Background and Objectives: Urinary tract infections (UTIs), among a wide range of microbial infections, are of a double-edged worry with health-care and economic implications. They are serious diseases that can influence various parts of the urinary tract. The aim of this study was characterization of the enteric bacteria isolated from urine of human UTIs and studying their antimicrobial sensitivity. Materials and methods: A total of 50 urine samples were collected from patients with UTIs of both genders. The isolates identification was done using routine diagnostic methods and confirmed by Vitek2. Antimicrobial susceptibility was done against 10 antimicrobials. Results: Both genders of human were found to suffer from urinary tract problems caused by bacteria. Out of 50 patients, 45 (90%) of the cases showed bacterial growth. Approximately, 30.43% of the human infections were found to be caused by members of the Enterobacteriaceae family. The ratio of female patients with UTIs was more than that of males, the most common bacterium isolated from human urine was E. coli, which constituted approximately 85.7% of the enteric bacteria isolated and 26.1% of all bacterial isolates. Other members of Enterobacteriaceae family were also isolated from patients enrolled in this study, such as Citrobacter freundii, which constituted the same incidence rate as K. pneumoniae. Concerning antimicrobial resistance, 11, 10, 9, and 8 out of 12 of E. coli isolates were resistant to Erythromycin, Vancomycin, Tetracycline, and Ceftazidime together, respectively, with a range of resistance from 91.7% to 66.7%. Low percentages of bacteria showed intermediate sensitivity to Imipenem, Gentamicin, Chloramphenicol, Vancomycin, and Erythromycin. However, 12, 11, 10, 10, 9, and 8 out of 12 isolates were susceptible (susceptibility ranged from 100% to 66.7%) to each of Cefotaxime, Chloramphenicol, Imipenem, Amikacin, Ciprofloxacin, and Gentamicin. Conclusions: Escherichia coli was the most common bacteria isolated from human UTIs. All of the isolates were multi-drug resistant toward at least four antimicrobials. Particularly, Erythromycin and Vancomycin had no effect on the enteric bacteria at all. Imipenem might be the most effective drug against a large number of the human isolates.
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This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
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This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
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The goal of this investigation is to prepare zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique through Q-switching double frequency Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) wavelength, pulse frequency 6 Hz, and 300 mJ energy under vacuum conditions (10-3 torr) at room temperature. (ZnO) nano-thin films were deposited on glass substrates with different thickness of 300, 600 and 900 nm. ZnO films, were then annealed in air at a temperature of 500 °C for one hour. The results were compared with the researchers' previous theoretical study. The XRD analysis of ZnO nano-thin films indicated a hexagonal multi-crystalline wurtzite structure with preferential growth lines (100), (002), (101) for ZnO nano-thin films with different thi
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Inherent fluctuations in the availability of energy from renewables, particularly solar, remain a substantial impediment to their widespread deployment worldwide. Employing phase-change materials (PCMs) as media, saving energy for later consumption, offers a promising solution for overcoming the problem. However, the heat conductivities of most PCMs are limited, which severely limits the energy storage potential of these materials. This study suggests employing circular fins with staggered distribution to achieve improved thermal response rates of PCM in a vertical triple-tube heat exchanger involving two opposite flow streams of the heat-transfer fluid (HTF). Since heat diffusion is not the same at various portions of the PCM unit,
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Each Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) plan needs to be tested and verified before any treatment to check its quality. Octavius 4D-1500 phantom detector is a modern and qualified device for quality assurance procedure. This study aims to compare the common dosimetric criteria 3%/3 mm with 2%/2 mm for H&N plans for the IMRT technique. Twenty-five patients with head and neck (H&N) tumor were with 6MV x-ray photon beam using Monaco 5.1 treatment planning software and exported to Elekta synergy linear accelerator then tested for pretreatment verification study using Octavius 4D-1500 phantom detector. The difference between planned and measured dose were assessed by using local and global gamma index (GI) analysis method at
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