Ten isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae, seven isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and nine isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, were obtained from 100 urine samples collected from Baghdad hospitals. All isolates were identified biochemically and confirmed by using VITEK 2 and were then tested for their susceptibility towards 6 antibiotics and for phenolic extracts of Thymus vulgaris and Cinnamomum cassia. All bacteria were greatly affected by T. vulgaris, especially K. pneumoniae. Viable count was performed, it was noted that the number of bacterial cells reduced from 1×108 CFU to 1.2× 103, 2×105 and 1.8×106CFU of K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus respectively. While C. cassiahad a slight effect on them. K. pneumoniae isolates which were affected by phenolic extract more than the other bacteria under study and at the same time were resistant to more than one type of tested antibiotics. These isolates were taken to detect their ability to form biofilm by using Congo red as screening method for it. The results showed that all isolates produced biofilms. Also, by using microtiter plate method, the results confirmed that all isolates produced biofilm where 7 isolates were strong biofilm producers and 3 were moderate. The strongest isolate was taken to study the effect of T. vulgaris and C. cassia phenolic extract on its biofilm formation by using microtiter plate method with two concentrations (20 and 40 ml/L). The results showed that biofilm reduction was 45% and 73% for T. vulgaris and that for C. cassiait was 15% and 20% after using 20 and 40 ml/L respectively.
In this work, the extraction of glycyrrhizin from Licorice using bulk liquid membrane technique was developed and optimized. The effect of various parameters such as pH of stripping and donor solutions, temperature, stirring speed and kinetic parameters were investigated. Moreover, to study the impact of the polarity of membrane solvent, two types of extraction solvents were used as a membrane solvent: n-Hexane was used as a non-polar solvent and 1-Hexanol was as a polar solvent. The optimum extraction condition was found (95.53%) using 1-Hexanol, rotating speed was 400 rpm, and pH of the acceptor and donor solutions were 8 and 5.5, respectively. The reaction kinetics constants ( and ) for the transport of glycyrrhizin from the donor pha
... Show MoreSlag of aluminum is a residue which results during the melting process of primary and secondary aluminum production. Salt slag of aluminum is hazardous solid waste according to the European Catalogue for Hazardous Wastes. Hence, recovery of aluminum not only saves the environment, but also has advantages of financial and economic returns. In this research, aluminum was recovered and purified from the industrial wastes generated as waste from both of State Company for Electrical and Electronic Industries (Baghdad/AlWaziriya) and General Company for Mechanical Industries (Babylon/-Al-Escandria). It was found that these wastes contain tiny proportions of other elements such as iron, copper, nickel, titanium, lead, and potassium. Wastes were
... Show MoreFabrication of porous clay refractory insulating specimens from Iraqi kaolin with different percentage of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) waste crumbs additions were investigated. After mixing and forming by hand molding, the specimens was dried and fired at 1300 oC. The structural, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the refractory insulating products were measured. Maximum addition of EPS (1.25 wt%) lead to reduce the linear shrinkage to less than 1.7% and increased apparent porosity up to 50 %. As well as, the density, Modulus of rupture and thermal conductivity were reduced to 1.39 g/cm3, 4.1 MPa and 0.21 W/m.K, respectively. The final outcome, addition of EPS showed good results in the formation of pores without distorting the
... Show MoreDue to the deliberate disposal of industrial waste, a great amount of petroleum hydrocarbons pollute the soil and aquatic environments. Bioremediation that depends on the microorganisms in the removal of pollutants is more efficient and cost-effective technology. In this study, five rhizobacteria were isolated from Phragmites australis roots and exposed to real wastewater from Al-Daura refinery with 70 mg/L total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) concentration. The five selected rhizobacteria were examined in a biodegradation test for seven days to remove TPH. The results showed that 80% TPH degradation as the maximum value by Sphingomonas Paucimobilis as identified with Vitek® 2 Compact (France).
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae cells were immobilized in calcium alginate beads and activated charcoal for use in the
production of ethanol from batch fermentation of sugar beet waste. Treatment of the waste with NaOH to increase the
ability of lignocellulose material to hydrolysis by acid (2N H2SO4) to monosaccharide and disaccharide (mainly glucos).
The high reducing sugar concentration obtained was equal to 9.2gm/100ml (10Brix) after treatment. Fermentation
parameters, are (pH, glucose concentration (2.5-25 gm/100ml), immobilized agent concentration (2.5-25 gm/100ml)
were studied to find the optimum physiological condition. And the highest ethanol concentration obtained from the
fermentation in the presence of 20%(wt/v) ca
This work studies the performance of zeolite permeable reactive barrier in removing cadmium from a contaminated shallow aquifer. Batch tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of the zeolite in cadmium-containing aqueous solutions. A 1D numerical finite difference model has been developed to describe pollutant transport within groundwater taking pollutant sorption on the permeable reactive barrier (PRB), which is performed by Langmuir equation, into account. Numerical results show that the PRB starts to saturate after a period of time (~120 h) due to reduction of the retardation factor, indicating a decrease in the percentage of zeolite functionality. However, a reasonable agreement between model predict
... Show MoreIn this work, the possibility of utilizing osmosis phenomenon to produce energy as a type of the renewable energy using Thin Film Composite Ultra Low Pressure membrane TFC-ULP was studied. Where by forward osmosis water passes through the membrane toward the concentrated brine solution, this will lead to raise the head of the high brine solution. This developed static head may be used to produce energy. The aim of the present work is to study the static head developed and the flux on the high brine water solution side when using forward and reverse osmosis membranes for an initial concentration range from 35-300 g/l for each type of membrane used at room temperature and pressure conditions, and finally calculating the maximum possible po
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