This study included the isolation and identification of Citrobacter freundii from 220 samples collected from inpatients and outpatients suffering from urinary tract infection (UTI) and identified at the laboratory of the General Samarra Hospital in Samarra City, Iraq. The study was conducted to investigate some of the virulence factors produced by C. freundii. The results showed that 67 isolates were belonging to the C. freundii, with a rate of 30.45%. Twenty eight samples were from inpatients (41.8%) and 39 samples were from outpatients. The bacterial identification was based on cultural and biochemical tests and confirmed by using VITEK2 compact system. Virulence factor results showed that all isolates were not blood hydrolyzing whereas they produced protease. Seven isolates (10.4%) produced biofilm, five from inpatients and two from outpatients, at rates of 17.8% and 5.1%, respectively. The results showed that 17 (25.4%) of the pathogenic isolates were β-lactamase producers, as determined by the iodometric method, twelve of them (17.9%) were from inpatients and 5 (7.5%) from outpatients. Four isolates of C. freundii produced Extended Spectrum Beta-lactamase (ESβL) enzymes, three from inpatients and one from outpatients, with ratios of 4.5% and 1.4%, respectively. Also, the via B gene, which is responsible for virulence factors, was investigated using PCR. The results showed that 12 isolates from inpatients and 4 isolates from outpatients were harboring this gene. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing by Kirby-Bauer’s method showed that all isolates that produced β-lactamase were resistant to antibiotics.
An α-fractional integral and derivative of real function have been introduced in new definitions and then, they compared with the existing definitions. According to the properties of these definitions, the formulas demonstrate that they are most significant and suitable in fractional integrals and derivatives. The definitions of α-fractional derivative and integral coincide with the existing definitions for the polynomials for 0 ≤ α < 1. Furthermore, if α = 1, the proposed definitions and the usual definition of integer derivative and integral are identical. Some of the properties of the new definitions are discussed and proved, as well, we have introduced some applications in the α- fractional derivatives and integral
... Show MoreWarm Mix Asphalt (WMA) is a modern energy-saving process that uses environmentally friendly materials, has lower mixing and compaction temperatures, and uses less energy and releases less contaminants than conventional hot mix asphalt. Moisture damage poses one of the main challenges of the material design in asphalt pavements. During its design life, the asphalt pavement is exposed to the effect of moisture from the surrounding environment. This research intends to investigate the role of the polypropylene fibres for modifying the moisture susceptibility for the WMA by using different percentages of polypropylene (namely 2, 4, and 6%) by weight of the binder of the control mixture (WMA). In this paper, the physical characteristics
... Show MoreProstheses are used as an alternative to organs lost from the body. Flex-Foot Cheetah is considered one of the lower limb prostheses used in high-intensity activities such as running. This research focused on testing two samples of Flex-Foot Cheetah manufactured of two various materials (carbon, glass) with polyester and compare between them to find the foot with the best performance in running on the level of professional athlete. In the numerical analysis, the maximum principal stress, maximum principal elastic strain, strain energy; finally, the blade total deformation were calculated for both feet. In experimental work, the load-deflection test was done for foot to calculate the bending the results were very close to
... Show MoreAbstract
The present investigation aimed to formulate a liquid self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) of tacrolimus to enhance its oral bioavailability by improving its dispersibility and dissolution rate. Four liquid SMEDDS were prepared using maisine CC as oil phase, labrasol ALF as surfactant and transcutol HP as co-surfactant based on the solubility studies of tacrolimus in these components. The phase behavior of the components and the area of microemulsion were evaluated using pseudoternary phase diagrams. The formulations were also assessed for thermodynamic stability, robustness to dilution, self-emulsification time, drug content, globule size and polydispersity index. The prepared SMEDDS formulations exhibi
... Show MoreThe products of composites material are very sesetive to many variables, such as manufacturing process, additive materials, …. etc. Filler or additive plays a major role to determine the formation of the properties and behavior of the composites. In this study, polyethylene terephthalate-based compounds were produced and characterized. The work is concerned to prepare samples of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - zinc-ferrite (ZnFe2O4) with different addition ratio as zinc-ferrite (1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20) wt% obtained from mixing the solution with a hot pressing method applied under optimum conditions. The densities of the composites for all samples were calculated. Through the work the diffusion of zinc-ferrite i
... Show MoreIn the recent years, the work in composite industry needed new ecofriendly resources to improve the original properties of current materials. Many researches attempted to find alternative additives to be used with the current systems which provide a new material that is environmentally friendly and has better performance than the synthetic counterparts. This paper presents the study of mechanical characteristics, including bending, impact, tensile and hardness tests, of date palm fiber (DPF)/ epoxy composite. The composite plate was constructed by hand-layup technique. The filler content values (wt %) were 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Young's modulus, impact strength and hardness were shown to be increased with increasing fiber content. Tensile
... Show MoreThe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The outbreak was declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020. In this study, a complete statistical analysis for SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in entire Iraq, as well as for each governorate separately, is performed for the first time. The study covers a period that starts from the beginning of the pandemic, in the 24th of February 2020, until the 16th of July 2020. It was clear that, although the average number of the reported infection cases was low during Feb
... Show MoreThis research includes a study of dezincification by corrosion from brass alloys in three types of media, which are acidic solution, basic and slat solution in different percentages. The study show the higher dezincification occurs in basic solution which decrease the fatigue properties where the fatigue properties are inversely proportional with dezincification.
In this study, the effect of the annealing temperature on the material properties and the structural properties of cuprous oxide was studied in order to investigate how the annealing temperature affects the material properties, and the temperature varied between 200℃, 300℃, 400℃ and 500 ℃ and was unannealed. The physical properties of the cuprous oxide were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD patterns showed that the Cu2O nanoparticles were highly pure, crystalline, and nano-sized. From the XRD results, we found the pure cuprite (Cu2O) phase. The values of crystal size were discovered and calculated by the Halder-Wagner and Size-Strain Plot (SSP) methods, respectively. The crystallite size increased
... Show MoreThis study focuses on determining the heterogeneity of Yamama Formation and its spatial distribution in south of Iraq using three indices namely, Coefficient of Variation, Lorenz Coefficient, and Dykstra – Parsons Coefficient. The porosity and permeability values from eleven wells in south of Iraq (Basra and Maysan oil fields) are used for computing heterogeneity indices. Ordinary kriging technique is used to interpolate the computed indices and to show the spatial distribution of these indices over the study area. Results indicated that the average values of Lorenz and Dykstra – Parsons Indices are 0.73 and 0.86, respectively which refer to the extremely heterogeneity nature of Yamama Formation in the study area.The spatial distribu
... Show More