Background: Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) and BiodentineTM cements are new materials with numerous exciting clinical applications. Both have appreciable properties which include good physical properties and the ability to stimulate tissue regeneration as well as good antibacterial effects. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the antibacterial effects of MTA and BiodentineTM, when they were mixed with different concentrations of aqueous solutions of Black Seed extract, against Enterococcus faecalis. Materials and methods: MTA and BiodentineTMwere prepared according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The method of Mawlood was followed to prepare the Black Seed aqueous solution. Agar diffusion method on Brain Heart Infusion agar was employed.Twenty, 9 cm diameter, petri-plates with 25 ml of Muller Hinton agar media were prepared. A sterile spreader was used to inoculate the microorganisms. With a micropipette 0.1 ml of the Enterococcus faecalis suspension was added to the surface of the plates. Within 15 minutes, after inoculation of the plates, 4 cavities, each one measuring 5 mm in diameter and 4 mm in depth, were made in each agar plate. A total of 20 agar plates were divided into 2 groups consisted of 10 plates each; Group A: each plate contained 4 wells filled with MTA alone and MTA mixed with 10%, 30% and 50% of Black Seed aqueous solutions respectively.Group B: each plate contained 4 wells filled with BiodentineTMalone and BiodentineTMmixed with 10%, 30% and 50% of Black Seed aqueous solutionsrespectively. Next day after incubation, the agar plates were examined for bacterial inhibition zones. With a scientific ruler the diameter of the antibacterial inhibition zones were measured. The data were recorded and statistically analyzed, by the ANOVA and the Student's t-test. Results: Both cements had antibacterial effects, which were increased with the addition of the aqueous solutions of Black Seed extract. The increase in the diameter of Enterococcus faecalis inhibition zones was directly proportional with the increase in the concentration of the added Black Seed aqueous extract. Conclusion: Adding aqueous solutions of Black Seed extract to both MTA and Biodentine™ increased their potential to inhibit the growth of Enterococcus faecalis. Key words: Mineral Trioxide Aggregate, Biodentine TM, Black Seed.
One of the significant environmental problems is the pollution of water by dyes;. Biological treatment method was used, which is one of the effective ways to reduce this sort of pollution as it is environment friendly, economic and does not require any expertise. Under controlled conditions, this study estimated the efficacy of dry biomass for Bacillus cereus to reduce Direct Blue 2 dye from the aqueous solution. The optimum conditions such as pH values, contact time and concentration of dyes, were used in this research. The end results showed that the adsorption efficiency, when using a weight of bacterial biomass 0.2 g/50mL, reached 69.2% at a concentration of 10 ppm after one hour at 40°C and pH5. While it reached 5
... Show MoreThe surface properties of mixtures of a nonionic surfactant Tween 80 (Tw 80) and a cationic drug, diphenhydramine HCl (DPH) have been investigated. This was done by calculating the surface excess concentration (Γmax), minimum molecular area (Amin), surface pressure at the CMC (ᴨcmc), Gibbs Free Energy of adsorption (ΔG°ads), Gibbs free energy of micellization (ΔG°m), the standard enthalpy of micellization (ΔH°m), and the standard entropy of micellization (ΔS°m). The calculation was performed using the surface tension in the temperature range of 293-323 K with the variation of surfactant concentration to determine the crit
... Show MoreThe activity of the aqueous extract of Olea europaea was tested at concentrations of 8, 15 or 20 mg/kg of body weight on lipid profile in twenty female local rabbits. These animals were randomly divided into four groups (five animals in each group). Three groups were dosed orally with the concentrations mentioned above, while the last was administered with distilled water and considered as a control group. These animals were orally dosed by aqueous extract using a micropipette for 30 days. The results showed that there was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein (LDL-cholesterol), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-cholesterol) concentrations and atherosclerosis index means for the three trea
... Show MoreBackground: The discriminative power of the classical WHO parameters in relation to male fertility is quite low, because they only address few aspects of sperm quality and function. This has led investigators to focus their attention on the male gamete and in particular its genome.Objective: To explore which of the sperm DNA damage parameters measured by comet assay are more reliable, and their relations with the standard semen parameters.Methods: Study was done on 40 infertile men selected from couples attending the Institute of Embryo Reasearch and Infertility Treatment at Al-Kadhimiya City/ Baghdad in the period between February 2009 and May 2009, with a history of infertility of ≥1 years; and 15 healthy volunteers of proven fertili
... Show MoreNatural Bauxite (BXT) mineral clay was modified with a cationic surfactant (hexadecy ltrimethy lammonium bromide (BXT-HDTMA)) and characterized with different techniques: FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The modified and natural bauxite (BXT) were used as adsorbents for the adsorption of 4- Chlorophenol (4-CP) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption study was carried out at different conditions and parameters: contact time, pH value, adsorbent dosage and ionic strength. The adsorption kinetic (described by a pseudo-first order and a pseudo-second order), equilibrium experimental data (analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models) and thermodynamic parameters (change in s
... Show MoreAbstract: The study aimed to investigate the effect of oral administration of hot aqueous extract of beetle cocoon Larinus maculatus Faldermann, in a two doses 50 and100mg/Kg/B.wt for 3 and 6 weeks respectively on the levels of serum glucose, weight of body, and lipid profile in male mice Mus musculus. The results revealed that there was a significant (p<0.05) decrease in serum glucose level was dose and period dependent. Weight of body also reduced significantly (p<0.05) with doses and period dependent. The lipid profile level significantly (p<0.05) decreased in dose and period’s manner in each of Total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), High Density Lipoprotein- (HDL), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), and Very Low Density Lipoprotei
... Show MoreHeavy metals contamination in aquatic ecosystems is considered one of the most important threats of aquatic life. Submerge aquatic plants Ceratophyllum demersum in its non living form used for the removal of trace elements. This article studied the ability of the fine powder of C.demersum for the removal of some heavy metals (HM) like copper, cadmium, lead and chrome from aqueous solution with in variable experimental factors. The study occupy two treatments the first included different hydrogen ions pH within a range of 4, 5,6and 8 with a constant HM concentration (1000 ppm).While the second treatment represented by using variable HM concentrations within a range of (250,500,750and 1000 ppm) with a constant pH=7.In both treatments the a
... Show MoreDensities of double salt [(NH4)2Fe(SO4)2.6H2O] dissolved in distilled water and in ethylene glycol at three temperatures (298.15,303.15 and 308.15)k have been utilized to calculate the apparent molar volume , limiting apparent molar volume ,experimental slop . These results provide as information about solute-solvent, solute-solute interaction and structure-forming, structure-breaking tendency from partial molar expansibility .