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.
This paper proposes a neuro-fuzzy system to model β-glucosidase activity based on the reaction’s pH level and temperature. The developed fuzzy inference system includes two input variables (pH level and temperature) and one output (enzyme activity). The multi-input fuzzy inference system was developed in two stages: first, developing a single input-single output fuzzy inference system for each input variable (pH, temperature) separately, using the robust adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approach. The neural network learning techniques were used to tune the membership functions based on previously published experimental data for β-glucosidase. Second, each input’s optimized membership functions from the ANF
... Show MoreABSTRACT : The restoration of bone continuity and bone union are complex processes and their success is determined by the effectiveness of osteosynthesis. The use of plants for healing purposes predates human history and forms the source of current modern medicine. This research was planned to study the histological and immunohisto-chemistry of osteocalcin to evaluate of effect of local application of lepidium sativum oilon healing of induced bone defect in rat tibia. In this study, fourty albino male rats, weighting (300-400) gram, aged (6-8) months, will be used under control conditions of temperature, drinking and food consumption. The animals will subject for a surgical operation of medial side of tibiae bone, in control group the bone
... Show MoreBackground: This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods: Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were exp
... Show MoreBackground: Phytotherapy is the usage of herbal species with medicinal properties for the management of various diseases. Gingivitis and periodontitis are diseases that involve the role of both the bacteria and the host immune response. Over the years, various researches have shown the importance of herbal products in the management of periodontal diseases. Aims of the study: To evaluate the efficacy of locally applied Salvia officinalis gel as adjunctive in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Subjects and methods: Fourteen patients (10 males and 4 females) with chronic periodontitis were enrolled in the present study with total number of twenty-eight periodontal pockets utilizing a split mouth design, the pockets were divided i
... Show MoreThe synthesis of zeolite NaX from locally available kaolin has been studied. The operating conditions for zeolite NaX production from kaolin with good crystallinity were as follows; a gel formation step of metakaolin in alkaline medium in presence of additional silica to crystallize the zeolite was achieved at 60 oC for 1 hr,and with stirring. In ageing step of the reactants at room temperature for 5 days and crystallization step at 87±2 oC for 24 hr. The catalytic activity of catalyst prepared from local kaolin was studied by using cumene cracking as a model for catalytic cracking and compared with standard HY zeolite and HX zeolite catalysts. The activity test was carried out in a laboratory continuous flow unit with fixed bed re
... Show MoreThe synthesis of zeolite NaX from locally available kaolin has been studied. The operating conditions for zeolite NaX production from kaolin with good crystallinity were as follows; a gel formation step of metakaolin in alkaline medium in presence of additional silica to crystallize the zeolite was achieved at 60 oC for 1 hr,and with stirring. In ageing step of the reactants at room temperature for 5 days and crystallization step at 87±2 oC for 24 hr. The catalytic activity of catalyst prepared from local kaolin was studied by using cumene cracking as a model for catalytic cracking and compared with standard HY zeolite and HX zeolite catalysts. The activity test was carried out in a laboratory continuous flow unit with fixed bed reactor
... Show MoreThis study synthesized polyacetal from the reaction of polyvinyl alcohol with para-nitrobenzaldehyde. Polyacetal/polyvinylpyrrolidone polymer blends were prepared using solution casting. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were biosynthesized using onion peel extract as the reducing agent. Nanocomposites were fabricated by blending polyacetal/PVP with AuNPs and AgNPs at different ratios. XRD and FESEM characterized the AuNPs and AgNPs. FTIR, FESEM, TGA, and DSC characterized the polyacetal, polymer blends, and nanocomposites. DSC and TGA confirmed the improved thermal stability of the polymer blends and nanocomposites. Nanocomposites demonstrated higher efficacy in inhibiting lung cancer cell lines compared t
... Show MoreThis study was done at Al-Balad City Hospital on 60 diabetic patients (25 male and 35 female). The study included Fasting Blood Sugar and fungal diagnosis (systemic and superficial fungus). The results showed that the high concentration of blood sugar belonged to the group > 70 years among the diabetic patients with high significant differences in comparison with other groups P<0.001 . The result showed that percentage of female systemic fungus infection was higher than male systemic fungus infection ( female 63% and male 24%) and vice versa about superficial fungus infection (female 37% and male 76%) . Data showed that the percentage of nail fungus infection among female diabetic patients was higher than the percentage of male diabetic p
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium responsible for a wide range of infections, including respiratory tract infections (RTIs). This research was aimed to study the antibacterial and antibiofilm effect of AgNPs produced by Gram positive and negative bacteria on RTIs associated with K. pneumoniae. Materials and Methods: The biofilm formation of K. pneumoniae was determined by tube method qualitatively from select bacterial species characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy. The antibacterial susceptibility of the bacteria AgNPs was tested for their antibacterial and antibiofilm activity on a clinical isolate of K. pneumoniae. Results: K. pneumoniae isolated from RTIs were strong biofilm producers. The ant
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium responsible for a wide range of infections, including respiratory tract infections (RTIs). This research was aimed to study the antibacterial and anti-biofilm effect of AgNPs produced by Gram positive and negative bacteria on RTIs associated with K. pneumoniae. Materials and Methods: The biofilm formation of K. pneumoniae was determined by tube method qualitatively from select bacterial species characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy. The antibacterial susceptibility of the bacteria AgNPs was tested for their antibacterial and antibiofilm activity on a clinical isolate of K. pneumoniae. Results: K. pneumoniae isolated from RTIs were strong biofilm prod
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