Medicinal plants contain bioactive substances that are highly bioavailable in extracts or pure molecules, making them promising for therapeutic applications and precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis. Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is widely recognized as one of the most potent therapeutic herbs. This study aimed to extract seeds from H. procumbens using two types of solvents and to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the extracts. The two extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities using agar well diffusion assays against four bacterial isolates and two yeast isolates. Qualitative analysis identified the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and terpenoids. The active components detected were: alkaloids (12.69%), flavonoids (3.25%), total phenolic compounds (24.58%), total terpenoids (8.55%), and total steroids (1.25% for methanolic and 4.55% for petroleum ether). Both methanolic and petroleum ether extracts exhibited antioxidant activities of approximately 85.33% and 74.19%, respectively, compared to ascorbic acid, which had an antioxidant effect of 67.99% at a concentration of 200 µg/ml. The extracts demonstrated a broad spectrum of activity against all tested bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes) and fungi (Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis). At a concentration of 1000 µg/ml, the seed extracts showed the highest bactericidal activity, with inhibition zones ranging from 10 to 22 mm. Moreover, both extracts exhibited greater anti-biofilm activity at 1000 µg/ml compared to lower concentrations. Our study found that seed extracts of H. procumbens possess significant antibacterial and antioxidant activities, particularly at a concentration of 1000 µg/ml.
This study presents, for the first time, an innovative Jet Plasma-assisted technique for the green synthesis of TiO₂@Ag core–shell nanoparticles using chard leaf extract as a natural reducing and stabilizing agent. The Jet Plasma provides a highly energetic environment that accelerates nucleation and core–shell formation at low temperatures without toxic precursors. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited uniform and stable structures, as confirmed by comprehensive characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and zeta potential analysis. XRD patterns confirmed the crystalline anatase
... Show MoreAcinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii ) is considered a critical healthcare problem for patients in intensive care units due to its high ability to be multidrug-resistant to most commercially available antibiotics. The aim of this study is to develop a colorimetric assay to quantitatively detect the target DNA of A. baumannii based on unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from different clinical samples (burns, surgical wounds, sputum, blood and urine). A total of thirty-six A. baumannii clinical isolates were collected from five Iraqi hospitals in Erbil and Mosul provinces within the period from September 2020 to January 2021. Bacterial isolation and biochemical identification of isolates
... Show MoreHumanity is confronted with a growing array of environmental challenges that demand immediate attention and cannot be disregarded. One of the issues the world faces is air pollution, which presents a significant risk to both the environment and human well-being. The capitalist system has a great impact on the exacerbation of air pollution and environmental deterioration. This impact is reflected in Caryl Churchill’s post-apocalyptic play Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen (1971). The play presents a futuristic scenario in which humanity faces grave consequences due to the polluting practices of capitalism and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. It depicts a future in which environmental degradation drives people
... Show MoreIn this research , we study the inverse Gompertz distribution (IG) and estimate the survival function of the distribution , and the survival function was evaluated using three methods (the Maximum likelihood, least squares, and percentiles estimators) and choosing the best method estimation ,as it was found that the best method for estimating the survival function is the squares-least method because it has the lowest IMSE and for all sample sizes
The imposition of (state) policy on the South Kuril Islands.In the Pacific was a subject
of borders dispute between Japan and Soviet Union which appeared clearly afterthe second
Great War and during the cold war. Despite the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991, this conflict has continued, thus both countries had to made a historic
and legitimate claims to demand the rights of sovereignty and ownership of four islands
occupied by the Soviet Union after World War II under the international conventions and
treaties, but these claims are proven failures through the continuation of the regional conflict.
Al2O3 and Al2O3–Al composite coatings were deposited on steel specimens using Oxy-acetylene gas thermal spray gun. Alumina was mixed with Aluminum in six groups of concentrations (0, 5, 10,12,15 and 20% ) Al2O3, Specimens were tested for corrosion using Potentiodynamic polarization technique. Further tests were conducted for the effect of temperature on polarization curve and the hardness tests for the coated specimens. At first, Modelling was carried out using MINITAB-19, least square method, as a 2nd degree nonlinear model, bad results were achieved because of the high nonlinearity. Better result w
This study concerns the role of activated carbon (AC) from palm raceme as a support material for the enhancement of lipase-catalyzed reactions in an aqueous solution, with deep eutectic solvent (DES) as a co-solvent. The effects of carbonization temperature, impregnation ratio, and carbonization time on lipase activity were studied. The activities of Amano lipase from Burkholderia cepacia (AML) and lipase from the porcine pancreas (PPL) were used to investigate the optimum conditions for AC preparation. The results showed that AC has more interaction with PPL and effectively provides greater enzymatic activity compared with AML. The optimum treatment conditions of AC samples that yield the highest enzymatic activity were 0.5 (NaOH (
... Show MoreVirtual reality, VR, offers many benefits to technical education, including the delivery of information through multiple active channels, the addressing of different learning styles, and experiential-based learning. This paper presents work performed by the authors to apply VR to engineering education, in three broad project areas: virtual robotic learning, virtual mechatronics laboratory, and a virtual manufacturing platform. The first area provides guided exploration of domains otherwise inaccessible, such as the robotic cell components, robotic kinematics and work envelope. The second promotes mechatronics learning and guidance for new mechatronics engineers when dealing with robots in a safe and interactive manner. And the thir
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