Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) enterococci have become a major problem in recent times and have been reported increasingly around the world. Lytic phages infect bacteria leading to rapid host death with limited risk of phage transduction, underlining the increasing interest in potential phage therapy in the future. Objective (s): The aim of this study is to use phage therapy as alternative approach for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections that recorded as MDR in Iraq to tackle this problem. Materials and Methods: Thirty E. faecalis isolates were collected from patients with different infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetic foot, septicemia, and wound infections. The isolation of specific lytic phages was from different environmental sources such as (sewage, and wastewater). The biokinetic assays were carried out to measure the characteristics of the isolated phage. The study of the bacteriophage and the formed phage cocktail infectivity against isolates E.faecalis was tested by the top layer assay. The phage endolysin was extracted from the best bacteriophage that gave best results. Results: All the isolated E.faecalis was reported as MDR in this study. About 75 E.faecalis specific phages were isolated and purified. All the isolated bacteria were 100% sensitive to the lytic phages. The formed phage cocktail was capable to create inhibition zones on the most bacterial isolates' lawns. The molecular weight and the concentration of the extracted endolysin was evaluated in this study and found to be as (48 kDa) and (0.5mg/ml), respectively. The antibacterial activity of the extracted endolysin was evaluated by the turbidity reduction assay. A clear decline in the bacterial growth was manifested (5x107 CFU/ml) to (1x104 CFU/ml), in which the bacterial growth was reduced by (3.63 log). The endolysin found to be effective against 90% of E.faeclais isolates. Conclusion: The activity of the isolated specific phage together with the activity of the formed phage cocktail, were efficient as successful and inexpensive method of therapy against MDR E.faecalis. The potential of the extracted endolysin over the phage therapy was verified in this study. The coverage rate and the absence of resistant E.faecalis to the phage and its endolysin had emphasized on the importance of this alternative therapy to commonly used antibiotics. List of abbreviation: MDR = multiple drug-resistant, E. faecalis = Enterococcus faecalis, BT = burst time, BS = burst size, IP = infective percentage, Phage =bacteriophage, CFU = Colony forming unit, kDa = Kilodalton, OD = Optical Densities.
Objective: to assess the awareness and knowledge of our medical students regarding dose levels of imaging procedures and radiation safety issues, and to conclude how the curriculum of clinical radiology in the college medical program impacts such knowledge.
Subjects and methods: this is a cross-sectional study conducted among 150 medical students in Alkindy College of Medicine between January 2021 to July 2021, regardless of their age or gender. The study included six grades according to the year 2020-2021. A questionnaire consisting of 12 multiple-choice questions was conducted via an online survey using Google Forms. The questions were divided into two parts
... Show Morea laser ablation Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with a wave-length of 355 nm at a variety of laser pulse energies (E) and deposited on porous silicon (PS). Optical emission spectrometer was used to diagnosed medium air to study gold plasma characteristics and prepared Au nanoparticles. The laser pulse energy influence has been studied on the plasma characteristics in air. The data showed the emergence of the ionic (Au II) spectral emission lines in the gold plasma emission spectrum. XRD has been utilized to examine structural characteristics. Moreover, AFM results 37.2 nm as the mean value of the diameter that is coordinated in a shape similar to the rod that appears for Au NPs, in addition to that, TEM has been an indication of the fact that syn
... Show MoreDue to its various resistance mechanisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most prevalent opportunistic infection that kills hospitalized patients. Thus, therapeutic options become limited. Objective: The study aimed to estimate the antibiofilm effectiveness of Conocarpus erectus leaf extracts against MDR P. aeruginosa isolates and examines pelA and algD gene expression. Subjects and Methods: One hundred-fifty clinical samples were collected from five Baghdad hospitals between September 2021 and January 2022. Samples were grown on different mediums. Despite cetrimide agar's ability to detect P. aeruginosa, only 83 isolates developed at 42°C. VITEK 2 compact system identification followed. This study examined 83 of P. aeruginosa isolates for r
... Show Moren this research, some thermophysical properties of ethylene glycol with water (H2O) and two solvent mixtures dimethylformamide/ water (DMF + H2O) were studied. The densities (ρ) and viscosities (η) of ethylene glycol in water and a mixed solvent dimethylformamide (DMF + H2O) were determined at 298.15 K, t and a range of concentrations from 0.1 to1.0 molar. The ρ and η values were subsequently used to calculate the thermodynamics of mixing including the apparent molar volume (ϕv), partial molar volume (ϕvo) at infinite dilution. The solute-solute interaction is presented by Sv results from the equation ∅_v=ϕ_v^o+S_v √m. The values of viscosity (B) coefficients and Falkenhagen coefficient(A) of the Jone-Dole equation and Gibbs free
... Show MoreAromatic Schiff-bases are known to have antibacterial activity, but most of these compounds are sparingly soluble in water. The present work describes the synthesis of new Schiff-bases derived from branched aminosugars. Treatment of 3-Amino-3-Cyano-3-Deoxy-1,2:5,6-Di-O-Isopropylene-α-D-Allofuranose (1) with the aldehydes (2) under reflux in methanol afforded the Schiff-bases (3) in good yields. The new Schiff-bases were in accord with their NMR, IR spectral data and elemental analysis.
New chelating ligand derived from triazole and its complexes with metal ions Rhodium, Platinum and Gold were synthesized. Through a copper (I)-catalyzed click reaction, the ligand produced 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between 2,6-bis((prop-2-yn-1-yloxy) methyl) pyridine and 1-azidododecane. All structures of these new compounds were rigorously characterized in the solid state using spectroscopic techniques like: 1HNMR, 13CNMR, Uv-Vis, FTIR, metal and elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements at room temperature, it was found that the ligand acts as a penta and tetradentate chelate through N3O2, N2O2, and the geometry of the new complexes are identified as octahedral for (Rh & Pt) complexes a
... Show MoreObjectives: To determine the effectiveness of the educational program on nursing staff knowledge about infection control measures at the Intensive Care Unit in Al-Diwaniya Teaching Hospital.
Methodology: A pre-experimental design (one group design: pre-test and post-test) was used. This study was conducted in Al-Diwaniya Teaching Hospital for the period from ( 20th February to 5th March, 2020) on a non-probability (purposive) sample consisting of (25 nurses) working in ICU. A questionnaire was built as a data collection tool and consisted of two parts:
First part: The demographic characteristics of the nursing staff (age, gender, level of education, years of experien
... Show MoreArid and semi-arid climates are critical for water security in sustainable river systems. The Euphrates River in western Iraq has been increasingly stressed by both geogenic and anthropogenic factors. This study analyzed hydro-geochemical processes, recharge dynamics, and groundwater flow modeling in western Iraq. Additionally, stable isotope tracing (δ¹⁸O, Cl⁻) integrated with hydro-chemical parameters was used to assess water quality and river-aquifer connectivity in both Syria and western Iraq. A total of 144 groundwater samples were collected annually across 12 stations in western Iraq. Surface water and groundwater data were collected from previous studies at 13 stations in Syria. Results revealed slightly alkaline freshwater con
... Show More