patients' demographic variables and the second part is constructed to serve the
purpose of the study. The total number of items in the questionnaire was (85) ones.
Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant agent which acts on the central nervous system and used for the treatment of epilepsy. Carbamazepine was formulated as an oral extended release tablets using ethyl cellulose as retardant substance. Different types of tablets additives such as cellulose materials (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose ), lactose, calcium phosphate and solubilizing agents ( sodium lauryl sulphate and polyethylene glycol 6000) were utilized to study their effect on the release profile of drug from ethyl cellulose matrices. It was found that sodium carboxymethyl cellulose increased the carbamazepine release and the same effect was obtained when the same amount of microcrystalline cellulose used
... Show More The main elements of traditional foci of visceral leishmaniasis in the endemic area were studied. The complex relationships between biotic and abiotic factor in the study foci. Also the presence of possible reservoirs of disease with density of sandflies were examined.
A field experiment was conducted at the experimental field of botanical garden, faculty of science, university of Baghdad, in order to study the effect of plant density on growth and yield of two local cultivars of sunflower (Sin Althieb and Shumose). The densities used were 4.4 and 8.8 plant/m2. The results showed difference between cultivars in their agronomic traits and their yields. There was a significant increase in plant height and leaf area index by increasing the plant density, while head diameter, number of seeds and leaf area decreased. But the most significant effect was the increasing in yield and biological yield by increasing the plant density. There was an increase by 72% and 58% in the yield and 79% an
... Show MoreArtificial roughness on the absorber plate of a Solar Air Heater (SAH) is a popular technique for increasing its effective efficiency. The study investigated the effect of geometrical parameters of discrete multi-arc ribs (DMAR) installed below the SAH absorber plate on the effective efficiency. The effects of major roughness factors, such as number of gaps (Ng = 1-4), rib pitch (p/e = 4-16), rib height (e/D = 0.018-0.045), gab width (wg/e = 0.5-2), angle of attack ( = 30-75), and Reynolds number (Re= 2000-20000) on the performance of a SAH are studied. The performance of the SAH is evaluated using a top-down iterative technique. The results show that as Re rises, SAH-effective DMAR's efficiency first ascends to a specified value o
... Show MoreThis study focused on the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), using prodigiosin pigment produced by Serratia marcescens. The effect of parameters such as pH, temperature, time, with various concentrations of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and prodigiosin on the synthesis of AgNPs were also studied. Optimized results of the biosynthesis process revealed an increase in the intensity of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) bands of nanoparticles with shifting at the wavelength of 400 nm. In addition, optimum synthesis of AgNPs was achieved at pH 12, temperature 55℃, and reaction time 24 h, with concentrations of prodigiosin, as a reducing agent, of 12.5 µg/ml and silver ion concentration of 1 mM. Measuremen
... Show MoreThe improvement in Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation when the received signals impinge on Active-Parasitic Antenna (APA) arrays will be studied in this work. An APA array consists of several active antennas; others are parasitic antennas. The responses to the received signals are measured at the loaded terminals of the active element. The terminals of the parasitic element are shorted. The effect of the received signals on the parasites, i.e., the induced short-circuit current, is mutually coupled to the active elements. Eigen decomposition of the covariance matrix of the measurements of the APA array generates a third subspace in addition to the traditional signal and noise subspaces generated by the all-active ante
... Show MoreThe parasite E.histolytica was first isolated from a stool sample, and then cultivated and maintained in vitro using Locke-egg medium (LEM) and Liver infusion agar medium (LIAM) . Then, the effect of some types of erythrocytes (human and sheep), on the growth and activity of the parasite in the two culture media was investigated. The parasite was able to ingest and lysis erythrocytes of human and sheep that were supplemented to the culture media and such manipulation was able to augment the reproduction rate of the cultivated E. histolytica, however, such consequence was media- and concentration-dependent. The reproduction rate was significantly increased (66.0, 57.5 and 58.6%, respectively) in LEM medium containing human erythrocytes ty
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