Eleven yoghurt samples were collected from local markets in Baghdad to isolate Lactobacillus buchneri. Only 3 isolates of L. buchneri were found and the isolate No. 3 was the most producer of bacteriocin. Bacteriocin was adsorbed 100% onto silicic acid at pH 6.0-7.0. Below or above these pH values, adsorption was decreased, ranging between 35 and 90%. Therefore, pH 6.0 was used for the purification procedure. The purification procedure including silicic acid adsorption/desorption and cation-exchange chromatography (CEC) resulted in a 11.11 fold increase in the final specific activity of pure bacteriocin (1176.47 Au/mg) compared to the culture supernatant which was 32.64 Au/mg. The molecular weight was determined to be about 3.4 kDa. The bacteriocin lost its activity completely after treatment with proteolytic enzymes and it was resistant to non-proteolytic enzymes. The results indicated that bacteriocin at both concentrations (500 and 1000 μg/ml) possesses significant antimicrobial activity against Vibrio parahaemolyticus in contrast with control (P<0.01) and the antimicrobial activity of crude and purified bacteriocin at the concentration of 1,000 μg/ml were higher than the other concentration (500 μg/ml). The antimicrobial activity of purified bacteriocin was significantly higher than that of crude bacteriocin (P<0.01).
Arcology is a new vision of urban design for densely populated settlements. It is referred to as the urban formation aimed at achieving the highest level of utilization in the least area of land to reduce human impact on the environment. Moreover, the integration of this formation with the environment will work to reduce energy consumption, and achieve an economy that is characterized by adaptation and self-sufficiency, leading towards sustainable urbanism. The current study deals with this new concept in sustainable urban design, in an attempt to investigate its impact on traditional urban formation and to make a comparison between them. The lack of a clear conception of the term ‘arcology’ and comparing it with the organic compact urb
... Show MoreA single step extraction-cleanup procedure using porous membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) in conjunction with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the extraction and determination of aflatoxins (AFs) B1, B2, G1 and G2 from food was successfully developed. After the extraction, AFs were desorbed from the μ-SPE device by ultrasonication using acetonitrile. The optimum extraction conditions were: sorbent material, C8; sorbent mass, 20 mg; extraction time, 90 min; stirring speed, 1000 rpm; sample volume, 10 mL; desorption solvent, acetonitrile; solvent volume, 350 μL and ultrasonication period, 25 min without salt addition. Under the optimum conditions, enrichment factor of 11, 9, 9 and 10 for AFG2, AFG1
... Show MoreThis study was conducted on Lake Hamrin situated in Diyala governorate, focal Iraq, between latitudes 44º 53ʹ 26.16 '- 45º 07 ʹ 28.03ʺ and 34º 04ʹ 24.75ʺ ــ 34º 19ʹ 12.74ʺ . As in this study, the surface area of Hamrin Lake was calculated from satellite images during the period from October 2019 to September 2020, with an average satellite image for each month, furthermore,by utilizing the Normalized Differences Water Index (NDWI), the largest surface area was 264,617 km2 for October and the lowest surface area 140.202 km2 for September. The surface temperature of the lake water was also calculated from satellite images of the Landsat 8 satellite, based on ban
... Show MoreAg-doped NiO thin films were fabricated by dip coating and subsequently annealed at 373, 473, 573, and 673 K to elucidate the influence of annealing temperature on their structural, morphological, optical, and NO2-sensing characteristics. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of polycrystalline Ag/NiO films, with progressively improved crystallinity and larger crystallite size at elevated annealing temperatures. Atomic force microscopy revealed a homogeneous surface morphology with grain growth, with the average grain diameter increasing from 26.40 to 34.2 nm. Optical analysis showed high visible-region transmittance (65–70%) and a gradual reduction in the optical band gap from 2.75 to 2.07 eV with increasing annealing temperature. Ga
... Show MoreThe Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which are deployed in harsh environments, are extremely susceptible to localized battery exhaustion as well as intelligent inside routing threats, especially sinkhole and data falsification attacks. In this paper, we present ECHVM (Enhanced Cluster Head selection by Voting and an ECC-based Blockchain Mechanism), a novel, secure, and energy-efficient routing framework to achieve an optimal trade-off between network security and hardware resource efficiency. We present the ECHVM protocol that combines Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) with a lightweight, local distributed ledger to mitigate risks of centralized authority by tr
The study evaluated endophytic communities associated with five oil-bearing plants, including sesame, corn, sunflower, olives and castor, which were collected from Baghdad and Diyala (Iraq), evaluated their oil production capacity and identified metabolites from the lipid fraction. Out of 151 isolates were collected from 21 taxa. Aspergillus niger showed the highest frequency (6.62 %), while the genera Aspergillus and Fusarium were the most dominant endophytes. The highest oil yield was identified and recorded in Aspergillus terreus (24.12 %). While the lowest oil yield was observed in Sclerotinia spp. (3.96 %). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of A. terreus revealed a profile dominated by pentadecyl acrylate (2
... Show MoreThe Fourth Industrial Revolution represents an advanced stage of technological development, characterized by the integration of digital, physical, and biological technologies, with a strong focus on smart connectivity and advanced data analysis. At the core of this revolution stands Artificial Intelligence (AI), which enables the processing of vast amounts of data, decision-making with speed and accuracy, automation of processes, and enhancement of productivity and quality. This research examines the transformative role of AI in the humanities, particularly in archaeological, historical, and geographical studies, where traditional methods face limitations in handling complex and extensive datasets.The study aims to highlight these l
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