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.
The polycystic ovary syndrome is an endocrine condition. One of the leading causes of female infertility and the most common disorder among women. The work was being carried out on 100 Iraqi women (50 cases confirmed with PCOS and 50 controls). Between October 2019 and March 2020, blood samples were collected from the Advanced Institute of Infertility Diagnosis and Assisted Reproductive Technology at AL-Nahrain University and a private laboratory. ELISA was used to evaluate the biochemical parameters of preptin, FSH, insulin, LH, and CCL 18 in serum samples from the AFIAS-6 (AFIAS Automated Immunoassay System). The findings of the analysis indicate that, as opposed to the control group, values of prolactin (ng/ml), LH (mIU/ml), Preptin (
... Show MoreThree-dimensional cavity was investigated numerical in the current study filled with porous medium from a saturated fluid. The problem configuration consists of two insulated bottom and right wall and left vertical wall maintained at constant temperatures at variable locations, using two discretized heaters. The porous cavity fluid motion was represented by the momentum equation generalized model. The present investigation thermophysical parameters included the local thermal equilibrium condition. The isotherms and streamlines was used to examine energy transport and momentum. The meaning of changing parameters on the established average Nusselt number, temperature and velocity distribution are highlighted and discussed.
Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Clopidogrel, antiplatelet drug, has been widely used for management of CAD. Arylesterase, the activity of Paraoxonase-1 (PON-1), is mainly contributed in the biotransformation of clopidogrel to its active thiol form. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of receiving clopidogrel drug on the arylesterase activities in CAD patients. The effect of receiving clopidogrel drug on the antioxidant activity of arylesterase was also monitored by determination of malondialdehyde (MDA) level. Methods: One hundred CAD patients, who were followed-up for 5 days after reciving clopidogrel, and 50 healthy volunteers were included in our study
... Show MoreIn an earlier paper, the basic analytical formula for particle-hole nuclear state densities was derived for non-Equidistant Spacing Model (non-ESM) approach. In this paper, an extension of the former equation was made to include pairing. Also a suggestion was made to derive the exact formula for the particle-hole state densities that depends exactly on Fermi energy and nuclear binding energies. The results indicated that the effects of pairing reduce the state density values, with similar dependence in the ESM system but with less strength. The results of the suggested exact formula indicated some modification from earlier non-ESM approximate treatment, on the cost of more calculation time
Background:The most common pattern of dyslipidemia in diabetic patients is increased triglyceride (TG) and decreased HDL cholesterol level, The concentration of LDL cholesterol in diabetic patients is usually not significantly different from non diabetic individuals, Diabetic patients may have elevated levels of non-HDL cholesterol [ LDL+VLDL]. However type 2 diabetic patients typically have apreponderance of smaller ,denser LDL particles which possibly increases atherogenicity even if the absolute concentration of LDL cholesterol is not significantly increased. The Third Adult Treatment Panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP III) and the American Heart Association (AHA ) have designate diabetes as a coronary heart dis
... Show MoreThe kinetics of removing cadmium from aqueous solutions was studied using a bio-electrochemical reactor with a packed bed rotating cylindrical cathode. The effect of applied voltage, initial concentration of cadmium, cathode rotation speed, and pH on the reaction rate constant (k) was studied. The results showed that the cathodic deposition occurred under the control of mass transfer for all applied voltage values used in this research. Accordingly, the relationship between logarithmic concentration gradient with time can be represented by a first-order kinetic rate equation. It was found that the rate constant (k) depends on the applied voltage, the initial cadmium concentration, the pH and the rotational speed of cathode. It
... Show MoreGhrelin and leptin are hunger hormones related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the pathogenesis of T2DM is the abnormality in insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study is to evaluate ghrelin and leptin concentrations in blood and to specify the relationship of these hormones as dependent variables with some biochemical and clinical measurements in T2DM patients. In this study, forty one T2DM and forty three non-diabetes mellitus (non-DM) subjects, aged between 40-60 years and with normal weight, were enrolled. Fasting serum ghrelin and leptin were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In our results ghrelin was significantly increased, and leptin was significantly decreased, in T2DM pa
... Show MoreThe study aimed to assess the frequency of invasive fungal infection in patients with respiratory diseases by conventional and molecular methods. This study included 117 Broncho alveolar lavage (BAL) samples were collected from patients with respiratory disease (79 male and 38 female) with ages ranged between (20-80) years, who attended Medicine Baghdad Teaching hospital and AL-Emamain AL-Khadhymian Medical City, during the period from September 2019 to April 2020. The results in PCR versus culture methods in this study showed that out of 117 samples of fungal infections 30(25.6 %) were detected by culture method, while the 24(20.5%) samples were detected by PCR technique, the most commonly diagnosed pathogenic fungi is Candida spp.
... Show MoreIn this work an experimental study is performed to evaluate the thermal performance
of locally made closed loop solar hot water system using a shell and helical coiled tube
heat exchanger as a storage tank. Several measurements are taken include inlet and outlet
temperatures of both collectors and supply water and temperature distribution within the
storage tank. This is beside the water flow rate in both collectors and load cycle. The
main parameters of the system are obtained.
 
        