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.
Background: Gugglusterone has been reported to provide protection against inflammatory and oxidative reactions of different pathological conditions. Objectives: The main object of this research work is to evaluate the renoprotective effects of guggulsterone in the prevention of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats via assessment of renal function and histological study. Materials and methods: Rats in this study were split into four groups which comprise a control group, an induction group, a third group receiving low-dose guggulsterone, and a fourth group receiving high-dose guggulsterone. Results: a single dose of cisplatin drug has jeopardisedrenal physiology that has been demonstrated in histopathology sections and elevation
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was toward the possibility of producing antigen that has the ability to stimulate the immune response against the infection with the hydatid cyst. To do so antigens were extracted from sheep hydatid cyst fluid of Echinococcus granulosus .These were: 1- The hydatid cyst fluid called antigen B. 2- Excretion-secretion called ES antigen. 3-B/ES antigen is a mixture (1:1) of the above two antigens. Three concentrations (15, 30 and 60 µg/ml) from antigen B/ES were prepared to immunize the white mice (males) with 20 µg/gr body weight and one booster dose (10 µg/gr) to stimulate immunity. The efficiency of t
... Show MoreIn this study, gamma-ray spectrometry with an HPGe detector was used to measure the specific activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in soil samples collected from IT1 oil reservoirs in Kirkuk city, northeast Iraq. The “spectral line Gp” gamma analysis software package was used to analyze the spectral data. 226Ra specific activity varies from 9 0.34 Bq.kg-1 to 17 0.47 Bq.kg-1. 232Th specific activity varies from 6.2 0.08 Bq.kg-1 to 18 0.2 Bq.kg-1. 40K specific activity varies from 25 0.19 Bq.kg-1 to 118 0.41 Bq.kg-1. The radiological hazard due to the radiation emitted from natural r
... Show MoreNew nanotechnology-based approaches are increasingly being investigated for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), with a particular focus on heavy oil reservoirs. Typically, the addition of a polymer to an injection fluid advances the sweep efficiency and mobility ratio of the fluid and leads to a higher crude oil recovery rate. However, harsh reservoir conditions, including high formation salinity and temperature, can limit the performance of such polymer fluids. Recently, nanofluids, that is, dispersions of nanoparticles (NPs) in a base fluid, have been recommended as EOR fluids; however, such nanofluids are unstable, even under ambient conditions. In this work, a combination of ZrO2 NPs and the polyacrylamide (PAM) polymer (ZrO2 NPs–PAM) was us
... Show MoreNanofluid treatment of oil reservoirs is being developed to enhance oil recovery and increase residual trapping capacities of CO2 at the reservoir scale. Recent studies have demonstrated good potential for silica nanoparticles for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) at ambient conditions. Nanofluid composition and exposure time have shown significant effects on the efficiency of EOR. However, there is a serious lack of information regarding the influence of temperature on nanofluid performance; thus the effects of temperature, exposure time and particle size on wettability alteration of oil-wet calcite surface were comprehensively investigated; moreover, the stability of the nanofluids was examined. We found that nanofluid treatment is more efficie
... Show MoreNew metal complexes of some transition metal ions [Fe(III) , Co(II) , Ni(II) and Cu(II)] of two previously prepared ligands HLI=(P-methyl anilino)- P-methoxy phenyl acetonitrile and HLII =(P-methoxy anilino)-P- methoxy phenyl acetonitrile were synthesized. The two ligands were prepared by Strecker's procedure which included the reaction of Pmethoxybenzaldehyde with p-toluidine and P-anisidine respectively. The structures of the new metal complexes were characterized by atomic absorption , i.r and U.V.-visible spectra . Magnetic susceptibilities and conductivity measurements in DMF of metal complexes were also studied. These ligands coordinate as abidentate molecules through nitrogen atoms of ï¡amino group and nitrile group except the
... Show MoreThis study examines the dynamic relationship between stock market and economic activity in the United States to verify the possibility of using financial indicators to monitor the turning points in the expected path of future economic activity. Has been used methodology (Johansen - Juselius) for the Co-integration and causal (Granger) to test the relationship between the (S & P 500 , DJ) index and gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States for the period
(1960-2009). The results of the analysis revealed the existence of a causal relationship duplex (two-way) between the variables mentioned. which means the possibility of the use stock market indicators to pre
Recurrent strokes can be devastating, often resulting in severe disability or death. However, nearly 90% of the causes of recurrent stroke are modifiable, which means recurrent strokes can be averted by controlling risk factors, which are mainly behavioral and metabolic in nature. Thus, it shows that from the previous works that recurrent stroke prediction model could help in minimizing the possibility of getting recurrent stroke. Previous works have shown promising results in predicting first-time stroke cases with machine learning approaches. However, there are limited works on recurrent stroke prediction using machine learning methods. Hence, this work is proposed to perform an empirical analysis and to investigate machine learning al
... Show More