Background: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the tested oil against the fungus. The combination of the oil extract of Nasturtium officinale with calcium hydroxide was evaluated and compared to calcium hydroxide paste with iodoform by using the agar well diffusion method. Results: The oil extract exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, this activity was found to be increased as the concentration of extract increased. The tested combination of watercress oil extract with calcium hydroxide revealed larger inhibition zones than the ones formed by each tested agent individually. Conclusion: The oil extract of Nasturtium officinale is active against Candida albicans suggesting its potential to be used as an intracanal medicament alone or in combination with calcium hydroxide.
In this research, the efficiency of low-cost unmodified wool fibers were used to remove zinc ion from industrial wastewater. Removal of zinc ion was achieved at 99.52% by using simple wool column. The experiment was carried out under varying conditions of (2h) contact time, metal ion concentration (50mg/l), wool fibers quantity to treated water (70g/l), pH(7) & acid concentration (0.05M). The aim of this method is to use a high sensitive, available & cheep natural material which applied successfully for industrial wastewater& synthetic water, where zinc ion concentration was reduced from (14.6mg/l) to (0.07mg/l) & consequently the hazardous effect of contamination was minimized.
This study investigates the treatment of used lubricating oils from AL-Mussaib Gas Power Station Company-Iraq, which was treated with different extractive solvents (heptane and 2-propanol). The performance activity of these solvents in the extraction process was examined and evaluated experimentally. Operating parameters were solvent to oil ratios of (1:2, 1:4, 1:6, and 1:8), mixing time (20, 35, 50, and 65 min), temperatures (30, 40, 50, and 60 ºC), and mixing speed (500 rpm). These parameters were studied and analyzed. The quality is determined by the measuring and assessment of important characteristics specially viscosity, viscosity index, specific gravity, pour point, flash point, and ash content. The results confirm that the
... Show MoreThis study accomplished to determine levels of salivary Alpha-Amylase (sAA) in Iraqi children with positive family history of hypertension, Hypertension was believed to be a risk factor in 18% of all deaths in 2010 (9.4 million globally). This study included one hundred children from primary school aged 6 to 13 years, with a focus in child welfare and family health history, with an emphasis on close relatives' hypertension reputations, with hypertension close relatives record categories identified by 1st and 2nd relatives, after documenting the full details, the burden was assessed for the children's families. The influence of age is confirmed by a correlation study of our own numbers, which shows a positive correlation. The disparity betwe
... Show MoreThe relationship between chronic hepatitis B virus and Helicobacter pylori infection was evaluated to determine, seventy five patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (8-70 years) were investigated. The results were compared with the results of 50 healthy volunteers. Anti-H. pylori antibodies IgA and IgG were measured by Indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) in sera of patients and healthy groups. The percentage of anti-H.pylori IgA antibodies (26.67%) were significantly (P<0.01) higher than healthy control group. While, no significant difference was found between the percentages of anti-H. pylori IgG antibodies (48 %) in patient sera and these kind of antibodies in sera of healthy control group (P > 0.05). The present results indica
... Show MoreObjective: To evaluate knowledge towards smoking and its relationship with lung cancer among members of
Baghdad Nursing College.
Methodology: The study comprised 100 affiliates from the College of Nursing/ University of Baghdad that
included students, teaching staff and employees. All data was collected through a structured questionnaire
prepared by the National Cancer Research Center which were answered during a scientific symposium
organized by the center on lung Cancer Awareness in March 2016.The data were analyzed by using the SPSS,
version 22
Results: The age of the respondents ranged from (19-64 years); 76% were females and only 4% were smokers.
The results showed that the mean score for the level of knowled
Biodegradable polymers have garnered increasing attention as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional petroleum-derived plastics, which pose a global environmental challenge due to their difficult recycling and slow degradation. This study focuses on the preliminary evaluation of surface functional properties of chitosan films reinforced with TiO₂ or ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). These films were prepared at different loading ratios using the solution-casting method. Structural and morphological properties were characterized using FTIR and FESEM, while functional properties were evaluated by surface wettability, UV–Vis spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and antibacterial activity testing. FTIR results showed significant changes in abs
... Show MoreWe demonstrate a behavior of laser pulse grows through fiber laser inside and output cavity with a soliton fiber laser based on the multi-wall carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SA), we investigate the effects of a saturable absorber parameter on the mode-locking of a realistic Erbium fiber ring laser. Generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation including the nonlinear effects as gain dispersion, second anomalous group velocity dispersion (GVD), self phase modulation (SPM), and two photon absorption used to describe pulse evolution. An analytical method has been used to understand and to quantify the role of the SA parameter on the propagation dynamics of pulse laser. We compute the chirp, power, width and phase of the soliton for range
... Show MoreBack ground: During acrylic resin processing, the mold must be separated from the surface of the gypsum to prevent liquid resin from penetrating into the gypsum, and water from the gypsum seeping into the acrylic resin. For many years, tin foil was the most acceptable separating medium, and because it's difficult to apply, a tin-foil substitute is used. In this study, olive oil is used as an alternative to tin foil separating medium for first time, so the aim of the study was to evaluate its effect as a separating medium on some physical properties such as (surface roughness, water sorption and solubility) of acrylic resins denture base comparing it with those processed using tin-foil and tin foil substitute such as (cold mold seal) separat
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to determine the fungal cause and bio control of damping off and root rot of wheat plants by using pseudomonas fluorescens under greenhouse and field conditions. Results showed isolation of eight species from the soil and roots to deferent region of Baghdad government. Rhizoctonia solani (Rs) and Fusarium solani (Fs) were the predominant damping off fungus with frequency 60 and 52% respectively. Led the using of bacteria formulations such as crud suspension , pure bacteria filtration and pure living cells in culture medium inhibit all type fungi with rates ranging from 84-96% , 80- 93% and 75-88% respectively. Rs and Fs were more pathogenesis under greenhouse conditions, with incidence of 80 and 68% and disease s
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Inflammation leads to joint damage and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a measure of inflammation in many diseases. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of NLR to detect inflammation in RA, and its correlation to RA disease activity indices and some hematological parameters. A cross-sectional study involving 24 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are using MTX participated in this study. All patients were clinically evaluated using disease activity score of 28 joints (DAS28) and simplified disease activity index (SDAI), whereas functional disability was assessed by health assessment questionnaire di
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